Credit-Default Swaps and the Fate of AIG Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Credit-Default Swaps and the Fate of AIG - Essay Example The buyers of the credit mechanisms in most a cases are investors and the process of purchasing bond from the seller are comparable to the purchasing an indemnity contract (Rottleb, 2009). The payment done by the investor is characterized of it plagiaristic form that is always used as tradable security to the organization in question. The â€Å"Naked† credit default swaps are when an individual with no experience in dealing with CDS purchase the CDS protecting if from declining because of the upheavals in the economic conditions of the country. Naked credits purchasers are individuals taking a bet of non-payment to be sold to be sold to an individual who is a need of protection against a mechanism default (Pe?rez, 2011). The importance of CDS can not be underrated. It gives investors a break though to predict the changes within a default mechanisms or market catalogues to take suitable decisions regarding purchasing or selling CDS. An example is that an investor may profit to accrue proceeds from the excess of credit default swap from ‘basis trade’, since it combines various default mechanism with the cash bonds of an organization. The mechanism also opens up other avenues for speculations. A saver is at liberty in laying promises to take charge of a bond by promising the seller that he or she is fully liable incase of eventuality of a drop of CDS. An example is when a company A has certainty that company B is going to decline. It purchases bonds of unknown worth from the company to shield it against company C that was waiting to take over the assets of C on its fall. The CDS has the terms of its contract stipulated in the, in the ‘The International Swap and Derivates operation‘. The terms entail the deadline for protection of an organization from declining. Secondly, the terms also spell out the computation mechanisms to apply in determining the effectiveness off administrative function used on the transactions. Lastly, the term s also spell out the structure of the credit event that will lead to the payments of the cash used to insure an organization (Boberski, 2009). There are 2 forms of settlement for CDS associated with the settlement of the mechanisms are Physical or cash settlement. Physical Settlement and Cash Settlement Physical payment is the payment made by an investor to buys bonds to protect them from declining. The buyer investor pays the seller par value of the sold CDS. Cash settlement is the settlement the retailer pays the purchaser the variation par value of the CDS bought by a buyer or an investor. Synthetic Credit Default This is a debt that is taken with provision of security to acts as collateral for the debt taken. The debt taken is invested in other channels like CDS. Synthetic swap are based on the risk individuals take. The cons of synthetic CDS far outweigh its pros; thus it is not efficient. Disadvantages of Synthetic Credit Default Swap The use of synthetic CDS is not effective, since it is not given similar of financial support like the other available money souks because a risk taken by an individual will not be paid completely, rather the payments will be made in portions. Secondly, it requires different views from the stakeholders to

Global Ecological Justice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Global Ecological Justice - Essay Example While it is a fact that not everybody is moved to action because of the ecological plight of others, especially those in future generation, it is still the duty of the current generation to ensure that there is proper consciousness concerning the environment. It is a fact that if the current generation does not meet this obligation to the future ones, then there is the possibility that future generations will look back upon it with resentment because of the failed responsibility (Niazi, 2010). It is in the interest of the current generation to ensure that the sustainability of the planet and as well as the survival of the human race, is highly dependent on the achievement of the ecological justice that has to be attained for future generations. If no account is kept in the current era for the protection of the ecological interests of future generations, there is little assurance that the ecology will be maintained for future generations to enjoy, therefore resulting in crisis (Visvan athan, 2006).There are some who have argued that there is no need for attention to be given to future generations because their protection has already been considered in the laws that protect current generations (Boyce et al, 2007). They would further argue that the creation of laws aimed at protecting the environment are based on the protection of future generations hence there is no need to take an active part in ecological justice. Since most of the rules concerning modernity state that individuals should live in the present. and forget about the future, many individuals have come not to take any action to ensure that the environment is protected and maintained (Weston, 2012). In fact, it can be said that most individuals believe that the best way to live is to live in the present and forget about the future because it will take care of itself. Although it is necessary to protect the rights of the current generation before that of the future, the rights of this generation should not be allowed to overshadow the main priority of environmental protection which is its preservation for the future. It has therefore become necessary to ensure that there is a balance between the ecological interests of the current generations as well as those of the future so that there is no conflict of interest in the long run. If intergenerational justice is

Knowledge Management Initiatives taken by Organizations

Knowledge Management Initiatives taken by Organizations Knowledge Management is defined as the systematic approach that invents, understands, shares, creates and utilizes knowledge in order to create values such as customers value, employees value, stockholders value, business partners value and also social value to achieve the vision and goal of the organization. Knowledge Management develops and operates effective system, which realizes for right person at right time to transfer smoothly and utilize their knowledge. Q2 INTRODUCTION Knowledge management is defined as the ability of an organization to create, share and use the collective knowledge of its products, processes and people to increase workplace productivity and reduce activities that reinvent the wheel-is being moved to the forefront of many corporate agendas. As firms seek to build competitive advantage in increasingly competitive markets, they are turning to a previously untapped resource: their employees knowledge. In the later half of the 1990s both IBM and Nortel Networks were facing significant external pressures. From 1986 to 1992, IBMs market shares dropped from 30% to 19% with each percentage point representing $3 billion in revenues. Rather than paying attention to customer needs, IBM focused on its own financial needs and tried to reduce costs by cutting customer service staff and levels of support. In the end, customers were driven away. Thus by mid-1990s the changing market environment and downsizing necessitated that IBM rethink the basic way that it serviced customers in order to reduce customer defections and increase sales. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, IBMs primary point of contact with its customers was through business partners, the direct catalog, and the traditional Blue suits. Given that theses points of contact were not supporting the business strategic goals and requirements to remain competitive, an internal task force was charged with reengineering IBMs customer relationship management (CRM) process. Customer relationship management (CRM) involves attracting, development and maintaining successful customer relationships over time. At the core of CRM are the development of a learning relationship that engages customers in a two-way collaborative dialogue that is effective and efficient for both customers and the firm. When effective, this knowledge-based process leads to a relationship that gets smarter and deeper through every interaction. The task force charges with addressing the business problem recognized that advanced information technology, the burgeoning internet, and the emerging network-centric environment presented great opportunities for reengineering IBMs CRM process and leveraging its knowledge assets. Similarly at Nortel Networks, the Telecommunications Reform Act of 1996 produced intense competition in the telecom industry, yielding an explosion in the development of innovative telecommunications technology. The new rules of the deregulated telecommunications marketplace forced Nortel to recognize that differentiation through innovation was one of the few strategies that might allow the company to continue to succeed. Like IBM, an internal group was charged with the task force of addressing this strategic business goal and requirement. After preliminary research, the group discovered that the generation and existence of innovative ideas within Nortel was not the issue. Rather, Nortels existing new product development (NPD) process had no formal mechanism to systematically capture, develop, and mange internally generated ideas (i.e, ideas that could be developed into product or service concepts and evaluated for funding). Developing ideas and evaluating concepts is knowledge-inten sive work based on the individual and collective expertise of the employees. The Nortel task force set out to reengineer its NPD process in order to leverage its knowledge assets. The efforts of this two organizations initiatives were guided by strategic business goals and requirements that in turn, led them to focus on business processes that were most relevant to achieve desired performance. Core business processes like CRM and NPD represent the fundamental link between business and knowledge workers performance. The reality for both IBM and Nortel was that their respective business requirements would be achieved through processes, and both organizations were only as good as their processes, which ultimately depend on the behaviors of knowledge workers. Driven by this performance reality, IBMs reengineered CRM process was designed to enhance the customer relationship, while Nortels reengineered NPD process was designed to produce a continuous stream of products and services. Both organizations structured their new processes be decomposing the process into knowledge-based activities, simultaneously identifying the required flows of data, information and knowledge between activities and knowledge workers. This analysis led to the specification of knowledge-base drivers (types, sources, and receivers) of each activity, decision or information flow. The reengineering of IBMs CRM and Nortels NPD process created new knowledge worker performance requirements, triggering requisite changes to individual work behaviors. Ultimately, both IBM and Nortel designed and implemented technology-based interventions to support the performance of knowledge workers. Drawing from the disciplines of Knowledge Management and CRM, IBM developed an internet-based system called inside IBM. The system allowed customers to link directly to IBMs intranet and backend cross-functional knowledge-based resources. Inside IBM subsequently was adopted as a corporate standard leading to IBMs e-Services, as it is known today. IBMs effort facilitated a collaborative and learning relationship between IBM and its customers. This led to improved decision-making for both customer and the organizations sales and services workforce, leading too increase loyalty. IBM estimated that $525 million of incremental revenue and $50 million of productivity savings were realized o ver a three-year period as a result of this initiative. Similarly, Nortel developed a Knowledge Management system called Virtual Mentor, which supported both the performance of knowledge workers (engineers) engaged in developing raw ideas into robust concepts and decision makers (managers) tasked with making funding decisions. Virtual mentor subsequently was integrated into a broader corporate time-to-market strategy that is in place today. Nortels efforts led to decreased time-to-market acceptance, and improved funding decisions. Over a three-year period, Nortels new product introduction rate increased by more than 50%. CONCLUSION The bottom line for IBM and Nortel was to increase profitability, sales, share and return to investment by leveraging and managing its knowledge assets. As evidenced, IBMs and Nortels Knowledge Management initiatives were guided by holistic understanding of interdependent multi-level (business, process, knowledge worker) performance goals and requirements.

Online Communities :: Technology Internet Communication

Online Communities "Now, please, everyone lock your wings, let the air out of your shoes and prepare for a period of stimulated exhilaration! Everybody ready? Let’s get in ‘sync’ for our Flight To The Future! (Reid)" Welcome to the 21st century. Everything is changing very quickly in nowadays. Many unbelievable things are happening right now. We are getting college credits without attending classes everyday. Instead of going to schools with heavy bag packs, we just stay at home and take classes through the Internet. The Internet is the most fastest transportation system. It takes us to different countries in five seconds. What we do is just clicking on the mouse and it shows us all the wonderful places that we only dreamed about before. Without paying thousand of dollars for air tickets, we can see all the wonderful and different things by clicking the mouse. Without spending hours and hours in the school library to do research, we can just sit in front of the computer and click on the mouse. Since we are in the 21st century, our research paper topic has been changed. We are not writing about our lover or hero anymore. We are writing a paper about online community, which is very new to some people like me. When Professor Cross was talking about online communities, I had no idea what she was talking about. "Can I just write about my dreams or about my parents instead? I have so much to talk about my dream but not online community. Online community? What is that? Is it something like Korean American Community in Los Angeles?" I started to panic. Online Community did not make sense to me all at. Community means a group of people who live in the same area. Then what is online community? My own definition of online community was a place where computer nerds got together and talked about new computer technology. I was pretty sure that online community was not a place for me to join because I was not a computer nerd. After I searched on the Internet, I got an idea of online community. Online Community area is an electronic meeting place where people share important information. They do not physically meet together like other communities, but they go to same place on the net. Online community is a program that allows global real-time communication in writing via networked personal computers. Online Communities :: Technology Internet Communication Online Communities "Now, please, everyone lock your wings, let the air out of your shoes and prepare for a period of stimulated exhilaration! Everybody ready? Let’s get in ‘sync’ for our Flight To The Future! (Reid)" Welcome to the 21st century. Everything is changing very quickly in nowadays. Many unbelievable things are happening right now. We are getting college credits without attending classes everyday. Instead of going to schools with heavy bag packs, we just stay at home and take classes through the Internet. The Internet is the most fastest transportation system. It takes us to different countries in five seconds. What we do is just clicking on the mouse and it shows us all the wonderful places that we only dreamed about before. Without paying thousand of dollars for air tickets, we can see all the wonderful and different things by clicking the mouse. Without spending hours and hours in the school library to do research, we can just sit in front of the computer and click on the mouse. Since we are in the 21st century, our research paper topic has been changed. We are not writing about our lover or hero anymore. We are writing a paper about online community, which is very new to some people like me. When Professor Cross was talking about online communities, I had no idea what she was talking about. "Can I just write about my dreams or about my parents instead? I have so much to talk about my dream but not online community. Online community? What is that? Is it something like Korean American Community in Los Angeles?" I started to panic. Online Community did not make sense to me all at. Community means a group of people who live in the same area. Then what is online community? My own definition of online community was a place where computer nerds got together and talked about new computer technology. I was pretty sure that online community was not a place for me to join because I was not a computer nerd. After I searched on the Internet, I got an idea of online community. Online Community area is an electronic meeting place where people share important information. They do not physically meet together like other communities, but they go to same place on the net. Online community is a program that allows global real-time communication in writing via networked personal computers.

Getting Emotional Essay Essay

There was a time that I had a conversation with a friend who is a foreigner and knew very little about the cultures in the United States. He was basically biased against the black race or the African-American races and spoke about them in a very discriminating manner. He believed that the black race in America is mostly composed of thugs and criminals who are dirty and cannot live the way most white Americans do. Although I didn’t exactly argue with him, I still did to change his beliefs and perceptions on the black race and fortunately, I succeeded. I first started out by telling him the harsh realities that most of the people from this race used to face and are still facing today such as discrimination at work, education, and employment among others. I also pointed out that there are a lot of stories published in major newspapers that show that discrimination against people from other races and cultures are still present today. I shared with him stories of an outstanding student from a public high school who was allegedly not given a scholarship simply because he is black. I also told him of certain cases wherein workers are not given the bonuses and benefits that are due to them because they belong to the black race. In short, I first tried to make him sympathize with the plight of the black race and I believe I was successful in doing so. Moreover, I also told him that since he is an Asian, he too, can also be discriminated against. More importantly, I emphasized to him that these black people are also human beings just like everybody else and therefore, they should be treated the same way white Americans are treated. After our conversation, my friend agreed me with and told me that he would be careful with his perceptions about the black race from now on. Based on my â€Å"persuasive† methods, it can be deduced that the most effective way to convince people or audiences to change their stand or views on a certain issue is to tell them real life stories that they can relate with. These true to life stories can represent the essence of one’s arguments and make one’s claims more credible.

Personal & Professional Development Essay

1. Introduction In this assignment we can find the many different terms used to explain the Self-Managed Learning process, with the advantages and disadvantages of it. How this process can influence in a lifelong term, the personal and professional of an individual and how Selfmanaged learning can benefit inside of an organization. 2. The Self-managed Learning Context Many researches over the years have been showing the self- managed learning is getting very popular inside organization, based on the benefits that an individual acquires at the end of each achievement. Individuals that can manage their learning and activities are more responsible, independent and able to make tough decisions. Self-planning learning; selfeducating; self-directed learning and other similar terms together form the Self-managed context, in other words, the ability to organize and carry out an activity settled as a goal. 2.1 Self-Directed Learning In the early age, individuals are full dependents on the structure and the context given by their tutor, responsibility here is very low. A child needs to have some task to be accomplished, the tutor has to explain why and how tasks should be done. At the teenage stage the individual starts to be interested in their  own learning, the tutor give them more  space to be responsible. A simple example, when starting college they have the possibility to choose some subjects they would like to study deeper than the others. Once reached mature life the role tended to change. The adult pass to be self-directed learner, deciding what will be their own goals according with their needs. At this stage the tutor can be only partial responsible in the process of learning, showing them how important is to become a „SelfDirected Learner‟, encouraging and guiding, also stimulate the individuals to think outside the box, always to seek for evaluation on everything that they do, letting the participants dedicate their time on researches and experiments. The process helps the learners understand how to achieve their goals. The practice involves training and lifelong acquired skills. The self-managed learning starts when people show initiative to conquer some learning experience, being fully in charge for the learning and practicing constant evaluation to succeed. Determination; time; place; tools; evaluation; responsibility, are extremely important elements that a person must consider to be successful. We can find these factors in Malcolm Knowles‟s theory definition: â€Å"In this broadest meaning, ’self-direct learning’ describes a process by which individuals take the initiative, with or without the assistance of others, in diagnosing their learning needs, formulating goals, identify human and material resources for learning, choosing and implement appropriate learning strategies, and evaluating learning outcomes.† (Knowles, 1975) The process of self-directed learning can be different based on the lifelong circumstances. All the tools, method, structures, conditions for learning  are directed by the situations (Merriam & Caffarella, 1993). People learn things in different ways and speed, with their own or other people‟s experiences. It can depends on where it will be applied (e.g. at home, at work, study group, etc.); what tools will be used (e.g. books, internet, videos, etc.); whom is going to perform the task. It can be formal and informal. The self-directed learners after conquering their aims, starts to be more aware of their responsibility in taking learning seriously and directing themselves (Garrison, 1997). They become more creative, curious and the willing to try something new, different (Lyman, 1997), Problems and difficulty to complete a task are seeing as fun challenges (Taylor, 1995). Based on Taylor‟s point of view, the S-D Learners are motivated and persistent, independent, self-disciplined, self-confident. 2.2 Self-Regulated Learning It is a reference to â€Å"thoughts, feelings and actions that are planned and adapted to the attainment of personal goals† (Zimmerman, 2000). The components of S-RL involves, as all the other terms, setting goals for learning, focus on training, using strong strategies to organize ideas, looking for researches effectively, managing performance and time, holding positive beliefs about one‟s capabilities (Schunk & Ertmer, 2000). There are tasks that makes Learners more autonomous, being capable of create an environment of S-RL, some of them are authentic strategies, autonomy-based assignments, and portfolios. Self-Regulated Learners don‟t only need to understand the strategies but realize the importance of using them to achieve success. Self-Regulation processes focus on how learners can manage their feelings and motivations to learn. It can be improve with practice. However, stresses related with low income such as psychological distress on adults and low quality of childcare background can harm the development of the individual, like occupational rank inside the organizations. Self-control is one of the most important key/skill to success inside any organization, also in the personal life. 2.3 Self-Planned Learning The term says for itself. Here we can find some procedure to put on practice SML: Selecting a subject or skill to learn, first evaluating knowledge acquired, seeking for weakness and errors that can be improved. Selecting methods, resources or equipment for learning  S-M Learners thinks they would be wasting time by letting the responsibility on somebody else to manage the time for each task. No wrong time and location, the learners will be available whenever/wherever there are. Expect to feel proud for accomplishing the task and get people attention. They may be too confident planning the steps for the learning, will be easy to complete, but say is easier than done. Perseverance and self-control will lead the learner. May feel hesitant to let and accept others direct their procedures, affecting their beliefs, attitudes or habits. Setting goals and deadlines. Designing all the steps and following them one by one. 2.4 Learning Project Project-based learning is an instructional method that provides students with complex tasks based on challenging questions or problems that involve the students’ problem solving, decision making, investigative skills, and reflection that includes teacher facilitation, but not direction. PBL is focused on questions that drive students to encounter the central concepts and principles of a subject in a hands-on method. Students form their own investigation of a guiding question, allowing students to develop valuable research skills as students engage in  design, problem solving, decision making, and investigative activities. Through Project-based learning, students learn from these experiences and apply them to the world outside their classroom. PBL emphasizes creative  thinking skills by allowing students to find that there are many ways to solve a problem. 3. Ways to promoted of S-DL in Personal & Professional Lifelong Term Happy staffs are productive Staffs. Foucher’s (1995) revealed based on research that organization that promote SDL can increase the presence of a participative management style, a pleasant environment that employees enjoy independence, making them seeing as very competent and motivated individuals. Giving them support for new strategies application, being tolerant with error and supporting unplanned, non-systematic learning activities, such as little private projects. SDL process can increases creativity and sense of perception, getting a better spot among the others. Once outside of the organization, they feel lighter, happier, self-confident, etc. All this emotion opens space for a healthier life, the individual become more communicative and comprehensive and patience. 4. Benefits of S-ML Inside Organization Organizations nowadays are becoming â€Å"learning organizations.† Where it promotes or rewards individuals to learn on benefit of the organization (Beitler, 2003, Chapter 12). For this process the establishment needs to have a continuous creation of learning opportunities that can be shared with others learners/employees (team work). Promoting a healthy dialogue and giving also space for continuous evaluation (Watkins and Marsick, 1993). Promoting seminarians; handling books; re-printed articles; and light sessions of training are, still, the most used. However, SDL costs should be away less than to traditional training programs. A learning organization can be defined as a structured environment focused on teamwork, collaboration, creativity. Senge (1990) identifies five disciplines essential for the learning organization: systems thinking, personal mastery, mental models, building a shared vision, and team learning. An evaluation of all those 5 elements it is a win-win between employers and employees. 5. Conclusion We could see, individuals that can practice self-managed learning, who can evaluate, plan, sets their own goals based on their needs and interests are  more capable to stand-out among people that always have been told what to do. Changes are not a problem; they are challenges to be achieved. Self-evaluation is the key, is where everything starts. S-ML is a process to be developed at your personal life, professional, at school, at your social group. Be different and become unique. It‟s never late to start learning, it all depends on you.