Review Of ARM, Intel and the microprocessor industry in 2014 Essay

Review Of ARM, Intel and the microprocessor industry in 2014 - Essay Example tegies and sustainability operations with every influential factor of its external business environment, it lacks competitive advantage in attracting business customers from almost every dimension of the industry due to the exclusion of smaller corporate partners from the technology industry. Taking the advantage of this lacuna possessed by Intel, its rivals like AMD can be witnessed to grow powerful, obstructing the monopolistic power gained by Intel over the past decades. Intel (officially acknowledged as Intel Corporation), a globally renowned American semiconductor-chip manufacturing multinational, has witnessed significant rise in its demand around the various electronics companies, who are noted as its major strategic partners in the industry cluster (Haberberg & Rieple, 2008). However, with every opportunity, there come certain challenges, which are also apparent in the case of Intel, as on one hand, the company enjoys substantial lucrative growth opportunities and on the other, it is obstructed by rising competitive forces inhibiting its dominion on the industry cluster (Haberberg, 2014). It is in this context that scepticism develops surrounding the chances of an end to Intel’s long sustaining dominance on the market. Hence, examining Intel’s business environment and its current strategic positioning becomes crucial. Correspondingly, this report will aim at presenting a brief but insightful assessment of the business environment and strategies applied by Intel currently along with a critical strategic appraisal to conclude on the actual industry stance of the company and offer noteworthy strategic recommendations correspondingly. Buyer Power: As orders are accepted only in bulks by the companies in this industry, the bargaining power of buyers increases, facilitated with the characteristics of business-to-business dealings (Klepper, 2010). Again, availability of heterogeneous products also tends to limit buyers’ power in this industry, offering

Social Networks Essay Example for Free

Social Networks Essay Should businesses be able to use Facebook and Twitter searches to determine whether a person is eligible for employment? There are a lot of mixed feelings about this topic, but a lot more companies are doing performing searches on potential candidates for employment eligibility. I think that employers should use social media in conjunction with hiring an individual. Many jobs today are related to the service industry and I feel that some people just do not qualify for jobs in this industry. More employers today are using Facebook and Twitter searches for determination on if a person is eligible for employment, and for retention of a current employee. In 2010 nearly 22% of employers were checking Facebook profiles when hiring a person to see if they were drinking too much, doing drugs or talking bad about a former employer (Oleniczak, Pike, 2010, P13). So some people argue that it is violating privacy, which has made this questionable (Oleniczak, Pike, 2010, P14). Well the Federal Government enacted some laws that could be interpreted as a questionable action (Oleniczak, Pike, 2010, P14). One of these states â€Å"Personal information shall not be collected by a collector for the inclusion in a record or in a generally available publication unless: (a) The information is collected for a purpose the is a lawful purpose directly related to a function or activity of the collector and, (b) The collection of the information is necessary for or directly related to that purpose (Oleniczak, Pike, 2010, P14). Well under the first principle an employee could argue that Facebook is personal and considered what they do outside of work, and under reference b, a potential employee could argue that their privacy was invaded and they candidate was not informed that their Facebook profile would be investigated (Oleniczak, Pike, 2010, P14). There have been many lawsuits brought against employers that use Facebook as part of their hiring process, which is starting to be a turn off to employers, because this could hurt them financially (Olencizak, Pike, 2010, P14). Although the laws do protect us, but employers can still use some of the information in their decision (Elzwig, Peeples, 2009, P9). Employers are basically using the information to apply it towards â€Å"good business† (Elzwig, Peeples, 2009, P9). Although employers must take certain steps first before applying their search towards the candidate, which are: * Check social networking sites before making employment decisions in order to gain important information * Verify the accuracy of the information * Recognize the actual purpose of the site Consider the age of the employee or potential employee Develop clear policies in regards to the using social networking * Post what the potential use of the information that is gathered on job postings and the application * Have employees and candidates sign a consent form prior to accessing the information * Check state laws and statutes for privacy (Elzwig, Peeples, 2009, P9) There are a lot of mixed feelings on whether an employer sho uld use social networks as a hiring tool. Two professionals weighed in on an interview in 2008 about this topic, Greg Fish and Timothy Lee. Greg fish stated: â€Å"Social Networking profiles are not resumes and companies should not use them when determining if an applicant should be hired† (Castone. 2008). He further stated, â€Å"When companies use these profiles to find not only a professional but also an ideological match for a job, they’re misleading themselves and building ill will with talented prospective employees, who might decline to apply for a job for fear of a comment about China on their blog makes their persona non-grata† (Castone. 2008). Timothy Lee argues that there are plenty of reasons why employers need to look at social networks (Castone. 2008). He states, â€Å"Employees in sales public relations and customer service function as representatives for the companies they work for, so employers have a legitimate interest in ensuring potential workers won’t embarrass the company† (Castone. 2008). â€Å"People shouldn’t fear that an employer will get a hold of their profile, but instead expect it and use it to their advantage,† Lee states (Castone. 008). What I feel the Timothy Lee is trying to get at by using our social network profiles to our advantage is basically use it to market yourself in the public view so that you can land that good job, just make sure you keep it clean and neat. I agree with Timothy Lee in his statement that we should not fear that an employer will get a hold of our profiles. Furthermore, I think we should expect it, and accept that an employer is looking at our p rofiles. We should use proper etiquette when setting up our profiles and not post anything negative about previous employers, or even post provocative photos. The one thing that I hate the most about going into Wal-Mart, is when I get a rude associate helping me or cashing me out. Wal-Mart does not screen their employees before hiring, I know because I used to work for the company. In conclusion, as time goes on more companies are going to be weighing in on using social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace as a tool for their hiring process. Although companies should make that as a notable item to potential candidates in the interview giving them a heads up into the fact their company does run a background check and includes a search on social networks. More companies are going to weigh in on this concept and we should just accept the fact that an employer is going to use our profile as a reference. Especially in the service industry such as customer service, collections, sales, or anything that has to do with you being the front or face of the company, should mainly be focusing on this issue.

Exchange Rate Risk and Impact on Foreign Trade

Exchange Rate Risk and Impact on Foreign Trade This paper uses real world application of exchange rate fluctuations, its causes and impact on the economy, risks associated with it and their management, in terms of Chinese economy to show the importance on these financial concepts and their requirement of understanding one to understand the other, all in wake of gaining he knowledge that will help in making transactions decisions that affect the economy on a global scale. Going for a bigger leap by learning to take smaller steps. Introduction The incontrovertible evidence of understanding the importance of the exchange rate fluctuation mechanism and the types and magnitude of risk, attached to the international trading affecting those who are involved in transaction across border globally deems necessary the acquisition of knowledge by those who are involved in day to day market transactions. The global economy is reliant upon the study of economic and other socio-political variable affecting the exchange rate in the international market influence the terms of trade of the trading countries and consequently inducing changes in the budget restructuring and trading quantities that are contributed to the international market by individual countries. Thus the realization of the need for this paper came upon as a research topic. This report takes into account several articles and write ups related to foreign exchange rates, their risks, exposure, and tries to plug them in with the conventional concepts of these financial instruments in order to enhance the understanding and the knowledge of exchange rate mechanism, its determinants and how it impacts any countrys economy specifically that of china. The literature support backs up the implication of the concepts applied here for the better grasp if the points that are attempting to be made noticeable. The main theme of the paper revolves around the arena of foreign exchange rates; How they impact the economy, what causes them to fluctuate, the impact of these fluctuations; How they affect the country with a changing value of currency in relative terms, a mention of the recent effects that the economies of the countries have gone into having had been affected in terms of it economy and foreign trade sector, the risk exposure associated with the fluctuating exchange rates and how does hedging help in reducing that risk. Even though the main theme would give an impression of a broad topic discussion, however we will remain confined to narrowed discussion limited within our topics only touching the subject in light of its practical application extracted from evidence presented in news articles and periodicals. This stance has been adopted, induced by the goal achieving grasp on the concepts and not on mere conventional definitions to these applicable financial-economic concepts. The paper also sees through and explains the methods of conduction of research in terms of our sources of data and our approach. Graphs and charts relevant to the topic have been provided to further clear the ideas built upon the physical evidence by analysis of these statistical data sets. Eventually reaching to base where we design a cohesive note on the findings of all the efforts put into this research and thus helping us to reach to a conclusion based upon all the facts and evidence provided in the literature review and by the statistical data charts and graphs. Literature Review This section imparts knowledge using empirical evidence that is published in newspaper journals and articles and is related to our topic of interest, to augment the understanding of the financial concepts and phenomena that take place in the economy. Following are some critical reviews of articles pertaining to topic: Exchange rate risk, determinants and its impact on foreign trade. Exchange Rate Fluctuations and its Causes. The issue of the undervalued currency of China (Renminbi).and not just undervalued the word substantial puts the emphasize on the meaning shedding curious gazes as to what might be the reason behind this, has been presented by the corporate author (Business Asia, 2007).However, the year 2007 and the year following that were expected to bring appreciation according to the author. The low valued currency helped in the exports volume increment but at the same time incurred costs in other sectors. The so expected appreciation would bring prosperity to the economy, indicating an economic growth or a path led to success. On the other hand, the appreciated currency would, by all means, even if little, impact the exporting sector negatively making the goods sold to foreign countries less cheaper and making the existence of Chinese goods in the competitive market all the more tougher (Business Asia, 2007). El-Erian, ONeill, Bergsten, Mohamed (2007), further takes the discussion forward with appreciating Chinese currency and at the same time the threat of protectionist trade measures and the falling dollar. He sheds light upon the problem of falling dollar and how it would be a problem being a constraint upon the Federal Reserve Bank to take measure against the economic down turns led by the crisis in the real estate. On the other hand, the Chinese Yuan has been allowed to appreciate modestly in the past two year from the time the article was written keeping an eye for the threat of protectionist measures (Business Asia, 2007). Already the appreciation had caused much apprehension for the Chinese; dollar falling further would be putting too much on their plate. The Depreciation of Dollar would imply further appreciation in Chinese currency which would threat the exports sector much. Nevertheless the depreciation of dollar by and large is a development for the world economy despite some negative consequences it may have on trade. And the circumstances are much more predictive for the weak dollar than the reality assumes, and it sure is likely to remain that way (El-Erian, ONeill, Bergsten, Mohamed, 2007). The important issues discussed by the corporate author diverts our attention towards the sterilization efforts, issuance of liabilities and Sino-US relation that are the main factors affecting the pace of the appreciation expected (Business Asia, 2007). The so long undervalued Chinese currencys expectation to rise was induced by the central banks intention of sterilization for the manipulation of exchange rate, however all depended upon the success of this effort. The central bank can control the exchange rate by buying or selling the currency and hence stimulation and increase or a decrease respectively in the relative supply of the currency in circulation. Furthermore in sterilizing it insulates itself from the foreign exchange operations in order to prevent potentially adverse impacts of capital inflow or outflow. Thus in order to appreciate the Chinese Renminbi against US dollar the central bank of china would buy the domestic currency and create a shortage of supply, therefore i ncreasing its value and it would sell the American dollar for the reverse effect. Hence, the Chinese currency would appreciate. (Business Asia, 2007) El-Erian (El-Erian, ONeill, Bergsten, Mohamed, 2007), taking a step further, reasoned the apprehensive condition of the Chinese, to see the falling dollar after all their efforts to keep the appreciation of their own currency modest. The threat of declining exports leading to broadening of trade balance was imminent. And to top it off the depreciating dollar only sought to be a cause for an augmentation of risk in the painstakingly controlled economy (El-Erian, ONeill, Bergsten, Mohamed, 2007). The article but also points out that despite the negative consequences of the weakening dollar on trade given the predictable circumstances of a likely depreciation, it also implies a development of world economy against US. Because depreciation of dollar would in effect mean appreciation of the currencies that it must be held against which includes all the other countries of the world. Thus from the perspective of other countries an appreciation would be taking place implying a growth affec t in their respective economies and indicating a surge of development in those countries (El-Erian, ONeill, Bergsten, Mohamed, 2007). The Negative and the Positive Impacts Corporate author contributed in the same line of argument, though his inclination was towards the impacts then cause. His argument is in resonance to the arguments of El-Erian critically analyzed above. The author specifically talks about the strong appreciation of most Asian currencies against USD while there being still others, which were weaker than they were before the global financial crisis (Business Asia, 2009). The appreciation of other currencies has put the undervalued currency under pressure to appreciate further. China in this respect has continued to keep its currency undervalued. A rapid appreciation would imply a slower accumulation of foreign reserves. This brings two aspects under concern. First is the rising threat of protectionism from European countries and the US and the other is the giving full control of monetary policy back to Government (Business Asia, 2009). The corporate author of Business Asia (Business Asia, 2009) also forces us to contemplate upon the issue, which is the rapid appreciation of currencies in Asia, especially in China, who has been keeping a modest appreciation rate in light of the threat of protectionism from EU and US. The weaker currency if allowed to appreciate rapidly would instigate protectionism from EU and US on now not so cheap goods owing to the devaluation of USD itself as well as the appreciation Asian currencies. However this would also imply developmental growth in other countries (referring to China) relative to the US (Business Asia, 2007). Furthermore another incentive for letting the currency appreciate for China and other Asian countries would be that letting the exchange rate fluctuate on its own terms, the Government will finally be free to use the monetary instruments to manipulate and reshape their monetary policy which otherwise had been committed to keeping the exchange rate fluctuations in chec k (Business Asia, 2009). From the discussions regarding the exchange rate by different authors so far, it has been an enlightening experience to contemplate upon the issues faced in the real world by the real economies regarding the Foreign exchange rate fluctuations, how they are affected differently by the conditions of the economy in different countries, and the what reactions it induce in the effected economies. The Exchange rate fluctuation is now better understood in terms of two countries respected currency values. We can see a number of different impacting factors changing the rate which include the loosening of monetary policy in to let the Chinese currency appreciate against all currencies and on the other hand the devaluation of dollar appreciated the Chinese currency even further. Resultantly changing the relative development indicators of the countries effected (Business Asia, 2007). Furthermore, the effects on the foreign exchange rate we also saw the application of the effects that the fluctuations of FOREX have on the economies, which is an exposure to the risk of losing trade as mentioned in our literature review (Business Asia, 2009). The rapidly increasing currency value also come forth rapidly rising prices of exports goods which would induce a fall in demand or worse, protectionist policies, in the importing countries for the exported goods of the country experiencing currency appreciation (Business Asia, 2007). Besides the risk of protectionism and other changing exchange rates negative impacts the positive impacts include in the likely situation of appreciation as mentioned above, loosening of control on exchange rates frees the monetary policy to concentrate on the other sectors of the economy. Also the appreciating value of the currency creates major attraction for short-term and high-return investment seekers (Huang, 2010). This can be explained bett er by Ying Huangs argument on the main reason of speculative fund inflow to China. Huang (2010) attempts to decipher the main reason for the inflow of funds into Chinese economy. The massive overseas funds inflow, according to the author, is primarily due to the appreciation in the Chinese Currency which makes it attractive to investors. These funds aim to earn a higher comparative return on short term basis due to high interest rates offered in China as Opposed to that of the United States. And, although, the housing and the stock market appear to be the main attraction of investments since funds may appear to target investment in these markets, however, the attractive appreciating Chinese currency is the major reason of the speculative inflow of funds and not these markets (Huang, 2010). An appreciating value of Chinese currency shows promising future to the investors who seek high returns in a very short period. The reason being that, in spite of the high interest rates offered to the investors the appreciating value of currency increases the return by an even larger total than just with the high returns. The high returns and increasing value by the virtue of increasing Foreign exchange rate is major attraction for investors. The article pointed out the fact that even though the housing and stock market appear to be the investment targets reeling in the major influx of funds from overseas, however the main star of the speculative flow is the attractive currency of Chinese owing to its appreciating nature. The housing and stock market do not cause this major influx, however they do become the target investments eventually directly or indirectly (Huang, 2010). This pretty much elaborates our discussion on foreign exchange rate; however, we still need further evidence upon the risk exposures that have been mentioned as an effect to these fluctuations in terms of their impact on economy or investors and why or why not investors decide to take precautionary measures in taking shelters from this kind of risk exposure Risk Exposure- Avoid it or Avoid Avoiding it? A decent explanation can be induced by analyzing the perspective of Georgina Lee (Lee, 2009). Lee talks about the increased scrutiny that Chinese state owned businesses have to face now. The derivatives market used to hedge the investments against interest, currency and commodity risk are put under surveillance in order to put constraints on this phenomena and discourage these market transactions that would eventually lead to too much hedging that all the risk averse investors would start using these financial instrument to secure their investments. The State-owned Asset Supervision and Administration Commission was spurred into action after several State-owned Enterprises, their subsidiaries and affiliates suffered high losses due to failed foreign exchange, fuel and interest rate hedging contracts (Lee, 2009). Although, according to Georgina Lee, the use of derivate securities as financial instruments to hedge the investments against certain kind of risks may be a very attractive phenomenon of wisely securing your assets against risk, but it brings forth the new kind of risk associated with it, that is the probability of losing profits in case unexpected adverse circumstances would come into play (Lee, 2009). The article discusses the new limitations and regulations put to scrutinize the state-owned businesses and restrain them from using derivative securities. After observing several high profile losses incurred to state-owned enterprises, the SASAC came into action to prevent further losses due to failed foreign exchange, interest and fuel hedging contracts (Lee, 2009). Lees discussion merely elaborates why Chinese Supervision Commission had to keep in check the derivative markets in order to prevent another experience like past of failed securities. However, it is more of a choice in other countries than of a legislative measure, which is made after analyzing the costs incurred in using the financial hedging instruments (Larry Kirschner, 2009). Larry Kirschner elaborates upon the Foreign Exchange Rate risk exposure and how and why different companies manipulate the financial derivatives as instrument to manage their risk. Also they write that a few companies would rather not address the foreign exchange risk exposure at all. According to the authors, it requires a great deal of understanding, assessment and prioritization of the exposures before they can apply these any hedging instrument to gain from such investments (Larry Kirschner, 2009).They observe that where many companies have become complacent with their foreign exchange risk management practices, there exist other companies that would rather condone addressing to such exposures. There are many things to consider and much effort required before utilizing any instrument to manage against such risk exposures (Larry Kirschner, 2009). The implication by the authors enlightens us about the importance of better understanding of the foreign exchange rate fluctuations and risk exposure before they can be manipulated into profit extraction or general hedging against an expected risk of adverse circumstances. The reason for some companies being comfortable with their hedging or risk management practices stands that they understand the further risks attached to it and after having properly assessed, analyzed and derived from the given risks and they have weighed their expectations of gains with current condoning alternative and have reached to a conclusion to generate expectations of comparatively more gains through hedging (Larry Kirschner, 2009). These preliminary requirements are basic necessity and incur some cost as well which discourages other companies from using financial instrument to their own advantage. Thus it can be derived that although risk exposure management may be beneficial for companies to hedge again st exchange rate risk, however, it requires careful analysis of international exposures with due consideration given to internal control by the companies (Larry Kirschner, 2009). The analysis above provides quite an insight on the choices faced by the investors and the reason why they chose to or chose not to use financial derivatives to hedge against the foreign risk. At the end it all depends of your weighted analysis of cost and benefits and risk involved that contribute in the final decision making process (Larry Kirschner, 2009). Despite all these discussions we know from intuition that we as humans would prefer lesser risk. Putting this natural instinct upon financial intuition it should be an understood fact that investors would go for a stable investment of low risk provided he choice is a decision made after thorough analytical efforts. However in light of all the above analysis and our major intuition we should see that due to the depreciating dollar value, many countries investors should have switched to a more stable currency as a reserve currency but we observe that dollar still remains to be the reserve currency all over uncontested with the exc eption of the challenging statement delivered by Governor of Peoples bank of China (Montecillo, 2009). Montecillo (2009) reflects the view of the Governor of Peoples Bank of China, Zhou Xiao Chan, that current global financial system faces vulnerability and systematic risks. He also emphasized that reform must create an international reserve currency with stable value, rule based issuance and manageable supply. The article further illustrates on the point made that they are serving as a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“unit of accountà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? and as a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“medium of exchangeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. Moreover its à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“store of valueà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? is also considered from the perspective of both the government and the private sectors. Following the perspective Governor of peoples Bank of China actually challenged the statement of BSP(the Bangko Sentralng Pilipinas ) that despite declining value of dollar (from 72.7% in end- June2001 to 62.8% as of end- June 2009: the article quotes) dollar will remain the world most widely used currency-Uncontested reserve currency- as no alternative existed as then (Montecillo, 2009). Another type of risk associated with the foreign exchange rate fluctuation has been thoroughly highlighted in this article enlightened by the challenging statement of Governor of Peoples Bank of China. With the declining value of dollar with respect to other currencies, in effect appreciating them against the USD, the risk associated with them puts the investors in reserve currency at exposure (Montecillo, 2009). The stable foreign reserve currency is the requirement for foreign transactions and for investment purposes. However, a fluctuating reserve currency would create imbalance of gains and losses and putting the market players at a high risk of losing money who have invested in a currency with declining value, for example, and need to pay in other currency that would have appreciated against the reserve currency in effect. Thus the declining value of Dollar though may not have challenged its world-wide demand as a reserve currency, but China has contested that perspective in ter m of demanding a relatively stable alternative and seek shelter from the exposure this foreign exchange rate fluctuation risk (Montecillo, 2009). Data Analysis Figure 1: Foreign Direct Investment in China Untitled.png (The World Bank, 2010) The figure shows foreign direct investment in China which is increasing over the period at an increasing rate (The World Bank, 2010). The reason can be explained as an induction due to attraction of high interest rates and constantly increasing value of Chinese currency (Huang, 2010). The appreciating Chinese currency is a major attraction for short term foreign investors seeking high returns on their investments. Thus, the increase in the foreign direct investment can be justified by the increase in the Chinese currency against other currencies and also the deprecation of dollar against Asian currencies (Business Asia, 2009). Figure 2: Growth in Money Supply (percentage change) Untitled2.png (The World Bank, 2010) The increase in the money supply can be seen as an effort to prevent the adverse consequences expected to be brought up by the simultaneous increase in the value of Chinese Currency against US dollar and the Depreciation of US dollar against Asian currencies (Business Asia, 2009). it is only by selling out domestic currency and buying the foreign currency, that the central bank of china would be able to keep the demand for Chinese currency low and hence low value and keep the foreign reserves high to keep the foreign currency to depreciate against their own currency to avoid the risk of protectionism (Business Asia, 2007). The Foreign reserves record can be observed in figure 2. Figure 3: Chinas Foreign Reserves (includes Gold, Current US$) Untitled3.png (The World bank, 2010) The figure above shows the increase in the foreign reserve currency ( US dollars) which further supports our claim of China having had used protective measure to keep the appreciation of its currency modest by buying in foreign reserves and selling our domestic currency (The World Bank, 2010). Clearly these efforts have been put into play after 2004 since the foreign direct investment had a peaking high rate of increment till that year as can be observed in the Figure 1 (The World Bank, 2010). And since the value of currency has been attempted to put under control, the threat of protectionist policies against Chinese exports receded as he prices of exports against started to fall as can be observed in the figure 3 (The World bank, 2010). Figure 4: USD-CNY Untitled.png (Yahoo, 2010) We see the appreciating Chinese currency against USD but till 2005 mid a very stable exchange rate points towards the mentioned efforts on behalf of Chinese government by manipulating the money supply to keep the Foreign exchange rate from appreciating (The World Bank, 2010). However, during the period of constant exchange rate or say merely constant keeping a moderate change allowed, the currency did come under pressure (Business Asia, 2009) for its own increasing value to be taken care of while also managing the impact of depreciation of dollar on the Chinese currency and eventually its exports (Business Asia, 2007). After 2006 the monetary policy seems to have been allowed to let lose the exchange rate to be able to concentrate on the other sectors as well (Business Asia, 2007). Methodology The way to go about the research conducted for this term paper is known as the methodology. The method pursued in gathering the required material and data for the paper comprises mostly follows a general type in terms of the form and efforts put in to acquire it. There are majorly three type data sources used for research reports or gathering relevant data on the topic of interest (Lombard, 2010).But our concern is with the Secondary Research or Data Collection method. This includes data and observational facts as already recorded by previous researchers. The provided datasets have already been analyzed and shaped before by previous writers and authors with copyrights protecting their work. The material from the secondary source is further manipulated and used to assist in making points of information with proper referencing and credits paid to the original workers. As readily available data sets they are a persons prior choice to any other method. Some negative aspects, however, are associated with the Secondary data sets as well. Despite the time saving and cost saving features of Secondary data sets, there is no guarantee of them meeting the exact requirements of the researcher seeking evidence to support his theories or claims. Furthermore the validity and reliability of the researched data sets may be in question and source can project dubious impressions unless the researches are conducted by reliable sources as government agencies (Lombard, 2010) Purpose of Research The purpose of research is to help make the understanding of concepts of foreign exchange rate fluctuations. and its causes and effects and the hedging and investment against these fluctuations easy in light of evidence from Chinese currency revaluation against US Dollars, the investment it induced, and the negative and the positive aspects of the Chinese currency revaluation. Research Approach and Strategy Given the purpose of the research and the types of the research explained it comes down to putting it down to defining our Strategy and deciding which approach to adopt (Lombard, 2010). Bearing in mind the scale and the scope of our topic and the limited resources, the best and most efficient approach for us to have, which we adopted, is to gather data from secondary research source upon the evidence of Chinese economy to explain the different aspects of the foreign exchange rate role in the economy. All our research material refers to a secondary data source, which consists of point of views of different authors publishing their research or findings in articles appearing in periodicals. Our strategy remains to manipulate this secondary source material and mold them to help up support our own claims and concepts without changing the main framework and the meaning of ideas associated with the empirical evidence. This approach not only proved the strategy to be cost effective but also very efficient in term of time saving and with proper citation the sources can tracked back to authenticate their reliability and validity. Data Collection and Analysis Provided with the theoretical concepts from different authors point of views (referring to the Literature review), relevant data including charts/data sets recording foreign exchange rate fluctuations in Chinese currency against US Dollar and its induction of investment and other impacts are provided in the section covering statistical data for better analysis of our concepts in view of empirical evidence. Findings The course of writing this term paper has helped us find and clear quite a few things which need to be summarized in this section. The findings of this research includes the following important concepts Foreign Exchange Rate Fluctuations and Causes Chinas Foreign exchange rate had been increasing moderately owing to their controlled efforts. The efforts of controlling the exchange rate from fluctuating was in line due to risk of protectionist policies against Chinese exports from EU and US countries because of rapidly increasing value of currency relative to other currencies (Business Asia, 2007). Also there was pressure due to depreciating value of dollar against the Asian currencies which made matters worse and the need for control bigger. The foreign exchange rate was stabilized by diverting monetary policy into manipulating the money supply accordingly to set the foreign exchange rate at fixed level (El-Erian, ONeill, Bergsten, Mohamed, 2007). Besides the threat of protectionism there was also a positive impact of being included under the impression of having hit a developmental hike. Foreign Exchange Rate Risk and its Management The exchange rate fluctuations bring about its own pros and cons. In the case of china, the appreciating value of Chinese currency brought about major investment incentives and a major attraction for short term high return seeking investors (Huang, 2010). And with investment opportunities come forth the risk associated with these investments and its management (Lee, 2009) which in turn brings forth more risks of losing money by using investment derivatives without proper calculation of risk involved in the investment related to the exchange rate fluctuation and correctly predicting FOREX forecast. It is very important to first analyze the risks associated before deciding whether or not to hedge against it or if it is even worth hedging against (Lee, 2009). Anomalies Despite what we expect based upon our calculative procedure of forecasting and weighting and comparing alternatives, there is always a chance for an anomaly to exist within all kinds circumstances. With all our observation of increasing Chinese currency value and dollar being instable, we would have expected the world to shift to a more stable and risk free currency as their reserve currency. However, we see that with the exception of challenging statement from the governor of Peoples Bank of China, Dollar remains as the reserve currency of most of the countries uncontested (Montecillo, 2009). Conclusion We conclude our term paper with summarizing the findings during the course of our research and finally stating the end result to what our findings led us to extract as our conclusion. We found that Fluctuating exchange rates have impacts, both positive and negative on, on different sectors of the economy, especially trade and investment. We also found that investment brings along a lot of risks and it requires a very careful and analyzed decision whether to hedge against these risk or not and using which derivative. We learned that despite our careful calculations, not everything works out according to our predictions and there is always some chance of error in calculations or an unpredictable situation taking over. The reason for slow appreciation in Chinese Currency against other currency, especially US Dollar, in the first half of the current decade can be credited to the efforts put in to keep the exchange rate from appreciating, which projected a threat of protectionist policies from trading partners against the Chinese exports that were becoming less cheap (Business Asia, 2007). The, efforts however, involved binding the monetary policy to exchange rate fluctuations and keep it from being used for other sectors. On the other hand, if the Chinese had let the exchange rate fluctuate freely, it would free th

Colonialism and Dependence Essay -- essays research papers

Colonialism and Dependence In "Imperialism, the Highest State of Capitalism", Lenin warned, in refuting Kautsky, that the domination of finance capital not only does not lessen the inequalities and contradictions present in the world economy, but on the contrary accentuates them. Time has passed and proven him right. The inequalities have become sharper. Historical research has shown that the distance that separated the standard of living in the wealthy countries from that of the poor countries toward the middle of the nineteenth century was much smaller than the distance that separates them today. The gap has widened. In 1850 the per capita income in the industrialized countries was 50 per cent higher than in the underdeveloped countries. To have an idea of the progress that has been achieved in the DEVELOPMENT OF INEQUALITY, we have only to listen to President Richard Nixon: "...and I think about what this hemisphere, the new world, will be like at the end of this century. And I consider that if the present growth rates of the United States and the rest of the hemisphere have not changed, at the end of this century the per capita income in the United States will be 15 times higher than the income per person of our friends, our neighbors, the members of our family in the rest of the Hemisphere."(1) The oppressed nations will have to grow much more rapidly just to MAINTAIN their relative backwardness. Their present low rates of development feed the dynamic of inequality: the oppressor nations are becoming increasingly rich in absolute terms, but they are richer still in relative terms. The overall strength of the imperialist system rests on the necessary inequality of its component parts, and that inequality is achieving ever greater proportions. Capitalism is still capitalism, and unequal development and widespread poverty are still its visible fruits. "Centralized" capitalism can afford the luxury of creating and believing its own myths of opulence, but myths cannot be eaten, and the poor nations that constitute the vast capitalist "periphery" are well aware of this fact. Imperialism has "modernized" itself in its methods and characteristics, but it has not magically turned into a universal philanthropic organisation. The system's greed grows with the system itself. Nowadays imperialism does not req... ... the consumer market, which is increasingly attracted by U.S. advertising, to channel national savings and the economic surplus produced by our countries, to use advertising and the various other ways of creating public opinion, and, also, to exert that political pressure required by imperialism's digestive needs. The new type of imperialism does not make its colonies more prosperous, even though it enriches its "enclaves"; it does not alleviate social tensions, but on the contrary sharpens them; it extends poverty and concentrates wealth; it takes over the internal market and the key parts of the productive apparatus; it appropriates progress for itself, determines its direction, and fixes its limits; it absorbs credit and directs foreign trade as it pleases; it does not provide capital for development, but instead removes it; it encourages waste by sending the greatest part of the economic surplus abroad; it denationalizes our industry and also the profits that our industry produces. Today in Latin America the system has our veins as open as it did in those distant times when our blood first served the needs of primary accumulation for European capitalist development.

Kpop

I believe everyone here has known Hollywood right? And also Plywood? As we know, Hollywood has become the house of best actor, best movie, best music and many more. Also Plywood for its unique dance, song and their clothes such as Sari. Now†¦ How about K-pop? Have you ever heard anything about K-pop? Have you ever seen any k-pop fan girls shouting like crazy to their idols? Will you think they have wasted a lot of time thinking about their idols 2417 rather than studying?If you think in this way, I think you've misunderstand those children who chase after Korean idols. I am a huge fan of KOP. I started becoming a KOP fan girl from 2009 until now. Before I am so into KOP I used to be a person who give up easily, don't have any dreams and doesn't really like to talk to people. The past 5 years of my fan girl life had its ups and downs, Joy and tears, excitement and fulfillment. One thing for sure, I do not regret every single moment of it. Some would say I kind of wasted my 5 year s of my life for KOP.One who does not experience it would surely never understand. The Journey helped me learn more, gain more, and enhance my skills more. The most important thing that ever happens to me was I improved my communication skills a lot by making friend with different fans. If I have never entered to the world of k-pop, I will not be able to step closer to one of my dreams. As u can tell, If not for KOP I would not have experienced this Journey. It Is not really how KOP changed me but how KOP helped me acquire and learn all those things that I know will be helpful in the future.

Insectivores - Insectivora - The Animal Encyclopedia

Insectivores - Insectivora - The Animal Encyclopedia Insectivores (Insectivora) are a group of mammals that include hedgehogs, moonrats, shrews, and moles. Insectivores are generally small mammals with nocturnal habits. There are about 365 species of insectivores alive today. Most insectivores have small eyes and ears and a long snout. Some do not have visible ear flaps but have a keen sense of hearing. They have clawed toes on each foot, and the pattern and number of their teeth are rather primitive. Some insectivores such as otter-shrews and moonrats have a long body. Moles have a more cylindrical body, and hedgehogs have a round body. Some insectivores such as tree moles and shrews are adept tree climbers. Insectivores rely more on their sense of smell, hearing, and touch than their vision and some species of shrews can navigate their environment using echolocation. The bones in the inner ear of insectivores are different than other mammals. They lack an ossified temporal bone, and the tympanic membrane is attached to a bony tympanic ring while their middle ear is closed off by surrounding bones. Insectivores live in terrestrial habitats around the world. Additionally, some species of insectivores inhabit aquatic environments while others burrow. Moles spend most of their time below ground in their tunnels they excavate. Shrews generally live above ground and build burrows for shelter and sleeping. Some species live in boggy areas where rotting vegetation, rocks, and rotting logs are common. Other species inhabit arid regions including deserts. Moles and shrews are usually active throughout the year. Hedgehogs are easily recognized by their rotund shape and spines. Their spines consist of tough keratin and serve as a defense mechanism. When threatened, hedgehogs roll into a tight ball so their spines are exposed and their face and belly are protected. Hedgehogs are mostly nocturnal. As their name implies, insectivores feed on insects and other small invertebrates such as spiders and worms. The diet of insectivores is not restricted to invertebrates and also includes a wide variety of plants and animals. Water shrews feed on small fish, amphibians, and crustaceans while hedgehogs feed on birds eggs and small vertebrates. Many species of insectivores locate their prey using their keen sense of smell or by using their sense of touch. The star-nosed mole, for example, not only has a sharp sense of smell, but it also has a nose with many small and touch-sensitive tentacles that enable it to find and capture their prey. Classification Animals Chordates Mammals Insectivores There are four living subgroups of insectivores. These include the hedgehogs, moonrats, and gymnures (Erinaceidae); the shrews (Soricidae); the moles, tree moles and desmans (Talpidae); and the solenodons (Solenodontidae). Insectivores are thought to be most closely related to bats, hoofed mammals, and carnivores. The classification of insectivores is not well understood. Insectivores have a primitive mammalian body plan and are in many ways generic in their appearance. For this reason, insectivores have been classified in several other mammal groups in the past such as the tree shrews or elephant shrews. Additionally, some adaptations insectivores exhibit are convergent with the adaptations of other groups- a fact that further confuses the proper placement of insectivores within the mammals. Previous classification schemes once placed tree shrews and elephant shrews in the insectivores, but today they are classified in their own separate orders. It is possible that other animal groups such as golden moles may be removed from the insectivores as new information comes to light. Evolution Insectivores are considered to be among the most primitive groups of mammals. Some primitive traits insectivores still exhibit include a small brain and testes that do not descend into a scrotum.