Debt in Australia, Monetary Policy Essay Example for Free

Debt in Australia, Monetary Policy Essay Introduction It is imperative that the Australian households’ debt have noticeably risen over the past two decades, and is currently rated high according to international standards. The sharp increase in housing debt has been the reason for the rise in the household debt. Increased availability of housing finance, strong demand for debt from investors, and lower interest rates are the main drivers of the rising housing debt. The households’ net worth and servicing ratios will be discussed in this paper as the impacts on the higher household debt levels. The impacts of the instability in global capital markets will be discussed in this paper in relation to the housing finance market in Australia. Lastly, the implications of the rising household debt will be discussed in relation to the financial stability and monetary policy. Trends in household debt It is important to note that Australian households had a fairly stable ratio of debt to disposable income at approximately 45% during the 1980s. However, rapid rise in the ratio of debt to disposable income was recorded since 1990, with it reaching optimum of 157% in December 2007. The bulk of the increase was accounted for by the housing debt, that is, over the period, the ratio of the housing debt to disposable income rose to 134% from 31%. It was also recorded over the same period, a rise in the ratio of personal debt to disposable income to 22% from 13%. A sharp rise in the ratio of debts to assets was recorded at 17% in December 2007, from 8% in December 1989 (Wilkins Wooden, 2009). A sharp rise in household indebtedness in a number of advanced economies has been witnessed over the last two decades. It is however, noted that the increase in household debt in Australia is pronounced. The Australia’s ratio in household debt to income was recorded as the highest in December 2007 despite Australia recording as one of the countries with the household debt lowest ratio to disposable income among advanced economies in the late 1980s. It is also imperative to point out that among advanced economies; Australia rose from the bottom position to the middle number in terms of the ratio of household debt to assets over the same period (Berry Dalton, 2009). Housing finance market Focus on the housing finance market is emphasized in this paper because the housing debt in households’ total debt is dominant. An average of 15% in the annual growth in housing debt was recorded since 1990. In the periods, 1988-1989, 1994, and 2002-2004 strong growth in housing debt was recorded. This strong growth in the growth in housing debt was faster than the growth in the disposable income of households over the same period that stood at an average of 6% only (Berry Dalton, 2009). Significant growth in house prices accompanied the sharp increase in the housing debt. Over the period 1987 and 1988, the house prices doubled, however, during the first half of the 1990s the house prices drifted slowly higher, with the house prices doubling more between 1997 and late 2003. Continuous increase in aggregate house prices was recorded since late 2003; however, the trend varies markedly across the country, for instance, house prices in Perth increased strongly, while the house prices in Sydney decreased over time. The boom in resources supports the varied trends in house prices across the country (Berry Dalton, 2009). A number of factors accounts to the rising house debt in Australia over the past years, with lower interest rates accounting for high borrowing by the households whenever they take their housing loan out. This trend has been responsible for the rise in the average size of new loans, which results into the rise in the average size of outstanding loans over time. The availability of housing finance has resulted into the rise in the capacity of households to borrow finances (Wilkins Wooden, 2009). Financial health of households It is noted that the historic sharp increase in the Australia’s disposable income in December 2007 was accounted by the strong rise in the housing debt in Australia over the past fifteen years. It was however, pointed out that only a few households had difficulties in repaying their debt obligations, despite the historic sharp increase in the housing debt in December 2007 (Berry Dalton, 2009). Impact of the turbulence in global capital market It is significant to note that the housing finance market in Australia has suffered greatly as a result of the global capital markets’ turbulence. This is because half of the total funding for financial institutions in Australia is accounted for by the deposits. The foreign and domestic capital markets the balance in the Australian financial institutions. There has been significant rise in the mortgage rates, and significant change in the markets shares from lenders, due to this, there is limited restriction to the overall supply of housing finance (Berry Dalton, 2009). Significant reduction in some forms of capital market funding as well as significant rise in the most of the forms of capital market funding have resulted from the turbulence in the financial market. It is however, noted that the impact of the financial market turbulence have been felt in a number of securitization markets. Securitization markets over the past decade or so, have established itself into as a significant source of funding for housing loans in Australia. In mid 2007 for example, outstanding securitization housing finance loans had accounted for 23% (Wilkins Wooden, 2009). This was a significant rise from the mid 1990s 5% housing finance loans that were securitized. A number of loans from mortgage originators were being securitized. Institutions like credit union, regional banks, and building societies had adopted securitization of their loans since it was a cost effective way of wholesale funding (Wilkins Wooden, 2009). The onset of the global financial turbulence in July 2007, led to significant close of the securitization market. There were significant rise prime residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) to 75 basis points in December 2007 from approximately 15 basis points in mid-2007. It is imperative to point out that Australia’s Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) accounted for the issuance of a number of Australian Asset-backed Securities (ABS) that extends on AAA-rated senior tranches (Berry Dalton, 2009). There was significant spread in the subordinated AAA-rated tranches that increased to approximately 110 basis points from approximately 20 basis points. It is significant to point out that despite the sharp increase in the spreads, investors in Australia has never encountered losses on rated Australian RMBS, coupled with the housing market in Australia remaining healthy. The investors have become more concerned with the product itself, as discounts are attached to all the sales of securitized products. The selling of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) by several structured investment vehicles (SIVs) has also created excess supply in the secondary market (Berry Dalton, 2009). Implications for financial stability and monetary policy It significant to point out the access to credit by the household sector has greatly increased courtesy of financial innovation and deregulation. The households in Australia have become more comfortable to take loans owing to the ongoing strong performance of the economy (Berry Dalton, 2009). Â  The balance sheets of households have remained in good health despite the significant rise in the household debt; this has resulted into significant rise in asset-value capable of offsetting the rise in debt. It is also significant to note that macroeconomic conditions in the economy are also favorable. References Berry, M., Dalton, T. (2009). Mortgage default in Australia nature, causes and social and economic impacts. Melbourne: AHURI. Wilkins, R., Wooden, M. (2009). Household Debt In Australia: The Looming Crisis That Isnt. Australian Economic Review , 42(3), 358-366.

Issues of marks spencer

Issues of marks spencer Introduction In this assignment, an analysis and discussion of the strategies and issues of Marks Spencer will be carried out. MS was developed by immigrants. It was in 1884 that Michael Marks, a Russian-born Polish refugee, opened his first stall at a market in Leeds. Around ten years later he moved the trestle-table empire to Manchester where he went into partnership with Tom Spencer, a former cashier. Over the next ten years they built an operation that would grow to become the most British of institutions. MS is a major British retailer with over 885 stores in the United Kingdom and with over 600 domestic and 285 international stores too. It is the largest clothing retailer in the United Kingdom, as well as being an up market food retailer, and as of 2008, it was rated the 43rd largest retailer in the world. Most of its domestic stores sell both clothing and food, and since the turn of the century it started expanding into other ranges too, such as home-ware, furniture and technology. MS has in place objectives to bring shareholder value in terms of increase returns, but also in terms of increase sales and market share in retailing. Its beliefs and standards are outlined as Our customers continue to see Marks Spencer as the place to shop for special food, produced to exacting standards. It also sees its workforce as an important part of its plan and also considers modernising its stores as a key corporate objective. Its vision is to set high customer standards and its mission in makin g inspirational quality accessible to all. Nevertheless, the time when MS was extremely successful has long gone, as their clothing sales have come under pressure from other big companies such as Next and Asda WalMart, in 2001 the company recorded a mere  £145 million profit (US$ 275M), adding to this its food revenue has been hit by Tesco. Furthermore, in the last 5 years the company has experienced a succession of changes in management and corporate structures, following a massive decline in sales. What used to be a leading worldwide quality food and clothing retailer has now become uncompetitive in the market industry internationally, especially in the United Kingdom. A major contributing factor to this has been due to the pressure from the economic crisis world wide. In 2002 the Chairman and Chief Executive of MS, gave key information regarding the managements recovery plan for the company, and the speech and extracts from Marks Spencer Press Releases provided a valuable insight into the strategic plans for Marks Spencer. The Chief Executive of Marks Spencer insists that firstly the heart of the company should be dealt with, and focus needs to be given to the entire United Kingdom business, with a mission to make inspirational quality accessible to all. The main objective of the strategy for Marks and Spencer is the expansion into the worldwide market, and then aim to continue keeping ahead of the fashion market so that it can always inspire customers and raise the quality and standards or their product range. However, for the company to continue its previous success, they kept adapting new strategies when former strategies started to fail. Marks and Spencers plans to focus on keeping strong connection with their current customer, whom have been loyal for many years and are the reason for the rapid growth and success of the company. Another main focus for marks and Spencer is to work closely with the market to build a strong bond and trust with their shareholders, and also to provide best possible dividend whilst maintaining the company standards and profits. In addition, strongly considering their stakeholders opinions which are important as many companies success depends on its market and production, so even keeping a strong conne ction with employees on company improvements, and keeping peace between pressure groups and the company is useful in improving the brand image. The main issues that Marks and Spencer has faced over the past five years are their sales, since they have dropped massively compared to previous success. Marks and Spencer have currently published what their business plans are, and what they hope to aim within the upcoming years. Through this research it is aimed to investigate whether Marks and Spencer has successfully abided to the strategy but still failed, does this mean that the strategy was poorly planned, or whether in fact the strategy has increased their growth within the UK and worldwide market. Marks and Spencer as an international company From an international market perspective, Marks and Spencers aims and standards of their presentation and for the wider Marks and Spencers brands in selected export markets were a successful business globally. However, it seems that Marks and Spencers franchise stores are regarded much smaller than the UK stores. Nevertheless, part of its strategic review, Marks and Spencer announced the closure of its loss-making businesses in Europe due to this. In 2005, Marks and Spencers internationally began to operate in 29 countries including Hong Kong. and had 198 franchised outlets together with 19 directly owned stores in Hong Kong, along with 65 stores were located in the Asia-Pacific region, 60 in Europe, 45 in Central Europe with the rest in central Asia and the Middle East. MS used to own and operate 38 stores across France, Germany and Spain, but they were closed down in 2001 by the previous chairman, Luc Vandevelde, as it ran into problems due to the economic crises in the UK. In Apri l 2007 the company set out many plans to open 150 new international stores over the following three years, the majority via franchising. The first of the openings were scheduled to take place during the summer in Ukraine and Bulgaria, alongside further company-owned expansion in Ireland. Franchisee-owned developments are also underway in India and Russia too. Marks and Spencer set out how the stores should look and sell its branded goods and also view each store widely. Furthermore, its competitors such as Next and Debenhams across India have had also finance problems, however, there strategic plans did not fail as much as Marks and Spencers did globally, this is due to their continuous new products and brands compared to that of Marks and Spencer. They also focused on selling more than just clothes and food but also to sell furniture etc. Much has been said that Marks and Spencer needs to commit and be determined of what they sell best, which is food and clothing, which in turn this will help the company as a whole to maintain there previous success. Despite its recent financial problems and its slightly confused brand image, MS shows what can be done with tradition in the development of brand equity. Standing for values that have a place in society beyond the product can have important cultural ties for consumers. MS stands for Britain as much as it does for retailing, and thats a symbol that British consumers arent keen to give up in a hurry. During 2007/08 Marks and Spencer announced there plan to grow their International business to between 15 to 20% of total group revenues by 2012. There strategy remains unchanged, although they are adapting their plans as the economy dictates. Marks and Spencers aim is to reach their own target, with sales up 25.9%. Marks and Spencers five key elements for an International growth strategy are the following: The Growing of their equity partnerships in line with their revised business model. The Expanding of footprint into new markets and within markets where we already operate. To Achieving operational excellences. To highlight the brand integrity and awareness Finding innovative ways to grow our food offer. France MSs most concentrated European effort was in France. The clothing offering generated great profit, however, the foods section did not do as well asexpected. Strategies High fashion strategy Target area: European Countries, especially France As Paris is the fashion capital, therefore, MS should and needs to provide more fashion elements into their design in order to broaden their target market, and attract more female customers. For example, MS could hire some world famous designers to work for their European market, it could not only upscale MSs level, but it also let MS charge premium prices on their merchandise. Advertising strategy Target area: Canada MS nearly had new brand name has entered the Canadian market. Accordingly the brand was consciousness in one biggest weakness in Canada. Therefore, MS have to spend more money in both like TV marketing or local news paper marketing to build up their weakness. For example, MS could have hire a famous Canadian stars to communicate to their clothing, MS they can provide some of kind of sales promotions which is weekday shopping coupons or give discount to get more customers. Multiple sales channel Objective area: All The conventional sales channel is though local stores and mostly all of MS stores are located in downtowns areas. To promote the sales, MS need to expand the conventional channel, which have some catalogues of selling. MS can try to mail the recent season of catalogue to their customers, which would make ordering and purchasing easier and convenient. Class Control Objective area: All Good quality is a strong point with MS, its also the reason how MSs has high customers maintenance. However, because of the low supply chain in Canada, MS products slowly became decreased and damaged the sales of MS. As a result, MS should closely control the market supply chain to have guarantee of the value. TO decrease the operating cost MS may have even more imported materials and goods from Asia or Europe. Evaluation The evaluated have been implemented not after it has occurred, so to discover if the interference having desired effect. This would be involve evaluation and after completion evaluation. These both provide the organization and the feedback about the intervention. Evaluation expected at the guiding this can be called implementation feedback and assessment of interference is called evaluation feedback. Implementation feedback comprises collecting data about facial appearance of the intervention its result and feeding them back in short intervals. Evaluation advice involves to collecting data effect terms of about to effect intervention which are takes long feedback intervals. The problem of the nature organization develop interventions makes them very hard to evaluate. Very few of OD interberatnre are driven by the theory or designs which make it difficult to interpret cause and effect. As does that fat they never been haven separation to other activates and changes in the organization. I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE ABOVE SECTION However, OD interventions can be aided by applying the following guidelines: amount should be derive from the theory intervention original the interventions and include events of the skin of the intervention select right variables deceitful good events e.g. operationally clear, dependable and official Research plan e.g. quasi trial designs. Critique of strategy Change Every change of situation is different, and different techniques and approaches for change need to be managed accordingly.. Although this is discussed earlier, the Models considered for the changes to give strength to the strategy on the each situation only in the general of way. As a result, the individual different of the situation goes on flexible advance. The change of models balanced change through Fairley stages- yet, when you consider the impact of change princess, it could be considered as disordered. Intervention involves of changing the individuals goals, introducing the new evens, and having changes that do not fit to norms business. Other condition it may also come to change process thorough management which is not part of the original of plan of change. There is no hard confirmation that effect of planned on business performance as evaluation is very difficult and imprecise. Consultant facilitating planned change their own business favorite biases that will influence the operation and intervention used. Lack of the open mindedness and awareness may cause the ineffective decisions for change. The planned change the strategy approach involved long terms, but its often case organizations want to be fix solutions with immediate results. This can be leading the corner in strategy to development or unfortunate alternative being used. DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS SECTION Strategy Plan Harris and Walters (1992) model of store positioning, based on the four overlapping circles of merchandise characteristics, trading format, customer service and customer communication, is proposed to be central to the competitive strategy of multiple retailers (Figure 1). They suggest the four factors interact to create the market positioning of a company and provide detailed flowcharts and descriptions for each contributing factor. Moreover, they link store positioning to critical success factors, such as sales revenue; gross profit and gross margin; and sales per square foot. This framework is extremely useful in exploring the recovery of MS. The first step was to take the company back to basics by reviewing the strategy to ensure that the offer for the target audience was right. This led to the plan, where the main goals were to get the correct product for the various customer groups, to implement a staff training programme to improve customer service, to refurbish the stores, and overall to communicate all of this to customers. The reputation of MS was built on quality, reliability and service. Suppliers were nearly all UK based with long term contracts. However, when firms such as Next, Top Shop and George started to outsource from the UK, they could be far more competitive on price, providing more fashionable clothes with ranges that were changed frequently, due to Quick Response methods (Birtwistle, Siddiqui and Fiorito, 2003). This led MS to source from abroad but they failed to pass on the increased margin to the customers, hence they remained uncompetitive. Customers viewed the clothing ranges as unfashionable, unattractive and over-priced. During 2006, there was a launch of the new focused ranges of womens wear, and an expansion of the Per Una brand was launched, created by George Davies of Next and George at Asda. This undoubtedly improved the image of the brand and increased MSspace. When Stuart Rose became the Chief Executive, MS had 16 fashion sub-brands, quality and styling was inferior to the c ompetition, and due to the lengthy supply chain fashion trends were missed (Rose, 2007). In their new strategy, MS continue to use world wide suppliers with relationships based on partnerships rather than the previous paternalistic management style (Khan, 2006). This has enabled the firm to reduce supply chain costs by  £100m (Rose, 2007). For the clothing ranges, MS invested in the design process and product development, and intensive staff training too, giving the teams full product control, making the company more agile and enabling lead times to be reduced, giving increased flexibility and reducing stockholding from  £4bn to  £1.3bn (Khan, 2006; Rose, 2007). However, it has forced suppliers to take on increased risks by having to be very flexible, producing short runs and by storing fabric and stock (Birtwistle, Moore and Fiorito, 2006). Every week Stuart Rose reviews stockholding and supplier commitments to ensure that price points and quality are right and he has implemented a new strategy of good, better, best ranges, each representing good value (Rose, 2007 ). To create products to the various customer groups the Customer Insight unit holds regular focus groups where customers are provided with samples of goods. For instance, to understand the requirements of the older consumer, MS invites in the members from the Womens Institute to give honest, highly opinionated advice (Woods, 2007) Customer Service For many years MS customer service was based on the halo effect of their liberal returns policy. Moreover, they were not used to have fitting rooms and did not accept credit or debit cards, and even when they did introduce them, they did not communicate this fact to their customers. MS is aware that customers have become more demanding with higher expectations in terms of service and that they had become less competitive in the rates they were paying shop floor staff, hence they found it difficult to recruit quality staff. A customer service programme was created by Mary Gober and implemented in 2005. All 56,000 members of staff attended and this training is ongoing. The key message is that the customer comes first, by making eye contact, providing excellent service in key areas such as the fitting rooms, at the till and information areas, and in the cafà ©s (Anon, 2006). For example, all staff should be able to handle queries on fashion trends, sizes and pricing, fittings and alter ations, offers and incentives. MS also increased the number of staff in areas such as shoes where customers need more assistance, and this investment in product and sales training for shop floor staff is seen to be paying off. Trading Format MS had been very slow in taking up the trend to move to retail parks (Khan, 2006). and many of their smaller stores have not been refurbished in recent years either. Davies and Brooks (1989) argue that the best way of getting consumers to re-evaluate the product is to undertake a store refit. A plan to modernise the stores was implemented in 2006, and the first roll out of the new format began. In the first year MS spent  £500m and they planned to spend an additional  £800m in the next years (Fletcher, 2007; Rose, 2007). The process consisted initially of improving the store environment by taking away the shortage or embracement of signage. This was followed by a number of new store formats, hence, an order for 100 new escalators, 100 lifts and 20 miles of new refrigeration units was made (Rose, 2007). The improved product offer, the service and the increasingly attractive store environment has led to 16 million shoppers visiting the stores each week (Marks Spencer, 2007). Customer Communication In general, customer communication is further achieved using the in-store magazine. First forays into advertising went drastically wrong when their TV campaign pictured a naked women, size 14, running up a hill. This sent a completely wrong message out to their customers (Khan, 2006). Today they have become the leader in retail marketing communication. The first advertising campaign during autumn 2004 featured the food offer using mouth watering food photography and a sensual female voice-over stating this is not just food, this is MS food. This TV campaign presented an entirely new format, which has been dubbed food pornography. For instance, the chocolate pudding advertised just before Easter 2005 increased sales by 3,500 per cent, and as Steven Sharp said at the time it makes you want to lick the telly! (Martinson, 2006). When the clothing range had been reviewed and new lines introduced the spring summer season was preceded by a strong advertising campaign which included TV, radio, cinema, print, posters and even five MS branded taxis. This was very successful and attracted customers into the stores, thus, sales and profits increased. A number of models present the MS look such as Noemie Lenoir, Laura Bailey and Myleene Klass. Now anything worn by Twiggy, the 1960s fashion icon, Erin OConnor or Lizzy Jagger, the daughter of Rolling Stone Mick Jagger sell out in days. The attractiveness of the marketing campaign is that it appeals to all age groups. Whereas the womens-wear range is presented by models, the menswear range is promoted by celebrities such as the comedians Jimmy Carr, Martin Freeman and Bob Mortimer and football pundits such as Alan Hansen, Ian Wright and Jamie Redknapp. Bryan Ferry the voice of Roxy Music is the face of the Autograph range for men. The 2006 Christmas campaign last year f eatured the Ice Hotel in Sweden with Shirley Bassey, and David Bailey did the photography to give the campaigns fashion credibility (Brown, 2006). The success of these campaigns can be measured not only in sales but also by the number of retailers such as Matalan, Debenhams, John Lewis Partnership and Next, who are now actually copying the format. Recently, the look behind the label campaign promoting fair trade products, environmental concerns and customer health has increased consumer perception of the organization. This helped to attract 350,000 new customers a week into the stores (Brown, 2006). MS was awarded Company of the Year in 2006 and the Responsible Marketing Award in 2007 by Business in the Community. The marketing expenditure for the year ending 2007 was  £145m, of which approximately half was spent on advertising (Fletcher, 2007). Consolation: The recovery plan appears to be working well, as shares peaking at  £7.49 before the announcements of the results in May 2007 (English, 2007). The year end results to March 31st 2007 showed an increase of 28.5 per cent in profits to  £965.2m, with a 6.1 per cent increase of like-for-like sales to give credence to the five year recovery plan due to be completed in 2009 (Table 2). MS has 520 stores in the UK and has plans to open several Simply Food format stores as well as some out-of-town retail outlets, and they plan to employ an additional 10,000 members of staff (English, 2007). MS has been more successful than other retailers in using integrated marketing communication methods to get its message to both, disaffected past and present customers, increase brand equity and support the recovery of the firm. The advertising campaigns have been a strong contributor to the re-evaluation of MS as a retailer and have helped to increase footfall and the conversion rate. It has also led to Steven Sharp achieving a number of marketing awards, such as the Marketing Societys Marketer of the Year 2006; the Marketing Week Effectiveness Awards 2006; and the Chief Marketing Officer of the Year award at the Global Marketer Summit in Frankfurt in 2006. In January 2007, Stuart Rose at last used the r word and stated the business was now well into the recovery phase. However, in a very competitive trading environment, turning the short term recovery into long term growth will be more difficult and awaiting to see the direction of the long term strategy. Conclusion Reference http://annualreport.marksandspencer.com/operating-financial/ms-international/ms-international.aspx

Christopher Columbus And The Four Voyages History Essay

Christopher Columbus And The Four Voyages History Essay Christopher Columbus is known as a great historical figure and was considered as one of the greatest mariners in history. He sailed west across the Atlantic Ocean in search of a route to Asia but achieved recognition by making arrival in the Americas instead. About 5-6 centuries have passed since his death yet his great navigational skills have not been forgotten and not to mention that the routes he used to travel around the seas, are still being used by sailors till this very day. He was an Italian explorer, colonizer, and navigator. Christopher Columbus was born in the 31st of October 1451, in the Republic of Genoa, in northwestern Italy. His name is originally pronounced Critoforo Colombo in Italian and Cristà ³bal Colà ³n in Spanish but was translated into English as Christopher Columbus. His father was a poor weaver; he had 4 younger siblings; and went to school during his early ages. Since Genoa was known to be a busy seaport, Christopher learned much of what he knows from the sailors there. He worked with his father for a while but he knew that his destiny was to sail the vast waters. Early Life Christopher Columbus began his sailing career with short fishing trips and worked his way up to longer trips with merchants that traded along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. He began his seagoing career at the age of 14 where he served on several ships in roles that include working as a messenger, common sailor, and probably a 21-year-old privateer as well. Christopher Columbus was interested by map making and geography, which he tends to study between voyages or trips. During the years of his twenties, he went on his first trip out of the Mediterranean Sea and into the Atlantic Ocean. In this trip, his ship was attacked and was set on fire. His only option to survive this tragic occurrence was to swim; he swam six miles back to the shore by only clinging to wreckage. The Voyages Between the years of 1492 and 1503, Christopher Columbus accomplished four round-trip voyages between Spain and the Americas. Columbuss voyages manifested the start of the European exploration and colonization of the American continent thus making Columbus a national hero as he made an impact on Western history. First Voyage After receiving significant funding from the Spanish Monarchs, Columbus set sail on the evening of August 3, 1492. He left Palos de la Frontera with three ships, the Santa Marà ­a, Santa Clara, and Pinta. These ships belonged to the inhabitants of Palos but the monarchs forced them to contribute to the expedition thus granting the usage of their ships. Columbus first sailed to the Canary Islands in order to resupply and perform repairs. On the 6th of September, he departed San Sebà ¡stian de La Gomera for his first voyage across the ocean that lasted for five weeks. On the 12th of October, one of the Pintas crewmembers spotted land and informed the rest of crew immediately. The captain of Pinta confirmed the discovery and notified Columbus. Columbus named the island San Salvador whilst the natives called it Guanahani. As described by Columbus, the natives at San Salvador, or Guanahani, were peaceful and friendly. Upon leaving this island, Columbus went on to explore the northeastern coast of Cuba and the northern coast of Hispaniola. On Christmas morning 1492, the Santa Maria had to be abandoned as it got wrecked on the shores of the northern coast of Hispaniola. He had to leave behind 39 men at a fort called the Navadid due to no space in the other two ships. His final stop before heading back home was Samanà ¡ Peninsula but his landing wasnt so peaceful as expected. A violent resistance from a hostile named Ciguayos greeted him on his first voyage to the Americas. He stole about 10 to 25 natives before his departure and brought them back to Spain (about 7 or 8 were brought back alive). En route to Spain, Columbus faced another storm, which was considered as one of the worst storms during that century, and was forced to set sail to Lisbon, Portugal where he anchored his ships on 4 March 1943. He stayed for more than one week then left to Spain where he reached on 15 March 1493. Words of his journey immediately spread throughout Europe thus granting him fame and acknowledgment. http://gardenofpraise.com/images5/colmap1.png Second Voyage On the 24th of September 1493, Columbus left Cadiz, Spain in search of new territories, with 17 supply-carrying ships and nearly 1,200 men (consisting of priests, farmers, and soldiers) to settle the region. As what he did on his first voyage, they stopped at Canary Islands and left on 13 October 1493 going on a more southerly course. His first sighting was a rugged land named Dominica then he sailed north where he discovered and named islands that include Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Antigua, Redonda, Nevis, Saint Kitts, Saint Eustatius, Saba, Saint Martin, and Saint Croix in His first sighting was a rugged land named Dominica then he sailed north where he discovered and named islands that include Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Antigua, Redonda, Nevis, Saint Kitts, Saint Eustatius, Saba, Saint Martin, and Saint Croix in the Lesser Antilles. He claimed all of these lands for Spain. He went on to the Greater Antilles and on the November 19 1493, he boarded at Puerto Rico. He then went back to Hispaniola to check up on the 39 men he left behind at the fort Navadid but all he could find was that most of the colonists were gone and about 11 dead bodies left behind as they have been in a dispute with the Indians. He, however, established a new settlement at Isabella, on the northern coast of Hispaniola. The location happened to be poor though and the settlement didnt last long. He went on to explore the interior of the island in search of gold. He found some and went on to establish another small fort in the interior. He left Hispaniola on the 24th of April and on April 30th, he reached and went on to explore the southern coast of Cuba and was convinced that it is a peninsula rather than an island. He discovered Jamaica on the 5th of May. He went back to Hispaniola and from there, he finally returned to Spain. http://gardenofpraise.com/images5/colmap2.png Third Voyage On the 30th of May 1498, Columbus went to embark on his third voyage. He brought with him six ships from Sanlucar, Spain and led them first to his wifes native land, Porto Santo, which is a Portuguese Island. Afterwards, he went on sail to Madeira to meet up with the Portuguese Captain Joà £o Gonà §alves da Camara before heading to the Canary Islands and Cape Verde. Columbus boarded the southern coast of the island of Trinidad on the 31st of July. From the 4th to the 12th of August, he sailed to the Gulf of Paria that divides Trinidad from Venzuela. He went on to explore the mainland of South America and also the islands of Chacachacare and Margarita Island. He also discovered and named the islands Tobago and Grenada. Columbus returned to Hispaniola yet again on the 19th of August and to his disappointment, many of the Spanish settlers he left behind were unhappy, as they could not find the abundant riches Columbus told them about. Upon his return back to Spain, he was arrested for 6 weeks due to being accused of his and his brothers cruelties by a number of returning settlers and sailors. http://gardenofpraise.com/images5/colmap3.png Fourth and Final Voyage Columbus fourth and final voyage began in May 1502; he sailed with 4 ships that were the Capitana, Gallega, Vizcaina, and Santiago de Palos. His brother Bartolomeo and his son Fernando accompanied him. They left Spain on the 11th of May and sailed to the Arzilla on the Moroccan coast to save Portuguese soldiers that were under siege by the Moors. He then went to the Cabaret on the island of Martinique and landed on the 15th of June. He intended to head to Hispaniola for shelter since a storm was brewing but he was denied port at Santa Domingo and the new governor refused to listen his storm predictions. They instead went to the mouth of the Rio Jaina for shelter. Due to the new governor negligence, he sent out the first Spanish treasure fleet and it happened to sink because of the storm which caused 500 casualties and the loss of a cargo of gold. As for Columbuss ships, they all survived with minimal damage. After the storm, Columbus sailed to Jamaica for a brief stop then went on to Central America. He arrived at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras on the 30th of July. On the 14th of August, he landed on Honduras and from there he spent two months exploring Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica before heading off again to Panama. It was during October when they reached Panama but had to wait until after surviving a tremendous storm in December to explore Panama. The storm began on the 5th of December 1502, and Columbus described it as a storm unlike any other they had ever experienced before. Christopher Columbus described the storm in this segment from his journal: For nine days I was as one lost, without hope of life. Eyes never beheld the sea so angry, so high, so covered with foam. The wind not only prevented our progress, but offered no opportunity to run behind any headland for shelter; hence we were forced to keep out in this bloody ocean, seething like a pot on a hot fire. Never did the sky look more terrible; for one whole day and night it blazed like a furnace, and the lightning broke with such violence that each time I wondered if it had carried off my spars and sails; the flashes came with such fury and frightfulness that we all thought that the ship would be blasted. All this time the water never ceased to fall from the sky; I do not say it rained, for it was like another deluge. The men were so worn out that they longed for death to end their dreadful suffering In May 1503, he sighted the Cayman Islands but the ships took a lot of damage en route to Hispaniola. He had to withdraw to St. Anns Bay, Jamaica due to the ship not being able to travel any farther. For about a year, Columbus and his crew were stranded on Jamaica while some of crew and a few natives padded a canoe to Hispaniola for help but the islands governor disliked Columbus and gave no effort to rescue him and his men at all. Columbus had to persuade the natives to continue providing Columbus and his men food and support; he won the natives over by successfully predicting a lunar eclipse that occurred on the 29th of February 1504. Help finally arrived on the 29th of June 1504, and Columbus and his men finally arrived in Sanlucar, Spain on the 7th of November. http://gardenofpraise.com/images5/colmap4.png Christopher Columbus Death Christopher Columbus died on the 20th of May 1506 in Spain. Even though he didnt get 10% of all profits made in the new lands, he died somewhat a wealthy man due to the gold his crew collected in Hispaniola. However, Columbus believed that what he discovered were part of the East Coast of Asia. Even after his untimely death, his body was still travelling around everywhere. His corpse was first transferred to Valladolid, then to Seville, and later on his son Diego had the corpse transferred to Santo Domingo in 1542. During the year 1795, the French took over and had the corpse moved to Havana. Cuba become independent after the war of 1898 and Columbuss corpse was yet again transferred but this time back to his homeland Spain. Site References http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Columbus http://www.buzzle.com/articles/christopher-columbus-biography-and-life-story.html http://geography.about.com/od/christophercolumbus/a/columbus.htm http://columbus-day.123holiday.net/christopher_columbus.html Book References Baldwin, C. C., Paine, N., American Antiquarian Society. (1901).  Diary of Christopher Columbus Baldwin. Worcester, MA: Pub. By the Society. Little, McBougal. (2009). Modern World History: Patterns of interactions. USA: Houghton Mifflin-High School. ISBN-13:978-0-547-03499-7 Top of Form Camusso, L. (1991).  The voyages of Columbus, 1492-1504. New York: Dorest Press. Picture References http://authorshive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/santamaria.jpg http://gardenofpraise.com/images5/colmap1.png http://gardenofpraise.com/images5/colmap2.png http://gardenofpraise.com/images5/colmap3.png http://gardenofpraise.com/images5/colmap4.pngBottom of Form

Post-apartheid Segregation in South Africa Essay example -- South Afri

All men should be treated as equal. However, some people think they are superior to the others. For almost fifty years, South Africans were segregated by apartheid, a system that separated South Africans by their skin colors. The purpose behind this system was to separate the colored people from the whites in favor of white minority to have power over the black majority. Many people had to move out of their homes in designated â€Å"White† areas even though they already settled in the areas before the system was established. This system officially came to end in mid 1990’s when Nelson Mandela came to power. However, the remnants of apartheid still exist in South Africa. Thus I decided to investigate the causes of segregation in South Africa. Apartheid started in when the Group Areas Act was introduced in 1950. This law drove the black people from the designated â€Å"White† areas in order to attain more perfect segregation. According to Outcast Cape Town by John Western it stated, â€Å"up to 1 in 10 Capetonians (nearly all mixed-race â€Å"Coloureds†) were ejected from their homes, in order to achieve a more perfect segregation† (Western, 1981,1996). Consequently, so many people lost their homes where they lived for their whole lifetime and had to move out to the outskirts of the cities. The government officials claimed that the law was to prevent any racial conflicts. Western stated, â€Å"†¦ segregation is in the interest of all, is enshrined in the â€Å"friction theory†¦ the belief is simply that any contact between the races inevitably produces conflict† (Western, 1981, 1996). It’s a pretty good allegation for introducing the law by saying that â€Å"we want peace amo ng every people†. However, in truth, the law only benefited the white minority. The g... ...riority." New York Times, March 23, 2012. https://blackboard.syr.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-3178578-dt-content-rid-8098063_1/courses/33750.1142/Polgreen 2012.pdf (accessed March 5, 2014). Teppo, A, and M Houssay-Holzschuch. "Revolution for Liberalism." Canadian Review African Studies. (2013). https://blackboard.syr.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-3178564-dt-content-rid-8098064_1/courses/33750.1142/Teppo and Houssay-Holzschuch 2013.pdf (accessed March 4, 2014). Tony, Samara. "Cape Town After Apartheid Crime And Governance in the Divided City." (2011). https://blackboard.syr.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-3178520-dt-content-rid-8098076_1/courses/33750.1142/Samara 2011.pdf (accessed March 5, 2014). Western, John. "Outcast Cape Town." (1981, 1996). https://blackboard.syr.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-3178075-dt-content-rid-8094165_1/courses/33750.1142/Western_excerpts.pdf (accessed March 5, 2014).

the hatchet Essay -- essays research papers

This book is about a boy named Brian Roberson who gets stuck in the wilderness when his plane crash-lands because the pilot has a heart attack. It all started when Brian's parents had a divorce. He was sent away on a plane by his mother because it was summertime when his dad had custody. The parting gift his mother gave him was a hatchet. He wore the hatchet on a belt. When he left on the private little Cessna 406 plane in the copilot's seat he never could imagine how this little trip would change his life. In the airplane he thought a lot about his parents and the secret he kept. The secret was that he knew that his mom was having an affair with another man when she was still married to his father. Brian was thinking this until the pilot interrupted his thoughts and asked him if he has ever been in a copilot's seat before. He answered by saying that he has never been on an airplane. The pilot showed Brian how to fly the airplane by letting him fly for a ! while. A little after Brian finished he was thinking again about his parents when he noticed that the pilot was rubbing his shoulder and jaw. A few minutes later the pilot said to Brian that he was in a lot of pain and he started using the radio to signal for help. He didn't make it long enough to talk and had a massive heart attack. When he had the heart attack he hit the right rudder making the plane swoop right. Brian could not believe what happened. He had an idea to use the radio. But just before the radio transmissi...

Fourth Industrial Revolution

Fourth industrial revolution has started talking since 1999 (Abdullah et. al., 2017). It refers to a further developmental stage in the organization and management of the entire value chain process involved in manufacturing industry (AATC Finance, 2015). The Minister of Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Seri Dr. Salleh Said Keruak, had said that Malaysian society must be prepared to face the fourth industrial revolution and all its challenges to continue develop this country (The Malay Mail Online, 2017 December 15). Datuk Seri Dr. Salleh Said Keruak had mentioned that Industry 4.0 would bring important changes to the traditional media industry when people no longer needed the newspaper and started use the smart phone and computer to read news (The Malay Mail Online, 2017 December 15). As reported by Researchgate (2015), Malaysians are the welcoming lot in embracing new technologies, such that become one of the active users of application like Whatsapp, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. According to Schwab (2016), the fourth industrial revolution has the potential to raise global income levels and improve the quality of life for populations around the world. The fourth industrial revolution made change in technologies breakthroughs in connectivity, artificial intelligence, machine learning, internet of things, and other innovative technologies (unicefstories, 2017). As the usage of smart devices, laptops, tablets, and personal computers has expanded, so demand for internet will be increase. According to Ashton (2009), the term Internet of Things (IoT) had created in 1999 by Kevin Ashton, who is the British entrepreneur and innovator. The IoT refers to things connected to the internet that one can access through pervasive technologies (Atzori, Iera, Morabito & Nitti, 2012). The IoT enables user to achieve their intentions with the click of a button, giving them complete control of devices and apparatus that will simplify their lives (Abdullah et.al, 2017). The IoT includes all of the devices including some quite intelligent and others quite simplistic, that are now connected to the internet and therefore an overarching infrastructure. According to a recent estimation by McKinsey, the potential economic impact of IoT applications in 2025 is between US$ 3.9 and $11.1 trillion, of which $1.2 to $3.7 trillion is allotted to IoT applications within the factory environment (Zuhlke & Gorecky, 2017 Jan 04). According to unicefstories (2017), applications of the internet of things consist of smart home, wearables, smart cities and connected car. The smart home is likely the most popular IoT application because it is the one that is most affordable and readily available to consumers. The wearable is also popular among the users. For example, Apple Watch which is no longer just for telling time, but also enabling text messaging, phone calls, and more. The smart cities refer to the internet of things that has the potential to transform entire cities by solving real problems citizens face each day. With the proper connections and data, the internet of things can solve traffic congestion issues and reduce noise, crime, and pollution. Lastly is connected car. It considers when vehicles are equipped with internet access and can share that access with others, just like connecting to a wireless network in a home or office. For example is like Grab car services that allow customers books car through Grab's application. In the perspectives of human resource economics, human resource is an important factor for economic development. For example in Japan and Singapore, both countries were mobilizing their human resources by increase the managerial capacity and entrepreneurship and leads to innovation. Japan also implements consensus system known as ‘ringi system'. Ringi system is one of the most important human resource management practices in Japan where decisions are made up with regard to the long term impacts rather than just the immediate short-term impacts. The transformation of the fourth industrial revolution gave impact to human resource economics, thus, changing the economic development in Malaysia. In the future, human labors are no longer use because all the production lines in manufacturing facility will be taken over completely by robots. In the long run, using robots in the production will be sustainable because can minimize errors and save costs. This is called smart factory which are highly effective and efficient in technology. For example is smart watch that is able to give four functions such as tell time, text message, make telephone calls and provide health data (Meola, 2016). The internet of things also intensifies the potential to solve problems which are related to traffic, help reduce noise, crimes and pollution (Abdullah et. al, 2017). Fourth industrial revolution technology helps changing the way we live and work from traditional to modern life. In addition, the future need of human resources in future is important especially in manufacturing sector. But it helps a lot the business sector where supplier can transform their business models from selling a product to providing a managed service. On the other hand, the products become assets that can connect to the internet straight away remotely monitored by the system (Frangos, 2017 Jun 24). In the future, this can help companies to better understand how assets are used, minimized an impact, and better understanding of risk and financial exposure (Frangos, 2017 Jun 24). According to unicefstories (2017), Erica Kochi, the Futures Lead, Office of Innovation, UNICEF had stated that the young people will face these two major challenges: (i) industrialization will die out soon since it belongs to the previous generation, thus, killing the jobs that require skill and (ii) the effort to equip youth with the proper skills will be hampered by the absence or lack of suitable education system. From my opinion, to be a responsible people, we need to prepare young people to be able participate in fourth industrial revolution. Governments, corporations and civil society all must play a role and it requires a dramatically different approach. At the same time, our traditional notions of classrooms and curriculums will need rethinking.

Boiling point of water with salt added Essay

Over time, numerous applications for the addition of salt in water have been established and the process of adding salt in water has become a regular exercise wherever water has to be boiled around the world (Bradley, 2006). Purpose The purpose of this project is to study the implications of the addition of salt in the reaction of water to heat. Theory & Hypothesis Upon the addition of common salt (NaCl) in distilled water, it causes the boiling point of the water to rise. As a result, water has to be heated for longer intervals of time as the amount of salt in the water is increased. The hypothesis of this study is to validate whether or not the addition of salt in water causes the boiling point of the water to rise. Apparatus used The apparatus that was used for this experiment comprised of table Salt (NaCl), distilled Water, measuring spoon, stirring spoon, thermometer, electric stove, kettle. Experimental procedure implemented In the first step, the kettle is filled with distilled water and is placed on the electric stove. It was filled with approximately two teacups of water. It is allowed to boil continuously and the thermometer was used to measure the temperature of the water after every few minutes. The water was observed to begin boiling at approximately 213 Â °F in normal conditions when no additions had been made to the water. In the second step, the initial sample of water was allowed to cool down until it had returned to room temperature, after which one leveled measuring spoonful of salt was added to the water and the kettle was once more placed on the electric stove to boil. The salt had been mixed into the water using the stirring spoon before it was put to boil. The water was once more allowed to boil continuously and the thermometer was used to measure the temperature of the water after every few minutes. The water was observed to begin boiling at a higher temperature than 213 Â °F after salt had been added to the water. In the third step, the water was once more allowed to cool down until it had returned back to room temperature. Once the water had returned to room temperature, a second addition of salt (NaCl) is made. The measuring spoon was used to add another leveled spoonful of salt to the water and was stirred thoroughly using the stirring spoon. The kettle was then placed on the stove once more and was allowed to begin heating up. The water was once more allowed to boil continuously and the thermometer was used to measure the temperature of the water after every few minutes. The water was observed to begin boiling at a higher temperature than that which had been observed in the readings taken in step two of the experiment. At all times, special care was taken to ensure that the thermometer did not touch the walls or the base of the kettle and that it was not held above the stove for too long in order to prevent the readings from being altered unintentionally.