African American and Haitian Heritage Essay

There are many different beliefs and values with the African American Culture compared to the Haitian Culture relating to child bearing and pregnancy. Both of the cultures have history of having large families in the rural areas, which was viewed as a necessary necessity because of the economic pressures each culture went though. The African American choice of birth control was oral contraceptives compared to the Haitians who used a variety of contraception methods such as the â€Å"birth control pill, female sterilization, injections, and condoms† Kemp (2012) states. The Haitians are mostly Catholic which makes them unwillingly to engage in conversations about pregnancy, and their fertility practices. Compared to African Americans who willingly to speak to older family members about their behavior during their pregnancy, or will help guide them with many of the practices and beliefs of a pregnant women. The African Americans view and belief on abortion is that many oppose abortion because of their â€Å"religious or moral beliefs†, and others oppose abortion because of moral, cultural, or â€Å"Afrocentric beliefs† WHO (2011) states. These beliefs will cause a delay in decision which makes abortions unsafe, compared to the Haitian Culture who does not talk about abortion openly, it is considered a women’s issue. Pregnancy is not considered a disease, or a â€Å"health problem, many Haitian women seek no prenatal care†, work fulltime until delivery, and celebrate their pregnancy as a time of joy. Haitian women also â€Å"do not eat spices†, but are encouraged to eat vegetables, and red fruits to increase the fetus blood Kemp (2012) claims. Compared to the African American women who seek prenatal care early in their pregnancy, also they respond to being pregnant as any other women in an ethnic group. Furthermore each one of the cultures has views, and beliefs that they follow during their pregnancy. The â€Å"Haitian women historically would walk, squat, or sit†, during labor, practice natural childbirth, but since migrating most Haitian women have adopted other practices. The fathers do not participate in delivery, but other female families members offer support Kemp (2012) states. The African American women have many beliefs or myths they believe in during their pregnancy. â€Å"Pica is the eating of a nonnutritive substance† such as soap, needles, dirt, and etc., this practice will help ease pain during delivery, and reduce nausea Galanti (2012) states. Furthermore African American women believe in many beliefs because it will cause harm to them and the unborn baby, during delivery they believe it is ok to be vocal. In addition during delivery African American women will have granny midwives deliver their unborn baby, and others will arrive at the Hospital in advanced labor to reduce the time spent there. Emotional support is provided by other women especially their mother, because men believe it is a private issue between women. The Haitian women believe that postpartum is a crucial period of childbearing, immediately after birth they will dress warmly to become more healthy, and clean. After delivery Haitian women believe that their â€Å"bones are open which makes them stay in bed 2-3 days postpartum† Galanti (2012) states so the bones can close. Another postpartum practice is the â€Å"three baths†, the first three days the mother will bathe in hot boiled water that will have leaves, bought or picked from the field. Then for the next three days the mother will bathe in water and leaves warmed by the sun. At the end of the third week the mother takes the third bath which is cold, Haitian women also avoid white foods during this period. Compared to the â€Å"African American women during postpartum period family support is needed to care for them six to eight weeks† after delivery Galanti (2012) states. Babies were not named until after they were known to survive, and the placenta has a spirit of its own which has to be buried after birth to avoid having a connection to the baby. Increased â€Å"vaginal bleeding is a sign of a sickness†, and tea is believed to have healing powers Kemp (2012) states. References Galanti, G. (2012) â€Å"Cultural Diversity in Health Care† African American. Retrieved on January 27, 2013 from www.ggalanti.org Kemp, C. (2012) â€Å"Haitians† Retrieved on January 27, 2013 from www.baylor.edu World Health Organization (2011) World Global Cultures† Retrieved on January 27, 2013 from www.who.org

International Journal of Business and Management Essay

As one of the most successful fast food chain in the world, throughout the development of McDonald’s, we could easily identify many successful business strategy implementations. In this paper, I will discuss some critical business strategies, which linked to the company’s structure and external environment. This paper is organized as follows: In the first section, I will give brief introduction to the success of McDonald’s. In the second section, I will analyze some particular strategies used by McDonald’s and how these strategies are suitable to their business structure. I will then analyze why McDonald’s choose these strategies in response to the changing external environment. Finally, I will summarize the approaches used by McDonald’s to achieve their strategic goals. Keywords: Strategy, McDonald’s structure Introduction McDonald’s, originated in California, USA, 1954, has become one of the most recognized and respected brands in the world. The success achieved includes that they have established more than 30,000 franchising stores in 119 countries, serving more than 47 million people each day, and generating about $15 billions revenues annually. McDonald’s also continuously enhances its brand imagine through different social activities and the sponsorship of special events and sports i.e. as a major sponsor of the world cup since 1994 and the Champions League football in England from 1996 to 2000.(www.McDonalds.com) How can McDonald’s achieve such success? There are many formulating strategies, which we could use for our analysis of their recipe of success such as Porter’s competitive strategies model, which includes differentiation and low-cost leadership; or Miles and Snow’s ‘strategy typology’, which defined prospector, defender, analyzer, and reactor strategy. Obviously, it is extremely important for McDonald’s to choose the most appropriate strategy to be successful. From my personal point view, to be an Analyzer is the most suitable strategic position for them to develop their business as a whole especially when they facing an extreme complex continuously changing world. As Miles and Snow defined that â€Å"The analyzer tries to maintain a stable business while innovating on the periphery. It seems to lie midway between the prospector and the defender. Some products will be targeted toward stable environment in which an efficiency strategy designed to keep current customers is used. Others will be targeted toward new, mor e dynamic environment, where growth is possible.† (Richard L.Daft) It is also very important to consider how McDonald’s applies these strategies and how their strategies interact with their business structure and the external environment. 1. How McDonald’s business structure influences its strategy? The McDonald’s business structure is based upon a geographic structure. When log on their website, you will be asked to choose the country that you are interested in. Actually, McDonald’s divided its operations into five geographical divisions. (www.McDonalds.com) International Journal of Business and Management November, 2008 As shown in above pie charts that around 65% of McDonald’s restaurants and approximately 75% of its revenues are generated in the United State and Europe. So, to McDonald’s, the most important strategic approach for maintaining its leading position is to keep their major markets at the same time expanding their business into the other emerging markets. However, different consumer groups in different countries may have very different tastes and/or requirements. So each full functional geographic unit of McDonald’s was required to wholly response for producing and marketing its products in that region. Through this regional structure, McDonald’s could not only satisfy the local consumers’ needs in different geographical areas but also pursuing ‘maximum local development’. Actually they produce and market slightly different types of products in different areas, and they even have different prices. As Jim Skinner, the vice-chairmen of McDonald’s illustrated that ‘if you are looking for a command center with one push button that operate our restaurant in every corner of the world, you won’t find it’. However, their philosophy of QSC&V-quality, service, cleanliness and value is same for everywhere. And McDonald’s targets the similar consumer segments that need fast service, affordable price and good standard hygiene. So their main products are similar in most countries, where they provided service, including beef, chicken, bread potatoes and milk. As the consumers in different countries having different foods requirements, McDonald’s keep launching new products for their regional consumers. In this case China and France can be very good examples. 2. McDonald’s in China: In 1990, McDonald’s opened their first store in shenzhen (near HongKong). But before they actually started their business, McDonald’s had already carried out 5 years business research and all sorts of information gathering such as the income level of the Chinese people, the kind of foods they enjoy etc. Moreover, their re-design of the counter, chairs and desks also reflected their considerations of the height and body shape of Chinese people. They made lots of efforts to promote their American burgers, and wanted to repeat the same success in China market as they has done elsewhere. Unfortunately, they are not as successful as KFC, their biggest rival, in China now. There are lots of reasons to explain it, one important issue which has once been ignored by McDonald’s is that Chinese people are more prefer chicken dishes than beef burgers, which are their main products. After identified this problem, McDonald’s has tried to adapt more Chinese tastes by adding more chicken meals into their menu for attracting more customers.(Chinese website) 3. McDonald’s in France: In France, where customers has been resentful of the fast-food chain’s incursion, McDonald’s has boosted it sales by remodeling restaurants i.e. hardwood floors, wood-beam ceilings, comfortable armchairs, and also by adding new menu items such as espresso, brioche and more upscale sandwiches. Actually they have successfully responded to the preferences of the local area. (Richard L.Daft) In the other countries the situation is the same. For example, in Canada, McDonald’s has introduced new Canadian feature breakfast. In Belgium, the McCicken Premiere has been added to the menu. Although McDonald’s has been regarded as the ultimate example of standardization for the world market. 4. How the strategy is influenced by external environment? The external environment can be divided into several sectors. In this section, I will only discuss two important parts: competitors, social concept (healthy problem) and uncertainty situation, which can greatly influence McDonald’s strategies. Then at the last part of this section, I will discuss one particular strategy they used which served for their future development purpose. Competitor: It’s unlikely that McDonald’s can always be No.1. In an annual consumer satisfaction survey, McDonald’s has been scored dead last among fast-food restaurants since 1992. In the fourth quarter of 2002, McDonald’s disclosed its first-ever quarterly loss, one reason why McDonald’s is struggling is that the consumers began to switch to its competitors, such as Burger King, Wendy’s, and Subway. These companies emphasized on offering fresher, hotter, high-quality foods at lower price with faster service. On the other hand, McDonald’s decided to close 719 poorly performing restaurants around world. All of these simply proved that McDonald’s might no longer be competitive in the fast-food market. And if McDonald’s cannot adapt external environment change, they might be gradually diminished and even replaced by other competitors. In order to keep their market share, increasing sales and profits. McDonald’s has to respond to the threat of competitors. In 2003, McDonald’s offered the McGriddles sandwiches in the US and the Canada feature breakfast. Meanwhile, McChicken Premiere and a zesty chicken have been introduced in the UK, France, Italy and Belgium. McDonald’s was trying to satisfy customer’s desire for premium products at affordable prices. Furthermore, McDonald’s is providing more choice with respond to offer ‘ Happy Meal’ to keep the children. For example, Happy meal now including chicken selects, and no-sugar –add fruit drink (juice and low-fat drink) and also to produce McDonald’s coffee which appeals to adult. Those products have been made to attract existing customer and develop new customers.(www.McDonalds) Moreover, in addition to the innovative menu, McDonald’s is also rebuilding and even relocating some of their restaurants to make the environment more attractive. At the same time, McDonald’s is differentiating itself by creating 73 Vol. 3, No. 11 International Journal of Business and Management more relevant experiences such as allowing the customers to access the Internet with the wireless technology platform. This innovative way not only attracts the teenagers, but also perfectly fitting the modern professionals’ requirements. Social problem –healthy issue With the economic development, people’s living standards have increased dramatically these years. People are becoming more concerned about their health issues. It cannot be denied that McDonald’s has attempted to make itself more convenience for the people. However, people also believe that such kinds of fast food are not good for their health. The world health organization‘s report presented that those food not only can cause the obesity of children, but also is part of the reason of causing cancer. Healthy issues became the biggest stumbling block to the development of McDonald’s. Customers were switching to healthier offering, such as Subway’s sandwiches, or KFC’s mashed potato instead of fried potato. McDonald’s has responded to this healthy trend. In order to compete, McDonald’s has added salads and other lighter options into their menu. If a mother comes in, she is not only buy the happy meal for her children, she will also be likely to buy herself a meal too .the lighter options also encourage existing customers to come back more often, because there is a greater variety of choices. Focus on Children No matter how different the tastes and the local needs are, McDonald’s has paid considerable attention to the children in every country. They built ‘happy land’ for them, offering fantastic â€Å"happy meals† with novelty toys to them. Furthermore, McDonald’s has just launched computers with games that were designed to inspire the children’s imagination at the same time shape their personal characteristics. There are three main reasons for McDonald’s to focus on the children: (1) Children are one of the biggest consumers groups to McDonald’s. And McDonald’s has been regarded, as their favorite place to go .The brand culture â€Å"happiness† is known by children. (2) McDonald’s believe that focusing on children can build the stable business, and will provide the best engine to encourage the whole family to come to McDonald’s. For example, one happy meal for a child only cost $ 5 but McDonald’s can produce more new products in addition to happy meal to offer the whole family. (3) By Building a brand loyalty with the children, McDonald’s more likely to be successfully today and in the future. In my opinion, McDonald’s is not just selling the happy meal to children; it is selling the American culture to the children – the enjoyable individual life. Actually this strategy with focused children segment is fully worked for their future development purpose. Whatever how the environment changes this strategy can always develop future generation customers’ loyalty. And the â€Å"happy children† can also bring in the whole â€Å"happy families†. Conclusion To sum up, there is a strong possibility that if the company fails to recognize the new competitions, shifting of consumer interests, and the social trends or innovative technologies, it will loose its market share. Previously, McDonald’s emphasis on adding new restaurants for near 5 years, more than 50% of increase in new restaurants opened. Unfortunately, there was only 2% of increase in the sale of the food. So, in the year 2003 McDonald’s decided to change its focus on increasing sales at existing restaurant and reduced capital spending which allows for a sizeable amount of cash be returned to shareholder. For achieving their objectives, the McDonald’s strategy should be attract more new customers, encourage existing customers to visit McDonald’s more often, build brand loyalty and, ultimately, create enduring profitable growth for the company. References Edstrà ¶m. A., & Galbraith, J.R. (1977). Transfer of managers as a coordination and control strategy in multinational organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 22, June, 248-263. Egelhoff, W.G. (1984). Patterns of control in U.S., U.K. and European multinational corporations. Journal of International Business Studies, Fall, 73-83 Fatehi, K. (1996). International Management, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Geringer, J.M. & Hebert, L. (1989). Control and performance of international joint ventures. Journal of International Business Studies, Summer, 235-253 Hodgetts, R.M., Luthans, F. (1994). International Management, New York: McGraw-Hi Richard L.Daft,(2005).Organization Theory and Design, 8th edition, Thomson ,south-western(Chapter 10) Mead, R. (1994). International Management. Cross Cultural Dimensions, Oxford: Blackwell. http://baike.baidu.com/view/4676.htm

Marketing Strategy for Aston Martin Cars

A critical analysis of the Aston Motors company has showed that the company has a number of strengths that it can based on for its economic success. Some of these include the ability to produce very good quality of cars.This can be traced back to the company's excellent group of engineers who design and recommend the use of high quality materials for their newly designed models. It is also important to note that although the panel of engineers can recommend the best materials, it is the supplies department of the company that is actually responsible for this strength.Second, the company has a very good reputation in the market on which it can capitalize to win the customers amid a very competitive motor manufacturing industry.The company is very well known for producing cars that have severally won in motor sport competitions and which are known for their uniqueness in terms of quality and body as well as chassis designs.Another strength for this company emerges from this aspect of q uality expertise and a good capital base in that it has the capacity and potential to increase its designs and quality products.The brand name of Aston Motors company is Aston Motors and it is very much selling in the market. The company can also consider its reputable brand name as one of its major strengths because it can form a strong basis of the company's further expansion plans.Due to its powerful brand name, the company's branch based in south Africa realised annual sales that were about three times the number of cars it expected to sale. Specifically, it had predicted an annual sale of about forty cars in its first year since establishment in South Africa but it turned out that the actual sales were something to do with one hundred and fourteen cars (Bright 2007).Several weaknesses have also been identified in the Aston Motors company or in the way it makes its daily operations. First, the company was established to have poorly competed in the motor industry especially with when compared with some of the major industries in small car manufacturing.Second, the top management of the company has continuously neglected to address the needs of middle class population all over the world who form a sizeable potential market.Instead, it has chose to address the needs of a very thin segment of the society who are mainly the noble people, the celebrities and companies that sponsor motor sports when they need to buy cars for their candidates (Doolittle 2003). This has been perceived negatively by most people irrespective of race or geographical location.A close look at the history of the Aston Motors company shows that the company has not made faired well in terms of making profits out of its business operations. It is an historic trend that can be traced back to the first world war (Gartman 1994)..Although there are other small car manufacturing companies that have performed much worse than this, for example the Lotus motors, each company operates on its own and the performance of one company can not be a measure of how another is performing.Therefore the Aston Motors company should not use the failure of a few of it competitors as an excuse of its continues poor performance.

In general, do you think the end of the shuttle program will have a Case Study

In general, do you think the end of the shuttle program will have a bigger effect on the organizational commitment of direct NASA employees, or employees of contractors who do work with NASA - Case Study Example The use of statistical model approach gives ATK a collective insight of an employee as they have data of the employee’s age, marital status and criticality of his/her role in line with other employees. Criticality of his/her role in line with other employees seems more voluntary to the turnover because issues of experience and specialization are core in one’s field. Factors of age are less important that marital status and/ tenure. Question 3: Although the use of scientific data to predict turnover seems natural for NASA or ATK employees, might it raise sensitive issues for employees in other companies? If so, why, and what could companies do to manage such issues? Use of scientific data to predict employees’ turnover comes with other incentives like what needs to be done to retain the current employees and/or increase their productivity? The companies should adapt new motivational strategies like increase of perks and if the strategy fails, they can use the succession planning approach with a more junior person to fill the void. Case 2: Question 1: If you worked in the Longmeadow plant, how much of your job satisfaction would be derived from Hasbro’s mission and products, and how much of it would depend on your specific job tasks? With an average seniority of 21 years in the job, it shows Hasbro’s mission and products have a more job satisfaction to the employees as most of the jobs are not only brain involving but also a great degree of specialization. This gives employees room for advancement of their careers and also the fact that most employees have not worked for other companies for years, the $40 million reward for the factory capital acts as a move to guarantee workers more job security hence increased job satisfaction. Job security will improve specific job tasks as one can find room for career expansion and/ or further specialization. Question 2: As Hasbro invests $40 million in the Longmeadow plant, what could they do to increase the job satisfaction of people like Peaches Belanger? T o increase job satisfaction of certain sections of the plant, outsourcing some of its processes and division of labor will be paramount. This will help the likes of Peaches to have ample time to specialize in one given function which will yield more results than multitasking. Question 3: Consider Rob Daviau’s job, relative to Peaches Belanger’s job. If Daviau has higher job satisfaction, which theories and concepts from the chapter can best explain that satisfaction advantage? From Rob’s tasks, it is evident that there is a room and time for personal career or professional growth as compared to Peache’s job. This is evident in his quest to redesign existing games to broaden his knowledge and at the same time earning the plant more revenue. This will with time improve his specialization in the design section thus more satisfaction as compared to multitasking. Article 1 summary Motivation of employees calls for effective work- life balance so as to maintain a healthy work related relationship with fellow employs

This casestudy is under the course of Market Analysis Case Study

This casestudy is under the course of Market Analysis - Case Study Example smaller brands have fewer customers who purchase less often, low market share, low penetration, and slightly lower loyalty: lower SCR, lower % of solely loyal. According to the table 2.1, it shows the second large of market share category is Little Barrel. High peak need to take over Little barrel. The first question that this analysis would seek to address is whether little Barrel as a brand of High Peak has normal loyalty. Considering that the Little Barrel has a lot of similarities with the products of the same category, it is expected that competition will be high. This notwithstanding, shoppers behavior will demand that they show loyalty to specific brands. (Chee, Ken, and Adam Wong, 24) Such shoppers’ behaviors have been demonstrated through Dirichlet model which indicates that brands that consumers tend to buy are those that they feel loyal to. (Chernev, Alexander, 26) This behavior disregards the fact that some consumers may buy other brands as well, but the rate at which they buy specific brands indicates the loyalty they have to the brand. (Chee, Ken, and Adam Wong, 24) To understand whether the Little Barrel has normal lo yalty brand, it is critical to understand ways upon which loyalty can be measured, this will give clear indications of the competitiveness of the brand in comparison with other brands in the category. The key way in which loyalty is measured is through the product penetration particularly on the basis of the sale volume and the market share. (Dalgic, Tevfik, 15) Based on all factors that point to that direction, it is clear that Little Barrel has a normal loyalty. Comparing the penetration level the brand has. The next consideration that needs to be examined is whether there are niche brands in the market. Niche branding may also be referred to as the narrow branding. (Dalgic, Tevfik, 16) This is the strategy through which a brand connects with individual customers which it targets. The strategy is in most cases seen to be

Career and Self Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Career and Self Development - Essay Example PLATO is pivotal to career and self-development. It provides the system for self-development as well as institutions and organizations. It accepts data, analyzes, stores important messages, and also does calculations. PLATO now operates under the name of NovaNET. PLATO is also responsible for many offspring such as TenCORE and Lotus Notes that are built on similar ideas generated by PLATO. The entire worldwide online community owes its existence to the pioneering and persistent efforts of PLATO (Woolley, David R, 1994). Employability is a concept that works between an employer and the employee. It is the ability of an individual or organization to employ. And it is the capability of the individual to perform the role for which he is employed. The employer and the employee come together for mutual or varied benefits based on performance by the employee and provision of remuneration to the employee by the employer at the end of the agreed term which may be daily, weekly or monthly. The employer has a specific job for which he or they need a specifically qualified individual. The individual, as the employee, is in a position to provide the employer with the skill needed. Employability embraces a wide ambit of performance and compensation for the employer and the employee. For the employer, it may mean having an employee under him from whom he or they can expect skilled or semi-skilled services for which the employee is experienced and trained. For the employee, it may mean a job that requires him to perform relevant functions for which he is trained or will receive training and at the end of the agreed term receive adequate compensation. Employability has become significant now because of online access to jobs. A company based in the United States can employ a person anywhere in the world through the means of the internet. What are the key changes in the graduate labour market and career forms The key changes are profound because of information technology. The graduate labour market has entered a stage when job descriptions overlap with diverse posts. There is a tremendous array of fields within the commerce and science streams. Earlier commerce graduates handled accountancy and finance. Now they handle a broad spectrum of activities from accounts, finance, insurance, banking, and stocks. And science is no longer a domain for doctors and scientists. Science has branched out into different segments such as anatomy, anthropology, archeology, astronomy, bacteriology, biochemistry, biophysics, biology, botany, chemistry, computer science, ecology, electronics, entomology, environment, forestry, genetics, geology, marine biology, medicine, meteorology, microbiology, nanotechnology, neurology, physics, physiology, seismology, zoology and a host of other fields each of which are recognized as major departments with their own discipline. The graduate labour market has to discern the disciplines within each stream and check qualifications that multitask or specialize in diverse or special fields. The labour market

The Charities Act 2006 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Charities Act 2006 - Essay Example The entire focus of the Act was to streamline the way in which charities are regulated and to ensure that the operations of the Charity Commission, the body responsible for charity regulations are as smooth and as efficient as they can possibly be. On the whole this is a positive step forward for charities and their trustees. In Section 2 of the Act the charitable purposes are defined and whilst they largely follow the previously accepted charitable purposes the definitions are much clearer. Therefore provided the charity falls within one of these purposes and is for a public benefit it is, prima facie deemed to be a charity. A clear shift in regulation can be seen by the fact that the Charity Commission was reformed to be a body corporate known as The Charity Commission of England and Wales. Due to its corporate nature it is now able to be much more flexible and adaptable in its decision making approach. It will critically be a non ministerial government body ensuring independence. There is an appeal structure in place and the Charity Commission as it is now structured feeds into the attorney general ultimately. The Charity appeal tribunal can ultimately be appealed to the high court. Areas that can be subject to review can be found in the 1993 Act and include issues such as those relating to property. The Lord Chancellor has the ultimate authority to alter the way in which the tribunal works and makes its decisions. As part of its new role the commission will have a much greater independent influence on the way in which the government makes decisions about charity regulation. It is a key role of the newly established charity commission to look at ways in which the overall dealing with charities can be dealt with in a more streamlined way and with full importance given to the way in which society develops over time. Under Section 13 there are Principle Regulators who will work with the commission to deal with those charities that do not have to be registered. Any body that retains an exempt status will have a principle regulator allocated to them and these will attempt to ensure compliance with the charity law as far as is possible. Typical examples of this include Industrial and Provident Societies. Small charities, i.e. those with a gross turnover of less than 5000 are also exempt from the registration obligation. Several processes have been made less time consuming and less costly during the Act. For example under the 1993 Act it was necessary for charities receiving funds from unknown donors to go through court proceedings to get the donors officially designated as unidentified. Section 16 of the Act gives this power to the commission thus removing the need to go through the expense and time of going to court to achieve the same result. In many cases the changes are simply an addition to existing regulations. For example when it comes to giving extra guidance to charities and trustees approaching the commission for such guidance, the commission have been given a much more influential role. Under section 29 of the 1993 Act trustees were allowed to ask for written advice. This has been extended under the section 24 of the 2006 Act this has been extended to allow the commission to give advice in relation to the administrative running of

Visual art exhibition in Hong Kong Research Proposal

Visual art exhibition in Hong Kong - Research Proposal Example The essay "Visual art exhibition in Hong Kong" discovers the Hong Kong's visual art exhibition. The Hong Kong government has recognized the significance of mega events in developing the tourism sector. It has established the Mega Events Fund (MEF) to host major arts, sports, and cultural events in the country. A three-dimensional painting visual art exhibition, as a mega event, can obtain better return on investment if it is launched in compliance with cultural and economic policies of the country. The expo should take advantages of advanced internet based technologies to provide a great watching experience to the audience. Above all, the event management team must ensure the strong cooperation of the Hong Kong government and global as well as national media to promote the event effectively. The planned expo, a three-dimensional painting visual art exhibition in Hong Kong, falls under the category of a mega event. The term mega event is used to describe high profile worldwide events like Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup, and expos. Although the term mega event has not been well defined, a big event is clearly distinct from a mega event. The number of participants is not only the criterion used to recognize a mega event. According to a study conducted by Harry H. Hiller, â€Å"a mega event is first of all of fixed duration and on a short term basis. The event has a high profile, there is a worldwide interest linked to the event and there is a sustainable and measurable economic outcome†.

Hanson- understanding the text Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Hanson- understanding the text - Essay Example However, he contradicts his opinion by mentioning that the large population can only be sustained by either agriculture, or starves by service production, claiming that both are unattainable (Hanson 428). This contradiction of ideas shrinks the sense in his argument. The population that lived in the 19th century made great impacts on present Californians consumption. Hanson refers to this generation as â€Å"type of Californian† and classifies it to having disappeared. Worth noting, the generation carried away with them the ideologies and traits that best suited Californians, â€Å"credo that once made us what we were† (Hanson 431). In the words Hanson classifies Californian as having adequate resources to sustain its population. Fore fathers toiled hard to better the next generation. Casual work created a better life, but the current service production such as acting movies, saving newts makes results into trauma. Therefore to Hanson, Californians can’t substitute hard work to entertainment as less toiling as the former is the source of the

Scenario Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Scenario - Essay Example Their complaint is that the cops usually arrest them and leave the jerks who are usually with them. In this case, the jerks are their customers who are men. It does not make sense to them, and the observers that the police do not arrest the men given that some of the men are married and therefore leaves their wives foe the prostitutes. One of the criminology theory applicable to this scenario is the rational choice theory (Akers & Sellers, 2009). In this theory, the assumptions that relate it to the social cause of crime is that of individualism. The law breakers look at themselves as individuals, and they have to utilize their time to maximise their opportunities. The maximization of individual opportunity is usually driven by the self-interest that individuals have. The reason why this theory is applicable in this scenario is because of the selfish nature of the prostitutes who chooses to go to the street to for the personal benefits of acquiring money from men without considering the fact that some men are married (Akers & Sellers, 2009). In the public perspective, the social crime committed by the prostitute is a social device to the society. It is a society that advocate the proper social behaviour that only married men and women should participate in the sexual activity. The society also advocates for the proper use of sex that is for procreation. This is most-encouraged activity for the sexual tool. The prostitutes use the sexual tool as money making machine. They are also out there to tame some married men to be their customers. Since the society has put some guidelines about a family that states that the sexual satisfaction must be obtained from their legally married wives, prostitution tends to denounce this legality (Akers & Sellers, 2009). The punishment that accompanies this crime is usually short. This is because the law keepers do not see it as a big crime that need long term jail. This is because the police usually try to disrupt them from

Writing Conclusion and summary for the Report Essay

Writing Conclusion and summary for the Report - Essay Example The importance of constructing new storage ponds has increased in importance due to heightened concerns regarding droughts. The District has Conditional Rights to build these four ponds, which together could have water rights to hold up to 13 acre feet. The purpose of our involvement was to perform a technical analysis, water capacity estimate, feasibility study, design, cost estimate, and draft application for building up to four additional water augmentation ponds within the Districts territory. The following deliverables were requested: 4. Design for each of the four detention ponds including the proposed construction sequence, pond liners, water input sources, pond water capacity, outlet works including water flow back into the watershed, flood protection, erosion control, landscaping, and costs. As part of our investigation, we performed a site visit on January 29 and also met with Mr. Laves to obtain the background on the FHMD storage ponds. We also MoreInformationHere. This report contains our findings, conclusions, and recommendations. Pond areas lacking sufficient amount of clay are highly susceptible to excessive seepage. Pond areas can be sealed by clay blankets to prevent seepage. The clay blankets are placed on pond areas where â€Å"Water is to be impounded as well as the upstream slope of the embankment†. (USDA Ponds 63) Minimum clay blanket requires 20 percent clay and to reduce cost, clay can be obtained from borrow areas close to the ponds. â€Å"The minimum compacted thickness is 12 inches for all depths of water under 10 feet. Increase this thickness by 2 inches for each foot of water over 10 feet and above.† (USDA Ponds 63) Clay blankets are constructed similar to earth embankments and are spread uniformly over pond areas in layers of 6 to 8 inches and each layer should be compacted completely, â€Å"under optimum moisture conditions†. The clay blankets

Teenagers are too immature to discuss relationships Essay Example for Free

Teenagers are too immature to discuss relationships Essay Im not really sure what I think about the above statement; this is because I think its not only teenagers who are too immature in some cases to discuss relationships like those in poems, but older people are also too immature. Unfortunately I have to choose now, so, I would chose to be with and for the statement. I would choose to do so, because even as Ive said before that I think both older people and teenagers are both too immature to discuss relationships; I think because older people would have had more experience in discussing relationships than teenagers and by doing so, they would have been a bit more mature in discussing matters in those situations. I think that younger people are not mature enough to discuss relationships, like those, which are discussed in poems, because of two reasons. The first reason being, that I think people who are older have had more experience as to being in these situations in real life, so the more they discuss them, the more mature they get about handling those situations and talking about them. An objection could arise from my opinion that older some or even many older people may not have been in these situations more than teenagers have, but it could be the opposite of what I have said. If this is the case I have also got a chance for a counter argument for their objection that; older people along with having more experience at handling with those situations, they will have read more about them, so they would have gained a better understanding about them. The second reason as to why I am for this statement is that; I think that people within each different age group have different levels of maturity. By this I mean that as people grow up and enter different age groups, they have a higher level of maturity, than they had in the year before. As of this, they have a more mature way of thinking, so they can say and discuss sensitive subjects as relationships. As, this is what I think I have made an assumption that because of this, older people are more mature at discussing relationships like those mentioned in the poems. There could also be, and there is also an objection to this opinion of mine. This could be that, people may think that maturity has nothing to do with age, but it is to do with other factors such as knowledge and interests; such as reading newspapers and watching the news; also they may think that their knowledge may be a factor of their maturity. My counter argument for this, if this is the case would be that, many people judge maturity be age and possibly gender but not by intelligence, because a person will not stay with you just for a long time to find out how mature you are, but they will judge it upon age, gender and also your actions and how you handle different situations.

Steganography: Uses, Methods, Tools and Examples

Steganography: Uses, Methods, Tools and Examples Steganography by Mohammed Almintakh ABSTRACT This paper talks about steganography, steganography is the art or hiding data within a medium without letting others to know about that data is exsisting. I will go through an introduction about it , then explaining the background of it and more information about the uses of this technique , and how organization use it in their own good. This topic surprisingly is new for most of people who read its name , ill try to simplify the idea of this approach as much as possible. 1. Introduction Steganography is the art of hiding a message. The purpose of steganography is to hide a message from a someone you don’t want to see it. It is different than cryptography, the art of secret writing, which is intended to make a message cannot be read , but does not hide the existence of the secret communication. Although steganography differs from cryptography, there are many analogies between the two, and some authors classify steganography as a form of cryptography since hidden communication is a type of secret writing. Steganography works by changing bits of useless or bot used  data in regular computer  files  (such as graphics, sound, text,  HTML) with bits of different, invisible information. This hidden information can be  plain text,  cipher text, or even images. 2. Steganography Background: Information hiding is related to two fields, Steganography and watermarking. There are three main aspects for information hiding, capacity, security, and robustness. Capacity means the amount of information that can be hidden, security refers to the unability of an eavesdropper to detect hidden information, and robustness to the amount of modification the cover medium can resist before the hidden information is corrupted. In general, information hiding goes through these processes: 1. Identification of redundant bits in a cover medium. Redundant bits are those bits that can be edited without taking care of the quality of the cover medium. 2. Then, we select a subset of the redundant bits to be replaced with data from a private message. The stage medium is created by replacing the selected redundant bits with message bits. The modification of redundant bits can change the statistical properties of the cover medium. As a result, statistical analysis may reveal the hidden content. 3. Uses of Steganography Steganography means of storing data in a way that it hides the existence of them. Steganography used to carry out hidden exchanges .For example, Governments are interested in two types of communication of hidden data: first, which supports national security and second, which does not. Steganography support both types, also business have similar concerns, about trade secrets for new technologies or products information. Of course, using steganography to communicate greatly reduces the risk of information leakage. Businesses takes advantage of another form of steganography, called watermarking. Watermarking is mainly used to identify and entails hidden unique part of information within a medium without touching the medium. For example , let’s say that I have design an image , with that image , I have embedded a watermark that identifies me as the one who created this image, later on , when this image is spread with people , I can later identify myself as the creator and I can of course prove that I am the owner of this. This approach is used by companies for the copyrighted digital media a lot for the purpose of protection. Also, steganography enhances the privacy individually, although it is not a substitute for encryption, of course this is effective only if the hidden embedded information is not detected. If the communication is almost never exists, this will becomes so private to be caught. Like many tools, steganography: 1. Steganography can be a way which makes it possible to send news and information without being censored and without the fear of the messages being intercepted and traced back to us. 2. It is also possible to simply use steganography to store information on a location. For example, several information sources like our private banking information, some military secrets, can be stored in a cover source. When we are required to unhide the secret information in our cover source, we can easily reveal our banking data and it will be impossible to prove the existence of the military secrets inside. 3. Steganography can also be used to implement watermarking. Although the concept of watermarking is not necessarily steganography, there are several steganography techniques that are being used to store watermarks in data. The main difference is on intent, while the purpose of steganography is hiding information, watermarking is merely extending the cover source with extra information. Since people will not accept noticeable changes in images, audio or video files because of a watermark, steganography methods can be used to hide this. 4- Steganographic Methods: The formula below describes the process of steganography as discussed above: cover_medium + hidden_data + stego_key = stego_medium The explanation of this formula is, The cover medium refers to the file that we are going to put our information on it. Hidden data obviously is the data we want to keep secret. An encryption advanced which is a choice for us. The result shall be a stego medium , which is the same file as the cover medium. The easiest way to hide the data in an image , is called LSB(least significant bit) insertion. Figure 1: shows a common taxonomy of steganographic techniques. 5. Steganography Tools: A  steganography  software tools allows a user to attach hidden data in a carrier file, such as an image or video, and sometimes it could be an audio , and later take off that data. It is not necessary to hide the message in the original file at all. Thus, it is not necessary to edit the original file and thus, it is hard to detect nothing. If a given part of the message is subjected to successive bitwise manipulation to generate the cyphertext, then there is no evidence in the original file to show that it is being used by a third party. to encrypt a file. An example of this method is described in a self-published science fiction novel. In that example a file is encrypted using a 1949 photo from a digital archive of National Geographic magazine. 6. Steganography Example: There are software that preform steganography, some of well knows programs are : Hide4PGP (http://www.heinz-repp.onlinehome.de/Hide4PGP.htm) MP3Stego (http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~fapp2/steganography/mp3stego/) Stash (http://www.smalleranimals.com/stash.htm) Steganos (http://www.steganos.com/english/steganos/download.htm) S-Tools (available fromhttp://www.webattack.com/download/dlstools.shtml) 7- Describing a tool of Steganography and how it works: Take a look on this picture Figure 2: Stego picture This picture looks ok , nothing suspicious , nothing wrong with it , but in reality it has a hidden message. If you use a software tool to analyze the pictures , this result will come up: Figure 3: QuickStego program Basically , this technique is done by these steps below : Figure 4: Steganography process 8- Deep knowledge of Steganography: Steganography comes from the Greek words for â€Å"covered writing†.It is the practice of disguising the existence of a message.Generally, innocent looking carriers, e.g., pictures, audio, video, text, etc. that hold the hidden information The combination of hidden data-plus-cover is known as the stego-object Stegokey An additional piece of information, such as a password or mathematical variable, required to embed the secret information Typical Scenario Sender Sender Hides Secret Message In a Cover Using a Stegokey Transmitted Carrier Appears Innocuous Receiver Decodes Secret Message by Removing the Cover Using the Stegokey Receiver Reads Secret Message 9.Steganography and Security As noted above , steganography is an effective and efficient way of hiding data, it is just protecting the data from the unauthorized or unwanted interception. But stego is merely one of many methods to defend the confidentiality of data. It is probably the best used in integration with another data-hiding method. When used in collection, these ways can all be a part of a layered security mechanism. Some good complementary methods include: Encryption-  Encryption  is the operation of crossing data or plaintext through a series of mathematical processes that generate an alternate form of the original text known as ciphertext. The encrypted text can only be read by one who have been given the proper key to decrypt the ciphertext back into its original plaintext form. Encryption doesnt hide data, but it does make it difficult to read! Hidden directories (Windows)- Windows provides this feature, which allows users to hide files. Using this mechanism is as easy as changing the characteristics of a directory to hidden, and hoping that no one can view all types of files in their explorer. Hiding directories (Unix)- in current directories that have a lot of files, such as in the /dev directory on a Unix implementation, or making a directory that starts with three dots () versus the normal single or double dot. Covert channels- Some tools can be used to transfer important data in seemingly normal network traffic. One such tool that does that is Loki. Loki is a tool that hides data in ICMP traffic (like ping). 10.  Steganography vs. Encryption The goal of steganography is to not keep others know the hidden information, of cource , to keep others from thinking that the information even exist.if a method of steganography causes someone to suspect the medium which carries the data , then the method has failed. Encryption and Steganography achieve separate goals, encryption is changing the meaning of the message so it cannot be read, steganography does not change the meaning or change the data to make it unusable or unintended, rather, it prevents the third party from suspecting that there is a communication or data even exists. For these people who want to reach ultimate in security or privacy , can combine both approaches , encryption and steganography. Encrypted data is difficult to be differentiate from normal occurring phenomena than a normal plain text (which is a raw text) in the medium, there are several steganography tools that can encrypt data before hiding them in a chosen medium. Steganography should not be confused with encryption .Encryption disguises the content of a message. The existence of the message is usually obvious.Steganography disguises the existence of the message .However, additional security can be obtained if steganography is combined with encryption. 11. Steganalysis and its techniques: Steganalysis , is the counter measure of steganography, is the art of detecting that there is a steganography exists , or a decoded data within a medium. There are two main major tools in Steganalysis, information theory and statistical analysis. Mainly , this reveals clearly the tremendous potential for hidden information in the interner data of course as long as a set of data can be compressed to smaller sizes.there should be a space for hidden data within the medium. Steganalysis can be classified in a similar way as cryptanalysis methods, largely based on how much prior information is known : Steganography-only attack: The steganography medium is the only item available for analysis. Known-carrier attack: The carrier and steganography media are both available for analysis. Known-message attack: The hidden message is known. Chosen-steganography attack: The steganography medium and algorithm are both known. Chosen-message attack: A known message and steganography algorithm are used to create steganography media for future analysis and comparison. Known-steganography attack: The carrier and steganography medium, as well as the steganography algorithm, are known. 12. Method of Steganography: A lot of methods are available for digital Steganography. But exploiting the lenient constraints of a file formats is the most famous one. There are a lot of softwares that uses this technique. a- Image as carriers: One of the ways to hide data is using images , which is a good method. The difficulty to reveal the data hidden increases with the detailed in an image, and that makes it harder to guess or to suspect that image. JPHIDE/JPSeek is a package that uses the coefficients to hide the information. (http://linux01.gwdg.de/~alatham/stego.html). There was a new method of that , that embeds data in visually insignificant parts of an image. These both methods modify the image. The user however can explore image degradation with different messages and images of different length. Another way is for GIF images, is to modify an image’s palette for hiding its data. Gifshuffle, which is a tool , that doesn’t modify the image itself, in any visible way. It permutes a GIF image’s color map, that will leave the original image completely intact. b- Audio File Carriers: A lot of packages also available for embedding and hiding data in the audio files. One of the tools for audio file hiding stego is the MP3Stego,which does not only hide information effectively , of cource arbitrary, rather also claims to be partly strong method of watermarking the targeted MP3 audio files. The WAV formal , which stands for Wavaform Audio File Format, is a Microsoft audio format which mainly windows depends on, however, this format lets users hide data using StegoWave or Steghide (http://www.radiusnet.net/crypto/steanography/Java/stegowav.zip) (http://steghide.sourceforge.net/). These sites refer to both programs in order. Steghide modifies the LSB of data to be transmit in the carrier medium. Using an audio file as a medium is less popular than using an image as a steganography medium. c- Data Ordering: The data ordering which does not have ordering constrains, is usually a very good method of steganography. Each change of a group of objects could be pointed to a positive integer. pointing can then be used to encode the hidden data by modifying the sequence of objects that are not considered in ordered by the carrier medium. While this technique mainly, does not change the information quality, the data which are hidden can of course easily get lost if the medium is encoded again. For example, if we have a GIF which its color map consist of hidden data, we could then open the GIF in our favorite graphics-editing tool package that will be used , and save it again. Visually, the result will be both identical , from the original file to the second file, but the ordering of the color map may have been lost. 13. Limitations: Steganography is limited just like that encryption is, if bob wants to send an image with a hidden message to alice , he have to first agree secretly with alice on a way of steganography. Underneath the encryption model , alice can be fairly sure when she has got some ciphertext. Let us have a scenario about alice ,when she wants to borrow bobs camera and neglects to tell him to be careful for every 73rd byte in the images she sends him.Bobs will be ignorant of Alice’s steganography efforts. The chanses that bob will let alice borrow his digital camera will decrease the large number of pictures he will receive from her.The amount of data that could be effectively hidden in a medium is heading to be limited by the size of the medium itselt. The less limitations that exist on the integrity of the medium, the more potential it has for hiding data. 14. Conclution I have briefly explained and defined steganography , which is in my opinion an effective tool to do so many things regarding security or reliability in any field of communication .what I mean that , this technique can be used in any section in real life, military , businesess, educational , governments and more.Also , I have shown varous tools and how they function well. 15- References: 1- Artz, D. (2001). Digital steganography: Hiding data within data. IEEE Internet Computing, 75-80. 2- Provos, N., Honeyman, P. (2012). Detecting Steganographic Content on the Internet. 3- Classification of Hiding Techniques Ref: F.A.P. Petitcolas, R.J. Anderson, and M.G. Kuhn, â€Å"Information Hiding A Survey,† in Proc. Of the IEEE , vol. 87, No. 7, July 1999, pg. 1063 Kessler, G. (2001, September 11). Steganography: Hiding Data Within Data. Retrieved December 6, 2014, from http://www.garykessler.net/library/steganography.htmlhttp://www.garykessler.net/library/fsc_stego.html Kessler, G. (2004, February 2). An Overview of Steganography for the Computer Forensics Examiner. Retrieved December 6, 2014, from http://www.garykessler.net/library/fsc_stego.html http://www.symantec.com/connect/articles/steganography-revealed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steganography#Network http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/S/steganography.html http://quickcrypto.com/free-steganography-software.htm

Types And Causes Of Liquidity Risk Finance Essay

Types And Causes Of Liquidity Risk Finance Essay In  finance,  liquidity risk  is the risk that a given security or asset cannot be traded quickly enough in the market to prevent a loss (or make the required profit). OR Liquidity risk is the current and prospective risk to earnings or capital arising from a banks inability to meet its obligations when they come due without incurring unacceptable losses. Liquidity risk includes the inability to manage unplanned decreases or changes in funding sources. Liquidity risk also arises from the failure to recognize or address changes in market conditions that affect the ability to liquidate assets quickly and with minimal loss in value. 2.1-Types of Liquidity risk: Asset liquidity   Due to the lack of liquidity in market an asset can not be sold it is basically subset of market risk. This can be done by: Widening bid/offer spread Making explicit liquidity reserves Lengthening holding period for Vary calculations Funding liquidity   Risk that liability: Cannot be met when they fall due Can only be met at an uneconomic price Can be name-specific or systemic 2.2- Causes of Liquidity Risk: There are many causes of liquidity risk liquidity risk actually arises when the one party wants to trading an asset cannot do it because in the market no one wants to trade that asset .The persons who are about to hold or currently hold the asset and want to trade that asset then liquidity risk become partial important to them as it affects their ability to do business. From drop of price to zero is very different from that appearance of liquidity risk. In the case when the assets price drop to zero then market said that asset is valueless. On the other hand when one party found that the other party is not interested in buying and selling of an asset then it become a big problem for the participant of a market to find the other interested party. So we can say that in the emerging markets or low volume markets the risk of liquidity is higher. Due to uncertain liquidity the liquidity risk is known as a financial risk. When the credit rating falls the institution may lose its liquidity, in this way rapid unexpected cash outflows, or as a result of this happening the counterparties may avoid the business of buying and selling with or borrowing the loan to the institutions. A firm is also exposed to liquidity risk if markets on which it depends are subject to loss of liquidity. The firm is also seen to the risk of liquidity when the markets in they depend are under the liquidity loss. Liquidity risks tend to compound other risks. If a trading organization has a position in an illiquid asset, its limited ability to liquidate that position at short notice will compound its market risk. Let us suppose a firm has a cash flows offsetting on a given day of with two different counter parties. If the counter party do not make the payment and become a payment defaults. In this way firm will have to make the cash from some other sources in order to make payment. Credit risk is the risk arises due to the liquidity. A position can be hedged against market risk but still entail liquidity risk. This is true in the above credit risk example-the two payments are offsetting, so they entail credit risk but not market risk. Another example is the 1993  Metallgesellschaft  debacle. Futures contracts were used to hedge an Over-the-counter finance OTC obligation. It is debatable whether the hedge was effective from a market risk standpoint, but it was the liquidity crisis caused by staggering margin calls on the futures that forced Metallgesellschaft to unwind the positions. As compared to the risks like market, credit and other risks the liquidity risk is also has to be managed. It is impossible to isolate the liquidity risk because it has the tendency to compound the other risks overall the most simple circumstances. Liquidity risk does not exit in the comprehensive metrics. In order to assessed the liquidity risk the certain techniques of asset liability management can be applied on a day by day basis. A simple test is conducted for the liquidity risk in ordered to see the net cash flows. Any day which shows a sizeable negative cash flow is of concern. Analyses such as these cannot easily take into account contingent cash flows, such as cash flows from derivatives or mortgage-backed securities. If an organizations cash flows are largely contingent, liquidity risk may be assessed using some form of scenario analysis. A general approach using scenario analysis might entail the following high-level steps: Construct multiple scenarios for market movements and defaults over a given period of time Assess day-to-day cash flows under each scenario. Because  balance sheets  differ so significantly from one organization to the next, there is little standardization in how such analyses are implemented. Regulators are primarily concerned about systemic and implications of liquidity risk. 2.3- Liquidity gap The liquidity gap is the net liquid assets of a firm. As a static measure of liquidity risk it gives no indication of how the gap would change with an increase in the firms marginal funding cost. 2.4- Liquidity risk elasticity: Culp denotes the change of net of assets over funded liabilities that occur when the liquidity premium on the banks marginal funding cost rises by a small amount as the liquidity risk elasticity. For banks this would be measured as a spread over libor, for nonfinancial the LRE would be measured as a spread over commercial paper rates. Problems with the use of liquidity risk elasticity are that it assumes parallel changes in funding spread across all maturities and that it is only accurate for small changes in funding spreads. 2.5- Measures of Asset Liquidity: Following are the measures of asset liquidity. 2.5.1. Bid-offer spread: The  bid-offer spread  is used by market participants as an asset liquidity measure. To compare different products the ratio of the spread to the products mid price can be used. The smaller the ratio the more liquid the asset is. This spread is comprised of operational costs, administrative and processing costs as well as the compensation required for the possibility of trading with a more informed trader. 2.5.2. Market depth: Hachmeister refers to  market depth  as the amount of an asset that can be bought and sold at various bid-ask spreads.  Slippage  is related to the concept of market depth. Knight and Satchell mention a flow trader needs to consider the effect of executing a large order on the market and to adjust the bid-ask spread accordingly. They calculate the liquidity cost as the difference of the execution price and the initial execution price. 2.5.3. Immediacy: Immediacy refers to the time needed to successfully trade a certain amount of an asset at a prescribed cost. 2.5.4. Resilience: Hachmeister identifies the fourth dimension of liquidity as the speed with which prices return to former levels after a large transaction. Unlike the other measures resilience can only be determined over a period of time. 2.6- Managing Liquidity Risk 2.6.1-Liquidity-adjusted value at risk: Liquidity-adjusted VAR incorporates exogenous liquidity risk into  Value at Risk. It can be defined at VAR + ELC (Exogenous Liquidity Cost). The ELC is the worst expected half-spread at a particular confidence level. Another adjustment is to consider VAR over the period of time needed to liquidate the portfolio. VAR can be calculated over this time period. The  BIS  mentions a number of institutions are exploring the use of liquidity adjusted-VAR, in which the holding periods in the risk assessment are adjusted by the length of time required to unwind positions.   2.6.2-Liquidity at risk: Greenspan (1999) discusses management of foreign exchange reserves. The Liquidity at risk measure is suggested. A countrys liquidity position under a range of possible outcomes for relevant financial variables (exchange rates, commodity prices, credit spreads, etc.) is considered. It might be possible to express a standard in terms of the probabilities of different outcomes. For example, an acceptable debt structure could have an average maturity averaged over estimated distributions for relevant financial variables in excess of a certain limit. In addition, countries could be expected to hold sufficient liquid reserves to ensure that they could avoid new borrowing for one year with certain ex ante probability, such as 95 percent of the time. 2.6.3-Scenario analysis-based contingency plans: The FDIC discuss liquidity risk management and write Contingency funding plans should incorporate events that could rapidly affect an institutions liquidity, including a sudden inability to securitize assets, tightening of collateral requirements or other restrictive terms associated with secured borrowings, or the loss of a large depositor or counterparty.Greenspans liquidity at risk concept is an example of scenario based liquidity risk management. 2.6.4-Diversification of liquidity providers: If several liquidity providers are on call then if any of those providers increases its costs of supplying liquidity, the impact of this is reduced. The American Academy of Actuaries wrote While a company is in good financial shape, it may wish to establish durable, ever-green (i.e., always available) liquidity lines of credit. The credit issuer should have an appropriately high credit rating to increase the chances that the resources will be there when needed.   2.6.5-Derivatives: The five derivatives that are discuss by bhaduri,meissner yon created specifically for hedging liquidity risk. Withdrawal option: A put of the illiquid underlying at the market price. Bermudan-style return put option: Right to put the option at a specified strike. Return swap: Swap the underlings return for LIBOR paid periodically. Return swaption: Option to enter into the return swap. Liquidity option: Knock-in barrier option, where the barrier is liquidity metric. other Funding sources are abundant and provide a competitive cost advantage. Funding is widely diversified. There is little or no reliance on wholesale funding sources or credit-sensitive funds providers. Market alternatives exceed demand for liquidity, with no adverse changes expected. Capacity to augment liquidity through asset sales and/or securitization is strong and the Bank has an established record in accessing these markets. The volume of wholesale liabilities with embedded options is low. The Bank is not vulnerable to funding difficulties should a material adverse change occur in market perception. Support provided by the parent company is strong. Earnings and capital exposure from the liquidity risk profile is negligible. -Quantity of Liquidity Risk Indicators: In order to assess the quantity of liquidity risk the following indicator should be used. Every characteristic is not necessary to be demonstrated. 2.7.1-Low: The sources of funding are abundant and provide a advantage of competitive cost. Funding is generally expanded. There is little or no reliance on wholesale funding sources or other credit-sensitive funds providers. On the sources of wholesale funding or others providers of credit sensitive fund in it there is no trust. The demand for liquidity goes above by the market alternatives and there are no any expected changes. Capacity to augment liquidity through asset sales and/or securitization is strong and the Bank has an established record in accessing these markets. The wholesale liabilities have a low volume with fixed options. The Bank is not weak to funding difficulties should a material adverse change occur in market perception. The parent company provides the support which is strong. Earnings and capital exposure from the liquidity risk profile is negligible. 2.7.2-Moderate The funding sources which are sufficient are available that provides a liquidity which is cost effective. Funding is generally expanded, by a few providers that may share their common objectives and their economic influences, but no significant concentrations. The wholesale funding is clear and it has a modest reliance. The market alternatives that is available in order to meet the demand for liquidity on reasonable terms. The Bank possesses the potential capacity to expand liquidity through asset sales and/or securitization. The bank has a modest experience in order to access these markets Some wholesale funds contain embedded options, but potential impact is not significant. The Bank is not excessively vulnerable to funding difficulties should a material. the adequate support is provided by the parent company. Earnings or capital exposure from the liquidity risk profile is manageable. 2.7.3-High: Funding sources and liability structures suggest current or potential difficulty in maintaining long-term and cost-effective liquidity. Borrowing sources may be concentrated in a few providers or providers with common investment objectives or economic influences. A significant reliance on wholesale funds is evident. Liquidity needs are increasing, but sources of market alternatives at reasonable terms, costs, and tenors are declining. The Bank exhibits little capacity or potential to augment liquidity through asset sales or securitization. A lack of experience accessing these markets or unfavorable reputation may make this option questionable. Material volumes of wholesale funds contain embedded options. The potential impact is significant. The Banks liquidity profile makes it vulnerable to funding difficulties should a material adverse change occur. Parent company provides a little or unknown support. Potential exposure to loss of earnings or capital due to high liability costs or unplanned asset reduction may be substantial. Liquidity risk management Achieving best practice Managing liquidity risk is often about applied common sense, like operational risk it requires a firm-wide approach and this places a high demand on the right processes and procedures. Any management information system used to mitigate liquidity risk should be: Accurate The best way of encouraging accuracy is to keep reporting simple. Communicative Report and information should speak plainly. Regular Timely reporting allows managers to judge changes in the market and their organizations liquidity profile. Comprehensive Must reflect your organizational reality, such as different entities, jurisdictions and regulations. Realistic Scenario must be rigorous if risk is to be identified in real situations. 2.8-Quality of Liquidity Risk Management The following indicators, as appropriate, should be used when assessing the quality of liquidity risk management. 2.8.1-Strong The polices are approved by the board and communicate guidelines effectively for the liquidity risk management and responsibilities are designated. The liquidity risk management process is effective in identifying, measuring, monitoring, and controlling liquidity risk. The process of liquidity risk management is effective for identifying liquidity risk, for measuring, monitoring, and controlling the liquidity risk. A sound culture reflects that has proven Liquidity risk is fully understood by the management in all the aspects. Management anticipates and responds well to changing market conditions. The contingency funding plan is well-developed, effective and useful. The plan incorporates reasonable assumptions, scenarios, and crisis management planning, and is tailored to the needs of the institution. Management information systems focus on significant issues and produce timely, accurate, complete, and meaningful information to enable effective management of liquidity. Internal audit is comprehensive and effective. The scope and frequency are reasonable. 2.8.2-Satisfactory Polices are approved by the Board which communicate adequately guidance for liquidity risk management and responsibilities are assigned. There may be a minor weakness present. The liquidity risk management process is generally effective in identifying, measuring, monitoring, and controlling liquidity. There may be minor weaknesses given the complexity of the risks undertaken, but these are easily corrected. .the key aspects of liquidity risk are reasonably understands by the management. Management adequately responds to changes in market conditions when changes occur in the market conditions the management respond adequately. The plan of contingency funding is adequate. The plan is current, reasonably addresses most relevant issues, and contains an adequate level of detail including multiple scenario analysis. The plan may require minor refinement. Management information systems adequately capture concentrations and rollover risk, and are timely, accurate, and complete. Recommendations are minor and do not impact effectiveness. Internal audit is reasonable. Any weaknesses are minor and do not impair effectiveness or reliance on audit findings. 2.8.3-Weak The Board has approved policies which are insufficient or incomplete. In one or more material respects the policy is incomplete .the process of liquidity risk management is useless in identifying, monitoring and controlling the liquidity risk This may be true in one or more material respects, given the complexity of the risks undertaken. The liquidity risk does not fully understand by the management. In the conditions when the market changes the management does not take any timely or suitable actions and do not participate. . The contingency funding plan is inadequate or nonexistent. The plan may not consider cost-effectiveness or availability of funds in a non-investment grade or CAMEL 3 environment. The information systems of management are deficient. The plan may be there but they do not adopted by the institutions, it is not reasonable, or they are not implemented as it should be. The information which is material may be a incomplete or lacking. Due to one or more material deficiencies the internal auditor coverage is missing or useless. 2.9-Common problems and misconceptions: Liquidity  risk  is one of the least understood and most underestimated risks that financial markets participants are exposed to. Reasons for this include: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Under normal market conditions,  liquidity  problems are not observed à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Liquidity  risk  does not lend itself to readily usable measures à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Despite specific BIS recommendations,  liquidity  risk  management  is left out of capital adequacy calculations due to a lack of control and regulation à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Liquidity  management is often confused with liquidity  risk  management à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Market and credit  risk  management  focus on assets, while  liquidity  risk can stem from liabilities as well Liquidity  risk  is also different in nature to market and credit  risk  and needs to be thought of differently; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Normal markets analyses (expected or going-concern situations) are insufficient; liquidity  risk  can only be understood with scenario-based stress testing à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Historical measures of  liquidity  are irrelevant; prospective views are essential à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Liquidity  risk  cannot be readily hedged, and can only be militated against through rigorous monitoring and controls à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The pricing of many instruments does not properly charge for  liquidity .

The Coyotes Weren’t Kosher: Women’s Role in Preservation of Dietary Tradition in Pioneering Southwest :: Essays Papers

The Coyotes Weren’t Kosher: Women’s Role in Preservation of Dietary Tradition in Pioneering Southwest Women have always played a major role in the practice of Judaism. They have many responsibilities and obligations to fulfill due to of their faith. Yet, they also must raise their families and often work to provide for their family. Overtime, Jewish women have become an example of women’s ability to live very demanding lives and still sustain her religious devotion. Jewish women have had to overcome numerous obstacles in incorporating the changes inherent with ever-evolving life with their static religious duties. Thus was the case for any Jew who chose to move away from their community and start a new life. Many pioneers found it hard to remain practicing Jews when there were no other Jewish people around them. Some observances became difficult to exercise given the surrounding and Jews would sometimes have to compromise their traditions with physical practicality. This led to great personal struggle for women who had always felt that the family’s religious san ctity was her responsibility. But these fascinatingly resourceful and dedicated women found ways to overcome the hindrances that their new home provided and still plant the seeds that would grow into a rich and strong Jewish community regardless of where they lived. There were many problems that these pioneering Jews experienced when they tried to adhere to Jewish custom in places where keeping kosher was a unpracticed tradition. This was especially true in the founding of the southwest. It became apparent to Jewish mothers that there would be many difficulties ahead of them. In particular, the Jewish religion calls for its member to follow a strict collection of dietary laws. These laws mandated the separation of meat and milk products and the cleansing of all utensils that came into contact with these foods (Siegel 1959). The women were required to follow certain rules in food preparation. It was important that these rules to preparing the food, especially meat, were followed by any devote Jews. These dietary laws are followed not healthiness, but out of holiness. Judaism teaches that man must give reverence for the things that he has, and those that he takes (Stiengroot 1995). This explains the principal of hollowing one’s natu ral actions to make them holy and is directly illustrated by the way in which a Jewish woman runs her kitchen.

Marketing Plan for Skydiving Co Essay -- GCSE Business Marketing BTEC

Marketing Plan for Skydiving Co 1) What is your competition doing? The competition is doing well. They currently have holiday promotions on Christmas and Labor Day. They offer a discounted rate if you are part of a group of 7 or more. They are larger than us and operate in several states. Their marketing plans are lacking impact in that they mainly focus on billboard advertising and word of mouth. They also do not actively participate in public relations, however they do have a very good web site that allows questions to be answered via e-mail but no streaming media capabilities or â€Å"live† discussions with an operator. 2) What are the environmental factors? The market is strong right now, and the Stock Market has been on a steady increase. Spending is fluent in the economy and people are not afraid to â€Å"splurge† a bit on external enjoyment. There has been a recent surge in activity sports as the X Games just took place and were aired in 48 states. Skateboarding, extreme roller blading, and skydiving are among the top of the list. 3) How will the previous affect your marketing or promotional plans? We are privately funded, so the strength in the economy will help us with sales. Therefore, we will be using promotions and advertising to pull in good repeat customers. It will give us even larger amounts of capital in which we can reinvest in new equipment and marketing. With the recent airing of the X games, our plan is to hit the market strong and quickly to get as many people in and hooked on our exciting sport as we can while the attention is still there. Chapter 3: 1) Centralized or decentralized internal org. chart? We are using a centralized organizational chart. We are rather small and are only offering a few services. Centralized requires fewer personnel. Also, we would like to have main control over our company’s decisions and the centralized organization allows for more top management involvement. 2) Are you using an inside or outside agency? We are going to set up our own advertising agency internally in order to reduce costs and maintain great control over their activities. It will be a decent sized dept., and they will assist us (the owners) in our advertising financing, production, and distribution of advertisements. We chose this because of money savings and so that we could maintain contr... ...d your add offensive or in poor taste? In evaluating our IMC program I have found that there is very little that we have done that could be taken in offense. Our commercials are mostly action shots of skydiving with audio describing our location and phone numbers. Our website is detailed, but not shocking. The radio campaigns we have implemented are not shocking and simply urge people to think outside of themselves and take a chance. The only people that could be upset about our ads and perspective is people who do not believe that life is about having fun. Those who want to sit through life and exist instead of pushing the envelope and creating excitement for themselves. Parents might be upset if our ads appeal to their children and they make the decision to take the jump. That is out of fear for their children, and not a distasteful ad on our part. One thing that may cause us trouble is that our safety record is stressed heavily. If we were to ever have an accident it would take away from our appeal and cause u s to have to shift our advertising to other areas. This could be expensive and create mistrust in our establishment causing us to potentially lose clientele.

Literary Analysis Night by Elie Wiesel

At first before he got deported from his home, Slight In Transylvania. He was an Innocent young boy who studied the Talmud â€Å"Hilled and Bea helped them with the work. As for me, they said my place was In school† (2). Since he was able to be sent to school by his family and have the chance to learn that shows that he was from a well off family. But once he entered the concentration camp, unaware of the terrors he was going to face, changed his life completely â€Å"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed (32)†.The life changing experiences that Lie went through in the concentration camps scarred him for life. The burning of the little children and their mothers affected him in such a way that it would stay with him for the rest of his life. Ell also turns from religious to loss of faith. When he was still in his hometown he studied the Talmud â€Å"l was twelve. I believed profoundly. During the day I studied the Talmud, and at night I ran to the synagogue to weep over the destruction of the .This shows that he was dedicated to his religion and believed in God. He came from a religious family that taught him to praise God and show great respect towards Him. But when he was put in the concentration camp he lost his faith in God â€Å"For the first time, I felt revolt rise up in me, Why should I bless His name? † (31). For the first time Lie stood up to his religion and rebelled. The horrible things he saw in the concentration camps shocked him and angered him; How could his god let these things happen?Before he went to the concentration camps, such a thought wouldn't Ross his mind. He was loyal to his god and to his religion, until the dreaded day he entered the camp. Towards the end of the story, Ell shows no concern of death lingering In the air. He turns from caring into Indifferent. When his father was coming towards the end of h is life he did everything In his power to keep him alive, â€Å"Like a wild beast, I cleared a way for myself to the coffee cauldron, and I managed to carry back a cupful† (101).He tried giving his father anything that would help him get better, and took It back to IM, After his father's death nothing mattered to him anymore, It was as If he had lost everything he had fought for â€Å"I had to stay at Buchwald until April eleventh. I have nothing to say of my life during this period. It no longer mattered. After my father's death, nothing could touch me any more. † (107)All his cares and wants Oligopolies rater Nils Tanner Ana let nil He Llano's even tank AT Nils parents or AT ones he lost. Even when he was rescued he felt no Joy or relief, he felt indifferent.The settings in Night help readers to understand each character and what they present. Lie turns from innocent to haunted by being taken away from a secure community and being but into a completely different and horrible environment. He also turns from religious to loss of faith by forced to believe that his god would tolerate such an inhumane act and everyone in the world was indifferent towards what was happening in the concentration camps. Lastly he turns from caring to indifferent after his father passes away. Nothing mattered to him anymore as if he had lost everything he fought for.

Experiences that have left us demoralized and demotivated

This famous quote by Corita Kent has become the philosophy of my life. A philosophy that has been imparted in me by years of experience. A look through the events in life reveals that despite the wonderful moments, there are too some worst flashes that are not worthy any memory. Experiences that have left us demoralized and demotivated.These events and experience are the most important in shaping our destinies. The road to success is paved with a rough path and sharp bends. It is in negotiating these sharp coners that we are armed with the necessary skills to overcome future challenges. Life is a learning experience and none of the events in life should be in vain no matter the consequences, each should be a learning opportunity.There is this particular experience that happened some years back in high school that though it left me slightly disturbed, it went a long way in creating an understanding about some of my classmates and also know that not all of us pursue the same goals and when we do, we don’t follow the same pass. Some just want to ride on other people’s back.This experience has helped me understand that we are different, not because of our skin colors or creed, but because of our personalities. It has made me to be wary of some students even here in San Joaquin Delta College.Whereas study group are methods used by instructors to impart leadership and team playing skills in students. Some students unfortunately see it as an opportunity to hide behind numbers and ride on the sweat and hard work of others. I recall one time we had been arbitrary allocated study groups by our grammar teacher. We were supposed to look at the history and the evolution of language. Specifically, we were to focus on English’s language relationship with Latin.Most of us were not familiar with each other and our first meeting was dedicated towards socializing and exchanging contacts. We agreed on our schedule and by plan or default I was selected the grou p leader. I had never before been in any position of leadership even of such a small number. I had not envisaged the sort of challenges that I was to face, but I believed in myself.You see, I have been brought up in a family that believes in hard work and discipline as the key to success in life. Although I was born in Mexico, I have lived in Stockton California all my life and have seen the fruits of my hard work, as I don’t have to work in college to pay for my school fees. I hence have the whole day to dedicate to my studies.In this study group we had been allocated a task that was to be completed within a certain specific however, there were these two male students, Tom and Harris that failed to turn up for any of the study group. Being the group leader, I took up the responsibility of calling them and urged them to turn up or else I would report to our instructor. They did not heed to my warning and I had to inform my teacher. They were struck off the groups list and had to redo the whole unit. They were not happy about these developments and confronted me one day after classes.I am not a coward but I am not brave either, but there was no way I could fail to stand up for what I believed to be right. I told them off and said I would do it again should we ever be in the same group in future.I could tell that they were angry and spoiling for a fight as I could see Harris clutching his belt. I new then that it would get nasty. They were shouting at me and hurling all manner of racist remarks. However I stood my ground and a small crowd began to develop out of curiosity. Seeing that I would not back off, they went away promising to do all manner of nasty things should we ever meet.They did not get to do it as they were transferred from the school later in the week, however this incident has left me cautious of some of my classmates knowing that some of them can be leaches seeking to survive on other peoples sweat and expect to get away with it. This int eraction has gone a head in shaping my study relationships as school and I have to take time in choosing my study partners   

Organic Food Trends Essay

While these two factors affect the source of organic food, it is the retailers themselves who may trigger the fastest and longest-lasting drop in organic food prices. In response to the decline of sales, a looming price war may push organic food prices down to a level comparable to regular foods. The niche of people who are passionate about their organic foods will remain strong regardless of the price. When they were hot just a few months ago, many grocers and health food stores dedicated more space to stay ahead of the demand. Now that the demand has taken a dive, retailers will be trying to gain a stronger share of the shrinking market. Even Whole Foods, known for higher quality and prices to match, is reducing prices and trying to change their public image. It is in this price war that many who have recently abandoned organic foods may return for the same reason that they left: price. The actual cost difference between organic and normal foods is much lower than the retail price difference because perceptions have allowed the premium rates. As perceptions change, grocers will have to sell their normally high-profit organic foods at or below the cost of their normal counterparts. Source: http://weheartworld.com/green-living/organic-food-price-reductions/ Figure 5. 1: UK organic food and drink: total retail sales and total imports 2002/03 Multiple retailers: 5. 13 Table 5. 5 shows the most recent data we were able to secure on the percentage share of trade between the multiple retailers for organic and the overall grocery market (2000). The data indicate that Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose and Safeway account for most UK organic sales. In 2003, two multiples, Sainsbury’s and Tesco were responsible for 27% and 27. 5% respectively of UK organic product sales. Table 5. 5: Multiple retailers’ share of trade – Total Organic vs Retailer Share Track (% share of spend, during 52 weeks ending 17 Sept. 2000) Total organics (%)RST (share of overall grocery market, %) Tesco29. 321. 9 Sainsbury’s29. 817. 3 Asda5. 714. 2 Safeway7. 09. 5 Somerfield2. 46. 6 Morrisons1. 44. 9 Iceland1. 43. 2 Marks & Spencer1. 01. 5 Waitrose9. 71. 4 All others12. 319. 5 Source: TNS Source: http://www. scotland. gov. uk/Publications/2005/05/13153740/37488 Why are more people are choosing organic? In 2006, organic food and drink sales nudged the ? 2 billion mark for the first time, and showed a 22% growth overall. Here’s why more people are choosing to buy organic: †¢Taste – Many people tell us they buy organic food because they believe it tastes better. †¢Food safety – Organic farmers, as far as possible, avoid using unnecessary chemical sprays. Food additives linked to asthma and heart disease are among those banned under organic standards. †¢The environment – Organic farming is friendlier to the environment so there is a much greater diversity of birds, butterflies and plants on organic farms. Organic standards ban the use of GM technology. †¢Animal welfare – Organic farming requires animals to be kept in more natural, free-range conditions with a more natural diet. Source: http://www. soilassociation. org/web/sa/saweb. nsf/Living/whatisorganic. html The year 2008 is a year that is going to be dominated by health consciousness. The top 10 food trends that are going to rule the food world are: 1- Eat Healthy! Health is going to be a major consideration that is going to influence our food habits. It would dictate the pattern of the foods patronized and also in turn what would be available in the market. The manufacturers are ready and eagerly waiting to take a cue from the consumption patterns so as to cash in on this multi-million dollar food market. There will, for sure, be an increase in health foods so as to cater to the demand of the potential customer. 2- Packaging Matters! With growing consciousness, it is important that the foods have a good and eco-friendly packaging and have all details specified on the label. These are definitely going to be the ones that would be preferred. 3- Go Local! An increase in importance to local produce is another significant trend that would be witnessed in the year 2008. Customers would prefer to patronize healthy food items that are grown locally. The growing environmental consciousness and an increase in importance to personal health are going are the reasons for this choice. 4- I want Ready-To-Eat! Convenience foods would however, continue to reign supreme. With people getting busier by the day and having very little time on hand, it is important to have more options for ready to eat meals. Complete meals of one or two dishes would be preferred. The studies conducted recently have gone to show that people prefer to eat at home for most part of the week due to health considerations and thus, convenient foods provide the perfect answer to a busy family that is also health conscious. 5- No McDonald’s for kids! With health of the family gaining priority, the healthy kids recipes is another area that is going to increase in importance. With several entrants in the market this trend is only going to grow by leaps and bounds in the coming months. 6- Weight loss meals get trendy! Obesity has come to be another major consideration that has come to have a significant impact on the food related decisions of a family. Weight loss foods that let you manage your weight problem without having to deprive yourself of the daily nutritional requirements is going to find favor in 2008. 7- Substitute capsules with food! With heart diseases and others becoming a major issue, foods that can fight diseases are going to be popular. Foods with antioxidants that have the property of fighting against diseases are what people are looking out for desperately. Keep the diseases at bay with a healthy and active lifestyle. 8- Indulge Yourself! The growing health consciousness is certainly not going to undermine the importance of premium foods that offer a wonderful reason to indulge. Pampering oneself with an array of exotic tastes and flavors – desserts, pies, and chocolate recipes – is going to be an essential part of our lives across the globe. Entertaining and discovering the treasure house that the culinary world offers are going to be a norm that would not change for any reason. 9- Go Veggies! There is definitely going to be a rise in the consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and food with useful bacteria like yogurt. Useful bacteria are going to gain entry into many other food items that are part of our daily diet. 10- Raw Food Rocks! Increase in the consumption of raw food in the form of salads and other enticing dishes is going to be another of the food trends witnessed globally. The benefits of raw food will be explored across the globe. Source: http://my. telegraph. co. uk/butterbites/blog/2008/05/25/top_10_food_trends_for_2008.