Perception vs long term memory;why a witness’ account may differ from reality
Order Instructions:
Explain why a witness’s account of events may differ from what really happened.
– Assume that the witness is fit and healthy and will provide and honest account according to their recollection.
– Research should focus on PERCEPTION and LONG TERM MEMORY.
Writing style as Harvard.
SAMPLE ANSWER
An incident is reported of a woman that accused Donald Thompson of raping her. A rapist attacked her while she was watching Donald Thompson on a live telecast. The woman confused the rapist’s face with the one she had seen on TV and identified Donald Thompson as the perpetrator. Before the authorities realized that she had confused the face of the rapist with that of Thompson on TV, Thompson had been arrested. The police had dismissed the alibi that the rape occurred when he was on TV and together with the audience and other discussants (Braddeley, 2004). It is a story of how accounts of mentally fit and healthy witnesses with honest intentions may starkly differ from what really happened. It is an intriguing phenomenon whose explanation lies in the mental processes of perception and long term memory.
Perception
The eyes just like other sensory organs have limitations that can cause erroneous identification of objects. For example, a story is told of two men that were in the woods talking and thinking about bears. They then spotted a large object that was moving and making some noise. Their conversation had conditioned them to think that it was a bear and so they aimed their barrels and shot at what was later revealed to be a tent harboring a couple that was making love. They killed the woman and during trial, the jurors found it difficult to understand their perceptual problems because they could not imagine how a yellow tent seemed like a growling bear. Prior conditioning altered their perception and the perpetrator received a negligent homicide judgment (Loftus & Ketcham, 1991).
People do not see what they sense, rather they see what they think they sense. In this light, a witness perceives not the raw data of the event, rather, an interpretation of the raw data. There is an unconscious information processing process that interprets and discards the raw data or information (Norretranders, 1999). It presents an interpretation of the event. It is the reason why different witnesses of a similar event perceive it differently because their interpretation is subject to their unique information processing process based on their world view. The perception process only encodes the information that one thinks is expected. A witness also perceives events selectively based on prior life experiences. This conditioning may cause witnesses in good faith to fill gaps in perception depending on what is expected or wanted to perceive. Their perception leads them to give accounts that differ from what really happened.
Perception occurs through the senses and the perceived sensations are processed. For instance, research shows that most people would perceive a smaller light in the dark as being further away than the larger light even when in reality they are on the same distance from the eyes (Moses, 2001). All the information that a witness presents is first and foremost perceived. It is because nothing sticks in the mind unless it is perceived. Processing the perceived sensations thus heavily depends on how one makes inferences. Engaging in inferential reasoning covers the gaps in actual perception. Witnesses may thus infer things they do not know from other things that they do know. It leads them to give an account that differs from what really happened. For instance, a witness may infer that the person they see carrying a stolen wallet is the one that robbed them (Moses, 2001).
Witnesses can only remember what they perceive and can perceive only what they attend to. Perception is influenced by a combination of stimulus that one already knows, expects or wants. Perception of events is a momentary and personal occurrence and once complete, the witness relies on memory. Perception can be flawed because the brain is filled with one’s interpretation rather than the actual sensory information. A witness may thus have an altered perception that distorts memory based on inherent expectations at the acquisition stage of memory. A witness may interpret visual sensory information based on their inherent expectations, pre-existing knowledge or wants and thus an account that starkly differs from what really happened (Loftus & Ketcham, 1991).
Stressful situations also interfere with detailed perception. It is because heightened stress levels narrows the scope of perception and elevates emotions. Physiologically, stress affects the hippocampus, impairing the formation of memories. In this event, stress makes an impression on the person making perception unreliable. The impact of a life threatening situation such as rape thus makes a witnesses’ perception unreliable. It makes the retrieval process unreliable as well and it may be the reason their account may differ from what really happened (Moses, 2001).
Memory
For the most part, matters involving eyewitness’s memory rely on the accuracy of long term memory rather than sensory and short term memory. Sensory memory stores information that lasts for the split second of an event because sensory organs only store information for less than a second in its unprocessed form. Individuals preserve information from their sensory systems in its sensory form. Short term memory allows one to store acquired memory for some seconds to minutes (Weiten, 2005). Short term memory stores limited items and when rehearsed and elaborated, it is registered and can be moved to the long term memory. Long term memory retains information that can last a lifetime. Witnesses recount an event by retrieving information from the long-term memory (Hagsand, 2014).
Long term memory is divided into implicit and explicit memory. Implicit memory stores information that one does not unconsciously know like peddling a bike or a neonate’s lurch on a mother’s breast. Explicit memory stores information that one can verbalize consciously. Witnesses draw on their both their semantic and autobiographical aspects of their explicit memory. Semantic memory contains facts such as people’s names and it is more about what one knows than recalling. Autobiographical memory contains a recollection of events and episodes. When one draws on the autobiographical memory, they recall the exact details of uttered words, and the elements in the environment (Green, 2013).
One of the reasons why a witness’ account may differ from what really happened is a faulty memory acquisition process. It is whereby one may not have perceived some information in the acquisition phase. When someone fails to effectively perceive information it affects their capacity to develop a comprehensive account of what really happened. It is also likely that the retention process was interfered with or even that information may be inaccessible during the retrieval process (Loftus, 1979).
Witnesses retrieve bits and pieces of their memories as a puzzle. Memory is thus a reconstruction of past events rather than a recording. A witness often has insufficient information in the memory and h as to invoke pieces of information from other sources during the reconstruction process. They draw from pre-existing schemas that are the stereotyped models of events and objects (Green, 2013). A witness’ account is thus susceptible to being altered because a lawyer’s questioning may alter the testament when fragments of the memory is unknowingly combined with information provided during questioning (Arkwotitz & Lilienfeld, January).
It is also likely that a witness may confuse the sources of information. For instance one may present imagined memories of imagined events rather than of an actual event. Memory source confusion may also incorporate information that is subsequently gained from other witnesses or read in newspapers, information from ones’ general knowledge. The witness may thus pool memory separate occurrences or mistake imaginative events for real ones. The witness may thus give information that differs from what really happened owing to the poor ability to determine the source of information (Green, 2013).
It is also evident that a witness may give an account that differs from the real occurrence because the retrieved information is subjected to subjective interpretation. Every witness interprets events based on personal beliefs, experiences and needs and world view. It is the reason different eyewitnesses observing the same event have different interpretations and different memories. They store their unique perception or interpretation of events in their memory. More reason a witness’ account differs from what really happened is because memory changes with time. In recalling an event over and over, a witness drops details from earlier versions and adds new details to later versions. They may also incorporate information learnt after the event combining two memories into one (Green, 2013).
Forgetting is also responsible for why a witness’ account may differ what really happened. When a memory remains inactive for months or days, the physiological bases of memory tend to change. The memory trace in the brain or the engram gradually decays. Disuse decreases the amount of information that can be recalled and items of information in memory become less accessible with increased time. The loss of information occurs rapidly at first and is then followed by a leveling off. Research shows that basic level information decays less rapidly than more fine detailed information. A study indicated that eye witnesses’ reports provided after 40 days are less detailed than those provided immediately after the event (Read & Connolly, 2006).
Retrieving an item from a memory also increases the likelihood that it is recalled again. In a forensic context, once witnesses make an immediate recall attempt, it preserves their subsequent recall performance making memory loss unlikely. It is because retrieval strengthens the associations between them and increases their representation in memory (Read & Connolly, 2006).
A witness may also give an account that differs from what really happened due to retrieval enhanced suggestibility. Witnesses may fall into repeated retrieval when providing testimony to police investigators, lawyers, friends and family members and it negatively influences their ability to resist subsequently misleading information (Chan & LaPaglia, 2011). Providing a witness with misleading information produces higher confidence for the incorrect information than for the correct information. It may occur because initial retrieval may inadvertently draw attention to particular aspects of the event that was witnessed. Attention increases when new information regarding those particular items is presented and in the subsequent retrievals, the misinformation – new information is integrated into the memory becoming more memorable. Repeated retrieval can only lead to accurate recall when the questions are asked in an open ended and neutral way. However, when one receives misleading information, it increases suggestibility (Chan & LaPaglia, 2011). Engaging witnesses in frequent retrieval with misleading information may thus influence their tendency to provide information that differs from what really happened.
Conclusion
Indeed memories can be altered during retelling because people rarely retell memories in a neutral way. A witness’ testimony has a pivotal influence on the determination of guilt or innocence about the defendant. Mentally fit and healthy witnesses with good faith can provide an account that differs from what really happened due to a flawed perception and negative influences on their long-term memory. Perception occurs through the senses and witnesses can only remember what they perceive and can perceive only what they attend to. Their perception is again influenced by ones environmental conditions and internal conditioning. Environmental conditions at the time of the event also significantly influence the witness’ capacity to for quality perception. Elevated emotions interfere with the hippocampus ability to register the entirety of the event. It means that a witness’s perception can alter their account based on personal interpretation and stress levels. A witness’ account may also differ due to impaired memory acquisition, external influences during memory reconstruction, confusion of sources of memory, forgetfulness, subjective interpretation, delays in retrieval and misinformation during repeated retrieval. These factors are pertinent in assessing the reliability of witnesses’ testimony particularly because memory is continuously altered and reconstructed.
Braddeley, A. (2004). Your Memory: A User’s Guide . Richmond Hill, Canada: Firefly Books.
Chan, J. C., & LaPaglia, J. A. (2011). The Dark side of Testing Memory: Repeated Retrieval can Enhance Eyewitness Suggestibility. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 8(29), 1-15.
Hagsand, A. (2014). Alcohol-Intoxicated Eyewitnesses’ Memory. Gothenburg, Sweden: University of Gothenburg.
Loftus, E. F. (1979). Eyewitness Testimony. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Loftus, E., & Ketcham, K. (1991). Witness for the Defense: The Accused, the Eyewitness, and the Expert who Puts Memory on Trial. New York : St. Martins Press.
Norretranders, T. (1999). The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down To Size. New York: Penguin Books.
Read, J. D., & Connolly, D. A. (2006). The Effects of Delay on Long Term Memory for Witnessed Events. In M. P. Toglia, D. Ross, J. Read, & R. C. Lindsay, Handbook of Eyewitness Psychology: Volume 1: Memory for Events (pp. 117-155). Mahway NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.
Weiten, W. (2005). Psychology: Theme and Variations, The United States of America. New York: Thompson Learning Inc.
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Antimicrobial Agents
Antimicrobial agents are essential components in the treatment of various bacterial infections as they help to kill or prevent the growth of microbes such as bacteria, fungi, and protozoans. Prior to the discovery of antimicrobial agents, treatment options for patients with bacterial infections were limited. For many patients, treatment often resulted in the amputation of limbs or even death. Today, treatment options for bacterial infections typically have a more positive prognosis. Due to the various types of infections presented in patients, it is essential to be able to identify the underlying cause of the infection—whether bacterial or viral—before recommending drug treatments. This will help you identify whether or not an antimicrobial agent would be appropriate and which specific agent would target the infection. In this Assignment, you consider the appropriate use of antimicrobial agents for infections.
To prepare:
• Review this week’s media presentation on principles of antimicrobial therapy, as well as Chapter 8 of the Arcangelo and Peterson text.
• Consider the categories of antimicrobial agents.
• Think about differences between viral and bacterial infections.
• Reflect on why proper identification of the infection is key to selecting the proper antimicrobial agent.
To complete this Assignment Paper:
Write a 2-3 page paper that addresses the following:
1) Describe the categories of antimicrobial agents.
2) Describe differences between viral and bacterial infections.
3) Explain why proper identification of viral and bacterial infections is key to selecting the proper antimicrobial agent.
Readings/Recommended References (you may choose your own textbook or article for this paper
• Arcangelo, V. P., & Peterson, A. M. (Eds.). (2013). Pharmacotherapeutics for advanced practice: A practical approach (3rd ed.). Ambler, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
o Chapter 8, “Principles of Antimicrobial Therapy” (pp. 96–117)
This chapter covers factors that impact the selection of an antimicrobial treatment regimen. It also examines the clinical uses, adverse events, and drug interactions of various antimicrobial agents such as penicillin.
o Chapter 12, “Fungal Infections of the Skin” (pp. 141–149)
this chapter explores the pathophysiology of several fungal infections of the skin as well as related drug treatments and examines the importance of patient education when managing these infections.
o Chapter 14, “Bacterial Infections of the Skin” (pp. 158–172)
this chapter begins by examining causes of bacterial infections. It then explores the importance of selecting an appropriate agent for treating bacterial infections.
• Drugs.com. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.drugs.com/
this website presents a comprehensive review of prescription and over-the-counter drugs including information on common uses and potential side effects. It also provides updates relating to new drugs on the market, support from health professionals, and a drug-drug interactions checker.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Antimicrobial Agents
Antimicrobial agents are very crucial in treatment of various bacterial infections as they help to kill and prevent the growth of microbes such as bacteria, fungi, and protozoans. Treatment options for patients with bacterial infections were minimal prior to the discovery of antimicrobial agents. Before recommending a drug, a medical practitioner should identify the underlying cause of the infection. The following discussion will indulge to review varied categories of antimicrobial agents as well as providing differences between viral and bacterial infections. In conclusion, the paper will explain why proper identification of viral and bacterial infections is the key to selecting the proper antimicrobial agent.
There are varied categories of antimicrobial agents, including antibacterial drugs, antiviral agents, antifungal agents, and anti-parasitic drugs. In other words, the antimicrobial agents can be viewed through the mirror of the kind of inhibition they make. There is inhibition of cell wall synthesis, mostly attributed to antibacterial drugs, which target cells walls to selectively kill or inhibit bacterial organisms. Examples of antibacterial drugs include penicillin and bacitracin (Arcangelo & Peterson, 2013). Another kind of inhibition is inhibition of cell membrane mostly by antiviral agents, which are applied topically. Antiviral agents are used to protect cell membrane from allowing bacteria and viruses to enter these producers of intra- and extracellular fluids. Examples of antivirals include polymixin B and colistin (Drugs.com, 2012). They can also cause a cell to adapt the virus and start living with it for its survival. Antifungal agents, on the other hand, inhibit fungal cell division, for instance, polynes and azoles. Anti-parasitic agents are inhibitors of protein synthesis where they disrupt the normal cellular metabolism of parasites, and consequently lead to their death or inhibit their growth and multiplication.
In simpler terms, bacterial infections are caused by bacteria and these infections comprise of strep throat or urinary tract infections. Thormar (2011) argues that these kind of infections can be treated by antibiotics to fight off the bacteria. Most bacterial infections can become more complicated and severe. Illness like sepsis and bacterial meningitis are more of concern. Bacterial infections have the tendencies to result from secondary infections. For instance, sinus can result to sinusitis (Vaishnavi, 2013). Viral infections, on the other hand, are those infections caused by viruses and include chicken pox or common cold. Antibiotics or anti-viral medications cannot suppress entirely the effects of a virus on a patient suffering from common cold (Drugs.com, 2012). The appropriate medium to address viral infections is through vaccinations, especially to young ones. Over the counter drugs that can relieve the symptoms of a particular viral infection can also be recommended until the virus is able to run its course.
According to Vaishnavi (2013), proper identification of viral and bacterial infections is the key to selecting proper antimicrobial agent as it gives information about particular bacteria that has resistance to antibiotics. This is extended to the benefit that a medical practitioner is able to identify and treat a condition that has resulted from a viral infection to bacterial infection such as sinus. This is geared towards preventing the use of the right drug on the wrong condition. Another importance is that proper identification of viral and bacterial infections gives information in determining antimicrobial susceptibility of ineffective organisms (Thormar, 2011). This is because after a pathogen is cultured, its susceptibility to specific antibiotics serves as a guide in choosing antimicrobial therapy. For instance, some pathogens such as Streptococcus pyogenes and Neisseria have predictable pattern to certain antibiotics (Drugs.com, 2012). Most crucially, identification of viral and bacterial infection is important in determining the cost of therapy. Although several drugs may show similar efficacy in treating an infection, they can vary widely in cost.
In summary, there are different categories of antimicrobial infections. They work differently according to the kind of infection diagnosed. Identification of viral and bacterial infections will make a medical practitioner to know and prescribe an effective approach to the diagnosed disorder.
References
Arcangelo, V. P., & Peterson, A. M. (Eds.). (2013).Pharmacotherapeutics for advanced practice: A practical approach (3rd ed.). Ambler, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Drug Treatments for HIV/AIDS
While HIV/AIDS is still currently incurable, the prognosis for patients with this infectious disease has improved due to advancements in drug treatments. Consider the case of Kristy Aney. Kristy was diagnosed with HIV in 1992 and was told she would survive, at most, 10 more years. Despite unfavorable odds, Kristy is still alive 20 years later. Since her diagnosis, she has witnessed tremendous improvements in HIV/AIDS treatments which have helped patients live longer with fewer side effects. While she acknowledges that these drug treatments have kept her alive, she fears that improvements in drug therapy have led to more people becoming complacent about the disease (Idaho Statesmen, 2012). In fact, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States is higher than it has ever been (CDC, 2012). This poses the question: Is there a relationship between drug advancements, societal complacency, and infection?
To prepare:
• Review Chapter 48 of the Arcangelo and Peterson text, as well as the Krummenacher et al. and Scourfield articles in the Learning Resources.
• Reflect on whether or not the prevalence of HIV cases might be attributed to increased complacency due to more advanced drug treatment options for HIV/AIDS.
• Consider how health care professionals can help to change perceptions and make people more aware of the realities of the disease.
• Think about strategies to educate HIV positive patients on medication adherence, as well as safe practices to reduce the risk of infecting others.
ASSIGNMENT PAPER:
WRITE
1) An explanation of whether or not you think the prevalence of HIV cases might be attributed to increased complacency due to more advanced drug treatment options.
2) Explain how health care professionals can help to change perceptions and increase awareness of the realities of the disease.
3) Describe strategies to educate HIV positive patients on medication adherence.
4) What are the safety practices to reduce the risk of infecting others?
Readings/Recommended References (you may choose your own textbook or article for this paper
• Arcangelo, V. P., & Peterson, A. M. (Eds.). (2013). Pharmacotherapeutics for advanced practice: A practical approach (3rd ed.). Ambler, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
o Chapter 8, “Principles of Antimicrobial Therapy” (pp. 96–117)
This chapter covers factors that impact the selection of an antimicrobial treatment regimen. It also examines the clinical uses, adverse events, and drug interactions of various antimicrobial agents such as penicillin.
o Chapter 12, “Fungal Infections of the Skin” (pp. 141–149)
this chapter explores the pathophysiology of several fungal infections of the skin as well as related drug treatments and examines the importance of patient education when managing these infections.
o Chapter 14, “Bacterial Infections of the Skin” (pp. 158–172)
this chapter begins by examining causes of bacterial infections. It then explores the importance of selecting an appropriate agent for treating bacterial infections.
o Chapter 32, “Urinary Tract Infection” (pp. 474–480)
This chapter covers drugs used to treat urinary tract infections and identifies special considerations when treating geriatric patients, pediatric patients, and women.
o Chapter 35, “Sexually Transmitted Infections” (pp. 512–535)
this chapter outlines the causes, pathophysiology, and drug treatment of six sexually transmitted infections, including gonorrhea, syphilis, and human papilloma virus infection (HPV). It also examines the importance of selecting the proper agent and monitoring patient response to treatment.
o Chapter 48, “Human Immunodeficiency Virus” (pp. 748–762)
this chapter presents the causes, pathophysiology, diagnostic criteria, and prevention methods for HIV. It also covers various methods of drug treatment and patient factors to consider when selecting, administering, and managing drug treatments.
• Krummenacher, I., Cavassini, M., Bugnon, O., & Schneider, M. (2011). An interdisciplinary HIV-adherence program combining motivational interviewing and electronic antiretroviral drug monitoring. AIDS Care, 23(5), 550–561.
Retrieved from a collage Library databases.
This article analyzes medication adherence in HIV patients and examines factors that increase adherence as well as factors that contribute to termination or discontinuation of treatment.
• Drugs.com. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.drugs.com/
this website presents a comprehensive review of prescription and over-the-counter drugs including information on common uses and potential side effects. It also provides updates relating to new drugs on the market, support from health professionals, and a drug-drug interactions checker.
• Scourfield, A., Waters, L., & Nelson, M. (2011). Drug combinations for HIV: What’s new? Expert Review of Anti-Infective Therapy, 9(11), 1001–1011. Retrieved from a collage Library databases
this article examines current therapies and strategies for treating HIV patients. It also examines factors that impact selection of therapy, including drug interactions, personalization of therapy, costs, management of comorbidities, and patient response.
• Mayer, K. H., & Krakower, D. (2012). Antiretroviral medication and HIV prevention: New steps forward and New Questions. Annals of Internal Medicine, 156(4), 312–314. Retrieved from a collage Library databases.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Drug Treatment for HIV/AIDS
When HIV/AIDS was first discovered, many people in the United States were dying in large numbers. Due to advancements in treatment of the disease in later years, patients infected with HIV/AIDS can now live longer. Proponents to drug treatment to HIV/AIDS have pointed out that the impact from drug advancement is phenomenal, as it gives a vision of having a free HIV/AIDS world. However, some critics point out that these advancements in treatment lead to complacency. Therefore, the paper will engage in discussing critical issues emanating from the overall drug treatment to HIV/AIDS.
The increasing number of cases of HIV/AIDS is attributed to the increased complacency due to more advanced drug treatment options. This is because, health professionals have quit creating awareness of the possible adverse effects of the disease. The people of the United States have the illusion that, due to continuous advancement in drug treatment against HIV/AIDS, they are likely not to contact the disease (Arcangelo & Peterson, 2013). The advertisements that were used to encourage youths to use contraceptives such as condoms to save them from the epidemic are no longer used, or are used in minimal magnitude. Advancement in drug treatment has also led to more emergence of homosexual and heterosexual relationships that have led people to indulge in sexual activities not knowing well that they are actually making themselves susceptible to the epidemic.
Health care professionals can diminish the perception and increase awareness of the realities of the disease by taking a stand in creating awareness on same-sex affairs that greatly spread HIV/AIDS. This is because, same sex relationships increases transmission of the sexual-related disorder such as syphilis and gonorrhea, which gives a means for more transmission of HIV /AIDS. Medical practitioners should increase awareness on drug abuse. Anyone who abuses drugs should be counseled and treated to help them stop using the drugs and preventing HIV/AIDS infections (Arcangelo & Peterson, 2013). This is because contracting the disease is faster in people who abuse drugs. Most preferably, health professionals should formulate programs that give each and every generation of young people with information and intervention that aid them to develop life-long skills for avoiding behaviors that could lead to HIV/AIDS infections (Mayer & Krakower, 2012). Strategies to educate HIV/AIDS patients on medication adherence are crucial as far as drug treatment on HIV/AIDs is concerned. The strategy includes self-assessment tools that include questions about mental health status, substance abuse, environmental factors that may influence a patient’s ability to adhere to ART (Antiretroviral therapy) (Arcangelo & Peterson, 2013). Another strategy that can be used is assessment on cognitive functioning and a patient’s attitude towards taking ART. The final strategy that can be used is assessment of all those areas paints of a patient’s overall readiness to begin and maintain ART.
There are safety practices to reduce the risk of infecting others with HIV/AIDS. One of the safety practices is use of condoms consistently and correctly. The practice extends to choosing less risky sexual behaviors. This is because anal sex is the highest-risk sexual activity more than oral sex. Use of pre-exposure prophylaxis daily can also prevent intensity of spreading the disease to other people (Krummenacher, Cavassini, Bugnon, & Schneider, 2011). If a partner is infected with the disease, he or she should be advised to get and stay on treatment. ART is medically recommended to reduce the amount of HIV virus (viral load) in blood and body fluids, which can greatly reduce chances of transmitting HIV to sex partners if taken consistently and correctly.
In summary, continuous improvement in drug treatment to HIV/AIDS will continue to pose dangers of HIV/AIDS to people as neglect and irresponsibility are brought by the improvements. However, this trend can be reversed if medical practitioners engage in strategies and programs to create awareness of the adverse effects of the disease, and to install and educate on best safety measures to prevent widespread of HIV/AIDS.
References
Arcangelo, V., & Peterson, A. (Eds). (2013). Pharmacotherapeutics for advanced practice: A practical approach (3rd ed.). Ambler, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Krummenacher, I., Cavassini, M., Bugnon, O., & Schneider, M. (2011). An interdisciplinary HIV-adherence program combining motivational interviewing and electronic antiretroviral drug monitoring. AIDS Care, 23(5), 550–561.
Mayer, K. H., & Krakower, D. (2012). Antiretroviral medication and HIV prevention: New steps forward and New Questions. Annals of Internal Medicine. 156(4), 312–314.
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3.1. Mortgage markets have developed significantly since the early 1970s through the creation of secondary market instruments in the form of mortgage pass-throughs, collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs), and REMICs. These collectively have been generally referred to as mortgage backed securities (MBS). In many ways, these instruments carry the characteristics of their underlying assets — individual mortgages.
a. Why is the cash flow of a mortgage, or a MBS, uncertain in the sense that the investor in the mortgage has granted the borrower a call option to prepay the mortgage? Compare a mortgage cash flow with a Treasury coupon bearing bond paying interest semi-annually and a payment of principal at maturity.
b. What does this call option depend upon and why?
c. The cash flow for a mortgage pass-through typically is based on some prepayment speed benchmark. Why is the assumed prepayment speed necessary to price the MBS?
d. Suppose a bank has decided to invest in a MBS and is considering the following two securities: a Freddie Mac pass-through with a WAM of 340 months and an average life of 7 years or a PAC tranche of a Freddie Mac CMO issue with an average life of 2 years. In terms of prepayment risk, contraction risk and extension risk, which MBS would probably be best for the bank’s asset/liability management perspective when it is known that liabilities generally have a duration less than 1 year and that assets have durations in the 2-year to 7-year range?
Average life is:
e. Compare the interest rate risk of a noncallable 10-year Treasury coupon bearing bond with a mortgage-backed pass-through security with prepayments related to the level of interest rates – lower market interest rates raise the rate of prepayments. Discuss how the changes in cash flows from a mortgage-backed security affect the duration of such securities. HINT: consider the coupon effect on duration.
Macaulay Duration Measure:
A more complete approximation to the proportional change in price of a bond with respect to a change in yield to maturity takes into account the convexity of the price-yield relationship for the bond:
where P = Price, C = coupon, F = Face value, y = Yield to maturity, M = maturity (years), t = time (year), dP is the total change in price, and is the partial change in price with respect to a change in yield to maturity. The second term, excluding the dy2, is the convexity effect. SAMPLE ANSWER
A). Cash flow uncertainty of a MBS and comparison with Treasury coupon bearing bond
Mortgage based securities have cash flows that are uncertain due to several factors. A MBS is a bond which is created by redistribution of cash flows to the tranches based on payment rules thus the borrower has been granted by the mortgage a call option to repay. A MBS offers an opportunity to create separate rules that stipulate payment of regular scheduled principal payment, any prepayment and coupon interest. The nature of the bond at times contributes to the uncertainty of cash flows (Milne, 2013; Sinnock, 2014). When the bond is a pay-through structure in which there is only one class of bondholders at a given level of credit priority the prepayment risk is high leading to cash flow uncertainty. In a sequential-pay tranche bond each tranche cannot receive principal payment until the preceding tranche has been paid off causing cash flow uncertainty. At times the average life of the tranches is unevenly matched with the collateral. This implies that there might be cash flow constraints if the underlying security life is shorter than the MBS life (Milne, 2013).
A MBS faces both contraction and extension risk even though other tranches might protect it. Even if it is a Partially Amortized Class (PAC) bond prepayment risk is only mitigated for some class of investors but exposed to others. Furthermore it depends on the availability of supporting bonds to take bullets for PAC bonds. In the event that the supporting bonds are less than the PAC bonds then the PAC bonds are said to have no bodyguards and are hence exposed. Cash flows are thus uncertain because it depends on the expected future prepayment behavior of the collateral and the actual prepayment experience as it determines the level of prepayment protection (Milne, 2013). Cash flows from a Treasury coupon bearing bond paying interest semi-annually and a payment of principal at maturity has assured cash flows as opposed to MBS bonds. The repayment of MBS depends on the future repayment behavior of collateral and actual prepayment experience whereas a Treasury coupon bearing bond is guaranteed by the government and its coupon payments are actually considered to be risk free and assured. Treasury coupon bearing bond rate is used as the standard for risk free investment rate in capital asset pricing model because investment is such bonds is considered risk free(Milne, 2013).
What this call option depends upon and why
The call option depends on a number of issues. The call option determines the type of bond that is invested in. An MBS bond can be an Interest only bond or a principal only bond. In an interest only bond the bond faces contraction risk in that if interest is paid quite fast then the risk is high since the remaining principal will fall fast reducing the amount of interest payable. A bond can be a PAC bond which has few supporting bond (Sinnock, 2014). Supporting bonds are the body guards and if they are fewer in number than the PAC bonds even though PAC bonds are noted to have lesser prepayment risk in this case it will be higher. This is because supporting bonds ensure PAC bonds principal prepayment is made before they are prepaid. The repayment of MBS depends on the future repayment behavior of collateral and actual prepayment experience of the mortgage class. Bonds can be Z bonds, sequential-pay tranches etc depending on the call option rules (Sinnock, 2014).
The influence of prepayment speed on pricing of MBS
The prepayment speed of a bond is determined by the principal pay-down window. This represents the time taken to repay the principal from start of prepayment to the end of the principal repayment. Tranches can have average lives that could be shorter or longer than the underlying mortgage securities (Sinnock, 2014). Tranches have considerable variability in average lifespan. Each tranche faces separate prepayment risk due to its life span. Shorter term tranches face extension risk whereas longer term tranches face contraction risk. The level of risk determines the price of the MBS. The longer the duration that the principal of a MBS will take to be repaid the higher will be the price and vice versa. This is because if repayment is slower investors will be concerned with the reinvestment risk (Sinnock, 2014).
A decision criteria by a bank to invest in a MBS
The Freddie Mac pass-through MBS is a pass-through security whereby cash flow of depends on the cash flow of the underlying mortgages. A weighted average maturity (WAM) is found by weighting the amount of mortgage outstanding by the remaining number of months to maturity for each mortgage loan in the pool. Freddie Mac issues a pass-through guarantees both interest and principal payments. It however guarantees the timely payment of interest only. The MBS give a guarantee that scheduled payment will be made no later than a specified date even though the scheduled principal is passed through as it is collected. Freddie Mac pass-through MBS still entails prepayment risk and uncertainty in cash flows. A Freddie Mae CMO issue with an average of 2 years is a security backed by a pool of pass-throughs, whole loans, or stripped mortgage-backed securities that are structured so there are several classes of bondholders with varying stated maturity dates. Tranches is the name given to the different classes of bonds created. Principal payments are used to retire a class of bonds given in the prospectus provided. There is still considerable prepayment risk despite the redistribution of prepayment risk with sequential pay and accrual CMOs. This problem is mitigated by planned amortization class (PAC) tranche bonds as it reduces average life variability of bonds. With lock out and reverse structure arrangement PAC bonds offer less prepayment risk. The bank should focus on matching assets and liabilities since all option pose prepayment risk. The bank should choose Fredie Mac CMO issue of a PAC tranche if its liabilities are closer to 340 months.
Comparison of the interest rate risk of a noncallable 10-year Treasury coupon bearing bond with a mortgage-backed pass-through security with prepayments related to the level of interest rates
The interest rate risk is determined using Macaulay Duration Measure:
Macaulay duration is an equation that measures the volatility of bond price with respect to interest rates prevailing in an economy. A noncallable 10-year Treasury coupon bearing bond is subject to volatility of interest rates in the same way as a mortgage-backed pass-through security with prepayments related to the level of interest rates. A Treasury coupon bearing bond which is noncallable faces interest rate risk since as interest rates rise the coupon payments will also feature the interest rate which is fixed and will benefit the issuer (Kim, 2011). But if interest rates fall the issuer will continue to pay the high interest rates agreed at the issuance of the treasury bearing bond. Interest rates are thus fixed and cannot be changed for a noncallable 10-year Treasury coupon bearing bond. Whereas in a mortgage-backed pass-through security with prepayments related to the level of interest rates, the issuer will benefit if rates go down since principal prepayments will go up and vice versa (Kim, 2011).
Kim, D. H. (2011). Essays in corporate finance and bond interest rate volatility. (Order No. 3465651, The University of Oklahoma). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, , 144-n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/884226076?accountid=45049. (884226076).
An Example of an Ethical Dilemma and its Importance and Relevance
Order Instructions:
For this final part of the project, imagine that the CEO has asked HR to review the company’s policies. You have been personally asked to identify an issue you feel needs addressing, to evaluate different parameters for ethically deciding on how to address the issue, and then to evaluate various polices in order to propose a policy that the company can implement to addresses the issue you have chosen.
In completing this assignment:
• Describe an ethical dilemma and its importance and relevance.
• Identify the various stakeholders and their positions.
• Evaluate an ethical decision-making model, apply it to the chosen issue, and analyze options for resolving this ethical dilemma.
• Recommend a corporate policy for resolving the issue and support the recommendation with well-reasoned analyses and specific examples, including the impact on the various stakeholders.
• Recommend a policy that resolves the ethical dilemma and support the recommendation with well-reasoned analyses and specific examples.
• Analyze and recommend a strategy for communicating the policy to the organization in a manner that meets the needs of the audience.
• Specify potential limitations of the policy and strategies for monitoring and compliance.
SAMPLE ANSWER
An Example of an Ethical Dilemma and its Importance and Relevance
Within the business or organizational context, ethics involves making decisions, which align with the sense of wrong and right alongside various policies. Effective handling of ethical dilemmas in organizations is significant in ensuring that businesses meet their objectives (Vieito, 2012). One of the ethical issues that should be addressed in the company is discrimination. Since the organization is dominated by male employees, female employees experience problems such as inappropriate remarks from their male colleagues. Addressing this aspect is significant in ensuring that the organization achieves a coherent task force, which is vital in driving the company towards its success.
Identification of Various Stakeholders and their Positions
Stakeholders who are linked to this ethical dilemma are management, directors, employees and HR. The management is in charge of ensuring that all employees work towards the realization of an environment, which is free from discrimination. This goal can be accomplished by appointing supervisors to monitor the behavior of workers in relation to the aspect of gender discrimination. Moreover, the management’s position in relation to this issue is to implement a policy, which is aimed at get rid of the issue of gender discrimination witnessed in the firm (Dalton et al, 2014). Employees’ position is to ensure that they act in line with the organization’s policy on gender discrimination. Director’s role will involve conducting reviews the policies such as the gender discrimination policy, which have been proposed by the management, and making necessary adjustments to such policies. The HR’s role will be to offer adequate training to employees in relation to the issue of gender discrimination in workplace and its negative effects.
An Ethical Decision-Making Model, its Application to Gender Discrimination and Options for Resolving this Dilemma
Ethical decision-making takes into consideration the making of choices based on what is appropriate/good for all individuals. One of the frameworks that can be employed in handling the gender discrimination problem in the firm is the golden rule. Golden rule is based on the precept that an individual should treat other people in relation to how he or she would want to be treated (Vieito, 2012). As such, the application of this approach in addressing the aspect of gender discrimination in the company will be successful as all employees, management and stakeholders will treat each other with equality regardless of their genders. Implementation of this model in decision making will involve the formulation of decisions that takes into consideration the interests of all genders in the company.
The aspect of gender discrimination can also be solved by placing members of different genders in separate departments or workstations. However, this approach is ineffective as it does not take into consideration the various skills that are possessed by workers. For instance two individuals of different genders may possess skills in handling a similar task. As such, separating them might result into an employee being assigned a duty in an area in which he or she is not skilled (Dalton, et al, 2014). Moreover, this approach can lead to the intensification of gender discrimination in the firm due to rivalry between genders.
A Corporate Policy for Resolving the Issue
One of the most appropriate corporate laws that can be employed in resolving discrimination in the company is the policy, which advocates for the treatment of all employees with equality regardless of the gender to which they belong (Dalton et al, 2014). Implementation of this policy in the firm will help in ensuring that employees do not engage in issues of gender discrimination due to the fear of legal consequences associated with such actions. As such, the company’s management will manage to get rid of this problem.
Policy that Resolves the Ethical Dilemma
As one of the ethical issues affecting the company’s progress, discrimination can be avoided by implementing a policy, which requires all employees to undergo a reward-based sensitivity training on ethical issues such as discrimination, and those employees who demonstrate a high sense of concern for gender equality to be rewarded (Vieito, 2012). This policy will ensure that employees are made aware of the negative effects of discrimination on employees and company’s productivity. Moreover, the incorporation of the aspect of reward in this policy will ensure that workers are motivated to fight gender discrimination in the organization.
Strategy for Communicating the Policy to the Organization
Communication of this policy will take into consideration all stakeholders and management. The first process of communicating the policy will involve a consultation with the company’s management for necessary adjustments. The policy will then be taken to the firm’s board of directors for review. The management will then inform employees about this policy and its significance to the organization and workers via a meeting and notices. The last process will involve the implementation of the policy. Prior to the implementation of this policy, the company’s management will have to seek the views of employees on this regulation with the aim of identifying areas that need adjustments (Vieito, 2012). In this manner, all stakeholders and employees will feel as part of the process of implementing the policy.
Specific Potential Limitations of the Policy and Strategy for Monitoring and Compliance
One of the limitations of this policy is that it does not take into consideration the aspect of punishment, which is significant in discouraging ill acts such as gender discrimination. As such, employees may be tempted to involve in such actions as there are no punishments associated with them. The effectiveness of this policy will be determined by conducting internal surveys on the firm’s employees. These surveys will be done after every three months, and they will focus on issues concerning gender discrimination in the work place (Vieito, 2012). In relation to this, the policy will be considered effective when cases of gender discrimination register a declining trend. On the other hand, when the organization seems to continue witnessing cases of gender discrimination, the policy will have to be reviewed.
A person cannot evaluate policies within ethical standards until he or she identifies the issues that those policies are intended to address. In this assignment, you do just that.
Complete the following for identifying an ethical issue:
• Identify a potential ethical dilemma from a real company. The company could be a current company for which you work, a company in which you used to work, a friend’s company, or so on. The ethical issue or problem selected must affect the company, potentially affect the company, or involve the company.
• Explain the issues involved, including:
o Identify the stakeholders.
o Identify the concerns of the stakeholders.
For example, a company may chose to videotape the office and read employee e-mails. The conflict here may be that employees feel these practices are a violation of privacy and feel they have a right to a certain level of the privacy. However, stakeholders defend these practices because their concerns are whether the employees are getting their work done.
• Explain why you chose this particular issue and why the issue is important.
• Examine the current relevance of the issue. Is the issue currently in the media spotlight? Are there any recent incidents or reasons why this issue has come to the public’s attention.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Business Ethical Issues
Profit making is not bad for an organization since that is the main reason why they are in the world of business. However, it is the manner in which these businesses conduct themselves that brings questions of ethical behaviors. As noted by Duska (2014), the simple definition of business ethics is the ability to distinguish the bad from the good and considering the effects it has on the business environment and customers. Many companies, big or small have been involved in acts that either violate the customers’ interests or the interests of the employees. This paper presents the ethical issues and identification of the Whole Food Market Inc. and how the customers and stakeholders have reacted towards it.
The ethical issue in this case is how the company sold unlabeled genetically modified food in their supermarkets while their slogan reads “Nothing artificial, Ever”. The company has been in the market creating monopoly as one of the best whole food company whose trust lies with the customers. However, as I have been told by a friend who has worked in the company, and enough information from magazines, the company has been in the limelight of selling genetically modified food without labels. It is a false advertisement and a false view of the company who is believed to do right things.
The stakeholders that have been involved by this situation have never been happy about it. The stakeholders of this controversial issue are the employees and the management. The have condemned the act following the customers the company serves. For, example, whole food market serve big health care institutions whose directions are to get non-genetically modified foods for their patients. The concern of stakeholders is how the management has neglected its roles and subjects the society into unnecessary pains especially those who have been instructed not to consume the genetically modified foods due to health reasons (Johnston, 2014).
The malpractices and the greed of getting money without any good ethics of most organization is the reason why I chose this ethical issue. Most companies have left their obliged roles and are rushing towards making a lot of money without considering the effects such acts have on the customers and the society. For instance, the doctors instructs his or her patient not to consume genetically modified foods, one goes to the shelves find unlabeled genetically modified food and consume it increasing the chances infection he or she was preventing. This is an ethical act that should not be accepted by such companies.
Due to the increasing rates of cancer incidences, several studies have hypothesized that genetically modified foods have chemicals that initiate cancer infections. Confirmed or not confirmed, genetically modified foods have components that are dangerous for the normal growth of body cells. Due to the relationship of cancer and genetically modified foods, there have been a lot of concerns through television, radio station and social networks about the high rate of consumption of such food. There have been bills in some countries such U.S.A about the removal of genetically modified food from the country due to their health issues. However, the increasing global population has subjected people and organizations to manufacture the genetically modified food to curb the rate of hunger due to their fast maturation. Nonetheless, the bottom line is that they should be labeled to show customers that they are genetically modified or not.
References
Duska, R. F. (2014). Why Business Ethics Needs Rhetoric: An Aristotelian Perspective. Business Ethics Quarterly, 24(1), 119-134.
Johnston, J. (2014). Whole Foods Market. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Teachers Project , ECO N 315, Jadrian Wooten, Fall 2014 .
This assignment is due in class AND to Angel by the end of class on Wednesday, October 1 5 . Written
material should be typed, 12 pt. font, double spaced, and the whole assignment in one stapled packet ,
including copies of all supporting material identified in 7 below. Please do not ask me to accept assignments that are not stapled, and please do not exceed the space limit of three written pages– my grading will stop there. You will submit the memo in the appropriate Angel Drop Box, and turn in a paper copy with your additional material in class.
We will discuss this assignment in class, so on the due date please have computer- readable copies of your graphs available, either on a CD, flash drive, or via e – mail. You may be in vited to show them to the class and describe them briefly. As with all assignments, this is to be independent work.
The superintendent of a Texas school district wishes to better understand how economic factors affect
inequality in academic achievement across the district. Several web sites will be of use in finding out:
• Individual School District Web Sites (look up on Google)
• Journal of Human Resources (JHR) article by Hanushek, Kain, and Rivkin
Here is what to do:
1. The district must have at least twenty elementary schools that include the 5 th grade, and should have
some variation in socioeconomic status across schools. You can use the Map site to look at districts.
You will not need to study every school in your district, just twenty elementaries, selected to
maximize variation in the percentage of economically disadvantaged students (who receive free or reduced lunch) in the school.
2. Obtain a copy of the teacher salary schedule from your district and four surrounding districts. These
are generally available on the district’s web site, but occasionally you will have to call and have them
FAX /EMAIL it to you.
3. Read the JHR article, focusing on the main points and not getting bogged down in details.
4. Go to the AEIS and obtain, for each of the twenty schools you have chosen, the percent passing the
5th grade TAKS mathematics, the percent passing the 5th grade TAKS reading, the percentage of
students on free or reduced lunch (economically disadvantaged), the perc entage of teachers in the
school with five years of experience or less, and the average total operating expenditures per student
(by function). Each of these numbers should be for 2010 (2009 – 2010 school year), because the
testing system changed for 2011. R ecord these numbers in a nicely organized spreadsheet.
5. Create nice- looking scatterplots of the percentage of economically disadvantaged students vs. math
scores (% passing), economic disadvantage vs. reading scores, economic disadvantage vs. the percent of teachers with less than 5 yrs. experience, and economic disadvantage vs. average operating
expenditures. Treat economic disadvantage as the independent, or X, variable, and the others as
dependent, or Y, variables. Include a trend line in each .
6. Also create a graph of percent teachers with less than 5 yrs. experience vs. math scores, and another
that replaces math scores with reading scores. Here, the percentage of inexperienced teachers is the
independent variable and the test scores are the dependent variable. Again, include trend lines .
7. Write a memo to the superintendent, organized around answers to the questions below, to explain
how economic factors affect inequality in academic achievement across the district. Make the memo
no longer than three type written pages maximum, with printouts of your data, graphs, and salaries,
stapled to the back. Submit this packet in class on the due date. Turn it in to me and I will forward it
to the superintendent for you…
Here are the questions!
1. Competitiveness of Markets . First, compare salaries across districts. What does it mean for teaching salaries to be competitive? Are they reasonably competitive across your market area? Why? Are they more competitive for beginning teachers or experienced teachers?
2. Labor Demand. Carefully examine the teacher salary schedule for your district. Describe the patterns that it contains. Theory suggests that the amount employers are willing to pay workers reflects their productivity. If so, what does the salary schedule indicate school districts do, and do not, value in teachers? Does this make sense?
3. Labor Supply. Briefly summarize the JHR article. Then briefly summarize your graphs in #5 above.
Interpret the trend lines. Do your graphs suggest that teacher supply follows the patterns described
in the JHR article?
4. Equilibrium . Your teacher salary schedule has no compensating differentials of any kind. In this labor
market, what does that mean?– what would it be like, instead, to have compensating differentials?
Describe how the lack of compensating differentials affects the teacher supply patterns you described
above. Does the lack of compensating differentials have any other repercussions in this market?
5. Output . Finally, let’s look at performance, as measured by test sc o res. Ba sed on your graphs in #6
above, are these scores related to the percentage of inexperienced teachers? Quantify the relationship
by interpreting the trend line. Do the pay policies of school districts appear to influence student
achievement in the schools you studied?
One or two paragraphs should suffice to answer each set of questions (1- 5). Conclude your write- up with
brief concluding remarks that focus on the big picture.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Memo
To: The Superintendent
From: The Economists
Re: How Economic Factors Affect Inequality In Academic Achievement Across Districts.
Competitiveness of Markets
The competitiveness of pay across the major district schools can be analyzed by the illustration below.
Salaries
Mathematics
Reading
Midland
43622
99
82
Clarendon
42736
81
95
Farwell
42198
50
60
Calvert Independent school District
42193
93
93
Happy
41444
84
74
Claude Independent school District
40355
82
91
Grandview
40150
98
94
Follett
34796
60
58
Briscoe
34338
84
87
Channing Independent school District
34038
53
71
Groom
34023
83
70
Darrouzett
33821
86
95
Adrian Independent school district
29400
86
86
The performance of teachers is positively affected by the increment of the rate of salaries payable to the teachers. The percentage performance in the TAKS Reading performance seems to improve as salaries continue rise across different schools. The perfectly competitive salaries can be determined by the labor market when marginal factor of the cost of labor equals the equilibrium wage that can be accomplished by the laws of labor supply and demand.
Performance in Mathematics & Reading Compared to Increment in Salaries
The performances of the teachers who are well paid are better in Reading than in mathematics as the trend indicates above. However, the increment in salaries for the teachers is also associated with higher and better performance of the students. (Stinebrickner, 2001)
Labour Demand
The demand of experienced teachers is on the increase as most of the teachers who transition to other trades, schools or districts continue to rise. Most schools are willing to pay more for experienced teachers as their performance is much better than the inexperienced teachers. Teachers earning higher salaries are associated with higher performance scores among the students. The demand of experienced teachers is higher than the demand for teachers with less experience.
Trend of Salaries and the Percentage of Teachers with Less than 5yrs Experience
The higher salaries also attract teachers with less experience but the teachers who are well compensated perform better than the less compensated teachers even though the level of experience is the same.
Labour Supply
The JHR article focuses mostly on the number or percentage of teachers who transition from teaching in one district, from one school to another or quitting the profession. On the performance of students, the article affirms that on average, new teachers who are still inexperienced register slightly lower scores in student’s average performance. The experienced teachers who are paid much better than the inexperienced ones register good scores in the student performance. (Murnane & Olsen, 1989) Most schools end up having more inexperienced teachers as a result of experience teachers transition to other districts, schools or quit the teaching profession.
The Trend of Teachers with Less Than 5yrs Experience in Economically
Disadvantaged Student Areas
Equilibrium
Certain jobs are relatively more appealing than others for such reasons as better working conditions, more wage benefits, job security, social contribution and greater opportunities for advancements. The concept of compensating salary or wage differentials affirms that most employees will accept low paying jobs if non wage benefits are higher. To accept unappealing jobs, higher salaries have to be paid to compensate the unappealing nature of the jobs.
The perfectly competitive salaries can be determined by the labor market when marginal factor of the cost of labor equals the equilibrium wage that can be accomplished by the laws of labor supply and demand. (Oyer & Schaefer, 2011)
The teaching jobs in regions that are considered disadvantaged may require higher salaries to attract experienced teachers. Other determinants that may influence the wage differentials are community type, ethnicity, gender and other differences that are not responsive salary increments and students characteristics.
The Trend of Teachers with Less Than 5yrs Experience in Economically
Disadvantaged Student Areas
The number of teachers with less than 5 yrs experience is higher in areas with higher economically disadvantaged students. These may be due to the availability of more teacher vacancies with low salaries that can only attract inexperienced teachers.
Output
The general results of teachers with less than 5 years indicate a decreasing trend which means that their general performance is reducing and the performance of students is going down. The schools administration has to control the number of teachers with less than five years experience as their growing numbers may affect the performance of the school negatively.
Teachers with less than 5yrs Experience Student’s TAKS Math’s % Scores
The pay policies also affect the performance of the school. The trend line on the graph that compares the teachers with less than 5 years experience and the amount of salaries payable indicate that teachers with less than 5 years of experience and are paid higher salaries perform much better than those with lower salaries. The pay however is not the overall retention motivating factor as other determinants like community type, ethnicity, gender and other differences that are not responsive to salary increments and student’s characteristics determine to a large extent the retention and performance of teachers. (Hanushek, Kain and Rivkin, 2004)
Teachers with less than 5yrs Experience Student’s TAKS Reading % Scores
The Rate of Economically Disadvantaged Students Compared to the Average OperatingExpenditure per Student.
Finally to conclude, the performance and retention of teachers also rely on other factors beyond the rate of salary compensation. The community type, ethnicity, gender and other differences that are not responsive salary increments and students characteristics determine to a large extent the retention and performance of teachers. The experience of teachers determines the quality of teaching involved. The more experienced teachers perform better than their inexperienced counterparts. The economically disadvantaged students also receive less average operating expenditure per student. Though their performance is not affected by the reduced average operating expenditures.
References
Hanushek, E.A., Kain, K.F. and Rivkin, S.G. (2004) Why Public Schools loose Teachers, The Journal of Human Resources, Vol. 39, No.2 pp. 326-354, University of Wisconsin Press.
Murnane, R.J. & Olsen, R. (1989) The Effects of Salaries and Opportunity Costs on Length of Stay in Teaching: Evidence from Michigan Review of Economics and Statistics 71 (2) 347- 352.
Oyer, P. & Schaefer, S. (2011) “Personnel Economics: Hiring and Incentives,” chap. 20, Handbook of Labor Economics, v. 4B, pp. 1769–1823.
Stinebrickner, T.R. (2001) Compensation Policies and Teachers Decisions, International Economics Review 42 (3) 751-779.
Appendices
Region 16
Teachers
Average Expenditure
Elementary Schools
TAKS MATH
TAKS Reading
ECON DIS
>5yrs Exp
Salary
Per Student
1
Adrian School
86
86
86
18.5
29400
9207
2
Carver El Academy
86
86
86
28.6
42193
5867
3
Kirksey EL
95
99
93
18.5
42930
6371
4
Bovina EL
93
93
91
30
44245
6410
5
Mimi Farley EL
82
91
99
25.7
41092
5902
6
Channing School
53
71
43
30.6
34038
9559
7
Clarendon EL
81
95
70
29.6
42736
5953
8
Claude El
86
95
99
24.1
40355
5712
9
Darrouzett Schools
50
60
44
26.4
33821
9022
10
Cactus El
60
58
30
32.4
45040
6641
11
Green Acres El
84
87
65
31.3
43622
6404
12
Hillcrest El
98
94
96
27.7
41376
6178
13
Morningside EL
99
82
71
33.2
42189
6116
14
Sunset EL
83
70
51.5
31.9
44226
6596
15
Farewell El
84
74
65
30.4
42198
5973
16
Follett School
90
80
78
23.6
34796
8919
17
Fort Elliot
88
88
90
22.8
34338
7971
18
Grandview-Hopkins
93
93
0
26.5
40150
5667
19
Groom School
90
80
0
21.9
34023
8174
20
Happy El
99
99
99
27.4
41444
5730
Salaries In Different School Districts
School District
Salaries
Performance in Mathematics
Performance in Reading
Midland
43622
99
82
Clarendon
42736
81
95
Farwell
42198
50
60
Calvert Independent school District
42193
93
93
Happy
41444
84
74
Claude Independent school District
40355
82
91
Grandview
40150
98
94
Follett
34796
60
58
Briscoe
34338
84
87
Channing Independent school District
34038
53
71
Groom
34023
83
70
Darrouzett
33821
86
95
Adrian Independent school district
29400
86
86
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Industrialization After the Civil War Thesis and Outline
Order Instructions:
Industrialization After the Civil War Thesis and Outline
Paper instructions:
After the Civil War, the United States became a much more industrialized society. Between 1865 and 1920, industrialization improved American life in many ways. However, industrialization also created problems for American society. Consider events that took place after the Civil War and discuss ways that industrialization affected the U.S. between 1865 and 1920.
For the first part of this assignment you will create a thesis statement. A thesis statement is usually a single sentence somewhere in your first paragraph that presents your main idea to the reader. The body of the essay organizes the material you gather and present in support of your main idea. Keep in mind that a thesis is an interpretation of a question or subject, not the subject itself. (Note: Please consult Stanford University’s Website with tips on how to construct a proper thesis; the website can be found at: http://www.stanford.edu/~steener/handouts/thesis.htm
For the next part of this assignment you will create an outline of the main points you want to address in this paper. This outline will serve as the basis for your Assignment 1.2 Final Draft. (Note: Please use the Purdue Owl Website to assist you with this assignment;this website can be accessed at: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/engagement/2/2/55/
Part 1:
1. Write a thesis statement that is one to two (1-2) sentences long in which you:
1.State you opinion on how industrialization after the Civil War influenced U.S. society, economy, and politics. Justify your response.
Part 2:
1.Determine three (3) major aspects of industrialization during 1865 and 1920 that influenced U.S. society, economy, and politics. (Consider issues such as geography, entrepreneurship, legislative representation, etc.)
2.List five (5) specific groups that were affected by industrialization. Provide two (2) examples for each group describing how the group was affected. (Consider issues such as race, ethnicity, gender, child labor, etc.)
3.List five (5) ways that industrialization affected the life of the average working American during this period.
4.Use at least three (3) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as academic resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
•Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
•Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
•Identify and discuss the different ways that the Civil War, Reconstruction, and Industrialization after the Civil War have shaped America’s history.
•Summarize and discuss the ways that formal policies of government have influenced the direction of historical and social development in the United States.
•Recognize the major turning points in American history since the Civil War.
•Use technology and information resources to research issues in contemporary U.S. history.
•Write clearly and concisely about contemporary U.S. history using proper writing mechanics.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Essay Outline
The American civil war had great impact on American history since it resulted to industrialization during 1895-1920. Both negative and positive results was borne from the American industrialization that cut across the political, the social, and economic divide. The three major aspects of industrialization during 1895-1920 that influenced U.S. are social, economic, and political. Economically, the industrialization led to the expansion of business activities and increase in trade. Socially, the lives of workers were greatly affected due to poor working conditions and minimum wages. Politically, industrialization resulted into more political groupings and voting power among the various segments of the population.
The five specific groups that were affected by industrialization are: Farmers (were poor slaves and work on farms in extreme hard conditions, and agriculture changed from agrarian to industrial); women (did not hold jobs, were caretakers, could not vote but afterwards obtained the rights to vote and office jobs); immigrants (associated with lower wages and were and discriminated in the workplace); wealthy (rich keeps becoming richer in expending businesses and getting favors from legislators) and politicians (associated with greed, bribery, favoritism and at the same time passed legislations in favor of women rights, ending slavery and promoting labor rights for workers.)
Five ways that industrialization affected the life of the average working American during this period: Many farmers left agriculture and went for industrialized jobs. Invention of machine in factory industry made less demand of people. Women could find jobs in office setting and have the privilege of voting right. Farmers were extremely poor, worked long hours and underpaid and resulting in death. Freed slaves began to seek education rights and demand for proper working conditions.
Industrialization also resulted to negative consequences such as environmental degradation, social misfits, monopoly of certain businesses, and increased greed of human beings.
Industrialization in America after the Civil War
The American civil war is one of the most significant events in the American history since it gave birth to industrialization. Industrialization after the Civil War had both negative and positive consequences to the American society, economy, and politics. This is because significant development was realized as well as drawbacks in the political, economic, and societal set-up as a result of industrialization. This paper discusses the three major aspects of industrialization, the five groups that were affected by the industrialization, and the ways in which industrialization affected the life of average working Americans during that period.
During the Civil War, the Americans fought against themselves leading to great destruction of property and loss of lives. After the fierce fight, the nation was united and this led to several developments since they learned from their mistakes. The American slaves were set free after the war and the federal government started to facilitate reconstruction of their economy in various sectors. Following the industrialization in America, no stone was left unturned and a lot of changes were hereby made that still affects the living conditions of the present day Americans.
The industrialization in the United States was very pronounced and affected both the political, social and economic aspect of the American citizens (Adams, 2014). Due to increased productivity the Americas economy began to change since people could now complete their jobs in their homes due to high growth in the country’s economy. The economy also changed through the factory system which allowed a large amount of work to be completed in one location, resulting in employment of several people into the factories. Society also changed through two major transitions during the revolution which entailed Americans stop farming practices and going to get better jobs in the factories. The revolution ended up affecting politics since politicians were now concerned with expanding their business interests instead of dedicating themselves to the needs of the poor people in the country (McCrary, 2014).
Several groups were directly and indirectly affected by the industrialization that took place after the American civil war. Immigrants were highly affected by the industrial revolution in America since they were associated with least wages in addition to being discriminated in the workplace. Women and farmers were all affected by the industrial revolution era in various ways that disrupted their conventional way of doing things (Bead, 2013). It was after the civil war that women had jobs to do; they worked as car takers of different homes to earn a living and to support their families. To some extent, the industrial revolution was beneficial to women since they were able to obtain privileges like having the right to vote and to participate in active politics. Due to the industrial revolution, farmers were highly affected since the Americans stopped being an agricultural land to being an industrial country. Before the industrial revolution, farmers had cheap labor of slaves obtained from Africa, but this stopped following the end of civil war and the beginning of the industrial revolution (Moneyhon, 2002).
The workers formed the center stage of the American industrial revolution and were greatly affected by its effects. Following the industrial revolution, American workers were affected in a way that their wages were reduced, they worked for long hours and their working conditions were very poor. It was very worse to an extend some workers even lived in the same place where they worked despite working in an overcrowded area with poor working conditions. More immigrants who arrived in America sought for education, including the freed slaves from America highly needed education which was positively affected by the industrialization era. In order to better America, people who arrived in the country also had to get the basic education to learn English which was a great challenge. On the other side, blacks while enslaved and were not taught how to speak English or to interact freely with the rest of the American citizens as democracy would demand. The revolution also had effects on the side of the living conditions where many people had to migrate to live near the factories so that they could be considered for jobs that were available in those factories (McCrary, 2014). Moreover, there was an increase in population near the factories and many houses were built very close to one another leading to the development of slums.
Steel became an important component of the industrial revolution since it was a major material that was used by the industrialists to make their new inventions and to reinforce their machinery. In addition, steel was a very important metal during this era since it was easier to make, easier to mine, and lighter than iron (Beard, 2013). For transportation purposes, the metal formed an important component for rail transport system since it was used to construct the railroads and the component of the train body and engine. The railway lines formed important routes, apart from roads and seaways, for transporting raw materials from the mining areas to their destinations. The railway lines mostly relied on the gravity and horse since the engine system was not well developed to support the movement of very heavy loads. The railway lines worked on the principle of reducing friction to the lowest minimum so that one horse can pull several tons of loads with ease. The railroads also facilitated the free movement of people and goods from one place to another leading to improved trade. The living standards of people changed drastically since the industrial revolution enabled people to receive quality goods and services due to technological advancements (Moneyhon, 2002).
The industrial revolution is also characterized by the production of petroleum through coal mining. Coal became an important component of the industrial revolution since it was able to burn and produces more energy than wood and this provided enough energy to run the steam engines. Coal provided enough energy needed by the people to move their heavy goods by train, road, and sea transport. Coal mining became a booming business during the industrial revolution era due to its high demand to further industrial pursuits in all parts of the world. Before coal mining, the United States was an industrial laggard but this changed after coal mining since the United States quickly overtook countries such as Germany, Great Britain, and France (Moneyhon, 2002).
Industrial revolution also enabled most persons to enjoy the power of electricity in their homes and at their industries. This ultimately led to the discovery of the incandescent lights that enabled the Americans to extend some of their activities at night. The middle class was greatly affected by the discovery of electricity since they were able to receive the motion pictures. In addition, it affected the telecommunication industry and the telephone conversations since people in distant places could easily be reached by information. Industrial revolution also spurred more innovation, leading to the discovery of the bell. In terms of construction, new architectural designs were formulated, leading to construction of strong and reliable bridges and road designs (McCrary, 2014). Due to increased innovation, new food conservation methods were devised that reduce the level of agricultural wastage. Moreover, industrial revolution resulted in the creation of more business opportunities leading to the expansion of financial institutions. The women were thus able to get jobs and salaries that they use to sustain their families. Industrial revolution also resulted in the importance of politics in the United States since people started to appreciate the importance of bargaining power. The political developments led to advocacy for slavery rights, the rights of women, and the labor rights for thousands of workers.
Despite the positive developments, industrial revolution also led to several negative consequences both to the people and to the environment. Increased mining of fossil fuels and mineral elements that supported various processes of industrial revolution resulted in environmental degradation. Social misfits such as child labor laws, reduced salaries and wages, and monopoly resulted from the industrial greed of human beings (McCrary, 2014).
To conclude, living conditions were not that comfortable due to the high number of people migrating to live in cities. The way of life, government, and everything were affected by the revolution which had both the positive and negative impacts, hence molding America to be a first world country to date. This in turn led to political divisions that were used by political leaders to pursue their own selfish course. It is thus true that the industrial revolution in America after the civil war had both negative and positive impacts and it affected various groups of people and various sectors of the economy.
References
Adams, M.C. (2014). Living Hell: The Dark Side of the Civil War. Prentice Hall
Beard, C.A. (2013). History of the United States. Create Space Independent Publishing Platform.
McCrary, F. (2014). American History: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Oxford University Press.
Moneyhon, C. (2002). The Impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on Arkansas. University of Arkansas Press.
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Applying Ethical Decision-Making Models to Guerrilla
Applying Ethical Decision-Making Models to Guerrilla
Order Instructions:
As mentioned in previous weeks, Cooper’s ethical decision-making model and Waldo’s Map of Ethical Obligations assist responsible public administrators in assessing and addressing the ethical dilemmas that they will confront during their careers. Public administrators must consider all underlying factors of a dilemma and the potential solutions in order to ensure the most proper outcome. Sometimes the chosen outcome may involve actions that serve to work against the wishes of superiors in the organization.
For this Assignment, review the case study in the text, “Guerrilla Government in EPA’s Seattle Regional Office.” Identify an ethical issue within this case study. Consider the competing obligations and responsibilities that these individuals faced and how they determined whether their actions were right. Also, think about the impact of guerrilla government on the political appointees, organization, and public policy.
The Assignment (3–4 pages in APA format): Your paper should include the following:
A description of the ethical issue you identified in the “Guerrilla Government in EPA’s Seattle Regional Office” case study
A description of the issues the political appointees faced in this case and an explanation of federal ethics law violations
An explanation of why you think the career employees were motivated to use guerrilla tactics as a solution despite the risks to their careers (e.g., competing obligations) and whether their choice of guerrilla action was ethical
An explanation of how these actions affected the organization and public policy
A description of the actions leaders within the EPA might have taken to manage guerrilla government and an explanation of how those actions might have changed the outcome of the situation
An evaluation of the potential lessons for public administrators and the importance of these lessons
Note: If you are more familiar with life in a nation outside of the United States, explain the potential lessons for public administrators in that nation.
Support your Assignment with specific references to all resources used in its preparation. Provide a reference list with all resources included in the paper.
Your Assignment must demonstrate both breadth and depth of knowledge and critical thinking appropriate to graduate-level scholarship. It must follow APA Publication Manual guidelines and be free of typographical, spelling, and grammatical errors. The assignment should be 3–4 pages in length (double-spaced), not including the title page, abstract, and references.
SAMPLE ANSWER
Applying Ethical Decision-Making Models to Guerrilla
Abstract
Guerrilla governments refer to actions of public servants who operate against the wishes of their administrators. This paper explores the creation and development of guerilla governments and their impact on the organization and public policy with regard to the “Guerrilla Government in EPA’s Seattle Regional Office” case study. The paper further describes the actions that the administrators in the case study might have undertaken in order to manage the guerilla government and how these actions could have changed the situation. Lastly, the paper provides an evaluation of the potential lessons for public administrators and the importance of these lessons.
Applying Ethical Decision-Making Models to Guerrilla
A description of the ethical issue you identified in the “Guerrilla Government in EPA’s Seattle Regional Office” case study
When President Reagan came to power in 1980, he made drastic changes in the federal government. His purpose and mission was to reduce too much control by the government in the private enterprise (Lash, Gillman & Sheridan, 1984). He was of the view that the previous bureaucratic government had destroyed the American industry with too much regulation. After appointing Anne Gorsuch as the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the two handpicked regional administrators for the EPA who had similar beliefs. John Spencer a good friend of Gorsuch, and Robie Russel were among the appointed regional administrators, and they perfectly illustrate the subtle and sophisticated authority of guerilla government and some conditions for the emergence of a guerilla government (O’Leary, 2014).
The guerilla government discouraged accountability and responsibility for actions done by some government employees such as Spencer. Spencer misused public funds and used his official position to further his own personal interests. Despite repeated warnings by career staff in his respective Management Division that his personal expenditures using taxpayer’s funds violated federal guidelines, Spencer continued to misuse the funds. In addition, Spencer violated environmental laws and disregarded complaints from environmentalists. Spencer also failed to enforce environmental laws as vigorously as possible despite EPA officials’ complaints that there were potential threats to the City of Kent’s water supply. Russel also embezzled public funds and violated environmental laws. He refused to accept the allegations lodged against him and maintained that he had brought badly needed change to the EPA (O’Leary, 2014).
A description of the issues the political appointees faced in this case and an explanation of federal ethics law violations
Political appointees had problems with controlling and monitoring the actions of the regional administrators due to the fact some of them feared acting on baseless grounds. For instance, when the director of the Management heard of a complaint about Spencer’s misconduct, he feared acting contrary to Spencer’s wishes due to the fact that he viewed Spencer’s misconduct as a privilege and a duty of government employees when they see wrongdoing to turn it in (O’Leary, 2014, p49). Another challenge that the employees faced was reassignment and demotion by the administrators. Spencer reassigned and demoted the director of the Management Division due to the fact that he repeatedly warned Spencer that he was violating procedures and misusing public funds.
EPA officials also faced strong influence from administrators who forced them to violate laws and ethical values. For instance, in the pulp mill case, Spencer forced the EPA staff to release confidential information provided by ITT-Rayonier to two of ITT-Rayonier’s competitors. Gorsuch misappropriated the EPA budget, demoralized the EPA staff and alienated Congress through her refusal to furnish the investigation committee with information in the agency’s Superfund program. Gorsuch also caused many appointees to be hired, fired, or promoted on grounds of their political positions (O’Leary, 2014, p53). Russel excluded his deputy administrator from meetings, which compelled the deputy to use guerilla tactics to raise his concerns.
An explanation of why the career employees were motivated to use guerrilla tactics as a solution despite the risks to their careers (e.g., competing obligations) and whether their choice of guerrilla action was ethical
Engaging in guerilla was not ethical due to the fact that it exacted personal costs to the self-esteem of the career staff. Though there are people who feel self-righteous to engage in guerilla, the fact that it compromises with loyalty and straightforwardness makes it unethical. Nevertheless, these career staff employees abandoned these ethical values due to the motivation that they were serving a greater good. Their acts were inspired by the urge to save human lives out of a love of humanity and they believed that there was no formal medium for them to express their concerns and solve the ethical and legal issues confronting them (O’Leary, 2014).
An explanation of how these actions affected the organization and public policy
Guerillas run the risk of being unregulated themselves. In some cases, guerillas fail to see the big picture and they promote policies which are incompatible with the system as a whole (Katz & Kahn, 1978). In other cases, guerillas making officers more consumed in fulfilling their own expensive and instrumental purposes instead of the purposes of the organization. Guerillas affect public policy due to the fact that they send different confusing messages to the public, thus creating a negative impression (O’Leary, 2014).
A description of the actions leaders within the EPA might have taken to manage guerrilla government and an explanation of how those actions might have changed the outcome of the situation
The leaders should have promoted an organizational culture that allows and encourages open dialogue and debate. Cultivation of a questioning attitude through encouragement of staff to challenge organizational assumptions fosters innovation and creativity. Leaders should also have learned to listen to the words and the language of dissent from the employees, and this could have helped in providing a platform for discussion and coming up with effective solutions. It is also important for leaders to understand the organization both formally and informally. This gives the leader an opportunity to embrace any proactive changes and to make objective, professional judgments when conflicts arise. Lastly, the administrators should have learnt to separate the people from the problem as this fosters objectivity in decision-making (Fisher, Ury & Patton, 2011).
An evaluation of the potential lessons for public administrators and the importance of these lessons
The case study shows that there are tendencies for decision makers and other stakeholders in an organization to become blinded by their own feelings and thoughts concerning dissent due to the fact that they majorly concentrate on their own careers, perspectives and programs as lone beings. Being too concerned with one’s own tasks and feelings makes one unable to see the other side of the dissent. Administrators should understand that guerillas will always exist and the earlier they learn to deal with them the better (Balfour, 2007).
References
Balfour, D. L. (2007). Book Review: Guerillas in Government? The Ethics of Dissent: Managing Guerilla Government. The American Review of Public Administration, 37(1), 114-116.
Fisher, R., Ury, W. L., & Patton, B. (2011). Getting to yes: Negotiating agreement without giving in. Penguin.
Katz, D., & Kahn, R. (1978). The social psychology of organizations. NY: Wiley. KatzThe Social Psychology of Organizations1978.
Lash, J., Gillman D., & Sheridan. D. (1984). A Season of Spoils: The Reagan Administration’s Attack on the Environment. New York: Pantheon.
O’Leary, R. (2014). The Ethics of dissent: Managing guerrilla government (2nd ed.). Chapter 3, Cq Press.
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Due 13 October (submitted to Turnitin)
Astor Lodge & Suites, Inc (35%) –
Kerin & Peterson page 338 Case Questions:
A: Specific Case Questions – worth up to 17.5%
Section A
One
1. How would you characterise the U.S. hotel industry in early 2005
Two
2. What is the current competitive positioning for Astor lodges & Suites, Inc
Three
3. How would you characterise the operational (e.g. occupancy rates, prices, costs per room,
etc) and financial performance (e.g. EBITDA – Earnings before interest and taxes and direct admin expenses) of Astor lodges & Suites, Inc. You need to be able to link sales and marketing expenditure to corporate financial metrics.
Four
4. Given Mr James charge to the senior vice president, how would you portray and assess sales and marketing initiatives, expenditures, and outcomes for fiscal 2004 and 2005?
Five
5.What should Kelly Elizabeth propose in her fiscal 2006 sales and marketing plan and budget
Criteria for Part A
• • Maximum length 10 pages excluding appendices; cover page and table of contents. Your write-up can be a mixture of bullet point form and essay style [Times Roman, 12 point font single spacing, 2.5cm margins]. Answer each question separately.
• • Use headings to highlight which questions you are answering. Structure your answers using sub- headings if necessary to make it clear that you have used an analytical approach to reach your answers. The grader will be treating (apparently) random lists of issues with caution.
The Astor Lodge & Suites Company was founded in 1979 and owns over 250 properties nationwide. It is the owner of 200 Astor Lodges and 50 Astor Lodge & Suites across the United States. The two major services that the company offers are Aston Lodge Economy Class Hotels and Aston Lodge & Suites Midscale Class Hotels. The top competing points for the hotel are service, price, and amenities. The company has six hotel segments including luxury, upper scale, upscale in the full-service hotels and midscale food and beverage, midscale, and economy in the category of limited-service hotels (Seoki et al., 2014, 87). This paper aims at exploring the characteristics/features of the hotel industry of US in the early 2005, identifying and evaluating the present competitive positioning that is associated with Astor Lodges & Suites Company, characterizing the financial and operational performance of Astor Lodges, portraying and assessing the sales and marketing initiatives used in Astor Lodges and offering recommendations on what should be in the firm’s sales and marketing budget schedule for the financial year 2006.
2.0 The U.S. Hotel Industry during the Early 2005
The period around the late 2004 and early 2005 in the hotel industry across the United States was characterized by a return on revenues following declines in the previous years. The lodging industry particularly returned to positive profit growth. It is estimated that a typical hotel in the country during this period achieved an 11.4 percent increase in profits compared to the previous years. The improved profitability followed a three-year recession in the hotel industry that pushed unit-level hotel profits to a 36.2% decline during the period between 2001 and 2003 (Singh et al., 2014, 205). Nevertheless, this improvement in revenues was still low and far from the previous levels achieved in the late 1990s.
During the early months of 2005, the hotels in the U.S recorded a 7.6% increase in their total revenue which in turn led to the 11.4% growth in operating profits. Indeed, the larger hotels with higher rates of rooms experienced the greatest increase in profitability. The resort hotels realized the greatest increase in profitability with their overall revenue growing by up to 9% and operating profits growing by about 17%. The combined revenue from the beverage department, rentals, food department, and other operated departments increased by 6.3%. Food revenues recorded the highest growth at 6.9% while the rental and other income grew by only 4.3%. Since the number of rooms occupied only grew by 4.3% it can be argued that some of the additional revenue sources increase emanated from the increased usage of hotel restaurants, retail shops, lounges, and recreational facilities in the hotels. Additionally, the cost of running these departments only grew by 5.9% thus indicating that the supplement revenue sources equally contributed to the overall increase in hotel profitability (Seoki et al., 2014, 89).
Operating costs constituted 45.9% the bulk of which emanated from labor and related costs expenses. The 6.3% increase in labor and related costs during this period contributed greatly to the 6% percentage increase in the total operating costs for the hotels. This implies that the overall operating costs excluding that of labor grew at a pace higher than the 6%. There are two components of hotel labor costs; employee benefits and wages and salaries. There was a noted 8.9% increase in employee benefits and 5.5% in salaries and wages. Consequently, undistributed operating costs increased by 6.5% (Singh et al., 2014, 209). Due to their nature (fixed and not greatly influenced by the changes in hotel business volume) they can be viewed as intentional costs by the management. The highest rise in undistributed operating cost was experienced in the administrative and general department which grew by 7.3%. Insurance costs in the hotel industry contrary to other operating expenses started stabilizing during the 2004/5 period. For instance, on average the hotels paid 1.8% less for general liability and property insurance during the period than previously (Seoki et al., 2014, 89).
Generally, the hotel industry in the U.S in 2005 can be described as being very fragmented with no one brand or company controlling a majority of the total hotel rooms. Overall, the major competing points for hotel were amenities, service, and price. Typically, full-service hotels provided food and beverage outlets such as lounges and restaurant, luggage service, a concierge, convention/banquet/meeting facilities, and room service. Limited-service hotels offered rental rooms and include midscale without beverage and food. All hotel segments have particularly indicated improved performance in terms of average daily rate, revenue per available room, and occupancy in early 2005.notably, the five major hotel segments indicated great variance on these measures of performance with the luxury hotel segment recording the most improvement.
3.0 Competitive Positioning for the Astor lodges & Suites
Competitive positioning focuses on the aspect of differentiation with the aim of winning the mindshare of the industry or market. Various models can be employed in the determination of a firm’s competitive positioning in the market. One of these models is porter’s five forces model, which contributes significantly to the determination of a company’s competitive positioning in an industry. Besides, this model can be employed in the determination of the level of attractiveness of a market (Seoki et al., 2014, 56). This framework is founded on the notion that there exist five forces within a market that determine its attractiveness and competitive intensity. This model assists in identifying position of power in a business situation as in the case of Astor Lodges. The model is significant in the comprehension of the strengths/power of a firm’s current competitive position alongside the strength into which the business may choose to look. This model is employed b strategic analysts in identifying areas of strengths, improving weaknesses and avoiding mistakes. The five forces associated with this model are bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, competitive rivalry within the market, threat of alternatives and threat of entry of novel/new firms. In addition, the SWOT analysis can be employed in determining the competitive position of Astor Lodges in the Industry.
3.1 Porter’s Five Forces
3.11 Bargaining Potential of Suppliers
This element is employed in the assessment of the easy with which suppliers can drive up or increase prices. The strength of suppliers in the market is determined by the number of suppliers supplying each essential raw material, uniqueness of the supplier’s service or product, relative strength and size of the suppliers, and the expense of alternating from one supplier to the other. In relation to this, it can be noted that the bargaining potential of suppliers in the industry in which Astor Lodges operates is high. The suppliers’ power is associated with presence of many firm in the industry to which the suppliers can shift their services (Seoki et al., 2014, 58). Some of the firms that exist in this market are Marriott, La Quinta Inn, Hampton Inn & Suites and Fairfield Inn. The presence of many companies within the industry subjects companies like Astor Lodges to intense competition approaches, which are aimed at attracting suppliers. Thus, firm have to ensure that they offer better contracts or payments to suppliers to avoid losing them to their rivals.
3.12 Bargaining Power of Buyers
As an aspect of determining a firm’s competitive position, the element of buyers’ bargaining potential involves the evaluation of the ease with which buyers can drive prices down. The strength of power of buyers in market is determined by the significance of every buyer to the organization and expenses involved in switching from one firm to the other. Currently, the bargaining power of buyers in the US hotel industry is high. The buyers obtain their strength from the fact that this industry is characterized by a monopolistic model, which is always associated with the ease of entry of new firms in the market (Seoki et al., 2014, 62). As a result, the industry has many companies, which raises the strength of buyers as they can easily move from one business to the other. As such, companies such as Astor Lodges should focus on providing suitable services and product to buyers to avoid losing tem to other businesses. Specifically, the lodging industry as a monopolistic competitive market possesses the following features;
Differentiated products
Ease of entry for new firms
Many sellers
Multiple dimensions of competition
3.13 The Intensity Competitive Rivalry within the Market
This principle driver of this aspect is the number of and potential of competitors existing in the industry of market. In a situation in which the market has many competitors offering undifferentiated commodities and services, such a market is often associated with low attractiveness. High number of competitors in the firm often leads to a high intensity of competitive rivalry. On the other side, the existence of few firms in the market leads to a lower intensity of competitive rivalry. Being that the hotel industry in which Astor Lodges operates is associated with the monopolistic model new firms can easily enter it(Seoki et al., 2014, 64). Taking this aspect into consideration, the US hotel industry has many firms, which has resulted into a higher intensity of competition among businesses. Firms in this market struggle to beat each other by winning more consumers. Thus, Astor Lodges should ensure that it focuses on strategies that make it look unique in relation to its competitors as this can help it attract more buyers than them.
Competition within the hotel industry in U.S assumes a monopolistic model which implies that the company can only be able to influence the market position through altering the kind of product they offer to the market. Customers in such an arrangement are have clearly defined preferences concerning the products or services that expect from the company (Seoki et al., 2014, 67). As such, the company will always strive to differentiate their products from others from their competitors. In this context, it can be argued that a monopolistically competitive hotel will always manage to exploit the heterogeneity of its brand in order to reap high profits. Astor lodges & Suites being part of this monopolistic competitive industry has different types of hotels. Getting the many hotels to act as one proves to be a difficult task for the company’s management.
3.14 Threat of Alternatives
In a situation in which the industry is associated with the existence of close substitute services or products, the probability of buyers shifting to alternatives is often higher. On the other side, when the industry lacks close substitute services or products, the likelihood of buyers moving to alternatives is always lower (Singh et al., 2014, 61). Taking the two aspects into consideration, the hotel industry in which Astor Lodges operate is associated with the existence of alternative in relation to the services offered. Firms in this industry offer tow forms of services that are close to each other. There are firms that offer full-services by providing beverage and food outlets like restaurant and lounges, luggage service, convention/meeting facilities, a concierge and room services. On the other hand, there are organizations that offer limited-services. Taking the tow aspects into consideration, Astor Lodges & Suites is positioned as a limited service hotel and falls between the full-service and economy hotels. As such, the company is not faced with the threat of alternatives as it provides all the services that are offered in the industry. Moreover, the existence of Astor Lodges between economy and full-service hotels, implies that it is fighting other common names in this segment as Hampton Inn & Suites, Fairfield Inn, La Quinta Inn, and Marriott (Singh et al., 2014, 207). It is important to note that these are not necessarily competitors of the hotel. The top competing attributes for company are amenities, service, and price.
3.15 The threat of new Entry
Markets that are profitable attract new firms, thereby eroding the profitability that is associated with such markets. Unless incumbents possess durable and robust barriers to entry, then the profitability levels associated with such markets will decrease to a competitive rate. In relation to this, the US hotel industry can be considered profitable. In early 2005, hotels in this market were noted to have realized a total revenue increase of 7.6%. The increase in total revenue resulted into the growth or increase in operating profits to 11.4% (Seoki et al., 2014, 89). As such, new firms can be attracted easily to this market coupled by the fact that the market is associated with a monopolistic model that allows for easy entry of businesses.
3.2 SWOT Analysis
This model focuses on the strengths, opportunities, threats and weakness that are associated with the firm and market in which it operates. SWOT analysis offers a suitable platform on which Astor Lodges’ competitive position can be determined in an effective manner.
3.21 Strengths
The hotel has a strong leadership dedicated to increasing and attracting more occupants for the hotel
The embracing of the online communication platform is a big addition for the hotel in capturing business travelers
The location of most of its hotels along major highways, airports, large shopping centers, and office complexes is a strong business strategy
Currently the hotel is recording an above average occupancy rate with Astor Lodge & Suites Inc.
It is also enjoying a high brand loyalty
The hotels are recording a high revenue growth rate.
3.22 Weaknesses
Complaints from most business guests since the hotel is seen as more adopting a business model inclined to vacationers
Trends of its main target guests are changing.
There is a projected increase of 2% in terms of direct cost of rented rooms.
The hotel experiences low occupancy rates during the weekends.
It is experiencing fiercer competition.
3.33 Opportunities
Their prices are lower than the industry averages at $57.52 against the industry average of $61.50.
The hotel industry in the country is experiencing a 7.6% growth
Special offers for guests.
3.34 Threats
Challenge presented by terrorist acts slowing down travel.
Competition from large hotel chains such as Hilton.
Its frontier strategy has not yet been rendered effective.
Other major competitors have more property, greater presence and big reputation in the U.S.
4.0 The Operational and Financial Performance of Astor Lodges & Suites
Finance and operational performance of a company contributes significantly to the determination of its success in the market. Improvements in group, individuals or organizational performance cannot be realized in the absence of proper mechanisms of obtaining performance feedback or results. Feedback refers to having results of a task communicated to work group, employee or company. For organizations, performance measurement acts as a link between organizational goals and decisions. As such, managers should ensure that they are involved in active processes of evaluating their firms’ performances in relation to finances and operations for them to accomplish their business goals (Seoki et al., 2014, 78). Besides, this undertaking ensures that managers can make proper decisions on how the companies’ goals can be met.
Performance measurement provides a suitable platform on which suitable methods improving the company’s weaknesses in the evaluated areas can be established. Performance measurement focuses on two broad categories that include financial performance and operational performance (Singh et al., 2014, 109). Financial performance measurement focuses on the evaluation of the company’s income status while operational performance measurement focuses on the evaluation of the determinant of a firm’s results. Examples of results’ determinants in a company are inputs such as flexibility, quality, innovation and resource utilization.
Measurement of the business’ performance often takes into consideration five principle elements that include money, input/output associations, customers’ emphasis like quality and human resource. Within the area of operations, the measurement parameters that are often considered are quality measures, productivity measures, preventive maintenance, lead-time measures, utilization and performance to schedule (Seoki et al., 2014, 73). In this area, the specific measurement include cost of quality that is evaluated as budgeted versus exact/actual, variances that is evaluated as standard absorbed expenses verse actual costs, safety that is measured based on a common scale, profit contribution that is measured based on a common scale or measured dollars, and inventory turnover that is measured in terms of actual turnover versus budgeted turn over.
While measures of firms’ financial performances are always employed in gauging organizational performance, certain companies have witnessed negative outcomes from depending solely on such measures. In the real sense, traditional mechanisms of measuring the performances of firms are better at evaluating the consequences of past actions or activities than at projecting the performance of the future (Singh et al., 2014, 209). As such, managers should ensure that they do not depend on a single set of measures for them to realize clear targets. Many companies still depend on measures of efficiency and cost, when in some situations, such approaches as quality, services and time would be more suitable approaches. To be effective and efficient, performance yardsticks need to be subjected to a continuous evolvement so that they can manage to assess performance properly and target resources at continuous development.
The years 2004 and 2005 were part of the five consecutive year long profit draught for the Astor Lodges & Suites. Joseph James, the new CEO that the company had acquired developed a goal in which the company was expected to achieve profit within the following two years. The company with 250 properties across ten states in the Midwest had recorded a net-loss of $ 15.7 million (Singh et al., 2014, 209). As a result, four senior vice presidents were requested to meet and present the effects of the past five years. In addition, Kelly Elizabeth, a very experienced player in the marketing filed was brought on board to assist in underpinning the issue and in devising a new strategy to realize profits.
The marketing plan was expected to increase the overall occupancy. It was designed to attract pleasure travelers. An increase in the marketing plan advertising resulted in significant increase in media advertising budget to $ 11,360,000 (Seoki et al., 2014, 92). The marketing plan achieved the projected objective of increasing occupancy and weekend occupancy. However, the average daily rate did not change. The overall effect is that the lodging revenue and the revenue part room increased.
The projected annual revenues growth from the lodging segment was 7.4% for the year 2005. This was slightly below the industry average but at the same time higher than the growth rate in the segment. The company recorded a net loss for the third year while the industry recorded profits. As a result, the company had to close two under-performing lodges and opened one suite property. The projected consolidated company occupancy reached to 67.1% with average daily rate of $57.52 and revenue per room at $38.60 (Seoki et al., 2014, 94). Properties recorded an improved occupancy rate per room in 2004 but slowed in 2005. This is attributed to the free-night stay deal. Lodging expenses were projected at $211 million for the year 2005 including variable costs, utilities, direct labor, and supplies. Other expenses were estimated at $62.5million. Corporate expenses were estimated at $44.9 million, a $ 5.9 million increase from 2004 as a result of increased employee compensation, IT expenses, costs on sales and marketing, and health insurance (Singh et al., 2014, 208).
5.0 Sales and Marketing Initiatives, Outcomes, and Expenditures for Fiscal Years 2004 and 2005
The evaluation of a firm’s marketing and sales initiative is significant in ensuring that businesses develop suitable decisions on the selection of appropriate sales and marketing approaches. Marketing and sales initiatives serve as a game plan to the realization of the firm’s objectives. After the attainment of the company’s objectives, managers should ensure that they are involved in active evaluation of the sales and marketing initiative that their companies employed in achieving such goals (Seoki et al., 2014, 94). Such an undertaking is significant in evaluating and revealing how well a business has exploited the existing marketing opportunities within an industry using its capital resources and sales/marketing staff. Evaluation of the sales and marketing strategy can be accomplished using six steps.
The first step involves reviewing the initial/original goals of sales and marketing. Conducting this step is significant in addressing the changes in the sales/marketing goals that might have been encountered during the implementation process without the knowledge of the sales or marketing team. The second step involves the identification of the performance gaps that exist in the marketing or sales objectives. This process acts a suitable method of examining the company’s sales or marketing goals after the attainment of their deadlines (Seoki et al., 2014, 92). This objective can be accomplished by reviewing the financial and marketing/sales reports for the target product or service against their corresponding goals. The third step involves the evaluation of the effectiveness associated with a promotional approach. Sales/marketing and promotional campaigns are often developed to impact a firm’s market share. As such, this undertaking is vital in ensuring that the company acquires adequate knowledge on its market share and ways to increase such a market share. The fourth step takes into consideration the reviewing of the sales/marketing staff performance. This goal can be accomplished by reviewing specific marketing or sales goals for the individual members of staff. Moreover, it can be attained by focusing on the timescales established for sales/marketing plans against the exact performance data to verify whether the sales/marketing initiatives were executed in a timely manner (Seoki et al., 2014, 98). Furthermore, the sales or marketing plan budget should be reviewed in relation to the actual expense for implementing the sales or marketing plan. Taking the six aspects into consideration various aspects can be revealed about the sales and marketing approaches used by Astor Lodges in the financial years 2004 and 2005.
The sales and marketing segment of the hotel has lagged behind the other functions in terms of establishing substantial profit results from its expenditures. The growth rates can be rated in three categories hotel industry 7.6%, Astor Lodge & Suites, 7.4%, and limited service segment at 5.8%. Reports indicate a 50/50 split between leisure and business customers with a typical business customer estimated to spend about $ 81,000 per year paying $96 per room per night. A typical leisure customer estimated at $72,600 per year paying $89 per room per night (Singh et al., 2014, 209).
Currently the hotel is recording an above average occupancy rate with Astor Lodge & Suites standing at 67.1% against the industry average of 61.3%. All hotel segments have particularly indicated improved performance in terms of average daily rate, revenue per available room, and occupancy in early 2005.notably, the five major hotel segments indicated great variance on these measures of performance with the luxury hotel segment recording the most improvement with an increase of 3.5% in occupancy and an increase in revenue per available room of up to 39%. The occupancy was at 61.3%, revenue daily rate was at $53, and average daily use stood at $86 for the industry (Seoki et al., 2014, 95).
The Aston Lodges & Suites are recording a high revenue growth rate at 7.4% against the industry rate of 7.6%. This implies a positive financial performance in the recent past compared with previously. There is also a projected increase of 2% in terms of direct cost of rented rooms for the company. However, their prices are lower than the industry averages at $57.52 against the industry average of $61.50. Overall, the hotel industry in the country is experiencing a 7.6% growth (Singh et al., 2014, 209). The Aston Lodges & Suites registered a direct operating profit of $ 23.2 million in 2013 which was a 19.4% increase from the year 2012. The hotel average EBITDA has been growing steadily in an average annual rate of about 6% over the recent years. Generally, the hotel industry has recorded a $113.7 billion of revenues and $16.7 billion gross pre-tax profit and $ 4.4 million in hotel rooms in the same period compared with a 1.1 billion in 2011. This can be attributed to the recovery of the U.S economy as well as the growth being experienced in the consumer spending. For instance, the consumer spending in the U.S has been on the upward trend since the year 2011 with movement to $10912 in 2014 from $10373 in 2011 (Seoki et al., 2014, 97).
6.0 Proposal for Sales and Marketing Plan and Budget for 2006
Developing an effective sales and marketing budget and plan is significant in ensuring that companies accomplish their marketing/sales budgets within the required timescales and finance limits. When manager do not engage in the active development of sales/marketing plans and budgets, they can face several problems in the realization of their marketing and sales objectives (Singh et al., 2014, 102). Effective plan and budget development for organizations’ marketing and sales activities play a significant role in ensuring that resources such as time and money are utilized in an efficient and effective manner, thereby leading to a successful accomplishment of companies’ objectives. In relation to this, several issues should be considered in the development of the marketing/sales budget and plan for Astor Lodges.
First, the free-night-stay deal was one of the main causes for reduced revenues for the hotel. The strategy should have been to replace the free-night-stay with the weekend special deal. This was expected to increase the hotel’s occupancy rate, offer the deal to families seeking lower cost, and consequently return a part of lost revenues that had been experienced during the free-night-stay deal. The replacement would in turn return revenue lost by up to 50% and profits would have been projected at $ 22,552,680. Since the room rates are lower than the industry averages as established earlier in the discussion, it would be thoughtful for the company to increase their pricing. Prices could be increased to $60 for Astor lodges and $ 75 for Astor Lodge & Suites. As a result, the total profits for the 2006 would have been projected at $ 51,703,080 (Singh et al., 2014, 209). The rationale behind this would be that business customers are not so sensitive to higher prices since they are looking for booking rooms which the companies pay for. Concerning advertising, the company should change their media advertising budget allocation. For instance, they should focus more on attracting weekend leisure customers. The budget allocation for marketing should, therefore, be targeted to leisure customers. The change in allocation should be to 60% towards the business customer and 40% towards leisure customers (Seoki et al., 2014, 98). It is projected that leisure customers would be more likely responsive to learning about deals. More importantly, a hybrid mix of the three strategies would have been the most effective direction for the company marketing campaign.
By and large, there was a need to identify what the problem was and in so doing develop a way forward for the company starting 2004. The main challenge was the failure to make profits in five consecutive years. Generally, the hotel industry had recorded profits. The Aston Lodges & Suites failed to realize any profits despite the thriving hotel business during the same period.
7.0 References
Seoki, L, Yoon, K, & Qu, X 2014, ‘Internationalization and financial health in the US hotel industry’,Tourism Economics, 20, 1, pp. 87-105
Singh, A, Dev, C, & Mandelbaum, R 2014, ‘A flow-through analysis of the US lodging industry during the great recession’, International Journal Of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 26, 2, pp. 205-224.
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