Sunday, September 1, 2019

Air France essay

Describe how you would assess how a row (keyword-engine pair) is performing and how to manage it To figure out how a row (keyword-engine pair) is performing, we need to do cost-benefit analysis first. In other words, since company’s goal is to sell tickets and create value, it would be useful to assess by measuring dollar amount earned from a dollar of cost (= Amount/Total cost). However, the row is already in ascending order of dollar amount relative to total cost. Also, there are only 368 data out of more than 4,000 data overall. Therefore, looking at the sales figure only is not the best way to assess keyword-engine pair performance.I took out all the numbers that have no conversion rate. That means, it did not generate any sales and these will not be helpful in assessing the performance. Then, among those numbers with conversion rates, I only looked at the numbers of which the amount is bigger than the cost. Otherwise, company is losing money whenever it pays advertising. Then, I multiplied average position with click through rate and conversion rate so that to calculate how people relatively choose to pick up Air France and buy tickets via website. This will tell how its keyword performs with search engine to generate sales over cost.However, to manage well, we also have to consider Ad rank. QS is determined by click thru rate and bid strategy is actually average CPC. If we multiply together, we can get Ad rank. To perform well, we need have higher click thru rate rather than higher CPC. Therefore, we also need to look at relative CPC assuming same position. That’s why I looked at other numbers without conversions rate too. Apply your performance metrics to each of the keyword-engine pairs (i. e to each of the rows) and identify the â€Å"top 10† keyword-engine pairs to pursue   Below are the top 10 results based on performance metrics that I mentioned above.However, we can see that most keywords already contain france . I believe pe ople who typed france will look at Air France site automatically, so the company should not focus highly on the word. I confirmed this logic by looking at numbers without conversion rate. See below. And also, the first one should be an outlier, since only one click generated 900% of sales. So, I calculated again filtering these two words out. Below is the result. As we can see from above, both â€Å"cheap†and â€Å"paris† are a good match with â€Å"Google†.

Saturday, August 31, 2019

Facebook Case Study Essay

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A firm that has been floating on the stock exchange has been selected and evaluated and the firm I have chosen was Facebook. In my report I have included the recent history of Facebook as to how the social networking site started and the developments from the introduction until recently. I furthermore went on to evaluate the source of finance with a brief explanation as to what source of finance is and the different type of sources available to business i.e. Short term , medium term and long term. This explains the type of finance business need starting from day to day transactions to long term purchasing of assets and investments. After my understanding of what sources of finance are, I done some research on Facebooks source of finance and came to a conclusion that the firms sources of finance is long term source of finance as they earn money through shares(IPO). The reason for Facebooks floatation was simply because at the time they decide to go public the firm was already valued as one of the top companies around, however even though the firm was highly valued there was still negative stories about the firm. Facebook continues to grow and to try and keep the 200 million users entertain there are now talks of a Facebook phone that is due to be released this year. INTRODUCTION I am required to select a firm that has floated on the stock exchange in the last 4 years analyse and critically evaluate the firms decision to go public. The firm I chose was Facebook and in my report I will be discussing the following about the firm. Recent history of the company The firms sources of finance/ Capital structure of the firm Reason for flotation Implications of the flotation Performance of shares since flotation Future prospects for the firm Recommendations as to the future financing ABOUT FACEBOOK Facebook is a popular social networking website whose name originated as a nickname of directories handed out to university students that aided in them getting to know their fellow students. The social networking site was invented by Harvard computer science student Mark Zuckerberg, along with a few class mates. Facebook officially started off in October 2003 when Zuckerberg launched â€Å"Facemash.com† to allow visitors to compare pictures of two students and say who’s hot and who’s not. The website became popular as people enjoyed going on the internet and checking out pictures of their friends. In January 2004 an article in the Harvard Crimson stated that Zuckerberg registered the Facebook.com domain as he was now inspired by the success of Facemash. Shortly after the launch of Facebook the website eventually grew as it was now discovered by Sean Parker (Former Co Founder of Napster) who informally advised the student on what to do, and by June 2004 Facebook received its first private investment from Peter Theil [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROrUea0gLlY], the founder of PayPal who gave $500 000 in exchange for 10.2% of the company. Sean Parker later became president of the newly incorporated company Facebook. Facebooks domination continued to grow until it became the second most visited web property online. In August 2009 Facebook acquired the real time new aggregator site friends feed and in 2012 Facebook made a huge splash in the market by acquiring instragam for approximately $1 billion. This year Facebook has introduced a graph search to help users find out more about their friends and connections. This feature lets you search through data shared by friends to discover people their interest, restaurants, much and much more. This is the first major step Facebook has taken towards competing with Google. SOURCES OF FINANCE Business needs money to support investment and finance their day to day activities. A company may choose to raise money internally (by retaining and investing profits) or externally. Each source of finance has a risk attached to it, the risk that the business will not meet the financial commitments related to the source. The mix of all the financial sources is known as the financial risk of the company. An essential requirement in raising finance is that business should meet repayments and other expenses, as the fall due. This is generally achieved by ensuring that there is a good match between _cash inflow generated by the use of money and cash outflows to the service payments to the finance raised_. TYPES OF SOURCES OF FINANCE. Short term finance- Usually needed for a business day to day operations e.g. paying wages, ordering suppliers etc This is usually the cheapest one to use as it is easier for a lending institution to asses lending risk for shorter loan periods. Types of short term finance include the following: Overdrafts Short term loans Trade credit Accrued expenses and deferred income Factoring Medium term finance- This source of finance can be used to finance the acquisition of Motor Vehicles, Machinery, Computers, etc. Three main types of medium term finance are: Hire Purchases Leasing Term Loans Long term finance- In financing the purchase of a building (major investments), long term finance would be appropriate. There are two alternative methods of raising long term finance Debt-Bank loans and Bonds Equity-is an important source of long term finance and consists of: Preference shares, Ordinary Shares and Retained Profits (internally generated cash flow). Equity finance is raised through the sale of ordinary shares to investors and can be raised either via: A new share IPO ,Placing or Introduction A rights Issue. FACEBOOK’S SOURCES OF FINANCE/CAPITAL STRUCTURE. Facebook’s source of finance is the long term finance as the firm makes its money through sale of ordinary shares from investors such as IPO (Initial Public Offer) which is the first offering of shares to the general public. The social networking site officially filed for an IPO on February 1 2012. The preliminary prospectus declared that Facebook was seeking to raise $ 5 billion in investment at the time the company announced that they have 845 million users active on the site with close to 2.7 billion likes and comments daily. After the IPO, Mark Zuckerberg planned to retain 22% ownership stake in Facebook with 57% of voting shares which was valued by the underwriters as being worth $38 each and pricing the company at 104 billion, the largest valuation ever to date for a new company going public. Facebook selected Morgan Stanley as the lead advisor for the IPO as the company had earlier lead the IPO of internet giants like Group on, Zynga and other banks such as Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merril Lynch,Barclays Capital and JP Morgan. According to AllFacebook , shares have been actively trading between $25-$40 which gives Facebook a valuation of approximately $17000, more than Microsoft which was valued at $15000.Most of Facebooks trades takes place through secondmarket a company responsible for generating a market around typically illquid assets while while the value of the trades is unkown.While Facebook stock is not the type of thing you can trade in a day due to the fees and time involved in transactions ,however most investors see a great return in just 6 months. BELOW IS A GRAPH WITH FACEBOOKS SHARE PRICE IN MAY 2012 WHEN FACEBOOK DECIDED TO FLOAT.GRAPH 1.1 REASON FOR FLOTATION The reason for Facebook’s flotation was due to the fact that the company’s IPO was valued as one of the best amongst top companies. When Facebook made its long expected debut as a public company, the social networking company linked up with the largest public companies in the world alongside Mc Donalds , Amazon.com and Bank of America. The wall street journal reported that Facebook was prepared to file initial paperwork for an offering that could raise as much as $10 billion. As the news about Facebook spread worldwide and it later became the most popular and influential global website, Investors now started to flock to acquire shares in Facebook. Articles stated that even though Facebook was valued a high price there was still a debate within business and media circles on the true value of the company. The social networking site also made money through advertising allowing other companies to advertise about their business on the website. In May 2012 Mark Zuckerberg and other executives began a road show to persuade institutional investors to buy shares before the flotation. One of the underwriters JP Morgan along with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were included in the road show. IMPLICATIONS OF THE FLOATATION FOR THE FIRM Even though there is a great amount of effort in the flotation of Facebook there are still some negative views on the social site. An article in the guardian called â€Å"_Facebook flotation: three reasons to avoid it†_ it states that Facebook is not worth $100 billion and that Zuckerberg has not put a price tag on his creations so it’s still early to say that he will attempt to achieve that amount when the flotation started. Below are the three reasons given in the article: Zuckerbergs first letter to the potential investors was a strange dispatch. As it stated that Facebooks ambition was to build a service that gives people the power to share and help them once again to transform many of the core institutions and industries. Facebook has no need to float as it does not need to invest as the firm is profitable and generates enough cash to pursue its current objective. Zuckerberg is keeping control of Facebook by adopting a dual voting structure with him and investors. In response to the negative publicity about the website , Facebook opposed by saying that the main reason for floating is to allowing longstanding investors to cash in a portion of their winnings and to help Facebook grow. The float promoters were then seeking to emphasize that the investments obtained were potentially for a profitable growth and to play down the risk faced by the firm. PERFORMANCE OF THE FIRMS SHARES SINCE FLOATATION Zuckerberg has called the stock performance â€Å"disappointing†. The social networking leaders stock has lost nearly half its value since flotation. More than $50 billion has been cut off Facebooks market value as the companys shares have fallen from $38 to $19.43. The CEO has lost the most as the value of his facebooks holdings falls more than $9 billion which questioned his skeptics and guess his ability to lead a company. The performance of the shares has obviously been disappointing and has caused some demotivated employees, however Zuckerberg motivated them and they believed that things will improve as time goes go on. After numerous up and downs and significant critics from the public the share prices started showed a highly volatile behaviour with prices as low as $17.73. The prospective performance of the company did not impress the investors and therefore had a impact on the company as a whole. In November 2012 Facebook shares has shown a significant rise in value reaching the highest price in months, As the value it continued rising the company witnessed an increase of 15% each month to date. The major factor that has pushed the social networkings markets performance is the increase in investors’ confidence in the companys potential to earn a higher revenue in the prospective periods. The confidence is directly linked to the increasing success of the performance as the number of business advertising on the website increased which means higher revenue and higher revenue means higher returns for investors. FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR THE FIRM Facebook has and always will be the king of the social media sites , as the site is still growing worldwide. To date the social networking website has more than 200 million registered users. Researchers believe that Facebook can evolve another google as they are also relying on advertising for their revenue. The social networking sites goal now is to create a personalized digital newspaper through the newsfeed that has everything a person would want to know about people. This will be perfectly customized just for the users. Mobile will be the key to Facebooks future growth said the head of advertising as only 30% of users access through desktops and 70% through mobile devices every day. A plan to invest a huge amount of money will be the target for Facebook in the future as talks on creating a Facebook smartphone continues. Facebook is also targeting other continents like Asia, Latin America and Africa as users in these areas have grown by 33% each year. Even though they introduce the mobile device Facebooks ultimate goal will  still remain to get more users online and to improve current features that will keep current users entertained. CONCLUSION /RECOMMENDATION TO THE FIRM’S FUTURE FINANCING Facebook is available to everyone all over the world and there still huge potential for growth for the firm. My recommendation to the firm regarding their finance would be to focus on their advertising model, improving it and allowing business to advertise more on their website. By doing that they will do enhance their chances of doing better than search engine giant Google and revenue will increase which will benefit both the firm, current and potential investors. With the introduction of the new Facebook phone they have to ensure that the phones are better then other smartphones. Facebook has to earn the general publics confidence in them by coming up with new ideas on their IPO, if the public is satisfied they will invest more in the company. However with the introduction of the new phone I believe share prices will increase.

Friday, August 30, 2019

History of Indian Airlines

Brief History of Indian Airlines India's chiefly domestic state-owned carrier, Indian Airlines Ltd. , flies passengers and cargo to 59 domestic and 16 international destinations. Its fleet numbered 52 aircraft in 2000. Indian Airlines has traditionally based its network around the four main hubs of Delhi, Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Calcutta, and Chennai (formerly Madras). The airline carries about six million passengers a year and has a substantial freight operation. Origins The Air Corporations Act of 1953 amalgamated India's dozen or so airlines, most of them undercapitalized, into two nationalized air carriers: Air-India Ltd. given responsibility for international routes, and Indian Airlines Corporation (IAC), the domestic airline. The eight airlines that were amalgamated into IAC included Air Services of India Ltd. , Airways (India) Ltd. , Bharat Airways Ltd. , Deccan Airways Ltd. (already 70 percent government-owned), Himalayan Aviation Ltd. , Indian National Airways Ltd. , Kalin ga Airlines, Ltd. , plus the domestic operations of Air-India Ltd. IAC began operations with a fleet of 74 of the war surplus Douglas DC-3s that had founded its short-lived predecessors. The airline also had three times as many employees as it needed, writes R.E. G. Davies, a situation that was slow to change due to the government's refusal to allow layoffs. Davies also writes that the standard of maintenance was low and the airline suffered many accidents in its early years. IAC soon moved to bolster its fleet by ordering a few new de Havilland 114 Herons, retired after only a couple of years of service, and Vickers Viscount 768s, which were assigned to trunk routes. The DC-3s continued to supply feeder traffic; they soon began to be phased out by Fokker F-27s and Avro 748s. IAC began flying short-haul jets–French-made Caravelles–in the mid-1960s.The Caravelles were so popular that IAC soon needed larger jets to on the routes between Bombay (Mumbai), Delhi, Calcutta, and Madras (Chennai) that formed the India's domestic trunk network. IAC's first Boeing 737s entered service in 1971. Between 1962 and 1972, IAC was called upon to support the military in several campaigns, first in skirmishes with China, and later with the wars with Pakistan that ultimately led to the creation of Bangladesh. Confidence and Crisis in the 1970s and 1980s IAC announced a Rs45 million loss for 1972. The next year, the company had several incidents of aircraft damage or loss.Labor unrest, high fuel costs, political burdens, and built-in inefficiencies added to the company's problems. However, these were met with such resolve that IAC had the confidence to order its first wide-body jets, Airbus A300s, in 1975. A program to produce ground support equipment in Indian factories was part of the deal. In 1976, new routes stretched across political divisions to Kabul, Afghanistan, in the northwest, and the Maldive Islands in the south. The government allowed the formation of a few new limited service airlines in the 1970s: Air Works India, Huns Air, and Goldensun Aviation.None of them had long life spans. Around 1979, IAC dropped the word â€Å"Corporation† from its name. Another national airline, Vayudoot, was formed in 1981 and tasked with carrying feeder traffic from India's smaller communities. Indian Airlines' managing director, Gerry Pais, was Vayudoot's part-time chairman. Vayudoot was serving more than 100 destinations within India by 1990. The government also set up a helicopter corporation to serve off-shore oil fields. Britain's  Financial Times  described Indian Airlines as the world's third largest domestic carrier in the mid-1980s.With business growing at better than ten percent a year, it was increasing its capacity. Indian Airlines ordered a dozen of the new Boeing 757s in August 1984. After Rajiv Gandhi, a former Indian Airlines pilot, became prime minister, this order was changed to Airbus A320s due to what were perceived as political reasons. However, the crash of an Indian Airlines A320 in Bangalore on February 14, 1990–the type's second major crash globally in a two-year period–sorely tested management's faith in the plane, which featured new fly-by-wire flight controls and electronic cockpit instrumentation.As part of a plan to merge Indian Airlines with Air-India, the state's international carrier, two leading young industrialists were appointed to chair the boards of the two companies in autumn 1986. Neither these plans nor the new chairmen lasted very long. In 1987, Indian Airlines carried 10 million passengers and earned a profit of Rs630 million ($48 million). However, the quality of its service was facing criticism, to be heightened by the coming entry of new carriers into the market. India's chiefly domestic state-owned carrier, Indian Airlines Ltd. flies passengers and cargo to 59 domestic and 16 international destinations. Its fleet numbered 52 aircraft in 2000. Indian Airline s has traditionally based its network around the four main hubs of Delhi, Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Calcutta, and Chennai (formerly Madras). The airline carries about six million passengers a year and has a substantial freight operation. Origins The Air Corporations Act of 1953 amalgamated India's dozen or so airlines, most of them undercapitalized, into two nationalized air carriers: Air-India Ltd. given responsibility for international routes, and Indian Airlines Corporation (IAC), the domestic airline. The eight airlines that were amalgamated into IAC included Air Services of India Ltd. , Airways (India) Ltd. , Bharat Airways Ltd. , Deccan Airways Ltd. (already 70 percent government-owned), Himalayan Aviation Ltd. , Indian National Airways Ltd. , Kalinga Airlines, Ltd. , plus the domestic operations of Air-India Ltd. IAC began operations with a fleet of 74 of the war surplus Douglas DC-3s that had founded its short-lived predecessors.The airline also had three times as many emplo yees as it needed, writes R. E. G. Davies, a situation that was slow to change due to the government's refusal to allow layoffs. Davies also writes that the standard of maintenance was low and the airline suffered many accidents in its early years. IAC soon moved to bolster its fleet by ordering a few new de Havilland 114 Herons, retired after only a couple of years of service, and Vickers Viscount 768s, which were assigned to trunk routes. The DC-3s continued to supply feeder traffic; they soon began to be phased out by Fokker F-27s and Avro 748s.IAC began flying short-haul jets–French-made Caravelles–in the mid-1960s. The Caravelles were so popular that IAC soon needed larger jets to on the routes between Bombay (Mumbai), Delhi, Calcutta, and Madras (Chennai) that formed the India's domestic trunk network. IAC's first Boeing 737s entered service in 1971. Between 1962 and 1972, IAC was called upon to support the military in several campaigns, first in skirmishes with China, and later with the wars with Pakistan that ultimately led to the creation of Bangladesh. Confidence and Crisis in the 1970s and 1980sIAC announced a Rs45 million loss for 1972. The next year, the company had several incidents of aircraft damage or loss. Labor unrest, high fuel costs, political burdens, and built-in inefficiencies added to the company's problems. However, these were met with such resolve that IAC had the confidence to order its first wide-body jets, Airbus A300s, in 1975. A program to produce ground support equipment in Indian factories was part of the deal. In 1976, new routes stretched across political divisions to Kabul, Afghanistan, in the northwest, and the Maldive Islands in the south.The government allowed the formation of a few new limited service airlines in the 1970s: Air Works India, Huns Air, and Goldensun Aviation. None of them had long life spans. Around 1979, IAC dropped the word â€Å"Corporation† from its name. Another national airline, Vayudoot, was formed in 1981 and tasked with carrying feeder traffic from India's smaller communities. Indian Airlines' managing director, Gerry Pais, was Vayudoot's part-time chairman. Vayudoot was serving more than 100 destinations within India by 1990.The government also set up a helicopter corporation to serve off-shore oil fields. Britain's  Financial Times  described Indian Airlines as the world's third largest domestic carrier in the mid-1980s. With business growing at better than ten percent a year, it was increasing its capacity. Indian Airlines ordered a dozen of the new Boeing 757s in August 1984. After Rajiv Gandhi, a former Indian Airlines pilot, became prime minister, this order was changed to Airbus A320s due to what were perceived as political reasons.However, the crash of an Indian Airlines A320 in Bangalore on February 14, 1990–the type's second major crash globally in a two-year period–sorely tested management's faith in the plane, which feature d new fly-by-wire flight controls and electronic cockpit instrumentation. As part of a plan to merge Indian Airlines with Air-India, the state's international carrier, two leading young industrialists were appointed to chair the boards of the two companies in autumn 1986. Neither these plans nor the new chairmen lasted very long.In 1987, Indian Airlines carried 10 million passengers and earned a profit of Rs630 million ($48 million). However, the quality of its service was facing criticism, to be heightened by the coming entry of new carriers into the market. Chronology * Key Dates: * 1953:  Indian Airlines is formed as India's domestic airline. * 1965:  Short-haul Caravelle jets enter the fleet. * 1972:  IAC records a rare loss. * 1975:  The company orders its first widebody jets. * 1992:  India's domestic air market is deregulated. * 1998:  Plans to merge Indian Airlines with Air-India are drawn up but not approved. 2001:  The Indian government solicits bidders for p artial ownership of Indian Airlines. Additional Details * State-Owned Company * Incorporated:  1953 as Indian Airlines Corporation * Employees:  22,500 * Sales:  Rs 3,755 crore ($1 billion) (2001) * NAIC:  481111 Scheduled Passenger Air Transportation; 481112 Scheduled Freight Air Transportation; 481211 Nonscheduled Chartered Passenger Air Transportation; 481212 Nonscheduled Chartered Freight Air Transportationhttp://www. referenceforbusiness. com/history2/65/Indian-Airlines-Ltd. html#ixzz2DAhNxQo5

Development from Conception to Age 16 Years Old

All children develop but this is at different levels. In this section I am going to look at and discuss how four to five year olds develop physically and the language and communication development of four to five year olds. And then in the next section look at the same developments but for older children 8-16 years old. Physical development relates to physical movements. Becoming independent is closely linked to physical development.Communication and language development relates to the ability to talk, listen to and understand what others are saying and to be able to interpret body language including facial expressions. Also involved within this development is reading and writing skills. Communication and language development is closely linked with cognitive development. There are two main ways in which children develop physically (1) fine motor skills, these are the smaller movements that occur of the hands, wrists, fingers, toes etc. and (2) gross motor skills, these being the larg er muscle movements for example running jumping etc.At age four to five children’s gross motor skills will include aiming, throwing, catching and kicking of a ball, hopping on one foot, walking a fine line, to be able to change direction when running, pedal and climb with confidence. Balancing and co-ordination skills by this age are developing very quickly, a five year old will be able to jump a rope, balance on one foot, maybe be able to ride a bike with no stabilizers, use his/her waist to bend, they will be able to touch their toes without bending their knees, speed and agility is developed, running becomes at a faster speed and they are able to respond quickly to obstacles when running.The fine motor skills that four to five year olds will develop are that they will be able to button and unbutton, string beads onto a piece of string, cut with scissors, build a block tower using at least ten blocks, being able to confidently put a twelve piece jigsaw together and hold a p encil/pen not using the clench fist grip.By five years old the child will be able to write more letters than they previously could, if taught to they will be able to write their own name, the pictures that a 4 to 5 year old draws should contain some recognisable objects, they will by this age of developed enough muscle control to cut more accurately and with precision, they will now be able to dress themselves and use a knife and fork correctly. Self-expression and communication opens up as children begin to develop their language skills.Although as previously stated children do develop at different paces, most 4-5 year olds are beginning to use language in a much more sophisticated manner than previously and their understanding of language has increased dramatically. †¢By the time a child reaches the age of 4 years old, the majority of them will be able to speak fluently enough to effectively hold short conversations with adults. By this age their speech will consist of full s entences of four or more words that are correctly strung together. Al though children at 4 may still make mistakes with grammar and struggle to use past tense correctly e. g. I seed it’ instead of ‘I saw it’. At four children will have a large vocabulary including words such as colours, body parts, household items etc. The pronunciation of these words is generally correct at this age. By five, a child’s vocabulary will be increased from that of a 4 year old and will contain between 2000 and 5000 words, 5 year olds will use all these words when communicating and will recognise them also. At 5 years old the child will now have an understanding of jokes and riddles and may even begin to re tell jokes to other people. At this age if asked the child should be able to tell you basic information about themselves i. . full name, their birthday etc. The sentence structure of a 5 year old will be more complex than that of a 4 year old, sentences used will be longer and with fewer grammatically errors. An interest in reading and writing may now develop and by 5 a child may be able to recognize simple and short words and their own name. Vocabulary is about 5000 words and their speech is fluent. †¢Children should be able to understand more complex instructions, and concepts such as first/last, same/different. †¢They should be able to understand most types of questions. †¢Their grammar is usually correct when talking but occasional errors may still occur. They should be able to take turns when talking and be involved with longer conversations. †¢They should be able to tell you about an event fairly clearly. †¢Should be able to follow more than one instruction. †¢They should understand harder questions such as â€Å"When? † †¢They should be able to describe events in sequence order. †¢They should be able to define a word when asked e. g. â€Å"What is a ball? † a child will say â€Å"You catch it / kick it† †¢A child's speech can generally be understood †¢They should be able to understand some implied or suggested information in stories and conversations.Milestones for children’s development can be found from the EYFS and many other websites, these give charts of what most children should be able to do at certain ages. Please see appendix for an example of a development milestone chart for children. By the time a child reaches the age of 8-12 their fine motor skills become much more refined and this allows for much more intricate work/activities to be done as example knitting. By this age less concentration is needed meaning that children will talk whilst using their hands for fine motor movements.Gross motor skills are developed further between the ages of 8-12 years old there will be an increase in the child’s co-ordination and perceptual skills thus allowing children of this age to have more concentration on strategies during physical game s such as netball, football etc. †¢The development of language and communication is clearly visible when a child is between 8 and 12 years old, they will have gained a much greater confidence in reading and writing skills, their vocabulary continues to increase and they will now use problem solving and reasoning language. to 12 years – Children will be able to communicate in a clear and fluent manner. †¢Written communication skills become more refined, although children of this age will still be more able to express themselves verbally and non-verbally than in a written form. †¢Vocabulary continues to increase, with children questioning, reasoning, chatting and telling jokes. †¢The rules of grammar are learnt and are being used more. †¢The language young people use within this age band is often littered with phrases and sayings current to their times. Lev Vygotsky believes that the inexperienced can learn from the experienced, which allows less experi enced learners to accomplish more complex tasks. Vygotsky believed that language played a very important part in the development of learning and thinking. He believed language was essential in order to enable the children to think in the abstract. One of Vygotskys main points within his theory was that cognitive development is driven by social interaction. He put great emphasis on the fact that he believed culture played an important role in shaping the cognitive development of children.Vygotsky talks about the ZPD which stands for Zones of proximal development and this is what he uses to describe the difference of what a person can achieve/do without help so unaided and what he/she can do with help and guidance. Vygotskys theory emphasises the fundamental importance and the role of social interaction. According to Vygotsky (1978) much important learning occurs through social interaction that the child is involved in with a more skilled person, teacher, parent/ carer etc. He believe d that language was an accelerator to thinking/understanding.His theory states that language is developed from social interactions, for the purpose of communication and that later on in a child’s development language ability becomes internalized as thought and inner speech. Vygotsky believed that thought and thinking is a result of language. The Nature vs. Nurture Theory has been heavily debated by theorists for years. At the center of the debate is whether or not an individual's personality is more influenced by his/ her genetic structure (nature) or the environment in which he or she grows up (nurture).The Nature versus Nurture theory states that physical development depends on the environment a child is raised in, genetic makeup is inherited from a child’s parents and is set at conception, these determine things such as height, eye colour etc, this is nature’s influence. A child’s environment and experiences influence health and activity levels for tha t individual which contributes to the physical development of a child. The child’s environment is the framework and basis in which he/she physically interacts with the world.Some scientists believe that a way a person acts and behaves is according to genetic predispositions this is where the ‘nature’ part of the theory comes in. Other scientists believe that an individual’s behaviour is taught therefore this is where the ‘nurture’ part of the theory comes in. Some theorists think that we behave as we do according to genetic predispositions or even â€Å"animal instincts. † This is known as the â€Å"nature† theory of human behaviour. Other theorists believe that we think and behave in certain ways because we are taught to do so.This is known as the â€Å"nurture† theory of human behaviour. There are many different observations techniques. In my 3 observations I used (1) A written narrative, this is a written account of wha t you actually see and hear, (2) A check list, this is a table with activities and then you tick to say whether the child you are observing can do them, can’t do them or is working towards achieving them and lastly (3) A time sample this is similar to a written narrative but you observe the child at regular intervals and record the time and what the child is doing and saying.It is vital that all information gathered from an observation is kept confidential. This can be achieved by ensuring no names are disclosed including child’s name and setting information. Using coding is a good working practice for child care providers and it is essential to ensure information is on a need to know basis only, as an example when writing up an observation TC is used for target child, or FC for focus child, this means the child’s name is not disclosed therefore complying with confidentiality.The Data Protection Act 1998 is an Act of Parliament and it defines the law on the proc essing of personal information. It states that information gathered must not be disclosed without permission/consent, this act therefore supports the safeguarding of all children as it ensures that confidentiality occurs within the setting. The observations are kept safely so that they are not on show and only the teachers would have access to them, the parents/carers do however have the right to see them if they wish too. The observations are kept on a need to know basis.Diversity; the diversity of something is the fact that it contains many very different elements, a range of things that are very different from each other. The concept of Diversity brings together acceptance and respect and an understanding that every individual is unique. It is paramount that diversity exists within a childcare setting. All children come from a variety of backgrounds and family structures, and this should always be respected by a childcare practitioner. This could include things such as a childâ⠂¬â„¢s culture, language, beliefs and their care needs.For children to learn and be happy they need to have love, affection, stimulation and physical care but this however can be at different levels thus meaning a childcare provider must establish a positive attitude to all children in their care and their families. To ensure diversity occurs as a childcare practitioner you should ensure that you find out the background of all children as an example find out their likes and dislikes. It is essential you are always observant so that you are aware and can identify if and when a child in your care needs something.You should make sure activities that are available reflect a wide range of cultures and backgrounds. Part of your daily practice should involve talking to all children and their parents/carers. Ensuring that you make it visible that all children and their families are accepted by you a as practitioner. It is crucial that you do not have any prejudices or show any ill feeling t owards any of the children in your care or their families at any time. Inclusion; this involves making a person or thing part of a group or collection, to include everyone/everything.Inclusive practice is essential when working with children as a childcare provider. To ensure this occurs as a practitioner you must make sure that every child feels part of the group and is included in whatever you do e. g. activities that are offered should cater for all the needs of all the children within the group. As a childcare provider you must ensure that you show how you will meet the needs of individual children and their families in a way that will make them feel comfortable and not that they are being excluded or classed as a nuisance.Inclusive practices can be achieved by making sure that childcare practitioners are welcoming to everyone regardless of their background. It is vital that you show all children in your care that you like them, this will be achieved by getting down to their lev el , gaining eye contact when you’re talking to them or the child is talking to you, always ensure a child has your full attention and that you actually listen to what they have to say.A practitioner should always encourage all children in their care to participate during activities within the setting but you must not force a child to do anything against their wishes. Another way that as a childcare provider you could ensure inclusive practice is to be sure that all parents/carers receive the same information this may mean adapting it to fit their needs for example if their primary language isn’t English you could have the information translated into their first language.Evaluation of the obseravtions that I carried out are as follows, TC child is mainly achieving beyond the norms for his age according to the EYFS. According to the EYFS the learning goals for 5 year olds are to *’Move with control and co-ordination’, TC is already achieving this as illust rated by my tick chart (see appendix), TC could do all but one of the activities, and is working towards the star jumps, sometimes being able to do them and sometimes not. The EYFS also states that 5 year olds should be able to * ‘Jump off an object and land appropriately. The time sample observation from an outdoor play session shows that TC jumped off a pirate ship in the playground and fell over, this may be because he was just enjoying his outdoor playtime and was caught up in the moment of playing ‘pirates’. TC is also achieving most the norms for his age within language and communication he can read all his key words and also write them from memory this is clearly shown in my written narrative observation, the EYFS says that by this age children should be able to *’use talk to gain attention’ TC showed and discussed with the teacher the writing he had done.The EFYS also says that at this age children should ‘take account of what others sa y’ I would say that from my observations TC needs some extra support with understanding how his actions could make other people feel in the observation I noted he preferred to play alone within the free play session rather than with other children and when another child ask to play with him he responded ‘no’, this may be because TC didn’t need any help doing the puzzle but further observations could help to identify if there any problems with his sharing skills.From the observations I did TC is at the right stage with his language development. To improve his physical development I would suggest a physical education lesson which includes practicing star jumps and ensuring when jumping off of objects you land safely. The purpose of observations is so as a childcare practitioner you are able to see where children are in their development, to observe what stages they are at, and to see if they are at the correct stages for their age.From the findings of the ob servations a practitioner can evaluate the evidence and then plan ways to extend the child’s learning and development. The planning cycle is key to ensure that all children within the setting can achieve and reach their full potential. By this I mean PLAN ; the planning of the observation to take place, DO ; carry out the observation and REVIEW ; assess and evaluate results and findings from the observation, and plan ways to improve (see appendix).For example if you plan an observation and the child isn’t always achieving what they should be, then as a practitioner you could plan to re do the activity enabling and ensuring as a practitioner the children in your care will achieve and reach the goals set. From observations you will be able to assess individual children’s needs and implement ways to improve and promote their development. As an example if a child lacks fine motor skills you could plan an activity involving cutting and gluing thus providing the child with experiences and activities to help them improve and develop their fine motor skills.Child observations are vital within a childcare setting to promote all children’s development. It is essential that confidentiality is adhered to when carrying out all observations. It is important that as a childcare practitioner you seek parents/carers permission, this is so the parents are aware of what is going on and so that they know what you are observing on their child. If permission wasn’t requested this could result in the parent being unhappy and could result in the child being at risk.The information gathered from an observation should be correctly stored in a suitable place where only service professional have access to it. As a childcare practitioner the child’s safety and welfare is paramount, therefore confidentiality is of upmost importance to ensure this occurs. There are strict policies and procedures within all settings and these support confidentiality and ensure it occurs. Objectivity in observations is very important if you as the observer are not objective then the observation will be bias.If the observer is not objective this could result in untrue observations being recorded, observers could develop an opinion about what they think the results should be. To ensure that reliable results are recorded during observations you must be objective, as a childcare practitioner you can’t be prejudice and must not take into account ethnic background etc. Therefore objectivity leads to reliable results and results that you would be able to compare to other results.Objectivity has to occur as not one person can observe all children, you need to be objective to be able to compare results fairly, or conclude what milestones the child being observed has reached. As a practitioner you have to carry out observations and assessments. There are many implications that a childcare provider must consider within their working practice. One of these limitations is weather the observation has validity. A practitioner must focus on if the achievements and findings from the observation are a true indicator and that the learning outcomes that were intended were stuck to.A practitioner must think about and consider how reliable their observation results are, there could many reasons why the findings are not reliable for example the child being observed may be ill or having an off day this would result in the observation having to be carried out again at a later date. When recording observations a practitioner must consider the best observation technique to use and ensure no pre-assumptions, bias, or personal opinions are bought into it, making sure as a practitioner you only record what you actually see and not what you think you see or what you think the child can achieve.To be able to observe children Legislation states you must seek parents’ permission to do so, it is therefore essential that excellent parent/teache r relations are built and maintained. Having good relationships with parents/carers means that the parent will feel free to come and disclose information to you which may result in you as the practitioner not carrying out a planned observation but re-scheduling it ensuring results are as reliable as they can be.For example a parent/carer may come in and say to the teacher that the family pet had died and child A is very upset, this would obviously impact on a child’s behaviour and if an observation was to still be carried out the results would not be reliable. Sometimes the practitioner may need to seek advice from other service professionals and they would need to ensure a good working partnership which would in turn enable the child to reach their best possible learning outcomes, e. g. speech therapist, a translator etc.When observing within the setting this could be disrupted to the rest of the class and could have an impact on the results of the observation for example yo u may need it to be quiet and this may not always be possible. As a childcare provider you need to ensure all other staff members are aware of what you are doing, so that when you are doing an observation they don’t interrupt etc. Some activities may have to be changed or adjusted to fit the aims of the observation and this could cause disruption or be confusing so you would have to do the activity more than once to ensure realistic ecordings of the observation. Vygotskys theory can be and is applied to working practice today. He believed that relationships are key to learning; this can be seen within a setting by the fact that children do well and achieve if there is mutual trust and a good teacher/child relationship. This can be supported in that as a childcare provider you should have respect for all children in your care with no prejudices or pre assumptions etc. Vygotsky also stated that language was one of the most important tools in a child’s development.Part of the daily routine within a childcare setting should involve the practitioner talking to all children, this results in ideas that are being discussed being developed and language is used to think. His theory also discusses that children can develop further. Therefore observations are important in working out the next steps and building on the child’s current levels. According to Vygotsky adults extend children’s cognitive development through guidance and teaching, and this is clearly visible in settings today, the practitioner teaches and guides children in their care ensuring they reach their full potential. Through others we become ourselves. †- Lev S. Vgotsky. Also, Vygotsky is relevant to instructional concepts such as â€Å"scaffolding† and â€Å"apprenticeship†, in which a teacher/tutor or a more advanced peer helps to structure or arrange a task so that a less advanced person/peer can work on it successfully. Vygotsky's theories also lead cur rent day practice into the current interest in collaborative learning, which suggests that group members should have different levels of ability so more advanced peers can help less advanced members be successful within their zone of proximal development.Another theory that has had an impact on practices today is that of John Bowlby. He looked at and studied ‘attachment’, his 1952 report lead to huge changes with how children are treated in hospitals and institutions. A great deal of emphasis was put onto the importance of the mother and child relationship, Bowlby believed that when attachment behaviours are nurtured by the primary care giver the child feels secure and positive to explore. As this relationship grows and becomes stronger the child will feel happy to leave their parent/carer.Due to the extensive researched carried out by Bowlby we are now able to understand the influence of having key relationships. This is visible in settings today as there are key worke rs in place who have a selected few number of children to work with. Bowlby did extensive research into the concept of attachment, describing it as a â€Å"lasting psychological connectedness between human beings† (Bowlby, 1969, p. 194). He believed that everyones early attachment styles are established in childhood through the infant/primary caregiver relationship.In addition to this, Bowlby believed that attachment aids in survival. â€Å"The propensity to make strong emotional bonds to particular individuals is a basic component of human nature† (Bowlby, 1988, page 3). To conclude as a practitioner observations are vital in ensuring all children in your care reach their full potential and development further. There are many different theories on childhood development and the research carried out in these has had a massive impact on practice today and is visible within settings.

Thursday, August 29, 2019

How might government debt reduction plans affect Bury Sports Ltd Essay

How might government debt reduction plans affect Bury Sports Ltd - Essay Example The UK public sector budget deficits, which are recorded since 2002-03, have already reached at the level of  £6.0 billion in February 2010, more than double in comparison with its previous year level. Net capital borrowing has increased almost one and half times more to  £12.4 billion than its previous year level. As a percentage of GDP the net public sector debt of the UK government has touched to 60.3 per cent in February, 2010, a 10 scale higher than the level of February, 2009. At the end of February, 2010 the net debt also has increased to  £857.5 billion from a level of  £712.4 billion in February 2009. Net public sector borrowing has also jumped to  £49.4 billion from the level of  £ 32.4 billion, at the end of the third quarter of 2009-10. Excluding the financial interventions, the public sector net debt has risen to  £741.6 billion by the end of February, 2010 from the level of  £596.9 billion which was seen in February, 2009, exactly before one year. (Month ly:  £6.0bn budget deficit, March 29, 2010; Tanweer, Thompson, n.d.). Keeping these issues in mind the government has taken a deficit reduction strategy. This set the path to Mr. Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer to take an aggressive decision towards the reduction of debt. The government has planned for high cuts in its public spending over the coming two years. Mr. Darling intends to reduce the general government spending excluding capital investment, interest on debt and social welfare costs by almost 1.5 per cent and 2 percent in 2011 and 2012 respectively. (Fiscal Responsibility Bill, 2009-10, pp. 1-3). With the outlook of bringing the budget back into balance within 2017 financial year, the government would like that its budget deficit as a percentage of GDP may fall to almost the half level of the present year standard. With the

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

American Short Story Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

American Short Story - Research Paper Example As Michael J. Cummings (2006) maintains, the local-color writers, also called ‘local colorists’, presented their narratives in a regional dialect and â€Å"attempted to portray life in the various sections of burgeoning America. Harte, for example, focused many of his stories on the gold-mining camps and towns. However, rather than writing soberly realistic stories, local colorists tended to write stories infused with ‘eccentrics as characters’ and ‘whimsical plotting’†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Cummings) Therefore, it is fundamental to realize that Bret Harte celebrates many of his essential features as a short story writer in â€Å"The Outcasts of Poker Flat†. This paper makes a reflective analysis of the short story by Harte in order to make out the distinguishing features of the short story, its themes, the major action, the characters, etc. As aforementioned, â€Å"The Outcasts of Poker Flat† is a central example of the author’s c oncern for regionalism and local color. It is through the use of the Western setting and local color that Harte attempts to be a model for his contemporaries and his story is set in the rough and tumble days of the California Gold Rush.

Tuesday, August 27, 2019

IDS policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

IDS policy - Essay Example Also, there are different evils associated to these network structures. For instance, personal information theft, business information hacking and virus attacks are the contemporary issues businesses are facing nowadays in the network communication and data transfer areas (Frederick, 2002). Furthermore, because of the increasing amount of intrusions the local networks and Internet have turned out to be uncertain, therefore, businesses more and more applying a variety of systems that monitor information technology security breaches (Sans, 2009). Network intrusion as its name represents, attempts to recognize attempted or applied intrusions into network and to carry out proper actions for the intrusions. Intrusion detection includes an extensive collection of methods that differ on several axes. A few of these axes comprise: (Silberschatz, Galvin, & Gagne, 2004) The types of input inspected to identify intrusive action. These could comprise user shell commands, process system calls, as well as network packet headers or contents. Several types of intrusions might be identified only by correlating information from various such sources. The variety of action capabilities. Basic and straightforward types of actions consist of changing an administrator of the possible intrusion or in some way halting the potentially intrusive action, for instance, killing a course of action engaged in actually intrusive activity. In a complicated type of action, a system might clearly redirect an intruder’s action to a trap. A false resource exposed to the attacker with the aim of observing and gaining information about the attack; to the attacker, the resource appears real. These levels of freedom in the design of space for detecting intrusions in systems have brought an extensive variety of solutions acknowledged as intrusions detection systems (IDS) (Silberschatz, Galvin, & Gagne, 2004). Gem Infosys desires to protect