Harrods Essay - 1375 Words

Harrods (Essay Sample) Content: NameProfessorCourseDateExecutive summary The Harrods Company is a reference to a successful plight of business in the face of London. It is a company that is based on the luxurious combinations of the best world class financial performances of the retail properties. The store has got a wide and vast selection of goods and services that surpass the desires of the various arrays of customers within London in the United Kingdom. The company was found into place during the year 1834 when it offered the world class range of products for luxurious goods (Humphreys 28). The extensive and exclusive company combines into place a culture for which it redefines the beauty products. The stores of the company thus offer out various beauty products and fragrances. Alongside these, it gives into place products such as handbags and other accessories as well as the mens and womens wear. With these items, products such as the assortment of decorations and the luxurious television sets and wines and spirits find a place in the stores of this company. This company also conducts events and also operates restaurants within London. As such, the company also offers a wide range of branding of products alongside conducting an online sale of products. The Harrods Company also conducts business and sale in the Far East side with a motto that is profoundly put as Omnia omnibus Ubique which means that all things for all people everywhere. This marks the global attention that the company has got over the years to its establishment.Introduction The Harrods Company simulates a fully owned subsidiary that is within the Harrods holding group of companies. The Harrods Company and its subsidiaries essentially are involved in the retailing of products in the United Kingdom. The company actually operates the departmental store that is situated in the city of London. The activities of the company are as such globally recognized through the customer research that is aligned into the company. The online shopping for the company creates within it a clientele that holds brand strength with large market dynamics and proper programs of sale. The Harrods store boasts to have a passion for the luxurious goods and the high level of success in the cultural ties. Its relation to England and Boston is an inspiring intent of incomes and exclusive merchandise that has got a strong aesthetic feel. The objectives of the study of Harrods Company are to apprehend the size and the nature of the finances and the competition within the company especially with other luxurious traders (Derdak 43). In order to accomplish this, the paper shall evaluate the impact of the United States economy especially on the demand of the luxurious goods among the customers.FindingsMarket position of Harrods in relation to other six competitors The Harrods store is an occupant of almost all the products that are sold in the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom departmental stores bring out the structur e of the market position of Harrod Company. In essence, the Harrods, Selfridges, Debenhams, house of Fraser, Harvey Nichols, john lewis, mark and Spencer are among the competitors of this company. The Harrods market position increased in the year 2004 due to the fact that the performance of mark and Spencer that was the then leader in the market went down. However, the competitor marks and Spencer was brought back in the year 2006 to reconvene the market to grow within a range of 4.7% (Dale, Tim, Fayed et Al 172). The market performances brought in by Harrods, Selfridges and Harvey Nichols, however, came about as very vital to bringing back the initial market solutions. Currently against the six competitors, Harrods Company is seemingly the largest of the market revolvers in the country operating at extremely high profit margins. The Harrods Company has achieved this position through the constant operation and utilization of its space rather than the constant opening of stores lik e its competitors. The consumers have also contributed to the market position of the Harrods Company with the close reference of the economic regime (Jones 54). The consumers are able to select exactly what to consume and require a high ended indulgent shopping experience. This is usually offered by the Harrods store as compared to the other competitors who specialize in one line of products. This has thus put the Harrods Company first among its competitors hence giving it an edge over the market share indices.Financial performance of Harrods in relation to the SIX MAIN competitors The Harrods stores happen to carry down various leading designers in their line of sale of products. In this case, the profits of Harrods as compared to the other stores tend to keep rising as opposed to the profits of the other stores. Of the six other departmental stores, the Harrods store reclaims out the biggest record of operational profits followed by the Selfridges store. The Harrods departmental p rofits in the year 2007 were increased by 30%while that of Selfridges was increased by 16% (Kleber 123). The departmental store owners of marks and Spencer and Debenhams and john Lewis alongside the house of Fraser are currently way below the profits ration of the Harrods Company. Usually the dividends of the Harrods Company are drawn through the Harrods holdings. The Harrods stores have thus benefitted a lot from the presence of the overseas shopping. This is especially since most of those who shop are visitors away from London. As such, currently the sales of Harrods are up by 4.7% as compared to the previous years (Epstein 231).External economic factors which may influence the company's position and financial performance in the future The shopping strategies and the behaviour of consumers are part of the reasons as to why the position of the company and its financial position may be different. In essence, the impact of the economy on the consumers is one of the factors that would affect its performance in the future. For instance, the economy within usually affects the behaviour of shopping within the environs of the company. With the economy being unfavorable more consumers tend to shop less of the goods while others tend to look at price tags and evaluate the viability of their shopping decision. In the future if the economy goes down, the company is likely to hike its prices in order to keep up the external heat. The structural state of the economy shall revolve the anticipated maximization of the market share while minimizing all the costs on their side. As such, the companys rank may somewhat go down since it has got a centralized design of business, unlike the other competitors. Again the external factor of the social viability in the society may affect the position of the environment of the company (Quiry, Pascal, Pierre 78). The factors of cost and the custom of wealth and income of people may create a dent in the shareholding capacity of the econ omy. The essence of the plight of the goods of the people is a code of conduct for consumers to buy out fewer commodities. The shareholding capacity of the people might go down since most of the people may wish to sell out their shares instead of retaining them. This will thus affect the financial structure of the company since the market share prices may as well go down thus putting it at a lower rank than its competitors. The political and the legal environment of the business are another external factor that may affect the market position of the business. The intensity of the pact of importation and the influences of licensing policies would affect the company in the future. For instance, the government policy to decentralize production to other countries would affect the Harrods Company. In essence, the company holds most of its stores under one roof. A policy to decentralize would creep out into the company creating a dent in its marke...

Do Private Schools Require Teachers to Be Certified

Teaching can be a rewarding experience, and talented teachers are in high demand. But, some people are deterred from this career choice because they didnt pursue an education degree or arent certified to teach. But, did you know that not every school requires certification to teach? Its true, and private schools in particular often place a high value on professionals who have work experience and can share their knowledge and experience with eager learners. Private Schools That Dont Require Certification Many private schools value degrees in related fields, work experience, knowledge, and natural teaching abilities over a certification. Its true that it does vary from school to school, but many private schools look beyond the teaching certificate or degree in education. A school will make it clear if certification is required — and even if a private school requires certification, you may be hired provisionally if the school feels you can meet the state certification eligibility requirements within a reasonable length of time.   Most private schools require evidence of a bachelors degree and a background check before approving a new hire, and masters degrees and doctorates are highly desired. But, apart from those requirements, what a private school is really looking for are teachers who can inspire students and bring great experience to the classroom. Research has shown that good teachers are often professionals blessed with superb verbal abilities. Put another way, they know how to communicate their subject extremely well. That has little or nothing to do with certification. Coming in right behind superb verbal abilities is the experience. A private school  will value these attributes far more than teacher training or education courses alone. Are Certified Teachers Better Teachers? According to the Abell Foundations report Teacher Certification Reconsidered: Stumbling For Quality, there is inconclusive evidence that certified teachers are more effective in the classroom. Teacher certification is a concoction of the political-educational establishment to protect, shield, and justify the inadequacies of public education. After all, the state education office only looks at transcripts  and required courses to determine if certification standards have been met — it never actually watches a teacher teach. This is why private schools value a teacher who is passionate about his or her subject more than they value teachers who are certified to teach a subject. Yes, the private school headmaster  will look at your transcripts, but what they will really focus on is results and your ability to be a great teacher. Are you inspiring your students? Are they excited about learning? Is a Degree Important? You have to know your subject, obviously, but believe it or not, your degree doesnt have to perfectly align with the subject. Most upper schools will value strong tertiary level credentials highly. A masters or a doctorate in your subject is an excellent door-opener at these elite educational institutions. However, many seasoned professionals have degrees that dont relate to the subjects they intend to teach. A history teacher with a math degree isnt the norm, but it has happened. Schools want to know that you have a superior mastery of the subject at hand, and work experience can go a long way.   While it may seem odd to possess a degree that doesnt directly relate to what you intend to teach, the rapid changing of todays industries and skillsets make it a necessity for private schools to be progressive about their hiring. Many graduates with humanities degrees have found themselves in the technology industry, which may have them working in a number of fields with a wide variety of experiences. Schools will look to hire professionals with degrees, yes, but they also want to see that you have something to bring to the classroom. Coding, software development, technical writing, research, website development, and marketing are just a few examples of non-traditional subjects that schools are teaching today, and your talents of actually working in these industries and ability to share those talents with students may give you the edge on someone who possesses a degree in that subject but doesnt have real-world experience.   Getting a Private School Teaching Job If you want to increase the likelihood of getting hired, research specialty programs. The ability to teach Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate level courses is also another big advantage. While you likely wont get training until youre actually hired, familiarity with these programs shows that youre ready to embrace a specific style of teaching. In academia, a bachelors degree is only the first step in your educational journey. Many schools value masters and doctoral degrees as further proof that you have mastered your material. Private schools often provide tuition assistance to help you further your education, too, so if youre interested in going back to school, let the hiring committee know.   Special education, guidance counseling, curriculum development, digital media, website developing, coding, vocational education, media specialist — these are just a handful of specialist areas which are much in demand. While not in the same league with a terminal or a masters degree, subject certification shows that you have explored methodology and current practice in your area in some depth. Assuming you keep those certificates updated, you will contribute to your chosen academic community and can increase the chances that you will be an asset to a schools academic curriculum.   The Importance of Technology Experience Using a tablet, PC, and an electronic whiteboard effectively are essential skills in the classroom these days. Communicating via email and instant messaging are givens. Private schools have been in the vanguard of educational technology since the mid-1990s. Understanding how to use technology effectively in your teaching is not something certification has even begun to address and measure. Teaching Experience Helps If you have taught for three to five years, then you have worked out most of the kinks. You understand classroom management. You have figured out how to truly teach your subject. You can connect with your students. You have learned how to communicate with the parents. Experience counts far more than certification as a rule. This can come in the form of a teaching internship, grad school teaching assistant, or even involvement in programs like Teach for America. Sources Teacher Certification Reconsidered: Stumbling for Quality. National Council on Teacher Quality, 2018, Washington, D.C. Teaching AP for the First Time? AP Central, College Board. Teaching the IB in your language. International Baccalaureate. What We Do. Teach For America, Inc., 2018.

A Concert At Libby Hall Of Utah - 968 Words

Uniting Chamber Orchestra On Wednesday March 1st, the University of Utah performed a concert of chamber music orchestra. This was a concert full with interesting presentations and sound that that energies of nature and relationship with humanity. This concert event was performed at Libby Gardner Hall of University of Utah in Salt Lake City. The guest presenters are four educated musicians from Austria who are called the Minetti Quartet. These were four musicians who each played an instrument. Two were violinist, one Viola, and the last was a Celloist. The event is led from the University of Utah called the Chamber Music Society of Salt Lake City. The concert was an hour long but it will always be a memorable event. The first†¦show more content†¦It was a flowing swirl sound that illuminated the room; their bodies formed in perfection with no stiff or shaken. In addition to the individually rhythmic movement, the musicians moved in unison with the sound of music. This has brought to an excitement position to the audience. It was feeling a message that they were sharing with us. The emotion invoked this music was a sense of tranquility. They position they were placed and the color of their clothes were full of energy and excitement. As some point, it made me feel less stressful and calm, knowing I was in a peaceful environment. The sound of instruments did not beat down to harshly but came with an harmonic and flowing sound. In the beginning of every music they performed began with the rumble of shaken and emphatic but it then dissolves into a slow tempo, soft noise. It was an upbeat yet relaxing at the same time. I find this as a cure for stress relieve. The repetitive string sounds of violins and cello guided the viewers through the dreamlike performance. It was a breath taking seeing how they calmly played the instruments as they felt it was part of them when they played with their hands. Following this admirable music came several other m usic on stage performances by them. The next song they performed was named Quartet in F Minor, Op. 80 . I can say that this music was one of my favorite music I have encounter in the event. The melody was very firm and

Failure free essay sample

There is only one time I can think of that I experienced failure. It was in 2010 and I was at the recognition ceremony for the Prudential Spirit of Community Service Awards Ceremony in Washington D.C. This ceremony was the last big thing of our time in D.C. and was definitely the most important to us. Moreover, for 10 kids, what they found out during the ceremony would change their life for at least a little while. The ceremony would tell 102 children which 10 were worthy of being National winners for the award according to Prudential. We had all done fantastic projects and activities to get us this far and we all wanted to get the national award. The presenter started announcing the Middle School and High School winners in random order so we never knew who would be next. It was suspenseful for everybody in the room, myself included. I was sitting there thinking about what the kids who had already been called had done, what I should say when (and if) I get it, and I have no idea what else. We will write a custom essay sample on Failure or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page However, I was intently focusing on what I would do if I got the National Level award. I did so much so that I was not really paying attention to those who were being called, unless I met them over the week. Moreover, after each spot was filled, I would quietly calculate the odds of me getting it because I felt that I did a great project and deserved to get it. That is what I thought, and that is what I stuck with. However, Prudential had a different idea about what would happen and who would get the highest level of the award that night. The suspense and tensions rose as there were less and less seats left on stage. At least they did in my mind; I cannot speak for anyone else about that. They rose so much and I was so focused on that possibility of getting it that I was dumbfounded at the announcement of the last name. I did not get it. In addition, I was very upset and saw it a failure on my part because I did not get it. I thought that my project was great and deserved recognition. However, in retrospect, after some time and I calmed down about it, I saw that my project was indeed less than those who received the National Level award. In time, I saw that my odds were actually bad and I was not sure why I wanted it so badly, and was hurt when I did not get it. In time, I learned that those who got the national award really were not much different from the rest of us. All they had was $5,000 to give to a charity, a crystal bowl-trophy thing that was to go to the organization that nominated them, a heavy gold medal from prudential, and a slightly different certificate than everyone else. I learned that the greatest satisfaction of doing community service is not what people give me credit, awards, certificates, and other things for, the greatest satisfaction is found inside me. It is knowing that I was able to help somebody or something (an animal) in a way that not many would. It is knowing that I made a difference in somebody’s life, and I do not care if they know if it was me or not. I learned over time that I do not need or want recognition for helping and volunteering, I am not the kind of person who wants the spotlight and wants the big awards. I just want to sit back and watch as a person’s life is changed in a good way, at least for the rest of the day. So yes, I experienced failure, but from that failure came the greatest teachings that would change me and help me discover what I am all about.

Northern Rock Plc free essay sample

Plc Contents Page 1Report2 1. 1Audit Committee and Auditors2 1. 2Experience:4 2Comparison5 2. 1Chief Executive and Chairman5 2. 2Audit Committee5 2. 3Risk Management Committee6 2. 4Remuneration amp; Nominations Committee6 3Chance of another failure6 4Conclusion:8 5References8 Report In this report I am going to highlight the weaknesses in the corporate governance code of Northern Rock that lead to its downfall. Audit Committee and Auditors According to the UK Corporate governance code the board should set up formal and obvious arrangements bearing in mind how to apply the corporate reporting internal control, and risk management rules for keeping the right relationship with the company`s auditors. The board should make up an audit committee of at least three non executive directors in the case of smaller companies at least two NEDs. The chairman can be a member in smaller companies but cannot chair the committee unless he or she was considered independent on appointment as chairman. The board should make sure that at least one the member should have recent and relevant experience in the audit committee. We will write a custom essay sample on Northern Rock Plc or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The board’s responsibilities are to lay out all the terms in writing and monitor the financial statement of the company, to review the financial performance and reporting. It should also review internal financial control, risk management system if not in place separately to check the effectiveness and internal function of internal audit. The board should also be review and monitor the external auditors work their appointments and re appointments, their remunerations, and more importantly the non audit services should be checked very closely. In the case of Northern rock the board and the audit committee failed to implement the above mentioned guidelines. In July 2007 the chief executive published on the website that operationally Northern rock’s first half of 2007 was a good one. He mentioned that mortgage lending in particular was strong. If that was the case then how did Northern Rock end up being nationalised in just over 7 months? Was someone checking and verifying the statements of the chief executive. The external auditor’s complacency was another issue. In their report of 2006 they gave a clean bill of health. This was later investigated by the House of Lords economic affairs committee which found that the auditors had performed their job carelessly. An effective audit committee could have spotted these problems well in advance. The reason for PWC’s complacency might either be because of the presence of Rosemary Radcliffe on the audit committee who was previously a partner of PWC or maybe they were providing other non audit services to the company and did not want to upset the board. As per the corporate governance code the number of audit committee’s members was according to the code but none of the NEDs had any financial experience. Nichola Pease had experience of fund management but not in the banking industry even that experience was not a recent one as required by the code. It seems that at Northern Rock the audit and risk committees were not taken very seriously as Rosemary Radcliffe only attended two out of four audit committee and one out of three risk committee meetings. Experience: Northern Rock appointed a Senior Independent Director with over half the board being non-executive directors- following the combined code 2 and Basel 2 recommendations. However none of the directors were experienced enough in the field of banking not even building society. This in fact does not support the idea of having good corporate governance as it does not ensure failure or success. The above factors raised questions as to why the company’s shareholders did not question the risky business model or was it because of outstanding profits seen as the reward for taking such risk. The remuneration committee can also be held responsible for the failure as both the chief executive and the company took on the gamble for the high risks which in turn questions the values of the shareholder and executive. As mentioned above there were so many factors involved . i. e. he lack of experience, the chairman of the board and nominations committee Dr Ridley had no prior financial experience and even the subject that he has studied is far different to the role he was responsible for. The other four non executive directors Fenwick, Gibson, Pease and Queen also did not have recent relevant experience. Sir Derek Wanless with a good education background but unfort unately with some negative history while working in NatWest where he got paid ? 3M having lead a disastrous acquisition strategy. If the company was aware of the history then why was he appointed as a chairman of the Audit and risk committee? All of the above points indicate that it was really poor corporate governance in place which neither of the committee paid attention or lack their experience in the case of chief executive`s appointment cannot be said that much as he was internally promoted it is sometimes good so he knew about the company from scratch to the top but in some case it is better to have an experience person from a different companies so that they can bring new ideas and innovation. The audit committee had to review what they have been there for the monitoring of the internal financial control, the services, remuneration, re appointments of the external auditors. If the corporate governance were strong in the company there would not be any mis representation of the financial reporting neither by the chief executive nor by the external auditors and also they would have known the consequence of the failure before it had happened. Comparison In this question I am going to compare the governance arrangements noted in the case study with the current version of the UK corporate Governance code. Northern rock had applied most of the governance code but there were some weaknesses in some of the areas. Chief Executive and Chairman As per the UK governance code the chief executive and the chairman should be separate, their re-appointment and remuneration will have to be approved by the board. In Northern Rock the above codes were applied properly. Chief executive and chairman were two different individuals and their appointment and re appointment were also approved by the board. Audit Committee As mentioned above Northern Rock’s audit committee failed to comply with the UK Corporate Governance code on more than one count which led to the auditors not performing their job properly. Audit committee should act as a watch dog in an organisation. Risk Management Committee UK corporate governance says that the board should conduct a review of the risk management committee’s effectiveness at least on a yearly basis. The review should cover almost everything including financial, operational and compliance controls and should be presented to the shareholders. Looking at the timeline of collapse of Northern Rock it seems that the risk committee was not very effective in identifying risks faced by the organisation and hence failed to perform its duty properly which led to the collapse of UK’s 5th largest lender in within one year. Remuneration amp; Nominations Committee According to the UK corporate governance code the company should have a remuneration and a nomination committee which should determine the salaries of the board members and should nominate suitable individuals for appointment. The nomination committee should be made up of non executive directors who should be independent members of the committee. The chair or non executive director should chair the committee but he or she should not chair the committee when appointing the successor to the chairmanship. The committee should also evaluate the skills, experience and knowledge of the candidate when making recommendations. It seems that northern rock’s nomination committee failed in doing their job properly according to the UK corporate governance code. If they had fulfilled the above requirements in accordance to the UK code then the inexperience of the NEDs would have not been an issue. Chance of another failure Generally, organisations with relatively poor governance don’t succeed as uch as those with high standard corporate governance aided by investors. Northern Rock proved this statement when worries about corporate governance resulted in poor performance. This came about 4 years before it was nationalised when shareholders were concerned in the kind of bonuses which were being paid to executives. This develops another understanding about the theory that governance drives performance rather than performance driving governance. Non-executives improve performance and t he balance between executives and non-executives is very vital. Considering both the internal and external factors affecting the failure of northern rock it was mainly caused due to its internal disability of managing crisis. It was the very flawed legal regulation and the poor corporate governance of Northern Rock that let itself down during the tough mortgage crisis in the US. The business model of the company worked for a number of years but despite the risk involved the non-executive directors cared less of the actual risks to the company’s model. Lesson can be learnt from the Northern Rock fiasco by other businesses regardless of their size or profitability. If any business does not implement the corporate governance codes properly they are guaranteed to have problems sooner or later. Similar failure happened to the fourth largest American bank Lehman brothers due to poor corporate governance as their systems were very weak. The key areas of the failure were Corporate risk management, Board of directors, remuneration committee and nomination committee. The board of directors included nine retired four of them 75 years old one a theatre producer and another navy admiral with no banking industry experience. In the board of directors the directors were paid well for their work each in the range $325,000 to $397,000 even after getting high return from the company they were not seriously taking care of the company due to having other responsibilities. Their risk management were also a failure because their executive committee the CRO and the CFO meeting were every week but instead they meet only twice in both 2006 and 2007 which was very outrageous. The failure of the remuneration committee was that only $1 billion were paid in cash bonuses in just matter of 8years which is a big failure. Other than that $500 million was paid to the chairman. Out of the ten board member four of them were 75 years old and only one had the recent knowledge of financial sector. If in the future any other bank or business will not make their corporate governance strong I am afraid there will be more cases like in the future. Conclusion: After all I have mentioned above it was a poor corporate governance that led the bank to failure. Northern rock had all sort of weaknesses in their corporate governance code it will be a good lesson for the other banks to learn if they have any sort of weaknesses in their corporate governance they should amend those before it will be too late. References 1. Treanor, J. (2008). Poor governance reduces profits, says ABI. Available: http://www. guardian. co. uk/business/2008/feb/27/executivesalaries. insurance. Last accessed 09 Feb 2013. 2. Roman A. Tomasic . (2009). Corporate Rescue, Governance and Risk Taking Northern Rock and Its International Context. Available: http://papers. ssrn. com/sol3/papers. cfm? abstract_id=1417953. Last accessed 09 Feb 2013. 3. The Financial Reporting council. (2012). The UK Corporate Governance Code. Available: http://www. frc. org. uk/Our-Work/Publications/Corporate-Governance/UK- Corporate-Governance-Code-September-2012. aspx. Last accessed 09 Feb 2013. 4. Agha, M G and Qatinah, A. (). Lehman Brothers and Corporate Governance Failure. Available: http://www. slideshare. net/adnanqatinah1/lehman-brothers-case-study2. Last accessed 09 Feb 2013.

The Euro in Crisis Decision Time at the European Central Bank essay

The Euro in Crisis Decision Time at the European Central Bank essay The Euro in Crisis: Decision Time at the European Central Bank essay The Euro in Crisis: Decision Time at the European Central Bank essayQ1. Evaluate the ECBs response to the financial crisis of 2008-2010. What was their analysis of the problem?The crisis of 2008-2010 which started in the United States later affected the whole international community, and had a particularly strong impact on Europe. The response of ECB to the first wave of the financial crisis was to inject money into the European economy without lowering interest rates (Trumbull, Roscini Choi, 2011). The next wave of crisis was further addressed by liquidity-stimulating measures; while these measures supported the position of the European banks and stabilized money markets in Europe, inflation went up. In addition, ECB reduced its MRO rate and changed the mechanisms of borrowing.In fact, ECB started performing the clearing functions which were previously performed by the money market (which became stagnant during crisis and no longer maintained clearing). ECB focused on maintaining l iquidity and protecting the euro, but it also experienced pressure from central European banks which were following the strategy of quantitative easing and expected ECB to follow that strategy as well (Trumbull, Roscini Choi, 2011). Eventually, ECB also became involved and announced the purchase of bonds, therefore energizing the market. However, the initial view of ECB was to deal with monetary aspects of the Eurozone, while the responsibility for fiscal measures should have remained with national governments.Q2. The ECB responded less aggressively than the US Federal Reserve to the crisis. Why?The US Federal Reserve acted quickly during the crisis: it reduced interest rates quickly and started the policy of quantitative easing (started the purchases of financial assets of commercial institutions ). The actions of the Fed were quick and aggressive, since the crisis was rapidly unfolding and the countrys financial system was at the threat of a total crash. At the same time, the act ions of ECB were different: it started increasing the monetary base using its traditional lending policy but did not reduce interest rates timely (it even increased them for a short period when the inflation was speeding up). Furthermore, ECB was reluctant to pursue quantitative easing and this reluctance to a certain extent contributed to the next wave of financial crisis in Europe.The differences between the actions of the Fed and the ECB were constituted mainly by different purposes of these institutions and different scopes of influence. The role of the Fed is to conduct monetary policy, to regulate and supervise banking institutions, to provide financial services of organizations and to maintain the stability of the U.S. financial system. The purpose of the ECB is to conduct monetary policy of the EU and to keep prices stable (Trumbull, Roscini Choi, 2011). Fiscal policies and policies aimed at increasing employment and maintaining the stability of national financial systems i n the EU belong to the responsibilities of governments. Therefore, the ECBs response was different from the Feds response to crisis since these organizations are different in purpose and have different spheres of impact.Q3. In May 2010, should the ECB agree to purchase Greek sovereign debt?Yes, in May 2010 the ECB should agree to purchase Greek sovereign debt. If the ECB does not participate in purchasing this debt, it will damage the financial system of the EU, affect prices and weaken the euro. Such stresses will likely lead other weaker European economies to another crisis and the economy of the EU will suffer. Therefore, by refusing to purchase Greek sovereign debt, the ECB will break its direct responsibilities and push the European economy into a new wave of crisis. However, the ECB should make steps to ensure that other countries with weak economies like Portugal do not follow the Greek scenario and do not dry the European bailout funds. Basing on the Greek precedent, the ECB should seek to create an aligned fiscal policy that would address the interests of all euro zone participants and would balance these interests, instead of letting the countries pursue non-aligned fiscal directions.

Prevalence of Bullying among Middle School Children Consequences , Essay

Prevalence of Bullying among Middle School Children Consequences , Systemic Intervention and Policy Development - Essay Example This paper will examine the prevalence, behaviors, consequences, interventions and policy recommendation’s related to bullying prevention in middle school. Key terms: Bullying, relational bullying, behavior, consequences, policy Prevalence of Bullying among Middle School Children In the social context bullying is not a new issue, although in the last two decades bullying has taken on an additive role among school age children. The prevalence has changed in the last three decades and more studies have been completed on the prevalence, consequences, prevention and intervention strategies to decrease bullying. This has prompted policy decisions from the department of education and President Barrack Obama. The most vivid forms of aggressive behavior are seen on the evening news or in the Plain Dealer. â€Å"Bullying is defined as a form of social aggression that persists over time, characterized by imbalance of power† (Pelligrini, 2002, p. 151). The more dominant, and physi cally bigger or tougher an individual is more likely to repeatedly victimize a smaller, weaker, subordinate individual. Bullying can be found directly or indirectly. Indirect bullying is also commonly known as relational bullying.