Saturday, December 21, 2019

Analysis Of Bell Hooks And Frantz Fanon - 1401 Words

Both philosophers, bell hooks and Frantz Fanon, address the problem of equality. In Feminism is for Everybody, hooks defines feminism as a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression. Hooks begins by stating feminism is for everybody (2000) and that it is an attempt to end sexism though reform feminism. In â€Å"Racism and Culture,† Fanon investigates whether ending racism is due to cultural relativity. In the book by Gloria Anzaldua Borderlands/La Frontera, she describes the personal struggles she faced through her insecurities relative to the society that exists today. In agreement, Fanon believes racism can be eliminated once the idea of superiority is rejected amongst people. This paper investigates both views of the†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"Reformist feminism became their route to class mobility†¦ while sexism did not end, they could maximize their freedom within the existing system† (Hooks, 5). It is seen through reform feminists th at women are trying take the role of men in terms of hierarchy by trying to move up in terms of class. For example, working in the Federal Bureau of Investigation is portrayed such that women are secretaries and men are the ones leading investigations out in the field especially on television. Broadcasting this ideology is partially to blame for the existence of sexism. Consequently, reform feminism is subjected towards gender equality seen as a classification. Fanon believes that there are three stages to racism and culture. One of these stages include people having no culture through the justification of slavery. â€Å"Racism, as we have seen, is only one element of a vaster whole: that of the systematized oppression of a people† (Fanon, 3). Slavery is a form of ownership where a person known as a slave is controlled and forced to work. This is a historical example of the oppressed that are taken advantage of and used due to the fact that they are labeled as property. Racism is something that can be eliminated once the notion that superiority exists amongst people is rejected. There are many similarities between Hooks and Fanon in terms of eliminating sexism and oppression in its entirety. Hooks and Fanon both agree that

Friday, December 13, 2019

Report on the European Bond Market †March 2010 to August 2011 Free Essays

string(110) " and difficult for institutions such as the European Central Bank and IMF to prevent the contagion spreading\." ABSTRACT This report evaluates the European bond market’s performance over the last 18 months, and explains some of the underlying causes and events that have affected it, including the perception of risk related to sovereign debt levels in the Eurozone. The report goes on to discuss the outlook for the bond market over the next 12 months, and possible mechanisms that may be used to bring debt to more sustainable levels not only for the benefit of struggling economies, but also for the future of the Eurozone and global economy as a whole. Introduction A bond is a fixed income security, issued by Governments and corporations to raise long term capital. We will write a custom essay sample on Report on the European Bond Market – March 2010 to August 2011 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Governments sell bonds to finance the shortfall between their spending and revenue. Investors are interested in bond returns, which are determined by the initial bond price, coupon value and the maturity date (Buckle and Thomas, 2009). Although there is no formal single European bond market, bonds by countries in the Eurozone are viewed as a single market, as these economies share a single European currency (excluding the UK), and are heavily exposed to each others’ economies. As the majority of bonds are held by Governments, global banks and institutional investors, even perceived risk of one Government defaulting on bonds can have severe consequences for the European and global economy. European Bond Market Performance Bond markets increased in importance post 2008 as investors shifted exposure from equity to debt instruments, and from private to public sector securities (Forster et al. 2011), in a flight to safety. The European bond market has experienced volatility over the last 18 months, due to a number of concerns regarding sovereign debt and growth prospects of European and global economies, leading to a decline in investor confidence. Greece’s default risk (see Appendix 1.3) resulted in sharp increases in yields (Appendix 1.4) on Government bonds. This also resulted in bond yields of other European countries including Ireland, Portugal and Spain to rise due to fears of contagion (Bank of England, 2010a). In Greece’s case, already high sovereign debt levels meant that higher yields made servicing debts more expensive. Due to this and to stop contagion spreading, in May 2010 the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed a bailout package for Greece of 110bn Euros, to provide certainty to the market and prevent Greece defaulting on its debt. Chart A plots the spread of ten-year Government bond yields for European countries (benchmark – German Bonds/Bunds). Greece’s bond yields began to rise sharply from late 2009, peaking in May 2010 as the bailout package was announced. For risk neutral investors, higher yields meant increased returns, however this had to be balanced against the risk of default by the issuer. Irish, Portuguese and Spanish bond yields also increased with their spreads diverging away from other European countries. Concerns now started to build for these countries as the Euro continued to fall, decreasing Europe’s buying power in the global economy. From June 2010, bond yields began to fall as economies experienced a redistribution of capital into safe assets, causing economies to struggle to attract investors to finance spending. In November, the EU and IMF were forced to agree a bailout package for the Republic of Ireland of 85bn Euros, due to the re-emergence of sovereign and banking system concerns. Bond yields hit historically low levels (Bank of England, 2010b), as sovereign debt crises triggered a search for safe assets (Chart B). However, it was also deemed that such extended periods of low bond yields could trigger a search for yield in riskier assets, resulting in overheating in emerging markets. Then between March and May 2011, Greece, Ireland, and Portugal experienced sharp rises in yield spreads due to uncertainty about how they will resolve their economic challenges (Chart C). In May 2011, the EU and IMF were forced to bailout Portugal, as it struggled to finance its sovereign debt. In August 2011, the European Central Bank indicated that it will buy Spanish and Italian Government bonds, in a bid to bring down those countries’ borrowing costs, and prevent concerns growing of a Europe-wide sovereign debt crisis. Future of the European Bond Market Over the next 12 months, movements in the global economy, including the downgrade of the US bond market from its AAA rating may slow growth and return the country, and global economy, into recession. This will have a significant impact as investor confidence falls and global growth expectations are downgraded. In terms of debt sustainability, there will be further efforts by EU Governments to implement more severe austerity measures, in a bid to bring sovereign debt to manageable levels. However, as we have seen over the past 18 months, this has come at a cost to growth. Without growth, it is evident that countries cannot afford to service their current debt levels, let alone reduce them. In the EU, this leaves Governments with a lack of fiscal policy levers to manage the economy. Apart from the UK which has not joined the Euro, other Eurozone countries are unable to use mechanisms such as currency devaluation in an attempt to control economic fluctuations. In addition, as the budgets of larger European countries come under scrutiny, if fears of default or a downgrade of their debt arise, the fallout will be massive. For these economies, a bailout may prove impossible, causing the disintegration of the Euro and Eurozone. Conclusion The European bond market has experienced volatility over the last 18 months, due to fears of default by European economies such as Greece, Ireland and Portugal, and deteriorating economic conditions globally. The pursuance of austerity plans have meant that growth has stunted and with the recent downgrade of US debt, fears of a double dip recession have returned. The financial crisis that began in 2008 has now evolved into a sovereign debt crisis in 2011, making it difficult for countries to service their debt, and difficult for institutions such as the European Central Bank and IMF to prevent the contagion spreading. You read "Report on the European Bond Market – March 2010 to August 2011" in category "Essay examples" Although the new Basel regulations have supported banking systems by ensuring Banks are retaining profits to improve their capital to lending ratios, their level of exposure to sovereign debt means that default by any advanced economy may trigger another, deeper, financial crisis, as Governments will not have the funds to bail Banks out. However, there are some mechanisms that are being explored to return normality to the bond markets. Short selling is currently banned, reducing volatility in the equity and bond markets. In addition, other solutions are being explored such as the automatic extension of bond maturities, allowing Governments more time to pay back lenders, and the potential for a common Euro area bond. This would potentially bring down the cost of borrowing for Greece and other troubled countries, however may increase costs for countries with healthy balance sheets such as Germany, meaning this proposal has faced substantial opposition. Finally, there is renewed debate that credit ratings agencies such as Moody’s, Fitch and Standard Poor’s cause volatility in markets by prematurely downgrading Government and corporate debt, and subsequently causing weak investor confidence and market jitters that affect all economies. Their role in the financial crisis of 2008 and the current sovereign crisis is coming under intense scrutiny and we may see Governments coming together to reign in their power, reducing volatility in both bond and equity markets. APPENDIX 1.1Bond Definition A bond is a fixed income security, or debt instrument, issued globally by Governments and corporations to raise long term capital. Governments sell bonds to finance the shortfall between government spending and government revenue. In the UK, this is referred to as the Public Sector Net Cash Requirement. Bonds represent a promise by the issuer (borrower) to pay the holder (lender) a fixed single payment or stream of payments, called coupons, at specified dates over the term of the bond. Once the bond matures, the issuer must return to the holder the par value of the security plus any outstanding payments. Importantly, bond returns are determined by the initial bond price, coupon value (dependant on percentage of yield) and the maturity date (CFA UK, 2009). 1.2Bond Calculation The Present Value of a bond can be calculated using the following basic formula: C = coupon payment n = number of payments i = interest rate, or required yield M = value at maturity, or par value 1.3The Beginnings of the European Sovereign Debt Crisis Bond markets have increased in importance following the global financial crisis in 2008. Investors shifted exposure from equity to debt instruments, and from private to public sector securities (Forster et al. 2011), in a flight to safety. However at this time, government borrowing also rose substantially, partly due to the banking crisis, but also to provide a stimulus to ailing economies. In 2009, the EU ordered France, Spain, Ireland and Greece to implement austerity measures to reduce their burgeoning budget deficits. Following this, in December 2009, Greece admitted that its debt had reached 300bn Euros, equivalent to 113% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Ratings agencies swiftly downgraded Greece’s credit rating due to fears that it may not be able to repay its lenders on the bond market. This led to concerns about the debt sustainability of other European countries such as Portugal, Ireland and Spain, and fears of contagion, where other countries’ national banks were exposed to Greece’s default risk. If Greece did default on its debt, this would have severe consequences for other European economies and the European single currency, and this led to bailouts for Greece and other economies. 1.4Explanation of Yield The yield determines the value of the coupon payment that the issuer must pay to the lender on the bond. An increased yield can indicate that there is a greater risk associated with holding that bond for the lender, and therefore the lender requires a greater return. 1.5Growing Sovereign Debt Levels as a Proportion of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) As bond markets finance Government debt, and this debt can only be serviced by economic growth in the domestic economy, it is important to consider the growing levels of Eurozone debt as a backdrop to the volatility in the bond markets. Table A shows the consolidated gross debt of European countries since 2004 as a percentage of GDP (Source: Eurostat). GEO/TIME2010200920082007200620052004 Belgium96.896.289.684.288.192.194.2 Germany83.273.566.364.967.668.065.8 Estonia6.67.24.63.74.44.65.0 Ireland96.265.644.425.024.827.429.7 Greece142.8127.1110.7105.4106.1100.098.6 Spain60.153.339.836.139.643.046.2 France81.778.367.763.963.766.464.9 Italy119.0116.1106.3103.6106.6105.9103.9 Cyprus60.858.048.358.364.669.170.2 Luxembourg18.414.613.66.76.76.16.3 Malta68.067.661.562.063.469.972.2 Netherlands62.760.858.245.347.451.852.4 Austria72.369.663.860.762.163.964.8 Portugal93.083.071.668.363.962.857.6 Slovenia38.035.221.923.126.727.027.2 Slovakia41.035.427.829.630.534.241.5 Finland48.443.834.135.239.741.744.4 United Kingdom80.069.654.444.543.442.540.9 REFERENCE LIST BANK OF ENGLAND (2010a) Financial Stability Report, Issue no 27 (June). London. BANK OF ENGLAND (2010b) Financial Stability Report, Issue no 28 (December). London. BANK OF ENGLAND (2011) Financial Stability Report, Issue no 29 (June). London. BUCKLE, M. and THOMAS, S. (2009) Official Training Manual, Volume 2: Investment Practice, 7th ed. London: CFA Society of the UK. FORSTER, K. et al (2011) European Cross-Border Financial Flows and the Global Financial Crisis. Occasional Paper Series, European Central Bank, No 126 (July). BIBLIOGRAPHY BANK OF ENGLAND (2010) Financial Stability Report, Issue no 27 (June). London. BANK OF ENGLAND (2010) Financial Stability Report, Issue no 28 (December). London. BANK OF ENGLAND (2011) Financial Stability Report, Issue no 29 (June). London. BBC NEWS (2010) Greece Crisis: Fears Grow that it could Spread. www.news.bbc.co.uk, 28th April. BUCKLE, M. and THOMAS, S. (2009) Official Training Manual, Volume 1: UK Regulations Markets, 7th ed. London: CFA Society of the UK. BUCKLE, M. and THOMAS, S. (2009) Official Training Manual, Volume 2: Investment Practice, 7th ed. London: CFA Society of the UK. DE GRAUWE, P. and MOESEN, W. (2009) Gains for All: A Proposal for a Common Euro Bond. Intereconomics (May / June), pp 132-135. EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK (2011) Financial Integration in Europe (May) Germany. EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK (2011) Financial Stability Review (June) Germany. EWING, J and HEALY, J (2010) Cuts to Debt Rating Stir Anxiety in Europe. The New York Times, 27th April. FORSTER, K. et al (2011) European Cross-Border Financial Flows and the Global Financial Crisis. Occasional Paper Series, European Central Bank, No 126 (July). NASH, M. (2011) Debt Report: Sovereign Issuers Dominate the Debt Agenda. FTSE Global Markets, Issue 53, pp 32-34 (July / August). ZANDSTRA, D. (2011) The European Sovereign Debt Crisis and its Evolving Resolution, Capital Markets Law Journal, Volume 6, No. 3, pp 285-316 (May). How to cite Report on the European Bond Market – March 2010 to August 2011, Essay examples

Thursday, December 5, 2019

Communication and Feedback in Organizationsâ€Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: What Is the Role of Communication and Feedback in Organizations? Answer: Introduction Communication and Feedback required for successful management. To survive in the operating market, it is important for every organization to manage its business effectively. Management of the organization has become a concept of focus in the management literature. By effective management, organizations are also able to implement effective change in the business operations whenever it is required. But, there are many researchers who have found that there are organizational programs do not reach to the results due to the lack of effective communication and feedback process in the organization. Poorly managed communication in the organization is the cause of rumors and resistance among the employees (Robbins, 2003). So, communication and feedback can be considered to be the important part of the organization for managing the organization effectively. This essay demonstrates the role and importance of the communication and feedback in the business for managing the organization effectively. The studies revealed that the communication has positive cor relation with the many positive organizational results such as organizational performance, commitment, job satisfaction and the organizational citizenship behavior. Failure in the communication can be the cause of various functionless results i.e. low trust, stress, job dissatisfaction, absence, severance intension, and decrease in the organizational commitment (Tripathi Reddy, 2012). Organizational communication Now, effective and meaningful communication provides information to the employees at the levels of their job roles and motivates them to adopt the innovative business strategies. It is important that there should be the positive attitude among the employees towards managing the organization. Meaningful communication needs the cognitive organizational reorientation to manage the organizational strategies. According to Mckinney Smith (2004), communication is an important part which impacts the performance of the team in the organization. The organization which understands the importance of the communication is able to manage the daily operations of the business (Pauley, 2010). The communication process in the organization coordinate the factors of the production and human elements for the effective network change. There is the need of effective communication every organization with the new technology that would increase organizational performance (Key ton, 2011). The communication pro cess includes seven steps in the organization i.e. message, encoding, transmitting, receiving, decoding understanding and feedback. Communication in the organization is not a simple task. The communication process within an organization is described below in the figure. Figure 1: Communication Process (Source: Pauley, 2010) Communication in the organization- Based on the research done by Banihashemi (2011), the various channels of the communication are the most effective way to build the relationship with the employees in the organization. So, communication is the basic part for developing the structure of the organization. Communication is the key factor in the organization to maintain the coordination in the various activities at different level in the organization. Now, the communication in the organization can be upward, downward and horizontal. The process of communication is important for the organization to manage the basic functions of the business i.e. organizing, planning, controlling and leading. Communication is also helpful in managing the responsibilities by the managers (Rajhans, 2012). The role of the communication in the business is described below: Communication serves as the motivation by providing information and clarifying the employees about the job roles and the ways to perform the job. Communication process is important to improve the performance of the employees within the organization. Further, communication is basically spreads the information among the organizational members. Communication is also important for the successful decision making process as it is helpful in identifying the alternative course of actions. Communication is helpful in controlling process within the organization. In the organization, there are many levels of hierarchy and various guidelines and principles that should be followed by the employees. Employees should fulfill the organizational policies to perform the tasks effectively. They must communicate the work problems and accusation with the senior management. Thus, communication is helpful in managing the various functions of management (Goris, 2007). Example There are many top companies which are using effective communication process to manage their business process. The famous company Ford uses a number of communication tools to connect people with the business. In the business operations of Ford, communication is most challenging but visual tool. Ford uses bulletins, tools and exclusive newspaper and newsletters. There is the internal newsletter of the company @Ford which is translated in various languages. The communication tool makes sure that the provided messages always stay in peoples mind (Tanwar, 2015). Feedback and its role There are many people in the organization who suffer from the lack of performance feedback. Feedback is the most powerful and most under used management tool which are used by the organization to motivate the employees. Feedback is helpful in bringing the people on track in their job roles. It has effective skills to satisfy the employees and improve their productivity in the organization. By getting positive feedbacks, employees in the organization feel involved and identified. Basically, feedback takes place when an environment reacts on some behavior or action. For instance, it can be related to customers feedback for the companys product, policy or service or it can be employees performance feedback given by the manager for the performance of the employees. Feedback can be both positive and negative. To make important decision in the business operations, feedback can be the valuable information. Top performing companies are able to get higher position in the market because they a re continuously seeking for the ways to make their better to best. The main focus of these companies by the feedback are on the various parts i.e. employees, clients, suppliers, customers, stakeholders and vendors. Effective feedback are beneficial for everyone i.e. for the receiver, giver, and for the organization. There are some reasons which prove that feedback is very important in organization (D'hoedt Bouckaert, 2011). Feedback can take place all the time i.e. at the time of employee survey, training evaluation, and performance appraisal. At every time, a person can say to the person, customer, employee, vendor etc. Basically, people communicate feedback in the organization. Feedback has the ability to motivate the employees to perform better in the job role. By getting feedback on the performance, they feel appreciated and valued within the organization. The feedback from the suppliers, clients, customers, stakeholders and vendors, employees can be motivated to build up better working relations in the society. Further, feedback can be effective tool in improving and managing the organizational activities and operations. Continuous feedback is crucial for the entire organization for creating strategies; developing products, stay connected with the goals, improving relationship, improving services and much more. Sometimes, feedback is considered as the criticism and negative criticism is not good for organization. But the best and positive feedback can be helpful in formulating and taking better decisions to increase and improve the performance of the organization. Now, there are many researchers who have stated that the feedback is the important part of the communication. It is the link or component in the communication cycle as it indicates the successful spread of the message. So, effective feedback is interactive, active and able to improve the performance of organization. Feedback can be time consuming, difficult and repetitious when the performance of the organization and its employees is poor. Feedback has the most positive impact in the organization. To maintain the good working relationship between the organization and staff, Feedback is important. The importance of building relationship is based on the trust, collaboration and mutual respect. There is the process in obtaining useful feedback in the organization. Figure 2: Feedback process (Source: Torokoff Mets, 2005) There are three steps in the feedback process i.e. organization of observation and feedback, content and delivery feedback and use of feedback in learning process. So, it is clear that the various feedbacks are very helpful in improving the performance of the organization and managing the organizational activities (Torokoff Mets, 2005). Example Feedback process is used by the company PepsiCo which is the second largest food and Beverage Company. The company is using 360 feedback programs to maintain its leadership population in the global market. To improve leadership, the company has adopted four programs i.e. 360 processes, an employee survey, upward feedback process and a personality instrument. These four processes are important to work together in the company. Conclusion This essay describes the importance of feedback and communication in managing the organization effectively. From the above discussion, it is observed that communication and feedback can be considered to be the important part of the organization for managing the organization effectively. Communication is an important tool part of the organizational activities as there should be the positive attitude among the employees towards managing the organization. There is the need of effective communication every organization with the new technology that would increase organizational performance. The process of communication is important for the organization to manage the various activities of the organizations to improve the reputation in organization. Now, in terms of feedback, it is observed that feedback is helpful to guiding the people so that they can do the best in their job roles by motivating and energizing them. To make important decision in the business operations, feedback can be th e valuable information. Thus, it can be said that feedback and the communication process is important to manage the organization as they motivate the people of the organizations to perform bets in their job role. References D'hoedt, B., Bouckaert, G., (2011), Performance auditing Een inleiding, Leuven: KU Leuven Goris, J. R., (2007), Effects of satisfaction with communication on the relationship between individual job congruence and job performance/satisfaction: Journal of Management Development, 26(8), 737752 Key ton, J., (2011), Communication and organizational culture: A key to understanding work experience, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Pauley, J. A., (2010), Communication: The key to effective leadership, Milwaukee, WI: ASQ Quality Press Rajhans, K., (2012), Effective Organizational Communication: a Key to Employee Motivation and Performance: Inter-science Management Review, 2 (2), 81-85 Robbins, S. P., (2003), Organizational Behavior, (10th), New Jersy: Prentice Hall Tanwar, S., (2015), How effective communication can take companies to great heights, accessed on 8th May 2017 from https://www.rediff.com/money/report/how-effective-communication-can-take-companies-to-great-heights/20151123.htm Torokoff, M., Mets, T., (2005), The Learning Organisation and Learning in the Organisation: The Concept for Improving the Labour Quality in a School: Management of Organisation: Systematic Research, 35, pp 203-216 Tripathi, P. C., Reddy, P. N., (2012), Principles of Management, New Delhi: The McGram-Hill Company