Green Mountain Resort Case Study Essays

Green Mountain Resort Case Study Essays Green Mountain Resort Case Study Paper Green Mountain Resort Case Study Paper â€Å"The images, metaphors, or frames that we hold, both of managing and of change, influence our ideas of what we think managing change is all about† (Palmer, Dunford, Akin, 2009). As people we all see through our own eyes, we call see a different perspective and have a different reaction to what is coming next. As human beings we react differently to situations. Situations of change are transitions that some are able to adapt to quickly while others have a hard time. Being the leader of that change can be difficult and helping make a change does not come easily or effectively. Keep and Newcomer (2008) stated that leaders couldn’t effectively initiate or implement change unless they are full involved. The case study: Green Mountain Resort (Dis)solves the Turnover Problem talks about the solution(s) to help decrease or get rid of employee turnover since being bought out by the bank’s investment team and upper management. This paper will discuss the six change images discussed and incorporate it with the assumptions made. Out of the six change assumptions discussed in Chapter 2 of our book Managing organizational change: A multiple perspectives approach, the assumption that would be identified with Gunter would be Image 2: Change Manager as a Navigator. Now that Gunter was not just an employee of Green Mountain Resort, he was also an owner. He knew in order to keep the doors open and lights on to the community of Green Mountain Resort her would have to make a change in regards to employee turnover. Green Mountain Resort was in a beautiful rural county, but that county was also the poorest in the state. : That meant that it was hard to find good employees locally, and those that were good, whether local or imported, didn’t stay long† (Palmer, Dunford, Akin, 2009, pg 40). Gunter being the core of the management team as well as owner was concerned about making this change but the outcomes that would come with it. Image 2: Change Manager as a Navigator is perceived as the heart of any action taken by management. Palmer, Dunford, Akin (2009) also explain that in the navigator image, a variety of factors external to managers mean that while they may achieve some intended change outcomes, others will occur over which they have little control (p. 27). In regards to the hospitality literature the change image discussed that can identify the assumptions about changing turnover is Image 1: Change Manager as a Director. The hospitality literature identified that employee turnover was a problem and that it needed to be handled. The difference between Gunter and hospitality literature was the fact that they saw it as constant, something that will always be an issue regardless of change and should be tolerated. Hospitality literature recommended â€Å"was to minimize the debilitating effects: streamline training, simplify jobs, don’t become dependent on individuals, make HR processes more efficient† (Palmer, Dunford, Akin, 2009, p. 41). The director image is based that results of change is reachable and management needs to be able to take control of making this change. Lastly the change image associated with the consultant would be Image 5: Change Manager as an Interpreter. â€Å"The interpreter image to managing change places the change manager in the position of creating meaning for other organizational members, helping them to make sense of various organizational events and actions† (Palmer, Dunford, Akin, 2009, p. 31). Instead of coming up with way to solve the problem of high turnover, the consultant helped Gunter see the problem in a different perspective by using it to benefit the organization vs. hurting it. The three change images discussed could all help with influencing assumptions about a recommendation to help with â€Å"the turnover problem. Gunter could have just took full action and made changes that he thought would benefit the organization or even take the approach of the hospitality literature and be direct with the change as other companies have probably done in the past. The change Image the consultant took was definitely the most beneficial by helping Gunter interpreter a new type of change by using the high turnover to the company’s advantage. Another change image that could have been used to help Green Mountain Resort with the high turnover could have been Image 4: Change Managers as a Coach. Gunter could have help deliberately mold the organization’s natural ability in specific ways. â€Å"Rather than dictating the exact state of each play as the director might attempt to do, the coach relies upon building in the right set of values, skills, and â€Å"drills† that are deemed to be the best ones that organizational members, as players, will be able to draw on adeptly in order o achieve desired organizational outcomes† (Palmer, Dunford, Akin, 2009, p. 30). In conclusion, the statement at the start of the chapter that â€Å"if we only draw upon one particular frame, then this will take us away from thinking about what is going on from an alternative perspective† reminds us as manager leading change in an organization to not just jump to the first idea on how to make change. We need to be able to think outside the box and make a change in how we react to change and what are first instincts of action would be. Having different perspectives in how to go about change will allow managers to really engage and figure out what the best plan of action will be. â€Å"Changes often fail because leadership fails to fully understand or underestimates the complexity of the change, increasing the risk that the change will not yield the desired results†(Keep Newcomer, 2008).

Clark Surname Meaning and Origin

Clark Surname Meaning and Origin The Clark surname is an occupational name for cleric, clerk, or scholar - one who can read and write, from the Old English cler(e)c, meaning priest.  Also from the Gaelic Mac a Chlerich/Cleireach; son of the cleric or, sometimes, clerk. During the Middle Ages, the common pronunciation of -er was -ar, so the man who sold items was the marchant, and the man who kept the books was the clark. At the time, the primary members of the literate class were the clergy, which in minor orders were allowed to marry and have families. The term clerk (clark) eventually came to designate any literate man. The Cleary / OClery surname, one of the oldest surnames in Ireland, is often anglicized to Clarke or Clark. Clark is the 25th most popular surname in the United States and the 34th most common in England. Clarke, with an e, is actually more common in England - coming in as the 23rd most popular surname. It is also a very common name in Scotland (14th) and Ireland. Surname Origin English, Irish Alternate Surname Spellings ï » ¿CLARKE, CLERK, CLERKE Famous People With the Surname CLARK William Clark - one half of the legendary Lewis Clark expedition to the Pacific Ocean, along with Meriwether Lewis.Guy Clark - American singer/songwriterArthur C. Clarke - British science fiction writer, best known for 2001: A Space Odyssey Genealogy Resources for the Surname CLARK 100 Most Common U.S. Surnames Their MeaningsSmith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census? Clark(e) Surname DNA ProjectThis project was started to determine if the early Clark families in Virginia were of the same family, and/or if they were connected to explorer William Clark. The project has now expanded to include a broader scope of Clark families around the world. Clark Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the Clark surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Clark query. There is also a separate forum for the CLARKE variation of the Clark surname. FamilySearch - CLARK GenealogyFind records, queries, and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Clark surname and its variations. DistantCousin.com - CLARK Genealogy Family HistoryFree databases and genealogy links for the last name Clark. - References: Surname Meanings Origins Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Menk, Lars. A Dictionary of German Jewish Surnames. Avotaynu, 2005. Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia. Avotaynu, 2004. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.

Effective communication in organization Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Effective communication in organization - Article Example ional) communication is important to enhance good working relations in the organization which in turn translate to the achievement of the goals and objectives set. Organization capabilities are only achieved in an environment where healthy communication and relationship between individuals is enhanced. In the articles, the SMCR model is emphasized. The SMCR means that there should be a good channel (C) for the message (M) to move from the source (S) to the receiver (R). In an organization therefore, there will be all forms of communication which range from formal to informal. In formal communication, the leaders in the organization design/develop strategies to be used in achieving the objectives. They then construct relevant messages and then using correct channels, they relay it to the members in the organization. Communication will therefore play a significant role in this process. Employees on the other hand mainly communicate informally with each other enhancing their ties in the organization. Both forms are equally important. The evolution of communication is also highlighted in the article especially with the developments in technology playing a significant role in the progress. Organizational communication is significant in developing its culture which plays a major role in achievement of goals

Contemporary Management issue (waleed) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Contemporary Management issue (waleed) - Essay Example The Traditional theories of ethics look into the aspects in terms of an absolutist view. Under this regime, the theories are either claimed to be right or wrong. On the other hand, the Contemporary theories that are framed on ethics concentrates on the relativist positional views. The correctness of a given situation is determined by the Normative ethical theories (Warren, 2011). According to the views of Richard D. George, on the basis of Pluralism, the ethical theories can be conveyed in terms of two opposing patterns, Ethical Absolutism and Ethical Relativism. There are also other types of theories related to ethics, they are: Theory of Egoism Theory of Utilitarianism Theory of Egalitarianism (on basis of rights and justice) Theory of Non-Egalitarianism On the basis of the contemporary view, the ethical theories can be on: Virtue Ethics Feminist Ethics Discourse Ethics Post Modern Ethics The theories of morality and ethics are somewhat similar to each other. Some of the morality t heories are: Moral Subjectivism Cultural Relativism Ethical Egoism Devine Command Theory Kantian Theory Contractarianism The case deals with the consciousness of the U.S. government over the health hazards caused due to cigarette smoking. It claims that the Gladys Kessler (U.S. District Judge) would claim a penalty of $280 billion from the famous tobacco companies such as, Philip Morris, Liggett and Reynolds. These companies would be penalized if they are found to knowingly deceive the public regarding the addictive nature and risks associated with smoking. It was noted that about 400000 Americans die yearly due to the health issues caused from cigarettes manufactured by these companies. This paper would concentrate on an aspect that deals with the duties that the modern organizations cater to their customers. In the later stage, the essay would focus on the different theories of business ethics and morality. The theories in the course of the discussion would be related to the case study of the paper. The Duties to Customers from Companies In the contemporary world, the organizations are supposed to suffice three primary business goals. When describing about the duties of a company it is essential to shed light on the theories of business ethics. In simple terms, business ethics is often dubbed as the form of professional ethics or applied ethics which examines the ethical principles within a business environment. Moreover, it also appeals to every business aspect and is highly pertinent to the organization as well as the individuals. Business ethics encompasses both descriptive and normative dimensions. Hence, business ethics plays a crucial role in shaping the duties and activities of the consumers towards the company. Similarly, the theory of stakeholder holds high relevance in the field of business ethics. It states that a company has equal real responsibilities towards its stakeholders, but the activities differ from one group to the other. (Source: Elkin gton, 1999) As stated in the above diagram, the organizations must try to improve the state of environment, economy and society. This is as per the theory of Triple Bottom Line stated by John Elkington in 1999. This theory also states that the organization, by uplifting the societies, must try to bridge the gap between the poor and rich customers (Wright, 1995). However, catering to the social justice is the most essential factor that must be addressed by the

WaterAid UK. Operational Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

WaterAid UK. Operational Management - Essay Example The global strategy for WaterAid is to offer strategic perspective for building on this experience and integrating equity, as well as, inclusion in all areas of operation The company implemented the global strategy, with four significant aims of carrying out effective business to address sanitation and water crisis. One of the main objectives is to ensure that more than 25 millions of people across the globe have access to safe and clean water. They also focus on hygiene improvements, sanitation objective and also influencing government policies and practices in order to reach more than 100 million people globally. The organizational mission is transforming lives of people across the areas where they operate. The crucial services emphasizes human development and transform lives; thus enabling people to overcome poverty, as well as, enable them to access their human right effectively. The organization operates in more than 23 countries and the company offer support to their local part nership organizations. This is crucial because they aim to deliver sustainable water and services to all areas; thus improving sanitation. They also operate alongside their partners in order to influence effective decision making vital for improving investments and delivery of sanitation and water services to the population living under poverty level; therefore, to achieve their objectives, the company focuses to a wider context impacting sanitation and water services including marginalized communities, urbanization, unpredictable climatic changes, and political instabilities, as well as, stressed water resources. The company operates in unique way by focusing the challenges they face; thus finds solution of overcoming them through offering effective service delivery. They also have unique ways of developing and monitoring performance level. This strategy has been implemented through detailed operational plans and monitored with an aim of increasing effective performance. The human resource manager of the organization has made significant efforts of implementing a sustainability framework, which was piloted through the 2011 to 2012 post-implementation studies. Bratton and Gold (2010. P. 34) reveal the significance roles that manager play in an organization including training, encouraging teamwork, communicating effective and effective listening; thus contributing to successful performance of the company. Therefore, the WaterAid human resource manager has made significant efforts of partnering with others in creating an efficient operational management team in order to deliver sustainable services. Staff and volunteer management The company has varied staff workers and other volunteer groups who work together as a team to deliver effective services. Subba and Kumar (2010, p. 23) argue that working together as team in the management of resources of company activities can contribute to effective business performance. This is crucial because it has enabled the com pany to deliver equitable services across the regions where they operate. Moreover, the current company manager, Jeremy Pelczer employs unique leadership styles of managing both tangible and intangible resources of the company. Gold (2010, p. 102) argue that successful leaders should employee effective leadership styles that can enable them to deliver valuable services. They also have the board of directors who offer great opportunities and the shareholders also played key significant roles of supporting the company towards achieving the organizational mission. In addition, they have volunteer groups of people including the

Study on the Variability in Foreign Exchange Rate

Study on the Variability in Foreign Exchange Rate 1.0. Introduction Variability in foreign exchange (FX) rate has been one of the major economic and financial factors affecting cash flows and common stocks value. After the collapse of post-war Bretton Woods fixed exchange rates in the 1970s, the relative prices of currencies began to fluctuate. The rapid expansion in international trade and adoption of floating exchange rate regimes by many countries led to increase exchange rate volatility. As economic integration and globalization have been increasing year by year, exchange rate movements have become very important source of risk for financial firms as well as non-financial firms. In this context, it is very important to mention that virtually all existing empirical studies estimate currency exchange rate exposures on the basis of share prices. However, the assessment of cash flow and stock price exposures which will be studied in this research will represent a rational alternative to the analysis of stock price exposures. In fact, it is the impact of exchange rate risk on corporate cash flows rather than equity prices per se, that is emphasized in the theoretical literature on corporate risk management, either for tax reasons, managerial performance, bankruptcy, investment decisions or compensation purposes. Jacque (1996) points out that change in a companys earnings due to unexpected foreign currency exchange rate changes relatively to their domestic currency is considered as foreign exchange rate risks. Changes in exchange rates may affect firms profitability and value. Exchange rate changes can also impact on the level of competitiveness of the firms which are exposed to exchange rate risk, or affect the value of their net assets denominated in foreign currencies. Adler and Dumas (1984) show that even firms whose entire operations are domestic may have affects of exchange rates of foreign currencies, if their output and input prices are influenced by currency movements. Moreover, Eiteman et al. (2006) says that in general, firms are exposed to three types of foreign exchange risk: translation exposure, transaction exposure and economic exposure. Translation and transaction exposures are accounting based and defined in terms of the book values of assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currency. In practice, economic exposure is computed as the net sensitivity of some aggregate measure of firm value to currency fluctuations. Economic exposure contains of the direct and indirect effects of currency fluctuations by focusing on the net sensitivity. At the corporate level, changes in exchange rates affect the firm value, because future cash flows of the firm will change with exchange rate fluctuations. In other words, exchange rate changes have important implications for financial decision-making and for firm profitability. It is widely believed that changing exchange rates affect the competitiveness of firms engaged in international competition. According to Luehrman (1991), a falling home currency promotes the competitiveness of firms in home country by allowing them to undercut prices charged for goods manufactured abroad. Many simple partial equilibrium models (e.g. Shapiro) predict an increase in the value of the home country firm in response to a real drop in the value of the home currency. Economic theory suggests that under a floating exchange rate regime, exchange rate appreciation reduces the competitiveness of export markets; it has a negative effect on the domestic stock market. Conversely, if the country is import denominated, exchange rate appreciation may have positive affect on the stock market by lowering input costs. Problem statement As economic integration and globalization have been increasing year by year, exchange rate movements have become very important source of risk for financial firms as well as non-financial firms. Also, the internationalization of capital markets has resulted in inflow of vast sums of funds between countries and in the cross listing of equities. This has therefore made investors and firms more interested in the volatility of exchange rate and its effect on stock price and stock market volatility. According to Yucel and Kurt (2003), floating exchange rate appreciation reduces the competitiveness of export markets; and has a negative effect on share prices as well as the domestic stock market. On the other hand, for import dominated country, it may have positive effect on the stock market by lowering input costs. Malaysia presents an example of an open economy which engages in international trade with several countries and hence susceptible to foreign exchange rate volatility. Malaysian exchange and trade system have been liberalized for many years. Malaysia now follows a floating exchange rate policy. Malaysian economy has been suffered from Asian financial crisis 1997 and World financial crisis 2008. As a result volatility in foreign exchange rate and deviation from purchasing power parity might become persistent in the economy. Most of the firms operating in Malaysia are affected in many ways from these economic conditions. The firms have faced higher business risk and foreign exchange risk. However, empirical evidence on the influence of foreign exchange market volatility on stock market is largely inconsistent. These have been in the contest of developed economies. Mishra (2004) found no theoretical consensus on the interaction between stock prices and exchange rate. However, Solnik (2000) argues that there is a negative correlation between stock market and local currency. The openness of a countrys economy is recognized as a cause of volatility of its market. Malaysia presents a classic example of an open economy which engages in international trade transaction. Moreover, with advert of globalization, developing economies are becoming more integrated into developed economies as the results of increasing flow of imports and exports. Malaysia is not an exception. A cursory examination of foreign exchange rate history in Malaysia shows some considerable level of volatility. Therefore, it would be interesting to explore the effect of its foreign exchange volatility on cash flows as well as stock prices of its non-financial companies. Again, much work on the effect of the exchange rate volatility in the developing country like Malaysia has not been done. Thus, for that reason the study intended look at the effect of foreign exchange exposure on companies cash flows and stock prices in Malaysia. Research objectives Objective of the current research is to determine whether cash flows and stock prices of companies are affected by exchange rate exposure. This research project attempts to assess the economic exposures of the firms chosen from the Bursa Malaysia Main market. The issues are important for investors as well as corporate risk management. To examine the relationship between cash flows of the companies and exchange rates; To examine the relationship between stock prices of the companies and exchange rates; To determine which currencies have major influence on the companies cash flows? To determine which currencies have major influence on the companies stock prices? Research questions The research aims to find answers to the following questions: Whether cash flows of the companies exposed to exchange rate risk? Whether stock prices of the companies exposed to exchange rate risk? Which currencies have major influence on the companies cash flows? Which currencies have major influence on the companies stock prices? Significance of the study The estimation of exchange rate exposure is a relatively new area in international finance. After 1973, managers and economists become more concerned about the exchange rate fluctuations on firms. Also, for the past decade, researchers have been empirically investigating the exchange rate exposure of the firms. Following Adler Dumas (1984) most of the research measures the exposure as the elasticity between change in firm value and exchange rate. Empirically, this exposure elasticity is obtained from a regression of stock returns on an exchange rate change (Bodnar Wong, 2000). In practice, there is little general agreement on the use of appropriate choice of ‘‘aggregate measure. In this research project it is focused on the impact of economic exposure of Malaysian firms values. Corporate managers will also be interested in the exposures of corporate cash flow measures such as sales, operating cash flow and earnings for reasons of corporate planning and risk management. Scope of the study The current study one of the new studies in international finance and risk management. In general, the research will assess the economic exposures for the companies listed in Bursa Malaysia Main Market from the years 2000 to 2008. For the research, first, all sample companies stock returns will be regressed on exchange rate change and market return. In the second step, companies will be examined according to one specific character, which is export volume. LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction It is also noticeable whether the firms cash flows are sensitive to exchange rate movements. Perhaps we should also point out the fact that Grambovas and McLeay (2006) are convinced that empirical analysis confirm that currency fluctuations may affect firm values, especially with consideration to the influence of foreign exchange rate movements on the firms cash flows and their accounting earnings, and on their stock prices. Previous literature Miller Reuer (1998) conducted a study on the implications of differences in strategy and industry structure for firms economic exposures to foreign exchange rate movements. According to their results, 13-17 % of US manufacturing firms exposed for foreign exchange rate movements. Also they indicated that foreign direct investment reduces economic exposure to foreign exhange rate movements. Martin and Mauer suggest that economic exposure, which typically has a longer-term time dimension, encompasses the competitive and indirect effects of exchange rate risk. Many academics such as Hodder (1982), Marston (2001) Pringle (1995), Shapiro (1975) and von Ungern-Sternberg von Weizsacker (1990) argue that unlike transaction exposure, economic exposure can affect even domestic firms. Economic exposure arises from changes in the sales prices and volumes, and the cost of inputs of the firm and its competitors as a result of exchange rate changes. Miller Reuer (1998) and Sundaram Black (1992) argued that geographically positioning production, sales, sourcing, and financing operations is effective for reducing economic exposure. Glaum, Brunner and Himmet (2000) examined the economic exposure of German corporations to change in DM/US dollar exchange rate. They found that German firms are significantly exposed to changes in DM/US dollar rate. Several studies focused on the some companies and they demonstrated that exporter firms stock values are more sensitive to change in foreign exchange rates (Mao and Kao, 1990; Bortov and Bodnar, 1992). The study by SÃ ¶hnke M. Bartram (2007) found significant exposure of several firms to at least one of the foreign exchange rates, and significant exposures found by them were more frequent at long-term horizons. They also argue that the impact of exchange rate risk on share prices and cash flows is similar and determined by a correlated set of economic factors. Moreover, Dominguez and Tesar (2006) found that exchange rate movements do matter for a significant fraction of firms, though which firms are affected and the direction of exposure depends on the specific exchange rate and varies over time, suggesting that firms dynamically adjust their behavior in response to exchange rate risk. Exposure is correlated with firm size, multinational status, foreign sales, international assets, and competitiveness and trade at the industry level. Martin and Mauer (2003) pointed out that cash flow effects are greater for long-term lags than for short-term lags in exchange rate movements. This result may occur because transaction exposure is easier to assess and hedge, whereas economic exposure is more difficult to recognize and hedge. While Bartram (2007) suggests significant exposure of several firms to at least one of the foreign exchange rates such as CAD, JPY and EUR, and significant exposures determined by Bartram (2007) were more frequent at long-term horizons. The percentage of firms observed for which stock price and earnings exposures were considerably different was relatively low, though it increased with time horizon. Finally, he was convinced that the impact of exchange rate risk on stock prices and cash flows is similar and determined by a related set of economic factors. Batram and Karolyi (2006) took a new look at the exposure puzzle by studying the potential impact of the introduction of the Euro on stock returns of 3,220 non-financial firms from 20 countries. Their findings suggest that the introduction of the Euro decreased foreign exchange rate exposure, but these changes are statistically and economically small. According to Tesar and Dominguez (2006), factors such as firm size, multinational status, foreign sales, international assets, and competitiveness and trade at the industry level may influence economic exposure of the companies. These factors may either increase the companies economic exposure or decrease. These factors influence on the companies economic exposure will depend on how significantly these factors are correlated with the companies cash flows and operations, and if there are significant correlation between them, we should also point out whether these significant correlations are positive or negative. Empirical analysis by Grambovas and McLeay (2006) confirmed that exchange rate fluctuations will affect firm values, especially with regard to the influence of exchange rate movements on the cash flows and accounting earnings of companies with international exposure, and on their stock prices. Recent studies by Priestley and Odegaard (2007) studied the exchange rate exposures by orthogonalizing the market returns with respect to changes in exchange rates and a set of macroeconomic factors. Their findings suggest that the extent of exposures is only fully exposed when it is subdivided the sample period into regimes and at the same time used an orthogonalized market portfolio in the regression. Batram and Karolyi (2006) studied the exposure puzzle by looking at the potential impact of the introduction of the Euro on stock returns of 3,220 non-financial firms from different 20 countries. It was found that the introduction of the Euro had decreased foreign exchange rate exposure, but the changes were statistically and economically very small. However, Bae, Kwon, and Li (2008) having studied the exchange rate exposure and risk premium by using data on American depositary receipts (ADR) of Australia, France, Japan and the U.K., found that changes in the exchange rates were negat ively correlated with the underlying shares of ADRs, but they were positively correlated to ADR returns observed in the U.S. markets. Moreover, they discovered that U.S. and local investors require different risk premiums for exchange rate risks presented in ADR investments. Griffin and Stulz (2001) found weak evidence of statistically significant exchange rate exposures, and the economic significance of the estimated exposures was low. A first main study of the foreign exchange exposure fact done by Jorion (1990) found a significant impact of foreign exchange rate risk on share prices for 5.2 percent of the analyzed 287 U.S. MNCs at the 5 percent level. Choi and Prasad 1995 developed a model and examined the exchange rate sensitivity of 409 US multinational firms. Their findings indicated that change in exchange rate affected firm value. They found that 60 percent of firms had significant exchange rate exposure. In their study, Choi and Prasad (1995) found that 14.9 percent of the individual firms in the U.S. and 10 percent of the industry portfolios showed a significant exchange rate exposure at the 10 percent level, corroborating earlier findings. Domely and Sheehy (1996) found contemporaneous relation between the foreign exchange rate and the market value of large exporters in their study. Comparable results were found outside the United States by He and Ng (1998). For instance only some multinational companies in Japan (26.3% and 53.8% for different time periods) showed a significant exchange rate exposure with regard to a multilateral exchange rate index. Some studies look into the exposure of industry portfolios in several countries, there were found percentage yields of companies with significant exposure of 15% (United States), 4% (Japan) and 6% (United Kingdom) by Prasad and Rajan (1995), or 23% (United States), 21% (Canada) and 25% (Japan) by Bodnar and Gentry (1993) at the 5% level. Study by Bartram and Karolyi (2006) suggests that the FX rate exposure of non-financial firms is systematically linked to firm characteristics such as sales, the percentage of foreign sales in general and in Europe in particular, regional factors like geography, strength of currency and industry characteristics like competition, traded goods. Study examined by Allayannis and Ihrig ( 2001) speak about stock price exposure to international trade activities of U.S. industries, and Bodnar et al. (2002) mention the significance of pass-through for exposure. Moreover, Starks and Wei (2004) found that the scale of exchange rate exposure is linked to proxies for probabilities of financial distress, product uniqueness and growth opportunities. However, the evidence of corporate foreign exchange rate exposures on a cash flow basis is very thin and inadequate to individual case studies. Garner and Shapiro (1984) investigated the foreign exchange rate exposure of Vulcan Materials Company by regressing changes of its quarterly operating cash flows on changes in the exchange rate of USD against GBP, and showed only small and statistically irrelevant foreign exchange rate exposures. Moreover, Oxelheim and Wihlborg (1995) use quarterly changes of total cash flow, commercial cash flow and sales revenue as dependent variables in the exposure analysis of Volvo Cars. Results by Oxelheim and Wihlborg (1995) indicate that the financial situation of the company reduces exposures with regard to changes in the DEM/SEK exchange rate only to a modest degree. One more study by Bartram (2005) investigated the exposure of a large nonfinancial company based on proprietary internal as well as external capital markets data. Analysis by Bartram (2 005) illustrated that the irrelevance of foreign exchange rate exposures of wide-ranging performance measures such as total cash flow and/or share price can be explained by hedging at the company level. Several studies focused on the some companies and they demonstrated that exporter firms stock values are more sensitive to change in foreign exchange rates (Mao and Kao, 1990; Bortov and Bodnar, 1992). In the most of the studies foreign exchange exposure was measured by regression analysis by using stock returns. Adler and Simon (1986) measured economic exposure as the slope of stock return on exchange rate change. Jorions (1990) model was established by adding the return of the market to control for market movements. As Jorion, Booth and Rotenberg (1990) and Bodnar and Gentry (1993) examined economic exposure with market return, Miller and Reuner (2000) estimated economic exposure by multivariate modelling approach. They applied three-currency model, also add some specified macroeconomic variables such overall stock market return and interest rates. Flanney and James (1984) and Sweeney and Warga (1986) also used interest rates in their models. Doneely and Sheehy (1996) formed a porfolio with 39 companies, and examined the relationship between abnormal return on exporting firms portfolio and return on sterling. Khoo (1994) estimated mining companies economic exposure by using excha nge rates, interest rates and price of oil. METHODOLOGY 3.0. Economic Exposure Measurement In order to measure Malaysian companies economic exposure I decided to follow Adler Simon (1986) model. I will measure economic exposure as the slope coefficient from a regression of stock returns on exchange rates. R it = ÃŽ ±i + ÃŽ ²i et + eit (1) ÃŽ ±i = constant term R it = Stock return for company i. et = Percentage change in exchange rate The coefficient ÃŽ ²i represents the sensitivity of a company is stock returns to exchange rate movements. In the model exchange rate quotation is direct quotation for Malaysia. In other words it is shown as MYR per one unit of the foreign currency. Positive value of ÃŽ ²i means that a depreciation of MYR corresponds to an increase in the value of company i. In the study, I will apply another model as Jorion approach. Jorian introduced another macroeconomic variable market return to control for market movements. To control for the ‘common macroeconomic influences on total exposure elasticities; most emprical studies include the return to a market portfolio with the exchange rate variable in their emprical models (Bodnar Wong, 2000). R it = ÃŽ ±i + ÃŽ ²1i et + ÃŽ ²2i Rmt + eit (2) ÃŽ ±i = constant term R it = Stock return for company i. et = Percentage change in exchange rate Rmt = Market return Ordinary least squares regression was used to estimate models. Exchange rate movements can be measured in nominal or real terms. Real movements are defined as nominal movements adjusted for price level changes across countries. In some studies (Khoo, 1994; Bodnar and Wong, 2000), since real and nominal exchange rates are highly correlated both or one of them are used. Also in some studies trade weighed foreign exchange rate used. The exchange rate used in the study is real effective exchange rate, which is calculated by the Bank Negara (Malaysian Central Bank). The market index I employ will be FTSE Bursa Malaysia Mid 70 Index. In both model, it will be focused on individual firm value. Choi and Prasad (1995) state that examining exchange rate risk on aggregate level, on portfolio or market index, may not reveal the true exchange risk sensitivity of firm value. They claim that a firm level study is necessary to understand whether and why individual firms display varying sensitivity to exchange risk. I follow their approach in my analysis. 3.1. Data In order to examine Malaysian companies economic exposure, I constructed a sample. Sample companies stocks are publicly traded in FTSE Bursa Malaysia market. Only medium and big sized companies will be included. It will be used monthly data to estimate exchange rate sensitivity of the equity for the period from January 2000 to December 2008. Sample companies economic exposure will be examined in two steps. First, all sample companies stock returns will be regressed on exchange rate change and market return. In the second step, companies will be examined according to one specific character, which is export volume. The companies will be divided into two: exporter and non-exporter firms. It will be identified companies as an exporter company, if their foreign sales level is at least 20% of total sales in 2000. Individual stock returns for companies and FTSE Bursa Malaysia market return data will be collected from Bursa Malaysia sources and DataStream in UUM Library.

Why are people unequal in Society :: essays research papers

Why are People Unequal in Society?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to Philosopher’s of the time of enlightenment the nature of society created inequality. These philosophers also believed that it was the job of the government to limit inequality and try to create conformity.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Now we are able to see that inequality emerges with each and every interaction. This is because every individual possesses qualities which may be better or worse than another’s. These qualities include things such as intelligence, athletic ability, and beauty. However, this has become a problem that we ourselves created. We choose to compare ourselves to others. Sociologists have examined two aspects of this problem. One of these aspects is the simplicity of how inequality arises in the first place. The second aspect is how it is perpetuated over time. Social structure is a social pattern that involves unequal ranks. Once these ranks are discovered inequality will always exist.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the main elements of inequality is the division of labor. There are three different settings for Division of Labor. The first setting is the economic setting. In this setting inequality occurs because of different jobs, money, positions of power, and dependence on others. This also creates inequality because an employer controls an employee. Once control is established there are automatically ranks. The boss may take advantage of his employee, and gain at this employee’s expense. Once this process has started it will never stop.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second setting for division of labor is the organizational division of labor. This division includes such things as family, friends, groups, schools, politics, and churches. Within these groups there is a sense of the follower and the leader. These leadership positions allow there to be an advantage over others. This also shows that all organizations have few in power and many that must follow them in order to succeed.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The third setting for the Division of Labor is the intentional division. This includes things such as war. In war there are always winners and losers. The winners of course end up ruling the losers. This provides a division of labor in which the outcome was somewhat intentional. This inequality is created by those who crave organization and structure. If these people do not agree with another country’s way of rule, they will defeat them and in turn bring in their own statutes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Social conflict is another way of creating inequality within a society.