China’s Exchange Rate Regime Reform

Question: Describe about the Chinas Exchange Rate Regime Reform? Answer: Chinese Economy- A Move from Investment Based Growth to Consumer Based Growth Summary: Every economy around the world is looking for growth and they try to achieve the productive resources that the country possesses and taking steps according to the options available and the state of technology of the nation. The growth of an economy generally is achieved in the three modes namely investment based growth where country can through investing in capital goods and capital markets, consumer based growth which means investment of resources in areas of government and household consumption as well and finally growth led from the export led growth within the country. Talking about the Chinese economy which had been famous for the investment based growth had led to a great growth in the last decade. The Chinese economy had a great boost in the years after 2001 through investment led activities as it made the highest contribution in the growth of the economy. But the trend completely changed in the past 5 years where the investment led growth has a lower contribution in the growth of the Chinese economy. The Chinese economy then understood that there is a possible scope of growth only in the consumption sector as the economy started facing constraints due to the unavailability of important sources of production that are required in the investment led sectors of the economy. So it could be said that at this present scenario the investment in agriculture and service would be preferred over the investment in the real estate and manufacturing sector of the country. (Cuia*, 2015) Thus the unallocated and unutilized resources of the economy can be only utilized if the company makes a strategy to move toward the consumption led growth in the near future(Il Houng Lee, 2013) 1: The issue of misallocation of resources had been dealt in the Economic Work Conference where this problem was raised and outcome was decided to be that investments needs to be properly allocated in the areas where the production possibilities are greater and the global economy slow down should be accounted into before framing the economic decisions of the county and its economy. The country like China is highly dependent on exports and so its investment based sector also is highly affected due to the slowdown of the global economy. This problem here highlights the fact that there should be change in strategy so the economic resources are fully utilized and the Production possibilities can move towards the reduction of the unallocated resources of the country as a whole. The concept of PPC implies here as when the resources are non allocate fully there is a under utilization of resources and it needs to be employed on the other available options for the economy so that the point of allocation does not lie inside the curve but lie on the curve at least due to the fuller use of the resources by the country. The PPF helps in determining the allocation of resources in a best possible manner among the output options to provide better employment of resources in the economy.(Elvis Picardo, 2013) 2: In the diagram above it is has been shown that resources of the country are underutilized as the point on the PPF is lying inside the curve which shows that there is a scope of usage of resources but the company is not able to utilize it due to the lack of opportunities of growth in the investment sector. The company is to balance the resources by allocating it to the consumption based growth sector that means that there is a scope that the company will be able to use the resources very well and help the country to analyze the resources in a positive manner so that the growth could be achieved. (CNN, 2014) As shown in the other part of the diagram that the economy is able to utilize the resources in a better manner by the reason of the investment of the unused resources in the consumer based sector due to the global slowdown and badly affected Chinese economy. (Fleisher, 2012) The proper diversion of resources wood help the Chinese economy to boost with great power and support for the country and this would help the country to adapt to the changes as it would provide proper allocation of resources and would help lower the unemployment rates and would be able to solve the problem of choice for the economy as a whole. The change in the economic circumstances would led to the increase in the countrys development and the change in the frontier of the country for the upcoming times as presented here under.(Das, 2014) 3: The Chinese economy has faced the problem due to the attitude towards the investment growth of the country and focused on the consumption based growth of the country had changed many things as this was demanded by the Chinese economy. When the time o f economic slowdown came it was evident that the Chinese government faced challenges and the only way to create a win - win situation was to shift the strategy of the country to the consumer expenditure based growth in the long run. The Chinese economy also witnessed changes as soon it shifted to this consumption based growth as positive results were shown when more than 55% of the total growth was from them only. The path of China was led by the fall in the growth due to the investment functions that it had belief on but the efficiency was improved when the company shifted to other areas of resource where it handled them very nicely. The economy had changed a lot from its end by using the excess investment as a mode to add value to t he future good and service of the company as a whole. The country experienced a better GDP growth in the first year of deciding in solving the economic problem. The excess of money when investment in the sector of household had created the trust of people that China can also survive when the world economy is facing problems. (ECONOMIST, 2012) Bibliography CNN. (2014, April 14). CNN Money. Retrieved from Money.Cnn.com: https://money.cnn.com/2014/10/20/news/economy/china-gdp/ Cuia*, Y. (2015). Chinas exchange rate regime reform: Implications from the experiences of Japan, Korea and Taiwan. China Economic Journal , 1-17. Das, S. (2014). Heres whats killing Chinas economic growth. market Watch , 1-1. ECONOMIST, B. S. (2012). China's consumer-led growth. THE ECONOMIST , 1-1. Elvis Picardo, C. (2013). India Is Eclipsing China's Economy As Brightest BRIC Star. InvestopediA , 1-1. Fleisher, B. (2012). The official journal of The Chinese Economists Society. China Economic Review , 1-1. Il Houng Lee, M. S. (2013). Chinas Path to Consumer-Based Growth:Reorienting Investment and Enhancing Efficiency. IMF Working Paper , 1-1.

Improving Healthcare Quality free essay sample

Improving Healthcare Quality Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify aspects of quality improvement in healthcare. This research is conducted by examining and reviewing various literature regarding the definition and makeup of quality healthcare, need for improvements in healthcare, various quality measures or indicators and weighing the cost of improving healthcare quality. Defining Healthcare Quality Before any discussion can take place regarding improving healthcare quality, an examination of the definition of healthcare quality must be conducted. There are legitimately varying perceptions of what is consider to be the critical dimensions of quality healthcare. These views on quality largely results from the perspective one adopts as a patient, healthcare provider, health care manager, purchaser, payer, or public health official. The same health care experience may be assessed differently depending upon the person’s role. For example: ? The patient may view his or her experience with the health care system both by its outcome and personal feelings, such as whether the physician listened well, communicated clearly, and was compassionate as well as skilled in delivering healthcare services. ? A healthcare provider may view quality in a technical sense, such as whether an accurate diagnosis is made, whether a surgical procedure is performed proficiently and whether the patient’s health has improved. From this view, quality is the difference between what is technically sound and possible, and the actual practice and delivery of healthcare services. ? The health care manager, payer, or purchaser (employer health plan, or government program) may want to know if the healthcare services provided are cost effective. ? Public health officials may want to know if resources are being utilized appropriately to optimize population health and provided equitably within the population. Quality as defined in Clair G. Meisenheimer’s book, Improving Quality: A Guide to Effective Programs, is â€Å". . . the totality of features and characteristics of a health care process that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs; a process or outcome that consistently conforms to requirements, meets expectations, and maximizes value or utility for the customer. For the customer: getting what you were expecting and more; for the supplier: getting it right the first time, every time. The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies (IOM), a not-for-profit, non-governmental organization whose purpose is to provide national advice on issues relating to biomedical science, medicine, and health, and to serve as adviser to the nation to improve health, defines healthcare quality as the â€Å"degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge. à ¢â‚¬  (Retrieved July 11, 2009 from http://www. iom. edu). Further expounding the definitions provided, the IOM developed six dimensions of quality healthcare: 1. Timeliness – refers to the length of time it takes to provide care to patients. For example, how long it takes a patient to receive a treatment or follow-up care once a breast mass is detected. Delays should be shortened to increase the efficacy of treatments and to ease the patient’s fears. 2. Safety – refers to the ability or need to avoid injuries that result from the provided care that is intended to help the patient. Injuries such as those resulting from administering the wrong drug or wrong dosage, incorrect diagnoses, etc. 3. Effectiveness – the extent to which healthcare service is provided based on scientific knowledge to all who could benefit and refraining from providing services to those not likely to benefit, that is avoiding over-and underuse of resources. 4. Equity – the extent to which quality care is provided without regards to a patient’s gender, geographic location, gender and socioeconomic status. 5. Efficiency – the extent to which equipment, supplies and energy waste is avoided. 6. Patient-Centeredness – the extent to which the patient’s preferences, values and needs are taken into account when providing healthcare service. Care should be provided respectful of and responsive to the patient. Comparatively, in his book An Introduction to Quality Assurance in Health Care, Avedis Donabedian provides seven components of what he considers quality in health care. Three of these components are included in the IOMs dimension of quality healthcare; effectiveness, efficiency and equity. The remaining four are: 1. Efficacy – the extent to which healthcare technology and science are able to bring about health improvements when used under the most ideal circumstances. 2. Optimality – balancing the cost of healthcare improvements against the actual improvements, or in other words, by use of cost/benefit analysis ensuring that costs are not incurred which do not result in benefits do not exceed the cost or investment required. 3. Acceptability – the extent to which the expectations, desires and wishes of the patient and responsible members of their families are conformed to. There are five parts to the development of this definition: ? Accessibility – the ease with which patients can obtain healthcare ? The patient-provider relationship – the extent to which the healthcare provider exhibits towards the patient personal concern, good manners, honesty, truthfulness, attention to the preferences of the patients, making efforts to provide explanations, patience, empathy, respectfulness and the avoidance of condescension. ? Amenities of care – the desirable aspects of the circumstances and/or environment under which healthcare is provided and includes cleanliness, adequate parking, convenience, privacy, comfort, restfulness, availability of refreshments, good food, etc. Patient preferences regarding the risks, cost and effects of care – recognition that the patient’s value of the consequences of care may differ for that of the healthcare provider and from patient to patient. Healthcare providers should take the time to explain to the patient the expected cost, risk and effects of alternatives and be guided by the informed opinions of the patients or responsibl e family member. ? Patient’s definition of fair and equitable As initially mentioned there are various legitimate definitions of what constitutes healthcare quality. In developing this research paper, each of the definitions above will be utilized to address the issue of improving healthcare quality. The State of Quality Healthcare Surveys show growing concern over the eroding performance of the health care system. In November of 1999, the Institute of Medicine released a report entitled To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System, which concluded that 44,000 to 98,000 people die each year in hospitals due to preventable medical errors. In 2003 The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) released their first annual State of Healthcare Quality eport which found: More than 57,000 Americans die needlessly each year because they do not receive appropriate health care. The majority, almost 50,000 die because known conditions – high blood pressure or elevated cholesterol – are not adequately monitored and controlled. Others die or are at increased risk of death because they have not received the right preventative or follow-up care. [This is because] people with high blood pressure do not have it controlled, . . . people who have suffered a heart do not have their cholesterol levels monitored . . . and] smokers receive no advice to quit. Put simply, the healthcare system regularly fails to deliver care we know to be appropriate. (Nash Goldfarb (2006) p 7-8) Although quality improvements have been made in some areas since that first report, the NCQA’s 2007 report illustrated significant room for improvement. In the area of medication management and prescription, the report found inappropriate use of some treatment medications, specifically antibiotics. Americans suffer an estimated one billion upper respiratory infections or common colds annually. Colds are especially common among children, who suffer approximately three to eight colds a year. Because the common cold is most often viral, existing clinical guidelines do not prescribe the use of antibiotics as a treatment measure. Nevertheless, antibiotics are frequently prescribed to children with colds. Complications ranging from fevers and rashes to drug allergies, prolonged hospital stays and even death often arise from antibiotic treatment. Additionally, inappropriate antibiotic use contributes to bacterial resistance to antibiotics and represents wasted health care resources. Annually $227 million is spent for inappropriate treatment for the common cold. The impact upon the elderly is just as damaging. Despite medical consensus that certain medications increase the risk of adverse effects to the elderly and should generally be avoided, these medications are still often prescribed to the elderly. One in 20 prescriptions filled by the elderly are for drugs deemed as â€Å"always avoid†. More than 1 in 10 filled prescriptions are for drugs that would rarely be considered appropriate. Studies show that 21 to 37 percent of elderly patients had prescriptions filled for at least one potentially inappropriate drug and more than 15 percent had filled at least two. More than 40 percent of serious, life-threatening or fatal adverse drug events and 80 percent of adverse drug events in the elderly are avoidable. One study found that almost 3 percent of all elderly patients in a managed care organization suffered a preventable adverse drug event in a year. Reducing the number of inappropriate prescriptions can lead to improved patient safety and significant cost savings. Conservative estimates of extra costs due to potentially inappropriate medications in the elderly average $7. 2 billion a year. The 2007 State of Healthcare Quality report found in total between 38,300 and 88,900 avoidable deaths due to unexplained variations in care and avoidable hospital costs between $1. 9 and $3. 5 billion. Additionally, the report determined an estimated 51. 6 million avoidable sick days due to unexplained variation in care at a cost of lost productivity of approximately $8. 5 billion. These findings alone suggests and supports the employment of continuous improvement measures in the quality of healthcare. Quality Indicators â€Å"In health care as in other arenas, that which cannot be measured is difficult to improve. Providers, consumers, policy makers, and others seeking to improve the quality of health care need accessible, reliable indicators of quality that they can use to flag potential problems, follow trends over time, and identify disparities across regions, communities, and providers. (Guide to Prevention Quality Indicators: Hospital Admission for Ambulatory Care Sensitive Conditions, 2007, p 4) There are a number of measures that have been developed or defined by various organizations, measures that are utilized to determine, adjust and/or improve healthcare quality. One such organization has developed and implemented quality indicators (QI) to assist providers, policy makers, and researchers in the analysis of data to identify variations in the qualit y of either inpatient or outpatient care; the Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The AHRQ’s aim is to improve the quality, safety, efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare and does so through researching: quality improvement and patient safety, outcomes and effectiveness of care, clinical practice and technology assessment, health care organization and delivery systems, primary care including preventive services, healthcare costs and sources of payment. The indicators defined by the AHRQ are used to measure various aspects of health care quality based upon hospital administrative data. The quality ndicators or QIs are grouped into four modules: ? Prevention Quality Indicators (PQI) – used to identify ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSC) which are â€Å"preventable hospitalizations† or conditions for which good outpatient care can potentially prevent the need for hospitalization, or for which early intervention can prevent complications or more severe disease. Despite these indicators being based upon hospital inpatient data, PQIs pro vide insight into the quality of healthcare outside the hospital setting. For example, a diabetic patient may be hospitalized for complications associated with diabetes if their condition is not sufficiently monitored, if they do not receive proper patient education or if they do not manage their condition. Even though other factors outside of the healthcare system may result in hospitalization such as patient failure to follow treatment recommendations, or poor environmental conditions, PQIs are a good beginning point for assessing the quality of healthcare within a community and â€Å"serve as a screening tool rather than as definitive measures of quality problems. They can provide initial information about potential problems in the community that may require further, more in-depth analysis. † (AHQR, (2007), p 2) Despite the strengths of these indicators, there are a few weaknesses that should be considered. First, differences in socioeconomic status have been shown to explain a large part of the variation in some PQI rates across areas. The intricacy of the relationship between socioeconomic status and PQI rates makes it difficult to delineate how much of the relationships are due to true difficulties in access to care in potentially underserved populations, or due to other characteristics, unrelated to quality of care, that vary by socioeconomic status. â€Å"For some of the indicators, patient preferences and hospital capabilities for inpatient or outpatient care might explain variations in hospitalizations. In addition, environmental conditions that are not under the direct control of the health care system can substantially influence some of the PQIs. For example, the COPD and asthma admission rates are likely to be higher in areas with poorer air quality. † (AHRQ, p 17). Second, the question of whether effective treatments in outpatient settings would reduce the overall incidence of hospitalizations has not been adequately addressed. The degree to which the reporting of admission rates for ACSC may result in changes in ambulatory practices and admission rates also is unknown. Patients may be admitted who do not clinically require inpatient care or patient may not be admitted who would benefit from inpatient care. Inpatient Quality Indicators (IQI) reflect quality of care inside hospitals including inpatient mortality for medical conditions and surgical procedures and comprises three types of measures: ? Volume Measures are indirect measures of quality based upon evidence suggesting that hospitals performing more of selected inpatient procedures may have better outcomes for those procedures. Volume indicators shows the numb er of admissions in which these procedures were performed. ? In-hospital mortality indicators measure death rates for selected common surgical procedures or medical conditions. Utilization indicators focus on the volume of selected procedures for which research has suggested issues of overuse, underuse, or misuse. The weakeness of these indicators is that they are based upon data which is collected for billing pruposes and not research or measuring quailty. Dispite the insight that may be offered from these indicators, they should not be used as a decisive source of information on the quality of health care. At least three limitations of administrative data warrant caution: ? Coding differences across hospitals. Some hospitals code more thoroughly than others, making â€Å"fair† comparisons across hospitals difficult. ? Ambiguity about when a condition occurs. Most administrative data cannot distinguish unambiguously whether a specific condition was present at admission or whether it occurred during the stay (i. e. , a possible complication). ? Limitations in ICD-9-CM coding. The codes themselves are often not specific enough to adequately characterize a patient’s condition, which makes it impossible to perfectly risk-adjust any administrative data set, thus fair comparisons across hospitals become difficult. In short, the AHRQ IQIs are a valuable tool that takes advantage of readily available data to flag potential quality-of-care problems. (AHRQ, 2007, p 18) ? Patient Safety Indicators (PSI) measures harm or adverse effects resulting from healthcare services. These indicators are defined on two levels; provider level indicators which measure preventable ill effects by patients who received care and the adverse effects within the same hospitalization, and area level indicators. Area level indicators measures all cases of preventable ill effects that occurred within a specific area. Pediatric Quality Indicators (PDI) like PSIs include provider level and area level indicators to identify potentially preventable complications but as they apply to pediatric patients, that is those under the age of 18 years. The measures and indicators developed by AHRQ are not exclusive nor do any of the indicators alone provide a complete quality assessment of healthcare systems. However, these QIs take adv antage of existing data and data collections systems in place in order to develop areas of improvement and some bases of comparison between healthcare organizations, standards, benchmarks, etc. Once areas of improvement have been identified by QI, the job of addressing those identified shortcomings may begin. Methods abound which addresses improving quality, such as Six Sigma, Total Quality Management, etc.. These may be employed within a healthcare setting with as much success as doing so in a manufacturing plant. Conclusion This paper sought to examine one side of the healthcare triad, quality. The other two being cost and access. However, by no means should one presume that quality or any of the three is more critical than the other. In fact, improving healthcare quality will effect the cost of healthcare, which in turn will effect access to that quality healthcare. Just as, effecting cost will impact quality and access. Admittedly, this paper fails to address in detail the intricate relationship between these three factors – but acknowledges the existence of this relationship. Improving quality requires a clear definition of â€Å"health care quality† . Ideally, this definition is based upon identifiable and measurable scientific indicators but without disregarding other indicators such as patient satisfaction. Once a definition has been formulated, indicators or measures may be developed and employed to identify areas of improvement and to then address those short falls in quality. References Beers, M. H. (1997). Explicit Criteria for Determining Potentially Inappropriate Medication use by the Elderly. Arch Intern Med 157:1531-1536. Curtis, LH, et al. (2004). Inappropriate Prescribing for Elderly Americans in a Large Outpatient Population. Arch Intern Med 164:1621-1625. Donabedian, A. (2003). An Introduction to Quality Assurance in Health Care. New York: Oxford University Press Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), (2007). AHRQ Quality Indicators. Fick, D M, et al. (2003). Updating the Beers Criteria for Potentially Inappropriate Medication use in Older Adults. Arch Intern Med 163:2716-2724. Gonzales R, Malone DC, Maselli JH, Sande MA. (2001). Excessive antibiotic use for acute respiratory infections in the United States. Clin Infect Dis 33(6):757-762. Gurwitz, J. H. , T. S. Field, L. R. Harrold, J. Rothschild, K. Debillis, A. C. Seger, C. Cadoret, L. S. Fish, L. Garber, M. Kelleher, D. W. Bates. (2003). Incidence and Preventability of Adverse Drug Events Among Older Persons in the Ambulatory Setting. JAMA 289(9):1107-1116. Johnson, J. A. and J. L. Bootman. (1995). Drug-Related Morbidity and Mortality: A Cost-of- Illness Model. Arch Intern Med 155:1949-56 MacKinnon NJ, et al. (2003). Indicators of Preventable Drug-related Morbidity in Older Adults: Use Within a Managed Care Organization. J Managed Care Pharm 9:134-41. McCaig L. F. , Besser R. E. , Hughes J. M. (2002). Trends in Antimicrobial Prescribing Rates for Children and Adolescents. JAMA 287(23):3096-3102. Meisenheimer, C. G. (1997). Improving Quality: A Guide to Effective Programs (2nd ed. ). Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen Publishers, Inc. Nash, D. B. Goldfarb, N. I. (Eds. ). (2006). The Quality Solution: The Stakeholder’s Guide to Improving Health Care. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers National Committee for Quality Assurance. The State of Health Care Quality: 2007. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, The Common Cold, December 2007, http://www3. iaid. nih. gov/topics/commonCold/overview. htm (July 14, 2008). Rosenstein N, Phillips WR, Gerber MA, Marcy SM, Schwartz B, Dowell SF. 1998. The Common ColdPrinciples of Judicious Use of Antimicrobial Agents. Pediatrics 101(1):181-184. Simon, SR, et al. (2005). Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use by Elderly Persons in U. S. Health Maintenance Organizations, 2000-2001. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 53( 2):227-232. Zhan, C, et al. (2001). Potentially Inappropriate Medication use in the Community-Dwelling Elderly. JAMA 286(22):2823-2868

Love and Marriage during the Era of Mao in Communist China

Table of Contents Introduction Before marriage Marriage Conclusion Works Cited Footnotes Introduction The era of Mao lasted from 1949 to 1976 when Mao Zedong died. It was during this period when China experienced many reforms in most of its institutions especially marriage. Mao led the promulgation of the 1950 Marriage Law on 1st May the same year[1]. The implementation of this law led to many changes in the marriage institution. These changes, according to Mao, brought freedom to women in the Chinese society.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Love and Marriage during the Era of Mao in Communist China specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Mao believed that the captivity of women in the Chinese society hindered economic development and by implementing this law; women would be free to participate in economic development. Marriage is a very important institution in any society though prior to the Mao era, the people di d not award it much attention and respect. The Mao era brought flexibility in marriage in the Chinese community. The promulgation and the implementation of the 1950 Marriage Law ensured that one man married one wife only. Before marriage During the Mao era, if someone wanted to get married s/he was free to look for a mate of his/her own choice. In the pre-communist period, this was an abomination since parents chose the mates for their sons/daughters. It allowed the breaking of barriers that the pre-communist community upheld regarding marriage. Some of these barriers were social classes in that, people from the wealthy families could not freely interact with leave alone marry, the poor people. However, there were age limits in that the minimum age of the man was seventeen years while that of the woman fifteen to qualify for marriage[2]. It is important to mention that betrothal was not a prerequisite for marriage and none of the parties would specify compliance to the agreement. Un like in the pre-communist era, marriage presents were not necessary and if present, the parties gave them as donations. In the Mao era, the law did not allow polygamous marriage in the Chinese community and through such, the sale of young females within the society ended. It also the society to improve the attention awarded o the girl child. The society did not give much attention to bride price and dowry as before. However, the bridegroom’s family had to pay some amount of money to the bride’s family. According to the Chinese customs, the bride’s family was to return a portion of the money to the bridegroom’s family as dowry as a sign of goodwill. Marriage On the success of the betrothal, the parties proceeded to marriage. An open wedding ceremony marked the union of the two parties in marriage. The wedding ceremony followed the traditional Chinese procedure. The bridegroom picked up the bride from her home where he respectfully greeted her parents. The two then proceeded to the bridegroom’s home for the bride to greet her in-laws. The two parties greeted the parents with a cup of tea and in return, daughter(s) in-law received some money inside a red packet.Advertising Looking for essay on asian? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Just like any other form of wedding, this ceremony required witnesses as the two were officially getting married. In some parts of China, the parties were not supposed to finish the fish served to them. They were not to touch the head, tail and the whole skeleton of the fish. By doing so, they symbolised a good start and end of their marriage. Once married, the wife and the husband would stay in the husband’s home. The statutory scheme provided for a number of arrangements regarding matrimonial property. However, the husband had the right to manage the property and enjoy the fruits of the wife’s contribution to matrimonial property . Dissolution of marriage could occur through death or divorce. In the pre-communist era, the husband was the only one with the right of initiating a divorce. It was not the case during the Mao’s reign where divorce could only occur through mutual consent of the parties involved. The legal formality of divorce was a written document signed by two witnesses. The judiciary allowed divorce under several circumstances[3] including bigamy, adultery, ill-treatment of one of the parties by the other, in case one of them suffers a malignant disease or a mental disease, and continual desertion of bad faith. Divorce could also occur if one party was uncertain of the existence of the other for three years or when the other party served a jail term for more than three years. When divorce occurred, the children remained in the custody of the husband, unless otherwise stated in the agreement. Conclusion During the Mao era, the Chinese community experienced many changes as far as marriage i s concerned. It was in Mao’s attempts to free women from male captivity to enhance their productivity. Planned marriages ended allowing people free to make their choices when it came to choosing spouses. Women were also empowered to make major decisions in the marriage institution. It brought a sigh of relief to the young females from humble backgrounds whose families hitherto sold them as concubines to rich men in the society. Works Cited Chang, Jung, and Halliday, Jon. Mao: The Unknown Story. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Love and Marriage during the Era of Mao in Communist China specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Footnotes Chang, Jung, and Halliday, Jon. Mao: The Unknown Story. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. 145. Chang and Halliday, 143. Chang and Halliday,139 This essay on Love and Marriage during the Era of Mao in Communist China was written and submitted by user Keat0n to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Free Essays on Personality.

, people may be described in terms of likelihood of their behaving, feeling, or thinking in a particular way. For example, the likelihood of their acting outgoing and friendly or feeling nervous and worried. Trait is a basic unit of personality and is biological basis. Human behavior and personality can be organized into a hierarchy that is shown in the works of Hans Eysenck. The concept of trait assumes that behavior follow some patterns, regularity overtime and across situations. Trait approach to understand personalit... Free Essays on Personality. Free Essays on Personality. There are four different approaches to understand personality. They are psychoanalytic and pschodynamic, phenomenological, learning and trait approaches. This paper concentrates on the trait approach. Personality theories The working definition of personality means characteristic of the person that account for consistent patterns of feeling, thinking, and behaving. However, for the trait theorists, their definitions are quite unique. Gordon Allport states that the most important structures of personality are those that permit the description of the person in terms of individual characteristics. Thus, the basic unit of personality is personal dispositions, which he called  ¡Ã‚ ¥trait ¡Ã‚ ¦ and his personality was utilized the concept of personal dispositions. Raymond B. Cattell defined personality as  ¡Ã‚ ¥that which permits a prediction of what a person will do in a given situations ¡Ã‚ ¦. This prediction can be measured and described by the source traits. Hans J. Eysenck states that behavior can be considered in terms of specific responses that some of them are linked together and form more general habits. Groups of habits occur together to form traits. He defined traits as  ¡Ã‚ ¥important semi-permanent personality disposition ¡Ã‚ ¦ (1981,p.3). Concept of trait theory The basic assumption of the trait point of view is that people possess broad predisposition, called traits, to respond in particular ways. In order words, people may be described in terms of likelihood of their behaving, feeling, or thinking in a particular way. For example, the likelihood of their acting outgoing and friendly or feeling nervous and worried. Trait is a basic unit of personality and is biological basis. Human behavior and personality can be organized into a hierarchy that is shown in the works of Hans Eysenck. The concept of trait assumes that behavior follow some patterns, regularity overtime and across situations. Trait approach to understand personalit...

Dominican Hair Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Dominican Hair - Essay Example These groups include the; Taà ­nos (who are the Indigenous group), the Spanish (who were the colonizers), and the Africans (brought majorly as slaves into the country). Nonetheless, the Dominican nation has long ignored its heritage’s African part, in its place describing itself as â€Å"Not black,† This is so, even as people accept that almost everyone has some Black heritage and ancestry. This whole idea of national identity presents exacting challenges for Dominican immigrants to the United States, who are over and over again perceived by Americans as black and forced to negotiate for new ethnical and racial landscape. According to Ginetta E. B. Candelario  Ã¢â‚¬Å"the Dominican nation has all along selected to disregard the African customs and traditions†. She says that, the social and racial dynamics of the Dominican identity is majorly promoted by staff, customers and owners of salons. This is in particular with consideration to the concepts of African Vs European hair, further categorized as â€Å"bad† and â€Å"good† hair respectively. Candelario shows how clients and staff of salons had preferences to certain hair styles which were in photograph form in books. This is an exacting proof and confirmation of the anti- black preferences by the Dominican, and appraisal of the whites. In spite of this, what these women found as being most gorgeous and eye-catching were the people whom they analyze as having the signs of ethnic and cultural mixture connected to Spanish-speaking countries, and in particular those of Latin America. Candelario does well in trying to contradict the entrenched whiteness preference by showing various occasions when these preferences were disregarded, as well as by showing that there was an existence of diverse sorts of whiteness. Candelario shows that, Salons were the principal places where women were encouraged to internalize and endorse certain manners. The manner of seeing and doing things through racial

Real Estate Principles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Real Estate Principles - Essay Example Ethics in real estate One of the greatest obstacles that affect the growth of real estate industry is lack of ethics. This is based on the fact that most of the real estate buyers are not aware of the intention and operations of the realtors. In their efforts to get adequate information regarding the problems facing the real estate industry, most governments involve real estate institutes. However, most of these institutes are made up of real estate agents who are focused at exploiting consumers in their efforts to maximize profits (William and Donald, 1995). To ensure ethics are upheld during the transaction between the realtors and the property owners or buyers, National Association of Realtors has specified code of ethics that all its members are under obligation to follow. This course has widened my knowledge on how to uphold ethics during my future assignment as a real estate agent when dealing with my clients, public as well as other members of National Association of Realtors. Duties to clients Articles 1 to 9 of the National Association of Realtors code of ethics, regulates the way the real agents relate with their clients (William and Donald, 1995). ... Duties to the public Articles 10 of the National Association of Realtors code of ethics forbids agents from discriminating their clients on the basis of color, sex, religion, race or nationality. Other key aspects that are dealt with by articles 10 to 14 depicts that agents should not provide services that they are not competent in, contacting a lawyer in cases the agency has no authority to practice law and avoiding misleading advertisements. Duties to other members National Association of Realtors code of ethics depicts that agents should not make untrue statements about their competitors. In addition, it forbids agents from transacting business with clients who are exclusively owned by other agents. Legal Aspects of Real Estate Based on the fact that real estate covers immovable properties, minerals, bushes, water among others, real estate and property law covers wide range of aspects. It is worth noting that different countries have put in place various regulation that seek to co ntrol the operations of agencies and transfer of property. As a result of the inconsistency of the property laws, initiating legal procedure has become a complex practice that calls for proper coordination among all the stakeholders. This course has exposed me to major issues that are covered by real estate and property laws include purchasing of property, landlord issues, transfer of movable and immovable property, settlements of claims, property development, foreclosures, land use and zoning, home loans among others. This section discusses major aspects of property and real estate law adopted by various countries. Property and Real Estate Law adopted by US Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Sections Real Property, Trust and Estate

Models of Strategic HRM: British Airways Case Study

Models of Strategic HRM: British Airways Case Study Strategic human resource management may be observed as an address to the management of human resources that furnish a strategic framework to sustain long-term business goals and outcomes. The approach is concerned with longer-term people issues and macro-concerns about structure, quality, culture, values, commitment and matching resources to future need. Comparison with the Model: Fiedler Contingency Model Bath People and Performance Management Leadership membership Relationship which is the most important variable in determining the situation favourable (Accept and respect by followers) The development and successful implementation of high performance work practices, partially those concerned with job and work design, flexible work resourcing (recruitment, Selection and Talent Management), employee development (increasing skills and extending the skills base), reward and giving employees a voice; The degree of task structure which is the second most important input into the favourableness of the situation(structured task) The formulation and embedding of a clear vision and set of values (the big idea) The leaders position power obtained through formal authority which is the third most important dimension of the situation.(Great deal of Authority and power are formally attributed to the leader position) The provision of support and advice to line managers on their role in implementing HR policies and practice. Reason for the importance of HRM in Organisation: Human resources are great significance to organizations in 10 specific areas, to extent from strategic planning to company goodwill. HR practitioners in a small business who have well-balanced expertise equip a number of services to employees. The areas in which HR maintains control can enhance employees perception of HR throughout the workforce when they believe HR considers employees to be its internal customers and renders services with that in mind. There have ten importance of Human Resource Management in the organization. Strategy Compensation Benefits Safety Liability Training and Development Employee Satisfaction Recruitment Selection Compliance Strategy HR improves the companys bottom line with its knowledge of how human capital affects organizational success. Leaders with expertise in HR strategic management participate in corporate decision-making that underlies current staffing assessments and projections for future workforce needs based on business demand. Compensation HR compensation specialists develop realistic compensation structures that set company wages competitive with other businesses in the area, in the same industry or companies competing for employees with similar skills. They conduct extensive wage and salary surveys to maintain compensation costs in line with the organizations current financial status and projected revenue. Benefits Benefits specialists can reduce the companys costs associated with turnover, attrition and hiring replacement workers. They are important to the organization because they have the skills and expertise necessary to negotiate group benefit packages for employees, within the organizations budget and consistent with economic conditions. They also are familiar with employee benefits most likely to attract and retain workers. This can reduce the companys costs associated with turnover, attrition and hiring replacement workers. Safety Employers have an obligation to provide safe working conditions. Workplace safety and risk management specialists from the HR area manage compliance with U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations through maintaining accurate work logs and records, and developing programs that reduce the number of workplace injuries and fatalities. Workplace safety specialists also engage employees in promoting awareness and safe handling of dangerous equipment and hazardous chemicals. Liability HR employee relations specialists minimize the organizations exposure and liability related to allegations of unfair employment practices. They identify, investigate and resolve workplace issues that, left unattended, could spiral out of control and embroil the organization in legal matters pertaining to federal and state anti-discrimination and harassment laws. Training and Development HR training and development specialists coordinate new employee orientation, an essential step in forging a strong employer-employee relationship. The training and development area of HR also provides training that supports the companys fair employment practices and employee development to prepare aspiring leaders for supervisory and management roles. Employee Satisfaction Employee relations specialists in HR help the organization achieve high performance, morale and satisfaction levels throughout the workforce, by creating ways to strengthen the employer-employee relationship. They administer employee opinion surveys, conduct focus groups and seek employee input regarding job satisfaction and ways the employer can sustain good working relationships. Recruitment HR recruiters manage the employment process from screening resumes to scheduling interviews to processing new employees. Typically, they determine the most effective methods for recruiting applicants, including assessing which applicant tracking systems are best suited for the organizations needs. Selection HR professionals work closely with hiring managers to effect good hiring decisions, according to the organizations workforce needs. They provide guidance to managers who arent familiar with HR or standard hiring processes to ensure that the company extends offers to suitable candidates. Compliance HR workers ensure that the organization complies with federal state employment laws. They complete paperwork necessary for documenting that the companys employees are eligible to work in the U.S. They also monitor compliance with applicable laws for organizations that receive federal or state government contracts, through maintaining applicant flow logs, written affirmative action plans and disparate impact analyses. Explanation and analysis of an HRM framework Explanation of an HRM Framework: External Context (Fixed Effect) Labour Law Labour Market Condition Characteristics of labour supply. Factory Specific Characteristics Location, size, age, capital investment, product, vertical integration, buyers and work place philosophy. Defect Rate, Employee Turnover, Absenteeism and Production efficiency. Productivity Output , Sales, Profits. Explanation of the HRM process and how strategies are developed Human Resource Management Process There could sub functions in the HRM Process in practice. The key areas of HRM Process are Human resource planning Attraction also called as recruitment Selection Directing Training and development Performance appraisal Promote, demote or transfer regarding to performances The HR Strategy development process should contain the following steps: HR Information Gathering The team has to complete the information about different HR Processes, their performance and their impact on the profitability of the organization. The profitability can be difficult, but the team can always make a good estimate about the impact of the process to the results of the organization. Organizational Development Information the information about the development of the organization in the past and its current status. Each organization has several stages in its organizational lifecycle and some trends in the organization are healthy and some trends are extremely dangerous and can impact the future profitability. HR Workshops when the input information are gathered the HR Team has to organize the workshops inside Human Resources, where the piece of the new HR Strategy can evolve. The teams should discuss the findings one by one and all the ideas should be gathered as they can impact the overall HR Strategy. HR Managerial Workshops the information from the previous HR Workshop with employees should go to the next level and the HR Managers should talk about the trends and the topics, which should be included in the HR Strategy and what is the impact on the whole organization and the HR team. The results of the HR Managerial Workshops have to be recorded and the priorities of different parts of the story have to assign. Preparation of the HR Strategy a dedicated HR sub-team has to prepare the story of the HR Strategy from the approved outcomes from the HR Managerial Workshops. The story has to be strong and appealing for the audience and HR employees. HR Strategy Feedbacks the HR Management Team has to present the pre-final version of the HR Strategy to the fellow managers in the organization and their feedback has to be appreciated and fully and honestly discussed with the managers. The same session has to be organized for the HR employees as they can say their feedback to the HR Strategy Story. HR Strategy approval the HR Strategy has to be approved by the top management as they are the final customers of Human Resources and they should fully agree with the way, the HR wants to operate in the organization within several years. An Assessment of the Roles in Strategic HRM HRM is central to a firms strategic management policies. For starters, the business cannot implement its operating strategy, however astute, without the full cooperation of its personnel. Consequently, corporate leadership makes sure to get employees buy-in before rolling out operating tactics. HRM also enables organizations to take a peek at what rivals do and what personnel management strategies they use to trump others. Another HRM advantage is that it allows a firm to ensure regulatory compliance in its operations, which is generally a money saver and reputation builder. Assignment Two British Airways Human Resources (HR) strategy a. Human Resources Management (HRM) models There are many HRM models out there (Harvard, Michigan, etcâ‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦) but there are mainly three different approaches (Torrington, Hall and Taylor 2008) to achieve competitive advantage through HRM. The universalist approach described by Guest (1989) as a one size fits all i.e. derived from the best practices philosophy also supported by other academics e.g. Delery and Dory (1996), Pfeffer (1994) but some others are also questioning how easy it may be to shift focus of the organisation (Whipp 1992) and even to achieve the goals (Purcell 1991). The fit or contingency approach that can be found in Fombrun et al (1984) is based on both internal and external fit and focus on selection, appraisal, development and reward. This model has been criticised mainly because of its one-way relationship with organisational strategy. The resourced-based approach (Boxall 1996) is built on attributes of resources. To achieve competitive advantage, resources should be Valuable, Rare, Inimitable and N on-substitutable (VRIN). B. British airways HRM aspects: To define the HR model used by British Airways, we should first analyse the main aspects of its HR Management: creating motivation and commitment of all employees which continue to play a major part in the success of the company. some of HR measures are clearly designed to improve and support employees motivation (British Airways Plc. 2010). a remuneration scheme with profit sharing and encouraged share ownership, this is an effective way for employees to feel more involved in the companys results (British Airways Plc. 2010), training and development are instrumental to ensure resources will be able not only to feel valued in the company but also will be able to enable business objectives achievement (British Airways Plc. 2010) diversity and inclusiveness is seen as a key aspect in the recruitment strategy, this includes genders, ethnicities, religions, etcâ‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦ (British Airways Plc. 2010) c. HRM model used by British Airways: The aspects depicted in the previous paragraph show that the internal resources are linked (KPIs, ownership, etcâ‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦) including the human resources. As described above we also realise that human values are in the middle of British Airways strategy. As quoted page 236 of the 4th edition of Managing Change (Burnes 2004), Hax and Majluf (1996 p. 10) state that: The essence of the resource-based model â‚ ¬Ã‚ ¦ [is] that competitive advantage is created when resources and capabilities that are owned exclusively by the firm are applied to developing unique competencies. Moreover, the resulting advantage can be sustained due to the lack of substitution and imitation capabilities by the firms competitors. British Airways used a Resourced Based Model to achieve above average profitability by developing VRIN (Value, Rare, Inimitable, Non-substitutable) resources (Barney 1991). To substantiate this (Parker 1999), let us go back to the mid-nineties when the group started a portfolio analysis and defined the level of criticality of its operations. Based on this review, decision has been made to outsource resources (including human resources) that are not key to the core business. As other major corporations, they retained the strategic components (VRIN) and outsourced the routine activities. This decision helping the group to achieve outsourcing goals i.e. costs reduction, higher quality of services, agility and better focus on core business to meet the business objectives as defined in the introduction. d. Limitations of the Resource-based model There is no perfect model, or else there would only be one. But what are the ones of this model used by British Airways? Burnes (2004) mentions the lack of empirical support and also the complexity and ambiguousness of the resources definition. By design, the model is more focusing to the internal resources than on the external competition e.g. there is no link with the product markets, it may be difficult to find VRIN resources. There is also little evidence that many firms have adopted the model. http://sdbplus.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/british-airways-hr-management/ Task 2: British Airways merged with Iberia in 2011. Analyse the impact of the merger on strategic HRM at British Airways. This MA briefing note provides an overview of the merger of British Airways and Iberia which led to the formation of a new firm International Airlines Group (IAG) Background BA and Iberia had developed strong links over many years: BA acquired a 13% stake in Iberia in 1998 BA Iberia started co-operation and route-sharing in 2003 BA first made a bid for Iberia in 2007 Impact of the continued economic downturn led to the resumption of merger talks in 2009 The Deal The initial announcement: Merger of British Airways and Iberia announced in November 1999. BA shareholders get 55% of the new company; Iberia shareholders get 45% BA and Iberia to  continue  their existence as airline brands New company called IAG plc, with shares listed on both the London and Madrid stock markets IAG initially estimated  £349 million of annual cost savings by the fifth year after the merger A quarter of the cost savings to come from IT and back office efficiencies + savings on maintenance and purchasing Implementation cost of the merger estimated at  £350 million. The final merger agreement Definitive (legally binding) merger agreement finally signed in April 2010: Merger details took two years of complex and often strained negotiation Creates Europes third-largest airline group: behind Lufthansa (90 million passengers p.a.) and Air France-KLM (70 million passengers p.a.) Combined scale would have an aircraft fleet of 408 planes, carrying more than 58 million passengers a year Willie Walsh (previously CEO of BA) to become the new CEO of IAG On the day that the shares of IAG first traded (Jan 2011), the market capitalisation of the firm was  £5.6bn Key motives and  drivers  of the merger: Very much a merger that looks to the long-term. Industry consolidation a process that has already begun and is expected to continue over the next 10-20 years 2010: combined airline losses (whole industry) of almost $3bn in 2010 BA and Iberia seen as well-matched businesses that complement each other BA strength: North American Asian routes and destinations; Iberia strength: Latin America BA gains better coverage of key routes in Latin America Structure designed to allow IAG to participate in further consolidation (i.e. more takeovers) Further takeovers by IAG would be judged on whether they could meet or enhance a target of 12 per cent return on capital. What happened next? IAG takeover of British Midland International (BMI) Announced November 2011 BMI a loss-making subsidiary of Lufthansa (losing approx  £160million per year) Deal subject to  clearance  from the Competition Commission and the European Union Significant opposition from  Virgin  Atlantic   the main competitor affected by the deal Main rationale BMIs extensive landing  slots  at Heathrow which will be used to add British Airways flights to destinations in emerging markets A possible short-term drawback to IAG: the takeover adds to the groups capacity at a time of weak demand for air travel The main risks facing IAG Unforeseen external events (e.g. disruption to travel caused by volcanic ash) Industrial relations a constant thorn in the side of management at BA Iberia BAs pension fund liability a shortfall of  £3.7bn The global economy demand and profits closely linked to the global economic cycle Key quotes relating to the merger Prof Peter Morrell (Cranfield University): Theyve come up with various cost savings that they can get out of the merger of the companies. These are on things like procurement, IT, maintenance. These are the things they can get from a merger which arent really available from alliances. Ashley Steel, head of transport at KPMG: the creation of IAG heralds the start of an exciting era of airline consolidation, with further marriages of convenience as pressures on costs and revenues continue to increase. Willie Walsh on the day the merger was confirmed: Our goal is for more airlines-but, importantly, the right airlines-to join the group. Today is the first step towards creating a multinational, multi-brand airline group. http://www.tutor2u.net/blog/index.php/business-studies/comments/6-essential-ma-cases-ba-iberia-merge-to-form-iag, 23/12/2012, 20:46 PM Impact of Merger in British Airways: British Airways and Iberias stock stopped trading Friday as the BA-IB merger officially took effect, to be replaced in both the London and Madrid markets by International Airlines Consolidated Group stock on Monday. Based on combined passenger count, IAG is now Europes fourth largest carrier group after Lufthansa Group, Air France KLM Group and Ryanair. Both airlines shareholders approved the merger in late November (ATW Daily News, Nov. 30, 2010). The carriers will continue to be separately branded. The commencement of IAG was clouded Friday by Unite unions notice that BA cabin crew voted overwhelmingly to take further strike actions, the latest salvo in the long-running dispute between the airline and its flight attendants (ATW Daily News, Dec. 22, 2010). Surely BA management must now wake up and listen to the voice of their skilled and dedicated employees, Unite stated.This dispute will be resolved by negotiation, not litigation or confrontation, and it is to negotiation that BA management should now apply itself. We are ready. The union said 75% of 10,220 eligible voters cast ballots, with over 78% voting in favor of more work actions. http://atwonline.com/airline-finance-data/news/ba-iberia-merger-formally-takes-effect-ba-flight-attendants-vote-strikes-0