Gender Issues of Mesopotamia Essay -- Gilgamesh Gender Female Rights E

Sexual orientation Issues of Mesopotamiaâ â â â â â â â â â â â â  â â â â Since the commencement of our general public, ladies have increased a specific regard and certain rights after some time. Such basic parts of life, for example, finding a new line of work, casting a ballot, and in any event, picking who they might want to wed are things that ladies have battled for, for a long time. At a certain point, these were everything that ladies in America and parts of Europe reserved no privilege to. Men all in all had stifled ladies and assumed responsibility for the general public. Notwithstanding mass mistreatment ever, ladies have ascended in the public arena and now groups these normal rights.      Back in the times of Mesopotamia, things were very unique. Ladies were regarded for what their identity was and didn't need to battle to pick up the rights they had. Hammurabi’s Code contained laws, which regarded the privileges of ladies. Society when all is said in done was conformed to this kind of sexual equity. A considerable lot of the codes inside Hammurabi’s Code favor the men of the general public, however a significant number of them illuminate certain rights for the lives of the ladies. Certain laws exist in Hammurabi’s code so as to tackle issues of the general public. It illuminates the discipline for specific acts dispensing with any further complexities. Code 136 for instance, discloses what is to happen to a ladies who’s spouse runs off; â€Å"If any one go out, flee, and afterward his better half go to another house, on the off chance that, at that point he return, and wishes to take his significant other back: on the grounds that he fled from his home and fled, the wife of this runaway will not retur...

Religious Tradition Interview

Meeting Summary While examining the interviewee’s foundation data, the member answered that he had been in the situation of Catholic Church pioneer for a long time. The meeting likewise commented that being a strict pioneer required persistence on the grounds that such a significant number of individuals strived to go to the community gathering to look for compromise and forgiveness.Advertising We will compose a custom paper test on Religious Tradition: Interview explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More The member gave account on his initial understanding of taking this position and clarified this had been his choice to turn into the priest of religion. Since the youth, the strict pioneer was worried about the likelihood to demonstrate his duty to open life, just as his affection to God. While pondering the motivation behind chapel in his locale, Mr. Earthy colored advised that his longing to turn into a Catholic chief was not impacted by his folks. Or maybe, it had been his own cognizant choice. At the of this conversation, the pioneer conceded that it had taken him 2 years to grow enough trust in his authority capacity to head the congregation. While thinking on leader’s basic message that he uncovers in Catholic custom, Mr. Earthy colored attested that religion potently affected arrangement of people’s good, otherworldly, and moral qualities. Despite strict custom, the meeting accepted that Catholicism satisfied the job of profound establishment for individuals scanning for compromise and harmony. What's more, the member looked concerned while talking about the noteworthiness of praising the Eucharist and the job of chapel in the life of the network. Specifically, the Catholic head asserted that the congregation and celestial principle speak to the authority under which the open network could incorporate. Having the uniform guidelines and standards would permit individuals to turn out to be profoundly nearer to God. Because of the way that Mr. Earthy colored had lived in the district since his introduction to the world, he didn't feel any weight with respect to his folks and network. His demeanor to individuals regardless of their beginning and convictions is likewise equivalent, which is the fundamental guideline of Catholic convention. Specifically, the interviewee underlined that his errand as a pioneer was limited to steady help of parishioners who experienced issues in a mainstream life. His position expects him to be the courier between this present reality and the heavenly world. While discussing the primary difficulties during the administration, Mr. Earthy colored noticed that the most troublesome in achieving his obligation was to persuade individuals regarding the need to watch ideals and qualities, despite the challenges, which are regularly sent by God as a preliminary of human patience.Advertising Looking for article on religion religious philosophy? How about we check whether we can sup port you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The strict pioneer likewise admitted that the most troublesome thing about his calling lied in convincing youthful populace about the need to go to places of worship and advancing their qualities and profound convictions. While breaking down tentative arrangements of the congregation network, the pioneer communicated his energy concerning the chance of creating solid systems, wherein strict convention was introduced from a more extensive perspective. Specifically, it ought not be viewed as a strict duty to God in particular, however as a philosophical structure that should frame the supporting of open life in the locale. The way that the vast majority go to chapel and quest for otherworldliness empowers the interviewee a large portion of all. Toward the finish of the meeting, Mr. Earthy colored included that this calling had become for him an instrument for improving the life in the network and building up a solid moral and good framework. Reflection While pondering on the preservation with the strict pioneer of the Catholic Church Sebastian Brown, explicit consideration requires the interviewee’s responsibility to and comprehension of the heavenly principle and its impact on open life. Specifically, in contrast to numerous different pioneers, Mr. Earthy colored is progressively worried about the useful importance of Catholic convention. Persuading individuals regarding the impact of religion on their moral and otherworldly convictions ought to be a need for the congregation. In this manner, the job of strict guides should comprise in supporting and urging the parishioners to scan for improving their life and molding such excellencies as affection, sympathy, and regard of others. Pardoning, along these lines, is the initial move toward compromise, despite the fact that this is the most troublesome one since people frequently neglect to understand the genuine estimation of this activity. Actually, Mr . Brown’s vision is all around thought since individuals frequently resort to God’s help whose activities are under the celestial control. In this unique circumstance, they don't reserve the privilege to conclude who is to be faulted. Cherishing and regarding individuals can improve the world and this way of thinking of pardoning and sympathy will give a solid establishment to the whole network. Hence, while talking about this issue, Mr. Earthy colored concentrated transcendently on authority and its significance for continuing open life.Advertising We will compose a custom exposition test on Religious Tradition: Interview explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More He was less worried about the likely arrangements in light of the fact that the vast majority of his commitments were aimed at improving the present condition of affaires. Simultaneously, the conversation of Catholic convention alluded to its reasonable incentive for individuals who are needing c ompromise and help to beat the hardships. Such a scholarly and strict point of view toward Catholic convention presents the celestial principle that demonstrations as per reason. Specifically, the strict pioneers concurred with the possibility that Catholicism consistently characterized men, paying little heed to their social position. People, in this manner, are animals of God whose nobility is broadcasted. To be sure, present day comprehension of religion distinguishes its philosophical quality, which improves the significance of supporting confidence in God and celestial standard by encountering His affection and consideration. Albeit Catholic customs varies extraordinarily from different strict viewpoints, including Islam, or Buddhism, its embodiment despite everything lies in revering such widespread excellencies as graciousness, love, regard, backing, and equity. Strict lessons ought not depend on explaining hypothetical structures, yet in addition on building up the feeling o f personality and having a place with a particular Church fellowship. While pondering the job of initiative in the network, explicit accentuation ought to be set in transit religion impacts techniques for overseeing and controlling community gathering. Subsequently, the job of chapel ought not be bound to strict duty. Or maybe, individuals ought to go to places of worship to satisfy themselves in mainstream life. The adherents, thusly, ought to have the option to cling to the most extreme standards directed by the congregation chief since they can contribute altogether to the government assistance of the network. The emphasis on interviewee’s solid confidence in the underlying great of people permitted him to create church enrollments, just as fundamental moral and virtues. The idea of enrollment substance premises on the individuals’ opportunity to go to chapel to set up boundless connections. Now, Mr. Earthy colored way to deal with driving individuals is proficient in light of the fact that it centers around people’s move in their attributions and in their goal to advance their spirituality.Advertising Searching for paper on religion religious philosophy? How about we check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Find out More This article on Religious Tradition: Interview was composed and put together by client TheEnforcers to help you with your own investigations. You are allowed to utilize it for research and reference purposes so as to compose your own paper; be that as it may, you should refer to it in like manner. You can give your paper here.

How to Raise Your Credit Score by 100 Points

How to Raise Your Credit Score by 100 Points How to Raise Your Credit Score by 100 Points How to Raise Your Credit Score by 100 PointsThe two most important parts of your score are your payment history and your amounts owed, so those are great places to start.For folks with bad credit, improving that score is step number one on their journey to financial fitness. Otherwise, when times get tough and they need to borrow money, they’re going to be stuck taking out predatory no credit check loans and short-term bad credit loans like payday loans, cash advances, and title loans to make ends meet (which probably wont end well).Raising your score means being able to secure lower interest rates and better financial products. Even if your score is just okay, taking that score from “good” to “great” could be the key to unlocking your financial future. If you want to raise your credit score by 100 points or more, here’s what you should do. Check your credit report.Your credit score is based on the information contained in your credit report. These are documents that cata log your history as a borrower, and they are compiled by the three major credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.As such, the best place to start when fixing your credit score is with your credit report. Not only will it give you an idea of what areas you need to fix, but it might even contain mistakes that are artificially lowering your score.“Carefully check your credit report and make sure there are no errors. If there are, dispute them,” said  OverdraftApps.com (@overdraftapps) co-founder Uri Abramson, adding that you can get a free copy of your report once a year by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com.And since you can request one free report from each credit bureau, that means you can get as many as three free credit reports annually!“The credit bureaus process untold trillions in payments and accounts, and they make mistakes all the time,” said Brian Davis, co-founder of  SparkRental.com (@SparkRental). “It’s your responsibility and your responsibility alone to make sure your credit report is accurate, and that you don’t have errors hurting your credit score.”To learn more about disputing errors on your report, check out our blog post:  How Do You Contest Errors On Your Credit Report?Start building your payment history.There are five different categories of information from your credit reports that make up your credit score. The most important category is your payment history, which makes up 35 percent of your score. When fixing your credit score, paying your bills on time is going to be key.“Pay all accounts on time every single month,” said Davis. “Even if you can only make the minimum payment, make sure it’s on time because late payments mar your credit score.”“Credit cards must be paid before anything else, like utility bills, (although not before the mortgage),” advised Abramson. “Wait for 30 days and your delinquency may be reported by your credit card issuers.”They aren’t kidding; even one late payment th at’s reported to the credit bureaus could dramatically lower your score. If you know you’re going to be late, call the company in question to see what can be done.You can also take a look at your bill schedules to see if a certain cluster of due dates is causing financial strain. If you call your lenders or utility companies, the odds are pretty good that you can have those due dates changed to ease the pressure.But what if you don’t have any loans or credit cards? How do you start building your payment history then? Don’t worry. There’s a solution.“If youre new to credit or have weak or poor credit, become an authorized user on someones credit card,” advised  Debt Assassin  RJ Mansfield (@DebtAssassin1). “As an AU you are never responsible for payments, but it will be reported on your credit report and help your score.”And if you can’t become an authorized user, try taking out a secured credit card to start building a better payment history. Above all else, a go od credit score begins with paying your bills on time. There’s no way around it!Keep your credit utilization low.The second most important part of your credit score is your amounts owed, which makes up 30 percent of your total score. If you have too much outstanding debt on loans and credit cards, your score is going to drop. Likewise, reducing that debt load will help improve it!However, there one specific aspect of your amounts owed that you should keep an eye on, as it can have a huge effect on your score: And that’s your credit utilization ratio, which affects any debt like credit cards where you can borrow up to a certain credit limit.“One of the metrics that determine your credit score is the ratio of credit used to credit available. Keeping all your balances below 30 percent of the limit keeps your score higher,” said Davis.This goes beyond paying off your credit card balances every month. To make sure you don’t get caught flat-footed by the start of the billing cyc le, you should try and keep your balances below thirty percent at all times.“Try to pay your credit card bill BEFORE your statement is cut rather than by the due date,” said Abramson. “Most credit card issuers report your balances to credit bureaus around the time your statement closes.”And in terms of maintaining lower balances, Abramson went even further. “Try to keep your utilization ratio (the ratio of your debt to your line of credit) below 10 percent for each of your credit cards,” he said. “Thats an aggressive goal, but your utilization ratio is the second most important component of the FICO score.”Lets be clear: 30 percent isnt some kind of magic threshold; dropping underneath it wont magically fix your score. It’s a good place to start, but you should be getting your balances as low as possibleâ€"on the way to paying them off entirely.In order to bust some myths surrounding the 30 percent line, Mansfield conducted a personal experiment using his own credi t cards. Here’s what he found:“Popular advice from ‘so-called’ credit experts is that its fine to carry up to thirty percent of your available credit lines. It is not. I did it. I carried twenty-nine percent to test the theory and my score dropped from 811 to 730, a drop of 81 points. Only carry a balance if you cant pay it in full to maximize your score.”Keep those old cards open.Paying down your debts is goodâ€"and be good we mean “pretty necessary to maintaining a good credit scoreâ€"but there are other actions you can take to make sure that your credit utilization remains as low as possible.Remember, there are two sides to your credit utilization ratio: The balances owed, and the total available credit. So while you pay down your balances, why not make sure that your total available credit remains as high as possible?“Avoid closing down a credit card even if you dont need it anymore (unless it has an annual fee).” said Abramson. “When you close a credit card, y our available line of credit shrinks, which can negatively impact your utilization ratio.”And that’s not the only reason you should keep those old cards open. “Credit bureaus look at the average age of your accounts, said Davis. “The older, the better.”Be patient.This is the hardest part of building your credit score. But if you’re really serious about the project, it’s something you can’t avoid.“Time is the best credit-builder,” said Abramson. “If you handle your credit responsibly and avoid any derogatory remarks on your credit file, you will easily increase your score by a large margin within a year.”These changes aren’t going to happen overnight. In order to fix your credit scoreâ€"whether you want to raise it by 50 points, 100 points, or 150â€"you’re going to need to be patient. Just remember: The reward waiting for you on the other end will be worth it!Here’s a story from someone who did it.Before you set out on your own financial journey to impro ve your credit score, we figured you might like to hear a real-life story from someone who pulled it off. In his own words, here’s how Brandon Ballweg, founder and editor of the photography and tech website  ComposeClick (@ComposeClick), managed to increase his credit score over 100 points over the past two years:“I verified any collections that were showing on my credit report. I had several. One was reporting incorrectly, which was removed when brought to the creditors attention. The others I paid off, a couple of which I was able to get a pay for deletion agreement. I just did this over the phone with the collection agenciesâ€"theres no reason to send them letters or try to get anything in writing.“I started with a secured card and opened up a few regular credit cards and have paid them all off when the statement comes. I keep at least a small balance for most of my cards before the statement to show utilization. I keep my overall utilization under 20 percent, usually lower .“I still have a ways to go because there are some missed payments showing on my credit report from a student loan provider. I hope to get these removed by communicating with the provider and pointing out the fact that I havent missed a payment in over a year and a half.“Thats it. I dont think anyone should be using expensive credit repair services that only do things that you would be able to do more effectively yourself. Its all about getting as many negative marks removed from your credit reports and showing consistent responsible credit use.”To learn more about how you can improve your credit score and your long-term financial outlook, check out these other posts and articles from OppLoans:Building Your Financial Life: Budgeting for BeginnersNo Credit Card? Here Are 6 Ways You Can Still Fix Your Credit ScoreSave More Money with These 40 Expert Tips10 Good Money Habits to Make Your Friends JealousDo you have a   personal finance question youd like us to answer? Let us know! You can find us  on  Facebook  and  Twitter.  |  InstagramContributorsUri Abramson is the co-founder of the growing personal finance blog OverdraftApps.com (@overdraftapps), which specializes in transparent and honest reviews of financial products for low-medium credit score population and debt resolution advice.Brandon Ballweg is a photographer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of  ComposeClick (@ComposeClick), an educational site for photographers that provides information on the technical aspects of photography and how to succeed in the photography business.G. Brian Davis is a landlord, personal finance writer, and co-founder of  SparkRental.com (@SparkRental), which provides free video courses and rental investing tools for landlords. He spends most of the year overseas, splitting his time between Abu Dhabi, Europe, and his hometown of Baltimore.RJ Mansfield  (@DebtAssassin1) is a consumer’s rights advocate and author of  Debt Assassin: A Black Ops Guide to Cleaning Up Your Credit. How to Raise Your Credit Score by 100 Points How to Raise Your Credit Score by 100 Points How to Raise Your Credit Score by 100 PointsThe two most important parts of your score are your payment history and your amounts owed, so those are great places to start.For folks with bad credit, improving that score is step number one on their journey to financial fitness. Otherwise, when times get tough and they need to borrow money, they’re going to be stuck taking out predatory no credit check loans and short-term bad credit loans like payday loans, cash advances, and title loans to make ends meet (which probably wont end well).Raising your score means being able to secure lower interest rates and better financial products. Even if your score is just okay, taking that score from “good” to “great” could be the key to unlocking your financial future. If you want to raise your credit score by 100 points or more, here’s what you should do. Check your credit report.Your credit score is based on the information contained in your credit report. These are documents that cata log your history as a borrower, and they are compiled by the three major credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.As such, the best place to start when fixing your credit score is with your credit report. Not only will it give you an idea of what areas you need to fix, but it might even contain mistakes that are artificially lowering your score.“Carefully check your credit report and make sure there are no errors. If there are, dispute them,” said  OverdraftApps.com (@overdraftapps) co-founder Uri Abramson, adding that you can get a free copy of your report once a year by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com.And since you can request one free report from each credit bureau, that means you can get as many as three free credit reports annually!“The credit bureaus process untold trillions in payments and accounts, and they make mistakes all the time,” said Brian Davis, co-founder of  SparkRental.com (@SparkRental). “It’s your responsibility and your responsibility alone to make sure your credit report is accurate, and that you don’t have errors hurting your credit score.”To learn more about disputing errors on your report, check out our blog post:  How Do You Contest Errors On Your Credit Report?Start building your payment history.There are five different categories of information from your credit reports that make up your credit score. The most important category is your payment history, which makes up 35 percent of your score. When fixing your credit score, paying your bills on time is going to be key.“Pay all accounts on time every single month,” said Davis. “Even if you can only make the minimum payment, make sure it’s on time because late payments mar your credit score.”“Credit cards must be paid before anything else, like utility bills, (although not before the mortgage),” advised Abramson. “Wait for 30 days and your delinquency may be reported by your credit card issuers.”They aren’t kidding; even one late payment th at’s reported to the credit bureaus could dramatically lower your score. If you know you’re going to be late, call the company in question to see what can be done.You can also take a look at your bill schedules to see if a certain cluster of due dates is causing financial strain. If you call your lenders or utility companies, the odds are pretty good that you can have those due dates changed to ease the pressure.But what if you don’t have any loans or credit cards? How do you start building your payment history then? Don’t worry. There’s a solution.“If youre new to credit or have weak or poor credit, become an authorized user on someones credit card,” advised  Debt Assassin  RJ Mansfield (@DebtAssassin1). “As an AU you are never responsible for payments, but it will be reported on your credit report and help your score.”And if you can’t become an authorized user, try taking out a secured credit card to start building a better payment history. Above all else, a go od credit score begins with paying your bills on time. There’s no way around it!Keep your credit utilization low.The second most important part of your credit score is your amounts owed, which makes up 30 percent of your total score. If you have too much outstanding debt on loans and credit cards, your score is going to drop. Likewise, reducing that debt load will help improve it!However, there one specific aspect of your amounts owed that you should keep an eye on, as it can have a huge effect on your score: And that’s your credit utilization ratio, which affects any debt like credit cards where you can borrow up to a certain credit limit.“One of the metrics that determine your credit score is the ratio of credit used to credit available. Keeping all your balances below 30 percent of the limit keeps your score higher,” said Davis.This goes beyond paying off your credit card balances every month. To make sure you don’t get caught flat-footed by the start of the billing cyc le, you should try and keep your balances below thirty percent at all times.“Try to pay your credit card bill BEFORE your statement is cut rather than by the due date,” said Abramson. “Most credit card issuers report your balances to credit bureaus around the time your statement closes.”And in terms of maintaining lower balances, Abramson went even further. “Try to keep your utilization ratio (the ratio of your debt to your line of credit) below 10 percent for each of your credit cards,” he said. “Thats an aggressive goal, but your utilization ratio is the second most important component of the FICO score.”Lets be clear: 30 percent isnt some kind of magic threshold; dropping underneath it wont magically fix your score. It’s a good place to start, but you should be getting your balances as low as possibleâ€"on the way to paying them off entirely.In order to bust some myths surrounding the 30 percent line, Mansfield conducted a personal experiment using his own credi t cards. Here’s what he found:“Popular advice from ‘so-called’ credit experts is that its fine to carry up to thirty percent of your available credit lines. It is not. I did it. I carried twenty-nine percent to test the theory and my score dropped from 811 to 730, a drop of 81 points. Only carry a balance if you cant pay it in full to maximize your score.”Keep those old cards open.Paying down your debts is goodâ€"and be good we mean “pretty necessary to maintaining a good credit scoreâ€"but there are other actions you can take to make sure that your credit utilization remains as low as possible.Remember, there are two sides to your credit utilization ratio: The balances owed, and the total available credit. So while you pay down your balances, why not make sure that your total available credit remains as high as possible?“Avoid closing down a credit card even if you dont need it anymore (unless it has an annual fee).” said Abramson. “When you close a credit card, y our available line of credit shrinks, which can negatively impact your utilization ratio.”And that’s not the only reason you should keep those old cards open. “Credit bureaus look at the average age of your accounts, said Davis. “The older, the better.”Be patient.This is the hardest part of building your credit score. But if you’re really serious about the project, it’s something you can’t avoid.“Time is the best credit-builder,” said Abramson. “If you handle your credit responsibly and avoid any derogatory remarks on your credit file, you will easily increase your score by a large margin within a year.”These changes aren’t going to happen overnight. In order to fix your credit scoreâ€"whether you want to raise it by 50 points, 100 points, or 150â€"you’re going to need to be patient. Just remember: The reward waiting for you on the other end will be worth it!Here’s a story from someone who did it.Before you set out on your own financial journey to impro ve your credit score, we figured you might like to hear a real-life story from someone who pulled it off. In his own words, here’s how Brandon Ballweg, founder and editor of the photography and tech website  ComposeClick (@ComposeClick), managed to increase his credit score over 100 points over the past two years:“I verified any collections that were showing on my credit report. I had several. One was reporting incorrectly, which was removed when brought to the creditors attention. The others I paid off, a couple of which I was able to get a pay for deletion agreement. I just did this over the phone with the collection agenciesâ€"theres no reason to send them letters or try to get anything in writing.“I started with a secured card and opened up a few regular credit cards and have paid them all off when the statement comes. I keep at least a small balance for most of my cards before the statement to show utilization. I keep my overall utilization under 20 percent, usually lower .“I still have a ways to go because there are some missed payments showing on my credit report from a student loan provider. I hope to get these removed by communicating with the provider and pointing out the fact that I havent missed a payment in over a year and a half.“Thats it. I dont think anyone should be using expensive credit repair services that only do things that you would be able to do more effectively yourself. Its all about getting as many negative marks removed from your credit reports and showing consistent responsible credit use.”To learn more about how you can improve your credit score and your long-term financial outlook, check out these other posts and articles from OppLoans:Building Your Financial Life: Budgeting for BeginnersNo Credit Card? Here Are 6 Ways You Can Still Fix Your Credit ScoreSave More Money with These 40 Expert Tips10 Good Money Habits to Make Your Friends JealousDo you have a   personal finance question youd like us to answer? Let us know! You can find us  on  Facebook  and  Twitter.  |  InstagramContributorsUri Abramson is the co-founder of the growing personal finance blog OverdraftApps.com (@overdraftapps), which specializes in transparent and honest reviews of financial products for low-medium credit score population and debt resolution advice.Brandon Ballweg is a photographer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of  ComposeClick (@ComposeClick), an educational site for photographers that provides information on the technical aspects of photography and how to succeed in the photography business.G. Brian Davis is a landlord, personal finance writer, and co-founder of  SparkRental.com (@SparkRental), which provides free video courses and rental investing tools for landlords. He spends most of the year overseas, splitting his time between Abu Dhabi, Europe, and his hometown of Baltimore.RJ Mansfield  (@DebtAssassin1) is a consumer’s rights advocate and author of  Debt Assassin: A Black Ops Guide to Cleaning Up Your Credit. How to Raise Your Credit Score by 100 Points How to Raise Your Credit Score by 100 Points How to Raise Your Credit Score by 100 PointsThe two most important parts of your score are your payment history and your amounts owed, so those are great places to start.For folks with bad credit, improving that score is step number one on their journey to financial fitness. Otherwise, when times get tough and they need to borrow money, they’re going to be stuck taking out predatory no credit check loans and short-term bad credit loans like payday loans, cash advances, and title loans to make ends meet (which probably wont end well).Raising your score means being able to secure lower interest rates and better financial products. Even if your score is just okay, taking that score from “good” to “great” could be the key to unlocking your financial future. If you want to raise your credit score by 100 points or more, here’s what you should do. Check your credit report.Your credit score is based on the information contained in your credit report. These are documents that cata log your history as a borrower, and they are compiled by the three major credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax.As such, the best place to start when fixing your credit score is with your credit report. Not only will it give you an idea of what areas you need to fix, but it might even contain mistakes that are artificially lowering your score.“Carefully check your credit report and make sure there are no errors. If there are, dispute them,” said  OverdraftApps.com (@overdraftapps) co-founder Uri Abramson, adding that you can get a free copy of your report once a year by visiting AnnualCreditReport.com.And since you can request one free report from each credit bureau, that means you can get as many as three free credit reports annually!“The credit bureaus process untold trillions in payments and accounts, and they make mistakes all the time,” said Brian Davis, co-founder of  SparkRental.com (@SparkRental). “It’s your responsibility and your responsibility alone to make sure your credit report is accurate, and that you don’t have errors hurting your credit score.”To learn more about disputing errors on your report, check out our blog post:  How Do You Contest Errors On Your Credit Report?Start building your payment history.There are five different categories of information from your credit reports that make up your credit score. The most important category is your payment history, which makes up 35 percent of your score. When fixing your credit score, paying your bills on time is going to be key.“Pay all accounts on time every single month,” said Davis. “Even if you can only make the minimum payment, make sure it’s on time because late payments mar your credit score.”“Credit cards must be paid before anything else, like utility bills, (although not before the mortgage),” advised Abramson. “Wait for 30 days and your delinquency may be reported by your credit card issuers.”They aren’t kidding; even one late payment th at’s reported to the credit bureaus could dramatically lower your score. If you know you’re going to be late, call the company in question to see what can be done.You can also take a look at your bill schedules to see if a certain cluster of due dates is causing financial strain. If you call your lenders or utility companies, the odds are pretty good that you can have those due dates changed to ease the pressure.But what if you don’t have any loans or credit cards? How do you start building your payment history then? Don’t worry. There’s a solution.“If youre new to credit or have weak or poor credit, become an authorized user on someones credit card,” advised  Debt Assassin  RJ Mansfield (@DebtAssassin1). “As an AU you are never responsible for payments, but it will be reported on your credit report and help your score.”And if you can’t become an authorized user, try taking out a secured credit card to start building a better payment history. Above all else, a go od credit score begins with paying your bills on time. There’s no way around it!Keep your credit utilization low.The second most important part of your credit score is your amounts owed, which makes up 30 percent of your total score. If you have too much outstanding debt on loans and credit cards, your score is going to drop. Likewise, reducing that debt load will help improve it!However, there one specific aspect of your amounts owed that you should keep an eye on, as it can have a huge effect on your score: And that’s your credit utilization ratio, which affects any debt like credit cards where you can borrow up to a certain credit limit.“One of the metrics that determine your credit score is the ratio of credit used to credit available. Keeping all your balances below 30 percent of the limit keeps your score higher,” said Davis.This goes beyond paying off your credit card balances every month. To make sure you don’t get caught flat-footed by the start of the billing cyc le, you should try and keep your balances below thirty percent at all times.“Try to pay your credit card bill BEFORE your statement is cut rather than by the due date,” said Abramson. “Most credit card issuers report your balances to credit bureaus around the time your statement closes.”And in terms of maintaining lower balances, Abramson went even further. “Try to keep your utilization ratio (the ratio of your debt to your line of credit) below 10 percent for each of your credit cards,” he said. “Thats an aggressive goal, but your utilization ratio is the second most important component of the FICO score.”Lets be clear: 30 percent isnt some kind of magic threshold; dropping underneath it wont magically fix your score. It’s a good place to start, but you should be getting your balances as low as possibleâ€"on the way to paying them off entirely.In order to bust some myths surrounding the 30 percent line, Mansfield conducted a personal experiment using his own credi t cards. Here’s what he found:“Popular advice from ‘so-called’ credit experts is that its fine to carry up to thirty percent of your available credit lines. It is not. I did it. I carried twenty-nine percent to test the theory and my score dropped from 811 to 730, a drop of 81 points. Only carry a balance if you cant pay it in full to maximize your score.”Keep those old cards open.Paying down your debts is goodâ€"and be good we mean “pretty necessary to maintaining a good credit scoreâ€"but there are other actions you can take to make sure that your credit utilization remains as low as possible.Remember, there are two sides to your credit utilization ratio: The balances owed, and the total available credit. So while you pay down your balances, why not make sure that your total available credit remains as high as possible?“Avoid closing down a credit card even if you dont need it anymore (unless it has an annual fee).” said Abramson. “When you close a credit card, y our available line of credit shrinks, which can negatively impact your utilization ratio.”And that’s not the only reason you should keep those old cards open. “Credit bureaus look at the average age of your accounts, said Davis. “The older, the better.”Be patient.This is the hardest part of building your credit score. But if you’re really serious about the project, it’s something you can’t avoid.“Time is the best credit-builder,” said Abramson. “If you handle your credit responsibly and avoid any derogatory remarks on your credit file, you will easily increase your score by a large margin within a year.”These changes aren’t going to happen overnight. In order to fix your credit scoreâ€"whether you want to raise it by 50 points, 100 points, or 150â€"you’re going to need to be patient. Just remember: The reward waiting for you on the other end will be worth it!Here’s a story from someone who did it.Before you set out on your own financial journey to impro ve your credit score, we figured you might like to hear a real-life story from someone who pulled it off. In his own words, here’s how Brandon Ballweg, founder and editor of the photography and tech website  ComposeClick (@ComposeClick), managed to increase his credit score over 100 points over the past two years:“I verified any collections that were showing on my credit report. I had several. One was reporting incorrectly, which was removed when brought to the creditors attention. The others I paid off, a couple of which I was able to get a pay for deletion agreement. I just did this over the phone with the collection agenciesâ€"theres no reason to send them letters or try to get anything in writing.“I started with a secured card and opened up a few regular credit cards and have paid them all off when the statement comes. I keep at least a small balance for most of my cards before the statement to show utilization. I keep my overall utilization under 20 percent, usually lower .“I still have a ways to go because there are some missed payments showing on my credit report from a student loan provider. I hope to get these removed by communicating with the provider and pointing out the fact that I havent missed a payment in over a year and a half.“Thats it. I dont think anyone should be using expensive credit repair services that only do things that you would be able to do more effectively yourself. Its all about getting as many negative marks removed from your credit reports and showing consistent responsible credit use.”To learn more about how you can improve your credit score and your long-term financial outlook, check out these other posts and articles from OppLoans:Building Your Financial Life: Budgeting for BeginnersNo Credit Card? Here Are 6 Ways You Can Still Fix Your Credit ScoreSave More Money with These 40 Expert Tips10 Good Money Habits to Make Your Friends JealousDo you have a   personal finance question youd like us to answer? Let us know! You can find us  on  Facebook  and  Twitter.  |  InstagramContributorsUri Abramson is the co-founder of the growing personal finance blog OverdraftApps.com (@overdraftapps), which specializes in transparent and honest reviews of financial products for low-medium credit score population and debt resolution advice.Brandon Ballweg is a photographer and entrepreneur. He is the founder of  ComposeClick (@ComposeClick), an educational site for photographers that provides information on the technical aspects of photography and how to succeed in the photography business.G. Brian Davis is a landlord, personal finance writer, and co-founder of  SparkRental.com (@SparkRental), which provides free video courses and rental investing tools for landlords. He spends most of the year overseas, splitting his time between Abu Dhabi, Europe, and his hometown of Baltimore.RJ Mansfield  (@DebtAssassin1) is a consumer’s rights advocate and author of  Debt Assassin: A Black Ops Guide to Cleaning Up Your Credit.

Summary Of Oedipus The King - 1095 Words

Linus Dombrosky Mrs. Long Oedipus the king 9 / 21 / 2017 Oedipus the king Getting out of the bed in the morning is always hard, especially when one doesn t want to. It s your bubble and the longer you stay there, the harder it is to leave, yet you can t see the wonders of the world from inside that safe space. One would be blind to the truth, they would be living a false life, one deprived of the truth they can not see. Exactly how Oedipus was in Oedipus the king, where Oedipus was blind to see his truth from his ignorance of not knowing what he was missing from his life, but is finding the truth, really worth it? Oedipus s beginning is smoggy to begin with for the audience, as they soon realize, he barely knows much of it†¦show more content†¦Ã¢â‚¬Å"And you, did you.../ buy me? Find me by accident?† Oedipus is now seeing this new reality for the first time, and is exploring this new realm as though his life depended on it. He desires to ascend from the darkness he has been living his whole life in, no matter what, even as his wife begs of him. â€Å"‘No, please-/ for your sake- I want the best for you!†/ â€Å"Your best is more than i can bear.†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Oedipus is still hungry for information, believing that it will only fulfill him, he sees no other path. Not know that he has now fallen for natures purest trap, curiosity. It devours a man, forcing them to search for whatever pieces they can glue together. â€Å"Let it burst! Whatever will, whatever must!/ I must know my birth, no matter how common it may be- I must see my origin face-to-face.† He h as no shame in whatever it is to come, so he thinks. The possibility that this information could destroy him has never crossed his brain, he wants to be set free from his bubble of safety, he wants, to see the truth, for the better, or worse. Getting lied to is painful, it tell someone that their supposed partner has just withheld the truth from them, generally it is considered painful on an emotional level. Oedipus was shielded from the truth his whole life and the pain, was not only his. â€Å"Once she d broken in through the gates,/ dashing past us frantic, whipped to fury,/ ripping her hair out with both hands-/ straightShow MoreRelatedEssay on Summary of Oedipus The Kings by Sophocles748 Words   |  3 PagesSummary of Oedipus The Kings by Sophocles Oedipus is in a series of tragic events throughout this play. A couple of days after Oedipus was born, he was left on a mountainside to die. The reason for this is because an oracle predicted that he will grow up to be the murderer of his father the King. Oedipus did not die as he should have, instead Oedipus was found and taken to the nearby city of Corinth. This is where Oedipus was adopted as the son of the King and Queen. Many years later, OedipusRead MoreDifferences Between Oedipus And Hamlet982 Words   |  4 PagesConsidering King Oedipus’s self-inflicted blindness and Hamlet’s overwhelming thirst for his own stepfather’s blood, it seems that both men have lost their minds. However, these men are not truly mentally unhinged, but rather incredibly devoted to their religious ideals. Hamlet, a Catholic, believes that his actions will determine his afterlife; the way he acts, though crazy, is an attempt to please God and avoid eternal damnation. King Oedipus, a follower of Apollo and the Greek gods, acts irresponsiblyRead MoreCharacter Analysis Of Oedipus Rex943 Words   |  4 Pagessolved as the people of Thebes suffer. In Sophocles’ Greek tragedy, Oedipus Rex, Thebes is being punished by the gods for a crime committed far in the past. The city of Thebes is cursed with a plague until the murderer of Laius is discovered and banished from the land. As Creon and Oedipus work to save Thebes, their different qualities show who is a better fit to be king. Oedipus saved Thebes once from the sphinx; however, Oedipus’ qualities of being arrogant, intense, and stubborn cause him to foilRead More Oedipus Rex – a Christ Figure Essays1020 Words   |  5 PagesOedipus Rex – a Christ Figure  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚        Ã‚   Sophocles’ famous tragedy, Oedipus Rex, perhaps â€Å"the most important and influential drama ever written† (â€Å"Sophocles† 717), presents in the person of   Oedipus the model of a good ruler, a humanely intelligent and vigorously active leader, a man who earlier saved his adopted city Thebes from disaster. Is Oedipus an alter Christus besides?    The numerous parallels between the figure of the king Oedipus and the figure of Christ in the ScripturesRead MoreOedipus Tyrannus, A Tragic Hero. Summary: . Context. Oedipus1391 Words   |  6 PagesOedipus Tyrannus, a Tragic Hero Summary: Context Oedipus Tyrannus is a Greek tragedy that was first performed as a play in 429 BCE. The setting of the play is in Thebes, one of Greece’s city states that is suffering from a tragic plague. King Oedipus’s brother in-law; Creon, reports back from the oracle of Apollo that the plague would only be lifted if the murderer of his predecessor; King Laius, is found and brought to justice. Before the whole city of Thebes, Oedipus vows to apprehend and punishRead MoreOedipus Essay1310 Words   |  6 PagesQuestion 1 Question 1.) One of the responses people usually have about Oedipus is if he really deserved the fate that he ended up with. It’s not his fault that Jocasta and Laius tried to outsmart fate and dispose of him. In trying to run from this prophecy, did he really do anything any other person, given the culture, wouldn’t have done? Is Oedipus a victim of fate or is he responsible for the choices he makes? WhatRead MoreEssay about Oedipus the King1183 Words   |  5 PagesOedipus the King Oedipus the King is the perfect example of a tragedy. It contains a complete combination of all the features of a tragedy. Aristotle in his Poetics[1] defines Oedipus as being a definite example of the form and purpose of tragedy. In tragedies the Greeks dramatized climactic events in the lives of heroes, and Oedipus story is no exception. By using many different literary devices it brings moral dilemmas of action and motive to the public stage. The action is set outRead MoreThe Role Of Fate And Fate In Oedipus1075 Words   |  5 Pagespeaceful fates, but in the case of Oedipus, it was an unruly one, in which he was set on a path to his own demise. The story itself starts at the point in time in which all the Oracle of Delphi had told was true, but everyone was oblivious to it. Oedipus had already killed his father and married his mother, even bore children with her. It is a tragic end to who was once a glorious man, but one must think whether or not these chain of events happened because Oedipus chose to or because the Oracle foretoldRead MoreTragic Hero In Oedipus The King1502 Words   |  7 Pageson a journey with this hero, witnessing both their triumphs and failures. In addition, this character must be more complex than what is seen on surface or at first glance. The character Oedipus in Sophocles Oedipus the King, meets all of these general parameters provided by Aristotle. The three reasons the Oedipus is a tragic hero is based on ch aracter traits of nobility, his hamartia, and lastly his self-pity and suffrage. Information found located on University of Pennsylvania’s education portalRead More Marxist Theory and Oedipus the King Essay1339 Words   |  6 PagesMarxist Theory and Oedipus the King      Ã‚  Ã‚   The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles (Marx and Engels 2). This excerpt, taken from Karl Marxs and Friedrich Engels The Communist Manifesto, explains the two primary classes found throughout most of Europe during the era of the Industrial Revolution. These classes were the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The former were known as the exploiters and the latter as the exploited. The wealth, power,

Uk Government Responses For The Financial Crisis - 945 Words

UK Government Responses to the Financial Crisis UK government was very swift in its response the financial crisis. Various measures were taken to address the economic anomaly that came with the crisis. These range from various monetary policies to fiscal policies. Some of these policies are discussed below: Reduction in interest rate: In March 2009, UK government through Bank of England reduced interest rate from 5.0 % in September 2008 to 0.5 %. Figure 7 below shows UK interest rate level from a decade prior to the crisis period. Figure 7: Official Bank Rate and Inflation Source: Office for National Statistics The aim rationale behind reduced interest rate was to provoke recovery from the crisis. This targeted increase in consumers as well as firms and government spending since incentive to save had been eroded. This measure not only increased aggregate demand, it also aid commitment to new investments. Additionally, monthly cost of mortgage repayment was witnessed which in turn, provided more disposable income and make investment in property market more lucrative. Since reduced interest rate made it unattractive to save money, currencies were less demanded thereby causing fall in the currency values. This therefore had a multiplier effect on export and import. This explains why during post crisis period, UK exports became more competitive. The challenging part of this measure was that during the crisis, banks had limited liquidity which necessitated their longing forShow MoreRelatedThe Structure, Conduct and Recent Performance of the Uk Banking Sector1105 Words   |  5 PagesINTRODUCTION Before discussing the structure, conduct and recent performance of the UK banking sector, it is useful to provide an insight in the recent global financial crisis caused by the sub-prime mortgage crisis initiated in the US and underline its effects on the banking industry in the UK. It all started with the collapse of the housing bubble in the US, as borrowers were no longer able to meet their financial obligations and as consequence many of these subprime mortgages became default andRead MoreToyota Motor Corporation Ineffective Managed Its Crisis921 Words   |  4 PagesToyota Motor Corporation ineffective managed its crisis in the following ways: †¢ Toyota crisis responded passive, two months after the fatal crash that happened in California, Toyota forced to recall products. †¢ Toyota UK s managing director, Miguel Fonseca, as the spokesperson, miscommunicated with media, created confusion and concern. †¢ The company â€Å"magnified† its legal liabilities by denying on responsibilities with media, government enforce Toyota and held a congressional hearing, resultRead MoreMonetary And Fiscal Policies And Weighing Up How Effective The Coalition Have Been Improving The British Economy1491 Words   |  6 PagesIn this essay I will be examining how the financial crisis in 2008 caused the UK government to change their aims and policies to aid recovery. I will be looking to both monetary and fiscal policies and weighing up how effective the Coalition have been in improving the British economy. I will be comparing the aims and policies to those of other countries and evaluating what has restricted the UK economy from growing. The global credit crunch of 2007-2008 had a rippling effect on economies worldwideRead MoreMonetary And Sustainable Development : Uk Governments Have Pursued From The Credit Crunch1540 Words   |  7 PagesMacro-economic policy is designed to achieve the aims of full employment, stable prices and sustainable development. In order to achieve them, policies and targets are set by governments. These policies are mainly monetary and fiscal. In this essay, I will examine the aims and policy objectives which UK governments have pursued from the credit crunch of 2008 up to the present time. The credit crunch in 2008 was caused by irresponsible mortgage lending by banks. High-risk loans were made to peopleRead MoreKeynesian Theory During The Great Depression949 Words   |  4 Pagessuggestions on how to achieve constant and steady economic growth. There are fundamental differences in these two approaches, for example over the usefulness of government intervention through fiscal policies, monetary aggregates and money market conditions as a policy guide, fixed and flexible exchange rates to name the few. Financial crisis that occurred in 2007-2008, boosted the debate among politicians, economists, scholars over the way the economics policies should be conducted. To begin withRead MoreThe Impact Of Legislative And Financial Regulatory Responses Regarding The Financial Crisis2043 Words   |  9 Pageslegislative and financial regulatory responses regarding the financial crisis in 07/08. Including responses from HM Treasury Management, legislations being passed such as the 08/09 Banking Act, Governmental policies, Bank of England, Financial Service Authority and the Financial Services Act creating a new regulatory system. These key functions shall give an outlook and help towards analyzing the impacts of such responses. The HM Treasury’s management responded to the UK financial crisis by â€Å"significantlyRead MoreInside Job1673 Words   |  7 Pagesa 2010  documentary film about the  late 2000’s financial crisis  . The film is in five parts the film explores how changes in the policy environment and banking practices helped create the financial crisis. The movie starts with showing the Iceland bank where it all started from the land scape is shown green and fresh but then as the corporations moves into the country it becomes muddy and dry land with pollution. In a context of global economic crisis, everyone appears to be blaming the other in orderRead MoreFinancial Crisis : The Fiscal Crisis1355 Words   |  6 Pagesgeneral, a financial crisis is not an accident; it may take several years and has complex and interlaced causes (Claessens and Kodres, 2014). The 2007-08 global financial crisis is a typical case due to long-term non-intervention policy and loose regulation for financial market from government. Moreover, it involved the complex relationship between government and financial institutions. In order to look at this issue in particular, this essay first goes though the timeline of the 2007-08 financial crisisRead MoreThe Financial Crisis Of The Decade1364 Words   |  6 PagesThe financial crisis of the decade is considered the largest and most severe compared to the Great Depression. The crises reshaped the financing and investment banking business not only in the United States but globally. The top largest banks have fallen du e to the losses they have incurred in connection with their investments in the subprime mortgage markets. (Financial Crises 2007-2008 Overview) Governments had to come up with some solutions in order to further avert the decline of their countryRead MoreGlobal Outlook On The Emerging Markets1610 Words   |  7 Pagesbillion of capital that has flown out of the emerging markets. These concerns that were related with growth prospects had been experienced when there was high level of volatility when the year 2016 began. All the international financial markets experienced a worst financial performance in the first six weeks of the year that had surpassed the record of around 45 years. It has been mentioned previously that there has been around $8 trillion which had been wiped off from the world markets. The oil

Mgmt 591 Case Study 3 Building Coalitions - 2226 Words

Case Study 3: Building a Coalition Keller Graduate School of Management MGMT 591: Leadership and Organizational Behavior March 22, 2015 CASE STUDY 3: BUILDING A COALITION !1 Part 1: Group Development The five-stage group-development model consists of: forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning. (Robbins 275) 1. Forming stage. In this first stage, the team is getting to know each other, their backgrounds, work experience, and learning about their strengths and weaknesses. Informal leaders may start to emerge during this stage, and it’s important for management to recognize them. They are getting oriented with their surroundings as well as details about the task at hand. Management should be setting the stage for success by†¦show more content†¦2) To be financially self-sufficient, drawing on resources from the Foundation (logistical support, program development and measurement staff) and the school district (classrooms and teaching staff). The HR reps from each of the vested organizations need to be conscious of how to put together a highly effective team. When considering personnel from their candidate pool, they must research and evaluate their skills, knowledge, experience and personalities. The HR reps should be searching for team members who want to be part of this effort, have great intellect, and have successful experience working serving customers in a diverse environment. Along with technical knowledge, the team members must have leadership traits such as trustworthiness, communication, good interpersonal/people skills, know how to use resources wisely, be able to problem-solve as well as be decisive. They should also be conscientious of how the other members, open-minded and flexible in case the team has to adjust their course of action due to unforeseen changes. (Robbins 325) By understanding each of the development stages, the HR reps would spend their time and efforts finding the right person for this complicated and high visibility task. It’s imperative that the management choose the right folks who will work well together, maintain a positive attitude, make valuable contributions to the project, and be committed to accomplishing the CASE STUDY 3: BUILDING A COALITIONShow MoreRelatedBuilding a Coalition1499 Words   |  6 Pages WEEK 3: Case Study Building a Coalition Leadership Organizational Behavior : MGMT 591-65531 PART I: Group Development At this point in time, the group is not yet even development. It almost seems as if all the individual organizations are storming because they want to make sure that each one of their opinions is heard, and they have control of the situation. No one wants to give up their own power or control. They have started off correctly as it is stated in the case that HR representatives

Learning for Future Career

Question: Discuss about the Learning for Future Career. Answer: Introduction: Rees et al. (2014) states that a situation that signifies the conflict between moral imperatives of an individual in the work they are preceding in their daily life is known as an ethical dilemma. This report highlights some of the ethical dilemmas that a human faced in the workplace. Out of 120 million employees in Australia, half of them witnessed ethical misconduct in their workplace (Fahie, 2014). In addition, with the ethical conflict that human faces some ethical question will also be provided that will be linked with the raised ethical dilemma. Moreover, effective approach for overcoming with the dilemma and an overall conclusion will also be provided. Discussion Dilemma Description Reilly et al. (2012) defines that an employee can raise a situation of misconduct in the workplace by numerous approaches. Misusing Company Time According to Perryer and Scott-Ladd (2014), the maximum amount of time of an employee spends in the workplace and hence they do have much time to do their personal work. It has been found that misusing the office time to complete their personal works like paying electric bills by using office internet, setting up doctor's appointments on company phone lines and working for multiple organizations like freelancing are some examples of misusing companys time (Trujillo, 2014). Taking Others Credit Every person in the workplace intends to earn more than their salary by doing extra work or by overshooting their targets (Whitaker Godwin, 2013). However, there is some employee having the tendency to take other credit and Andrews (2014) mentions that this nature is primarily seen in high-designated people. These people take the credit of their hard-working juniors and gain financial profit themselves. Theft of Companys assets It is found from the survey by Mironov and Srinivasan (2013), that a company usually stocks extra inventory like stationery such as staplers, pins, papers and other small accessories. All these small things are gone undetected by the cameras. Thus, taking away companys assets for personal use by not informing the company is an ethical misconduct. Favouritism Some people in the workplace are closer to the managing authorities and they always get more preferences regarding promotions and bonuses over other eligible employees. Ramachander (2012) also states that some of the employees often get termination without any notice as their favorite candidate want them not to be present at the office. Moreover, these terminated employees do even get their provident fund and gratuity amount that is a significant example of a breach of professional ethics. Ethical Questions Is it considerable to steal the stationary products from the office? Is misusing office time for personal work an ethical dilemma? If the manager in the workplace were supporting an employee, who is not correct then would you consider it as an ethical misconduct? If credit is given to a person, while some other colleague does most of the work, should accept the appraisal alone for the work would be ethical? Ethical Learned Lesson The lesson that is learned from the above ethical dilemma some people accomplishes their personal work in the office when they are supposed to do the official work for achieving organizational objectives. In such circumstance, they willingly or unwillingly are diminishing the success of their organization. Reilly et al. (2012) also illustrates that there are some methods of employee theft- larceny/embezzlement, skimming, fraudulent disbursements and stealing business opportunities. In the circumstance when an organization stocks enough inventory for useful products like papers, pen and staplers, an employee has a tendency to take few of them by thinking that it will not harm the organization. It has found that, out of every 40 employees, five employees possess the tendency to take away the office product (Reilly et al., 2012). The problem gets worst if this misconduct affects crucial details regarding the organization like- not recording actual sales in a database or filing inaccurate financial detail to show the profit into a loss. The next dilemma is when an employee took other credit and they do not fight the urge to accept the compliment wholeheartedly. In such circumstance, Fahie (2014) stated that they develop an untruthful relation with their colleagues and as a result, they will never work with those employees and the team spirit of the organization may get lost. Lastly, the scenario is when the managers support their favorite candidate over the eligible and offer them better salary and appraisal. In such circumstance, the motivation of the suitable candidate gets lowered that affects the productivity and profitability of the organization. Abusive behaviour of the managers also comes into consideration when they started disliking some employees. Norsilan et al. (2014) depicts that this misuse can be the analyzed in the difference in behavior regarding employee's race, gender, ethnic origin or can based on either mentally, sexually or physically. They either harass them verbally or provide more work that is not possible for them to do in the designated hours. Conclusion It is concluded from the entire discussion that in place of work, every employee faces an ethical dilemma in their workplace and it affects the overall productivity and profitability. It is also said, If they are ethical in their behavior, it lends more credibility to the code of ethics." This ethical misconduct occurred due to ambition and discrimination, negotiation tactics, other personal needs or due to intentional behavior. Some of the ethical dilemmas that are considered in this report are- misusing company time, taking others credit, theft of companys assets and favoritism. In all these ethical misconducts, the nature of these ethical dilemmas is difficult for workers to grapple relying on the organizational guidelines. Recommendation Every company should have an ethical policy and some penalties if an employee does not follow them properly. Moreover, these organizations should provide ethical training to its employees so that they can identify unethical behavior in the workplace and can take appropriate step to mitigate the adverse situation. They can also implement a regulation to reward for ethical behavior not only continues to adhere to the ethical practices but it will also motivate another employee to proceed with the same code of ethics. Moreover, managers must realize that they are the role models and they should support employee ever with the same priority. Reference list Andrews, W. A. (2014). Identifying, Resolving, and Managing Common Ethical Dilemmas in the Workplace: An Experiential Approach.Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning,27. Fahie, D. (2014). Doing sensitive research sensitively: ethical and methodological issues in researching workplace bullying.International Journal of Qualitative Methods,13(1), 19-36. Mironov, M., Srinivasan, S. (2013).Auditors and corporate theft: evidence from Russia. Working paper, IE Business School and Harvard Business School. Norsilan, I. N., Omar, Z., Ahmad, A. (2014). Workplace Deviant behavior: A Review of Typology of Workplace Deviant behavior.Middle-East Journal of Scientific Research,19(6), 34-38. Perryer, C., Scott-Ladd, B. (2014). Deceit, Misuse and Favours: Understanding and Measuring Attitudes to Ethics.Journal of business ethics,121(1), 123-134. Ramachander, A. (2012). Dealing with favouritism at the workplace. Rees, C. E., Monrouxe, L. V., Ajjawi, R. (2014). Professionalism in workplace learning: understanding interprofessional dilemmas through healthcare student narratives.Exploring the Dynamics of Personal, Professional and Interprofessional Ethics, 295-310. Reilly, N. P., Sirgy, J., Gorman, C. A. (Eds.). (2012).Work and quality of life: Ethical practices in organizations. Springer Science Business Media. Trujillo, J. J. (2014, May). The Most Personal Training of All. InNew Labor Forum(Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 92-94). SAGE Publications. Whitaker, B. G., Godwin, L. N. (2013). The antecedents of moral imagination in the workplace: A social cognitive theory perspective.Journal of Business Ethics,114(1), 61-73.

The Effects of a Neurotoxin on the Mammalian Brain free essay sample

A paper which studies the effects of the Superfund Neurotoxin Methylazoxymethanol (MAM) on brain dendritic spine density in long hooded Evans Rats Rattus norvegicus. The paper shows that in the study of structural development in the brain there have been several proposed biomarkers for quantifying brain plasticity. These include but are not limited to cortical thickness, dendritic length and branching, expression of neuronal proteins, and the presence of DNA adducts. The paper discusses the theory that a measure of brain plasticity emerging late in embryonic development will be a very sensitive biomarker for detecting subtle damage suffered by brain cells during earlier stages of brain development not detectable by other means. The paper shows that to test this, the effects of a neurotoxin on the late developing dendritic spines were studied. A significant decrease in spine density was observed as the neurotoxin, methylazoxymethanol, increased. The author of the paper shows how the implications are widespread in the study of neuro-degenerative disease. We will write a custom essay sample on The Effects of a Neurotoxin on the Mammalian Brain or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Fifty years ago, Donald Hebb demonstrated that the conditions under which laboratory rats were housed could significantly affect their performance in a variety of complex spatial tasks later in life (1). The complex environment rearing paradigm has been valuable in assessing plasticity of a variety of brain components including cerebral cortical microvasculature, astrocyetic morphology, dentritic branching patterns, synaptic number, and synaptic structure are all affected by complex environment rearing (2). It has been suggested that multiple synaptic contacts (spines) may play a role in the spread of the additive effect of learning known as potentiation, among neighboring unstimulated neurons. A lack of these spines and their connection with boutons of neighboring neurons could then result in a decrease in the capacity for learning. Some recent work has indicated that the presence of multiple synaptic contacts may be altered by experience. Most of this research has focused on struct ural changes in the hippocampus. Dendrtic spines show great variability in structure and connectivity, both within and across brain structures, including 10-fold differences in length and diameter as well as variations in the number of branches and spines per dendrite.

Private property

Private property Private property is a human concept that is interesting and raises several philosophical questions. Karl Marx presents important points at the way society and those with power view private property and the issues it leads to.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Private property specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The ownership of any property is consicidered to be private. The society and the industry of a nation have placed a certain limit and frame on the way private property is viewed. It is very much connected to wealth and its accumulation. The surrounding environment and the economical industry have made a person somewhat of a property. The labor that an individual produces is a product of someone’s efforts and can be quantified by the industry. All the objects or property that someone possesses exist outside of the body and personality and so, is without a doubt private property, if that person is the one who has contributed efforts in the acquisition of the products. Even though the politics and the economy think of a man as an entity in and of itself, in relation to property and ownership, the work and the effort that someone puts in towards the said economy has become its property. It is possible to assume that this concept has some validity. The work that is required of someone would be non-existent if there was no reason or purpose for someone to work. The fact that an idea and opportunity is given to work, which is created by the state or some industry, can be seen as a property that is lended to a person. Even though it is immaterial, it is symbolic and thus, can be thought of as the sole creation of the industry. As Karl Mark mentions, the earliest private property was land and other objects that someone had. Things were much simpler when the society was not as complex, as it is today. But the hardships of modern industry have distanced a person from the country because they are viewed as property themselves. They are almost forced to put in the time and effort, in order for the industry to use someone for personal goals or wealth. This has a straight connection to greed where a person is being used through violation of moral codes and all conduct with a particular interest in the end result. When someone is in possession of land and they work on it, grow crops and take care of animals that make products, which can be used or sold, the person is working for themselves. Their labor and its results are the private property of a person and this is considered to be the most clear cut definition of private property. It is a true form of ownership where an individual is the only owner of all the entities that they themselves produce. The natural order of things requires a person to be self efficient, which in turn leads to them being productive for their own purposes.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The industrialization has changed the perspective and definition where a person has become a part of the economy and is used only as means to reaching wealth for someone else. It can be aligned with feudalism and the person becomes de-personalized, a part of a bigger system where they are just a minor piece, in contrast to the structure of industry. Overall, a person can become private only in the comfort of their own property and not the society.

World Trade Organisation Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

World Trade Organisation Law - Essay Example Since 1947, many General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) panel reports proposed that "the burden of establishing a violation under Article XXIII: 1(a) of the GATT 1947 was on the complaining party"2. "As early as 1952, in Treatment by Germany of Imports of Sardines, concerning a complaint by Norway, the panel clearly put the burden of establishing a violation of the GATT 1947 obligations at issue on the complaining party."3 Many other panel reports followed to confirm this proposition. In 1978, in EEC - Measures on Animal Feed Proteins, the 1992 report in Canada - Import, Distribution and Sale of Certain Alcoholic Drinks by Provincial Marketing Agencies and the 1994 report in United States - Measures Affecting the Importation, Internal Sale and Use of Tobacco. Nevertheless, it is the 1997 panel report United States - Measures Affecting Imports of Woven Wool Shirts and Blouses from India which under the GATT 1994 constitutes the reference in the Burden of Proof issue and confirm ed that it is the complainant who should bring the proper pieces of evidence in order to prove his complaint. We will try in the following essay to explain the different rules that guide the admission, submitting and admissibility of evidence, and we will focus on the current system of Burden of Proof by analyz... Subsequently, and still at the same meeting, the party against which the complaint has been brought shall be asked to present its point of view."4 In the idea of the complainant having to show Burden of Proof, it is his duty to present the necessary evidence to prove his case. The complainant is the first party invited to do so and then the other party, the respondent, will have the possibility to present its own evidence. The evidences are usually presented at the first substantive meeting in order to build the case. This is the usual conduct of the dispute settlement procedure. Nevertheless, in Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes5, we are presented the Argentina - Textiles and Apparel dispute where Argentina has argued in his appeal that evidence should not have been accepted after this first substantive meeting and that it was inconsistent with Article 11 of the DSU. Argentina requested the evidence to be rejected but the Panel replied that it gave sufficient time to Argentina in order to prepare for this new submission. It finally stated: Article11 of the DSU does not establish time limits for the submission of evidence to a panel. Article12.1 of the DSU directs a panel to follow the Working Procedures set out in Appendix 3 of the DSU, but at the same time authorizes a panel to do otherwise after consulting the parties to the dispute. The Working Procedures in Appendix 3 also do not establish precise deadlines for the presentation of evidence by a party to the dispute. It is true that the Working Procedures 'do not prohibit' submission of additional evidence after the first

Development Strategies for Customer Relationship Management Case Study

Development Strategies for Customer Relationship Management - Case Study Example The identification of needs and behavior helps an enterprise to develop appropriate strategies that would strengthen relationships with customers. Customer Relationship Management is important because it helps businesses to survive in the market. Today's market condition requires businesses to fulfill customer needs' and not what the business thinks satisfies their needs. Thus, customer relationship management enables a firm to optimize profits through a customer-focused strategy and environment (White Papers). However, establishing long-lasting relationships with customers is not easy and requires meticulous planning, as a lot of finance is involved. Customer Relationship Management is approached in several ways, but we will consider three of the most common: Operational, Analytical, and Collaborative (Alexandrou, Marios). Operational Customer Relationship Management is when front office processes which are directly linked to customers are changed in a way that facilitates the relationship. For instance, sales staffs which are directly involved with the customer would be given proper sales training to handle sales. Training would focus on issues such as how to protect and further the enterprise's image, and how to best handle and resolve customer inquiries and questions. On the other hand, analytical customer relationship management approach is the back office work, which is associated with analyzing data and creating marketing strategies accordingly. For example, month to month changes i n sales data would be analyzed to prepare an appropriate market strategy, which would both be economical and reach the intended audience. Finally, the collaborative approach combines the operational and analytical approach. It is a way that facilitates interactions with customers through all channels (personal, letter, fax, phone, web, email) and supports the coordination of employees teams and channels. It is a solution that brings people, processes, and data together so companies can better serve and retain their customers. In today's shifting and unpredictable business climate, corporations need to constantly adapt to different situations and make customers happy. On paper, most companies satisfy their customers, but in reality, very few companies are doing what customers like. According to infoquestcrm.co.uk, customer satisfaction surveys get a 70-75% average rating (Infoquest). The customers giving an average rating are most likely to check out on competition in the market befo re coming back to buy a product. Therefore, a company needs to satisfy the customer totally. "Studies have shown that a totally satisfied customer is as much as ten times more likely to buy again than a customer who is mere 'somewhat satisfied'"(Infoquest). Hence, a totally satisfied customer would be loyal and come back without an eye to check for competition in the market. A business whether small or large needs to build a customer-centric strategy in order to survive and dig in the big rewards.

Parent Firms of Joint Ventures

Parent Firms of Joint Ventures Are joint-ventures and their parent firms more closely related in terms of skill-relatedness than in terms of value-chain? Abstract The distance between joint-ventures and their parent firms is a fairly new topic of research in the field of diversification. In the process of determining the actual parent firm of a joint-venture out of all alternative industries, it turned our that both vertical- and skill-relatedness proved to be significant. The results indicate further that skill-relatedness is more predictive in this process than vertical relatedness and that joint-ventures are more likely to have parents that have skill overlap to their primary activity than industries that do not. These results hold for the entire sample and a subsample of manufacturing firms. Another finding is that joint-ventures and their parents tend to be more closely related in skills than their parents active in the joint-venture. Suggesting that joint-venture are a mechanism to reduce cognitive distance and increase the absorptive capacity of the new knowledge being transferred. 1. Introduction Diversification and relatedness between firms has been widely researched and finds their theoretical foundation in Coase (1937); Penrose (1959) and others. Coase (1937) can be regarded as one of the first to address the transaction costs theory, while Penrose (1959) addressed the resource based view of the firm. Both theories form the basis of many empirical research to understand more about diversification behavior of firms. These theories therefore form a basis for further research in diversification and especially in the distance between joint-ventures and their parents for this paper. Output produced by one industry often form the basis of production in other industries. It makes economic sense to integrate these activities into already existing activities to improve efficiency, make the company less dependable on their primary activity and expand the company, in order to achieve growth. Fan and Lang (2000) found this already before in their research about diversification. Firms tend to have secondary segments that are related in terms of in-output. This vertical integration of activities is most likely to occur when facing high market transaction costs. Neffke and Henning (2010) also investigated diversification behavior of firms using in-output relatedness. Their research however introduced a new measure of skill-relatedness, which turned out to be dominant in predicting diversification behavior of firms. Conform the resource based view, regarding human capital as the prime asset of the firm, their research firstly compared observed job switchers against the predicted job switchers between certain industries. Individuals gain, certain specific skills during their working life and can only redeploy this knowledge (â€Å"know-how†) in other industries which posses some degree of knowledge overlap. If this is not the case, switching will only hurt the individual, since he or she will be not valued for all acquired skills during his working life. This measure of skill-relatedness between industries proved to outperform in-output relatedness and supported the resource based view in diversification activities of firms. While diversification behavior and relatedness is widely researched, this is not the case for the relationship between joint-ventures and their parents. A joint-venture is a separate legal entity (Harrigan, 1988) and has at least two parents, who are in joint-control and reliable for their equity share in the joint-venture. This paper will discuss, why a joint-venture might be preferred over alternatives and how this might influence the distance between joint-ventures and their parent firms. This will provide new insights in the relationship between joint-ventures and their parent firms. In order to investigate the relationship between joint-ventures and their parent firms and testing for dominant mode in this relationship, this paper used a sample of 237 German joint-ventures between 2005-2011 and constructed an average vertical relatedness according to Fan and Lang (2000) for German industries between 2005-2007. It than included the skill-relatedness of Neffke and Henning (2010) based on Swedish labor switchers between 2004-2007. These data allowed us to make an overview of all joint-ventures and all industries in which it can have their parents. We then tagged the actual parent firms of the joint-ventures with a one and all other industries with a zero, allowing us to run a logit regression with the actual parent firms as our dependent variables. The findings indicate, that the resource based view is the dominant mode in explaining distance between joint-ventures and their parent firms. This provides more insight in the importance of close relatedness in terms of skills over other forms of relatedness. In the following chapter, we start with a theoretical framework about diversification and argue that the resource based view can be regarded as the most important in diversification moves. We will then discuss the alternative diversification possibilities and the limitations of diversification. This will be followed by a discussion of the most important strategic motives on joint-ventures choice. These strategic motives and the theoretical framework will be summarized at the end of chapter 2 and we will explain how this all will relate on the distance between joint-ventures and their parents. In chapter 3 we will discuss empirical evidence on diversification and joint-ventures and their implications on our research. Then we will follow with a data discussion and our method of research in chapter 4 and 5. The results and out findings will be presented in chapter 6 and the final chapter will discuss our outcomes, provides some more insight in the distance between both parents active in the joint-venture, limitations, policy implications and future research. 2. Theory on diversification: an introduction This paper investigates the distance between joint-ventures and their parents. Before we can have a look at this relation, we start with a theoretical framework about diversification and the implications of this framework for our research. Thereafter, we will explain more about diversification motives and the problems and limitations firms might face when diversifying. We then summarize all this and discuss how this all relate to our expected findings on joint-ventures and the relatedness with their parents. 2.1 Theoretical framework behind diversification strategies A theoretical framework behind diversification strategies will be discussed in the coming chapter. This theoretical framework provides more insights in the diversification motives of firms. After these motives have been discussed, we can discuss their influence on the distance between joint-ventures and their parents at the end of chapter 2. 2.1.1. Transaction cost theory The transaction cost view is a theory of Coase (1937) and Williamson (1975, 1985) and addresses the view that economizing is the core problem of economic organizations. The core of these problems in organizational context lay in the assumptions of incomplete information and self interest seeking firms / people. Incomplete information in contracts implies that it is impossible for individuals and firms to predict each future event, therefore all contracts are incomplete and exposed to uncertainty of future situation not foreseen by firms and individuals. If these future states / conditions change, the incentives for the individuals and firms involved might also change. In other words, there is room for self-interest of individuals. In the transaction cost theory, these assumptions of bounded rationality and self-interest seeking are paired and as a result there is room for fraud or guile of economic agents. Economic agents are driven by self-interest and the transaction costs theory a llows these agents to deceive, disguise and confuse in order to maximize their self interest. Opportunistic behavior and moral hazard are thus included in the theory of transaction costs. These assumptions are the basis for the theory of transaction cost and have some consequences, especially when it comes to contract modes and thus joint-ventures. Due to bounded rationality and opportunistic behavior of economic agents, all contracts are incomplete (Williamson, 2006). This means, economic agents have an incentive to behave to their own optimal ex post outcome if situations change which cannot be contracted. The second assumption is contract as promise (Williamson, 2006). This assumes that economic agents will fulfill contracts as promised. However, this will not be obtained if these agents are given opportunistic opportunities. â€Å"The transaction costs analysis entails an examination of the comparative costs of planning, adapting, and monitoring task completion under alternative governance structures† (Williamson, 2006, p. 58). The transaction will become the basic unit of analysis and minimizing transaction cost will result in the most efficient governance structure. Transactions differ in three ways from each other; (1) frequency at which transactions recur; (2) level of uncertainty to which they are subjected; (3) level of asset specificity involved. Since asset specificity is of crucial importance, we elaborate some more about the characteristics of asset specificity. â€Å"Asset specificity has reference to the degree to which an asset can be redeployed to alternative uses and by alternative users without sacrifice of productive value† (Williamson, 2006, p. 59). This asset specificity becomes of importance in the context of incomplete contracts, while asset specificity can take different forms; (1) physical asset specificity; (2) site specificity; (3) dedicated asset specificity and (4) human asset specificity. The complexity of a transaction is therefore highly dependent on the asset specificity (k) of the asset and investments in that asset. A supplier can for example use a general purpose technology with low asset specificity (k=0) or it might invest in a specialized technology with high asset specificity (k=1). High asset specificity is likely to involve high bilateral dependency between the parties in the transaction. Since the parties involved in the contract become vulnerable of each other, switching is difficult and costly option due to the mutual dependency and the investments done in specific assets. The buyers cannot easily turn to an alternative supplier and the current supplier is highly dependable on the demand of its current buyer. Therefore the higher the asset specificity, the more likely it become that higher contract costs have to be faced. Both parties have more incentives to devise safeguards to protect the investment in the transaction if asset specificity is high. How ever, if there is low asset specificity (k=0) and we thus have a general purpose asset, contract are easily monitored and market transactions will be preferred. Back to the diversification decision, minimizing transaction costs is regarded of crucial importance for the choice in governance mode. This implies that firms choose between a wholly owned subsidiary, a simple market transaction or a hybrid made, as a joint-venture for example. This trade-off between a joint-venture and other governance modes has been widely researched. Hennart (1991) for example found that; Japanese firms start joint-ventures with U.S. counterparts to combine intermediate inputs when they are subjected to high market transactions costs. This paper uses a relatedness in terms of in-output and can therefore measure the distance in terms of the use of intermediate products between industries. The influence on joint-ventures and partner distance will be discussed at the end of chapter 2. At this point of the paper, it is however important to understand that high relatedness in the use of intermediate products is likely to be caused due to high transaction costs. This w ould imply that if diversification has a high level of relatedness in value-chain and are thus closely relatedness in terms of vertical relatedness, this is most likely caused by high transaction costs and supports the transaction costs view of diversification.. 2.1.2. Knowledge and resource based view In the resource based view, knowledge (â€Å"know-how†) is regarded as the most important production factor within the firm. The origin of the resource based view goes back to the work of Penrose (1959), who inspired the discussion of the resource based view of the firm and the importance of resources to achieve firm growth. Penrose stated that: â€Å"the firm is a collection of productive resources (human and non-human) under administrative coordination and authoritative communication that produces goods and services for sale in the market for a profit† (Penrose, 1959, p. xvii).† â€Å"The administrative coordination and authorities communication define the boundaries of the firm† (Penrose, 1959, p. xvii). The firm specific human resources are regarded as the most important of all resources within the firm. Without these human knowledge, there can be no operating firm. As a result, the firm cannot make decisions, long-term planning, run operations and it c an certainly not make any expansions. From this point of view Penrose (1959) indentified two major causes of firm growth. First of all, causes external to the firm and secondly those causes that are internal to the firm. â€Å"External causes for firm growth, as capital constraints, cannot be fully understood without an examination of the nature of the firm itself† (Penrose, 1959, p. 532). We may therefore conclude that firm growth is endogenous to the firm; this is a result of two reasons mentioned by Penrose (1959). In order to execute plans and strategic action, human capital is required. After completion of the project/action, managerial resources will be released with increased knowledge. These resources gained experience and knowledge during the time of the expansion and can be redeployed at alternative use after the time of the expansion. The redeployed individuals with an increased knowledge and skills might improve efficiency and organization of the firm, but might also be able to development new or speci alized services. Depending on the expansion, individuals involved might also gain ‘unique knowledge of their experience; this is particularly true for certain forms of tacit knowledge, which are more difficult to transmit. The theory of firm growth of Penrose (1959) has been regarded as one of the earliest contributions to the resources based view of the firm, stressing the importance of knowledge as the key production factor within a firm. The drive of firms for growth, is a drive for new knowledge that is not accessible to the firm before their diversification. However, the motives and goals of each diversification differ and so do the resources possessed by each firm in a diversification. These differences and similarities in knowledge are of crucial importance in the resource based view, where acquiring new knowledge is the ultimate goal for achieving growth. Acquiring knowledge comes with certain problems; the â€Å"fundamental paradox† of knowledge and the difficulty arising from transferring tacit knowledge are two of those problems. In the fundamental paradox of information it is extreme difficult to determine the value of the knowledge for the buyer of the knowledge, which causes high c ontract costs. Since it is impossible for the buyer of knowledge to estimate ex ante the characteristics of what is being bought. On the other hand, if the seller of the knowledge provides this information, he will be revealing important information and transferring his â€Å"know-how† free of charge (Arrow, 1959). If the targeted knowledge, is a certain â€Å"know-how† which cannot be patented and protected against spillovers to competitive firms and other industries it become far more difficult. Certain types of knowledge cannot be put on paper and granted a patent. Firms experiences in manufacturing, distribution, and country-specific knowledge, knowledge of markets, customers and especially high educated employees cannot be patented but are of crucial importance of a firms success in the resource based view. â€Å"This type of knowledge that cannot embody specifications, designs and drawings, but instead is embedded in the individual is called ‘tacit knowledge†. (Polanyi, 1959; Hennart, 1988, p. 366). These individual characteristics of experience and social nature make transfer, coordination and spread of knowledge between firms, extreme complex and difficult (Lam, 2006). The transfer and spread of this tacit knowledge is one of the difficulties when facing diversificat ion decisions. The transfer and spread of this tacit knowledge can be done in different alliance forms, which will be discussed later in this paper. However, for now, it is important to know that diversification is undertaking to gain new knowledge, which must be for same part related to the knowledge of the firm. This is the case since the new resources must be redeployed at alternative use after a project, which might be a joint-venture for example. As for distance in diversification, higher skill-relatedness and thus diversification activities that are more closely related in skills stresses the importance of the resource based view. 2.1.3. Portfolio management theory A third and final theory behind diversification motives is the portfolio theory of Markowitz (1952). Diversification decisions of firms are important decisions taken by firms management in order to maximize the expected returns of their portfolio of investments. These investors are the shareholders of the firm and have a claim on the residual value of the company assets, when debt has been paid. In order to maximize this expected return of the firm outstanding shares, the law of large numbers will ensure that the actual yield of the portfolio will be almost the same as the expected yield. In any case, holding a diversified portfolio would be preferred over all non-diversified portfolios (Markowitz, 1952). Increasing variance in your portfolio would mean an increase in the number of projects, since each project would be successful / unsuccessful at a certain probability, which is referred to as risk. Holding a large variety, in other words, betting on more than one horse, increases yo ur probability on having a winning project. The portfolio management theory suggests that diversification tends to take place in activities that are unrelated to the primary activity of the firm. If this is the case, diversification activities (such as a joint-venture) would be unrelated to the primary activity of the firm. There would be a large distance between the firm and its diversification activities, while transaction costs and the resource based view are stressing the importance diversification in more closely related activities, although for different motives. 2.2 Different diversification alternatives In all theories discussed, the main driver for diversification is in order to achieve growth. Either, by minimizing transaction costs in the transaction costs economy or by diversification of risk, which increases the probability of a winning innovation. In all these theories is explained how they might influence the distance between diversification activities. Is there however any limit to firm growth in their challenge to innovate and to expand? According to Penrose (1959) there is no limit on the size of a firm, however the growth of the firm has some limits it can reach. In the Hercules Powder Company case study Penrose claimed: â€Å"Growth is governed by a creative and dynamic interaction between a firms productive resources and its market opportunities. Available resources limit expansion; unused resources (including technological and entrepreneurial) stimulate and largely determine the direction of expansion. While product demand may exert a predominant short-term influence, over the long term any distinction between ‘supply and ‘demand determinants of growth becomes arbitrary† (Penrose, 1959, p.1) How does this reflect to diversification strategies? Penrose (1959) distinguished between different areas of diversification. The firm can be divided into different productive activities, that consist of machines, processes, skills and materials, all closely and complementary associated in the production process, which Penrose (1959) calls the production/technology base. The firm now faces the decision to diversify into a new market using the existing technology base. It might prefer entering an existing market using a new technology base, which is referred to as horizontal/complementary expansion. The last scenario would be to enter a new market using a new technology base. As described above, the ability of a firm to expand and grow is limited by its internal resources, from which human resources is regarded as the most important. Diversification increases the creative and dynamic interaction of a firm and its resources. All these forms of diversification have implications on the expected distance between the diversification activities and thus joint-ventures and our research. Entering a new market using a new technology would probably have a larger distance in terms of skills from its primary activity than entering a new market with an existing technology. In this latest case, the technology and specific knowledge can be partially redeployed at alternative use, while this is not the case in the first alternative. The main implication from Penrose (1959) famous work is that firms diversify in order to achieve growth. According to Penrose (1959) the resource based view of the firm is the dominant view in order to achieve this growth by diversification. This would suggest that the distance between diversification activities would be more closely related in terms of skills and less closely in vertical relatedness, used as a measure for the transaction costs theory. If diversification is undertaken in order to diversify risk, conform the portfolio management theory diversification activities would not be related at all. 2.3 Limits on diversification and diversification distance? There are different diversification forms as discussed in the previous chapter. It is important to understand that firm growth is limited by its human capital (Penrose, 1959). A firm should therefore carefully choose its diversification activities. A clear understanding of these limits and where these limits depend on is extremely important to understand the distance between firms diversification activities. Since this implicitly answers the question, to what extent firms diversify and is there a limit on the distance between partners and their diversification activity? Cohen and Levinthal (1990) discuss the ‘absorptive capacity of a firm, which indicates: â€Å"the ability of a firm to recognize the value of new, external information, assimilate it, and apply it to commercial ends, which is critical to its innovative capacity† (Cohen and Levinthal (1990), p. 128). This absorptive capacity puts limits on the commercialization of new knowledge and boundaries on diversification. Cohen and Levinthal (1990) assume that a firms absorptive capacity and the individual absorptive capacities of its employers are largely a function of the firms level of prior related knowledge. Earlier research suggest that absorptive capacity might be a byproduct of a firms RD investments and others suggest that firms can also invest directly in absorptive capacity while investing in specialized educ ation/training. The key to absorptive capacity is that organizations needs prior related knowledge to assimilate and use new knowledge for exploitation. This is very important for the resource based view in our paper, since this implies that diversification activities of firms should be related in terms of skills. Since, the higher the prior knowledge in ones memory, the higher their ability to acquire new knowledge and the ability to recall and use that knowledge. What is often the case in organizations and especially expected in joint-ventures is the transfer of learning skills across bodies of knowledge that are organized and expressed in similar ways. Mowery et al. (1996) indicated that joint-ventures are the most efficient alliance form for transferring tacit knowledge, which could certainly human specific skills. As a consequence, experience or performance on one learning task may influence and improve performance on some subsequent learning task (Ellis, 1965). Cohen and Levin thal (1990) make two important assumptions about knowledge, important for diversification strategies. â€Å"Firstly, knowledge is cumulative and secondly, learning performance is greatest when the object of learning is related to what is already known† (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990, p. 131). This implicit that learning is more difficult in novel domains, in other words radical exploration of new ideas, products, technologies and standards. Diversification might offer an advantage, since with diversification comes a wider knowledge base and as a results an increasing probability that the new knowledge is already / partially known to the organization. The absorptive capacity of an organization however, does not only exist off the aggregated absorptive capacity of its individuals, but also on the ability to exploit this knowledge. Cohen and Levinthal (1990) mention there is a trade-off between high levels of absorptive capacity of an organization and the ability to exploit this. They describe this as a trade-off between inward-looking (specialization) versus outward-looking (diversify) trade-off, where excessive dominance by one or the other will be suboptimal. Exploitation can best been seen as specialization of old familiar ideas and certainties in organizational learning, while exploration can best be described as the invention of new technologies, standards, products or ideas in an organization. Cohen and Levinthal (1990) discuss also the importance for innovation of close relationship with both buyers and suppliers, suggesting a vertical relatedness would be beneficial for innovation performance. In the trade-off described, Co hen and Levinthal (1990) suggest that to the keep an effective, creative utilization of new knowledge a portion of prior knowledge should be closely related with a the firm new knowledge, and another part should be fairly diverse, although still related. If this is the case, firm diversification activities should be closely related in terms of skills supporting the resource based view of the firm. Why is it important to have both creative utilization and a portion of prior knowledge is best described by March (1991), who distinguishes between exploration and exploitation. Returns of exploration are systematically less certain than those of exploitation (March, 1991), this might influence the choice for diversification for the long term however, exploration has long run positive return although this outcome is certainly not always the case in the short run. Exploration activities therefore capture much more risk taking, uncertainty, variation, flexibility, discovery and innovation than exploitation. Exploitation is more focused on production, choice, efficiency, marketing, costs and benefits (March, 1991). The importance of exploration is best described in a model of mutual learning in an closed organization and its personnel in it (March, 1991). The organization is regarded as a storage of knowledge (consisting of procedures, norms, rules and tacit assets) and the organization, accumulate knowledge over time by learning from their personnel. â€Å"Individuals (personnel) however, are socializing the organizational beliefs, which are diffused to individuals through various forms of instruction, indoctrination, and exemplification† (March, 1991, p. 74). This mutual learning approach between organizations and individuals has implications for the choice between exploitation and exploration in organizations and has therefore consequences for the short-run and long-run incentives. In this model of mutual learning organizational code is affected by the beliefs of their personnel, the other way around, the individuals are influenced by the organizational code / norm. Important to know is, that individuals can not influence each other, the influence each other through the organizational code. What will happen in this closed model? In this organization, each adjustment in beliefs is served to eliminate the difference between the organizational code and the individual beliefs. If the individuals over time become more knowledgeable about the code, they become also more homogeneous with respect to knowledge and in the end will find an equilibrium. In this equilibrium the individuals beliefs share the same organizational code. It is therefore important to keep a portion of new knowledge in order to increase the organizational code. March (1991) also describes a second model, evaluating the role of personnel turnover in the organization and turbulence environment are considered. The length of service of an individual in an organization has a positive effect on the knowledge of the individual and therefore also a positive effect on the average knowledge of the individuals. A recruit therefore has a negative effect on the average knowledge of the individuals. The role of turnover on the organization knowledge is more complicated and is a problem of learning rates versus turnover rates. As described in model of mutual learning the strength of the recruit is, the diversity in knowledge, since the recruit posses on average less knowledge than the individual it replaces. Long serving individuals, on average know more, but their knowledge is already reflected in the organizational code over time and therefore they are less likely to contribute to the organizations knowledge base. Now consider environmental turbulence t o the organization, this can be the case of processes involving lags in adjustment rates. Consider an organization without personnel turnover, in this organization the beliefs reflected by the individual and these beliefs do not change, although the environment is changing. After some time the organizational code is systematically degraded through changes in reality and a much lower equilibrium is reached. Organizations with a moderate personnel turnover however, are resistant to these environmental shocks and adjust to the new knowledge of the recruits (diversified knowledge). March (1991) extent this model of competitive ecology in a model to compete for scarce resources and opportunities. Assuming the performance of a firm is a measure of the average value (x) and some measure of variability (v), which are normally distributed. An increase in both will increase the probability to gain competitive advantages over competitors. In this part there consist a trade-off between an increase in the mean and the variance. Which supports earlier literature, that diversification is undertaken to gain excess to new knowledge to some extent, but is expected to be related to prior knowledge of the firm. March (1991) conclude that exploration firms compete far more on variance than exploitation firms. 2.4 Implications and differences between the theories discussed The main difference between the management portfolio theory and the resource based view and the transaction costs view is that the management portfolio expect that diversification tends to take place in unrelated industries, while this is not the case for the other two theories, although at different level of relatedness. The resource based view stresses the importance of knowledge gain and the benefits of this new knowledge in diversification. Transaction costs theory however focuses more on the cost side of the transaction.Leaving the transaction costs as basic unit of analysis to determine an appropriate alliance form, which will minimizes the transaction costs of the firm. According to Wang (2007), a firm shoul