The Effects of Foster Care on Child Development Thesis

The Effects of Foster Care on Child Development - Thesis Example The researchers found that children who were placed in foster care were more likely to have emotional and behavioral problems than those who were maltreated but stayed with their caregivers or other at-risk children, even when controlling for family income and functioning prior to the start of foster care placement. Length of time in foster care, age at placement, and number of foster care placements did not appear to affect outcome, just whether a child was placed in foster care or not. Foster care, although aimed at providing adequate and proper care for children, could be critical in their behavioral and emotional stability; the discontinuity of emotional connection for the biological parents and a weak foster care system could be the main reasons of such problem. Research Questions This research will look at several factors to determine, if any, what effects foster care contribute to children developmental. This research will focus on the following: 1. ... ement adaptation through repeated measure design among the participants who experienced foster care and an examination of change in behavior problems over time among the maltreated participants and those who received adequate care. 3. What are long-term consequences of foster care on behavior problems, overall emotional health, and psychopathology in adolescence? 4. What is the difference in outcome for children placed in child protective service prescribe foster care versus care with an adult familiar to the child? 5. The impact of foster care on behavior placement as longer term placements that have been related to placement instability, number of placements to determine the age of first placement and to determine a possible relation between age of placement and the subsequent development of behavior problems. Problem Statement This research will look at several factors to determine, if any, what effects foster care have on child development. Chapter 2: Literature Review Behavioral Challenges of Children in Foster Care The outcome of being in the foster care may not be what is expected. Since the child is a stranger to the new home environment, he is expected to adjust. Considering that childhood is a very critical stage in human development, especially when pertaining to the emotional and behavioral aspects, foster homes may not entirely serve the benefits of having a family. In the case of James, he was forced to go into foster homes since his parents are not able to sustain for his medications (Webb, 2001). Tentative conclusions would basically say that foster homes are better than troubled homes because they serve as a chance for children to have better lives. However, studies show the contrary. Koch (2007) reports that children who were kept intact with their

United Nations Essay Example for Free

United Nations Essay â€Å"The UN is made up of 191 nations from around the world. It is frequently called the UN. It was established in 1945 soon after the Second World War as a means of bringing people together and to avoid war. The UN logo depicts the world held in the olive branches of peace†. (CBBC Newsround) United Nations: Post Cold War Era The United Nations is considered to be an international entity that has â€Å"struggled with the challenges of globalization for several years, especially since the Asian financial crisis† (Ruggie, 2003, p. 1); it has power, according to one people, to solve the international issues such as wars; however to another group of people, the United Nations has its own certain limitations beyond which it cannot operate or seems not to be operating. The very first evidence in this regard when the United Nations is seen almost completely paralyzed despite with all its might is the Cold War era that stretched over 40 years. In this connection, Holmes (1993) informs us that â€Å"For over 40 years, the Cold War conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union paralyzed the peacekeeping functions of the United Nations. With few exceptions, the United Nations and other multinational organizations were ineffective in resolving major conflicts because of the zero-sum nature of the Cold War†. In 1993, Holmes critically reviewed the United Nations’ operation in the scenario of the Post Cold War era and that time he came up with the observation that the United Nations had a heavy hand put by the United States of America. He tells us that the United Nations operations like peacemaking, peace-enforcement, and military involvement were limited for certain reasons such as the huge monetary aid, the troops contribution by world states to back up the United Nations’ force. These limitations, according to Holms, kept United Nations a body that was not independently powerful to take actions against any mayhem going on in the world. He tells us of the U. S. policymakers that how they would look for the loopholes where they could make a way into the controlling of the United Nations so the national sovereignty could be secured: â€Å"The challenge for U. S. policy makers is to identify these circumstances and to develop guidelines for ensuring that U. S. interests are protected. The United States should, in this regard, be sensitive to three variables: (1) how a peacekeeping operation affects American national security; (2) how much it costs; and (3) the degree to which it erodes American sovereignty† (Holmes, 1993, p. 1). The kernel point to Holmes (1993) is that the United Nations is not a free body to work without pressure from a country (the U. S. ) so â€Å"if it attempts to overreach its powers, and pretends to be an independent force in international politics, the United Nations will surely fail in maintaining any kind of world peace and stability† (Holmes, 1993, p. 1). Moving ahead we witness a similar remark made by O’Brien (2003) that â€Å"The United Nations was conceived by the United States 60 years ago to express, embody and extend American ideals†; yet there is another observation by Goff (2003) that the United Nations is only as strong as is the will of the states which run it: â€Å"The United Nations system relies on the collective will of all its members. It is these member states that set its priorities. The United Nations cannot act without their consent. It falls, therefore, upon us all to make the United Nations relevant in todays world† (2003, p. 1). Frankly speaking, In practice the United Nation has not developed as was first imagined initially it was composed mainly of the Allies of World War II, largely European major countries, , and nations of the Americas and Commonwealth countries. It was imagine as an organization of â€Å"peace-loving† nations, who were uniting to stop future aggression and for other humanitarian reasons. However, Close cooperation among members was predicted; and the Security Council especially was predicted to work in relative unanimity. Hopes for necessary accord were soon crashed by the frictions of the â€Å"cold war†, which impacted the functioning of both the Security Council and other UN organs. The United Nation has played a comparatively secondary role in the most world crises, including 1973; the Pakistan-India War of 1971; the Afghanistan war and Vietnam Israeli-Arab Wars of 1967. However in the very begging of 1970s the united nation amplified its activity in the development of less dominant countries. (Schuijt, 2005) â€Å"Even as the U. N. is called on to tackle enormous problems like ethnic, state and religious conflicts and sustainable use of natural resources, the organization reflects the imbalance of power that exists between powerful and weak nations† (Schuijt, 2005) Certainly, it would be true to say that some dominant countries are using the United Nations as a vehicle for their own interest and rule over the world. David Shorr cited the great example on this thing in â€Å"world have the UN they deserve by saying that the â€Å"The UN is only as strong or as week as governments want it to be. Member states should stop using the UN as a â€Å"scapegoat† for governments’ failure to achieve international consensus. The UN cannot change on its own; the responsibility lies with governments to implement reform in the best interest of the UN†. (Shorr, 2006) Many developing countries’ leaders opine that the UN in every aspect discriminates between developing and non-developing countries. Moreover, the UN is playing a dual role for different countries in every aspect, whether politics, social norms, safety, security etc. for instance, Bahamas continues to emphasize the need for bigger and more comprehensive discussion of globalization and its effects on the well-being of concerned commonwealths, with the United Nations given a role in solving these issues. Further they quoted that, we have continuously expressed dangerous concerns over certain decisions by the United Nations or its organs that were not coherent with the aims and intentions of the Charter. However, nothing was done to right the wrong. When errors are discovered, it becomes our obligation to correct them. They further emphasized, that UN should go over the legal political basis of its own undertakings in the period of 1950s and 1960s in relation to the cardinal rights of our Melanesian sisters and brothers in the Asia-Pacific region, especially in West Papua and the UN must not in this â€Å"The United Nations cannot and must not, in this new millennium, carry on to turn a blind eye on its own past failures, which has led UN to three long, agonizing decades of injustice, tragedy and guerrilla warfare in West Papua. It is morally, politically and legally wrong to do so. The Organization has competent bodies, such as the Special Committee on decolonization or the International Court of Justice, which should look into the matter. The Netherlands -– the former colonial Power –- should recognize its share of the responsibility in helping to resolve the situation of West Papua in a peaceful and transparent manner. †(World Leaders Adopt, 2000) But on the other hand, developing countries member like the US and UK deploring this fact that they are using the UN for their own interests and they also believe that being a powerful member of the UN they have to offset things in an news paper article published in June 16,2005 in Los Angles Times US put US reforms first and declared that â€Å"United States — a veto-holding member of the council along with Britain, France, Russia and China — believes that a bigger group would not necessarily be better†. (Farley, 2005) Another example is the Republic of Paula who surely believes that the UN will strive hard to embrace the remaining non-member nations around the globe. And in this aspect, they hope that the UN will change his rigorous attitude towards developing countries. Besides this, they are confident that these goals at a certain extent are achievable like through the help of 2000 UN reforms. They further disclosed the facts that, â€Å"The United Nations has enabled smaller, developing and least developed countries, such as my own, to contribute to world peace in our own albeit small way. Whilst there have been measurable benefits from membership of the Organization, it also has the positive scope to deliver much more equitable changes†. (World Leaders Adopt, 2000) United Nations’ Reforms However, after 2000 the United Nations met severe criticism for its operations and seemingly dependence over the United States of America. Moreover, there were issues of better managing the in-organization matters such as security, funding, and so on. Thus, a series of reform episodes started making its place in the pages of United Nations’ history. It was expedited after the Iraq invasion by the United States of America as the â€Å"oil-for-food† became the household phrase of international politics. For example, President Bush’s frequently quoted remark â€Å"America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country† is something that reminds us of the absolute power days when slavery was practiced. (Schaefer and B. Kim, 2004) Thus, all these mayhem led people such as Annan to come up with some solid say that would, at least on the surface, guarantee the impartial role of the United Nations in the world and the through some solid reforms. As such Annan came up with the three major areas that needed to be redefined for the better operations of the United Nations. These were: development, security, and human right. These opened up for the public in the year 2005 and â€Å"The secretary general’s report [was] based on tow earlier studies. One was done by the committee he appointed [in 2004] to propose U. N. reforms. The second study was about how to meet goals set five years ago for reducing world poverty in half by twenty fifteen. † (Gollust, 2005) Nonetheless, by seeing the US 2000 reforms one can easily understand that the US government uses the UN for their own countries political interests to a certain extent, it is believed that America and some other dominant countries being a Vito power uses UN as a scapegoat. But on the other hand American denies these facts in a news paper article â€Å"George Mitchell, a former U. S. Senate majority leader and a co-chairman of the Task Force on the United Nations, which was created by the U. S. Congress, said he had encountered objections to American sponsorship of the reforms and had tried to combat them. Its wrong to think that reform is a favor done for the U. S. , he said. I make the argument to countries that their long-range interest is served by supporting this. While we have indicated that this is an American priority that is a conclusion that they ought to be reaching for themselves. † (Hoge, 2005) Moreover, 22nd Meeting of Chairmen/Coordinators of the Group of 77 held in Geneva in 7-9 july 1997, the chirman said that â€Å"The United Nations must carry out its mandated, comprehensive role in the economic and social areas. This includes policy analysis, consensus building, policy formulation and coordination, and delivery of technical assistance to developing countries† (22nd Meeting of Chairmen, 1997) This is an area for more study, to see the Iran ongoing nuclear scenario one would easily conceive the role of the UN in Iran nuclear technology. In this regard, The Irani government countinously accusing the UN. â€Å"Ahmadinejad said while giving interview in CBC News in Sep 19, 2006 they were transparent, peaceful and under the watchful eye of United Nations inspectors. He questioned why his country was being denied its own nuclear program when others have not†. (CBC News, 2006) In January 1992, Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt assumed as the UN’s first post-Cold War Secretary General under the enormous pressure from the US and also from the lobby groups like the ICC (International Chamber of Commerce), he instantly set to work reforming the secretariat and annihilating programs that drew the acutest corporate warned by his advisors that the IMF and world bank based in Washington DC and under big influence by the United States treasury had a comparative degree of advantage over the united nation in the both macro and micro economic policy domain and that the united nation lose creditability if it for some reason did not scale back its efforts in this area. The UN secretary general’s official believes that the â€Å"UN â€Å"must change or die† and that it must reach out to â€Å"new actors† in a globalizing world, beyond the nation-state members†. (Paine, 2000) Conclusion The United Nations must abandon the double-standard and come up with the peaceful solutions to maintain the security and peace, combat problems such as environmental degradation, diseases and terrorism and guarantee a dialogue among nations. â€Å"The developing countries should be helped to reduce their foreign debt. Throughout its history, the United Nations has achieved enormous successes, including the solution of various conflicts throughout the world†. (World Leaders Adopt, 2000) In the end, I would like to say that it would be good for the world that the UN must abandon double standards between dominant and developing countries and should come up with peaceful solution for the sake both world security and safety. The first duty of the UN should assure all countries in terrorism, disease, environmental degradation and so on. Obviously, the developing countries should be giving sufficient help in unburden their foreign debts. The duty of the United Nations is to promote and develop like Somalia and other African regions. The United Nations should provide equality guarantee to underdeveloped in terms of every thing human rights to politics. References 22nd Meeting of Chairmen/Coordinators of the Group of 77 Chapters Geneva, 7-9 July 1997, Statement Of Principles on UN reform Brett D. Schaefer and Anthony B. Kim (July 9, 2004). Forging Freedom Coalitions to Promote U. S. Priorities in the United Nations CBBC Newsround | UNITED NATIONS | What is the UN? http://news. bbc. co. uk/cbbcnews/hi/find_out/guides/world/united_nations/newsid_1721000/1721851. stm Accessed, April 18, 2007 CBC News UN being abused by West: Iranian PM (Tuesday, September 19, 2006) David Shorr, March 7, 2006 World Leaders Have the UN they Deserve Ellen Paine (October 2000), The Road to the Global Compact: Corporate Power And The Battle Over global public policy at the united Nations John Gerard Ruggie (2003). The United Nations and Globalization: Patterns and Limits of Institutional Adaptation. Global Governance, 9(3), 301+ Kim R. Holmes (1993). New world disorder: A critique of the United Nations. Journal of International Affairs, 46(2), 323-340. Columbia University School of International Public Affairs Martin Schuijt (November 29, 2005). The Mother of All Coalitions. (November 30, 2005). Inter Press Service Maggie Farley, News paper article, Los Angeles Times (June 16, 2005), US Puts UN Reform First, Official Says Press Release: (8 September 2000). World Leaders Adopt ‘United Nations Millennium Declaration’ At Conclusion of Extraordinary Three-Day Summit

Salem witch trials Essay -- essays research papers

Salem Witch Trials: Casting a spell on the people Today, the idea of seeing a witch is almost inconsequential. Our Halloween holiday marks a celebration in which many will adorn themselves with pointy black hats and long stringy hair, and most will embrace them as comical and festive. Even the contemporary witchcraft religious groups forming are being accepted with less criticism. More recently, the Blair Witch movie craze has brought more fascination than fear to these dark and magical figures. So, it becomes no wonder that when our generations watch movies like the Crucible, a somewhat accurate depiction of the Salem Witch Trials, we are enraged and confused by the injustice and the mayhem that occurred in 1692. For most, our egocentric view of the past almost stops us from seeing what a dilemma was brewing in that Puritan lifestyle. At that time, witches were far more than a generic costume for a casual holiday celebration, or a tolerated religion, or a new form of Hollywood fasc ination, they were the work of an awful, vengeful, unseen power. In the seventeenth century, almost everyone, even those with the best of educations, where under the belief that witchcraft was evil and the control of the devil. Witchcraft had once, before the Middle Ages had been accepted as the powers of medicine and good deeds; however, the church of that time had proclaimed the craft as the work of the devil and the actions of heretics. From then on witches were greatly dreaded. They believed that they had special powers that allowed them to cause harm to those that they had quarrels with; they could read minds, tell the future, bring up ghosts of the dead and force the holy to perform unholy acts. There was only one way to save someone who sold their soul to the devil for the gifts of witchcraft, to kill them (Dickinson 4). People were branded witches for unrelated mishaps. If the farmer’s sheep all died from a virus in the water, then the neighbor who fought with him las t week must have cast a spell. In a world where people are certain of witchcraft, nothing is accidental. Consequentially, many people were unjustly condemned to death. In the beginning of the century the targets for witchcraft were â€Å"the poor, the elderly, the mentally ill, the rude and quarrelsome†, but as the century drew to an end those accused were chosen â€Å"more [democratically],† even those as young as fou... ...ent theories of what the girls were afflicted with. Several researchers postulated that they were suffering from ergot poisoning from spoiled rye grain. Others thought that girls were enjoying the attention that they would have never received otherwise being young females. Similarly, others thought that the cause of their symptoms are from a popular psychological disorder from the 1970’s called clinical hysteria or mass hysteria, referring to a condition experienced by a group of people who, through suggestion, observation, or other psychological processes, develop similar fears, delusions, abnormal behaviors, or physical symptoms. (Trask 1 and Plotnik 520) The Salem witchcraft delusion became the road to what is now known as the road to Enlightenment. Although the trials in New England did not end there, Salem marked the beginning of and end to the horrible injustice. Witch-hunting is still an epidemic that plagues today in other forms. People are made to suffer for their beliefs. Religious and political persecution has stained every century since then. Perhaps, the greatest thing gained from the trials was the understanding that the majority is not always the voice of justice.

The Tragic Impermanence of Youth in Robert Frosts Nothing Gold Can Sta

The Tragic Impermanence of Youth in Robert Frost's Nothing Gold Can Stay In his poem "Nothing Gold can Stay", Robert Frost names youth and its attributes as invaluable. Using nature as an example, Frost relates the earliest green of a newborn plant to gold; its first leaves are equated with flowers. However, to hold something as fleeting as youth in the highest of esteems is to set one's self up for tragedy. The laws of the Universe cast the glories of youth into an unquestionable state of impermanence. It is an inescapable fact that all that is born, pure and clean, will be polluted with age and die. The aging process that Frost describes is meant to be taken literally as well as metaphorically. Literally, the plants that Frost describes are an example of this nonexclusive law of aging. This prooving through common natural phenomenom the tangible and scientific merit of the poem. There is also a spiritual understanding. Frost uses a religious allusion to further enforce the objective of the poem.Whether Frost's argument is proven in a religious or scient ific forum, it is nonetheless true. In directly citing these natural occurrences from inanimate, organic things such as plants, he also indirectly addresses the phenomena of aging in humans, in both physical and spiritual respects. Literally, this is a poem discribing the seasons. Frosts interpertation of the seasons is original in the fact that it is not only autumn that causes him grief, but summer. Spring is portrayed as painfully quick in its retirement; "Her early leaf's a flower,/ But only so an hour.". Most would associate summer as a season brimming with life, perhaps the realization of what was began in spring. As Frost preceives it however, from the moment spring... ...f impurity. In Christianity it is called sin. The fact that pollution of the soul is a concept in religion the world over is a testament to the Universal nature of Frosts argument. Frost's poem addresses the tragic transitory nature of living things; from the moment of conception, we are ever-striding towards death. Frost offers no remedy for the universal illness of aging; no solution to the fact that the glory of youth lasts only a moment. He merely commits to writing a deliberation of what he understands to be a reality, however tragic. The affliction of dissatisfaction that Frost suffers from cannot be treated in any tangible way. Frost's response is to refuse to silently buckle to the seemingly sadistic ways of the world. He attacks the culprit of aging the only way one can attack the enigmatic forces of the universe, by naming it as the tragedy that it is.

National Health Care Spending Paper

Sloan Miller [email  protected] com Home 614-377-0096 Objective Seek to work in an environment that will challenge me further; while allowing me to contribute to the continued growth and success of the organization. Obtain a position that will provide me the ability to apply my work experience to a growing industry. Look forward to working with a company that promotes quality products and services; and provides me with the opportunity to meet and exceed assigned daily goals. First Choice Security April 2010 to presentDuties: As a security guard where my position require me to be alert, quick responding and fasting thinking on duty. I was responsible of guarding, patrolling and monitoring premises to avoid theft, violence and the infraction of rules. And to safe guard the assets and people within the premises of a company. Teach and Learn: May 2012 to July 2012 Duties: to provide care, education and nurturing for children of a variety of ages. As a daycare provider I provided genuin e passion for caring for children and the ability to relate to a diverse group of kids.My communication skills and the ability to positively interact with children, parents and other daycare staff members is something that I performed on a daily basis. Wackenhut Security: Duties: To provide security for different types of organizations which my company had taken on the responsibility to prevent violence and negligence from occurring at the different locations I had to safe guard. Education: South High School 1998 to 2001 Job Corp: Business clerical trade 2004

Kentucky Vital Records - Marriage, Death Births

Kentucky Vital Records - Marriage, Death Births Learn how and where to obtain birth, marriage, and death certificates and records in Kentucky, including the dates for which Kentucky vital records are available, where they are located, and links to online Kentucky vital records databases. Kentucky Vital Records: Kentucky Department for Public HealthOffice of Vital Statistics275 East Main Street - IE-AFrankfort, KY 40621Phone: (502) 564-4212Fax: (502) 227-0032 What You Need to Know:Personal check or money order should be made payable to Kentucky State Treasurer. Call or visit the Web site to verify current fees. All requests MUST include the signature and a photocopy of a valid photo ID of the individual requesting the record. Web site: Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics Kentucky Birth Records Dates: From 1911 (statewide); selected counties from 1852 Cost of copy: $10.00 Comments: Access to birth records in Kentucky is not restricted by law.  With your request, include as much as you can of the following: the name on the birth record being requested, date of birth, place of birth (city or county), fathers full name, (last, first, middle), mothers full name, including her maiden name, your relationship to the person whose certificate is being requested, your daytime telephone number with area code, your handwritten signature and complete return mailing address.Application for Kentucky Birth Certificate * The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives has birth records for the cities of Louisville, Lexington, Covington and Newport, which enacted records collection ordinances before 1911. KDLA also has selected birth records (statewide coverage) covering the years 1852-1862, 1874-1879 and 1891-1910. Consult their website for a list of available birth records by county. Online:Kentucky Vital Records: 1852–1914 is a collection of free, digitized microfilm images on FamilySearch; includes birth records from the 1908–1910 range for many KY countiesKentucky Birth Records, 1847–1911 includes indexes and images (requires subscription to Ancestry.com) Kentucky Death Records Dates: From 1911 (statewide); selected counties from 1852 Cost of copy: $6.00 Comments: Access to death records in Kentucky is not restricted by law.  With your request, include as much as you can of the following: the name on the death record being requested, date of death, place of death (city or county), your relationship to the person whose certificate is being requested, your purpose for needing the copy, your daytime telephone number with area code, your handwritten signature and complete return mailing address. For deaths occurring from 1900 to 1917, the city and/or county of death is required in order to locate the record.Application for Kentucky Death Certificate * The Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives has death records for the cities of Louisville, Lexington, Covington and Newport, which enacted records collection ordinances before 1911. KDLA also has selected death records (statewide coverage) covering the years 1852-1862, 1874-1879 and 1891-1910. Consult their Web site for a list of available death records by county. Online:Kentucky Death Index 1911-1992 (free)Kentucky Death Certificates and Records 1852-1953 including digitized Kentucky death certificates from 1911-1953 (requires subscription to Ancestry.com) Kentucky Marriage Records Dates: From June 1958 (statewide), but many go back to early 1800s Cost of Copy: $6.00 Comments:  The Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics does not have records of marriages prior to 1958. Copies of marriage certificates prior to June 1958 may be obtained from the county clerk in the county where the license was issued. Send your request to the Clerk of Court in the county where the marriage license was issued.Application for Kentucky Marriage Certificate Online:Kentucky Marriage Index 1973-1993 (free)    Kentucky Divorce Records Dates: Varies by county Cost of copy: Varies Comments: The Kentucky Office of Vital Statistics does not have records of divorces prior to 1958. Records of divorce proceedings prior to June 1958 are available from the clerk of the circuit court that granted the decree. Online:Kentucky Divorce Index 1973-1993 (free) More US Vital Records - Choose a State

How to Use If and Only If in Mathematics

How to Use 'If and Only If' in Mathematics When reading about statistics and mathematics, one phrase that regularly shows up is â€Å"if and only if.† This phrase particularly appears within statements of mathematical theorems or proofs. But what, precisely, does this statement mean? What Does If and Only If Mean in Mathematics? To understand â€Å"if and only if,† we must first know what is meant by a conditional statement. A conditional statement is one that is formed from two other statements, which we will denote by P and Q. To form a conditional statement, we could say â€Å"if P then Q.† The following are examples of this kind of statement: If it is raining outside, then I take my umbrella with me on my walk.If you study hard, then you will earn an A.If n is divisible by 4, then n is divisible by 2. Converse and Conditionals Three other statements are related to any conditional statement. These are called the converse, inverse, and the contrapositive. We form these statements by changing the order of P and Q from the original conditional and inserting the word â€Å"not† for the inverse and contrapositive. We only need to consider the converse here. This statement is obtained from the original by saying â€Å"if Q then P.† Suppose we start with the conditional â€Å"if it is raining outside, then I take my umbrella with me on my walk.† The converse of this statement is â€Å"if I take my umbrella with me on my walk, then it is raining outside.† We only need to consider this example to realize that the original conditional is not logically the same as its converse. The confusion of these two statement forms is known as a converse error. One could take an umbrella on a walk even though it may not be raining outside. For another example, we consider the conditional â€Å"If a number is divisible by 4 then it is divisible by 2.† This statement is clearly true. However, this statement’s converse â€Å"If a number is divisible by 2, then it is divisible by 4† is false. We only need to look at a number such as 6. Although 2 divides this number, 4 does not. While the original statement is true, its converse is not. Biconditional This brings us to a biconditional statement, which is also known as an if and only if statement. Certain conditional statements also have converses that are true. In this case, we may form what is known as a biconditional statement. A biconditional statement has the form: †If P then Q, and if Q then P.† Since this construction is somewhat awkward, especially when P and Q are their own logical statements, we simplify the statement of a biconditional by using the phrase if and only if. Rather than say if P then Q, and if Q then P we instead say P if and only if Q. This construction eliminates some redundancy. Statistics Example For an example of the phrase â€Å"if and only if† that involves statistics, look no further than a fact concerning the sample standard deviation. The sample standard deviation of a data set is equal to zero if and only if all of the data values are identical. We break this biconditional statement into a conditional and its converse. Then we see that this statement means both of the following: If the standard deviation is zero, then all of the data values are identical.If all of the data values are identical, then the standard deviation is equal to zero. Proof of Biconditional If we are attempting to prove a biconditional, then most of the time we end up splitting it. This makes our proof have two parts. One part we prove is â€Å"if P then Q.† The other part of the proof we need is â€Å"if Q then P.† Necessary and Sufficient Conditions Biconditional statements are related to conditions that are both necessary and sufficient. Consider the statement â€Å"if today is Easter, then tomorrow is Monday.† Today being Easter is sufficient for tomorrow to be Monday, however, it is not necessary. Today could be any Sunday other than Easter, and tomorrow would still be Monday. Abbreviation The phrase â€Å"if and only if† is used commonly enough in mathematical writing that it has its own abbreviation. Sometimes the biconditional in the statement of the phrase â€Å"if and only if† is shortened to simply â€Å"iff.† Thus the statement â€Å"P if and only if Q† becomes â€Å"P iff Q.†

The Legacy of the Qin Dynasty

The Legacy of the Qin Dynasty The Qin Dynasty, pronounced like chin, emerged in 221 BCE. Qin Shihuang, the king of the Qin state at the time, conquered the many feudal territories vying for influence during the bloody Warring States period. He then united them all under one rule, thus putting an end to the notoriously violent chapter in Chinese history that lasted for 200 years. Qin Shihuang was only 38 years old when he came into power. He created the title Emperor (  Ã§Å¡â€¡Ã¥ ¸ ,  Ã‚  hungdà ¬) for himself, and thus is known as  the first emperor of China. While his dynasty only lasted 15 years, the shortest dynastic rule in Chinese history, the impact of the Qin Emperor on China cannot be understated. Although highly controversial, Qin Dynasty policies were very influential in uniting China and maintaining power. The Qin Emperor was famously obsessed with immortality and even spent years trying to find an elixir to eternal life. Though he ultimately died, it would seem that Qin’s quest to live forever was ultimately granted – his practices and policies were carried into the subsequent Han Dynasty and continue to flourish in present-day China.   Here are just a few remnants of Qin’s legacy.   Central Rule The dynasty adhered to Legalist principles, which is a Chinese philosophy that followed strict compliance with  the rule of law. This belief allowed Qin to rule the population from a centralized power structure and proved to be a very effective way to govern. Such a policy, however, did not allow for dissent. Anyone who protested Qins power was quickly and brutally silenced or killed off.   Written Script   Qin instituted a uniform written language. Before then, different regions in China had different languages, dialects, and writing systems. Imposing a universal written language allowed for better communication and implementation of policies. For example, a singular script allowed scholars to share information with a greater number of people. It also led to the sharing of culture that was previously only experienced by a few. Additionally, a single language allowed later dynasties to communicate with nomadic tribes and pass along information on how to negotiate or fight with them. Roads The construction of roads allowed for greater connections between provinces and major cities. The dynasty also standardized the length of axles in carts so that they could all ride on the newly-built roads. Weights and Measures The dynasty standardized all weights and measures, which led to more efficient commerce. This conversion also allowed subsequent dynasties to develop a taxation system. Coinage In another effort to unify the empire, the Qin Dynasty standardized the Chinese currency. Doing so led to greater commerce across more regions.   The Great Wall The Qin Dynasty was responsible for the construction of the Great Wall of China. The Great Wall marked national boundaries and acted as a defensive infrastructure to protect against invading nomadic tribes from the north. However, later dynasties were more expansionist and built beyond Qin’s original wall. Today, the Great Wall of China is easily one of Chinas most iconic pieces of architecture. Terracotta Warriors   Another architectural feat that draws tourists to China is the enormous tomb in present-day Xian filled with terracotta warriors. This is also a part of Qin Shihuangs legacy. When Qin Shihuang died, he was buried in a tomb accompanied by an army of hundreds of thousands of terracotta soldiers that were supposed to protect him in his afterlife. The tomb was uncovered by farmers  digging for a well in 1974.   Strong Personality One other lasting impact of the Qin Dynasty is the influence of a leader’s personality in China. Qin Shihuang’s relied on his top-down method of ruling, and, on the whole, people conformed to his rule because of the power of his personality. Many subjects followed Qin because he showed them something larger than their local kingdomsa visionary idea of a cohesive nation-state. While this is a very effective way to rule, once the leader dies, so can his dynasty. After Qin Shihuang’s death in 210 BCE, his son, and later his grandson, took power, but both were short-lived. The Qin Dynasty came to a close in 206 BCE, just four years after Qin Shihuang’s death. Almost immediately following his death, the same warring states that he unified sprang up again and China was again under numerous leaders until it was unified under the  Han Dynasty. The Han would last over 400 years, but much of its practices were started in the Qin Dynasty. Similarities in charismatic cult personalities can be seen in subsequent leaders in Chinese history, such as Chairman Mao Zedong. In fact, Mao actually likened himself to Emperor Qin.   Representation in Pop Culture Qin was  popularized in Eastern and Western media in Chinese Director Zhang Yimou’s 2002 film Hero. While some criticized the movie for advocating totalitarianism, movie-goers went to see it in droves. A hit in China and Hong Kong, when it opened to North American audiences in 2004, it was the number one movie and grossed $18 million in its opening weekend – a rarity for a foreign film.

Trends in Electronic Health Record Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Trends in Electronic Health Record - Coursework Example Spending 8 hours in a construction firm, mixing concrete and making floors can be considered as work. Spending hours on the desktop writing articles should be considered as work but monitoring a robot making car doors cannot be considered as work. Work done by nomal human being is actually hectic and requires an established health programme that can cater for one’s treatment at his or her work place. An organization or any work site, should establish an electronic health record for its employees or workers. Physicians should also be present inany work place. Physicians’ ability to deliver effectively in the health care has always been curtailed by the overwhelming amount of data that they receive and deliver in the event of discharging their errands. It is obvious that medical care gets complex as days pass by besides the fact that information gets to the physicians at uncontrollable rate. It is thus imminent that the physicians and other health care givers have access to latest technologies that would enable them cope with the overwhelming amount of information and therefore offer services based on latest information. This means that there has always been a need for the health care industry to develop computerized system that would enable the health care givers ranging from the physicians, nurses, pharmacists, to laboratory technicians capture, manage, and deliver health care information electronically. It is noteworthy that the dire need for the digital record gave birth to the Electronic Health Record (EHR). The Electronic Health Record (EHR) has been an important tool for the health care givers in providing effective and efficient health care services to the patients. Electronic Health Record (EHR) has been in the health industry for a long period estimated at four decades. It is plausible that majority of healthcare setup ranging from small to large operators have realized significant aspects of the EHR and are in the run to implement it. It is noteworthy that the present appetite for EHR is not only an American experience but also a global initiative taking into consideration that there is an ever-increasing global demand for EHR software. This claim can be justified by the escalating number of EHR developers and vendor companies that the world has been experiencing over the past few years. In other words, the demand for Electronic Health Record is growing day by day, which is a positive sign that various healthcare providers appreciate the value of computerized health record across the globe. Hospitals are presently one of the major consumers of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) owing to the large handling of the patients’ information and other related medical records. Overview and History of Electronic Health Record (EHR) Electronic Health Record (EHR) refers to longitudinal electronic record of patient’s medical data gathered and stored owing to a patient’s encounter with the healthcare provide r (MITRE Corporation, 2006). In other words, EHR involves collection and storage of patient’s health information in an electronic form in order to enhance ease handling and sharing of information within the hospital setup. The digitalized patients medical information contained in the EHR include but not limited to immunizations, patient demographics, problems, medications, vital signs, radiology reports, past medical history, laboratory data and progress

FM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

FM - Essay Example An increase in the scale of production could likely result in changes to both fixed and variable cost. Increasing the scale may lead to increased fixed cost. Additionally, buying more raw materials could result in a lower cost per unit. Furthermore, producing more of an item could lead to higher hourly rate for labour as overtime may be necessary. Overtime is normally charged at a higher rate of time and a half. Break even analysis, assumes that the quantity of Racey that is produced will be sold. It may not be possible for JxCorp to sell all the products produced. Profit is calculated on the quantity of goods sold and not the quantity of goods expected to be sold. Additionally, JxCorp may not be selling Racey to one customer. Other customers may demand a lower price per unit. Break-even analysis breaks down as it assumes there is only one market for the product and all units are sold at the same price. It does not take into consideration that JxCorp may have to sell Racey to different customers at different prices. It uses only one selling price to determine how changes in volume sold will affect profits. It is common practice to sell goods at different prices to different customers. The weighted cost of capital is the weighted average of the components of capital (Brigham and Ehrhardt 2005). In this case, the components are equity and debt. The calculation of the weighted cost of capital WACC is shown in Table 4 below. The calculations in Table 4 indicate that WACC is 11%. The weight of each component is 50% (0.5). The symbol Wd represents the weight of Debt and We the weight of equity. The symbol rd represents the interest rate on the debt which is 9% and re the return on equity which is 15%. The corporation tax rate, T is 22% or 0.22. The information in Table 5 indicates that capital allowances of  £100,000,  £75,000, and  £56,250 were charged in years 1, 2 and 3 respectively and balancing charge of  £168,750 in year 4. The

Review of a school discipline policy Assignment

Review of a school discipline policy - Assignment Example There is common conformity in literature associated with the management of challenging actions that the basis ought to be the endorsement of constructive behavior. Conventionally, behavior standards in school were frequently characterized by what was not tolerable, and punitive approaches concentrated on the endorsements available to implement regulations and penalize intolerable actions (Dwyer, 2003). This paper attempts to provide teachers with some direction as to how to execute effectual methods of endorsing constructive behavior, however, also how to cope with behavior which critically damages a few children’s capability to gain from education. It as well aims to direct teachers’ reactions to a range of actions in a way which will institute more suitable behavior instead. It might be mainly useful to recently eligible teachers, who time and again find the behavior management to be the most testing element of their occupations. It might also be useful to school employees who desire to support dialogue and collaboration on the subject of behavior. There is no commonly established description of challenging behavior. Behaviour is described as tolerable or intolerable in a societal context, and is as well shaped by the wider milieu wherein people relate with one another. In common terms, tutors acknowledge that challenging actions in the school context includes actions that: meddles with the student’s individual and/or other students’ learning; challenges the everyday operation of the school; dares the right of employees and students to a secure and organized environment; contains a period, regularity, intensity or pushiness that is away from the ordinary array of what schools stand; and is less probable to be receptive to the normal assortment of involvements employed by the school for student misconduct (O’Mahoney, 2003). These consist of: violent behavior, which

Globalisation of Consumer Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Globalisation of Consumer Culture - Essay Example Ted Levitt in his article, â€Å"The Globalisation of Markets† states that the needs and desires of people are becoming homogenized as do the tastes and modes of doing business (Mooij, 2000). McLuhan also prophesied that the media would turn the world into a global village. However, Kotler contends that consumers are not rational human beings and in fact markets are becoming more diverse. Thus based on the theories of cultural homogenization, Indigenization, and fetishism and cultural imperialism, this paper aims to evaluate the extent to which globalisation of consumer culture has led to cultural homogenization. Drivers of globalisation Appadurai identifies five global flows that are transforming the nature of society and eroding the barriers between them (Craig & Douglas, 2006). These include mediascapes (flow of imagination and communication), ethnoscapes (flow of tourists, migrants and students), ideoscapes (flow of political ideas and ideologies), technoscapes (flow of te chnology) and finanscapes (flows of capital and money). The collective effort of these five scapes is turning the world into what Tomlinson (1999) describes as â€Å"a single social and cultural setting†; globalisation makes the world a ‘single place’. Tomlinson however, maintains that connectivity still does not extend in any profound way to every single person or place on the planet; social and cultural divisions continue to persist. Globalisation and culture While culture has been defined by Hofstede as the collective programming of the mind that gives rise to set beliefs and patterns of behavior, and thereby distinguishes one group of people from another (Merz, He & Alden, 2008), cultural globalisation is the emergence of a specific set of values and beliefs that are largely shared around the planet (Movius, 2010). Globalisation of media has been held responsible for the globalisation of culture. However, with converging incomes, cultural values and habits ha ve not converged (Mooij, 2000). People would spend their incremental income based on their value pattern – the Americans would buy more cars while the Spanish would spend more on food. This implies that values, beliefs and patterns of behavior have not homogenized; cultural homogenization has not taken place despite converging income. Appadurai (2001) and Tomlinson (1995) believe that globalisation is not just an economic and a political phenomenon; it is also a complex cultural phenomenon. It promises new possibilities but also gives rise to new anxieties that transform social life. However, as global forces begin to penetrate local culture, it could lead to tensions or collisions. Thus the outcome could be displacement of local culture leading to homogenization of culture or it could lead to resistance due to cultural imperialism. Craig and Douglas (2006) emphasize that culture is pervasive and it is the lens through which individuals perceive and interpret phenomena. Howev er, cultures are dynamic and keep evolving over time; hybrid cultures (fusion of two or more cultures resulting in a new cultural element) develop as people travel across borders. Membership in a culture is becoming transitional and deterritorialized (a particular culture is no longer defined in terms of the specific geographic

Communication and Language - Mother Tongue Essay

Communication and Language - Mother Tongue - Essay Example Here in the United States when someone does not speak English well or speaks a broken version of the language many tend to think less, enforce stereotypes, and not take them as seriously. The two essays â€Å"Mother Tongue, by Amy Tan, and â€Å"Talk about Editing,† by David Shipley do not have very much in common. They are both relevant and important but approach communication from two completely different sides. Tan’s work is a serious discussion about the way people perceived her as a young Asian American and how her mother is treated for her broken English. She gives multiple examples at how differently her mother’s business would be handled when she pretended to be her mother on the telephone as opposed to how they, generally, treated her mother. She mentions being discouraged by teachers not to pursue writing; it was suggested she enter the math or sciences. She understood that this was a stereotype in action; people of Asian descent are naturally good at math and science, but seldom good at English or writing. (Tan 270-?) However, of course she became a writer despite their views. However, one can appreciate the hardship that her mother went through. Also, she touches on the important subject of how people speak differently within different environments. There is some truth to this. There are actually a number of English dialects, slang, and regional terms being used that mean little outside of that region. That said, the language used and words chosen differ when we talk to friends, teachers, parents, and employers. These language issues should not be allowed to ever overshadow the value of a person or of the information they hope to share. The Amy Tan essay speaks to the perception a woman watching her mother struggle with this issue and the ways that the outside world reacts to it. Her desire to defy the stereotypes that were presented and continue to pursue her goal is inspiring. In her situation she is asking for the poor words her mother uses, as with all immigrants working to learn a new and difficult language, do not mean more the intention, wisdom, or meaning behind each of them, perfectly spoken or not The second essay, â€Å"Talking about Editing† is a much more structured essay explaining the point, purpose, and function of an editor. Apparently people have an impression that editors make harsh and often uncomplimentary choices in a writer’s work and have overall say in the perception or vision of the actual work (Shipley 303-?). In fact, the author of any work has the final say in the final work that they will put their name one. According to experts good editors, should always be able to pick up on the grammatical errors, typos, and spelling mistakes, but never to make an overall judgment of the artistic or scholarly work. Their responses to the writer’s work should always be suggestions and never demands (Rafter). However as we move into the ever-changing and technological f utures the value of writing and reading may be slipping away. In discussing these two essays there is an interesting irony present. If Amy Tan did not speak or write in fine and proper English, would a publisher consider her work, would an editor even bother? If it is the errors in the writing that makes the writing unique then correcting it would eliminate that quality. Editors are trained and bound to make certain that all of the rules of the English language are followed, punctuation, and grammar, as well.     Ã‚  

Globalisation of Consumer Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Globalisation of Consumer Culture - Essay Example Ted Levitt in his article, â€Å"The Globalisation of Markets† states that the needs and desires of people are becoming homogenized as do the tastes and modes of doing business (Mooij, 2000). McLuhan also prophesied that the media would turn the world into a global village. However, Kotler contends that consumers are not rational human beings and in fact markets are becoming more diverse. Thus based on the theories of cultural homogenization, Indigenization, and fetishism and cultural imperialism, this paper aims to evaluate the extent to which globalisation of consumer culture has led to cultural homogenization. Drivers of globalisation Appadurai identifies five global flows that are transforming the nature of society and eroding the barriers between them (Craig & Douglas, 2006). These include mediascapes (flow of imagination and communication), ethnoscapes (flow of tourists, migrants and students), ideoscapes (flow of political ideas and ideologies), technoscapes (flow of te chnology) and finanscapes (flows of capital and money). The collective effort of these five scapes is turning the world into what Tomlinson (1999) describes as â€Å"a single social and cultural setting†; globalisation makes the world a ‘single place’. Tomlinson however, maintains that connectivity still does not extend in any profound way to every single person or place on the planet; social and cultural divisions continue to persist. Globalisation and culture While culture has been defined by Hofstede as the collective programming of the mind that gives rise to set beliefs and patterns of behavior, and thereby distinguishes one group of people from another (Merz, He & Alden, 2008), cultural globalisation is the emergence of a specific set of values and beliefs that are largely shared around the planet (Movius, 2010). Globalisation of media has been held responsible for the globalisation of culture. However, with converging incomes, cultural values and habits ha ve not converged (Mooij, 2000). People would spend their incremental income based on their value pattern – the Americans would buy more cars while the Spanish would spend more on food. This implies that values, beliefs and patterns of behavior have not homogenized; cultural homogenization has not taken place despite converging income. Appadurai (2001) and Tomlinson (1995) believe that globalisation is not just an economic and a political phenomenon; it is also a complex cultural phenomenon. It promises new possibilities but also gives rise to new anxieties that transform social life. However, as global forces begin to penetrate local culture, it could lead to tensions or collisions. Thus the outcome could be displacement of local culture leading to homogenization of culture or it could lead to resistance due to cultural imperialism. Craig and Douglas (2006) emphasize that culture is pervasive and it is the lens through which individuals perceive and interpret phenomena. Howev er, cultures are dynamic and keep evolving over time; hybrid cultures (fusion of two or more cultures resulting in a new cultural element) develop as people travel across borders. Membership in a culture is becoming transitional and deterritorialized (a particular culture is no longer defined in terms of the specific geographic

Financial Econometrics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Financial Econometrics - Essay Example ables fall into 3 general classes, namely: location statistics (eg, mean, median, mode, quantiles), dispersion statistics (eg, variance, standard deviation, range, interquartile range), and shape statistics (eg, skewness, kurtosis)†.The descriptive statistics gives the overall description of the data by providing the measures of central tendency, and the measures of dispersion. statistics. According to Petty( 2015) â€Å"A logarithmic price scale is plotted so that the prices in the scale are not positioned equidistantly; instead, the scale is plotted in such a way that two equal percent changes are plotted as the same vertical distance on the scale. The log returns basically is auto – correlated while the case is different with log prices. The log return are usually preferred in quantitative analysis as it gives a better insights in to aspects like normalization and classical statistics. Here the data stream for the 20-year period of January 1995 to December 2014 is used to calculate the log price and log return. Also a graph representation for the log price and the log returns is formulated in order to deliver a quantitative analysis of the specific data of the company. Here, histogram is used to represent the graph of the statistical data in a visual form The above analysis explains the descriptive statistics of the log prices and the log return of the data. From the log return, we can observe that the mean value of log return is 5.740008, with a standard deviation of 8.558659. The mean of log prices is 334.934 with the standard deviation of 0.024659. The skewnes of the variable log return is equal to 0.2427 which is a negative value implying that the value of the log return is negatively skewed. The value of kurtosis of the log return is equal to -1.02302 which is a negative value. This implies that the data of log return has a low distributed or low peaked about the mean. The skewnes of the variable log price is equal to -0.785038 which is a negative value

Is It Possible to Prove the Existance of God Essay Example for Free

Is It Possible to Prove the Existance of God Essay Is it possible to prove the existence of God? Throughout time many philosophers have been searching for an answer to creation and whether it is actually possible to prove (or not prove) if God exists. Some of the philosophers include Thomas Aquinas, William Paley and Blaise Pascal they came up with various different theories and arguments to prove the existence of God and why they believed he did exist. Another philosopher Karl Marx thought that his theory could convince people not to believe in God. One philosopher, Thomas Aquinas believed that God did exist and that he could prove this simply by arguing that the Universe could not have been made by nothing at all, saying that it was impossible for something to come from nothing. He believed that the universe was caused to exist by something which itself is uncaused, or else there would be an infinite regress. He thought that the only way to explain the start of the universe in a rational way was to say that it was created by God. I think that Aquinas may be right, but I doubt that he is right as he is saying that God was created by nothing but I feel that something must have created God and therefore there must have been an infinite regress. There is also no solid evidence or proof that God does exist and since there isn’t I think that not even Aquinas is 100% sure that God exists. Also, Aquinas’ theory seems rather contradictory as he says that the Universe must be caused by something and cannot just simply be made by nothing but that God is an uncaused causer. Another Philosopher, William Paley, like Aquinas was convinced that God does exist and that he could prove it. Paley ‘invented’ the thought experiment to encourage people to agree with him that God exists. He called his argument that Teleological argument (coming from the Greek word ‘telas’ meaning purpose). Story Imagine you are walking across open countryside with some friends. Then you suddenly come across something lying on the grass. You are so impressed with the workmanship that you are your friend. Who do you think made this watch? † The friend says†Nobody made this watch it was always there† Paley said that the universe, like a watch is too complicated and intelligently designed to have no creator. Paley used the Analogy of the watch to argue the existence of God. Paley argues that if a simple watch has a creator then the universe, which is so much more complicated and in some ways more beautiful than a watch must have a creator and that creator must be God. I think that Paley’s theory does seem reasonable but I do not fully agree with it completely. I think that the world must have a creator but not necessarily God anything could have been the creator and that the creator might not be Omnipotent, Omnibonevelant and Omniscient the creator could have simply just created the universe and then just left it or done nothing else to it. Another philosopher who also likes Aquinas and Paley ‘believed’ in God and thought that he could use his theory to encourage others to do so was Blaise Pascal. However, Pascal’s theory was very different to Aquinas and Paley’s. Pascal believed that God’s existence can neither be approved nor disapproved and whatever you decide about this problem will be uncertain and that your answer can be nothing more than a gamble. Pascal said that you cannot avoid making a gamble on God’s existence and you have to place your bet whether you like it or not. Pascal soon came to the conclusion that it would be better to believe that God existed than not to as you will not lose anything by doing so. He thought that if you believed that God existed and then after your death he actually did you would have a big gain by going to heaven. If, however God didn’t exist and you believed that you did you would not lose anything apart from some of your time praying and going to religious places etc. Pascal also thought that if you did not believe in God and came to know after your death that he did you would be most likely to go to hell therefore have a big loss. He called his theory Pascal’s wager. I strongly disagree with Pascal’s theory mainly because he only believed in God for selfish reasons and wanted people to believe in God only because of the happiness they would get in heaven which is not the actual idea. Also I think that God does not decide to put people in heaven and hell based on whether they believe or not but by the good deeds they have done in their life, so people who believe in God just for reasons like Pascal’s probably would not go to heaven anyway. I think that Pascal seems rather greedy to believe in God just to go to heaven after his death. The last philosopher I’m going to talk about is Karl Marx. Marx thought that that â€Å"Religion is a tool of oppression† meaning that Religion is something that you do not actually need but use to distract yourself from other things and something that someone just gets pleasure and happiness from. So he thought that everyone should just reject religion and this would make people aware of their own true situation and this may give them a chance to improve the conditions in which they live. Marx used quotes from the bible to back up quotes from the bible to back up his theory. â€Å"Blessed are the poor in spirit inherit the earth† Marx would argue that this quote is trying to say that it is not the rich and powerful who are most fortunate but actually the poor, as they will go to heaven because of all the suffering they have endured. He would say that the poor are often given quotes like this to make them content with their own miserable lives and that religion makes a virtue of poverty and meekness and unacceptable lives have been glamorised. Therefore I do not agree with Marx argument mainly because his theory may have been applicable at that time but it is not now, as people do not use religion just to have a distraction or something to comfort them when everything else is a mess. To conclude I think that although there are many different theories for whether God exists or not it is not actually possible to prove that God exists and that if you believe in God you should not just believe that he exists because of some theory but because you actually believe he exists and want to believe in him. Although it is probably not possible to prove whether God exists or not (unless he came down to earth and told everyone) the most convincing way would be to experience a miracle. Miracles can prove that God exists to a certain amount because most miracles would be far too big to be just a coincidence. Even though there are many stories about miracles in the news and in religious books such as the bible you cannot actually be sure until you experience one yourself. Miracles may not prove that God as people know him exists (Omnipotent, Omnibonevelant and Omniscient etc) but they do prove that there is an all powering/ supernatural being.

Telenor Group Case Study

Telenor Group Case Study CASE STUDY TELENOR 1. General information about the Telenor Group The Telenor Group is the leading telecommunications company in Norway and one of the leading mobile operators in the world in terms of subscription. The company is also the biggest provider of television services in the Nordic region, while at the same time being present as the mobile operator in some of the fastest growing markets. Headquarters of the Telenor Group are located in Oslo, Norway. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. With the end of the third quarter of 2009, the Telenor Group has achieved 172 million of mobile subscriptions worldwide and it currently employs approximately 40.000 people in thirty countries. As it is widely familiar, Norway, as well as other Scandinavian countries, is known as extremely developed technology market in the beginning of the 21st century, achieving some of the highest penetration rates for new technologies, such as mobile phones and high speed internet. This actually represents a kind of tradition of the country, having in mind the fact that in 1855 the first telegraph line has been built, followed by the first telephone network connecting the cities of Arendal and Tvederstrand in 1878. Furthermore, Norway was one of the first world countries to introduce mobile telephone system in 1967, which was analogue based and manually operated. In order to understand business operations of Telenor, it seems necessary to make a short historical overview of the companys origins. Beginnings of the Telenor Group date back in 1855 when it was established as a state operated monopoly, bearing the name Norwegian Telegraph Administration NTA (also known as Telegrafverket) and offering the provision of telegraph services. In the last decade of the 19th century, development of the Norways early telephone network was handled by private companies. Norwegian Telegraph Administration, which was in the ownership of the state, gradually took over the privately owned companies in the market and gained control over the sector. Since then, Telenor gained more than 150 years of telecom experience. In 1969, the NTA changed its name to Televerket, also known as Norwegian Telecommunications. With the purchase of Andebu, the last privately owned company in the sector of telecommunications in 1974, Televerket obtained control of the monopoly of t he services of telephone and telecommunications and retained that position till the beginning of the last decade of the 20th century. By the beginning of the 1990s, the company pioneered a new generation of mobile telephone services based on the GSM protocol, which was later accepted and implemented thought Europe. GSM service was launched in 1993 and was followed by the expansion of the company in the field of television broadcasting. This strategic decision provided the company with the opportunity to position itself as the dominant provider of satellite based broadcasting in the Scandinavian region. Since the Norwegian authorities had a tendency to deregulate the telecom sector in the country, the process of deregulation commenced in 1994 and lasted till 1998, with a partial deregulation sector by sector. Even before the government deregulation began, Televerket started with the company restructuring which lasted for four years and included the transformation of the company from a state owned to a public company, as well as the change of the company name to Telenor in 1995. Additionally, the company was a subject of partial privatization in 2000, which gave it a substantial boost of 15.6 billion NOK[1] of new capital and listed it on the Oslo Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. At the beginning of the privatization process, the Government remained the owner of 77.7% of the company, while this percentage was reduced to 53% by 2006. The company was rankedtop performer bythe Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes in 2007 and 2008. The main services which Telenor provides to its consumers and companies worldwide include the following segments: voice, data, content and other services. * In the segment of Voice, Telenor provides people to talk to each other by using fast and reliable networks. This segment focuses on the conversation on the phone, including fixed line, mobile or IP telephony. Fixed voice communication services are provided for users in three countries of the Nordic region and mobile voice in twelve different countries in Europe and Asia. * The segment of Data encompasses of the Internet and broadband services. The company offers fixed line data services like ADSL and fiber-optic communications in the countries of the Nordic region, and mobile data services such as mobile broadband, GPRS, UMTS in 12 countries. From the beginning of 2008, the company has started 3G based mobile broadband services inseven of its markets. * In the field of Content, TV services and mobile content, Telenor offers TV services via cable, digital terrestrial and satellite networks in four Nordic markets. Furthermore, the company also provides mobile content services in several markets, such as mobile TV, sports, ring tones, music and movies. * As far as otherservices are concerned, Telenor has a diversified offer that consists of services, which are telecom related, and the service portfolio is different from one country to another. Depending on the market, the company provides services in the filed of maritime communications, IT consulting, and aircraft communications services. In several markets the company provides Net-centric services, which refer to the IT security for individual consumers and enterprises and machine to machine (M2M) services for enterprises. The major part of the Telenor`s activities is organized in three regions and includes thirteen countries: Asia: Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand and India. Nordic countries: Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Centraland Eastern Europe: Hungary, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine. From the beginning of the 1990s, Telenor begun with its international expansion in the field of mobile communications, penetrating the markets of the following countries: Russia in 1994, Bangladesh, Greece, Ireland, Germany and Austria in 1997, Ukraine in 1998, Malaysia in 1999, Denmark and Thailand in 2000, Hungary in 2002, Montenegro and Pakistan in 2004, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Serbia in 2006. Operations in Greece, Ireland and Germany were sold and the money obtained from this sale has been re invested in the emerging markets. Additionally, in 2005 Vodafone[2] in Sweden was acquired by Telenor. 1.1. Mission and Strategy Telenors primary objective is to create greater value for its shareholders, customers, employees and partners, and for the society in general. The company is dedicated to being at the forefront in creating, simplifying and introducing communication and content solutions to the marketplace. In order to comply with the given goal, Telenor bases its strategy on its customer oriented vision, Here to Help, as well as its core values, Make it easy, Keep promises, Be inspiring and Be respectful. Telenors main strategy is to upgrade the performance of the local mobile operations by combining Groups industrialization with local drive and responsiveness, in the regions where it conducts its business operations: Nordic region, Eastern and Central Europe and Asia. Furthermore, the company plans to maintain its leading position in the Nordic region with a diversified portfolio of communication services. This strategy could be defragmented to the following focus areas: Strengthening of the position of the company as an international mobile operator. Telenor plans to continue the process of strengthening its industrialization of the mobile operations by gaining control over chosen mobile companies. Control is crucial in order to benefit from synergies obtained by cross border activities, such as scale in procurement, development of new services and implementation of best practices, improvement of operational efficiency and the increase of the overall profitability. Telenor plans to manage the non-strategic investments as financial investments and to exit from international mobile operations where the company cannot obtain control over time. Strengthening of the companys position in the Nordic region. Telenor will continue to upgrade its services in the field of mobile and fixed telephony in the Nordic region by using the benefits obtained from economies of scale and cross-border synergies. The company strongly feels that its Nordic presence will improve support to the customers by improving upon its expertise both mobile and fixed services. To find itself at the forefront of communications services providers in Norway. Since the company is the leader in a broad range of services in both the residential and business markets in Norway, Telenor will try to obtain better results in the sense of its profit in the mobile and fixed fields of activity, through the introduction of new services and through various cost-cutting measures. Maintaining of the position of the leader in field of distribution of TV services to consumers in the Nordic region. Telenor additionally insists on finding new possibilities and solutions which will contribute to the strengthening of its strategic position as the leading distributor of subscription based television in the Nordic region. The company will dedicate its activities to contact and attract new users and increase revenue per user through its attractive content and new interactive services. Non strategic companies. Telenor will enhance the value of those companies, which are not strategic for its main business areas and dispose of all or part of its interest in such companies. 1.2. Regional presence Even though Telenor is present in the three dominant regions of the world, the Nordic region is the one where Telenor group has been present since 1855, and the company has held a strong position in the Scandinavian region ever since. The Nordic region is the one from which the majority of Telenor`s income comes from. As it is shown in diagrams 1 and 2, in the first quarter of 2009, 41% of total company revenues came from this region, as well as 37% of EBITDA[3] distribution. The three markets out of which the Nordic region is composed of, in fact represent specific markets with unique differences. For example, although Sweden still has a high use of fixed line telephony, it finds itself at the forefront of the mobile broadband services. Denmark is the market whose customers are the keenest users of SMS and are most interested in content services. Finally, Norwegian customers show growing interest in digital music services and Telenor Group has a high share on this market. The Nordic region is also significant since Telenor combines present and future technologies in the telecom field. As a supplement to existing offers, Telenor provides new broadband technologies, such as Fibre to the Home (FTH) and Long Term Evolution (LTE), the 4th generation mobile broadband standard. The strong distinction between fixed and mobile telephony is slowly vanishing in these markets. According to the data obtained from†¦..there is an evident transition from fixed to mobile networks. The data implicate that the mobile share of voice traffic has increased from 20% in 2003 to 60% in 2008. This is one of the reasons why Telenor acquired Vodafone in Sweden in 2006. Furthermore, the company now has 4G licenses in Norway and Sweden. In order to build networks and share spectrum of mobile communication, Telenor has joined Tele2[4] in a joint venture. The plan is to launch the LTE based broadband services by the end of 2010. This action will position Telenor as the leader of the 4G development worldwide. The same project is planned for Norway, with the difference that it will start in 2011. The Telenor Group has penetrated the Asian region in 1996, through the investment in Grameenphone[5] in Bangladesh. From the very beginning of its operations in Asia, the market has been the cornerstone of the development of the Telenor Group, enabling opportunities for growth in one of the most populated and fastest growing markets in the world. Additionally, mobile operations in Asia have a significant contribution to the total revenues and EBITDA of the Group. Data obtained in the first quarter of 2009 show that the region generated 30% of the revenues, 28% of the Groups EBITDA, and a total of 67 million mobile subscribers of the region. The company has received many awards for innovation and services in the past ten years and has been the driving force in the network development of Asia. Additionally, it has significantly increased the capacity of the regional network and provided coverage, connecting millions of people in new areas, who were previously unconnected. Over the past few years the Asian mobile market has been growing significantly. The growth is additionally stimulated by continuous innovations and new services provided by the company. The Group is active in the markets of Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand and Bangladesh, and the company holds 3G license in Malaysia. Another important step of Telenor was the acquisition of Unitech Wireless[6] in India, through which the company penetrated one of the worlds largest and fastest growing markets. Since the beginning of the 1990s, the mobile markets of Central and Eastern Europe and Russia became a part of Telenor`s business operations. The main characteristic of these markets is the growth opportunity, making it significant part of the Telenor`s strategy in the years to come. Even though the markets of Central and Eastern Europe are challenging economic environment due to the process of transition, which these countries have undergone or are still undergoing, mobile operations of the Group deliver solid financial performances. The first quarter of 2009 shows that Telenor generated 17% of Groups total revenues and 32% of EBITDA. The region also generated 93 million of mobile subscribers. Also, the region of Central and Eastern Europe and Russia has achieved rapid growth in mobile subscription both in consumer, as well as business markets. The company is currently involved in investments in the 3G network in Hungary, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro. The priority is given to the n ew technological and eco friendly solutions, like the wind and solar powered base stations in Hungary, and testing of the new generation wireless broadband in Montenegro. 2. Telenor in Serbia Telenor`s presence in the Balkan region started at the beginning of 1990s when the company launched its operations in Hungary in 2002 by operating Pannon[7], followed by activities in Montenegro through Promonte[8] and finally, Serbia in 2006. Telenor penetrated the Serbian market through the purchase of the Serbian company Mobi 63, Serbias second largest mobile operator and this actually represents the largest privatization transaction in the central and eastern Europe in 2006, as reported by the audit company PriceWaterHouseCoopers. Telenor Group outbid two other short listed competitors at the auction (Mobilkom from Austria and Orascom Telecom from Egypt), offering a bid of 1.513 billion euros. Telenor took over the company on 31st of July 2006, upon the completion of all legal requirements and the signing of the Sales Agreement. The entire auction was broadcasted live on the Serbian national television and was attended by the highest state representatives. Mobi 63, formerly known as Mobtel, was formed by the Government of Serbia in the month of April of 2006, upon the revocation of the operators mobile license, which occurred due to the illegal dealings of the companys previous owners, who were suspected to have sold t he operators license in Kosovo to Mobikos, without requesting permission from the official authorities of Serbia. The Government then proclaimed that the sale was a threat to the national security. The acquisition of Mobi 63 made by Telenor includes a ten year license for GSM 900/1800 and 3G operation for the company, which is renewable for a successive period of ten years upon application. Additionally, the company also obtained Mobi 63`s existing assets, which included the base of approximately 2.5 million customers (in the end of 2005). In just three months upon its arrival to the Serbian market, Telenor invested approximately 15.3 million euros in the equipment of the highest technology, necessary to meet the requirements of the planned network expansion on the territory of Serbia. For this purpose, Telenor signed cooperation agreement with Erickson. Additionally, another contract with the Erickson Company worth 40 million euros for the purpose of network improvement was signed by the end of 2006. The main objective of these investments was to upgrade the quality and the capacity of the existing network, which consequently brings additional quality and services to its users. The actual benefit for the users of the Telenor network is its expanded coverage and good quality. Starting form March 1st 2007, the company enabled the use of commercial services in Serbia, provided by the 3G mobile broadband technology, which consequently provides its users with the possibility to get easier and faster access to the contents on the internet, such as movies, music videos or TV program. 2.1. Relationship towards the employees When Telenor acquired Mobi 63 in August 2006, the company had 926 employees. The newly appointed top management reached a strategic decision to take over the entire infrastructure of the company, as well as its personnel, meaning that there will not be any reduction in the number of employees. In fact, quite the opposite thing occurred in the next three years: the number of employees gradually started growing. In the end of 2007 there had been approximately 1000 employees. By the end of 2008, this number grew to 1100, and finally on December 31st 2009, Telenor had a total of 1207 employees. Having in mind that the field of telecommunications is exposed to everyday changes, Telenor`s employees are expected to adapt to them, set their own objectives in their segment of work, as well as to take on new responsibilities and discover their new talents. In 2007, 2008 and 2009, the company organized a number of trainings, seminars and workshops for its personnel. Through these actions, Telenor tends to provide continuous professional growth and expertise opportunities. Some of the most important ones are: Trainings for future leaders Welcome trainings Codes of conduct Human resource management Communication skills trainings Telenor`s Code of Conduct is one of the key principles upon which the activities of the company are based. This document includes a set of employee policies that cover ethical and legal practices for nearly every aspect of the business. It focuses on the personal responsibility and each employee has to conduct business legally and ethically. Also, it defines ethical rules of behavior for the companys business partners, as well as users. Corporate ethics is very important in the company. The principles of corporate ethics are applicable to all members of the company, including the members of the managing board and top management and all other employees, who represent Telenor on any occasions. Furthermore, the company launched the so called HIT Project, which was encouraged by the television reportage made on one of Telenor`s subcontractors in Bangladesh, who was an obvious example of a company which contributes to bad work conditions, pollution of the environment and child labor. The project focuses on four elements: health, safety, security and environment, and its main objective is for Telenor to emphasize to its business partners the importance of respecting labor and human rights laws. Therefore, Telenor follows the activities of its suppliers in the field and remains in constant touch with them. Furthermore, human resource management conducts the employee satisfaction survey on a yearly basis in order to get a feed back from the employees about the level of their satisfaction, as well as the issues that could be improved and changed within the company. In 2009, the survey was conducted for the third consecutive year and a total percentage of employees which participated was 96.3%. The survey is conducted among all employees in the end of every working year, and concentrates on several important areas of employee satisfaction: satisfaction with job position and work conditions, communication and interpersonal relations within the company, leadership, bonus systems and career opportunities. Results obtained from the survey serve as the foundation for strategy planning for the upcoming years. This point is of particular importance in order to include the opinion of the staff in the process of future strategy defining and decision making, so that everyone can feel that they are a part of it. 2.2. Relationship with clients Top management of the company tends to combine its international experience and the local potential of the country where it operates. In the first year of its activities in the Serbian market, Telenor introduced a large number of significant innovations and new services important for the subscribers. Some of the most innovative products and services offered to the Serbian users are: New prepaid telephone numbers and new channel of sale Telenor Express. Mobile e mail service. The first internet parks in Serbia. Cheaper roaming prices for Telenor users in Hungary and Montenegro Telenor express is the channel of direct sales to customers, which has long and successful tradition in other markets where the company conducts its activities. The new prepaid numbers were introduced in all newspaper stands in Serbia, but could also be purchased through the Telenor Express channel of sale. Approximately twenty five express sales teams are traveling throughout Serbia with specially designed sales stands. In this way the company tries to have direct contact with the customers, to be closer and more available to them, as well as to offer new and innovative sales possibilities and good quality services. Additionally, new prepaid numbers are offered at a much lower rate than previously applied, and each package has higher value than the nominal value of the package. Persons, who decide to purchase a more expensive package, get substantially more free conversation minutes, as well as free text messages, than the ones who purchase a cheaper package. Mobile e-mail is a service dedicated firstly to those who are business users, with the main purpose to facilitate their activities when they find themselves outside the office and need immediate access to their computers. Furthermore, this service enables its users to access and handle their e-mails, calendar and phonebook. The service is compatible to the programs used on their original computers, and can be used by downloading a special software from the Telenor website. From December 1st 2006, Telenor users have the possibility to pay lower prices for roaming services in Hungary and Montenegro, thanks to Telenor network. At the same time, these prices are the lowest prices in comparison to other mobile operators in Serbia. On average, with this service, Telenor users in the Montenegro` s network Promonte are charged 15% less for their voice calls. Additionally, incoming calls from any destination are free of charge for postpaid users in this network. As far as the Hungarian Pannon mobile operator is concerned, prices of outgoing calls are approximately 60% lower, calls made to local mobile and fixed telephone numbers are 25% cheaper, including incoming calls. Calls made to other destinations are 40% cheaper. Additionally, Telenor subscribers have the opportunity to exchange MMS messages with people in ten different countries. The first countries and operators which established this kind of service with Telenor in Serbia are: 02 in Germany, Pannon in Hungary, Telenor in Pakistan, Telefonica 02 in Checz Republic, Sonofon in Denmark, Sunrise in Switzerland, ONE in Austria, Globul in Bulgaria, Telenor in Norway and DIGI in Malaysia. In June 2008, Telenor opened the first internet park in Belgrade, which at the same time represents the first park of this kind in Serbia. People can have free access to the internet and connecting of their portable computers to the internet network is possible either through the wireless connection, or via USB modems, which are located in different places in the park. In the first three months, citizens of Belgrade, as well as other visitors, had the opportunity to test all possibilities of the Internet network free of charge, while enjoying the open air at the same time. Instructions for the connection to the network are displayed on visible places in the park and offer simple explanations through several easy steps. In just several months upon the opening of the first internet park in Belgrade, similar concept was implemented in other Serbian cities: Nis, Novi Sad, Kragujevac and Kraljevo. In this way, citizens of these cities have the possibility to check their e-mails or search the internet sites for various contents. 2.3. Corporate responsibility, young and socially jeopardized categories. Mobile communications contribute to the social integration, having in mind the fact that people can be in touch no matter where they find themselves. However, for a significant number of people worldwide, communication services still represent a luxury and are not available to them. Access to this type of services, in a way, represents the means to fight poverty, ignorance and bad health conditions, as well as to enable people to improve their living situation. One of the main objectives of Telenor is to strive towards creation of value in modern society by offering the possibility of communication services to as many people as possible. In 2007, the auditing company Deloit did a thorough analysis of Telenor`s markets in Thailand, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan, Ukraine and Serbia which pointed to a very close connection between mobile telephony penetration and the increase of the GDP exists. The analysis pointed out to the fact that the increase of 10% in mobile communications could lead to the GDP rise of approximately 1.2%. Furthermore, the study showed that business operations of Telenor have positive contribution to the upgrading of the productivity level, economic welfare, improvements in health and education systems, improvement of conditions in rural areas and social groups with low incomes. Besides the focus on its business operations, Telenor also directs its activities towards the responsibility towards the local community in which it operates. An evidence to support this claim is the fact that Telenor Group is listed in the first position among twenty four leading mobile operators in the world on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index list, which ranks companies according to the criteria of their overall financial, social and ecological impact on the environment. Upon its arrival to the Serbian market, the top management of the company immediately started to develop different strategies concerning the beginning of the work in the field of corporate responsibility. For that purpose, Telenor established its own Foundation in March 2007, and in this way the company continued to invest in the development of Serbias social potentials. â€Å"The main objective of the Foundation is to initiate and support different types of projects and to develop useful and sustainable solutions which are easy to implement on the territory of the entire country. This is the core concept upon which the corporate responsibility of the company is based and which is being implemented world wide. Members of the Foundations Managing Board were chosen upon the criteria of their expertise in different fields and this enabled for the activities of the Foundation to be guided not only by the companys business plans, but also to adequately respond to the necessities of the Serbian society, its growth and development. Additionally, members of the top and middle management are directly involved in the projects of the Foundation and follow their course. Employees are also invited to participate and to set an example by their involvement, volunteer work and individual efforts.† Majority of the activities and projects which the Foundation conducts are directed towards the young population, their education and professional expertise, socially jeopardized categories, as well as the development of cultural production and art. Telenor`s Foundation accomplishes set objectives through various forms of initiatives: Cooperation with non governmental sector, public and private institutions in different types of projects. Programs of exchange of experts in the field of science and art, as well as providing opportunities for professional internships and scholarships. Exchange of information. Establishing the practice of round tables, seminars, conferences and other events which are in any way linked to the activities of Telenor. Organizing of tenders through which different types of trainings and research are offered. Particular emphasis is put on the young generation and talented people and socially jeopardized categories. 2.3.1. Activities of Telenor directed towards young population Foundation launches special programs, seminars lectures, classes and offers scholarships to those who are perceived as young experts in the fields which are relevant for Telenor`s activities. In 2007, Telenor introduced the award â€Å"Professor Ilija StojanoviĆ¡Ã¢â‚¬  in memory of professor Ilija Stojanovic, who was closely connected to the company and participated in its activities from the very beginning of its operations in Serbia. Every year the award of 1500 euros is given to young students, scientists and researchers for their achievements in the field of telecommunications, in three categories: Best paper / project in the field of telecommunications chosen from the Conference for electronics, telecommunications, informatics, automatics and nuclear technique, held on a yearly basis. Best paper / project chosen from the Telflor (yearly conference), held on a yearly basis. Best student of the Graduate School of Electro-technique (course telecommunications). The Foundation was among the first initiators for the cleaning of neglected areas of Belgrade. Participants of the campaign â€Å"Recycling of landscapes: Be creative and revive the city† were pupils of Belgrade high schools and various artists and the entire project was conducted on ten city locations: open cinemas in Vracar[9] and Zvezdara[10] municipality, summer stage and Pioneer city in Kosutnjak, yard filed of abandoned factory, Zvezdani gaj and other locations. The campaign was lasted throughout 2009 and in this period the locations have been cleaned, painted and decorated with art works. There had been approximately 1000 participants in the campaign and they had the opportunity to get acquainted with the creative art process. Development of the environment awareness was one of the key priorities of the project, which was realized in cooperation with the Belgrade City Assembly and Secretariat for sport and youth. The project became the part of the leading environmental project in Serbia â€Å"Let`s wake Serbia up†, under the patronage of the Ministry for the Environment Protection. , In cooperation with the National Television of Serbia, Telenor joined the campaign â€Å"Skola je Skul (School is Cool)†, which promotes school spirit, representing the most active schools that use creative methods Telenor Group Case Study Telenor Group Case Study CASE STUDY TELENOR 1. General information about the Telenor Group The Telenor Group is the leading telecommunications company in Norway and one of the leading mobile operators in the world in terms of subscription. The company is also the biggest provider of television services in the Nordic region, while at the same time being present as the mobile operator in some of the fastest growing markets. Headquarters of the Telenor Group are located in Oslo, Norway. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. With the end of the third quarter of 2009, the Telenor Group has achieved 172 million of mobile subscriptions worldwide and it currently employs approximately 40.000 people in thirty countries. As it is widely familiar, Norway, as well as other Scandinavian countries, is known as extremely developed technology market in the beginning of the 21st century, achieving some of the highest penetration rates for new technologies, such as mobile phones and high speed internet. This actually represents a kind of tradition of the country, having in mind the fact that in 1855 the first telegraph line has been built, followed by the first telephone network connecting the cities of Arendal and Tvederstrand in 1878. Furthermore, Norway was one of the first world countries to introduce mobile telephone system in 1967, which was analogue based and manually operated. In order to understand business operations of Telenor, it seems necessary to make a short historical overview of the companys origins. Beginnings of the Telenor Group date back in 1855 when it was established as a state operated monopoly, bearing the name Norwegian Telegraph Administration NTA (also known as Telegrafverket) and offering the provision of telegraph services. In the last decade of the 19th century, development of the Norways early telephone network was handled by private companies. Norwegian Telegraph Administration, which was in the ownership of the state, gradually took over the privately owned companies in the market and gained control over the sector. Since then, Telenor gained more than 150 years of telecom experience. In 1969, the NTA changed its name to Televerket, also known as Norwegian Telecommunications. With the purchase of Andebu, the last privately owned company in the sector of telecommunications in 1974, Televerket obtained control of the monopoly of t he services of telephone and telecommunications and retained that position till the beginning of the last decade of the 20th century. By the beginning of the 1990s, the company pioneered a new generation of mobile telephone services based on the GSM protocol, which was later accepted and implemented thought Europe. GSM service was launched in 1993 and was followed by the expansion of the company in the field of television broadcasting. This strategic decision provided the company with the opportunity to position itself as the dominant provider of satellite based broadcasting in the Scandinavian region. Since the Norwegian authorities had a tendency to deregulate the telecom sector in the country, the process of deregulation commenced in 1994 and lasted till 1998, with a partial deregulation sector by sector. Even before the government deregulation began, Televerket started with the company restructuring which lasted for four years and included the transformation of the company from a state owned to a public company, as well as the change of the company name to Telenor in 1995. Additionally, the company was a subject of partial privatization in 2000, which gave it a substantial boost of 15.6 billion NOK[1] of new capital and listed it on the Oslo Stock Exchange and NASDAQ. At the beginning of the privatization process, the Government remained the owner of 77.7% of the company, while this percentage was reduced to 53% by 2006. The company was rankedtop performer bythe Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes in 2007 and 2008. The main services which Telenor provides to its consumers and companies worldwide include the following segments: voice, data, content and other services. * In the segment of Voice, Telenor provides people to talk to each other by using fast and reliable networks. This segment focuses on the conversation on the phone, including fixed line, mobile or IP telephony. Fixed voice communication services are provided for users in three countries of the Nordic region and mobile voice in twelve different countries in Europe and Asia. * The segment of Data encompasses of the Internet and broadband services. The company offers fixed line data services like ADSL and fiber-optic communications in the countries of the Nordic region, and mobile data services such as mobile broadband, GPRS, UMTS in 12 countries. From the beginning of 2008, the company has started 3G based mobile broadband services inseven of its markets. * In the field of Content, TV services and mobile content, Telenor offers TV services via cable, digital terrestrial and satellite networks in four Nordic markets. Furthermore, the company also provides mobile content services in several markets, such as mobile TV, sports, ring tones, music and movies. * As far as otherservices are concerned, Telenor has a diversified offer that consists of services, which are telecom related, and the service portfolio is different from one country to another. Depending on the market, the company provides services in the filed of maritime communications, IT consulting, and aircraft communications services. In several markets the company provides Net-centric services, which refer to the IT security for individual consumers and enterprises and machine to machine (M2M) services for enterprises. The major part of the Telenor`s activities is organized in three regions and includes thirteen countries: Asia: Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand and India. Nordic countries: Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Centraland Eastern Europe: Hungary, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine. From the beginning of the 1990s, Telenor begun with its international expansion in the field of mobile communications, penetrating the markets of the following countries: Russia in 1994, Bangladesh, Greece, Ireland, Germany and Austria in 1997, Ukraine in 1998, Malaysia in 1999, Denmark and Thailand in 2000, Hungary in 2002, Montenegro and Pakistan in 2004, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Serbia in 2006. Operations in Greece, Ireland and Germany were sold and the money obtained from this sale has been re invested in the emerging markets. Additionally, in 2005 Vodafone[2] in Sweden was acquired by Telenor. 1.1. Mission and Strategy Telenors primary objective is to create greater value for its shareholders, customers, employees and partners, and for the society in general. The company is dedicated to being at the forefront in creating, simplifying and introducing communication and content solutions to the marketplace. In order to comply with the given goal, Telenor bases its strategy on its customer oriented vision, Here to Help, as well as its core values, Make it easy, Keep promises, Be inspiring and Be respectful. Telenors main strategy is to upgrade the performance of the local mobile operations by combining Groups industrialization with local drive and responsiveness, in the regions where it conducts its business operations: Nordic region, Eastern and Central Europe and Asia. Furthermore, the company plans to maintain its leading position in the Nordic region with a diversified portfolio of communication services. This strategy could be defragmented to the following focus areas: Strengthening of the position of the company as an international mobile operator. Telenor plans to continue the process of strengthening its industrialization of the mobile operations by gaining control over chosen mobile companies. Control is crucial in order to benefit from synergies obtained by cross border activities, such as scale in procurement, development of new services and implementation of best practices, improvement of operational efficiency and the increase of the overall profitability. Telenor plans to manage the non-strategic investments as financial investments and to exit from international mobile operations where the company cannot obtain control over time. Strengthening of the companys position in the Nordic region. Telenor will continue to upgrade its services in the field of mobile and fixed telephony in the Nordic region by using the benefits obtained from economies of scale and cross-border synergies. The company strongly feels that its Nordic presence will improve support to the customers by improving upon its expertise both mobile and fixed services. To find itself at the forefront of communications services providers in Norway. Since the company is the leader in a broad range of services in both the residential and business markets in Norway, Telenor will try to obtain better results in the sense of its profit in the mobile and fixed fields of activity, through the introduction of new services and through various cost-cutting measures. Maintaining of the position of the leader in field of distribution of TV services to consumers in the Nordic region. Telenor additionally insists on finding new possibilities and solutions which will contribute to the strengthening of its strategic position as the leading distributor of subscription based television in the Nordic region. The company will dedicate its activities to contact and attract new users and increase revenue per user through its attractive content and new interactive services. Non strategic companies. Telenor will enhance the value of those companies, which are not strategic for its main business areas and dispose of all or part of its interest in such companies. 1.2. Regional presence Even though Telenor is present in the three dominant regions of the world, the Nordic region is the one where Telenor group has been present since 1855, and the company has held a strong position in the Scandinavian region ever since. The Nordic region is the one from which the majority of Telenor`s income comes from. As it is shown in diagrams 1 and 2, in the first quarter of 2009, 41% of total company revenues came from this region, as well as 37% of EBITDA[3] distribution. The three markets out of which the Nordic region is composed of, in fact represent specific markets with unique differences. For example, although Sweden still has a high use of fixed line telephony, it finds itself at the forefront of the mobile broadband services. Denmark is the market whose customers are the keenest users of SMS and are most interested in content services. Finally, Norwegian customers show growing interest in digital music services and Telenor Group has a high share on this market. The Nordic region is also significant since Telenor combines present and future technologies in the telecom field. As a supplement to existing offers, Telenor provides new broadband technologies, such as Fibre to the Home (FTH) and Long Term Evolution (LTE), the 4th generation mobile broadband standard. The strong distinction between fixed and mobile telephony is slowly vanishing in these markets. According to the data obtained from†¦..there is an evident transition from fixed to mobile networks. The data implicate that the mobile share of voice traffic has increased from 20% in 2003 to 60% in 2008. This is one of the reasons why Telenor acquired Vodafone in Sweden in 2006. Furthermore, the company now has 4G licenses in Norway and Sweden. In order to build networks and share spectrum of mobile communication, Telenor has joined Tele2[4] in a joint venture. The plan is to launch the LTE based broadband services by the end of 2010. This action will position Telenor as the leader of the 4G development worldwide. The same project is planned for Norway, with the difference that it will start in 2011. The Telenor Group has penetrated the Asian region in 1996, through the investment in Grameenphone[5] in Bangladesh. From the very beginning of its operations in Asia, the market has been the cornerstone of the development of the Telenor Group, enabling opportunities for growth in one of the most populated and fastest growing markets in the world. Additionally, mobile operations in Asia have a significant contribution to the total revenues and EBITDA of the Group. Data obtained in the first quarter of 2009 show that the region generated 30% of the revenues, 28% of the Groups EBITDA, and a total of 67 million mobile subscribers of the region. The company has received many awards for innovation and services in the past ten years and has been the driving force in the network development of Asia. Additionally, it has significantly increased the capacity of the regional network and provided coverage, connecting millions of people in new areas, who were previously unconnected. Over the past few years the Asian mobile market has been growing significantly. The growth is additionally stimulated by continuous innovations and new services provided by the company. The Group is active in the markets of Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand and Bangladesh, and the company holds 3G license in Malaysia. Another important step of Telenor was the acquisition of Unitech Wireless[6] in India, through which the company penetrated one of the worlds largest and fastest growing markets. Since the beginning of the 1990s, the mobile markets of Central and Eastern Europe and Russia became a part of Telenor`s business operations. The main characteristic of these markets is the growth opportunity, making it significant part of the Telenor`s strategy in the years to come. Even though the markets of Central and Eastern Europe are challenging economic environment due to the process of transition, which these countries have undergone or are still undergoing, mobile operations of the Group deliver solid financial performances. The first quarter of 2009 shows that Telenor generated 17% of Groups total revenues and 32% of EBITDA. The region also generated 93 million of mobile subscribers. Also, the region of Central and Eastern Europe and Russia has achieved rapid growth in mobile subscription both in consumer, as well as business markets. The company is currently involved in investments in the 3G network in Hungary, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro. The priority is given to the n ew technological and eco friendly solutions, like the wind and solar powered base stations in Hungary, and testing of the new generation wireless broadband in Montenegro. 2. Telenor in Serbia Telenor`s presence in the Balkan region started at the beginning of 1990s when the company launched its operations in Hungary in 2002 by operating Pannon[7], followed by activities in Montenegro through Promonte[8] and finally, Serbia in 2006. Telenor penetrated the Serbian market through the purchase of the Serbian company Mobi 63, Serbias second largest mobile operator and this actually represents the largest privatization transaction in the central and eastern Europe in 2006, as reported by the audit company PriceWaterHouseCoopers. Telenor Group outbid two other short listed competitors at the auction (Mobilkom from Austria and Orascom Telecom from Egypt), offering a bid of 1.513 billion euros. Telenor took over the company on 31st of July 2006, upon the completion of all legal requirements and the signing of the Sales Agreement. The entire auction was broadcasted live on the Serbian national television and was attended by the highest state representatives. Mobi 63, formerly known as Mobtel, was formed by the Government of Serbia in the month of April of 2006, upon the revocation of the operators mobile license, which occurred due to the illegal dealings of the companys previous owners, who were suspected to have sold t he operators license in Kosovo to Mobikos, without requesting permission from the official authorities of Serbia. The Government then proclaimed that the sale was a threat to the national security. The acquisition of Mobi 63 made by Telenor includes a ten year license for GSM 900/1800 and 3G operation for the company, which is renewable for a successive period of ten years upon application. Additionally, the company also obtained Mobi 63`s existing assets, which included the base of approximately 2.5 million customers (in the end of 2005). In just three months upon its arrival to the Serbian market, Telenor invested approximately 15.3 million euros in the equipment of the highest technology, necessary to meet the requirements of the planned network expansion on the territory of Serbia. For this purpose, Telenor signed cooperation agreement with Erickson. Additionally, another contract with the Erickson Company worth 40 million euros for the purpose of network improvement was signed by the end of 2006. The main objective of these investments was to upgrade the quality and the capacity of the existing network, which consequently brings additional quality and services to its users. The actual benefit for the users of the Telenor network is its expanded coverage and good quality. Starting form March 1st 2007, the company enabled the use of commercial services in Serbia, provided by the 3G mobile broadband technology, which consequently provides its users with the possibility to get easier and faster access to the contents on the internet, such as movies, music videos or TV program. 2.1. Relationship towards the employees When Telenor acquired Mobi 63 in August 2006, the company had 926 employees. The newly appointed top management reached a strategic decision to take over the entire infrastructure of the company, as well as its personnel, meaning that there will not be any reduction in the number of employees. In fact, quite the opposite thing occurred in the next three years: the number of employees gradually started growing. In the end of 2007 there had been approximately 1000 employees. By the end of 2008, this number grew to 1100, and finally on December 31st 2009, Telenor had a total of 1207 employees. Having in mind that the field of telecommunications is exposed to everyday changes, Telenor`s employees are expected to adapt to them, set their own objectives in their segment of work, as well as to take on new responsibilities and discover their new talents. In 2007, 2008 and 2009, the company organized a number of trainings, seminars and workshops for its personnel. Through these actions, Telenor tends to provide continuous professional growth and expertise opportunities. Some of the most important ones are: Trainings for future leaders Welcome trainings Codes of conduct Human resource management Communication skills trainings Telenor`s Code of Conduct is one of the key principles upon which the activities of the company are based. This document includes a set of employee policies that cover ethical and legal practices for nearly every aspect of the business. It focuses on the personal responsibility and each employee has to conduct business legally and ethically. Also, it defines ethical rules of behavior for the companys business partners, as well as users. Corporate ethics is very important in the company. The principles of corporate ethics are applicable to all members of the company, including the members of the managing board and top management and all other employees, who represent Telenor on any occasions. Furthermore, the company launched the so called HIT Project, which was encouraged by the television reportage made on one of Telenor`s subcontractors in Bangladesh, who was an obvious example of a company which contributes to bad work conditions, pollution of the environment and child labor. The project focuses on four elements: health, safety, security and environment, and its main objective is for Telenor to emphasize to its business partners the importance of respecting labor and human rights laws. Therefore, Telenor follows the activities of its suppliers in the field and remains in constant touch with them. Furthermore, human resource management conducts the employee satisfaction survey on a yearly basis in order to get a feed back from the employees about the level of their satisfaction, as well as the issues that could be improved and changed within the company. In 2009, the survey was conducted for the third consecutive year and a total percentage of employees which participated was 96.3%. The survey is conducted among all employees in the end of every working year, and concentrates on several important areas of employee satisfaction: satisfaction with job position and work conditions, communication and interpersonal relations within the company, leadership, bonus systems and career opportunities. Results obtained from the survey serve as the foundation for strategy planning for the upcoming years. This point is of particular importance in order to include the opinion of the staff in the process of future strategy defining and decision making, so that everyone can feel that they are a part of it. 2.2. Relationship with clients Top management of the company tends to combine its international experience and the local potential of the country where it operates. In the first year of its activities in the Serbian market, Telenor introduced a large number of significant innovations and new services important for the subscribers. Some of the most innovative products and services offered to the Serbian users are: New prepaid telephone numbers and new channel of sale Telenor Express. Mobile e mail service. The first internet parks in Serbia. Cheaper roaming prices for Telenor users in Hungary and Montenegro Telenor express is the channel of direct sales to customers, which has long and successful tradition in other markets where the company conducts its activities. The new prepaid numbers were introduced in all newspaper stands in Serbia, but could also be purchased through the Telenor Express channel of sale. Approximately twenty five express sales teams are traveling throughout Serbia with specially designed sales stands. In this way the company tries to have direct contact with the customers, to be closer and more available to them, as well as to offer new and innovative sales possibilities and good quality services. Additionally, new prepaid numbers are offered at a much lower rate than previously applied, and each package has higher value than the nominal value of the package. Persons, who decide to purchase a more expensive package, get substantially more free conversation minutes, as well as free text messages, than the ones who purchase a cheaper package. Mobile e-mail is a service dedicated firstly to those who are business users, with the main purpose to facilitate their activities when they find themselves outside the office and need immediate access to their computers. Furthermore, this service enables its users to access and handle their e-mails, calendar and phonebook. The service is compatible to the programs used on their original computers, and can be used by downloading a special software from the Telenor website. From December 1st 2006, Telenor users have the possibility to pay lower prices for roaming services in Hungary and Montenegro, thanks to Telenor network. At the same time, these prices are the lowest prices in comparison to other mobile operators in Serbia. On average, with this service, Telenor users in the Montenegro` s network Promonte are charged 15% less for their voice calls. Additionally, incoming calls from any destination are free of charge for postpaid users in this network. As far as the Hungarian Pannon mobile operator is concerned, prices of outgoing calls are approximately 60% lower, calls made to local mobile and fixed telephone numbers are 25% cheaper, including incoming calls. Calls made to other destinations are 40% cheaper. Additionally, Telenor subscribers have the opportunity to exchange MMS messages with people in ten different countries. The first countries and operators which established this kind of service with Telenor in Serbia are: 02 in Germany, Pannon in Hungary, Telenor in Pakistan, Telefonica 02 in Checz Republic, Sonofon in Denmark, Sunrise in Switzerland, ONE in Austria, Globul in Bulgaria, Telenor in Norway and DIGI in Malaysia. In June 2008, Telenor opened the first internet park in Belgrade, which at the same time represents the first park of this kind in Serbia. People can have free access to the internet and connecting of their portable computers to the internet network is possible either through the wireless connection, or via USB modems, which are located in different places in the park. In the first three months, citizens of Belgrade, as well as other visitors, had the opportunity to test all possibilities of the Internet network free of charge, while enjoying the open air at the same time. Instructions for the connection to the network are displayed on visible places in the park and offer simple explanations through several easy steps. In just several months upon the opening of the first internet park in Belgrade, similar concept was implemented in other Serbian cities: Nis, Novi Sad, Kragujevac and Kraljevo. In this way, citizens of these cities have the possibility to check their e-mails or search the internet sites for various contents. 2.3. Corporate responsibility, young and socially jeopardized categories. Mobile communications contribute to the social integration, having in mind the fact that people can be in touch no matter where they find themselves. However, for a significant number of people worldwide, communication services still represent a luxury and are not available to them. Access to this type of services, in a way, represents the means to fight poverty, ignorance and bad health conditions, as well as to enable people to improve their living situation. One of the main objectives of Telenor is to strive towards creation of value in modern society by offering the possibility of communication services to as many people as possible. In 2007, the auditing company Deloit did a thorough analysis of Telenor`s markets in Thailand, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan, Ukraine and Serbia which pointed to a very close connection between mobile telephony penetration and the increase of the GDP exists. The analysis pointed out to the fact that the increase of 10% in mobile communications could lead to the GDP rise of approximately 1.2%. Furthermore, the study showed that business operations of Telenor have positive contribution to the upgrading of the productivity level, economic welfare, improvements in health and education systems, improvement of conditions in rural areas and social groups with low incomes. Besides the focus on its business operations, Telenor also directs its activities towards the responsibility towards the local community in which it operates. An evidence to support this claim is the fact that Telenor Group is listed in the first position among twenty four leading mobile operators in the world on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index list, which ranks companies according to the criteria of their overall financial, social and ecological impact on the environment. Upon its arrival to the Serbian market, the top management of the company immediately started to develop different strategies concerning the beginning of the work in the field of corporate responsibility. For that purpose, Telenor established its own Foundation in March 2007, and in this way the company continued to invest in the development of Serbias social potentials. â€Å"The main objective of the Foundation is to initiate and support different types of projects and to develop useful and sustainable solutions which are easy to implement on the territory of the entire country. This is the core concept upon which the corporate responsibility of the company is based and which is being implemented world wide. Members of the Foundations Managing Board were chosen upon the criteria of their expertise in different fields and this enabled for the activities of the Foundation to be guided not only by the companys business plans, but also to adequately respond to the necessities of the Serbian society, its growth and development. Additionally, members of the top and middle management are directly involved in the projects of the Foundation and follow their course. Employees are also invited to participate and to set an example by their involvement, volunteer work and individual efforts.† Majority of the activities and projects which the Foundation conducts are directed towards the young population, their education and professional expertise, socially jeopardized categories, as well as the development of cultural production and art. Telenor`s Foundation accomplishes set objectives through various forms of initiatives: Cooperation with non governmental sector, public and private institutions in different types of projects. Programs of exchange of experts in the field of science and art, as well as providing opportunities for professional internships and scholarships. Exchange of information. Establishing the practice of round tables, seminars, conferences and other events which are in any way linked to the activities of Telenor. Organizing of tenders through which different types of trainings and research are offered. Particular emphasis is put on the young generation and talented people and socially jeopardized categories. 2.3.1. Activities of Telenor directed towards young population Foundation launches special programs, seminars lectures, classes and offers scholarships to those who are perceived as young experts in the fields which are relevant for Telenor`s activities. In 2007, Telenor introduced the award â€Å"Professor Ilija StojanoviĆ¡Ã¢â‚¬  in memory of professor Ilija Stojanovic, who was closely connected to the company and participated in its activities from the very beginning of its operations in Serbia. Every year the award of 1500 euros is given to young students, scientists and researchers for their achievements in the field of telecommunications, in three categories: Best paper / project in the field of telecommunications chosen from the Conference for electronics, telecommunications, informatics, automatics and nuclear technique, held on a yearly basis. Best paper / project chosen from the Telflor (yearly conference), held on a yearly basis. Best student of the Graduate School of Electro-technique (course telecommunications). The Foundation was among the first initiators for the cleaning of neglected areas of Belgrade. Participants of the campaign â€Å"Recycling of landscapes: Be creative and revive the city† were pupils of Belgrade high schools and various artists and the entire project was conducted on ten city locations: open cinemas in Vracar[9] and Zvezdara[10] municipality, summer stage and Pioneer city in Kosutnjak, yard filed of abandoned factory, Zvezdani gaj and other locations. The campaign was lasted throughout 2009 and in this period the locations have been cleaned, painted and decorated with art works. There had been approximately 1000 participants in the campaign and they had the opportunity to get acquainted with the creative art process. Development of the environment awareness was one of the key priorities of the project, which was realized in cooperation with the Belgrade City Assembly and Secretariat for sport and youth. The project became the part of the leading environmental project in Serbia â€Å"Let`s wake Serbia up†, under the patronage of the Ministry for the Environment Protection. , In cooperation with the National Television of Serbia, Telenor joined the campaign â€Å"Skola je Skul (School is Cool)†, which promotes school spirit, representing the most active schools that use creative methods