Interview: Pharmacist

Page R Smith Lean Visuals is the youngest and newest PhD pharmacist in our pharmacy, it is for this reason I choose to interview her. She is responsible for checking medications for drug interactions, correct data entry, counseling patients, maintaining a correct narcotic inventory, interacting with doctors' offices on behalf of patients to obtain new prescriptions or for medication therapy management.Some of her interpersonal Job duties include the management of technicians, and delegate work load within the pharmacy environment when needed due to increased need in an rear, and most importantly how to balance an regulate the corporate aspects and responsibilities of her positions while maintaining the integrity of the customers health care needs. The facility in we work in is a chain corporate retail pharmacy with front store attached. Our pharmacy currently services a growing community and fills approximately three thousand eight hundred prescriptions a week.This includes pharmacis t counseling patients, compounding medications, and vaccinations. Our technicians other responsibilities include filling prescriptions, maintenance of a script pro machine holding one hundred of our fasting moving drugs, billing of insurance companies, insurance over rides for lost prescriptions, mail order over rides, vacation supply over rides. Our pharmacy operates with three pharmacists on a rotating schedule, where two pharmacist work ten hour days in the pharmacy overlapping each other.In the state of Massachusetts a pharmacist can work with a ratio of two nationally certified and tow non-certified technicians under their license; or one nationally certified technician and one intern and two state level technicians. Counseling occurs mostly on new prescriptions and over the counter medications. Customers are concerned about when to take medications, how to take the medications; for example with or without food to buffer against stomach upset.When counseling is being sought for over the counter medications, the pharmacist must ask what the most prominent symptoms are and what other medications the patient may be on before making a recommendation. According to the interview with Lean the most important attributes for success as a retail pharmacist when giving advice to customers in regards to over the counter medications are the following. If you are questioning yourself in regards to an answer about a medication do not be afraid to let the patient know you need to reference the answer before giving it; you cannot remember everything.Also, there may not be a recommendation for every patient based upon symptoms and age. If you feel that there is no appropriate medicine that will assist the patient do not feel pressured into providing the patient with an answer simply tell them there is nothing that can help them with their particular issue. Customer base in a retail setting are local community members and people visiting needing to fill medications. The pha rmacy receives prescriptions through several different methods. We receive prescriptions hard copies brought in directly from providers.We acquire patients from other retails pharmacies in the area and even other sister stores with our chain. The majority of our patients fill maintenance prescriptions either monthly or every ninety days; which is a growing trend in pharmacy care. Other types of prescriptions filled include emergency room prescriptions for acute conditions and hospice prescriptions. Prescriptions in a pharmacy are classified into three different categories for filing purposes. They are class six which are drugs that are class six drugs, non-controlled substances.Controlled Substances which are for drugs classified XIII-C.V.. Finally, narcotics or prescriptions which are medications or drugs classified as Cell's. Medications are classified as controlled substances or narcotics based upon the levels for potential abuse or addiction properties. Leanness career in pharma cy began as a technician at the age of 16 in a pharmacy. She obtained her mandatory state license for technicians after working in the pharmacy for one thousand hours, and maintained his licenser while attending college and working in the pharmacy.She received her bachelor's degree from Worcester State University. Then applied and was accepted to the advanced program of Mass College of Pharmacy in Worcester. Where she graduated in from in 2010 and began working as a full time pharmacist with our company. During this entire time she worked either as a technician or intern for our company while attending school; the designation was dependent upon her level of schooling at the time. The educational requirements necessary to become a pharmacist is doctorate in Pharmacy.Upon obtain the educational requirements you must then pass your states respective law examination and the National Association of Pharmacists Exam to become a licensed Pharmacists. Then every year to maintain your licens e you must take fifteen continuing educational credits. These credits have some specific requirements two of them must be in the field of medical law based and five credits must be obtained at a live seminar. These credits must be submitted to the Board of Pharmacy each year before your license expires with the cost of renewal.When posed with question of whether or not pharmacy education prepares oh for being a pharmacist in a retail environment Lean felt divided over her answer. She felt that the level of schooling prepared new pharmacist adequately to answer medical questions in regards to medications and drug interactions. Where she felt school could not prepare you for in the field was how to deal with the interpersonal aspects of the Job. On the Job training of managing other team members was not a skill she learned until being hired as pharmacist as well.The dealing with customer's issues in a delicate but professional manner while adhering o corporate policies and maintaining your own personal integrity. When asked how you interact with other co-workers in your environment her response was, â€Å"sometimes it is difficult to draw the line between friend and supervisor†. She finds that due to her being a young pharmacist of twenty four. Having employees that are either your senior in age or in experience with the company time frame wise makes managing them difficult.They don't always feel your decisions are valid and may not agree or respect your choices, thus choosing to ignore them. Regardless of your underlings' age or rank within the company you must remember do what you feel is correct and encourage your staff to as well even if it involves disciplinary measures. Years and processing it and making your own decisions is still the best way to allow your staff a voice and be a fair supervisor.When asked to compare pharmacist positions in other organizations Lean referred to her husband who works as a pharmacist in a local hospital. The pharmacy setting deals with slightly different setup as they do not have to handle the public however they also must deal with a lit-level hospital full of nurses and doctors which provided similar demands. Their pharmacy also has the added demand of dealing with intravenous drug dispensing and making sure that the units and dilutions are correct. † As a pharmacist in a faced paced environment with numerous demands being thrust upon you at any given moment you need to take the time to check aspect of a prescription and reference your answers before you give them if necessary so that medications errors are not made The two most important attributes for success as a pharmacist in health care today are the ability to multicast and patience. When asked this question the example she provided was Mimi may be asked to check 3 waiters, perform 2 flu shots and give consultation too waiting patient all at once.You need to prioritize which to do first concentrate on what you are doing at that par ticular moment and maintain your composure throughout. This is an exemplary description of how many directions our pharmacists are pulled in on a daily basis. When asked about patience she stated that as a pharmacist you must have patience not only with customers but also with coworkers and the environment in general; hat it is necessary to not become overwhelmed unduly stressed. How do you see the field of retail pharmacist developing in the future?The greatest change in retail pharmacy this year was the pharmacist immunization program where nearly all staff pharmacist where mandated to become minimizing pharmacists. This was due to the severity of the flu season and the push by corporate entities for flu shots to be administered. Software developments keep adapting to attempt to meet the needs of the customer base, we now have acute prescriptions which moves antibiotics and main medications up in time frame knowing patients will be down sooner in need of them.These types of advanc ements are supposed to help the pharmacy and the pharmacists balance the patients' needs the actual health care or medicine and the basic needs of the corporate environment. Finding the point at which the medicine or health care aspect meets the needs of the patients and the corporate needs actually balance without one overwhelming the other or interfering with the needs of the other is the true challenge of retail pharmacist's Job. In conclusion pharmacists re everyday heroes performing at their peak every day for ten hours a day checking up to seven hundred prescriptions daily some days.Doing their best to ensure errors are not made for the sake of customer safety. Helping the community on a daily basis with recommendations and ensuring their patients safety from medical over dose and drug interactions that may have been missed by patients physicians; or due to the fact patients have multiple physicians. Generally looking out for the well-being of their clients and ensuring their best interests and being taken into consideration on a daily basis. References:

Unknown Paper

The objective of these â€Å"unknown† experiments was to take a mixed culture, which contains two unknown species, and identify those species through a series of tests. The group was informed that one species of bacteria would be a gram-negative bacillus and the other would be a gram positive coccus. The tests to be conducted ranged from streak plate isolation to biochemical tests. Each test to be conducted was discussed and agreed upon by all group members. The results of each test were analyzed by the group and led to selection of the next test that would further narrow the possible identity of the unknown species.On September 16, 2010, our group was given a mixed culture in which we were to identify two organisms within the mixture, by running several biochemical tests. On this day our objective was to prepare the specimen of the mixed culture into discrete colonies. Each member of our group then conducted a streak plate and we would later pick the best plate of isolated co lonies. To perform a streak plate, aseptic technique was required. We had our mixed culture in the form of a broth therefore our inoculating instrument would be a loop.We also needed our agar plates each marked into four quadrants and a Bunsen burner. We then proceeded to transfer the mixed culture to the plates aseptically. In preparation for the transfer of the mix culture to a plate we placed the tube of broth in our non-dominant hand. The loop was sterilized by placing it into the fire of the Bunsen burner until the entire wire became red hot, â€Å"red is dead†. The tube was uncapped facing the cap downward along with the inoculated loop in the dominant hand.We then passed the tube through the flame of the Bunsen burner briefly to burn off any contaminates that may be present at the opening of the tube. The inoculated loop was then inserted into the broth of the mixed culture to obtain the organisms to be transferred to the plate. The tube was then passed though the Buns en burner again, capped, and put aside. With the sterilized loop containing the organism we proceeded to transfer the organism to the plate of quadrant I in a zigzag movement. We then re-flamed the loop till red and cooled the instrument to the side of quadrant II.Then from quadrant I we made four lines crossing into quadrant II. We re-flamed the loop till red and then cooled the instrument again to the side of quadrant III. From quadrant II we made four lines crossing into quadrant III. From quadrant III we continued making four more lines crossing into quadrant IV. We inoculated our loop once more, freeing the instrument of any organism by re-flaming till red. Once we each completed a streak plate, the plates where taped and marked with the date, initials, and group number. On September 23, 2010, we obtained our plates made from September 16.We identified discrete colonies into two organisms that we named yellow and beige. The yellow organism was an obvious yellow pigmentation, mo derate in size, entire, circular, raised colony and the beige was an off-white pigmentation, small, entire, circular, umbonate colony. We next chose the best representative colony of each organism to be transfer to a nutrient agar slant. Again we aseptically transferred the organisms, yellow and beige, into individual agar slants. Our instrument that we used was a loop along with two slant tubes and a Bunsen burner.With our selected plate ready and available, the slant in the least dominated hand, we inoculated the loop till red, uncapped the tube, flamed the tubes, obtained the yellow organism from the plate, and transferred it to the slant in a zigzag motion. We then re-flamed the tube, capped the test tube, and flamed the loop. Then we proceeded with the same procedures for the beige organism. The purpose of transferring the organisms was to evaluate the abundance of growth, pigmentation, optical characteristics, form (not applied due to the use of a zigzag rather then a straight line), and consistency.On October 7, 2010 our third day of our Unknown’s project we conducted a Gram stain procedure. From last week’s test, we achieved pure cultural characteristics from the two slants we made. The growth we saw on the agar slant that contained the yellow specimen was a soft, smooth, yellow growth. The growth we saw on the beige specimen was a thin, even, beige growth. Both cultural characteristics were achieved in the appropriate categories. The categories we were looking for contained abundance of growth, pigmentation, optical characteristics, and consistency.Today we will be preparing two bacterial smears from each specimen and Gram staining them. The reason we are conducting this test is to differentiate between two principle groups, gram positive and gram negative and to further know if a pure culture from both organisms was achieved. This is important for classification and differentiation of microorganisms. The Gram stain reaction will help us tell the difference of the chemical composition of bacterial cell walls. The Gram stain procedure uses four different reagents such as crystal violet, gram’s iodine, ethyl alcohol, and safranin.Before the Gram stain is performed we must make two bacterial smears of the two specimens. We placed one loop of distilled water on a clean slide aseptically. He transferred the specimen from the agar slant that contained the yellow growth and placed it on the slide with the water and gently mixed it together in a circular motion approximately the size of a nickel. He let the smear air dry for one minute and gently heat fixed it by quickly passing the slide through the flame 3-5 times with a clothes pin. The same aseptic transfer and Gram stain procedure was performed on the agar slant that contained the beige specimen.After we successfully performed the bacterial smear, we started the Gram Stain procedure. The first step in the Gram stain procedure is flooding the bacterial smear wit h crystal violet and letting it sit for one minute. After the crystal violet has set we rinsed the reagent off with distilled water. Next, we flooded the bacterial smear with Gram’s Iodine for one minute. After we let the Gram’s Iodine set we rinsed the Gram’s Iodine off of the slide gently with distilled water. The next step in the Gram stain procedure contained 95% Ethyl alcohol.Drop by drop we let the alcohol run onto the stain until the color of the stain was almost clear. After this step we rinsed off the alcohol with distilled water once again. The next step in finalizing the Gram stain procedure is counterstaining the smear with safranin for 45 seconds. Once the counterstain has set we rinsed the stain gently one last time with distilled water and used bibulous paper to blot dry the stain. After we completed the Gram stain procedure we looked at both Gram stain’s under a light microscope at 100X with immersion oil. The steps in preparing the light microscope are very simple.First we plugged in the microscope and turned it on, second we made sure the light intensity has been adjusted and the stage is all the way down. Then we placed the slide on the stage and clipped it into place and raised the stage all the way up with the course adjustment knob. We made sure the objective lens is started at 4X also known as the scanning objective. While we were looking through the oculars we slowly lowered the stage until we could see our specimen. It was not clear so with the fine adjustment knob we turned the knob away from us and fine focused the specimen until we could see it much clearer.Then we change the objective lens to 10X and again turned the fine adjustment knob away from us until the specimen became clearer. We remembered to not touch the course adjustment knob once we have moved away from the scanning objective lens or we would lose our specimen. After we saw our specimen clear under 10X, we turned the objective lens to 40X an d turned the fine adjustment knob until we once again saw a clear specimen through the oculars. Once we saw the specimen under 40X we turned the objective lens between 40X and 100X, this is where we used immersion oil only.We did not lower the stage to put oil immersion on the stage or our specimen would be gone. The reason we used oil immersion is so there was way for light to escape through the slide, and the 100X objective lens. It is used as a piece of glass that does not let the light bend and refract, so the image of our specimen is seen even clearer than before. We place two drops of immersion oil on the slide and turned the objective lens all the way to 100X and slid the objective back and forth a couple of times through the oil that way it is covered completely and there were no air bubbles.Using the fine adjustment knob we found our specimen once again and it was clearer than ever. We have found your specimen. Under the microscope the yellow specimen we stained was a purpl e gram positive stain with a tetrad arrangement. The beige organism we Gram stained was a pink gram negative stain with no arrangement. Once we were done with this part of the experiment we decided as a group that the next test we needed to run was the Carbohydrate Fermentation test. The reason for choosing this test was so we would be able to determine if the organism is able to degrade and ferment carbohydrates with the production of acid and gas.After finding our specimens we lowered the stage and took the slide off of the stage a cleaned the 100X oil objective lens with Kym wipes. We turned the objective lens back to 4X, the scanning objective, and turned the microscope off. On October 21, 2010 the Lactose Carbohydrate Fermentation test was previously selected and prepared for the week prior in order to reduce the probability of our organisms. We performed aseptic technique when transferring our unknown organisms which consisted of performing these previously perfected steps to ensure that our tests be inoculated properly.When performing aseptic technique you need to have all the proper materials necessary to ensure the highest level of sterility while maintaining safety. In sequential order these are the steps that we used to perform the sub culturing for our unknowns assignment. In preparation for the transfer, the stock tube and the tube to be inoculated both had caps loosened and properly placed in the non-dominant hand in a V formation separated by the third digit. An inoculating loop was apprehended and sterilized by placing it to the fire until the entire wire became red hot (â€Å"red is dead†).We uncapped the tubes simultaneously with the inoculating loop still in the dominant hand and immediately passed the two tubes through the flame of the Bunsen burner briefly. The inoculating loop then was inserted into the subculture tube and the inoculum was obtained and transferred to the tube that needed to be inoculated. Following the proper inocu lation and removal of the loop from the tube, the necks of both tubes were then again passed through the Bunsen burner, and then the caps were replaced on the proper tube. Lastly the inoculating loop was again flamed to destroy the remaining organisms on the instrument.After successfully transferring the broth culture with the organism to phenol red test tubes with Durham tubes in each, we reviewed our possible results to ensure we understood what was expected. â€Å"Anaerobic use of sugars produces pyruvic acid from glycolysis, and eventually lactic acid or lactic acid and carbon dioxide through the fermentation pathways. † Results after incubation should show negative or positive results. A negative result for sugar fermentation is shown as no color change and no gas in Durham tube. A positive result for carbohydrate fermentation is shown as color changed to yellow indicating acid production.Gas bubble in Durham tube indicates carbon dioxide production. Preparation for Nitr ate reduction test was performed and it consisted of us maintaining our initial broth of our G -unknown. The reason we did the Nitrate reduction test on our Gram – specimen was because according to our chart getting a positive or negative result would eliminate several organisms and would bring us closer to finding out which specimen we had. Some organisms have the ability to reduce NO3- to Nitrite NO2- or N2 or ammonia. ***Javance can you type out the procedure that was done for the Nitrate reduction test right here where this note is.We only did this test in our Gram negative organism. I found out where I made that mistake in my notes. So I fixed it for you. Just type out our transfer from our original broth to the tryptic nitrate broth step by step like you did for our carbohydrate fermentation test*** We added 5 drops of Nitrate A and 5 drops of Nitrate B to our Nitrate broth which contained our G- specimen and also had a Durham tube in it and incubated for one week. On O ctober 28, 2010, after a week has passed of incubation, we reviewed our results from our two previous tests; the Carbohydrate Fermentation and Nitrate reduction test.Carbohydrate fermentation test results were for the yellow G+, no gas bubble was present and the color did not change, it remained red which shows negative fermentation. For beige G-, no gas bubble or color change was seen so it also showed negative fermentation. According to our charts, our G+ specimen was the only one in our chart that had G+ cocci and negative fermentation so our result indicated our first specimen was M. Luteus. Our Nitrate reduction test result was our G- organism turned red which indicated a positive nitrate reduction to nitrite. We then prepared our Gram-negative organism for a Hydrogen Sulfide Test (H2S).We chose the H2S test because we found that it would illuminate our organism into a possibility of either two positive results or three negative results. In the H2S test we used a SIM agar deep test tube as our medium and aseptically transferred our Gram-negative organism from a broth using a needle to stab into the test tube. ***Veda can you type step by step right here the procedure done for the H2S test into the SIM agar deep, not just that we stabbed it***This medium contains peptone and sodium thiosulfate as the sulfur substrate; ferrous sulfate behaves as a H2S indicator and enhances anaerobic respiration.Since Hydrogen sulfide is a colorless and invisible gas, the ferrous ammonium sulfate in the medium combines with the gas producing FeS, which produces a black precipitate. After a week of incubation On November 4, 2010, we observed black precipitate leading to a positive result for H2S gas production, if there was no color change, then that would have indicated a negative result for H2S gas production. With a positive result of our findings, our Gram negative organism concluded a possibility of two organisms of Salmonella typhimurium or Proteus vulgaris.After we an alyzed our findings, we figured the next test that would reveal our organism would be through the Indole Production Test. An Indole Production test also uses a SIM agar deep medium and with the Kovac’s reagent we would get immediate results by adding ten drops of Kovac’s reagent. By adding the Kovac’s regent, a negative result for indole production by giving off a yellow or brown color. A positive result would show if there was a red pigmentation in the reagent layer.With gloves on we added 10 drops of Kovac’s reagent to our specimen and immediately observe a yellow/brown reagent layer, concluding a negative result. We finally discover that our Gram-Negative organism is Salmonella typhimurium. Based on the results of our biochemical tests, our two species of Unknown bacteria were found to be Micrococcus luteus and Salmonella typhumurium. M. Luteus was determined to be our Gram positive organism after a negative result on the Lactose fermentation test.This test ruled out L. lactis and S. aureus. To determine that Salmonella typhimurium was our Gram negative organism we needed to conduct a few more tests. The lactose test yielded a negative result which led us to conduct a Nitrate Reduction test that yielded a positive result. At that point we conducted a Hydrogen Sulfide test and it yielded a positive result and that allowed our group to conduct an Indole test. This finalized our identity for the Gram negative organism Salmonella typhimurium.

Self regulation and behavior disorders Research Paper

Self regulation and behavior disorders - Research Paper Example This would facilitate the teachers to handle such pupils in the right way. Pedagogical evidence is one of the methods that helped the teachers to equip themselves with knowledge pertaining to self-regulation problem. The other method used was the use of videos that demonstrated behavioral changes among kids and adults. The videos served as an excellent method of gathering information concerning to the apprenticeship. The videos included both the PBIS and ABA analysis of behavioral changes. Results Results showed that children with behavioral changes had a problem to do with their brain. The behaviors come from the way biological mechanisms frame it. The baseline for the interventions required included the use of scripts defining the events of self-regulation. These scripts were for the teachers to adhere in the event of evaluating children with such a disorder. Use of natural methods of countering PBIS was a major intervention for the teachers and persons concerning to self-regulatio n. Strengths and limitations The evaluation of self-regulation included strengths that helped the teachers to originate the right interventions. These interventions required that enough evidence concerning to the causes of self- regulation became clear. Limitations facing apprenticeship included the difficulties of changing adults to change behaviors that they are already used to (Ylvisaker and Feeney, 2009). 2) Behavioral and Emotional Self-Regulation In children: Relations with the Nogo N2 Purpose of study The study aimed at establishing stimulus triggering behavioral regulation. The stimuli amplify the way the brain responds, a matter that is connected to the behaviors of a person. Population involved included children in the ages 5-6 years. These were children with bad behavior records, appearing uneasy and those brought up by aggressive parents. Methods One of the methods was the use of gamma synchrony that would trigger the state of mind of a certain person. Gamma involves the use of electrotherapy to check on the reception of a child’s brain electrotherapy. The other method was the use of nogo N2 that involved scrutiny of dorsal and ventral parts of the ACC. This part revealed the association between parenting and neurology. Results It was true that the behavior of children reflects the different environs in which they are brought up. This explains that children brought up by aggressive parents are liable to have behavioral disarrays. Stimuli included things such as the environment a particular child. Evidences showing that stimuli defined the behavior of a child included the electrophysiological. This enabled us to know the way in which stimuli contributed to behavioral change. Strengths and limitations One of the strengths of this research was that activators of a child’s behavioral change became clear. This meant that a child with such behaviors gets proper handling. Evidences showing the relationship between stimuli and behavioral chan ge were advantageous because they gave sound relations. One limitation that rose from the use of nogo N2 was that ventral ACC was not a proper way of handling children from authoritarians (Segalowitz et al, 2010). 3) Decreasing Child Defiance: Is Inquiry Indispensable? Purpose of study The study was aimed at describing how one can reduce defiance of children.This is because research had it that some children display defiance when trey are still small. Methods One way of establishing the truth

Socrates - The Greatest Philosopher Of All Time Research Paper

Socrates - The Greatest Philosopher Of All Time - Research Paper Example Such was his influence on the philosophical world that the era before him has been named the pre Socrates era. Socrates set the standard for all the western philosophers to come. His methods were employed by all the great philosophers later including Plato and Aristotle to name a few which makes a case in itself for him being the greatest. A thorough analysis of his life, teachings and philosophical viewpoints will further establish my claim for him being the greatest philosopher of all time. Life Born to Sophroniscus a sculptor by profession in 469 BC, Socrates was both short and unattractive (socrates a closer look at the greatest thinker). Though little is known about his early life it is reported that he was educated in literature, music, gymnastic and sculpture which were the integral constituents of elementary education at that time in Athens. Socrates had many teachers. Socrates mentioned that he was taught â€Å"love† by diotima of mintineia. Socrates also mentioned th at he learned rhetoric from Aspasia and music from Connus. However, others argue that his principal teacher was Anaxagorean Archelaus. Despite having so many teachers his undying lust of knowledge lead him to develop his own method of inquiry known as the Socrates method of questioning. Despite being short and unattractive, Socrates was married to Xanthippe, a much younger woman than himself. Several sources claim that he had a second wife as well whose name was Myrto. It is known that his wife was an ill tempered and rude woman. According to various theories Socrates inherited stone masonry as a profession from his father and used it for a living. In his dialogues Plato has also discussed the military life of Socrates. He reported that Socrates when he was young was a brave soldier of the Athenian army and fought valiantly in the battles of Potidaea, Amphipolis and  Delium (socrates a closer look at the greatest thinker). His valour in the battle of delium was even acknowledged b y the general of that time. Later on however, he completely devoted himself to philosophy by refraining from the pursuits of the physical world. He spent most of his life in Athens roaming around and questioning the moral and ethical beliefs of the young men of the city. He used to teach people without demanding any financial gain which was perhaps the reason why he had an ardent sense of loyalty among his students. Aristophanes a contemporary playwright wrote a comic play in 423 BC called clouds (socrates a closer look at the greatest thinker). The play portrayed him as a clown. In the play Socrates used to worship scientific wonders and clouds instead of the gods worshipped in Greece. The play spread a very austere view of Socrates among the Athenians. In the following years, a wave of hatred and disapproval against Socrates ran around the city. Athenian began to dislike Socrates because of his criticism of popular beliefs and the ways of the current government. He used to approac h the wise men of Athens at that time and questioned them in ways which made them look foolish. His influence on the youth began to grow which along with all the other reasons became the main subject of his trials. Hence in 399 BC Socrates was held on trial and was charged for being responsible for disobeying the gods of the state and corrupting the minds of the youth (Kemerling, 2006).

Quantitative Finance Analysis Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Quantitative Finance Analysis - Term Paper Example It is important to note that the influence of using highly specialized quantitative techniques is on an increasing trend mainly due to its ability to provide inferential statistics. The results are inferred in a highly prà ©cised and accurate manner, which lead the quantitative analysts to sort out the different aspects attached with the behavior of a financial decision. This report highlights various kinds of scenarios in which the specialized quantitative techniques are applied in order to sort out the behavior of the financial decision taken under that scenario. Specialized techniques such as regression, correlation, NPV, IRR, yield to maturity, annuity, etc are utilized to analyze the different scenarios. Net Present Value Background Information This question inquires about the viability of an investment opportunity such that the opportunity requires $10,000 to be invested today. The cash inflows from this opportunity will be derived in such a way that $500 will be received after one year, $1,500 after two years and $10,000 after ten years. With reference to the particular technique of Net Present Value (NPV), the viability of this opportunity is asked whether the opportunity is attractive if interest rates are 6% and 2% respectively. Theoretical Background Net Present Value (NPV) is the technique, which mainly works on the concepts of time value of money. According to time value of money, the money received in future time does not have the same worth, had that money received today (Brigham et al, 2010 pp. 380-81). If that future money is brought back today, it would have lesser worth. NPV is the technique that works on the basis of cash flows such that the initial investment is deducted from the discounted cash flows. The resulting answer provides the estimated amount of benefit earned or loss incurred in case of opting the investment opportunity. In case if the NPV is found to be positive, it means, that the investment opportunity is financially viable and hence should be accepted. In case of negative NPV, the investment opportunity is not up-to-the-mark and it should be rejected. Computation Years 0 1 2 10 Investment (10,000)    Cash Inflows 500 1,500 10,000 Discount Factor (6%) 1.0000 0.9434 0.8900 0.5584 D iscounted Cash Flows (10,000) 471.70 1,334.99 5,583.95 NPV (2,609.36)          Years 0 1 2 10 Investment (10,000)    Cash Inflows 500 1,500 10,000 Discount Factor (2%) 1.0000 0.9804 0.9612 0.8203 Discounted Cash Flows (10,000) 490.20 1,441.75 8,203.48 NPV 135.43          Interpretation From the above stated results, it can be observed that if the interest rate is set to be 6% to discount the later coming cash inflows, it would result in negative NPV of $2,609.36. Since the negative NPV states that the investment opportunity is not attractive enough to be accepted, therefore it should be rejected. On the other hand, if the interest rate is trimmed to only 2%, it will generate positive NPV of $135 from the same cash flows. This positive NPV reflect that the investment opportunity is financially viable and it should be accepted. Question 2 Present Value Annuity Background Information This question pertains to annuity such that a house is to be purchased on mortgage basis. The actual cost of house is $350,000. However, the buyer is willing to pay $50,000 as down payment. For the rest of $300,000 the buyer wants to pay the amount along with the interest payments in next 30 years at 7% interest per annum. The buyer wishes to pay loan in 30 equal installments, which should include principal amount

The misconceptions of distance learning education Essay

The misconceptions of distance learning education - Essay Example The two main misconceptions associated with this type of learning is schools offering distance education do not implement a program of study at is as challenging as in a traditional school and achieving a college degree online involves less commitment and effort than an on-campus college diploma. Moreover, it is usually thought that all online schools are a scam. Inopportunely, diploma mills are present — they modestly sell grades to whomever is agreeable to fee for them, and it is from time to time startling who's eager to invest the money. There are numerous stories in the news bulletin about public bureaucrats who are found to have sham degrees. Such colleges advertise that they award "life experience" grades — likewise, the student can get a degree without quite doing any real effort. Those who acquire degrees in this style are endangering their occupation and their repute by getting involved in such things (Myths and Misconceptions about Distance Learning). Another misconception is that students usually miss out on the real interaction with the students and instructors. They lack the confidence which otherwise they could have gained if they were studying on campus studies. All over again, this hinge on upon the package and the university. Countless distance learning institutes hold "sessions" by the use of webcams and discussion rooms, allowing students to pin thier ears back to course talks by teachers and interrelate with other pupils. Indeed, some distance knowledge schools obligate that students post to a note board for their lecture a convinced number of times a week. If they do not do so, they endanger their grades. Group work concerning a number of undergraduates is also put up into the set of courses of a number of distance learning programs, and the undergraduates are graded on their group task. Degrees gotten through distance learning are achieving extensive recognition by employers all the while. Lots of employers bargain tuition r epayment to their workforces knowing full well that the grades are being received virtually or over other distance learning approaches. These consist of some of the major businesses in the United States. Bestowing to a 2004 study by the Sloan Consortium, approximately one-third of business teaching compensations went to online or amalgamated packages. Companies’ receive advantage from these packages in terms of more accomplished workers while their workforces do not have to resign work to follow higher education plans. A 2005 study directed by Vault.com exposed that 86 percent of firms would be eager to agree to take a job interviewee with an online gradation. (United States Distance Learning Programs, n.d. ) Brick-and-Mortar schools which also deal with distance learning packages use the identical prospectus and charges criterions whether a student is book learning at a distance or not. When delivering degrees or records, those universities don't insist on whether the course s were taken over the internet or on campus, for they are alike courses. Schools that are endorsed are predictable to abide by to assured education standards. If courses or tutors are not up to same level, schools danger being put on trial or even worse-losing their authorization completely. What is more, organizations like Harvard and Cornell bid distance learning sequences, and these are academies distinguished for the excellence of the schooling they be responsible for. (King, 2010) Distance learning is

Description case in the healthcare system Essay

Description case in the healthcare system - Essay Example The pains did not stop if anything they were becoming worse by the minute and I had no one coming to check on me as promised. Judging by the wall clock in my white-walled room, it had been over two hours since my admission and not a single soul had come by to check my vitals despite it being at night and hence not many patients were being attended to. The sight of the pure white walls was sickening and I could not let the thought of how depressing they were away. With every pain in my stomach, groin and I guess the whole body; I shuddered and let out a scream full of agony to signify my current state. I could not take it anymore, I had to press that bell and call for help. Twenty minutes after pressing the so-called emergency bell, a tall burly-looking like nurse appeared on my door half drowsy and I could tell by her facial expression that she was not happy to be woken up by a screaming pregnant lady or even a truly dying patient. That was to be proved a few seconds later when she s aid: â€Å"what is it that you want?† I was in too much pain to think about it then (but thinking about it now, that was a rude remark).I explained to her my predicaments and the promise of the doctor being there soon to check on me but had seen no one for over two hours and the pain was getting worse by the minute. She just looked at me with this unbelievable expression in her eyes and just left without uttering a single word. So I decided to wait for that conversation with the mean-looking nurse got me no one.

According to Instructions Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

According to Instructions - Coursework Example As a result, God awards death the victory for conquering the life of man while man rewarded with honor as a way of demonstrating care and concern. This brings in the basic elements of Renaissance literature and the humanistic view of life and circumstances (Johannes, 106). The pope himself cannot remit guilt, but only declare and confirm that it has been remitted by God; or, at most, he can remit it in cases reserved to his discretion. Except for these cases, the guilt remains untouched. Martin Luther criticized the Catholic Church on the basis that they church advocated for matters that did not adhere to the basic principles of human rights and freedom. The papacy did not approve the reading of the bible by the masses as they preferred that they be the ones to dictate to the people what they ought to read as far as the holy book was concerned. He was against the fact the people had to approach the throne of God through the pope and not directly as indicated in the bible. He argues that only faith alone through the grace of God could save the sinners from their sins as well offering them the perfect form of forgiveness. The poem by Andreas Gryphius talks about the negative result of the thirty years war that adversely affected the Germans. Many destructions were occasioned to lives and property. The atrocities that were committed were very gross and many people lost their lives through torture, rape, and fire outbreaks. The war was not just about rivalries among nations but it was more about the Catholics and Protestants. Lack of religious tolerance further led to the escalation of the war and very little could be done to prevent the war from going to the extreme thus leading to the negative events (Byers, 113). The society has been divided into two main rival camps namely the Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat. The book stipulates that there has always been class struggles in which the working

An Argument Against Platos Mimesis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

An Argument Against Platos Mimesis - Essay Example The reason Plato did not appreciate the value of literature was because it could not supply us with knowledge. Plato believed in what he referred to as true forms. Every object or idea had a true form counterpart, and all people had some innate sense of these forms. This was how Plato explained how we knew what a tree was. In other words, somewhere in the universe exists the true form of a tree in its most pure form, and we as humans all had some innate sense of what a tree is, and because we have an innate sense of what a tree is because of the true form, we are able to recognize a tree when we see it. The idea of true forms also pertained to notions such as justice, honor, beauty, and other intangibles. The way he applied this to literature was that he felt that literature merely was able to create a reflection, an imitation, of something like justice. Because it was merely creating an imitation, it was inferior to the true form, and because of this it was not able to supply us wit h true knowledge. Also, Plato argued against poets having any real knowledge of the true forms because of their actions. According to this argument, Plato stated that if poetry were to have a real sense or representation of, for instance, justice, then the poet would have to have real knowledge of the true form of justice. If, according to Plato, these poets had a real sense of the true form of justice, then they would not write poetry, which appeals to the emotions and leads people to an unhappy life. Rather, they would choose a course of action in their lives that would lead to this sense of the true form of justice being carried out.

Personal essay about my Grandma Essay Example for Free

Personal essay about my Grandma Essay Going to a foreign land is everyone’s dream. Most people especially the young ones would love to go to other countries to experience how life would be. This opportunity came to me when my father sent me to United States to study Physical Therapy. Many people believe that United States has a very good educational system. When I learned about this news from my father, I was mixed emotions. I did not know how I felt at that time whether I will be happy or sad. Imagine I will be studying in another continent which is far from my county, Saudi Arabia. On the lighter side, I felt a bit excited because knowing I am going to United States, it is already a big thing because it is everyone’s dream however I am extremely sad because I know I am going to be separated from my family especially from my grandmother who is very close to my heart. The thoughts of leaving my place and my family are so depressing. It makes me cry sometimes at night looking and memorizing every corner of our house where I grow up, because its corner has a lot of good memories that I will always treasure in my heart, specifically the bedroom I shared with my beloved grandmother. Many people might think that I am over-the-top when I talk about my family. But that is really me! I really value the importance of my family. Without my family, I will not be the person I am at present and in the future. It is my family who supports me all of my life. The members of my family are the people who never turn me down when I needed them most and never turn their back when I am in pain, sorrow, and happiness. They showered me with love and care that nobody can give me without any expectations of return. My mother has taught me to love and show concern to every members of my family. Although when my brothers and I were still young, it cannot be avoided that we fight because of immaturity however it did not destroy our bonds as siblings because my mother inculcated in our young minds and hearts to be a keeper of one another. I can vividly remember how my mother prepared for our breakfast so that we can eat delicious and nutritious meals before going to school. She was a hands-on mother to us. My mother and my dad never lacked in giving discipline to us. My mother kept reminding me the importance of good education. She made me realized at a young age that through education, I can be successful in my chosen career. She motivated me a lot to do well in my studies. On the other hand, since my father was at work during day time, he never failed to make up during night time or whenever he had free time. He played with us and treated us some goodies. My parents made sure that we have family day where we can bond with each other. That was why when father sent me here in the United States, I am extremely sad rather than super excited because I know I will be home sick and I don’t know if I can live by myself without them. But since my father explained to me the reason why I need to come here, I just obeyed him because I can see his face how happy he was when he learned that I got a high GPA that give me a chance to be admitted in Virginia Common Wealth University (VCU). I know that no parents would seek harmful things for their children but only the best for them. Though my heart ached and did not want to leave, I followed what he said. Another reason why I do not want to go was because I am also very attached with my grandmother. When I was in Saudi Arabia, I used to share a room with my grandmother, played games, and share secrets because I am the only girl in the family; thus, she even raised me until I was ten years old. She is a lovely grandmother. She always teaches me good things about life in an early age. She doesn’t only treat me as her grand-daughter but as well as her best friend. We talk a lot of things especially when she supervises me with my studies although my parents are supportive. She is also a good listener and an adviser that made me express myself and my real feelings towards situations that happen to me. I am also relieved just by her kiss or hug because it makes me feel secure and loved. When I was about to live, my grandmother was very ill. I know that she was dying. I knew it in my heart. However my grandmother has told me to pursue my dreams and make her proud of me. When the day came for my departure, I felt so gloomy. When I arrived here in the United States, there were no nights that I never cry. My pillows were the only witnesses how lonely I was. There was even a time that I always counting the day and looking forward a vacation to my country, Saudi Arabia, to meet my love ones again. I really had the hard time coping up with new things that I am facing in the United States. I used to wake up with my mother’s voice calling us to wake up and eat breakfast or my grandmother’s advices when I am feeling down. But now when I transferred here to study, I felt that I am alone. I really missed my family. I tried to live a normal life, pretending that things are going to be okay. I always mesmerize the memorable moments I had with my family way back in Saudi to make me keep going. The time came when my grandmother died because of her illness. I was very clueless about her death. My parents especially my father did not inform me about my grandmother’s death. Every time I made a phone call to them, I always asked my father about my grandmother’s condition. But every time I mentioned such subject, my father always told me that my grandmother was okay and shifted to another topics. He made stories just to make me believe that grandma was still alive. But when I went home, I found out that my grandmother has died four months after I arrived in Saudi Arabia. I was very shocked and hurt why my parents did not tell me about the death of my grandmother. I could not understand at first because I cannot imagine that when I go home I can no longer see and talk my best friend, my grandmother. I really had the hard time accepting the fact. But my father made me understand that they did not inform me so that I will not be disturb with my studies because they already knew my situation here in the United States how homesick I was and if they will do so, they will be just adding my sorrow. I completely understand why my parents had kept that from me because I know they did not want me to be burden anymore. It will be only adding to my depression of being far from them. Although my grandmother already passed away but her good memories are always keep in my heart. Nobody can replace her. In addition, my family continuously shows their support to me. Although I am the only girl but I thank God that my parents did not brought me up as a spoiled brat but as a disciplined person that knows the value and importance of family. This personal experience made me to be a family-oriented individual. It makes me also understands how family molds individual’s character and a child’s character is a reflection of what kind of family he/she has.

Impact of IMF Funding on Pakistans economy

Impact of IMF Funding on Pakistans economy Introduction The funding by International Monetary Fund (IMF) to developing countries has always raised a debate on its positive and negative impacts on the economy of the creditor country. Pakistan has an extended history of funding from IMF starting from 1958 to 2004 in various time spans and now the current agreement from 2008. This study analyzes the impact of IMF funding on Pakistan. Although there has been criticism regarding both issues of policies and the funding impact but the focus of this research is to study the impacts and not to discuss or criticize the policies of IMF. The IMF works to foster global growth and economic stability. It provides policy advice and financing to members in economic difficulties and also works with developing nations to help them achieve macroeconomic stability and reduce poverty. It is working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world. Although monetary fund provides financial assistance to the developing countries but its role in economic prosperity has been highly criticized from the last few years due to its strict policies and restrictions imposed on the borrower country. Under current agreement, IMF imposes 11 main conditions on Pakistan which includes: introduction of the Central Excise Duty on service and agricultural sector, reduction in the expenditures on Public Sector Development Program, devaluation of rupee, freezing of non-development expenditure under the defense budget, non-provision of supplementary grants to government departments, ending subsidy on gas and electricity, reduction in non-development expenditure of civil departments and federal ministries, increase in markup rate of banks and on inter-bank transactions, uniformity in the inter-bank and open market dollar exchange rate and stoppage of government financial intervention in stock markets. The main aim of IMF behind imposition of policies is to increase the revenues of the borrower country. But some studies reveal that it affects the economy both directly and indirectly. Directly it imposes impact in the sense of control of certain variables on which it put restrictions and indirectly with regard to the relationship of these variables with other macroeconomic driving variables that drives the economic growth. The matter here is not the IMF funding but the policy impositions that could impact the economic growth. IMF provides funds for the three major areas, to reduce deficit of fiscal account and current account and to increase the revenues. The question here arises that whether the increase in taxes, elimination of subsidies and development projects will help boost the economy or causes the real GDP to fall from the expected value through increased inflation. An extensive research has been done to address the issue of IMF policies and impact on economy of the borrower country but there are conflicting results derived by different researchers due to particular conditions related to that country, the researches that tried to study all countries under IMF program also reveals contradicting results. This study focuses specifically on Pakistan so that particular effects could be revealed that IMF funding is pouring on Pakistans economy. Problem statement The problem statement of research is Impact of IMF funding on Pakistans economy. Major variables that are used in this study include IMF funds and macro economic variables that are the indicators of an economy i.e. real GDP, employment rate, current account balance, balance of payments and FDI. Objectives The objectives of our study are: To study how IMF funding is putting its effect on economy of Pakistan. To reveal that whether there is any significant relationship between IMF funding and economic growth and if there is a relationship then whether it is positive or negative. To draw conclusion and make recommendations through analysis that whether Pakistan should borrow from IMF or seek other ways of borrowing Significance Although a number of studies have addresses the stated issue but these researches mostly carried out aggregate affect taking into account all the countries under IMF program. The Research that we are going to conduct will try to find out impact of IMF funding on economic growth in particular scenario of Pakistan. Delimitation Our scope of study will be limited to the impacts on Pakistan economy. More over the variable that we will use for analysis of economic growth will be only major macroeconomic variables which are majorly contributing towards the growth factor. In our study we are not considering the political instability and inconsistency in the prevailing policies and other social environmental issues that could impact economic growth side by side. Chapter 2 Review of Related Literature This chapter includes the work done in the same area by other researchers. It put a glance on studies of some of the researchers along with their proposed conclusions Literature review IMF funding has been one of the most debated issues from the last few years in terms of its policies, restrictions and its impact on the economy of countries under IMF programs. A number of studies have been done in this regard. However the results of these studies are contradicting making this issue still debatable. Recent studies have produced mixed and sometimes puzzling results regarding the impact of IMF programs on a nations balance of payments, current account balance, foreign direct investment, real GDP, per capita income and long-run economic growth. Martin Feldstein (1998) argues that the IMF required excessively large reductions in government deficits and restrictions on monetary policy. These restrictions resulted in substantial increases in tax rates, interest rates and increase in current account deficit. Feldstein argues that Asian economies have experienced a recession that worsened their economic problems as a result of these policy changes. Feldstein argues that many of the mandated reforms involve unjustified interference with national autonomy and have little or no relationship to the goal of resolving the payment problem. He notes that it would have been better to allow more time for negotiations between borrowers and lenders before providing IMF loans to a country experiencing payment problems. Ho: There is no significant Impact on the current account deficit by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. H5: There is significant Impact on the current account deficit by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. Doug Bandow (1999) argues that the existence of IMF bailouts creates a moral hazard problem that encourages countries to not solve their fundamental problems. He suggests that all nations would benefit if healthy economies quarantined sick economies instead of providing economic assistance. Bandow argues that IMF assistance programs increase risk for healthy economies and do not provide long-term benefits for troubled economies. He notes that most IMF borrowers have received aid for a decade or more. Jensen (2004) suggests that international capital markets perceive IMF intervention as a negative development. Regardless of factors driving their decisions, Jensens research provides strong evidence that developing countries pay a serious price when they take advantage of IMF assistance. His research strongly reveals a negative relationship between IMF funding and foreign direct investment in the country. According to him investors dont perceive this funding in a positive way that why reducing net investment level in the country and as a result hindering economic growth. For impact of IMF on FDI following hypothesis is developed: Ho: There is no significant Impact on the FDI by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. H1: There is significant Impact on the FDI by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. On the other hand there are a number of researchers like Dicks Mireaux (2000), who have found strongly positive economic growth effects of IMF funding. These researches found that there is appositive impact of IMF funding on the economy. While there are also studies which concluded that are no significant effects of IMF on the economy of a country under IMF agreement like, Hardoy(2003) and Hutchison (2004), who argue that IMF funding does not pour any significant impact on the economy of the borrower country. Mireaux argue that economy grows due to the increased tax revenues. Following hypothesis has been developed between tax revenue and IMF funding. Ho: There is no significant Impact on the Tax Revenue by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. H3: There is significant Impact on the Tax Revenue by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. Nunnenkamp(1999) in his article discussed that IMF is under serious attack as critics blame that IMF lending lead to financial crisis and suggests to stop IMF funding also the researcher discussed the consequences of ending the lending ODriscoll (1997) in his article has conducted the descriptive research about the IMF policies towards developing countries by keeping the focus on USA economy. The Policy making of IMF for the developing countries are without any backing of historical decisions taken by the developing countries in past. Thus the financial crises and current account deficit crises is mainly attributed to such policy making. The researcher has give example of Asia in which case the above discussion is particularly true which roots in 1995. The IMFs handling of the Mexico crisis firmly established moral hazard in international lending and sowed the seeds for the Asian crisis. Thus far, IMF policy in Asia largely repeats the policy mistakes in Mexico.   Gina (2007) indicates in his article that the reforms enacted by Congress in USA are an important first step toward reforming the IMF. Even more important than the reforms, however, was the congressional debate over IMF funding. That debate focused attention on the process and Substance of IMF policymaking and even questioned the need for that organization in the post-Bretton Woods world. Przeworski and Vreeland (2000) Using a bivariate, dynamic version of the Heckman selection model, we estimate the effect of participation in International Monetary Fund IMF programs on economic growth. We find evidence that governments enter into agreements with the IMF under the pressures of a foreign reserves crisis but they also bring in the Fund to shield themselves from the political costs of adjustment policies. Program participation lowers growth rates for as long as countries remain under a program. Once countries leave the program, they grow faster than if they had remained, but not faster than they would have without participation. So for the relation between IMF and GDP following hypothesis are developed: Ho: There is no significant Impact on the GDP by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. H1: There is significant Impact on the GDP by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. The estimates of Barroa Lee (2005) shows that a higher IMF loan-participation rate reduces economic growth. IMF lending does not have significant effects on investment, inflation, employment, government consumption, and international openness. However, IMF loan participation has small negative effects on democracy and the rule of law. Ho: There is no significant Impact on the Employment by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. H2: There is significant Impact on the Employment by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. Chapter 3 Research Methodology This chapter includes the theoretical model, data collection technique and methodology approach used for the analysis Theoretical model Economic Growth Real GDP IMF Funding Employment FDI RRevenue Current Account Balance Data collection Secondary source for the data collection has been used in this research. For this purpose most of the data will be collected from the Economic Survey of Pakistan, international monetary fund web site and state bank of Pakistan website. The dependant variables that have been used to analyze the economic growth include: balance of payment, current account balance, real GDP, rate of employment and foreign direct investment. These are the major variables that are the determinants of economic growth of a country. The independent variable is the amount of funding by IMF. Data analysis Regression analysis is used for analyzing the impact of IMF funding on Pakistans economy. Data is analyzed using SPSS. Data for the IMF funding in Pakistan is in detail below:   YEARS IMF FUNDING 1973-1974 527 1974-75 1990 1975-76 1987 1976-77 2497 1977-78 232 1978-79 3406 1979-80 644 1980-81 3789 1981-82 6079 1982-83 7266 1983-84 2812 2000-01 35400 2001-02 65460 Chapter 4 Data Presentation and Findings This chapter includes the data which has been used for the analysis, analyzed results and the findings that follow through the analysis Data presentation and findings Following is the detailed data used for the analysis and the findings of the regression analysis. The data is presented separately for each variable used as the measure of economic growth of the country. IMF funding and GDP Data Analysis for First Hypothesis Ho: There is no significant Impact on the GDP by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. H1: There is significant Impact on the GDP by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. IMF FUNDING GDP 1974 527 38439 1974-75 1990 39930 1975-76 1987 41229 1976-77 2497 42401 1977-78 232 45679 1978-79 3406 48204 1979-80 644 51736 1980-81 3789 55048 1981-82 6079 59012 1982-83 7266 62975 1983-84 2812 65968 2000-01 35400 180500 2001-02 65460 212200 Findings: To test the hypothesis, linear regression analysis used. The results of regression of One independent Variable (IMF Funding) against GDP (dependent variable) can be seen in the following output. Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .971 .943 .937 14025.2195 a Predictors: (Constant), IMF FUNDING ANOVA Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. 1 Regression 35481741865.974 1 35481741865.974 180.379 .000 Residual 2163774597.718 11 196706781.611 Total 37645516463.692 12 a Predictors: (Constant), IMF FUNDING b Dependent Variable: GDP Coefficients Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. Model B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) 43492.601 4451.563 9.770 .000 IMF 2.861 .213 .971 13.431 .000 a Dependent Variable: GDP Interpretation of analysis The ANOVA table shows that the F value of 180.379 is significant at the .000 levels. Degree of Freedom column in the table, the first number represent the number of Independent Variable (1) the second number (13) is the data collected for total number of years (N), minus the number of Independent Variable (K) minus 1 or 11=(N-K-1) or (13-1-1)= 12. The F statistics produce (F= 180.379) is significant at the .000 levels. Which shows that Model validity is significant at 0.000 level of significance. What the result mean is that 94.3 percent of variance (R square) in increase in GDP has been significantly explained by increasing Government Expenditure by way of IMF Funding (Independent variable) with standard error of estimate of 14025.2195. Standard error of estimate shows amount falls outside the regression line or shows standard deviation from mean. There is .000 percent or less chance of this is not holding true. There is correlation of 0.971 (denoted as r=0.971) between IMF Funding (Independent variable) and GDP (dependent variable) with level of significance 0.000. so there is positive relationship between the two variables and probability of this is not true is zero percent or less. That is 100 percent of time we would expect that this correlation to exist. There is a beta value of 0.971, which shows that 97.1 percent chance of making TYPE II error if null hypothesis is accepted when it is false. At the same time Un standardized coefficient B= 2.861 indicates that the valu e of GDP increase by 2.861 unit for a one unit increase in Government Expenditure by IMF Funding. What the result mean is that t value 13.431 significant at 0.000. Thus hypothesis 1 is substantiated. IMF funding and employment rate Data Analysis for Second Hypothesis Ho: There is no significant Impact on the Employment by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. H2: There is significant Impact on the Employment by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. YEARS IMF FUNDING EMPLOYMENT 1973-1974 527 19.76 1974-75 1990 20.3 1975-76 1987 21.08 1976-77 2497 21.89 1977-78 232 22.73 1978-79 3406 23.62 1979-80 644 24.15 1980-81 3789 24.7 1981-82 6079 25.27 1982-83 7266 25.85 1983-84 2812 26.4 2000-01 35400 37.51 2001-02 65460 38.29 Findings: To test the hypothesis, linear regression analysis used. The results of regression of One independent Variable (IMF Funding) against Employment (dependent variable) can be seen in the following output. Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .912 .832 .817 2.5175 a Predictors: (Constant), IMF Funding ANOVA Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. 1 Regression 345.318 1 345.318 54.485 .000 Residual 69.717 11 6.338 Total 415.035 12 a Predictors: (Constant), IMF Funding b Dependent Variable: EMPLOYMENT Coefficients Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. Model B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) 22.636 .799 28.328 .000 IMF 2.823E-04 .000 .912 7.381 .000 a Dependent Variable: EMPLOYMENT Interpretation of analysis The ANOVA table shows that the F value of 54.485 is significant at the .000 levels. Degree of Freedom column in the table, the first number represent the number of Independent Variable (1) the second number (13) is the data collected for total number of years (N), minus the number of Independent Variable (K) minus 1 or 11=(N-K-1) or (13-1-1)= 12. The F statistics produce (F= 54.485) is significant at the .000 levels. Which shows that Model validity is significant at 0.000 level of significance. What the result mean is that 83.2 percent of variance (R square) in increase in Employment has been significantly explained by increasing Government Expenditure by way of IMF Funding (Independent variable) with standard error of estimate of 2.5175. Standard error of estimate shows amount falls outside the regression line or shows standard deviation from mean. There is .000 percent or less chance of this is not holding true. There is correlation of 0.912 (denoted as r=0.912) between IMF Funding (Independent variable) and Employment (dependent variable) with level of significance 0.000. So there is positive relationship between the two variables and probability of this is not true is zero percent or less. That is 100 percent of time we would expect that this correlation to exist. There is a beta value of 0.912, which shows that 91.2 percent chance of making TYPE II error if null hypothesis is accepted when it is false. At the same time Un standardized coefficient B= 0.00283 indicates t hat the value of Employment increase by 0.00283 unit for a one unit increase in Government Expenditure by IMF Funding. What the result mean is that t value 7.381 significant at 0.000. Thus hypothesis 2 is substantiated. IMF funding and tax revenue Data Analysis for Third Hypothesis Ho: There is no significant Impact on the Tax Revenue by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. H3: There is significant Impact on the Tax Revenue by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. YEARS IMF FUNDING TAX REVENUE 1973-1974 527 9,444.00 1974-75 1990 11,428.70 1975-76 1987 13,914.80 1976-77 2497 16,112.50 1977-78 232 20,041.10 1978-79 3406 23,475.70 1979-80 644 30,720.40 1980-81 3789 36,509.30 1981-82 6079 40,367.60 1982-83 7266 46,475.00 1983-84 2812 55,360.00 2000-01 35400 444,800.00 2001-02 65460 486,000.00 Findings : To test the hypothesis, linear regression analysis used. The results of regression of One independent Variable (IMF Funding) against Tax Revenue (dependent variable) can be seen in the following output. Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .958 .917 .910 49565.7061 a Predictors: (Constant), IMF FUNDING ANOVA Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. 1 Regression 300517013184.665 1 300517013184.665 122.323 .000 Residual 27024351475.824 11 2456759225.075 Total 327541364660.489 12 a Predictors: (Constant), IMF b Dependent Variable: TAX REVENUE Coefficients Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. Model B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) 10370.086 15732.008 .659 .523 IMF 8.326 .753 .958 11.060 .000 a Dependent Variable: TAX REVENUE Interpretation of analysis The ANOVA table shows that the F value of 122.323 is significant at the .000 levels. Degree of Freedom column in the table, the first number represent the number of Independent Variable (1) the second number (13) is the data collected for total number of years (N), minus the number of Independent Variable (K) minus 1 or 11=(N-K-1) or (13-1-1)= 12. The F statistics produce (F= 122.323) is significant at the .000 levels. Which shows that Model validity is significant at 0.000 level of significance. What the result mean is that 91.7 percent of variance (R square) in increase in Tax Revenue has been significantly explained by increasing Government Expenditure by way of IMF Funding (Independent variable) with standard error of estimate of 49565.7061. Standard error of estimate shows amount falls outside the regression line or shows standard deviation from mean. There is .000 percent or less chance of this is not holding true. There is correlation of 0.958 (denoted as r=0.958) between IMF Funding (Independent variable) and Tax Revenue (dependent variable) with level of significance 0.000. So there is positive relationship between the two variables and probability of this is not true is zero percent or less. That is 100 percent of time we would expect that this correlation to exist. There is a beta value of .958, which shows that 95.8 percent chance of making TYPE II error if null hypothesis is accepted when it is false. At the same time Un standardized coefficient B= 8.362 indicate s that the value of Tax Revenue increase by 8.326 unit for a one unit increase in Government Expenditure by IMF Funding. What the result mean is that t value 11.060 significant at 0.000. Thus hypothesis 3 is substantiated. IMF funding and FDI Ho: There is no significant Impact on the FDI by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. H1: There is significant Impact on the FDI by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. YEARS IMF FUNDING FDI 1973-1974 527 -189 1974-75 1990 447 1975-76 1987 675 1976-77 2497 321 1977-78 232 1065 1978-79 3406 1080 1979-80 644 840 1980-81 3789 1225 1981-82 6079 3430 1982-83 7266 1473.5 1983-84 2812 1680 2000-01 35400 19995 2001-02 65460 30051.4 Findings : To test the hypothesis, linear regression analysis used. The results of regression of One independent Variable (IMF Funding) against FDI (dependent variable) can be seen in the following output. Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .991 .982 .981 1290.1947 a Predictors: (Constant), IMF ANOVA Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig. 1 Regression 1010046942.200 1 1010046942.200 606.780 .000 Residual 18310625.532 11 1664602.321 Total 1028357567.732 12 a Predictors: (Constant), IMF b Dependent Variable: FDI Coefficients Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. Model B Std. Error Beta 1 (Constant) -128.350 409.504 -.313 .760 IMF .483 .020 .991 24.633 .000 a Dependent Variable: FDI Interpretation of analysis The ANOVA table shows that the F value of 606.780 is significant at the .000 levels. Degree of Freedom column in the table, the first number represent the number of Independent Variable (1) the second number (13) is the data collected for total number of years (N), minus the number of Independent Variable (K) minus 1 or 11=(N-K-1) or (13-1-1)= 12. The F statistics produce (F= 606.780) is significant at the .000 levels. Which shows that Model validity is significant at 0.000 level of significance. What the result mean is that 98.2 percent of variance (R square) in increase in FDI has been significantly explained by increasing Government Expenditure by way of IMF Funding (Independent variable) with standard error of estimate of 1290.1947. Standard error of estimate shows amount falls outside the regression line or shows standard deviation from mean. There is .000 percent or less chance of this is not holding true. There is correlation of 0.991 (denoted as r=0.991) between IMF Funding (Independent variable) and FDI (dependent variable) with level of significance 0.000. So there is positive relationship between the two variables and probability of this is not true is zero percent or less. That is 100 percent of time we would expect that this correlation to exist. There is a beta value of 0.991, which shows that 99.1 percent chance of making TYPE II error if null hypothesis is accepted when it is false. At the same time Un standardized coefficient B= .483 indicates that the value of FDI increase by .483 unit for a one unit increase in Government Expenditure by IMF Funding. What the result mean is that t value 24.633 significant at 0.000. Thus hypothesis 4 is substantiated. IMF funding and current account deficit Data Analysis for Fifth Hypothesis Ho: There is no significant Impact on the FDI by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. H5: There is significant Impact on the FDI by increasing Government Expenditure through IMF Funding. YEARS IMF FUNDING CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT 1973-1974 527 3318 1974-75 1990 10639 1975-76 1987 9212 1976-77 2497 11718 1977-78 232 14835 1978-79

John Steinbeck Outline Essay -- essays research papers

John Steinbeck Outline I. John Steinbeck used his personal experiences as a laborer to write many of his novels like Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath. II. John Steinbeck’s Life A) Family 1. His dad served as the county treasurer. 2. His mom was a school teacher. 3. He was one four children and was the only boy. B) Childhood and Adolescence 1.Born on February 27, 1902 2.Began telling stories as a child 3. Sent short stories to magazines under a false name 4. He was interested in biology, the study of human life 5. Large guy, advantage because he excelled in track and basketball 6. Wrote for the school paper 7. Was the president of his senior class C) Young Adult Life 1. Worked his was through college at Stanford University but never graduated 2. He moved to New York and got a job as a free-lance writer but failed, he then  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   moved back to California. 3. His first book was Cup of Gold but did not attract much attention 4. The novel Tortilla Flat was Steinbeck’s first success. 5. As His reputation as an author began to rise, his personal life took a Plunge. He got divorced but got remarried but that also ended in divorce D) Jobs 1. Worked on nearby ranches, he became acquainted with a migrant worker 2. Sales clerk, farm laborer, ranch hand, factory worker, construction laborer, and a caretaker III. Common settings and Issues A) Settings 1. The Red Pony- set in Salinas, CA in between two mountains, rural setting, on a ranch 2. The Pearl- se...

Medicare :: Long term care

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The Life of Joseph Conrad Joseph Conrad was born Joseph Teodor Konrad Korzenioski in 1857 in Berdichev, Ukraine. He officially changed his name to Joseph Conrad in 1886, when he became a British citizen (Liukkonen). Although Conrad discouraged people from interpreting his literature through analysis his life, his life did shape his writing. Much of his anti-imperialistic views could have sprouted in childhood, when he was under the rule of Russians the Ukraine. His father Apollo Korzeniowski was arrested for suspicious involvement in revolutionary activities (online-literature). Apollo spent much time writing plays and social satires. Although his works were not well known, they gave Joseph an early appreciation for literature. Apollo died of tuberculosis in 1869, four years the same disease claimed his wife, Conrad’s mother. Joseph, only 11, was sent to live with his uncle in Switzerland (online-literature). He went to school for a few years before convincing his uncle to let him go to sea in the mid 1870's. In that decade he made three trips to the Wes...

Performance appraisal system of milma Essay

1.1Introduction to the study In the business world. Investment is made in machinery, equipments and services. Quite naturally time and money is spent ensuring that they provide what their suppliers claim. In other words, the performance is constantly appraised against the results expected. When it comes to one of the most expensive resources companies invest in, namely people, the job appraising performance against results is often carried out with the same objectivity. Each individual has a role to play and management has to ensure that individuals objective translate to overall corporate objective of the organization. The process of HRD helps the employees to acquire and or develop technical, managerial and behavioral knowledge, skills and abilities and moulds the values, beliefs and attitudes necessary to perform present and future roles. The process of performance appraisal helps the employee and the management to know the level of employee’s performance compared to the standard/ pre- determined level. Performance appraisal is essential to understand and improve the employee’s performance through HRD. It was viewed that performance appraisal was useful to decide upon employee promotion/transfer, salary determination. However, the recent developments in human resource management indicate that performance appraisal is the basis for employee development. Human Resource (or personnel) management, in the sense of getting things done through people, is an essential part of every manager’s responsibility, but many organizations find it advantageous to establish a specialist division to provide an expert service dedicated to ensuring that the human resource function is performed efficiently. â€Å"People are our most valuable asset† is a clichà ©, which no member of any senior management team would disagree with. Yet, the reality for many organizations is that their people remain undervalued, under trained and underutilized. Performance Appraisal is the process of assessing the performance and progress of an employee or a group of employees on a given job and his /  their potential for future development. It consists of all formal procedures used in the working organizations to evaluate personalities, contributions and potentials of employees. HRM practices mostly depend upon strategy adapted by the company. Similarly, performance appraisal practices also depend on the strategy. Traditional technique of performance appraisal is appropriate for the stability and sustainable growth strategy. Similarly, appraisal by superior is appropriate for these strategies. Modern performance appraisal technique is sustainable for growth strategies like expansion, diversification, joint venture, merger and acquisitions. These strategies helps the company to meet competition, built competencies, acquire strength, enhance market share, innovate and create new, market, new product and new technologies. Performance appraisal was formerly used for the purpose of evaluating the employee’s performance and controlling the performance against the set standard. This technique was used to control the employee ignoring the human aspect. However, with the emergence of human resource concept, organizations are using this technique to analyze employee’s performance and to further improve or develop it. Thus, this technique is used as an enabling and motivating tool to improve the performance. 1.3 RESEARCH PROBLEM The problem selected for research is to make an in depth study of performance appraisal system of MILMA at THRISSUR. Performance appraised is the systematic description of an employee’s job relevant strength and weakness. It is aimed at knowing how the employees feel about the system that is prevailing in the firm, their suggestions if any for making system effective and to know whether it satisfies the need of company and employee. Thus the main problem behind is to make the performance appraisal an effective tool to improve employees work level and their productivity 1.4 TITTLE OF STUDY The study entitled â€Å" a study on performance appraisal system at supervisory level of Milma in Thrissur 1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY In every business organization, the most important asset is its employees in  all level. The performance appraisal is a systematic process consisting of number of steps to be followed for evaluating an employee’s strength and weakness. It is a systematic and objective description of an employee’s strength and weakness in terms of job. The appraisal is continuous and ongoing process where the evaluation is arranged periodically according to definite plan. This study would provide valuable suggestion to management. The presented study related to the survey including the office staff of various departments. 1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY Performance appraisal have been considered as the most significance as indispensible tool for an organization. For an organization, information it provides is highly useful in making decisions regarding various personnel aspect such as promotion and merit increases. Performance measure also link information gathering and decision making processes, which provides a basis for judging the effectiveness of personnel sub divisions such as recruiting, selection, training and compensation. Accurate information plays a vital role in the organization as a whole. They help in finding out weakness in the primary area. Formal performance appraisal plans are designed to meet three needs of the organization and other two of individual namely: They provide systematic judgments to back up salary increase, transfers demotion or termination They are the means of telling a subordinate how he is doing and suggesting needed change in his behavior attitude skill or job knowledge. They let him know where h e stands. Superior uses them as basis for coaching and counseling the individual 1.6 OBJECTIVE OF STUDY To study the performance appraisal system in MILMA DIARY THRISSUR To know the employees awareness of performance appraisal system To know the satisfaction level of employees with current performance appraisal system To suggest measures for improving current system 1.7 RESAERCH METHODOLOGY RESEARCH DESIGN Research design gives the outline of a research work that involves planning  for data and analyzing the collected data. The research design is the conceptual structure within which research is conducted. There are 2 type of research design Exploratory research designs Conclusive research design Descriptive research design Causal research design Tools and techniques The tools and technique involve various accounting technique and statistical tools like percentage, which are used as a device to analyze and interpret the performance appraisal of Milma. Graphs, tables figures, pie and bar diagram are used as it helps in presenting facts and figures in simple and easy way so as to get a clear idea. DATA COLLECTION Primary data Secondary data Primary data: the primary data was collected through personal interview and questionnaire given to the staff at supervisory level. Each individual employee in the sample was separately interviewed and asked to fill the questionnaire Secondary data: Data, which are not originally collected but rather obtained from published or unpublished. Secondary data used in study are project reports and records. Questionnaire Construction Questionnaires were constructed based on the following types: †¢ Open ended questions †¢ Close ended questions †¢ Multiple choice questions Sampling method Survey is used as a sampling method. Out of total employees, 50 employees are selected as samples. And data was collected through questionnaire method. FIELD OF STUDY: Milma at Thrissur DURATION OF STUDY: Three week 1.8 LIMITATION OF STUDY: Employees were reluctant to reveal their problem freely before students Personal bias and prejudice of the respondent could have affected the result of study Most of the respondents seem to be very busy with their jobs and are not interested in answering the questionnaire CHAPTER – II PROFILES 2.1 INDUSTRY PROFILE MILK INDUSTRY Milk and milk based industries plays an important role in the world. Internationalization remains a key focus for almost all of the world’s leading dairy farm. The entire world’s largest dairy farm operates in more than one country and some of them are truly international with the activities in every part of the world. The availability of milk and milk product, in the modern world is blend of the centuries old knowledge of traditional milk product with the application of modern science and technology. Diary is a place where handling of milk and milk product is done. WORLD SCENARIO HISTORY OF INTERNATIONAL DIARY FEDERATION The internal diary federation, with its head quarter brissels, was established in 1903 and consists of 32 member countries throughout the  world. UNICEF has been the motivating force for establishing diary industry in many under developed countries. One of these in India, where large processing plant have been set up to process locally produced milk or to reconstitute milk from donated or purchased milk fat and powder. Domestic milk production has increased in India and a part of the pasteurized milk is provided free to children in the larger cities through UNICEF. The first co-operative artificial breeding association was organized in Denmark in 1936. There are now many such association which helped the diary industries. After 1950, diary industry faced a wide range of development throughout the world. INDIAN SCENARIO ORIGIN OF THE INDUSTRY Indian diary sector has come a long way during the past independence era of acute milk shortage and depended on foreign aid in the form of milk powder to meet the growing milk demand. India’s milk production in 1950-1951 was low as million tones. The diary sector in India has shown remarkable development in past decades and India has shown now become one of the largest producer of milk and the value added milk product in the world. Today Company has emerged as the second largest milk producer in the world currently there are over 275 diary plants and 83 milk products factories in co-operative, public and private sector. The world famous ‘Anand Milk Union Limited’ popularly known as Amul was established in 1946 and the National Dairy Development Board was set up in 1965. Kerala Cooperative Marketing Milk Federation (KCMMF) popularly known as Milma was established in April 1980. Diary co-operative accounts major share of processed liquid milk marketed in the country. Milk is processed and marketed by 170 milk producers’ co-operative unions, which federated into 15 state Co-operative milk marketing federation. By the end of the third phase of operation flood programme about 72700 dairy co-operative societies with 93 million farmer member where organization. The company has at present one lakh organized primary village diary co-operative with an aggregate membership of 1.1 crore producers. The co-operative milk procurement crossed 20-millon kg/day in 2004-05. Over the years, brand created by cooperatives have become synonymous with quality and value. In Kerala there are 3243 dairy  co-operative includding2404 Anand pattern society functioning under KCMMF. Milam represents more than 7.63 lakh diary framers who have organized 2404 Anand pattern diary cooperative diary societies. It also represents 10 diaries, handling 9.96 lakh liters milk/ day chilling plant, 2 cattle plant, a milk powder plant, an established training center and 5000 distribution outlets. OPERATION FLOOD The dairy program called operation flood was launched in 1970 under the aegis of NDDB. NDDB. Functional as technical consultant and the rest while Indian diary co-operation as the funding agency as the ideology followed by the operation flood was the remuneration linking of rural milk producing centered with the demand centers so as to build up a viable dairy industry. STATE SCENARIO OPERATION FLOOD IN KERALA The operation flood in Kerala was included in the second phase of operation flood (1981-87) the 8th southern district from Trivandrum to Thrissur were included in the area of the project which has a total outlay of Rs. 99 crores. The uncovered northern area from Palakad to Kasargod was thus brought under the co-operative umbrella with the inspection of north Kerala Dairy Project. KERALA CO-OPERATIVE MILK MARKETING FEDERATION LIMITED (KCMMF) The Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF) popularly called ‘Milma’ was established in April 1980 as a part of operation flood 2nd program, with head office at Thiruvananthapuram. It was started under the indo Swiss project. The project was launched in 1963 based on a bilateral agreement execute between the Swiss Confederation and the Government of India. The project was made great strides in the improvement of livestock farming in the state. One of them is the development of Swiss brown a cross bread suited for the state condition. The project is now Kerala livestock board. Its main motive was to implement the operation flood program started by NDDB in Kerala. KCMMF has played a major role in the development of dairying in the state. It has a strong presence in the market. With an  ever-increasing demand for the entire product manufactured by KCMMF, it is necessary that efforts be taken to fill in the gaps arising out of inadequate supply. The KCMMF is a three-tier system with the primary milk co-operative societies at village level, regional milk producers union at middle level and an apex body at the state level. At present there are three regional co-operative unions operating. They are: 1. Trivandrum regional Co-operative Milk Producers Union limited (TRCMPU) 2. Ernakulum Regional Co-operative Milk Producers Union Limited (ERCMPU) 3. Malabar Regional Co-operative Milk Marketing Producers Union Limited (MRCMPU) 2.2 ORGANISATIONAL PROFILE Brand household name, ‘MILMA’ stands for milk and a whole variety of milk products, which enjoy the confidence of each Keralite, for their unmatched quality and standard. The name also signifies the vast organization Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF) with it units of procurement, processing and sale spread over all the villages and towns of the state, giving employment and prosperity to a large number of small and marginal farmers including women and the landless, processing employees and sellers. KCMMF was established in 1980 with its Head Office at Thiruvananthapuram for the successful implementation of the dairy programme ‘Operation Flood’ under NDDB. Over the years, MILMA has developed a long-term health perspective about the people of the state, who suffer from life style diseases including diabetes and obesity, albeit economic prosperity. So, MILMA has attuned its products to ensure balanced nutrition as well as reduced cost of healthcare and also launched new beverages other than milk products. Founded because of the great democratic principle ‘of the People, by the People and for the People’, the dominant concern of MILMA is to render true service to society while ensuring that it does not incur losses. Organizational study is conducted in the Kerala Co-operative milk marketing federation popularly known as Milma at Thrissur diary is under the control of ERCMPU ltd Edapilly. This regional union was registered 12/09/1985 and is an ISO: 9001:2000 certified company. The company aims in the socio-economic progress of dairy farmer by procuring  their milk at most remunerative price around the year and by ensuring consumer Satisfaction through prompt satisfaction of prompt supply of pasteurized milk products. Now 142 APCOS are functioning and milk from these societies are collected twice per day by diary around the year. By providing input facilities such as veterinary services, cattle feed supply, insemination facilities, support for folder department activities and manpower training on scientific aspect of clean milk providing to dairy farmers. The capacity of Thrissur plant is 60000liter/day. Every day they procure 34000-liter milk from primary society twice per day by milk routs. In this unit, they produce ghee, buttermilk and milk. Thrissur dairy have seven departments. Among this, one is handled directly from the head office. The departments are Procurement and input section Marketing Engineering Quality control Production Accounts Procurement and administration For procuring milk from primary society, vehicles are used on basis of contract with the owners. Three-tier system is followed for this purpose. If any one of them could not meet the requirement, then it is given to the third party. In each department one assistant manager is been appointed. The name Milma represents 2568 primary milk co-operative societies 7.5 lakh farmer members 3 regional co-operative milk producers union 11 dairies capable of handling 9- 90 lakh liters of milk per day 13 milk chilling centers 2 cattle feed plant with cumulative capacity of 600 MT per day One milk powder plant of 10 MT/ day A well established training centers 5200 retail outlets Over 32000 people working directly or indirectly for the functions of Milma  apart from these Milma serve millions of consumer day in and day out. OBJECTIVES To channelize marketable surplus milk from rural area to urban deficit area to maximize the return to the producer and provide quality milk and milk products to the consumer. To carry out activities for promoting production, procurement, processing and marketing of milk and milk products for the economic development of farming community To build up a viable diary industry in the state To provide constant market and stable price to the diary farmers for their producers. MILMA NETWORKS The motto of co-operative â€Å"of the people, by the people, and for the people† is the three-tier structure followed by the organization. At the village level, they have the village milk co-operatives societies, which have the local milk producers as its members. The village co-operative unit at the regional level form regional co-operative milk producer unions. These unions are federated at the state level to form state federated namely Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF). MILMA’S ASSOCIATES Milma is in constant touch with other organization in this sector. It is namely through this tremendous change that Milam grew from a small diary co-operative to the position it holds today. CHIEF ASSOCIATES ARE: National diary development board NDDB under Dr. Kurien’s guidance set up KCMMF in 1980. Ever since they, there has been a very close co-operation between NDDB and the federation. NDDB are the originator of the operation flood programme and have been funding agent for the operation flood project in Kerala. AMUL The diary co-operative of Gujarat have been the inspiration of the  development of such a vast network of diary co-operative in Kerala. Among the co-operative in Gujarat, the kaira district co-operative milk producer union (AMUL) is the first in this sector. Its cooperative is called â€Å"Anand Pattern Co-operative Societies† following the illustrious lineage of AMUL. GOVERNMENT OF KERALA The phenomenal success of dairy co-operatives in Kerala could not have been achieved without the foundation of animal husbandry activities, led by animal husbandry department and Kerala livestock department development board of the government of Kerala. ORGANISATIONAL CHART DIARY MANAGER P & A P& I ACCOUNTS MARKETING ENGINEERING PRODUCTION QUALITY CONTROL Junior Assistant A/c officer Assistant Technical TS dairy Dairy Supervisor PO Marketing Supervisor Chemist Officer Junior Senior Junior Marketing Junior Plant Lab Assistant Supervisor Supervisor Organizer Assistant Operator Technician Junior Junior Marketing Technician Plant attender Lab Supervisor Assistant Assistant Assistant Attender Attender FUNCTIONAL AREAS OF KCMMF KCMMF HEAD OFFICE Provides staff management functions to support its units and regional milk unions. KCMMF head office has a well established marketing, quality control, production , finance, HRD. MARKETING Brand management Lean flush management Bulk trading of surplus products Institutional supply contracts Co-ordinate promotional activities Packaging and product development Procurement and consumer pricing PURCHASE Centralized purchase of dairy consumables. Purchase of raw materials for cattle feed plants Purchase function of KCMMF head office QUALITY CONTROL Render technical and legal assistance to primary dairy co-operatives and regional milk unions. Liaison and maintain quality of milk and milk products as per the standards Liaison with statutory authorities for bringing in suitable amendments in statutes Attend to consumer complaints on quality problem FINANCE Financial management of KCMMF and its units. Liaison with financial institutions for availing loan for creation of infrastructure. Liaison with government for availing government financial assistance Long term repayment and scheduling of loans Capital management scheme for primary co-operative societies. Recommend remunerations of APCOS employees. HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELPOEMENT Milma family has 2098 skilled, efficient and qualified personnel and has an excellent labour relationship. Take active role in farming personnel policies and service rules. Finalize long-term wage settlement, bonus etc. CHAPTER III LITERATURE REVIEW LITERATURE REVIEW Rationale of performance appraisal Performance appraisals are one of the most important requirements for successful business and human resource policy (Kressler, 2003). Rewarding and promoting effective performance in organizations, as well as identifying ineffective performers for developmental programs or other personnel actions are essential to effective to human resource management (Pulakos, 2003). The ability to conduct performance appraisals relies on the ability to assess an employee’s performance in a fair and accurate manner. Evaluating employee performance is a difficult task. . Once the supervisor understands the nature of the job and the sources of information, the information needs to be collected in a systematic way, provided as feedback, and integrated into the organization’s performance management process for use in making compensation, job placement, and training decisions and assignments (London, 2003). After a review of literature, a performance appraisal model will be described in detail. The model discussed is an example of a performance appraisal system that can be implemented in a large institution of higher education, within the Student Affairs division. The model can be applied to tope level, middle-level and lower level employees. Evaluation instruments (forms) are provided to assist you with implementation the appraisal system. Introduction to performance appraisal Performance evaluations have been conducted since the times of Aristotle (Landy, Zedeck, Cleveland, 1983). The earliest formal employee performance evaluation program is thought to have originated in the United States military establishment shortly after the birth of the republic (Lopez, 1968). The measurement of an employee’s performance allows for rational administrative decisions at the individual employee level. It also provides for the raw data for the evaluation of the effectiveness of such personnel- system components and processes as recruiting policies, training programs, selection rules, promotional strategies, and reward allocations (Landy, Zedeck, Cleveland, 1983). In addition, it provides the foundation for behaviorally based employee counseling. In the counseling setting, performance information provides the vehicle for increasing satisfaction, commitment, and motivation of the employee. Performance measurement allows the organization to tell the employee something about their rates of growth, their competencies, and their potentials. There is little disagreement that if well done, performance measurements and feedback can play a valuable role in effecting the grand compromise between the needs of the individual and the needs of the organization (Landy, Zedeck, Cleveland, 1983). Performance appraisals should focus on three objectives: Purpose of performance appraisal system Performance, not personalities; valid, concrete, relevant issues, rather than subjective emotions and feelings; reaching agreement on what the employee is going to improve in his performance and what you are going to do (McKirchy, 1998). Both the supervisor and employee should recognize that a strong relationship exists between training and performance evaluation (Barr, 1993). Each employee should be allowed to participate in periodic sessions to review performance and clarify expectations. Both the supervisor and the employee should recognize these sessions as constructive occasions for two-way communication. Sessions should be scheduled ahead of time in a comfortable setting and should include opportunities for self-assessment as well as supervisor feedback. These sessions will be particularly important for new employees who will benefit from early identification of performance problems. Once these observations have been shared, the supervisor and employee should develop a mutual understanding about areas for improvement,  problems that need to be corrected, and additional responsibilities that might be undertaken. When the goals are identified, a plan for their achievement should be developed. The plan may call for resources or support from other staff members in order to meet desired outcomes. In some cases, the plan might involve additional training. The supervisor should keep in contact with the employee to assure the training experiences are producing desired impact (Barr, 1993). A portion of the process should be devoted to an examination of potential opportunities to pursue advancement of acceptance of more complex responsibilities. The employee development goals should be recognized as legitimate, and plans should be made to re ach the goals through developmental experiences or education (Barr, 1993). Encouraging development is not only a supervisor’s professional responsibility, but it also motivates an employee to pursue additional commitments. In addition, the pursuit of these objectives will also improve the prospect that current employees will be qualified as candidates when positions become available. This approach not only motivates current performance but also assists the recruitment of current employees as qualified candidates for future positions (Barr, 1993). How to arrive? Reasons why need to be done Benefits of productive performance appraisals. – Employee learns of his or her own strengths in addition to weaknesses. – New goals and objectives are agreed upon. – Employee is an active participant in the evaluation process. – The relationship between supervisor and employees is taken to an adult-to-adult level. – Work teams may be restructured for maximum efficiency. – Employee renews his or her interest in being a part o f the organization now and in the future. – Training needs are identified. – Time is devoted to discussing quality of work without regard to money issues. – Supervisor becomes more comfortable in reviewing the performance of employees. – Employees feel that they are taken seriously as individuals and that the supervisor is truly concerned about their needs and goals. (Randi, Toler, Sachs, 1992). Pitfalls to Avoid performance appraisal When conducting performance appraisals on any level, it is important to keep in mind the common pitfalls to avoid. These pitfalls may include but are not limited to : 1. Bias/prejudice. Race, religion, education, family background, age and/or sex. 2. Trait assessment. Too much attention to characteristics that have nothing to do with job and are difficult to measure. 3. Over-emphasis on favorable or unfavorable performance of one or two task, which could lead to an unbalanced evaluation of the overall contribution. 4. Relying on impression rather than on facts. 5. Holding the employees responsible for factors beyond his/her control. 6. Failure to provide each employee with an opportunity for advance preparation (Maddux 1993 LEGAL IMPLICATIONS Any performance appraisal system used to make employment decisions about a member of a protected class (i.e. Based on age, race, religion, gender, or national origin) must be a valid system (an accurate measure of performance associated with job requirements). Otherwise, it can be challenged in the courts based on Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1991 and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1975 (London, 2003). Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection 1978 is the controlling federal law in the area of performance appraisals. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) requires that any measurement used to differentiate between employees must be valid and fairly administered. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) suggests that performance appraisals for people with disabilities for people with disabilities will not be conducted any differently than those for other employees. Another important aspect to consider is the employee’s right to privacy. Employees must have complete access to their personnel files, but others should have controlled access. The records should be accurate, relevant, and current. Rewards Effective reward systems are often hard to establish when creating performance appraisals. The question of how specific the reward, when the  reward should be given, and how to reward group efforts can be a tricky subject to master. Our advice on this is to keep it simple. It is important to have an established reward system. However, rewards can be as simple as more autonomy on the job, praise for progress, additional professional development funding, and vacation time. The important aspect to remember when establishing reward systems is to be consistent. If two employees are being evaluated in the same way, their reward opportunities should reflect their evaluation outcomes. THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK Meaning Performance appraisal system is a method of evaluating the behavior of employees in the work spot normally including both the qualitative and quantitative and qualitative aspect of job performance. Performance here refers to the degree of accomplishment of the task that makes up an individual’s job. It indicates how well an individual is fulfilling the job demand. Some of the important features of performance appraisal may be captured thus Performance appraisal is the systematic description of employee’s job relevant strength and weakness. The basic purpose is to find out how well the employee is performing the job and establish a plan of improvement Appraisals are arranged periodically according to a definite plan. Performance appraisal is not job evaluation. Performance appraisal refers to how well someone is doing the assigned job. Job evaluation determines how much a job is worth to the organization and therefore what range of pay should be assigned to the job. Performance appraisal is a continuous process in every large-scale organization. NEED FOR PEORFORMANCE APPRAISAL Performance appraisal is needed in order to: Provide information about the performance ranks basing on which decision regarding salary fixation, confirmation, promotion, transfer and demotion are taken. Provide feedback information about the level of achievement and behavior of subordinate. The information helps to review the performance of subordinates, rectifying performance deficiencies and to set new standards of work, if necessary. Provide information, which helps to counsel the  subordinates. To prevent grievances and in disciplinary activities. WHO WILL APPRAISE 360-degree performance appraisal: the appraiser may be any person who has thorough knowledge about the job content, contents to be appraised standards of content, and who observers the employee while performing a job. Typical appraisers are supervisors, peers, subordinates, employees themselves, user of service Consultant. Performance appraised by all these parties is called 360-degree performance appraisal. Supervisors include superiors of the employee, other supervisors having knowledge about the work of the employee and department head or manager. General practice is that immediate superiors appraise the performance, which in turn is reviewed by the departmental head/manager. This is because supervisors are responsible for managing their subordinates and they have the opportunity to observe, direct and control the subordinates continuously. On the negative side, immediate supervisors may emphasize certain aspect of employee performance to the neglect of others. In addition, managers, have been manipulate evaluation to justify their decision on pay increase and promotions. Peers appraisal may be reliable if the work group is stable over a reasonably long period and performs tasks that require interaction. However, little research has been conducted to determine how peers establish standard for evaluating others or the overall effect of peer appraisal on the group’s attitude. Subordinates: the concept of having superior rated by subordinates is being used in most of the organizations especially in developed countries. Such a  navel method can be useful in other organizational setting too provided the relationship between superior and subordinates are cordial. Subordinates rating in such cases can be quite useful in identifying competent superiors. Self-appraisal: if individuals understand the objective they are expected and the standards by which they are to be evaluated, they are largely in the best position to appraise their own performance. In addition, since employee development means self-development, employees who appraise their own performance may become highly motivated. User of services, customers: The customers or user of services can better judge Employee’s performance in service organization relating to behavior, promptness, speed in doing the job and accuracy. Consultant: sometimes consultant may be engaged for appraisal when employees or employer do not trust supervisor appraisal and management does not trust self appraisal or peer appraisal or subordinates appraisal. In this situation, consultants are trained and they observe the employee at work for sufficiently long time for the purpose of appraisal. METHODS OF PERFORMNACE APPRASIAL With the evolution and development of appraisal system a number of methods and techniques of performance appraisal have been developed. Some of them are TRAIT METHOD Trait method to performance appraisal measures the extent to which employees possess trait or characteristics like dependability, creativity, initiative, dynamism, ability to motivate and leadership. Trait method is based on job description and job specification. Graphic rating scale: graphic rating scale compares individual performance to absolute standards. In this method, judgments about performance are recorded on a scale. This is oldest and widely used technique. One of reason for the popularity of the rating scale is its simplicity, which permits many employees to be quickly evaluated. Such scales have relatively low design cost and high in case of administration. The major drawback to these is their subjectivity and low reliability Ranking method: Under this method, employees are ranked from  best to worst on some characteristics. The rater first finds the employee with the highest performance and the employee with the lowest performance in that particular job category and rates the former as best and the later as the poorest. One important limitation of the ranking method is that the size of the difference between individual is not well defined. Paired comparison method: this method is relatively simple. Under this method, appraiser ranks the employee by comparing one employee with all other employees in the group, one at a time. Forced distribution method: forced distribution method is developed to prevent the rater from rating too high or too low. Under this method, the rater after assigning points to the performance of each employee has to distribute his rating in a pattern to confirm to normal frequency distribution. This method eliminates central tendency and leniency biases. Essay or free form appraisal: this method requires the manager to write a short essay describing each employee’s performance during the rating period. This format emphasizes evaluation of overall performance, based on strength and weakness of employee performance, rather than specific job dimensions. The time involved in writing separate essay about each employee can be formidable. Group appraisal: under this method, a group of appraisers appraises an employee. This group consists of the immediate supervisors of the employee, to other supervisors who have close contact with the employees work, manager or head of the department and consultants. The group appraises the performance of the employee, compared the actual with the standards of performance, find out deviations, discusses the reason therefore, suggest ways for improvements of performance, prepare action plans, study the need for change in the job analysis and standards and recommends change if necessary. Confidential report: assessing the employee’s performance confidentially is a traditional method of performance appraisal. Under this method, superior appraises the performance of the subordinates based on his observation, judgment and intuitions. The superior keeps his judgment and report confidentially. In other words, the superior are not allow the employee to know his report and performance. BEHAVIOURAL METHODS While trait measures various characteristics, behavioral methods measures employee behavioral skill on a continuum. Behavioral checklist method: a  checklist is designed with the list of statements that describe the behavior essential for employee performance. The appraiser checks whether the appraise possess them or not. Employee’s performance is rated based on the behavioral skills that the employee possesses to the total statements. Critical incident method: employee are rated discontinuously, i.e. once in a year or six months under the earlier methods. The performance rated may not reflect real and overall performance as the rater would be serious about the appraisal about two or three weeks before the appraisal. Hence, a continuous appraisal method, i.e. critical incident method was developed. Under this method, the supervisor continuously records the critical incident of the employee performance or behavior relating to all characteristics in a specially designed notebook. The critical incident method has the advantage of being objective because the rater considers the record of the performance rather than the subjective point of opinion. Behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS): the BARS method combines elements of the traditional rating scale and critical incident methods. Using BARS, job behavior from critical incidents- effective and ineffective behaviors are described more objectively. This method employs individuals who are familiar with a particular job to identify its major components. They then rank and validate specific behaviors for each of the components. Behavior observation scale (BOS): the appraiser, under this method, measure how frequently each of the behavior has been observed. Appraiser plays the role of observer rather than a judge and provides the feedback to the appraise continuously. Assessment centre: in this approach, individual from various departments are brought together to spend two or three days, working on an individual or group assignment similar to ones they would have been handling when promoted. Observers rank the performance of each participant in order of merit. RESULT METHODS Organizations of contemporary period evaluate employee performance based on accomplishments they achieve rather than based on the behavioral factors/traits. Employee accomplishments include sale turnover, number of units produced, and number of customers served, number of complaints settled and the like. Productivity measures: under the productivity measures of performance appraisal, employees are appraised based on the ratio of output  they turned out to the input they used. The balanced scorecard: it brings the linkage among financial, customer, processes and learning. Learning and people management contribute to the enhancement of internal processes. Internal processes are critical for enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty. The balanced scorecard can be used to appraise employee performance. The following recommendations ensure the successful application of balanced scorecard to performance management. Human resource accounting: human resource accounting deals with cost and contribution of human resource to the organization. Cost of the employee includes cost of work force planning, training, development, wages etc. employee contribution is the money value of employee service, which can be measured by labour productivity, or value added by human resource. Management by objectives: MBO is a process whereby the superior and subordinate manager of an organization jointly identifies its common goals, define each individual’s major areas of responsibility in terms of results expected of him, and use these measures of guides for operating the unit and assessing the contribution of its members. SYSTEMS OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL Establish performance standards Communicate standards/ expectations to employee. Measure actual performance by following the instructions. Adjust the actual performance due to the environmental influence Compare the adjusted performance with that of others and previous Compare the actual performance with standards and find out deviations, if any. Communicate the actual performance to the employee concerned. Suggest changes in job analysis and standards, if necessary. Follow – up performance appraisal report. USES OFPERFORMANCE APPRIASAL Performance appraisal has several uses. The important among them are: Performance improvement: performance feedback allows the employees, manager and personnel specialist to intervene with appropriate actions to improve performance Compensation adjustment: A performance evaluation helps decision-makers determine who should receive pay raises. Many firms grant  part or all of their pay increases and bonuses based upon merit, which is determined mostly through performance appraisal. Placement decisions: promotions, transfers and demotions are usually are based on past or anticipated performance. Often promotions are reward for past performance. Training and development needs: poor performance may indicate the need for retraining. Likewise, good performance may indicate untapped potential that should be developed. Career planning and development: performance feedbacks guide career decision about specific career paths one should investigate. Staffing process deficiencies: good or bad performance implies strength and weakness in the personnel departments staffing procedure. Informational inaccuracies: poor performance may indicate error in job analysis information, human resource plans, or other part of personnel management information system. Reliance on accurate information may led to inappropriate hiring, training, or counseling decisions. Job design errors: poor performance may be a symptom of ill- conceived job design. Appraisals help diagnose these errors. PROBLEMS OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL The major problem of performance appraisal is- 1. Rating biases Halo effect The error of central tendency The leniency and strictness The recency effect 2. Failure of the superiors in conducting performance appraisal nad post performance appraisal interviews 3. Most part of the appraisal is based on subjectivity 4. Les reliability and validity of the performance appraisal techniques 5. Negative rating affect interpersonal relations and industrial relation system 6. Influence of external environmental factors and uncontrollable internal factors 7. Feedback and post appraisal interview may have a setback on production 8. Relationship between appraisal rates and performance after promotions was not significant 9. Absence of inter –rater reliability