Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 2

Finance - Essay Example Here the opportunity cost of capital is assumed to be 12%. Thus by adopting it as the discount rate for all future cash flows one can effectively obtain the NPV for them. This gives a few advantages. In the first place proper financial management requires a realistic opportunity cost to be set against capital. Though over a period of 5 years there can be considerable pressure on interest rates, a steady return of earnings would be ensured through proper cash flow management. After all the above cash flow forecasts are assumed to be constant though, in reality they might vary. The decision to make the investment is based on the apparent returns by way of future cash flows and it does not take into account the risk factor involved. For instance the investor has totally disregarded DCF method because he probably considers those future returns to be final and conclusive with respect to their values. The DCF calculations and the NPV figure of the total investment show that the decision is fairly justifiable because the NPV is equal to  £ 123,928.60 which is a considerable value against probable future inflationary pressure, i.e. the opportunity cost of capital. The importance of discounting future cash flows by using these formulas also depends on other factors as well. Discounted cash flows give a real picture of the future possibilities. Since DCF is what an individual is willing to pay at present in order to have what he expects to have in the future, it’s a process of expressing future revenue flows in terms of today’s value. Probably the most important reason behind DCF is the fact that inflation erodes the value of money in times to come, i.e. future. Therefore it’s essential to make up for the loss. That is why in each subsequent DCF multiplied by the number of years, a lower value comes up. The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) sets the present value of all future cash flows of an investment equal to zero.

Human History of the Grand Teton Essay Example for Free

Human History of the Grand Teton Essay Human history of the Grand Teton region dates back at least 11,000 years, when the first nomadic hunter-gatherer Paleo-Indians would migrate into the region during warmer months in pursuit of food and supplies. In the early 19th-century, the first Caucasian explorers encountered the eastern Shoshone natives. Between 1810 and 1840, the region attracted fur trading companies that vied for control of the lucrative beaver fur trade. U.S. Government expeditions to the region commenced in the mid 19th-century as an offshoot of exploration in Yellowstone, and the first permanent white settlers in Jackson Hole arrived in the 1880s. Efforts to preserve the region as a national park commenced in the late 19th-century and in 1929, Grand Teton National Park was established, protecting the major peaks of the Teton Range. The valley of Jackson Hole remained in private ownership until the 1930s, when conservationists led by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. began purchasing land in Jackson Hole to be added to the existing national park. Against public opinion and with repeated congressional efforts to repeal the measures, much of Jackson Hole was set aside for protection as Jackson Hole National Monument in 1943. The monument was abolished in 1950 and most of the monument land was added to Grand Teton National Park Grand Teton National Park is named for Grand Teton, the tallest mountain in the Teton Range. The naming of the mountains is attributed to early 19th-century French speaking trappers—les trois tetons (the three teats) was later anglicized and shortened to Tetons. At 13,775 feet (4,199 m), Grand Teton abruptly rises more than 7,000 feet (2,100 m) above Jackson Hole, almost 850 feet (260 m) higher than Mount Owen, the second highest summit in the range. The park has numerous lakes, including 15-mile (24 km) long Jackson Lake as well as streams of varying length and the upper main stem of the Snake River. Though in a state of recession, a dozen small glaciers persist at the higher elevations near the highest peaks in the range. Some of the rocks in the park are the oldest found in any U.S. National Park and have been dated at nearly 2.7 billion years.

CHF3 Decomposition by Dielectric Barrier Discharge Reactor

CHF3 Decomposition by Dielectric Barrier Discharge Reactor Decomposition of CHF3 by a Dielectric Barrier Discharge Reactor Duc Ba Nguyen and Won Gyu Lee* Abstract Oxidation of CHF3 was investigated in a dielectric barrier discharge reactor was immersed in an electrical insulating oil. The feed gases was mixed of CHF3, O2 and N2 with O2/N2 ratio of 21/79 volume/volume. The results obtained that 98.98% of CHF3 in the feed gases were destruction under: applied voltage of 7kV, frequency of 30 kHz; total flow rate of 100 ml/min with initial CHF3 concentration of 5%. Herein, selectivity of CO and CO2 in the products was 3.42% and 91.18%, respectively. Decomposition of CHF3 could be increased by improved plasma condition such as increasing applied voltage, increased frequency and decreased initial CHF3 concentration in the feed gases. Keywords: CHF3, dielectric barrier discharge, electrical insulating oil, plasma reaction, oxidation of CHF3 Introduction Decomposition of trifluoromethane (CHF3) is high potential reduce greenhouse gases. Because the 100 years global warming potential of CHF3 is 12000 [1]. Several methods have been employed for the decomposition of CHF3 such as thermal process [2-4], catalyst [5, 6]; plasma or combined plasma with catalyst (CPC) [7-11]. Thermal oxidation is one of effective CHF3 decomposition [12]. However, HF acid and formation fluorinated compounds existed in the exhaust gas stream along with high operation temperature (1473 K) [2]. It mean that the process is high cost, require material reactor and concern environmental. Thus, other process are required for treatment of exhaust gas such as absorbed acids, cooling process and decomposition of fluorinated compounds before ambient atmospheric emission [2, 11]. Catalyst methods could be reduced operation temperatures in the abatement of CHF3. However, HF formation and also operation temperature above 500 0C lead to reducing effective of catalyst [13-15]. Several above challenges could be solved by plasma or CPC, including, non-thermal plasma (NTP) is attractive and effective decomposition of CHF3 [16, 17]. Decomposition of CHF3 in NTP is lead to interaction between of high energy electrons, radicals and gas molecules. Herein, NTP could be generated high energy electr ons and radicals under high energy electrical. Therefore, decomposition of CHF3 could be performed at room temperature, ambient atmospheric pressure, fast conversion and easy realization by plasma method. However, several researchers have been reported the decomposition of CHF3 by catalyst or CPC with several thousand parts per million of CHF3 in the feed gases [18, 19]. It demonstrated that process yields were low. Moreover, the emission source of CHF3 is semiconductor industries, air condition, polystyrene industries and commercial refrigeration. So that the gas waste included CHF3 and air. Therefore, abatement of CHF3 in the gas waste is need before into atmosphere. In this study, decomposition of CHF3 with Zero Air (21% O2 and 79% N2) performed in a coaxial dielectric barrier discharge reactor under initial CHF3 concentration was not less than 5.0% (v/v). The reactor was immersed in an electrically insulating oil bath. Effect of several factors on the reaction investigated, namely, applied voltage, applied frequency, initial CHF3 concentration in the feed gas. These factors were examined on the decomposition of CHF3 and product components. Experimental The schematic of the experiment setup is shown in Fig. 1. A system is composed of four main parts: a feed gas system, an AC high voltage pulse power supply, a plasma reactor, and an analysis system. The reactor has an inner stainless steel stick as the power electrode that is 15 mm in diameter. The power electrode was placed inside a quartz tube as a dielectric barrier. Its outer diameter was 20 mm, and its thickness was 1.5 mm. Therefore, the discharge gap was fixed at 1.0 mm. Copper foil was wrapped around the quartz tube as the ground electrode, and its length was 200 mm. Thus, the discharge volume was about 10 ml. The plasma reactor was immersed in an electrically insulating oil bath (transformed oil provided by Michang Oil, KSC2301). The volume of electrical insulating oil bath was about 5000 ml. AC pulse power supply with 2 kW capacity was used for plasma ignition, which had a supply voltage and a frequency up to 30 kV (peak-to-peak) and 30 kHz, respectively. The electrical power was controlled by manual adjustment of the applied voltage level. The power waveforms were recorded by an oscilloscope (Tektronix 2012B). Fig. 2 showed a typical voltage, current, and discharge power waveforms generated under the process condition: total flow rate of 100 ml/min with CHF3 in the feed of 5% (v/v), frequency of 30 kHz; applied voltage of 7 kV. Discharge power was integral of current and voltage as shown in the equation below: Discharge power (P), (1) All of the experiments were performed at ambient atmospheric pressure and room temperature. The volume of gas products was measured by a soap-bubble flow meter. The composition of the gas products was analyzed by a gas chromatograph (GC, Younglin YL6100GC) equipped with a thermal conductivity detector (TCD) and a flame ionization detector (FID). A CarboxenTM 1010 PLOT capillary column was used in the GC column and the flow rate of Ar as a carrier was 6.0 ml/min. The products of plasma reaction with mixing of CHF3, O2 and N2 included N2O, NO2, COF2, F2, CF4, CO, CO2, CHF3, O2, N2 and so on [19]. However, the GC analysis could detect the reaction products including CO, CO2, and CHF3. According to the analysis of the products, the overall conversion, carbon balance and selectivity were defined as follows: (2) (3) (4) (5) Results and discussion Effect of applied voltage An applied voltage is important factor in the plasma process. Which is usually used to ignite and sustain glow discharge. Moreover, the degree of plasma reaction depend on the level of applied voltage, for example conversion of reactants and selectivity of products [19, 20]. The effect of applied voltage on the reaction was investigated under applied voltage from 4 to 7 kV, total flow rate of 100 ml/min with CHF3 concentration of 5% in the feed gases; frequency of 30 kHz. The results was shown as in fig 3. At applied voltage of 4 kV, the conversion of CHF3 obtained at 0%, however, the conversion of CHF3 was increased sharply from 5 to 7 kV applied voltage in fig 3 (a). The results demonstrated that energy input at applied voltage of 4 kV into discharge zone was not enough for dissociation of gases molecules. It due to lack of electron and radical formation for plasma reaction. However, electron and radicals for plasma reaction could be formed when applied voltage above of 4 kV. In ad dition, bond-dissociation energy of F-CHF2 and H-CF3 were 539.9 and 445.2 kJ/mol-1 at 298 K, respectively [21]. Discharge power increased sharply from 8 to 41 W, when applied voltage increased from 5 to 7 kV. It was caused of increasing CHF3 conversion in these experiments. Consequently, concentration of CHF3 in the gas outlet was 0.054% at applied voltage of 7 kV as shown in fig 3(b). An applied voltage was also effect on the component of gas outlet. The concentration of CO2 were increased significantly by increasing applied voltage from 5 to 7 kV, while, the concentration of CO were changed slightly during those experiments as shown in fig 3(b). In fact that, more radical and molecules in the discharge zone could be formed under high discharge power such as F, H, CF3, CF2, COF2, COF, CO, CO2, F2 and so on [19]. Therefore, conversion of reactants and products formation increased. Moreover, the selectivity of CO2 increased from 40% to 89% when applied voltage from 5 to 6 kV. Consequently, it increased slightly at applied voltage of 7 kV as shown in fig 3 (c). On the contract, the selectivity of CO decreased slightly from 5 to 6 kV and then it decreased gradually at applied voltage of 7 kV. The results due to increasing radical oxygen formation in the discharge zone when applied voltage increased from 5 to 7 kV. Carbon balance decreased slightly, when applied voltag e increased from 6 to 7 kV. It mean that total selectivity of CO and CO2 decreased. In fig 3 (c) shown that decreased selectivity of CO caused of reducing carbon balance. As the results, the maximum conversion of CHF3 obtained at 98.98% under applied voltage of 7 kV, frequency of 30 kHz, total flow rate of 100 ml/min and CHF3 concentration in the feed gases of 5%. Herein, the selectivity of CO2 and CO 91.18% and 3.42% in the product, respectively. Effect of initial CHF3 concentration Conversion of reactants could be improved by reducing initial amount of reactants in the feed. However, it caused of decreasing yield processing. Effect of initial CHF3 concentration on the reactions were investigated under applied voltage of 7 kV, frequency of 30 kHz and total flow rate of 100 ml/min. The results was shown in fig 4. The conversion of CHF3 decreased slightly from 98.98% to 95.94% when initial CHF3 concentration in the feed increased from 5% to 15%. It was as shown in fig 4 (a). The results demonstrated that conversion rate of CHF3 depended slightly on the range of initial CHF3 concentration. It was due to increased amount of CHF3 molecules in the discharge zone together with decreasing power discharge when initial CHF3 concentration increased as shown in fig 4 (a). Because of total flow rate constant, if CHF3 molecules increased then Nitrogen and oxygen molecules decreased. Moreover, bond-dissociation energy of O-O was 498.36 kJ/mol-1 at 298K. It is low than bond-dis sociation energy of F-CHF2 (539.9 kJ/mol-1) but higher than that of H-CF3 (445.2 kJ/mol-1) at 298 K [21]. At initial CHF3 concentration of 15%, the ratio of CHF3/O2 in the feed was 1/1.19. Several reason above due to conversion of CHF3 depended slightly in the range of initial CHF3. Initial concentration of CHF3 was effective on the concentration of CO2 in the products. However, it did not significantly on the concentration of CO and CHF3 in the products as shown in fig 4 (b). In the detail, concentration of CO2 increased from 4.79% to 14.20% when initial CHF3 concentration increased from 5% to 15%. On the other hand, concentration of CO were increased from 0.18% to 0.38%, while, increasing CHF3 concentration remain from 0.05% to 0.69%, respectively. In fig 4 (c) presented that the selectivity of CO and CO2 were decreased slightly by increasing initial CHF3 concentration in the feed gases. They caused of decreasing carbon balance during increasing initial CHF3 concentration in the feed. As the results, reactant conversion and products selectivity were depending slightly on the initial CHF3 concentration from 5% to 15% in these experiments. Effect of frequency Frequency of applied power is important factor along with voltage. Because they effected on the discharge power (equation 1) and applied power waveform. The effect of frequency on the reaction were investigated under condition of 7 kV applied voltage and 100 ml/min total flow rate with 5% CHF3 concentration in the feed. The results was shown in fig 5. It showed that the conversion of CHF3 increased significantly from 10 to 20 kHz; then it increased slightly at frequency of 30 kHz. While, discharge power increased gradually when frequency increased from 10 to 30 kHz as shown in fig 5(a). One of reason increased CHF3 conversion was increased discharge power when applied frequency increased from 10 to 30 kHz. Applied frequency also effect on the component of products. It was shown in fig 5 (b). Concentration of CO2 increased significantly from 2.89% to 4.79%, while, concentration of CO decreased from 0.36% to 0.18% when applied frequency increased from 10 to 30 kHz. Although, decreased CO concentration rate is twice when applied frequency from 10 to 30 kHz but it was small compared with concentration of CO2 in the products. As the same trend of concentration in products, the selectivity of CO2 increased, while, the selectivity of CO decreased when increased applied frequency as shown in fig 5 (c). The results presented that trend of CO2 and CO selectivity were opposed. It was caused of carbon balance did not change significantly from 10 to 20 kHz. However, carbon balance were increased when applied frequency increased from 20 to 30 kHz. It could be explained by that the selectivity of CO2 increased was more than reducing of CO selectivity at frequency of 30 kHz. Therefore, total molecules of CO and CO2 were increased when increased applied frequency from 20 to 30 kHz. In addition, carbon balance depending on total molecules of CO and CO2 (Equation 3). Consequently, increasing of applied frequency was not only increasing CHF3 conversion and CO2 selectivity but also reduced the selectivity of CO. Conclusion Destruction of CHF3 with zero air by a coaxial dielectric barrier discharge immersed in the electrically insulating oil bath was investigated. Several factors were effect on the reaction has been studied such as applied voltage, frequency and initial reactant concentration. The conversion of CHF3 was improved by increasing applied voltage and frequency; decreasing initial concentration of CHF3 in the feed gases. One of reason was the factors effect on the discharge power in the plasma reaction. The results demonstrated that the reactor was potential for CHF3 decomposing with initial reactant concentration was from 5% to 15% in the feed gases. More 95% of CHF3 in the feed could be destructed to CO, CO2 and so on, herein, total selectivity of CO and CO2 was more than 85% in the products. Acknowledgements This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea Government (MEST) (2010-0007450). References [1] D. HoughtonJT, N. GriggsDJ, D. Van der LindenPJ, J. MaskellK, Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2001). [2] A. McCulloch, Background_240305. pdf [Accessed 15 April 2010] (2005). [3] W. Han, E.M. Kennedy, S.K. Kundu, J.C. Mackie, A.A. Adesina, B.Z. Dlugogorski, J. Fluorine Chem. 131 (2010) 751. [4] P. Zhang, L. Cao, R. Pan, Z. Jiang, K. Qin, Q. Li, Procedia Engineering 62 (2013) 337. [5] N. Nagasaki, Y. Morikuni, K. Kawada, S. Arai, Catal. Today 88 (2004) 121. [6] G. Luo, Y. Luo, J. Qu, New J. Chem. 37 (2013) 3274. [7] H. Sekiguchi, T. Honda, A. Kanzawa, Plasma Chem. Plasma Process. 13 (1993) 463. [8] A.B. Murphy, T. McAllister, Phys. Plasmas 8 (2001) 2565. [9] M.B. Chang, H.M. Lee, Catal. Today 89 (2004) 109. [10] D.H. Kim, Y.S. Mok, S.B. Lee, S.M. Shi, J. Adv. Oxid. Technol. 13 (2010) 36. [11] W. Han, Y. Li, H. Tang, H. Liu, J. Fluorine Chem. 140 (2012) 7. [12] Validation Projects Methodologies: AM0001, Unfccc (2014) Accesed on 01/16 https://cdm.unfccc.int/Projects/Validation/index.html [13] H. Onoda, T. Ohta, J. Tamaki, K. Kojima, Applied Catalysis A: General 288 (2005) 98. [14] W.B. Feaver, J.A. Rossin, Catal. Today 54 (1999) 13. [15] J.Y. Jeon, X.-F. Xu, M.H. Choi, H.Y. Kim, Y.-K. Park, Chem. Commun. (2003) 1244. [16] C.L. Hartz, J.W. Bevan, M.W. Jackson, B.A. Wofford, Environ. Sci. Technol. 32 (1998) 682. [17] B.A. Wofford, M.W. Jackson, C. Hartz, J.W. Bevan, Environ. Sci. Technol. 33 (1999) 1892. [18] D.H. Kim, Y.S. Mok, S.B. Lee, Thin Solid Films 519 (2011) 6960. [19] M.S. Gandhi, Y.S. Mok, J. Environ. Sci. 24 (2012) 1234. [20] L.M. Zhou, B. Xue, U. Kogelschatz, B. Eliasson, Energy Fuels 12 (1998) 1191. [21] D.R. Lide, CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 90th Edition Internet Version, 1405-1438, CRC Press/Taylor and Francis: Boca Raton, FL, (2010). List of figure Fig.1.Schematic diagram of the experimental setup Fig. 2. Typical signal of the voltage, current, and discharge power (total flow rate = 100 ml/min; CHF3 in feed= 5% of volume; applied voltage= 7 kV; frequency=30 kHz). Fig. 3. Effect of applied voltage on (a) conversion of CHF3 and discharge power, (b) component of products; and (c) carbon balance and selectivity of products (total flow rate = 100 ml/min; CHF3 in feed= 5% of volume; frequency=30 kHz). Fig. 4. Effect of initial concentration of CHF3 on (a) conversion of CHF3 and discharge power; (b) component of products; and (c) carbon balance and selectivity of products (total flow rate = 100 ml/min; applied voltage = 7 kV; frequency=30 kHz). Fig. 5. Effect of frequency on (a) conversion of CHF3 and discharge power; (b) component of products; and (c) carbon balance and selectivity of products (total flow rate = 100 ml/min; CHF3 in feed= 5% of volume; applied voltage = 7 kV). Fig. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 3 Fig. 4 Fig. 5 1

Transhumanist Philosophy Essay -- Future Science Fiction

Imagine that you are able to teleport to the not too distant future. In this world you discover that disease and poverty are no longer causes for human suffering, world hunger has become eliminated from society, and space travel is as easy as snapping your fingers. Cryonics, nanotechnology, cloning, genetic enhancement, artificial intelligence, and brain chips are all common technologies at a doctor’s office. You gasp as a friendly sounding electronic voice cries out, â€Å"Welcome to the future Natural!† You are unsure of whether being called a Natural is an insult or not, so you feign a half-hearted hello at the posthuman in front of you. Getting over the initial shock you ask the posthuman, â€Å"Who are you?† The posthuman gives an electronic sounding chuckle and shakes his head. He replies, â€Å"I am a Posthuman, and you Natural, are in Utopia. Welcome.† Sounds pretty science-fiction based right? Well, to those who follow the Transhumanist philosophy, a â€Å"utopian† world could be a reality. Susan Schneider a philosophy professor at University of Pennsylvania defines Transhumanism as a â€Å"philosophical, cultural, and political movement which holds that the human species is now only in a comparatively early phase and that its very evolution will be altered by developing technologies† (271). In simple terms, transhumanists believe that the human species is in its early phase. Our species is a work in progress and our evolution will be altered by advancing technologies. With these advancements in technology, transhumanists have optimistic plans about the future. Transhumanists hope that as our current technology advances we will soon be able to create superhumans or â€Å"posthumans†. According to the World Tanshumanist Association a... ...d, working definition of what a person is, enhancing will be newest fad. Humankind is on an irreversible evolutionary journey where super-intelligence will be the normal IQ for children, war and death are no longer terms in the english dictionary, and being 1,000 years old is considered young. It is a bright and prosperous future looking through the lens of a transhumanist. One that I cannot wait to see through bionic eyes. Works Cited Brooks, R. A. 2003. Prologue, In: Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will Change Us, Vintage. Elliott, C. 2003. Humanity 2.0. The Wilson Quarterly, 27(4): 13(8). Schneider, S. 2008. Future Minds: Transhumanism, Cognitive Enhancement, and the Nature of Persons. Forthcoming in: Penn Bioethics Reader. Accessed online July 20, 2010: http:/repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1037&context=neuroethics pubs

Franklin Roosevelt foreign policies from 1937 to 1941 Essay

â€Å"To a greater or lesser extent, three factors were involved in explaining U.S response to Japanese and German aggression, economics, national security, and democratic values,† these factors influenced Franklin Roosevelt foreign policies from 1937 to 1941. America’s Involvement in World War two not only contributed in the eventual downfall of Adolph Hitler, but also came at the precise time and moment. Had the United States entered the war any earlier the consequences might have been worse. The U.S. desired to avoid foreign entanglements of all kinds had been an American foreign policy for more a long time. The U.S. was under geographical isolation and it permitted the U.S. to fill up the empty lands of North America free from the threat of foreign conflict. As stated in Document D, that â€Å"the American people cannot put their faith in me without recording my conviction that some form of selective service is the only democratic way in which to secure the trained and competent manpower we need for national defense.† This explains how the American people need to face with in foreign nations. Also in Document H, shows that if the U.S. focuses on protecting the country, no foreign army will ever attempt to land on American shores. The health of the American economy could not be jeopardized and it was Roosevelt’s view that the United States would fare well whether Europe went to war or not. For most of the 1930 the United States traded as openly with Germany and Japan, as it did with any other country. Japan relied on fuel oil and iron until 1941. Germany was one of the United States most important markets during the 1930, American investments in Germany increased by forty per cent between 1936 and 1940. The chart from Document G shows the effect of WWII on the American industry and it shows an increase of profits and lower business failures. The real concern of American business was not the rights or wrongs of trading with fascism but the fear that commercial rivals such as Japan and Germany would exclude American goods from Europe and Asia altogether. Adolf Hitler, leading the Nazi Party, took power in Germany and eliminated its democratic government. Document C reveals that without democracy, the country will have no power to maintain the illusion of security, and shall have no business, but primitive self-defense. The Allies valued democracy because they are vitally concerned in the defense for freedom. Factors that influenced Franklin Roosevelt foreign policies are economics, national security, and democratic values. Roosevelt lead the United States every step of the way and he did a superb job in bringing America into war. If the principles of democracy mean anything at all, that is enough reason for the U.S. to stay out of the war. One of the reasons given was that unless America was directly threatened they had no reason to be involved. This reason was a valid one because it was the American policy to stay neutral in any affairs not having to with them unless American soil was threatened directly. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II Documents American Pageant Book

Free Essays on Friends

Friends Ever since I was a child, my mother raised me to recognize and appreciate various kinds of friends. There are three different kinds of friends in this life. I classify them according to how well I know them and how well they know me. We encounter each of them everyday, whether in school, home, or work, but rarely spend much time actually thinking about and classifying these people. First, there are the "pest friends"- general acquaintances. Next, there are "guest friends"- social partners. Lastly, we have "best friends"- our true friends. The first type of friend is simply an acquaintance. This means that you basically only know their name. You may not even remember what they look like if you do not see them for a while. Usually, you meet these types of friends in school, at work, at a party, through others, or anywhere else you might be. You normally would not mind having a cup of coffee with them, but if anything else came up, you usually would have no problem parting company. You normally don’t miss them when they are elsewhere. It is also this type of friends who gives you the most amount of aggravation. Since most of the time you are placed in a position where you have to act friendly, such as school or work, you would not normally tell an acquaintance when he or she is doing something irritating, such as tapping the fingers an a table or chewing gum loudly. Therefore they are ordained "pest friends." The second category of friends I call "social partners." This is because they are closer than acquaintances, but nowhere near as close as a true friend. Social partners are usually acquaintances who evolve into "guest friends" through increased extracurricular activities. You know their name, a little of what they like or dislike, a little of their family history, and usually have several things in common. As the saying goes, "Birds of a feather flock together.† No one is going to want to spend any more time th... Free Essays on Friends Free Essays on Friends A good friend is always kind, Should always speak their mind, Their compassion should never end, That’s what it takes to be a good friend. A good friend is there for you, They are real, they are true-blue, Their compassion should never end, That’s what it takes to be a good friend. A good friend will be there when you marry, A heart full of memories, they will carry, Their compassion should never end, That’s what it takes to be a good friend. They’ll be there when your mother dies, They’ll weep with you when you cry, Their compassion should never end, That’s what it takes to be a good friend. If a good friend you do find, Make sure they treat you kind, Understanding they shouldn’t lack, And they would never stab you in the back, On top of everything always remember, A best friend is forever.... Free Essays on Friends Friends Human beings are social creatures. They strive for companionship with others. Although there are some people that might find pleasure in solitude, it seems clear that the majority of people do seek companionship if possible. Central among these companionships are friendships. For some people, this is what makes life worthwhile, the presence of friends. Friendship is a sort of goodness, or at the least implies it. Having friends is the foundation for building connections in life. For many, the way to the world is through their friends. Through friendships people are introduced to new people, and as that new friendship grows the same process occurs again. Gathering a circle of close friends and continuing to allow that circle to grow can lead us to the entire world. In life one comes across many people, the ones that are considered friends may be divided into three types. They are the acquaintances one makes at school or work, formal friends, and the true or best friend, who may mo ve away, but are never too far away to be a shoulder to lean on. Most of us tend to consider many people friends, even if they are not close and do not spend much time with them. Examples of these might be colleagues, fellow students, and even your mailman. They might not be close friends, but are friends in some sense of the word. You may see them on the street and not even realize that they are even there. Sometimes there is an inequality, and a way of balance must be found. Just as money differs on various kinds of products, qualifications and contributions this type of friendship differs. One may have known them for several years, but have never talked to them outside of a common setting, i.e. school/work. These acquaintances are nice people to talk with, but may never have an effect on the day-to-day activities of an individual. One may just talk to them and then they go on their merry way. These acquaintances are the people who are ta... Free Essays on Friends Friends Ever since I was a child, my mother raised me to recognize and appreciate various kinds of friends. There are three different kinds of friends in this life. I classify them according to how well I know them and how well they know me. We encounter each of them everyday, whether in school, home, or work, but rarely spend much time actually thinking about and classifying these people. First, there are the "pest friends"- general acquaintances. Next, there are "guest friends"- social partners. Lastly, we have "best friends"- our true friends. The first type of friend is simply an acquaintance. This means that you basically only know their name. You may not even remember what they look like if you do not see them for a while. Usually, you meet these types of friends in school, at work, at a party, through others, or anywhere else you might be. You normally would not mind having a cup of coffee with them, but if anything else came up, you usually would have no problem parting company. You normally don’t miss them when they are elsewhere. It is also this type of friends who gives you the most amount of aggravation. Since most of the time you are placed in a position where you have to act friendly, such as school or work, you would not normally tell an acquaintance when he or she is doing something irritating, such as tapping the fingers an a table or chewing gum loudly. Therefore they are ordained "pest friends." The second category of friends I call "social partners." This is because they are closer than acquaintances, but nowhere near as close as a true friend. Social partners are usually acquaintances who evolve into "guest friends" through increased extracurricular activities. You know their name, a little of what they like or dislike, a little of their family history, and usually have several things in common. As the saying goes, "Birds of a feather flock together.† No one is going to want to spend any more time th... Free Essays on Friends â€Å"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.† In this paper I am going to discuss three major types of friends. These types are the ideal friend, â€Å"so-called† friend, and acquaintance. All of these people can be considered friends, though some of them should be considered acquaintances. The ideal friend is very hard to find, but even harder to ever forget. The ideal friend is the type of friend that will never betray you, lie to you, or do something that will ultimately bring you down, for any reason. This type of person will never, intentionally, do anything to hurt you, no matter what the circumstances may be. This person will always be there to give you a hand to help in all situations that he or she can. The â€Å"so-called† friends are the type of friends that will do most things exactly the opposite of what an ideal friend would do. These types of friends will belittle you when you are not around, but pretend to be a friend when you are. These people will lie to you, though at the time you don’t know it, and they will even steal from you. These friends will betray you at the first opportunity if it can help them along. These friends are not to be relied upon, trusted, or believed for any reason, once they have shown themselves for what the truly are. These people can come over as an ideal friend, but be careful because they really aren’t. Acquaintances are merely other humans that you have met in your lifetime, perhaps spoken to and never developed a close bond with. You may think that these people actually are there for you and that they care so should be called friends, but usually they do not turn out to be a friend to you. Acquaintances are merely people that a pleasant conversation can be held with, but not people that you should care enough about to value their opinions over anyone else’s. This type of perso...

High GPA but Low ACT Score What Do You Do

High GPA but Low ACT Score What Do You Do SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips You do great in school, but you just can’t get that score you want on the ACT. If you're a great student but not as great a standardized test taker, don't worry: you aren't alone. In this post,I'll let you know what ACT scores qualify as low, what message those scores send to admissions officers, andwhat you can do to improve your chances of getting into a good school. What Is a Low ACT Score? Before we even discusswhat to do with a high GPA and low ACT score, are you certain your ACT score is low? You should not simply compare your ACT scores to your friend's score or classmates' scores. The ACT score you want should depend on which university you hope to attend.If your ACT score is already in the ACT score range for your target school, then your ACT score is not low. Search for â€Å"[College Name] ACT† to find out the 25th/75th percentile foryour target schools. The 25th percentile score means that 25% of the students attending have a score at or below that number (this is below the average for admitted students). The 75th percentile means that 75% of students have a score at or below that number (this is above average for admitted students). The 25th/75th percentile reveals the scores of the middle 50% of applicants admitted to the college. If you score at the 75th percentile for a college and have a high GPA, you have an excellent chance of being accepted. However, if you're at the 25th percentile, you will need to have a strong application to increase your chances of being accepted. As an example, NYU has a 25th/75th for the ACT of 28 to 32, and Harvard has a 25th/75th of 32 to 35. You may think, why won’t I be accepted to Harvard with a 32 when 25% of Harvard freshman scored below that? In actuality, the 25% below a 32 were most likely admitted because they are a unique applicant such as an athlete (or a student with some other special talent such as being a world-class flute player), a legacy, or thechild of a significant donor. "Hi, I'd like to donate a building or three?" In writing this article, I am assuming you are a â€Å"normal applicant†(not one of the types listed above).To have the best shot of getting in, you want to get a high ACT score to go along with you high GPA, and a high ACT score is one that is at or above the 75th percentile for the colleges you hope to attend. If your score is below the 25th percentile for the school you hope to attend, you may still have a chance of getting in. Do you know that some colleges â€Å"superscore† the ACT? This means they will combine your highest individual section scores from each ACT and recombine it into a new superscored composite ACT score. For example, if you took the ACT 3 times and your best English score was on your 1st test date (33), your best Math score was on your 2nd test date (31), and your best Critical Reading and Science scores were from your 3rd test date (36, 36), you can combine those 4 best section scores into a brand new composite score (34). Your superscored composite ACT score may end putting you in the 25th/75th percentile range for your target college!For further explanation of superscore and for a list of the college that superscore the ACT, see our other article: Colleges that Superscore ACT: Complete List If your ACT score does not meet the 25th/75th percentile for your target school even with superscoring, there is good news and bad news: The Good News: Your GPA Matters More Than Your ACT Score Your transcript is the most important part of your college application because it shows that you have worked hard during all four years of high school.I considera high GPA to be between 3.5 and 4.0 on a 4.0 unweighted scale for the reasons stated in our other article. However, highly competitive universities such as Harvard and Yale will want you to have an even higher GPA, in the 3.85 to 4.0 range. I am using unweighted GPArather thanweighted GPAsince unweighted GPA is the more commonway to measure academic achievement in high school. While your GPA is important, it is even more important that you took challenging classes in high school and still got a high GPA. If you don’t believe me, here it is from Stanford’s admissions office, â€Å"We expect you to challenge yourself throughout high school and to do very well. The most important credential that enables us to evaluate your academic record is the high school transcript.† An admissions officer will only consider your high GPA impressive if you took the hardest classes (AP or IB) offered at your school.Easy classes and a high GPA will not impress an admissions officer. I will explain this more in-depth below. The Bad News: A Low ACT Score WillHurt You Admissions offices require applicants to take the ACT because they see this test as an equalizer among applicants (click here for further explanation of why students take the ACT). Each applicant had a different high school education. Even students applying from the same high school may have taken different classes or had different instructors. The one thing all applicants have in common is that they took the SAT or ACT.Every student took the â€Å"same† standardized test (or at least, similar enough tests to be compared even though each testing date technically has a different test) While your GPA and transcript are very important, your low ACT score may make an admissions officer question if your grades were â€Å"inflated† (which some teachers do) or ask if you took easy classes. They may think that your low ACT score is a better signifier of how prepared you are for higher education. What Will the Admissions Officer’s FirstImpression of Your High GPA/Low ACT Score Be? To be perfectly frank, an admissions officer will probably, at first, think that your teacher inflated your grades or that you chose to take easy high school classes, and they may wonder if your low ACT score is a more accurate indicator of your academic potential. But don’t worry! Admissions officers will dig deeper. Most admissions officers know the high schools in the US very well. At the majority of colleges, each admissions officer is assigned a state or region, and he or she is responsible for reading all of the applications from students in that area and for visiting the high schools in that area (so, if your high school had a visitor talk about admissions at a specific college - that person will most likely be reading your application for that college). Since the admissions officers visit these high schools and read the applications from students at these high schools, they know the academic reputations of these high schools.The admissions officers will know if your high school is considered very academically rigorous or if your school has a reputation for being easy and inflating grades. When reading your transcript, an admissions officer will be able to tell if you chose to take the easier classes and avoided the AP or IB classes that your school offered (if your school offers AP or IB). If you did take the easier classes, the admissions officer will likely then think your low ACT is a more accurate depiction of your academic potential than your GPA. If you did enroll in very rigorous courses throughout high school (tons of AP or IB classes, if offered at your high school) and you have a high GPA, then the admissions officer will know that and may excuse your low ACT score. Still, your chances of getting in will be higher if you can get a higher ACT score to match your high GPA. What Can You Do to Raise Your Low ACT Score? Raising your score on your low ACT score will give you your best chance of getting into your target school. If you are applying right now and don't have time to retest, skip below for advice on what you can do to boost your chance of admission. If you do have time to retest, I will try to help you diagnose the issue thatcaused the low score onyour last test(s). Did You Practice? If you never practiced for the ACT, that is probably the issue. The ACT is a very fast test. You need to know the ACT test format before taking the ACT so that the format will not slow you down. Learn about ACT scoring, the length of the ACT test, and the ACT test instructions. I would recommend taking a minimum of four full-length, timed practice tests to ensure you have the pacing down.If you need help finding practice tests, check outComplete Official ACT Practice Tests, Free Links. When you sit for multiple practice ACTs, you will start to feel comfortable with the format and will learn how to pace yourself. Note: Do not just take the practice ACTs and forget about them. You should be reviewing the questions you got wrong and learning from thosemistakes. For a guide to how to review your practice tests, check outThe Best Way to Review Your Mistakes for the SAT/ACT. What Was Your Practice Approach? If you practice by yourself, what tests are you using for your practice? You need to practice with official past ACT tests. Because the ACT is very different from other tests, you have to use actual ACTs to get the actual feel of the test. If you need help finding practice material here are Complete Official ACT Practice Tests, Free Links.If you still want more material, check out The 10 Best ACT Books Recommended for ACT Prep. If you are using old ACTs for your solo study, are you checking your wrong answers? This is the key to success on the ACT: you need to determine where you went wrong and learn from it.If you do not, you will not learn anything from the tests and you will continue making the same mistakes. If you want guidance on reviewing your tests, check outThe Best Way to Review Your Mistakes for the SAT/ACT. Do You Have One of the Following Issues? Issue #1: You have not learned the strategies for the ACT or gotten the timing down. To help solve this issue, you should check out the other free guides offered here at PrepScholar. Issue #2: You aren't familiar with the math and English concepts needed to succeed ACT. You do not have the geometry formulas memorized, or you do not know the grammar rules. Not knowing contentis a less common issue but a very important one to address. Take the time to learn this content because masteringit will have a huge impact on your score. Issue #3: If you feel like you know the strategies and content and are still not improving, you may be having trouble focusing. To help solve this issue, you probably need more personalized prep and should consider hiring a tutor or using an online resource such as PrepScholar. If You PreppedWith a Tutor/Class/Online Program and Are Not Seeing Improvements, You May Be Having One of the Following Issues: Issue #1: Your help is not personalized to your needs. It/he/she is not trying to fix your unique weaknesses, but rather is just using the same material for everyone. Try to find a more personalized tutor/class/program. Consider trying our PrepScholar ACT prep program. We do the heavy lifting for you, by splitting up our prep material into specific skills. We'll detect your weaknesses automatically and give you focused lessons and quizzes to improve those skills. Issue #2: The tutor/class/ online program is not working you hard enough (not making you do ACT practice tests or not making you stick to the timing). You should be using a prep person/program that will force you to take timed practice ACTs and stick to a study schedule. You should try PrepScholar’s ACT prep program;our program keeps track of your time spent studying each week, times you during all practice tests, and asks you to commit to a study schedule. Issue #3: You may have test anxiety. As a tutor, I saw this in some students. If you are scoring high in your practice, but on the actual ACT not achieving the same score because you are anxious or can’t keep your pacing and can’t finish. This isn’t a simple issue to fix. While all of the studying (learning the test format and pacing) should help reduce your worry, it may not solve the problem entirely. You should know the ACT is just a test and will not determine your future as shown by these celebrity ACT scores. Also, maybe meditate to try to relax you before the ACT. If You're Applying to College Right Now and CannotRetake the ACT, What Can You Do? You have some options if you need to submit your applications and think you do not have time to retest: Option #1: You can strengthen the rest of your college application. Focus on the positives! You have an awesome transcript, so try to make the rest of your application as awesome. Read our other article for advice on how to build the most versatile college application, including advice on writing your essay, getting letters of recommendation, and more. Option #2: You can check outtest optional schoolsor schools thathave guaranteed admission based on GPA or class rank. Many colleges out there no longer require the SAT or ACT to be considered for admission. Consider applying to some of those schools, at least as backups. Option #3: Check out schools with late deadlines. A lot of schools accept applications later in the year and will give you time to study andretest for the ACT. Some schools take applications as late as September for that fall semester. Consider retesting and applying to some of these schools. What’s Next? Need help raising yourACT score? Check out guides to the ACT Reading, Math, English, and Science sections.Taking the ACT very soon? Read our guide to cramming for the test. Not sure where you want to go to college? Check out our guide to finding your target school.Also, figure out yourtarget ACT score. Thinking about getting a job while in high school? Check out our guide to the 8 best jobs for teensand learn how to find yours! Want to improve your ACT score by 4 points? Check out our best-in-class online ACT prep classes. We guarantee your money back if you don't improve your ACT score by 4 points or more. Our classes are entirely online, and they're taught by ACT experts. If you liked this article, you'll love our classes. Along with expert-led classes, you'll get personalized homework with thousands of practice problems organized by individual skills so you learn most effectively. We'll also give you a step-by-step, custom program to follow so you'll never be confused about what to study next. Try it risk-free today:

Coach Carter Morality essays

Coach Carter Morality essays The movie Coach Carter is all about morals. It is loaded with true life examples of choosing right over wrong and living a good life the way God wants us to. The movie is about an inner-city high school basketball team made up with a bunch of tough guy trouble makers and the only thing they live for is playing basketball. When Coach Carter accepts the coaching job at the high school , he makes all the players sign an agreement that they will maintain good grades and study habits during the season. He threatens the players with push ups and suicide sprints if they do not follow through on their agreement. Later in the season , Coach Carter finds out that the players on the team have been slipping in their grades and he decides to suspend the games and lock up the gym. The parents of the players are all upset with Coach Carter because they believe that basketball is the only thing that is keeping their sons off the street and out of trouble. However, Carter doesnt give in and stays st rong with his decision. Although the players might not have enjoyed this decision at that time, it did teach them a long term lesson of having good morals. Obviously Coach Carter cared enough about his players to realize that academics are more important than playing a sport. Not only did he coach them in basketball but he also coached them in life. He made them understand that basketball wasnt going to get them through life, but having a good education would. Carter new all his boys had the potential to be good kids and to really get far in life, and I believe that this decision was the best thing for them. In a way, I think that the players on the team could represent the anawim and Coach Carter could be God. The players were not heading down the right direction until Carter stepped in and showed them the way that it had to be. He watched over them as God would and made sure that they would make th ...

Variable pay scheme Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Variable pay scheme - Essay Example Mostly variable pay are given to specific individual or group only while the whole production and processing process involved different level of an organization. This may cause demotivation leading to negative performance. In order to ensure variable pay involves all levels of organization, overseers who are tasked with the assessing of performance should be trained on performance evaluation for the whole organization levels (Peck, 2007). Factors like salaries of different professionals in an organization should be considered before Variable pay is given. Different professionals in a company are paid salaries that vary from those of another profession. Professionals who are paid a lot of salary compared to their counter parts cannot be motivated or demotivated. This is because their value of salary is much more than their partners even when variable pay is added to them. Therefore in a company when comparing two professions e.g. the system engineers and sales person, there is little or no impact when one profession is rewarded because they are different (Hynes, 2002). The role of variable pay in organizations is to promote friendly completion among the workers. Competition in an organization will lead to good performance which will determine the employees variable pay. A steady competition will exist in an organization when employees are well motivated and have friendly environment. However, in some cases variable pay may lead to fierce competition which will cause tension and disrupt working relationship among colleagues. This mainly occurs when employees disclose their variable pay to colleagues. Organization can prevent fierce competition by enforcing strict policies that prohibits discussion of variable pay (Peck, 2007). The role of variable pay is ton enhance good performance in organization. Variable cost is a way of motivating workers to increase their

Human resources ( Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human resources ( - Essay Example In my opinion, more emphasis should be place on tax reforms and on the redistribution of funds between the rich and poor district schools. This will help improve the quality of education in public schools in different states. In general, states decide on the amount of funding received by schools and in some instances, there is inequality in the distribution of tax dollars between privileged and poor district schools (Hohenberg, 2010). Poor performing public schools lack the necessary resources and facilities to ensure high education performance thus effective distribution to poor schools will ensure that they have the appropriate funding to acquire the resources and put in place appropriate facilities. The K-12 system in the modern times dictates that funding is tied to performance and this system of tax distribution is unfair. Increasing competition in the K-12 system ensures an improvement in the quality of education (Hohenberg, 2010). This is because the schools in various states will work hard to beat each other. On the other hand, increasing competition is unfair, as it will benefit the schools that have the appropriate resources. Increasing equality in tax distribution among the poor public schools is beneficial, as it will help these institutions acquire the necessary resources needed to improve the quality and access of education. On the other hand, tax redistribution in the poor schools promotes laxity in these institutions. There is need to attain greater equalization in the education system in the US. In public schools, the distribution of funds between schools is clear leading to an inequality in access to benefits and funds. Benefits refer to the educational opportunities present in the system (Kozol, 2012). However, the benefits received argument does not refer to equalization in society, as too much tax burden would be placed on the poor without the ability to pay taxes

The Great Gatsby, Animal Farm or When I Whistle Essay

The Great Gatsby, Animal Farm or When I Whistle - Essay Example In Animal Farm, Napoleon is supposedly successful in the management of his farm, but fails to create the utopian society he envisioned because of his own fatal flaw, the desire for material comforts. Through these characters, both Fitzgerald and Wells are able to illustrate how a fatal flaw in the individual can contribute to their own downfall even while they make a more sweeping comment regarding the societies in which they were living. Both Jay Gatsby and Napoleon are seen as tremendous successes at some point in their life after building themselves up from dirt level. Gatsby has re-created himself from the son of a poor country man to a millionaire in New York through a long series of practiced moves designed to win him the girl of his dreams, Daisy. Napoleon has worked himself up literally from the dirt of his pigpen to the leader of a successful farm through a series of practiced moves designed to attain the equality of species he envisions. There is a moment in each story when each character seems to attain everything they have dreamed of. Gatsby hears Daisy tell him she loves him and envisions the two of them beginning a new life together. Napoleon wins the respect and admiration of the surrounding farmers as his farm proves to be more successful than any of the others around. Their use of skillful rhetoric to support their actions and desires is performed so well that it takes a long time before the truth is seen by readers and by other characters and even then, it’s only revealed slowly through the narration between the characters and the actions they undertake. This is illustrated most clearly in Nick’s summary of Gatsby’s last evening, â€Å"He had come a long way to this blue lawn, and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity

Provide a critical assessment on the merit of the claim that Essay

Provide a critical assessment on the merit of the claim that microfinance has a poverty reduction and gender impact - Essay Example The governments across the world have been instrumental in alleviating poverty. They have introduced various measures that are aimed at enabling people to create employment. However, there are other challenges that are dragging the success of these interventions. This paper will analyze the merit of claim that microfinance has a poverty reduction and gender impact (Wright-Revolledo, Greeley, Brody, & Copestake 2005). Over the past five decades, the financial institutions have become very critical in financing people to initiate various projects that are very significant in alleviating poverty. However, majority of the people in developing countries do not have collaterals to enable them to get access these funds (Shaw 2004). For instance, in Asia and Africa, many governments are yet to establish effective structures to enable people to have the required collaterals in order to get access to loans. This has made it hard for the banks and other financial institutions to reach the common citizen who is highly affected by the poverty levels. Agriculture is one of the sectors that are associated with poor people in these regions (HamzeÃŒ  2001). Many poor farmers rely on rain fed agriculture in order to grow their food. This is because they do not have collaterals such as title deeds to enable them get access to the funds. In addition, banks are not willing to give them loans because the sector is v ulnerable especially from the vagaries of nature such as drought, floods, etc. This has exposed these people to extreme poverty. However, microfinance institutions are able to offer poor people with loans that enable them to start small and medium enterprises, an aspect that has contributed immensely in reducing the poverty levels. Because majority of these people lacks the skills and experience on how to handle such enterprises, the microfinance institutions have even gone ahead to train the

Flag Burning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Flag Burning - Essay Example Indeed, the symbolism of the flag is so deeply embedded in national consciousness that Bourne (qtd in Schatz and Lavine, 2007: 329) was prompted to declare that "We reverence not our country but the flag. We may criticize ever so severely our country, but we are disrespectful to the flag at our peril." The difference lies in that the flag is a symbolic representation of all that which the nation is; the flag represents the past, present and future and is not associated with particular policies and governments, as may be the nation at any given time. It is within the context of that which the flag stands for that intolerance towards flag burning should be understood. Americans are intolerant of flag burning because it expresses disregard for those who lost their lives battling under the flag, disrespect for the institutions of the nation and, a symbolic attempt to deny national memories. The 1960s were the heyday of flag burning in the United States and even though many Americans sympathized with the politics which incited the said act, few were tolerant of it. As Boime (1990) notes, countless Americans opposed the Vietnam War and supported the Civil Rights but were enraged by the expression of the aforementioned through flag-burning.

Developing YORKLAB HR strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Developing YORKLAB HR strategy - Essay Example The company tries to retain its customers by ensuring timely delivery of goods which in turn enables to ascertain growth for the company throughout the year. Yorklab follows a flat organisational structure, which ensures a wide span of control with fewer level of management. The structure allows the company to be less costly, with less management levels. This structure will ensure a better and quick flow of decision within the organisation. Moreover, it will have a fast and clear communication of messages from the management ensuring timely and quality product. This structure helps the company to keep a proper track of the sales and the services provided. The HR policy of the company facilitates in employing people who have knowledge regarding the process and are friendly and ready to work in team. Satisfying the customer is the primary motive of the company and this is the core reason for the success of the organisation for years. The company is in the need to expand its business in to new areas of the market. In this context, the management realises that the current HR system or management structure will not be able to sustain the market growth. The HRM concept used is to bind the employees and the management to achieve the goal of the company. It entails the planning, controlling and organising the employees to add value to their service and achieve the desired objectives. In this regard, the objective of the paper is to explore the efficient structure requirement of the company, to mitigate the issue related with the market expansion. The upgraded HR strategies are required to be implemented by the Yorklab in order to attain profit and growth in the market. HR Strategy Content Human resource management is a strategic approach on managing employment and relation in order to achieve competitive advantage. The competitiveness of a business depends on the manager, employees and the knowledge and training provided. Yorklab in this regard followed the flat structu re of management, with a few number of employees and a wide span of control. This structure had various advantages such as the fast communication of information and quick decision regarding the process improvement. The fewer strata of management also help Yorklab to have a better recurrent communication between the higher level of authority and the staff. The purpose of the company is to expand its business keeping in view the quality and the level of customer satisfaction. This was not possible with the current flat HR strategy used by the company. As the level of guidance and coordination between the management and the employee was less there was no proper co-ordination. With the expansion of business, the current number of employee would not suffice the need of the company. With the increase in the business activities, the complexities would increase and the current flat structure would not support the requisite. The flat strategy with wider span of control renders less amount of time to focus on the individual decisions. This can thus be of a great disadvantage for taking significant strategic decisions which will have a long-term impact on Yorklab (Education-Portal,

Provide a critical assessment on the merit of the claim that Essay

Provide a critical assessment on the merit of the claim that microfinance has a poverty reduction and gender impact - Essay Example The governments across the world have been instrumental in alleviating poverty. They have introduced various measures that are aimed at enabling people to create employment. However, there are other challenges that are dragging the success of these interventions. This paper will analyze the merit of claim that microfinance has a poverty reduction and gender impact (Wright-Revolledo, Greeley, Brody, & Copestake 2005). Over the past five decades, the financial institutions have become very critical in financing people to initiate various projects that are very significant in alleviating poverty. However, majority of the people in developing countries do not have collaterals to enable them to get access these funds (Shaw 2004). For instance, in Asia and Africa, many governments are yet to establish effective structures to enable people to have the required collaterals in order to get access to loans. This has made it hard for the banks and other financial institutions to reach the common citizen who is highly affected by the poverty levels. Agriculture is one of the sectors that are associated with poor people in these regions (HamzeÃŒ  2001). Many poor farmers rely on rain fed agriculture in order to grow their food. This is because they do not have collaterals such as title deeds to enable them get access to the funds. In addition, banks are not willing to give them loans because the sector is v ulnerable especially from the vagaries of nature such as drought, floods, etc. This has exposed these people to extreme poverty. However, microfinance institutions are able to offer poor people with loans that enable them to start small and medium enterprises, an aspect that has contributed immensely in reducing the poverty levels. Because majority of these people lacks the skills and experience on how to handle such enterprises, the microfinance institutions have even gone ahead to train the

Developing YORKLAB HR strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Developing YORKLAB HR strategy - Essay Example The company tries to retain its customers by ensuring timely delivery of goods which in turn enables to ascertain growth for the company throughout the year. Yorklab follows a flat organisational structure, which ensures a wide span of control with fewer level of management. The structure allows the company to be less costly, with less management levels. This structure will ensure a better and quick flow of decision within the organisation. Moreover, it will have a fast and clear communication of messages from the management ensuring timely and quality product. This structure helps the company to keep a proper track of the sales and the services provided. The HR policy of the company facilitates in employing people who have knowledge regarding the process and are friendly and ready to work in team. Satisfying the customer is the primary motive of the company and this is the core reason for the success of the organisation for years. The company is in the need to expand its business in to new areas of the market. In this context, the management realises that the current HR system or management structure will not be able to sustain the market growth. The HRM concept used is to bind the employees and the management to achieve the goal of the company. It entails the planning, controlling and organising the employees to add value to their service and achieve the desired objectives. In this regard, the objective of the paper is to explore the efficient structure requirement of the company, to mitigate the issue related with the market expansion. The upgraded HR strategies are required to be implemented by the Yorklab in order to attain profit and growth in the market. HR Strategy Content Human resource management is a strategic approach on managing employment and relation in order to achieve competitive advantage. The competitiveness of a business depends on the manager, employees and the knowledge and training provided. Yorklab in this regard followed the flat structu re of management, with a few number of employees and a wide span of control. This structure had various advantages such as the fast communication of information and quick decision regarding the process improvement. The fewer strata of management also help Yorklab to have a better recurrent communication between the higher level of authority and the staff. The purpose of the company is to expand its business keeping in view the quality and the level of customer satisfaction. This was not possible with the current flat HR strategy used by the company. As the level of guidance and coordination between the management and the employee was less there was no proper co-ordination. With the expansion of business, the current number of employee would not suffice the need of the company. With the increase in the business activities, the complexities would increase and the current flat structure would not support the requisite. The flat strategy with wider span of control renders less amount of time to focus on the individual decisions. This can thus be of a great disadvantage for taking significant strategic decisions which will have a long-term impact on Yorklab (Education-Portal,

The Role Of World Vision Philippines In Nation-Bulding Essay Example for Free

The Role Of World Vision Philippines In Nation-Bulding Essay A. Introduction People have the tendency to organize themselves into groups in order to address mutual needs and concerns. As the platitude goes: â€Å" No Man Is An Island†. In the olden days, groups of people banded together to increase their chances of survival because being part of a larger group increased their strength, and even warded off potential predators. Also, being in a group resulted to more people hunting and gathering, which led to an increase in the amount of food that they could accumulate. Today, people band together, not for survival, but for reasons more complex and diverse than before. One of these reasons is to address certain issues that the members of the organizations deem socially relevant and timely. Non-governmental organizations or NGOs are set up by like-minded individuals brought together by a mutual passion, a need to promote or attend to a certain issue, or because of common identities.â€Å"NGOs have been defined according to five structural-operational features which states that NGOs are organized, private, non-profit, self-governing, and voluntary. (Global Civil Society, 2003)†. NGOs are perceived to be organizations geared towards a specific purpose, and are renowned for their vigor and dedication in pursuing their goals. These organizations are commonly concerned with societal issues like supporting out-of-school youths, orphanages, women, health, and education, amongst many others. World Vision is a non-governmental organization set up by Dr. Robert Willard Pierce in 1950. His inspiration for establishing this organization was an abandoned Chinese child called White Jade who he supported by giving $5 a month to her caretaker. The first child sponsorship program was put in place three years later to handle the funds that came from donations when he made a film called the â€Å"38th Parallel†, which intended to raise funds for orphans in the Korean War. Since then, it has spread to the other continents and expanded its scope to include not only children, but also emergency relief, poverty, community-based projects, education, health, leadership training,  and income generation seminars. World Vision also founded a branch of the organization in the Philippines in 1957. This was done to help an orphanage in the island of Guimaras called the Good Shepherd’s Fold by donating musical instruments and textbooks for the children. Three years later, World Vision Philippines established their own orphanage called Mercyville Orphanage in South Cotabato. The Philippines has focused on the concept of nation-building ever since it was given independence by its last colonizer, the United States of America. Admittedly, it has been hard to have a sense of a united Philippines because of the inherent ethnic, religious, and geographic divide between the Filipinos. The Philippine government recognizes that the youth are significant to nation-building as reflected in Section 2 of the Republic Act 8044 which states that: â€Å"The State recognizes its responsibility to enable the youth to fulfill their vital role in nation-building†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . The proponents of this research would like to analyze if the World Vision Philippines, which is one of the largest international organizations here in the country, plays a significant role in the Philippines’ nation-building. The proponents chose this non-governmental organization because of its widespread reputation brought about primarily by their wide scope of beneficiaries and their celebrity endorsements. Also, their programs mainly cater to the youth, which has been established as vital to nation-building, although it is a fact that the World Vision Philippines also have programs for families and communities. However, this fact does not dissuade a possible relationship between World Vision and the Philippines’ nation-building but rather, strengthens it as families and communities also play a role in nation-building. B. Statement Of The Research Problems This research is trying to find out the role of the non-governmental organization, the World Vision Philippines, in the aforementioned country’s nation-building. Specifically, this research attempts to answer the following questions: 1. Does the World Vision Philippines play a significant role in nation-building of the Philippines? 2. How does World Vision Philippines contribute to the nation-building of the Philippines? 3. How is the World Vision Philippines held accountable for all the donations and funds sent to them by their donors? 4. What are the measures used to assess whether the World Vision Philippines’ projects and programs are successful? 5. What are the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities that affect the World Vision Philippines? 6. What strategies can be done in order to address the said strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities of World Vision Philippines that could help into making it a better organization? C. Statement Of the Research Objectives This research aims to find out the role of the World Vision Philippines in the goal of nation-building. Specifically, the proponents aspire to attain the following objectives: 1. To determine whether World Vision Philippines plays a significant role in nation-building of the Philippines. 2. To describe how the specific programs and projects of the World Vision Philippines contribute to the nation-building of the Philippines. 3. To find out how the World Vision Philippines is held accountable for all the donations and funds sent to them by their donors. 4. To establish what measures are used to assess whether the World Vision Philippines’ projects and programs are successful. 5. To deliberate the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities that affect the World Vision Philippines. 6. To consider the strategies that can be done in order to address the said strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities of World Vision Philippines that could help into making it a better organization. D. Significance of the Study The existing literature about nation-building in the Philippines does not take into account the role of NGOs. The proponents wish to address this research gap by providing an analysis of the role of one of the largest international non-governmental organizations in the country, the World Vision Philippines. The proponents would like to add to the information available and hope to specifically benefit the following: D.1. World Vision Philippines The World Vision Philippines is the primary beneficiary of this study because it is the organization that is being analyzed by the proponents. If the research proves that the organization does play a significant role in nation-building, their existence will be legitimatized. Also, their reputation would improve which could lead to more donors and volunteers for their programs, projects, and activities. The information and analysis done in this paper could be utilized by the organization in order to improve their services, supplement their inadequacies, address their main problems, maintain or even further enhance their successes, and develop strategies to make their organization more efficient and better as a whole. D.2. Donors Potential and actual donors would also benefit from this study because they will be able to use the information about the World Vision Philippines so that they can more accurately assess whether the organization is worth donating to or not. This is important because the NGO already has a lot of donors from both individuals and institutions. Also, donors are the entities to whom World Vision Philippines is most accountable to because it is their donations that funds the programs, projects, and activities of the said organization. The information provided here can help the donors identify the areas of insufficiencies of the World Vision Philippines, and because of their critical role in the organization, they can wield pressure and influence to make the organization address these issues. D.3. Beneficiaries The beneficiaries of the World Vision Philippines could assess from this research whether the services that are given to them are what the organization promised to render. Also, they would be able to pinpoint the areas that the organization is deficient in, from which, in coordination with the NGO, they could both address these concerns to improve the organization and its services. The beneficiaries could also assess whether the treatment given to them by the NGO is the same for all the other beneficiaries that are also helped by the organization. D.4. Volunteers The potential and actual volunteers of World Vision Philippines can benefit from this study because it would allow them to get to know the NGO better. This is important because as volunteers, they would represent the NGO to the beneficiaries and other entities, and such, they must familiarize themselves in the workings, structures, and principles of the organization. Also, they could assess accurately whether the organization they joined in is delivering on its promises, and if not, being insiders, they would be able to help the organization improve its performance better. D.5. Affiliated NGOS and corporations Non-governmental organizations that work with World Vision Philippines will benefit from this study because it would allow them to understand how the World Vision Philippines works and its priorities and concerns. This would allow them to better their working relationship with the concerned institution, and they could develop strategies which would utilize their and the World Visions’ strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities. One of the most important affiliated organizations of the World Vision Philippines is the Philippine Council for NGO Certification which is an entity that gives a certification to NGOs that meet established minimum criteria for financial management and accountability. This is an important institution because they help in reviewing and establishing the legitimacy and performance of NGOs in the Philippines. D.6. Related Government Agencies Government agencies, whose jurisdictions overlap with the concerns of the World Vision Philippines, will benefit from this study, because they could evaluate the work that the NGO does. If World Vision Philippines is proven to be helpful in nation-building, they can build a partnership with the NGO so that their works are supplemented by the said institution. These government agencies include the Securities and Exchange Commission (the agency that deals with NGOs as a whole), Department of Health (World Vision Philippines is also concerned about the health status of its beneficiaries), DEPED (the aforementioned NGO funds the schooling of its recipients), DSWD (World Vision Philippines’ main receiver of services are the youth, particularly children), and National Risk Reduction Management Council (Because the organization also helps in post-disaster relief missions). D.7. Future Researchers Nation-building and NGOs are very important factors and entities in the society and thus, the proponents of this study believe that researches  discussing either of the two topics, and more importantly, the relationship between the two, will materialize in the future. Future researchers can use this study as a source for their own study. It could also aid them in expanding their resource material base because of the other literatures cited in this study. E. Definition of Terms 1. World Vision Philippines – A non-profit organization which is a subsidiary of an international non-governmental organization that does projects and programs that are primarily concerned with the Philippine youth, but also includes community and family beneficiaries. It also tackles the societal issues of education, health, disaster relief, and youth empowerment. It operates through the funds given by donors and through volunteer-work. 2. Nation-Building – A concept that focuses on the personal development of individuals and communities of a particular nation with the goal of improving the standard of living of everyone in that country in terms of health, education, livelihood, and other factors that have a huge impact in their lives. This involves values formation and community development through active engagement in societal issues that affect the society they live in. This gives special emphasis to the youth as they will be the future professionals, policy-makers, and leaders of the country. 3. Non-governmental organizations – Organizations that operate as an entity that is not part of a government of a country. They are established to pursue a common goal or to address a certain issue. They are usually non-profit. They may be local or international in scope and in terms of their beneficiaries. 4. Donors – People who give money to the World Vision Philippines and are the source of funds of the said institution. 5. Volunteers – People who help in the actual carrying out of the services of World Vision Philippines who expect no pay or compensation for the work that  they do. 6. Beneficiaries – People who receive the funding and services from the World Vision Philippines. The main objective of the said NGO is to improve their standard of living and increase their chances for self-development. 7. Strengths – Internal factors that the World Vision Philippines utilizes and are the advantages that they have that contribute significantly to their good performance in delivering their services. 8. Weaknesses – Internal factors inherent in the World Vision Philippines that significantly but negatively affects their performance in giving out their services in their programs, projects, and activities. These factors puts the said organization at a disadvantage. 9. Opportunities – External factors that positively affects the World Vision Philippines which they can utilize for the betterment of their organization as a whole. 10. Threats – External factors which may hinder the performance of the World Vision Philippines. These needs to be addressed in order to improve the efficiency, timeliness, and overall capacity of the said NGO to deliver their promised services. F. Review of Related Literature This research has included information from various studies and literature on the concepts of non-governmental organizations, nation-building, and World Vision Philippines. Nation-building is an important aspect in the Philippine society. Carolyn Stephenson said that, â€Å"Nation-building matters to intractable conflict because of the theory that a strong state is necessary in order to provide security, that the building of integrated national community is important in the building of a state, and that there may be social and economic  prerequisites or co-requisites to the building of an integrated national community.†This article shows that nation-building is really important because due the integration of national community, the country will be more united in its goal of achieving improvement in the quality of life for all. Nation-building needs a lot of effort to achieve its purpose. According to Native Nations Institute,† Nation-building involves building institutions of self-government that are actually appropriate to the nation and that are effective in addressing the nation’s challenges. Nation-building involves developing the nation’s capacity to make timely, strategically informed decisions about its affairs and to implement those decisions. It involves a comprehensive effort to rebuild societies that work†. Though, we could see that nation-building is not an easy process, still, it is very important because it leads to the formation of countries as stated in the article Nation-building by Alberto Alesina and Bryony Reich(2013): Nation-building is a process which leads to the formation of countries in which the citizens feel a sufficient amount of commonality of interests, goals, and preferences so that they do not wish to separate from each other. Non-governmental organizations are truly a force in today’s society, especially to the people who subscribe to the Constructivist point of view. But even in Liberalism, they are one of the major actors that shape the international society today. As stated by the Commonwealth Business Council (2003): The power of NGOs is further exemplified not just by their increasing number but by their ability to network and mobilize their members to affect global politics†.This was taken furtherby Songco (2006) when he said: â€Å" Such power [of NGOs] was demonstrated in various U.N. conferences, international summits and multilateral meetings where NGOs have been effective in influencing policy agendas, official statements and joint resolutions. The first statement implies that NGOs today are not limited by their scope (environmental, humanitarian, etc.) because they have the power to influence the political sphere in their respective areas. This is relevant to this study because nation-building entails government measures in improving the standards of living of the people and if these measures can be affected by NGOs particularly World Vision then these can be used as a channel or can play a role in nation-building of the Philippines. NGOs play a very significant role in society as reflected by a research paper by Jordan L. which said: NGOs are a potent political force and there are some serious issues confronting civil society that need to be addressedAt the national level, many social services that traditionally were in the purview of government are today delivered by the private sector or through NGOs. This explains NGOs despite being an entity that is not under the government still has political power that it can utilize to realize its advocacies. These organizations play a role in bringing of service to the public but as indicated in the paper, these NGOs also have issues to consider and one of them is their accountability to the public. Because of their significant role in society, people are becoming more and more aware of NGOs and are encouraged to take part in their activities either through donations or volunteerism. However, as their donors and volunteers increase, the accountability of the NGOs to these people, their beneficiaries, and the population as a whole also increases. To wit: The increasing funding of NGOs by official donor agencies thrusts the question of legitimacy into center stage, for if NGOs are becoming more responsive to external concerns, are substituting for government and are growing larger on the basis of foreign funding, what is happening to the links -– to their values and mission, and to their relationships with the poor, supporters and others -– through which they derive their right to intervene in development. This was taken from â€Å"Too Close For Comfort? The Impact of Official Aid on Nongovernmental Organizations† by Edwards and Hulme (1998: 8-9). This reveals that there is an argument regarding the legitimacy of NGOs and a question on how non-governmental are these NGOs especially if they are receiving funding from government institutions as well. The article also says that NGOs need to incorporate mechanisms that can help improve their performance and provide ample measures of evaluation in order for them to remain credible and accountable. The World Vision Philippines is a prime example of a non-governmental organization. According to the article Vision in Action in the Manila Bulleting:â€Å"The World Vision, one of the world’s biggest international NGOs, has established its presence in the Philippines 56 years ago, it has helped uplift and empower poor communities through education, public engagement, values formation, and disaster and emergency response.† (Barawid R.C., Fojas, S.C., Lim, R.S). Since then, the World Vision Philippines, the Philippine branch of the World Vision International, has been an active player in the Philippine arena. From the same article, an example was given in that the NGO was one of the first to respond to the recent onslaught of Typhoon Haiyan in Leyte. They provided relief goods and psychological debriefings in the evacuation centers. This shows that the NGO already has a good reputation in terms of fast response to calamities and that they are very active in their humani tarian undertakings. Because of their very fast, efficient, and lauded response to the Yolanda disaster, the NGO was able to gain more fundings from donors. One of these was the Ascot Limited who â€Å"†¦donated 1.87 million pesos to World Vision for its relief and rehabilitation efforts†¦Ã¢â‚¬ .(TravPR.com) This article shows that private corporations have a lot of trust in the organization and believes that it truly renders good service to its beneficiaries. This also shows that the NGO was able to establish a good reputation in terms of emergency and disaster relief efforts which will be able to encourage more donors and volunteers to patronize their institution. World Vision Philippines is not only concerned with disaster response. It is also concerned with other societal issues like education, sanitation, and all the other aspects that define the standard of living of a child and his family. This multi-scope aspect of the NGO was affirmed by an article in GMA Network which said : â€Å"World Vision is concerned about ensuring safe living spaces for children and their families as heavy rains and aftershocks are still prevalent in quake-hit areas†¦ World Vision calls for more intensified action to uphold childrens education rights in the quake-hit areas. Back-to-school woes include damaged classrooms as teachers and children hold classes in tents. Children in emergencies also need to be protected from the risks of hazardous work in quake-hit areas, along other forms of child abuse and exploitation†. G. Scope and Limitation of the Study The study shall focus on how the projects, programs, and activities of the World Vision helps in the nation-building of the Philippines. It shall not include those of the World Vision International. It shall deal only with the latest statistical data from the latest reports given by the NGO. It will also include interviews conducted with people who can better assess the World Vision Philippines’ performance as a humanitarian institution. CHAPTER 2 CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK A. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK This study wants to find out the role of the non-governmental organization, the World Vision Philippines, in the Philippines’ nation-building. The proponents use the existing information available about the said organization and analyze them to determine whether they have a relationship to the nation-building of the Philippines. These independent variables include, the projects, programs, and activities of World Vision Philippines, the organization’s financial reports, the outside perception on the NGO, and the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of the said institution. The dependent variable or the outcome is the role of the World Vision Philippines in the country’s nation-building. B. HYPOTHESES OF THE STUDY This study assumed the following hypotheses: 1. The World Vision Philippines plays a significant role in nation-building of the Philippines. 2. Specific programs and projects of the World Vision Philippines contribute to the nation-building of the Philippines. 3. World Vision Philippines is accountable for all the donations and funds sent to them by their donors. 4. Measures can be used to assess whether the World Vision Philippines’ projects and programs are successful. 5. There are strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities thataffect the World Vision Philippines. 6. Strategies that can be done in order to address the said strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities of World Vision Philippines that could help into making it a better organization. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY A. Research Design This paper is classified as a qualitative research because it describes phenomena that are hard to quantify. It could also be described as a Descriptive Research because it shows the associations or relationship of the determined independent variables with the dependent variable. It analyzes existing literature, articles, and reports to determine the role of World Vision Philippines to nation-building. It also makes use of interviews to get the outside perception about the NGO. B. Sources of Data The data shall come from existing literature which may include studies, articles, and feedback about the World Vision Philippines, NGOs, and nation-building. It will make use of the reports disseminated by the World Vision Philippines in its website . It shall also make use of interviews with experts who have a unique perspective about NGOs due to their educational attainment and or experience. These literature and statistics shall come from hardbound or online books, articles, and journals taken from the LPU, UP-Diliman, and national libraries, and from website sources in the internet. C. Method of Data Collection The study employed the Documents or Secondary Data or Data Mining method of data collection wherein the information were based from existing literature. Among the Secondary Data method of data collection, the study used Content Analysis in which literature that is related to the concepts of the paper are found and its content was noted and categorized into appropriate categories and themes. Also, data was gathered through individual in-depth interviews by the interviewers. The interviewers took down important notes in the conduct of the interviews. In order to secure the consent of the selected participants, the researchers relayed all important details of the study, including its aim and purpose. By explaining these important details, the respondents were able to understand the importance of their role in the completion of the research. Respondents were offered no monetary compensation. Preliminary conversations before and after the interview session were also noted as these helped in clarifying and validating any vague responses that emerged in the results. Sample Interview Questions: 1. How would you describe the status of our NGOs today in terms of authenticity, accountability and transparency? 2. Do you believe that NGOs contribute to the nation-building of our country today? If yes, in what way? 3. How does good governance help in the workings of a non-government organization? 4. What measures do you consider are important in analyzing whether an NGO is able to achieve its goals? 5. Is World Vision relevant for the Philippines? Does it have a huge impact amongst the Filipinos? D. Method of Data Analysis After the data has been collected, the proponents used the Descriptive method of data analysis wherein the main characteristics and features of the data gathered are described. After which the Exploratory method of data analysis was then employed in order to study the relationships between our variables. CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS This study identified five research problems in Chapter 1 specifically: 1. Does the World Vision Philippines play a significant role in nation-building of the Philippines? 2. How does World Vision Philippines contribute to the nation-building of the Philippines? 3. How is the World Vision Philippines held accountable for all the donations and funds sent to them by their donors? 4. What are the measures used to assess whether the World Vision Philippines’ projects and programs are successful? 5. What are the strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities that affect the World Vision Philippines? 6. What strategies can be done in order to address the said strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities of World Vision Philippines that could help into making it a better organization? The first problem was answered by identifying the factors involved in nation-building and the scope of the projects of world vision. Nation-building is a concept that focuses on the personal development of individuals and communities of a particular nation with the goal of improving the standard of living of everyone in that country in terms of health, education, livelihood, and other factors that have a huge impact in their lives. This involves values formation and community development through active engagement in societal issues that affect the society they live in. This gives special emphasis to the youth as they will be the future professionals, policy-makers, and leaders of the country. The on-going projects of World Vision Philippines involve areas such as health and nutrition, education, child participation, livelihood, disaster response and  values formation. In the 2012 Annual Report of World Vision Philippines, the organization serves over 20,000 families in 33 area deve lopment programs (ADP) regarding livelihood programs, 110,000 children in 49 ADPs in terms of education-related projects and 51,969 affected families from December 2011-2012 for the natural disaster response programs. World Vision works in 33 provinces and 14 cities in the country. The second research problem was addressed by indicating the various projects being implemented by the World Vision Philippines. Table 1 shows the various priorities of World Vision and their corresponding programs on 2011 and 2012 World Vision Philippines Annual Report. PRIORITIES PROGRAM HEALTH AND NUTRITION Social Mobilization on TB Nutrition Jump Start Channels of Hope Child Health Now EDUCATION Tulong Aral ng Petron Bridge to Employment ABK3 Elementary Comletion LIVELIHOOD Community- Managed Savings and Credit Association (CoMSCA) Food Education with Agricultural Development and Sustainability (FORWARD) Community Economic Ventures, Inc. (CEVI) DISASTER RESPONSE Child Friendly Spaces (CFS) Humanitarian and Emergency Affairs Response Team (HEART) trainings Child-Focused Disaster Risk Reduction (CFDRR) VALUES FORMATION Local Capacities for Peace (LCP) Table 1: World Vision Priorities and Corresponding Programs The third research problem was about the financial accountability of World Vision Philippines regarding the funds being donated to the organization. World Vision released annual reports containing the finances of the organization however there are instances when the information in these reports are too vague. See Figure 1 and 2 which were taken directly from the 2011 and 2012 World Vision Annual Report. Figure 1 showed the breakdown of the finances in the organization in million pesos while Figure 2 merely stated the percentage of each of the expenses. Figure 1: World Vision Financial Report for 2011 Figure 2: World Vision Financial Report 2012 The Philippine Council for NGO Certification gave a 5 year certification to World Vision Philippines last December 29,2010 and will expire in August 25, 2015. This meant that the World Vision Philippines passed the criteria for financial management and accountability in the service to underprivileged Filipinos. According to PCNC PCNC has formulated three rating sheets one is for organizations operating for two or more years; another is for newly established organizations; and the third is for networks. The evaluation covers six areas, namely: Vision, Mission, and Goals; Governance; Administration; Program Operations; Financial Management; and Networking. Financial Management gives the best source of assurance for donors that the recipient organization is accountable and transparent and that donations are  utilized according to the organizations declared goals and objectives. Extra parameters may be added or deleted when necessary, depending on the organization being evaluated. An NGO may get a 1, 3, or 5 year-certification, depending on its years of existence and ratings from the evaluation. To practice transparency, World Vision Philippines’s main program Sponsor-A-Child involves giving annual reports regarding the status of the child that the donors are sponsoring. The sponsorship package includes nutritious food, clean water, access to healthcare and education not only for the child but also his community. The organization also has an event called Lakbay Pag-asa in partnership with Cebu Pacific that allows the donor and the children they are sponsoring to meet. This gives chance to the donors to evaluate the progress of not only the child they are sponsoring but also the families and communities that they will visit. The fourth research problem was answered by the statement of Jennica Enciso, UNFPA Philippines Youth Advisory Panel at UNFPA and Political Science Professor of Jose Rizal University, on measuring the authenticity and effectiveness of NGOs. She stated thatto measure the authenticity of the NGO: first it should be registered but there is a question on the credibility of the body giving the certification especially with the recent happenings regarding the bogus NGOs supposedly created by Janet Lim Napoles. Measuring the effectiveness of an NGO can be done through monitoring and evaluation on how this NGO is active in many activities. The beneficiaries themselves will give a good feedback if they gained any help and if the projects of the NGOs were a success. The fifth research problem was answered by conducting a SWOT analysis on World Vision Philippines. The researchers identified the following as the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of World Vision Philippines: Strengths 1. The organization is devoted to Christian beliefs therefore it adheres to values that are important to the society 2. World Vision’s approach is holistic. 3. They have a target of 15 years to study to complete their Sponsor A Child  Program which shows that they are timebound, and therefore, this project is measurable and can be analyzed. 4. Fast response to natural disasters. 5. Showing people the hard parts of the world. 6. Great reputation and donor base 7. Leaders are people from corporate sector 8. Celebrity endorsements from well-known celebrities like Anne Curtis, Kramer Family, Ogie Alcasid and so on 9. Helps anyone regardless of religious affiliation 10. World Vision promotes public involvement and government policies related to education and children. Weaknesses 1. Public perception wanting to know how much goes to the kids. 2. How the effectiveness of programs is measured. 3. Getting the word out that it is not a bad company that only thinks about themselves. 4. People do not donate because they cannot afford the minimum amount specified in certain programs such as Sponsor-a-Child. 5. Decentralized leadership leads to delayed decision making 6. Uncertainty of the continuation of funds coming from donors 7. Reactive, rather than proactive culture 8. Personnel not ready to deal with the huge influx of orphans and sick patients. 9. Website is not updated particularly the contact page. 10. Vague report on financial accountability. Opportunities 1. World Vision is getting donation from churches. 2. Government and private organization also give donations to the World Vision. 3. Organization is able to expand programs because there is a great need from its targeted beneficiaries. 4. Can build on community models and leverage community relationships 5. Collaborate with other organizations to expand their reach 6. World Vision can utilize their celebrity endorsers to further promote the advocacies of the organization 7. Recent natural calamities that occurred in the country can serve as a means to carry out  disaster response programs 8. Their twitter already has 31.4 thousand followers. 9. Celebrities who are non-World Vision endorsers publicly donate to World Vision Philippines (Valentines Concert of Regine Velasquez and Martin Nievera) 10. Sentimentality of people from affected areas increased volunteerism. Threats 1. Embezzlement 2. Computer Failure 3. Negative Legislature and Lawsuits 4. Strikes 5. Tax Problems 6. Terrorism 7. Workplace Violence 8. Competition from other Charities that implement changes more quickly 9. Possibility of Economic Crisis 10. Bad Reviews on NGOs The last research problem was addressed in Figures 3 to 10 that shows the strategies identified by the researches as possible means to improve the organization. Figure 3: S1-01 Strategy Figure 4: S2-03 Strategy Figure 5:S1-T1 Strategy Figure 6: S8-T10 Strategy Figure 7: W6-02 Strategy Figure 8: W3-010 Strategy Figure 9: W8-T8 Strategy Figure 10: W6-T9 Strategy CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS SUMMARY This study wants to find out the role that the World Vision Philippines play in the country’s nation-building. After analysis of the existing literature, It was found out that the organization does play significant role in nation-building primarily because its projects, programs, and priorities coincides with activities that are essential to nation-building like improvements in the standard of living of the people in terms of health and nutrition, education, child participation, livelihood, disaster response and values formation. The World Vision Philippines has 14 active programs, four of which are related to health and nutrition, another four for education, three for livelihood, two for disaster response, and one for values formation. The World Vision Philippines holds itself accountable to its donors and the public by releasing an annual financial report that shows the breakdown of their revenues, expenses, and project costs. A private organization, the Philippine Council for NGO Certification, gave a five year certification to World Vision Philippines which meant that it passed the minimum requirement for an NGO in terms of financial management and accountability in rendering its services. Another way it practices transparency is in the program Sponsor-A-Child, the NGO gives annual reports to the donors regarding the status, grades, and other relevant information of their specific beneficiary. Ms. Jennica Encisco said that the authenticity and effectiveness of NGOS are measured by analyzing whether they are registered as such, monitoring and evaluating the activities of the NGO, and through the feedback of actual beneficiaries. The proponents listed down 10 Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) to the  organization and recommended strategies that utilized this SWOT to help improve the performance and efficiency of the organization. CONCLUSIONS The study has derived the following conclusions based on the information gathered by the researchers. World Vision Philippines plays a significant role in nation-building of the Philippines since the scope of its projects involve factors that are needed in nation-building such as health, education, livelihood, individual and community development and so on. World Vision contributes to the nation-building through its projects such as Social Mobilization on TB, ABK3. Child Friendly Spaces, Local Capacities for Peace, Bridge to Employment and many more. World Vision Philippines is held accountable for all the donations and funds sent to them by their donors by publishing annual reports available to the public, providing reports to their donors regarding the status of their sponsored child or community, and having a certification from the PCNC. However there is still a question on the authenticity of some of the financial reports due to the vagueness of the information given. The measure s used to assess the success of World Vision Philippines’ projects are monitoring, evaluation and feedback regarding the programs. The strengths of World Vision Philippines are the organization is devoted to Christian beliefs therefore it adheres to values that are important to the society, World Vision’s approach is holistic, they have a target of 15 years to study to complete their Sponsor A Child Program which shows that they are time-bound, and therefore, this project is measurable and can be analyzed; Fast response to natural disasters, Showing people the hard parts of the world; Great reputation and donor base; and lastly, World Vision promotes public involvement and government policies related to education and children. The weaknesses of the organization are public perception wanting to know how much goes to the kids, how the effectiveness of programs is measured, getting the word out that it is not a bad company that only thinks about themselves and lastly, people do not donate because they cannot afford the minimum amount specified in certain programs such as Sponsor-a-Child. The opportunities of World Vision are it is getting donation from churches, Government and private organization also give donations to the World Vision; Organization is able to expand programs because there is a great need from its targeted beneficiaries, Can build on community models and leverage community relationships, and lastly, they collaborate with other organizations to expand their reach. The threats on World Vision Philippines are embezzlement , computer failure, negative legislature and lawsuits, strikes, tax problems, terrorism, workplace violence, competition from other charities that implement changes more quickly, possibility of economic crisis and lastly, bad reviews on NGOs. The different strategies that World Vision Philippines can adopt to improve and overcome the challenges it faces are: Because of their strong affiliations with the Christian Churches, and because the latter has lots of adherents who give out donations to their institution, churches who are donors of World Vision Philippines could be a major source of funds for the said organization; Since the World Vision Philippines is not limited to a single social issue and there is a great need from the targeted beneficiaries of their programs, there is a huge demand for the services of the organization which strengthens its reason for existence; If the organization strengthens its members and volunteers’ Christian values, then the likelihood of cases of embezzlement shall be significantly reduced; The NGO can utilize their celebrity endorsements to counteract negative reviews and this will be effective because celebrities have huge followings and thus, wield significant influence; Since government and private organizations also donate to the World Vision Philippines, the funds coming from them will be more stable than those coming from individuals; The problem of World Vision Philippines in proving that they really care about the services they render rather than for personal gain can be addressed by utilizing people who want to be volunteers because their areas were ravaged by natural disasters; The World vision Philippines should recruit more volunteers and personnel and train them in order to sufficiently address the influx of orphans and sick patients and thus be more competitive against other NGOs and charitable institutions and lastly, World Vision Philippines must expand their donor base to include institutions and individuals that  are financially secure so as to counter the uncertainty of the source of funds and the threat of an economic crisis depleting the funds of their usual donor base. RECOMMENDATIONS The proponents recommend to the future researchers the following: Future researchers mustutilize primary sources such as interviews from experts such that there will have a more in-depth and possibly more accurate perspective about the status and assessment on NGOs in the Philippines and specifically, World Vision. Future researches should identify the organizational structure of World Vision in order to determine whether or not it has an impact on the success of the implementation of the programs. Future researches should discuss the authenticity of the certification issued by PCNC especially with the recent happenings regarding bogus NGOs. BIBLIOGRAPHY Commonwealth Business Council, â€Å"Strengthening Good Governance in Business, Government, Civil Society: Shared Challenges of Leadership and Accountability†. November 2003. Songco, Danilo A. 2006. The Evolution of NGO Accountability Practices and their Implications on Philippine NGOs A literature review and options paper for the Philippine Council for NGO Certification TravPR.com. Febrauary 2014. Ascott and Capitaland Hope Foundation Donate PHP1.87 Million to World Vision’s Typhoon Yolanda Relief and Rehabilitation Operations. Retrived from: http://www.travpr.com/pr-28129-ascott-and-capitaland-hope.html Rachel C. Barawid, Sara C. Fojas Ronald S. Lim. February 2014.Vision in Action. Manila Bulletin. World Vision Philippines. January 2014. World Vision launches shelter project for quake-hit Bohol. Retrieved from: http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/343817/cbb/world-vision-launches-shelter-project-for-quake-hit-bohol Jordan, L.,2005. â€Å"Mechanisms for NGO Accountability†, GPPi Research Paper Series No. 3, Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin, Germany. Edwards, M. Hulme, D. 1996. â€Å"Too Close For Comfort? The Impact of Official Aid on Nongovernmental Organizations,† in World Development, Volume 24. U. K. Native Nations Institute. 2013. What is Native Nation Building. Stephenson, C. 2005. Nation-building. World Vision. http://issuu.com/myworldvision/docs/2012_annual_report Alesina, A. Reich B. 2013. Nation-building.