Thursday, November 28, 2019

Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow Essay Example

Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow Paper The humanistic approach was developed mainly by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow in the United States during the 1950s. According to Cartwright (1979), humanistic psychology is concerned with topics that are meaningful to human beings, focusing especially upon subjective experience and the unique, unpredictable events in individual human lives. Humanistic psychologists tend to focus on personal responsibility and freewill and lay a great deal of stress upon personal experience. There is a great deal of reliance on phenomenology, which involves reporting on pure experience with no attempts to interpret it. The humanistic approach is fundamentally positive as it regards humans essentially trustworthy, with the potential for personal growth and fulfilment, providing they are within the appropriate circumstances. In early life if children receive unconditional positive regard then they should develop satisfactory, (Rogers, 1959). However, if they experience conditions of worth conditional positive regard, they will only feel worthy if they match those conditions. They are then prevented from realising their potential and becoming self-actualised. A person who is moving toward actualising their potential is called a fully functioning person. The Social environment and the actions of others can determine whether a person can develop into a fully functioning person. The humanistic approach regards intention and ethical values as important psychological forces which determine behaviour in addition to social forces and unconscious motivations. The focus is not on the past, but how the person perceives the world as here and now. Maslows hierarchy of needs is often used to summarize the belief of humanistic psychology. It assumes that we are all born with certain needs that need to be met. Without meeting these needs we are unable to continue with a healthy life and move upwards on the hierarchy. The needs are unconscious rather than known; each level is instigated as people are unsatisfied at each level. Needs at lower levels are fulfilled before later levels. People can be fixed at one level. We will write a custom essay sample on Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Physiological needs such as food and water are at the bottom on the hierarchy, followed by security and safety needs. Next on the hierarchy are needs for love and belongingness, and then followed by esteem needs. The final need on the hierarchy is the need for self-actualisation. According to Maslow, individuals have a need for self-actualisation. Self-actualisation is the highest level of need on Maslows hierarchy and is achieved once all our basic needs have been met and fulfilled and the actualisation of the full personal potential takes place. The theory emphasizes on motivation as the key factor to understand human behaviour we are all motivated to achieve self-actualisation, and to move up along the hierarchy of needs. Maslow (1954) identified Abraham Lincoln and Albert Einstein as self-actualised individuals. Humanists disagree with Freud that the majority of who we are is buried in the unconscious, deep beyond our awareness. Maslow believed that we are aware of our needs and drives and without the obstacles of life we would all become psychologically healthy individuals with a deep understanding of ourselves and the world around us. A key assumption with the humanistic approach is that unlike the determinist view of psychoanalytic theories, we very much have freewill and have the awareness and potential to change and develop. Carl Rogers developed a fundamental assumption of humanistic psychology with the idea of self-concept. He talked about healthy development in terms of how an individual perceives their own being. A healthy individual will tend to see congruence between their sense of who they are (self) and who they feel they should be (ideal). While no one tends to experience perfect congruence at all times throughout their lives, the relative degree of congruence between the self and the ideal is seen as an indicator of health. The case I have chosen to try to understand from a humanistic approach is about Daniel the 35 year old salesman who has been experiencing acute pains in his chest. His GP has found no obvious physical symptoms of ill health; although Daniel is reluctant to acknowledge that his chest pain is linked to stress. There are a number of issues that can be explored here using the humanistic approach to develop an understanding as to why Daniel is behaving in this way. Daniel has recently been through a divorce and has been living on his own since. An obvious assumption which can be made from the humanistic approach would be to suggest that since his divorce, Daniels love and belongingness needs may not be met sufficiently. Maslow would suggest that Daniel may be feeling much more aware of his loneliness since the absence of his partner. These feelings of loneliness usually occur once our basic needs have been met and our needs for love and belongingness become much more important motivations of our behaviour. Without his partner, he may also be lacking the support and security he was use to, adding to the stress he now faces at work. A second key factor to understanding Daniels behaviour is linked to his work. He describes himself as being very stressed at work, even more so since he has been reallocated from a major project he was leading to take charge of a basic but demanding sales task.

Monday, November 25, 2019

Cavour essays

Cavour essays Of the three main figures of the Italian Risorgimento, Cavour best understood how to use nationalism to achieve his goal. Mazzini failed to gain support of the majority of the people, while Garibaldi merely provided military assistance. What neither man understood was the importance of Foreign aid. Mazzini even went as far as to oppose assistance from outside, thinking that if Italy were to gain independence on its own, the bonds within the country would be stronger. He failed to think of the consequences should they not succeed. Cavour however knew how to gain support of the people and recognized the importance of foreign aid. As stated by Geoffrey Bruun, To... work out a formula whereby the Italian people and their rulers could be united called for patience, insight, moderation, compromise and political realism. One man who combined these qualities in the requisite proportions was Camillo di Cavour. (Bruun 63) Cavour showed Nationalistic traits for most of his life. At the age of ten, he was enrolled in military school, but by age 18, his nationalism was already emerging and with it came complications which eventually led to imprisonment and later, his resignation. During his military career, he was transferred to Genoa where he met people with the same political views as himself. Many of them belonged to a rebel uprising group, the Carbonari. After the French Revolutions of 1830, Sardinian officials felt that Cavour showed too much interest in there outcomes and, thinking that he might want the same sort of situation in Piedmont, imprisoned him. Upon his release 8 months later, he promptly resigned. For the next sixteen years, he spent his time developing his fathers estate, but never forgetting his liberal and nationalistic ideas. He frequented the English House of Commons, and read many books concerning the British system of government which, eventually, became the foundation for the Italian system. In 1833, ...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

Gas prices Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Gas prices - Essay Example A vast majority of machines in different industries are powered by gas. Apart from the industrial utility of gas, it is an extremely important element of the modern age life style. In the contemporary age, there is massive consumption of gas even on the domestic level. We use gas heaters, gas ovens, gas stoves, and gas lamps. In addition to the in-house consumption of gas, a vast majority of vehicles on the roads use gas as a secondary fuelling source that works as efficiently as petrol does. The voluminous increase in the use of natural gas does not accord with its declining natural reserves. There is an inverse relationship between the two. Gas prices have risen almost all over the world in the past few years. Much of the rapid increase in the gas prices that has occurred in the recent years can be attributed to the inverse relationship between gas production and consumption rate. Current rate of gas consumption is alarming, and gas prices are likely to increase further if the curr ent consumption rates sustain over next few years. Solution: Solution of this problem lies in wise utilization of the remaining gas. It is not advisable to completely stop the use of gas stoves or gas ovens because no alternative has yet been realized that would give better or even the same results as gas stoves or ovens do.

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Consumer behaviour of Latvian outbound tourists Essay

Consumer behaviour of Latvian outbound tourists - Essay Example 34 The relation between the number of trips organized by the agency on an online platform 36 The study of the reasons of using a traditional travel agency 37 APPENDIX 44 Data Requirements Table for Travelers Questionnaires 44 Data Requirements Table for Managers Questionnaires 45 The relationship between the Objectives and the Research Questions 45 Introduction The tourism sector is one of the dynamic aspects of the economy of a given country. The rapid growth of the tourism industry however, is associated with the development of the Internet and its availability. This leads to low budget of airlines tickets to potential clients, irrespective of their geographical location around the globe (Mayr & Zins, 2009). In response to the development, the tourism industry has created various major reservation systems that are available for the clients in their accommodation and plans in regards to their trips (Kracht & Wang, 2012). Through online databases, clients are able to book their ticke ts, hotel rooms, tour cars and other facilities offered within the tourism industry (Grandos, Kauffman, & King, 2008). This however, has a direct impact towards the efficiency of tourism activities, since tourism is dependent on various factors of the consumer’s behavior (Kaze, Skapars, & Sceulovs, 2011). Creation of new information resources, significantly affect the usual form of the old organizational system deployed in the back days (Mayr & Zins, 2009). Not only internal factors that influence the decision-making process, but also the accessibility of existing distribution channels and other external factors.(Cox, Burgess, Sellitto, & Buultjens, 2009). In the tourism sector, customer satisfaction is an important facet, and when there is absence of even a single online distribution database, an impeccable disadvantage within the country prevails. This however, adversely affects the tourism industry at large. In addition, providing affordable services in booking accommodati on and transport affairs (online agencies) would attract high numbers of tourists as far as efficiency facet is concerned (Kracht & Wang, 2012). Competition has led many companies within tourism sectors venture their business in line to online system management. Moreover, there are more than 15 tourism companies in Latvian that have been offering services to outbound and inbound tourist (Vasilyeva, 2013). However, these companies decided to avail online systems that could see them reduce the running costs hence; providing efficiency as far as the issue of time in considered. These companies have developed their own websites with up-to-date reliable information, which plays a vital role in retaining their customers as well as meeting their needs in time (Kanchanawong, Charungkon, & Poonoi, 2012). Rationale for the study The main aim to this study is to establish the Consumer Behavior of Latvian outbound tourists towards the online and offline travel booking method, which has triggere d the influence of efficiency in terms of time management. In the old system of

Monday, November 18, 2019

Economics (South Korea) + Admin & Laws in India, China & South Korea Essay

Economics (South Korea) + Admin & Laws in India, China & South Korea - Essay Example This volatile growth rate is mainly due the economic recession of 2008 which affected the economy of the country significantly. The inflation rate for the country has remained pretty much stable as compared to the GDP rate. Inflation rate was 3 percent in 2010 and increased to 4 percent in 2011. The inflation rate, however, went down to 2.2 percent in 2012 (Euromonitor, 2013). This decrease in inflation rate is due to the slowing exports of the country which is also affecting the overall growth of the economy (Kim, 2012). The unemployment rate of South Korea has been close to 3 percent in the few years. Unemployment in 2011 was 3.3 percent which lowered to 3.2 percent in 2012. In 2013 unemployment rate has been reported as 3 percent (Prasad, 2013). The government has recently announced an increase in minimum wage for all employees in the country. The minimum wage in South Korea now equals to about $958 monthly for 8 hours daily (GMA News, 2013). The amount in the local currency amounts to 1,015,740 won (GMA News, 2013). South Korea has a very strong export base and, therefore, the country usually almost always enjoys a trade surplus. An exception to this was in 2012 when the country reported a trade deficit. In 2013 the country announced trade surplus of just over $2 billion which shows the strength of country’s exports (Trading Economics Website, 2013). The poverty rate of South Korea is about 7 percent (Ji-Sook, 2012). A family of four people having a family income of less than $1217 a month is considered poor by the government (2012). The poverty rate for elderly people is higher in the country compared to the overall poverty rate of South Korea. Public debt of South Korea is lower compared to other developed countries. The public debt of the country is around 34. 7% of the country’s GDP (Ernst & Young, 2012). This was even lower before the economic recession of 2008. Low public debt is a good sign for the country. The interest rate of

Friday, November 15, 2019

Analyzing Various Types Of Debt Instruments Existing Finance Essay

Analyzing Various Types Of Debt Instruments Existing Finance Essay INTRODUCTION First chapter describes the basis behind doing this study. Then, it examines the objectives of this study and some limitations of the study. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The purpose of this study is to analyze various types of Debt instruments existing. It aims to develop an understanding of the growth of the topic. It also includes the impact of these instruments on the country and on various companies. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The main objectives of this paper are To conduct a study on the requirement of debt instruments To understand why debts instruments are important To analyze these instruments LIMITATIONS OF STUDY Due to lack of information available the graphs and the statistics shown are of previous years (2007-2008) As the data was gathered from secondary sources, the authority of the data could not be tested. Another problem was knowledge constraint and this report is an attempt to gather as much of relevant data as possible. However, every effort was made to ensure that these do not in any way adversely affect the results of the study. INTRODUCTION The debt markets today are a major source of financing than the banking system. It is any market situation where debt instruments are traded. It establishes a planned environment where the debts are traded amongst the interested parties. The debt markets are known by other names based on the types of instruments are traded. For example when municipal or corporate bond are traded, debt market is called bond market whereas if notes or securities or mortgages are traded market is called credit market. The debt market is three times larger than stock/equity market. The debt markets are categorized into two other markets called money market and capital market. Money market is a subsection of the fixed income market. It specializes in short-term debts with the maturity of one-year. Capital markets specialize in long-term debts. It is a market in which financial instruments are traded by the institutions and individuals. Institutions or organizations in either private or public sectors sell securities to raise funds in these markets. Both these terms are mistakenly applied. In capital market assets (including equities) are taken into consideration and they are amortized over the period of time. Money market is more of debts which are readily sold at price predictable within short time. But it is very difficult to distinguish between money and non-money based on one year maturity line. Some of the debt instruments are traded Over-the-counter and not through exchanges. They are traded in an electronic network market where the brokers or dealers act as mediators. Money markets are not accessible by small investors except through MFs. Corporate associates or groups or even individual investors may participate in the debt market. There may be very little difference between how corporate associates or an individual participate depending on the regulations of the government. The interest rates are the price of the money which increases with the increase in the demand to borrow money. The debt market is influenced by credit-worthiness of the borrower, term-to-maturity, security for loan and many other factors. But government also tries to regulate the interest rates to stimulate the economies with complete focus on inflation. The main advantage of debt market is the degree of risk associated with the investment opportunity is very low. For the investors who avoid participating in the riskier ventures in which there is less or smaller returns favors bonds and similar investments. A significant amount of money is earned even of returns are not high in the debt market. WHAT ARE DEBT INSTRUMENTS? For every individual financial planning is an important task. For the preservation of principal amount the investors should distribute a major portion of their investments in debt instruments. A debt instrument is an electronic obligation or any paper that permits an issuing party to raise funds by assuring it to pay back a lender in accordance with the terms and conditions of a contract. The predetermined conditions which are mentioned in the contract are the periodicity and rate of interest and the date of the repayments of the principal amount. Debt instruments  are an easier way for  participants and markets transfer the rights of  debt obligations from one party to another. Debt obligation  transferability increases liquidity and gives creditors a means of trading debt obligations  on  the market. Without debt instruments acting as a means to facilitate trading, debt is an obligation from one party to another. When a debt instrument is used as a medium to facilitate debt trading, debt obligations  can be moved from one party to another quickly and efficiently. In Indian Securities market, the term bond is used for debt instrument given by Central and state government and the term debenture is used for the instruments issued by private sectors. OBJECTIVE OF DEBT INSTRUMENT Preservation of principal amount and getting modest returns is the main objective of the debt funds. Investors look for both short-term and long-term investments. There are many instruments available in the market so one can choose easily any or mix of instruments according to its requirements. FEATURES OF DEBT INSTRUMENTS The features of the instruments are: Safety of the principal amount Guaranteed returns for the investors. Some of these instruments also qualify for tax rebates under Section 80C. Currently 8-9% interest per annum are quoted for medium to long-term deposits whereas it is 6-7% returns for short-term deposits Nowadays, many banks provide funds sweep-in /sweep-out facility where a balance beyond a certain limit automatically gets converted into a fixed deposit and banks pay the fixed deposit interest on it. This can be an option for a short-term horizon. There are three main features of debt instruments Maturity Coupon Principal Maturity Maturity refers to the date on which the bond matures. It is the date on which the borrower agrees to repay the principal amount. Term-to-maturity refers to the number of years remaining for the bond to mature. It changes every day from the date of the issue to the maturity of the bond. It is also called the tenure or term of the bond. Coupon Coupon Rate refers to the periodic payment of interest made by the issuer of the bond to the lender of the bond. Coupons are declared either by stating the number (example: 8%) or with a benchmark rate (example: MIBOR+0.5%). It is usually represented as a percentage of the face value or the par value of the bond. Principal It is the amount which is borrowed. It is the face or the par value of the bond. The product of the coupon rate and principal is the coupon. For example a GS CG2008 11.40% bond refers to a Central Government bond maturing in the year 2008, and paying a coupon of 11.40%. Since Central Government bonds have a face value of Rs.100, and normally pay coupon semi-annually, this bond will pay Rs. 5.70 as six- monthly coupon, until maturity, when the bond will be redeemed. The term to maturity of a bond can be calculated on any date, as the distance between such a date and the date of maturity. It is also called the term or the tenor of the bond. For instance, on February 17, 2004, the term to maturity of the bond maturing on May 23, 2008 will be 4.27 years. The general day count convention in bond market is 30/360European which assumes total 360 days in a year and 30 days in a month. There is no rigid classification of bonds on the basis of their term to maturity. Generally bonds with tenors of 1-5 years are called short-term bonds; bonds with tenors ranging from 4 to 10 years are medium term bonds and above 10 years are long term bonds. In India, the Central Government has issued up to 30 year bonds. CHARACTERISTICS OF DEBT INSTRUMENTS The primary characteristics of debt instruments are: Issuance of an instrument is easy Any company with or without past track record can issue these instruments Rate of interest are fixed or floating Fixed commitments are imposed on servicing Debt instruments may be flexible in the period of repayment or nature of interest but they impose fixed commitments on servicing or business. Failure to do servicing of these instruments would be termed as default with adverse effects on the companys standing in the financial sector. Risk is low Investors in such instruments being creditors of the company have priority over equity and preference shareholders in receiving return (in the form of interest) in such instruments. These carries priority claim on the assets of the firm (if secured) in the event of bankruptcy. TYPES OF DEBT INSTRUMENTS There are various debt instruments. The debt instruments can be categorized into long-term and short-term debt depending on the time for which the amount has been raised or the repayment period. The debt instruments are mentioned as follows: C:UsersdellDesktopdebtinst.bmp Long term Debt Long-term debts are mainly bonds and debentures with the tenure greater than one year. Debentures A debenture is an instrument of debt executed by the company acknowledging its obligation to repay the sum at a specified rate and also carrying an interest. Company can raise loan capital from debentures A debenture is thus like a certificate of loan or a loan bond evidencing the fact that the company is liable to pay a specified amount with interest and although the money raised by the debentures becomes a part of the companys capital structure, it does not become share capital. The main characteristics of debentures are: Fixed interest instrument with changeable period of maturity May or may not be listed on stock exchange, if listed they should be rated by any of the credit rating agencies chosen by SEBI Can be either offered for subscription or privately placed A debenture redemption reserve has to be maintained when offered for subscription The period of maturity varies from 3 to 10 years and may also be more for projects having high gestation period Types of debentures Various types of debentures are as follows: Non convertible debentures (NCD) Fully convertible debentures (FCD) Partially convertible debentures (PCD) NCDs are those in which total amount if instrument in redeemed by the lender whereas FCDs are those in which the whole value of the instrument is converted into equity. The conversion price is given when the instrument is borrowed. PCDs are those in which part of the instrument is redeemed and part of it is converted into equity. Conversion price is the price of each equity share received by converting the par or face value of the debenture. The number of equity shares exchangeable per unit of the convertible security i.e. debentures is called the conversion ratio. The period of time after which the debenture is converted into equity is called the conversion period. The convertible instruments are generally used to stem the sudden outflow of the capital at the time of maturity of the instrument causing temporary liquidity problems. Alternately, the company has to raise funds from a different source or issue fresh instruments to tide over and also has to bear the transaction costs in the process. Debentures might be either callable or puttable. Callable debenture is a debenture in which the issuing company has the option of redeeming the security before the specified redemption date at a pre-determined price. Similarly, a puttable security is a security where the holder of the instrument has the option of getting it redeemed before maturity. Bonds A bond is a debt security in which authorized borrower or issuer owes the lender or the holder a debt and is obliged to repay the principal amount and interest at maturity. It is a loan in the form of securities having varying terminologies: The issuer is equivalent to the borrower, the bond holder to the lender, and the coupon to the interest. It enables the issuer to finance long-term investments with external funds. Bonds and stocks are both securities, but the major difference between the two is that stock-holders are the owners of the company (i.e., they have an equity stake), whereas bond-holders are lenders to the issuing company. Another difference is that bonds usually have a defined term, or maturity, after which the bond is redeemed, whereas stocks may be outstanding indefinitely. An exception is a consol bond, is a perpetuity bond (i.e., bond with no maturity). There may be many types of bonds- such as infrastructure, regular income, deep discounts or tax savings. These are instruments having fixed interest rate and a definite period of maturity. The main difference between bonds and debentures is that debenture is secured and bond is not. Hence bonds have higher rate of interest than debentures. There are many kinds of bonds available such as: Floating rate or fixed rate bonds High yield bonds Subordinated bonds Perpetual bonds Asset-backed securities Bearer bond Zero Coupon bonds Registered bond Inflation linked bonds Book entry bonds Municipal bonds War bond Lottery bond Medium term loan These are loans extended for a period of 2 to 5 years. The purposes for which these loans are issued are: Short gestation projects: The short gestation projects could be for purchase of balancing equipment, for incremental expansion of capacity. Refinancing of loans in case of very long projects where the repayment of the term loans might occur prior to sufficient cash flows being generated by the project. For meeting any other medium term shortfall in funding arising out of an acquisition or bulleted repayment of a large loan, etc The methods for issuing medium term loans are similar to those required for project finance. In case of meeting a medium term mismatches not linked to a project or equipment, the financing decision would be on the basis of a cash flow analysis indicating the need for such medium term funding and an analysis of overall profitability and financial to the business to provide lender comfort. Other than these aspects, the procedures for availing Medium Term loans follows the requirements sought by the lenders in case of Project financing/ long term lending. Public Deposits These are those deposits that are achieved by many small and large firms from the public. The public deposits are issued mainly to finance the working capital requirements of the firm. The rate of interest offered varies with time period of the public deposits. The rate of interest which is mostly offered by the companies on the deposits made on one year is 8-9%, for two year deposits rate is 9-10% and for three years rate offered is 10-11%. For public deposits there are some rules which the companies have to follow according to Companies Amendment Rules 1978: 3 years is the maximum period of maturity for public deposits whereas 6 months is minimum period For NBFC 5 years is the maximum period of maturity The companies need to disclose the information regarding the financial position and performance 10% of the deposits need to be kept aside by the companies every year by 30th April by the companies having public deposits. This will mature by 31st March next year. Advantages enjoyed by companies Simple and Easy process in gaining public deposit No restrictive agreement Reasonable cost incurred after tax No collateral Disadvantages Very limited funds raised Short period of maturity Advantages enjoyed by investors Higher rate of interest Shorter maturity period Disadvantages No tax exemption No collateral Short-term debts The debts which are raised for less than one year are short-term debts. These are categorized into market instruments and financial assistance granted by NBFC, Commercial Banks and Term Lending Institutions focusing on the short term needs of a business. Commercial Paper These are unsecured promissory notes. These are issued by those companies having high credit ratings. The maturity of CPs is 1 to 270 days. They are issued at face value and redeemed at face value. CPs can be issued by companies, which have a minimum networth of Rs.4 crores and needs a mandatory credit rating of minimum A2 (ICRA), P2 (Crisil), D2 (Duff Phelps) and PR2 (Credit Analysis Research). The rating should not be more than 2 months old. It can be issued for a minimum amount of Rs.25 lakhs and more in multiples of Rs.5 lakh. Since the companies are not pledging any collateral, only companies having high credit-worthiness are allowed to issue CPs. They are usually sold at discounts and have higher interest repayments dates than bonds. Advantages: Flexibility in maturity Lower cost of capital with high credit ratings Disadvantages: It brings down credit limits of the banks Very restrictive about issuance of CPs Limited to blue chip companies Inter-Corporate Deposits (ICDs) These are funds raised by corporate companies from other corporate. This is a form of dis-intermediated financing, where corporate with surplus funding directly lend to those in need of funding of such funds and thereby save on the spreads that banks would have charged in borrowing from one to lend to the other. This is very efficient means of investment. The ICDs issuance was very poor in India. In early nineties companies raised funds from public without even identifying the projects for investments. These sums were then deployed in the ICDs market where the borrowers more often than not invested in the booming financial assets (shares) or real estate. Often monies were lent to group companies for propping up the shares of different companies of the group. The end of the boom in financial and real assets saw significant amounts of defaults in ICDs and a virtual closure of the market.

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Dairy Products :: Nutrition, Proteins, Vitamins, Minerals

Milk is an excellent dietary source of high-quality protein vitamins and minerals. Dairy products like cheese also are an important part of a well balanced diet Cheese is contain of the same basic materials found in milk, but in the form concentration. Include casein, fat, some vitamins , soluble and insoluble salts. Soy bean protein is a popular food ingredient used throughout the world for its nutritional and functional properties, especially after the FDA in the United States allowed a soy health claim in 1999(Fukushima, 2001). This claim has sparked the development of new soy foods (Zhong, Wang, Xu, & Shoemaker, 2007).The traditional product coagulation of soy proteins has also been considered a way of producing soy protein gels, The milky white floid obtained from soybean by soaking ,grinding and filtering is called soymilk.(A.A. Gatade, and, & Sahoo, 2009)Soymilk contains some major and minor components like protein ,fat, carbohydrate ,calcium ,iron, sodium, carotene, vitam in-E, and riboflavin(A.A. Gatade, et al., 2009). The soymilk is used in many products like yogurt, cheese, etc.(Wang, Xiong, & Wang, 2001). Uses of animal rennet became limited for religious reasons .Most of Muslim people consider that cheese is produced by an enzyme which comes from an animal and slaughtered on the non Islamic way no halaal. And also soybean cheese for vegetarian people who did not eat animal product .. Calf rennet which prepared and obtained from the fourth stomach of calves sucking (Nagodawithana & Reed, 1993) one of the important enzymes is traditionally used for cheese making all over the world . Since 1960s. the production of cheese increase considerably and number of cattle decrease this caused lessen in rennin. Owing to the rapid growth and the relative inexpensive growth substrate the microbial rennet like milk-clotting enzyme (MCE) proteinase is very important in dairy technology has become a popular rennet substitute.(Pei, Yu, & Chou, 2005).Proteinase is capable of cleaving protein into peptides and amino acids, they are characterized by their optimal pH (acid, neutral or alkaline), their temperature, their ability to hydrolyze specific proteins (Law,1999). Milk coagulation is the basic step in cheese manufacturing. Milk clotting enzymes are the primary active agents in cheese making, which involves the enzyme-mediated cleavage of kappa-casein which covering the protein micelles at the peptide bond Phe 105-Met 106 that renders the casein micelles unstable and eventually causes aggregation that yields a clot or a gel.

Monday, November 11, 2019

National Bureau of Economic Research Essay

Go to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) Web site, http://www. nber. org, and select New Working Papers. In the Google search space, type â€Å"alcohol. † Use the titles and summaries of the papers to answer the following questions relating to elasticity: (a) Do the mentally ill have perfectly inelastic demands for cigarettes and alcohol? Elasticity helps us define the relationship of changes in price and incomes to the effect of supply and demand. The question posed is: do the mentally ill have perfectly inelastic demands for cigarettes and alcohol? First, we must define what perfectly inelastic demand is. As defined by our textbook, a perfectly inelastic demand is one in which price change results in no change whatsoever in the quantity demanded. This is further defined as an extreme case. After reading a paper written by Henry Saffer and Dhaval Dave in 2002, the conclusions were rather convincing. When mental illness is not factored into price elasticity for cigarettes and alcohol, it is determined that raising the price of these addictive goods will lower the demand for them. The paper shows that mental illness raises the consumption of these addictive goods by 94% and 25% respectfully. Further, the test for elasticity was performed with this specific group in mind. It was determined that mental illness had no substantive effect on the price elasticity of cigarettes and alcohol. With this in mind it is easy to draw the conclusion that the mentally ill do not have perfectly inelastic demands for cigarettes and alcohol. Reference Working paper 8699 Mental Illness and the demand for alcohol, cocaine and cigarettes by Henry Saffer and Dhaval Dave. b) Does alcohol consumption increase in bad times? Before reading this article and looking at the question presented in front â€Å" does alcohol use increase in bad times? ’’ you would quickly determine that logically the answer is yes. With simple knowledge of alcohol intake one would be provoked to think alcohol in bad times can be used as self-medication to the lack of income. We have all seen that famous scene where a stressed individual will order numerous shots of hard liquor to ease their sorrow, but nevertheless with all that simple knowledge the answer to the question is actually no. By the research done in this paper by Christopher. J Ruhm he brings to light that alcohol intake doesn’t have a positive increase in bad times instead it has a decline in consumption. He uncovers that heavy drinkers decrease quite a lot with the loss of income, and that even recreational and binge drinking declines as well though at a smaller pace. As a whole, alcohol consumption doesn’t increase during bad times overall. Reference Working paper 8511 Does Drinking Really Decrease in Bad Times?  By Christoher Ruhm and William Black (c) What is the effect of cigarette taxes (and smuggling) on the consumption of alcohol? What does that imply about the cross elasticity of demand between the two? Tax implications and its effect on alcohol consumption were studied in detail in working paper 8962. This study was done in Canada. What the writer found was that higher tax rates for cigarettes wouldn’t stimulate alcohol consumption as a replacement habit. When smuggling was factored into the equation, it was found that in Canadian smuggling could have increased both cigarette and alcohol consumption. After analyzing the data with two different data sets and trying to determine cross elasticity, the first analysis determined that cigarettes and alcohol were complimentary, as cigarette consumption decreased, so did alcohol consumption, when smuggling is not factored. However, when a different data set is used, the FAMEX data, then the two were found to be independent. This forced the writer to concede that no conclusion could be drawn on the subject at the time, but that the writer could conclude that alcohol is not a substitute of cigarettes.

Friday, November 8, 2019

Art Review - A Voluptuary Under the Horrors of Digestion essays

Art Review - A Voluptuary Under the Horrors of Digestion essays Art is subjective; everyone has different opinions on what constitutes a masterpiece. Some may find Van Gogh's "Starry Night" to be the epitome of a great artistic creation, while others may appreciate the innovative style of Picasso's "Guernica." No matter whether a person views art as garbage or as the holy grail, the purpose of art is to force people to become contemplative. Artists can bring out of people that which cannot be easily seen or felt. They can cause the observer to think about other people and their emotions, their environment, and the social issues that have arisen in the world. The most enduring issue of civilization is the unequal balance of power between the wealthy and the impoverished. The painting "A Voluptuary Under the Horrors of Digestion" serves as a satire on the upper class, displaying the contrast between French and British artists, exposing the faults of the nobility, and twisting public perception of the nobility. The greatest obstacle to art was censorship. The catastrophic nature of the French Revolution led to a wide-scale censorship of literature, art, and of the press in France. As another monarchist nation, Great Britain should have feared that the rebel attitude across the water would spread to its people. Despite their proximity to the French Revolution, the British maintained a system of free speech and free press. As a result, artists were free to say whatever they wanted in their works because there were no repercussions to fear. The artist behind "A Voluptuary Under the Horrors of Digestion" was clearly making a statement about the appalling nature of greedy nobles yet because of freedom of the press he is able to openly mock the nobility, showing the confidence of Britain as a nation. Faced with no restrictions to his work, the artist of the painting depicted a noble in an appalling manner. Earlier in history, the noble's portliness would have marked him as fashionable and of high soci...

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

Brazil and Italy Divorce Comparison Essay

Brazil and Italy Divorce Comparison Essay Brazil and Italy Divorce Comparison Sociology Essay Brazil and Italy Divorce Comparison Sociology Essay The main focus of this research is on the study of the dynamics of the divorce problem in Italy and Brazil. This study includes comparison of data associated with divorce issue, factors that contribute to divorce, and governmental efforts to solve the divorce problem. To have deep understanding of the topic, scholarly sources have been used, for example, â€Å"Marriage and Divorce: Changes and their Driving Forces† by Stevenson and Wolfers, â€Å"Socio-Economic and Cultural Correlates of Cohabitation in Brazil† by Covre-Sussai and Matthijs, â€Å"Legislative Changes and their Impact on Divorce, Separation and Marriage Rates in Brazil† Maristrello Porto and Butelli, and other works. The research presents the effects of legalization of divorce and describes the factors that account for divorce rate. Historical and cultural developments, rise of globalism, and introduction of new technology may lead to changes in people’s judgment, causing them to reconsider their choices concerning family life. The research also describes the role of the Roman Catholic Church in restricting divorce progression. Due to the significant influence of the Church in Italian and Brazilian societies it was possible to delay the legalization of divorce for a considerable period of time. Divorce in Brazil and in Italy For a long time family was regarded by many nations in the West as a very important social institution. Today, family has become a subject of controversy and discussion. Many researchers have raised questions about the functions of the family units in terms of husband-wife-children relationships. It became common to see women going outside the home to take income producing jobs rather than staying home with children. Many couples live together without a formality of marriage, and those who are legally married tend to separate or divorce. Italy and Brazil are not the exception in this matter. In these countries husbands and wives often share their responsibilities in domestic spheres and the market. Rearing their children is also included in those responsibilities. Gary Becker, in his Treatise on the Family explained this phenomenon and described it in terms of â€Å"production complementarities†. He also identified some reasons for this change: the emergence of new technology that can save labor in the home, availability of birth control and easy access to abortion (Stevenson Wolfers, 2007). All these forces made a significant contribution to a high divorce rate in many countries, including Italy and Brazil. Italy and Brazil have been selected for this research to learn the dynamics of the marriage failure in a deeper way. Such an approach will consider more cultural and social variables that can influence the divorce rate. Italy and Brazil are situated in different geographic regions and have different historical development. While Italy’s population is more homogenous, Brazil is an ethnically diverse country with 50% of mixed races, 42% of white people and 6.5% descendants from Africa (Covre-Sussai Matthijs, n.d., p. 6). The religious influence in both countries has been considerable for centuries. The dominance of the Roman Catholic Church significantly influenced Italy and Brazil. As it was mentioned before, family is a very important social institution. Families are not standing in opposition to the rest of the society as some people think. The truth is that the family units affect the values and structure of the whole society. Both, in Italy and Brazil, these units are the product of particular historical and social circumstances. They are intricately interconnected to other features in social infrastructure. For this reason, the problem of divorce should be a great concern to Italy and Brazil. This research will compare the dynamics of the divorce problem in Italy and Brazil. It will also discuss the initiatives of the governments of both countries to solve this problem. Magnitude of the Problem Italy was one of the countries that held the traditional view concerning marriage, and did not accept the legalization of divorce for a long time. In 1970 a divorce law was passed in Italian parliament. Mark Seymour in his book Debating Divorce in Italy (2006) made the following comment on this event, â€Å"after several deputies had collapsed from exhaustion, a parliamentary vote of 319 for divorce, and 286 against, made Italian history: The Nation now had a divorce law† (p. 211). But only in 1974 when the divorce referendum on this matter was held the Italian public voted for its legalization. Since then the divorce rate began to increase. In 1960s, before the divorce law was passed the divorce rate in Italy was zero. The research of Gonzalez and Viitanen (2006) showed the dynamics of the divorce rate in Figure 1 while comparing the rates in other European countries (p. 24). Immediately, after the passing the law the rise in divorce rate occurred. It reached about 0.7 per 10 00 population. In 1974 the rate began to decrease and it was at approximately 0.3 for more than a decade. However, in the late 1980s the divorce rate almost doubled. This phenomenon can be explained by the amendment of the divorce law passed in 1987. It made provisions for shortening the divorce process and allowed only 3 years of legal separation. Before the divorce process could last 5 or 6 years. Since the amendment was provided the divorce rate had been gradually rising and in 2008 it reached 1.3 per 1000 population (The United States Census Bureau, n.d.). In 2011, the Italian National Institute of Statistics gave more detailed information on separations and divorces in Italy. According to their data, â€Å"In 2011 separations were 88,797 and divorces 53,806; compared to the previous year a substantial stability is observed (+0.7% and -0.7%)† (Istat, n.d.). Total rates of separation and divorce indicate the rise of these phenomena. For example, in 1995 the numbers of separations and divorces for 1000 marriages were 158 and 80 respectively. In 2011 these numbers grew to 311 and 182. Recently the Italian Government has introduced another amendment that simplified the divorce process. The 3 years term of legal separation that had been required by the law, was reduced to 6 months. This initiative will probably contribute to the further growth of divorce rate. The historical development of divorce legalization in Brazil was similar to Italian. The Brazilian society was not willing to accept the divorce law for a long time. This phenomenon was attributed to the influence of Christianity represented by the Roman Catholic Church. Only in 1977 the divorce law became legal. In the 1960s and the early 1970s the divorce rate was zero, the same indicator as in Italy before the introduction of the divorce legalization. But since 1980 this dynamic has changed. The researchers Maira Covre-Sussai and Koen Matthijs, in their project on cohabitation in Brazil discussed the marriage trends. Their research covered different regions of Brazil inhabited by various ethnic groups. The graphs 1 and 2 show the dynamics of marriage and divorce rate in the period from 1980 to 2007 (Covre-Sussai Matthijs, n.d., p. 7). It is remarkable that soon after the introduction of divorce law marriage rate dropped by 4 – 6 marriages per 1000 adults in different regio ns during the next decade. Then the marriage rate stabilized. However, it never came back to the initial point. The divorce rate has shown an ongoing growth in all regions of Brazil since 1980. In the North this rate grew from 0.1 to 0.8 per 1000 adults in the period from 1980 to 2006. In the Central West the divorce rate rose 4 times within the same period. To be precise, if in 1980 the rate was approximately at 0.5, in 2006 it reached 2.00 per 1000 adults. It is also necessary to say that the initial rate 0.5 was more predominant in the Brazilian society. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (2012) published average data on this issue. According to their data the divorce rate rose from 0.5 to 1.4 per 1000 adults from 1980 to 2006. But then, the graph showed a rapid growth from 1.4 to 2.6 per 1000 adults from 2009 to 2011. The Civil Registry 2011 revealed an astonishing fact: divorce rate rose to 45.6% in only one year. The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (2012) put it in more detailed way, The number of divorces in Brazil reached 351,153 in 2011, with increase of 45.6% over 2010 (243,224). As a result, the divorce rate reached its highest level since 1984 (2.6 divorces per 1000 inhabitants aged 15 and over), even more than in the previous year (1.8%). It is remarkable that the rapid growth of divorce rate occurred after the Brazilian Government provided the 66th amendment to the constitution. According to the new legislation a year period of separation was not necessary to be divorced any more. This event took place in 2010, just in the period when the rapid rise of the divorce rate occurred. Considering the fact that Italian Government has recently introduced an amendment that reduced a period of separation, a prediction can be made that Italy will soon experience a new rise of divorce rate. To have a full picture of the magnitude of divorce problem it is necessary to research structural factors that may count for it. The major factor that influenced marriage and family was globalization. Both, Italy and Brazil have been affected by the globalization process to a different degree though. Since 1960s many countries, particularly in Europe, have experienced the second demographic transition. In their research on socio-economics and cohabitation, Maira Covre-Sussai Koen Matthijs put it in the following way, â€Å"Secularization, privatization, individualization and urbanization seemed to contribute to the shifts from collective to individual behavior† (n.d., p. 9). These factors influenced human mind: people began to acquire critical thinking and evaluate current social and economic conditions. New motivations in social consciousness have been formed, such as equality, freedom and self-fulfillment. As a result, people began utilizing these ideas and standards as the y forged their families. Therefore, the growth of divorce rate, decline in fertility, cohabitation and economic autonomy of women are directly related to the 2nd demographic transition. In the social background there were changes, such as abandonment of previous traditions, beliefs and values. Under the influence of these changes couples began to consider new options in their life. For example, they may take the decisions related to legal marriage, living with a spouse and having children (Covre-Sussai Matthijs, n.d.). All these changes have affected people both, in Italy and Brazil. Today Italian people have been experiencing tougher demands in the course of their life. They can also have more opportunities for self-fulfillment. As a result their lifestyle is now very hectic. Both, men and women are professional and are capable of doing different jobs. But their busy life often prevents them from paying attention to emotional needs of each other and from showing care to their children. Therefore, the lack of affection led to relational problems and caused a separation and divorce. The upper middle class in Brazil has been experiencing similar relational problems, but since this social class is not large, Brazilians deal with these problems at a lesser scale than Italians. Unlike Italy, Brazil has never been the state with sufficient welfare that could provide all the necessary needs and proper education to people from all social classes. It is well known that poverty and low education do not encou rage people to get married. For this reason many Brazilian people cohabit instead of getting married. Poverty and low education may also contribute to divorce rate in Brazil (Covre-Sussai Matthijs, n.d.). Coming back to globalization impact on family it is important to note the role of new technology in divorce rate growing. The emergence of Internet and development of cell phones pushed the boundaries and allowed people quick and easy access to communication with each other. Social services gave more opportunities for connection with friends or making friendship. All these factors contribute to relational problems within the family unit significantly. For example, in Italy many young people tend to use the instant messaging service. The service allows people to send free messages via smartphones. Such a service often tempts Italians to converse with the opposite sex. These affairs via smartphone may result in divorce. In Brazil the society is poorer, and is affected by the social services via smartphones at a lesser level. However, the Internet is now available for many Brazilians and it gives them an opportunity to connect with the opposite sex in the Internet cafà ©s. It is also important to mention some historical developments in Brazil that influenced the attitude to the family in the country. Back in the 18th century, when the Catholic Church had control over marriage the slaves were not allowed to be married. The only option they had was to have informal unions. Portuguese colonizers who came to Brazil without their wives also chose informal unions taking indigenous women. Thus family organization in Brazil had a particular history that laid the foundation for interracial and patriarchal relationship (Covre-Sussai Matthijs, n.d.). However, in the modern Brazilian society authoritarian attitudes are tolerated less and they may lead to divorce. To complete the research on the magnitude of divorce problems it is important to mention one more reason that often cause divorce in Italy. The Italian family has a special tradition that is characterized by the close relationship and strong emotional ties between mother and her son (Straussner, 2001, p. 6). Thus when the son gets married these ties often interfere with his marriage relationships. Mother views her son’s spouse as a rival. She often visits the couple’s household and attempts to replace her son’s wife doing things in the house. These mother’s initiatives often cause conflicts between spouses, and ultimately lead to separation and divorce. Efforts to Reduce the Problem of Divorce It may sound surprising to the contemporary Italians but the Italian Parliament made great effort to prevent divorce problem. Their struggle against legalization of divorce had been going since 1860 until the popular referendum that took place in 1974. A lot of research on this matter has been done by Mark Seymour in his book Debating Divorce in Italy (2006). He did a very good job studying the efforts of Italian Parliament to prevent divorce law. During the period of 1860 – 1870 the divorce proposal was not included in the 1865 Civil Code. The proposal was not introduced during the period of the Historic Right either. Until 1901, all the attempts of divorce proposal were futile owing to deliberative procedures in the parliaments. Though some representatives kept introducing proposals for divorce they were always declined or postponed. After 1901, any initiative to allow divorce could not even pass the initial stages of the review in the Italian Parliament. Many historians tri ed to understand why so many divorce initiatives failed to pass. The historian Ernest Ialongo (2008) from CUNY Graduate Center, gave the answer in his review. Because the Church, through its Opera dei congressi, had successfully mobilized public opinion and parliament against divorce. Starting with the divorce proposal of 1881, the Opera began sending out petitions to parishes throughout the country that were then signed and forwarded to parliament. There was not any other non-governmental establishment that could contribute so much to preservation of the family institution. Secular organizations , were not usually interested in sacredness of the family and moral values. Secular Italian government and non-governmental organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank invested their funds into the economy system or social projects. But the measures on improvement of living standards were not sufficient to protect the family units. It was necessary to protect and cultivate moral values. The Church showed its concern when the morality was questioned by some representatives of the Italian society. Eventually, it managed to delay the introduction of divorce law and the gradual destruction of the family institution in Italy. In the 1960s the Italian nation was influenced by the secularization process that started in the Western societies. Secularization of the Italian state, the weakened influence of the Vatican in the Italian communities and the triumph of individual freedoms over religious and social traditions led to the legalization of divorce. As the result of this triumph, in 1970 the divorce law was passed. Four years later, public referendum supported the decision concerning the divorce matter made by the Italian Parliament. In Brazil the Catholic Church had a strong influence too. It managed to delay the introduction of divorce until 1977, seven years longer than in Italy. When the divorce law was introduced several amendments were issued that accelerated the divorce process. The Brazilian governments tried to reduce the divorce problem by the implementation of laws that prevented divorce. The evolution of laws that supported divorce began in 1916 when the Civil Code allowed marital unions to be dissolved after the death of the spouse. Litigious judicial separation was also possible. The law had specific requirements for judicial separation: mutual consent and willingness to be married for another 2 years. According to the research of Porto and Butelli (n.d.) In litigious judicial separation at least one of these must have occurred: adultery, insult, homicide attempt, or voluntary marital abandonment. However, even after judicial separation was granted, the marital bond was kept, impeding new marriages from both individuals. (p. 6) In 1977, the law 6.515 and the Amendment to the country’s Constitution n.9 allowed the dissolution of marriage but at the same time impeded new marriages. The new legislation also made a provision for prior separation that could take more than 3 years. However, a few months later there emerged the Divorce Act. This legal document provided not only separation but indirect divorce. In 1989 there the Law 1.841 was issued. It provided more freedom for those who decided to divorce: divorced individuals were allowed to remarry. As a result, successive divorces became possible. The Civil Code issued in 2002 modified the divorce process in Brazil. Marriage dissolution was provided in 2 ways: through judicial separation and divorce. In 2007 Law 11.441 was issued. It allowed the consensual divorce to be granted in the civil registry. Thus, divorce, separation and dividing the assets became possible whenever the spouses made agreements on its terms. As a result it became much easier to get divorced than before. Ultimately, Brazilian governments failed to reduce divorce problem. Non-governmental institutions, such as the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund, managed to assist the Brazilian society with reducing their social problem. Like in Italy, the finances were spent on economy system and some social projects, but not on preserving family values. Over time the divorce rate rose significantly, and statistics showed no evidence that the problem would be successfully dealt. It is really difficult to predict what the divorce problem in both countries will look like in 10 years as there are many factors that can influence the dynamics of this matter. For example, the introduction of new laws that simplify divorce process can trigger a new rise of divorce rate. The introduction of new technology will also affect the family institution and may contribute to divorce rate. Considering the reduction of the Church’s influence and the willingness of Italian and Brazilian governments to provide new laws encouraging divorce, this problem will only get worse over the next 10 years. The majority of population in Italy and Brazil had been family oriented before the divorce was legalized. Thus, legal restrictions on divorce helped to preserve families. The dominance of the Roman Catholic Church also served as a positive factor. The Church influenced both, society and government ensuring moral values in Italy and Brazil. It appears that specific historical developments, globalization process and the introduction of new technology may affect the family unit in a negative way. However, if legal restrictions and the Church’s influence remained it would be possible to avoid the rise of divorce rate and preserve family institution.

Monday, November 4, 2019

Produce a 2,000 word literature review that focuses on a specific area Essay

Produce a 2,000 word literature review that focuses on a specific area of social care e.g Dementia. The literature review will - Essay Example Do the rights of the individuals receiving the care supersede those of the care givers? Are the challenges faced by the care givers justified? This research paper will seek to answer these questions and many more that will arise Social care can further be described as a sector that advances care to individuals who are incapacitated to perform their daily activities through the use of social workers. Social care is divided into two main types; child social care and adult social care. Adult social care is the fastest growing type of social care among the two and it involves advancing care to the homeless, individuals with mental health problems, the elderly and disabled individuals. Social work issues are facing the society now. This is a relevant topic in today’s society with changes proposed in the field by many governments to cut the costs incurred by many governments (UK government, The Guardian, Social Care Network) The social workers are the individuals who advance the car e to the incapacitated individuals and they can be professional or non-professional. Social care is majorly advanced to individuals with mental health problems. Individual with mental health problems majorly suffer from Dementia. ... Why are there many vacancies and high staff turnover in social care? Social care has a negative image due to the two raised questions and not much has been done over the years to repair the tainted and negative image that social care is receiving. This topic is of importance because it employs a significant proportion of employees in many countries thus providing employment. In the United Kingdom, social work employs 2.3 million adults which are roughly 6% of the total UK workforce. Dementia is further explained by cognition as a serious state of lack of cognitive ability. Cognition is the ability of an individual to perform psychological functions after the brain processes information. Most of the text on Social work is on providing help for individuals with mental health problems especially dementia. This is not an exclusive area of concern for social care but care is also advanced to the elderly and the disabled individuals. Recently, social care is moving from its original place where care was given in homes, day care centres and nursing homes to residential homes of those in need of the care. Analysis of the rights of the individual An individual receiving care from the care givers or the social workers should be aware of his/her rights which have been stipulated under the European Convention on Human Rights. These rights are the rights that a human being is entitled to due to humanity. Any human being is to be treated with respect and dignity. Some of the rights that the individual is entitled to in the care centres are; Right not to be discriminated against The care givers and the doctors need not to discriminate any individual receiving care in the care centres on either the basis of their race, sickness or age. All the individuals receiving care are

Friday, November 1, 2019

Marketing Communications Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 2

Marketing Communications Plan - Essay Example According to Sheth & Kellstadt (1992), a normative model of service quality improvement is built on the concept of continuous improvement. The company that I have been working in has been using this kind of approach to address its issues of quality improvement. This is because the key objective of the company is to achieve sustained improvements in its services delivery. Therefore, throughout my career, I have had an opportunity to experience a situation in which this model was applied. Moreover, I have been able to experience some of the benefits of this kind of a model when used to improve service quality as well as some of its shortfalls. This benefits and shorts could form a very good basis for my evaluation in this paper.  Normative model of service improvement is divided into stages. The stages include management commitment, employee commitment and participation, employee education and training, communication, assessment and modification, outcomes and targets, and integration (Hernon & Whitman, 2001). These stages are interconnected in an intertwined manner. This means that a stage does not necessarily resAfter intensive market analysis, it has been found that following locations are the most lucrative prospect for Premier Inn:†¢ Manchester (Piccadilly)†¢ Birmingham (City Centre-New Street)†¢ Edinburg (Central)†¢ London (Kensington)These four locations are among the top tourist spots in the country currently and generate significant revenue from tourism activities.