A Shift in Our Society

A Shift in Our SocietyIn the past, political leaders used social issues as a tool for advancing their political and economic agendas. Today, the use of social issues as a tool for advancing personal agendas has declined. Instead, politicians use social issues to motivate their political base. What is this phenomenon and why is it changing?Society was once divided by class. People had distinct sets of values and lifestyles that defined their social standing.As a result, there were several professions that people pursued. The most common professional occupations in a capitalist society were the professions of lawyer, dentist, engineer, teacher, clergyman, accountant, business person, priest, doctor, writer, lawyer, president, merchant, teacher, etc. There were others, but the ones mentioned are the ones we are most familiar with. It's as though we learned from our parents, 'If you want something, you work for it.'So society was divided by class and divided by profession. When people co uld afford to buy a home or car, they were then able to build their own identities based on profession. But as an increasing number of people today cannot purchase their homes or cars, our society is more divided than ever.In a society that is no longer divided by class, it has become increasingly difficult to justify our spending patterns based on family circumstances or how we might like our children to behave. This is because today we live in a society where people have many competing priorities. They want the same things we do, but they also have other obligations.We all know wealthy people who can pay thousands of dollars for expensive clothes. We also know wealthy people who are overweight, eat unhealthy foods, don't exercise, etc. The difference between these two groups is wealth and habits.If you want to know about socioeconomic issues, simply read the headlines in the papers and watch what your friends are doing. There is a major shift underway where those who are able to g o through life without having to worry about their material possessions are the ones who benefit most. The same is true of the world of politics.

Native Americans During Andrew Jackson’s Presidency

Imagine being taken out of your home and told that you must leave to a new, foreign land and leave the only thing that you know. This is what Native Americans during Andrew Jackson’s presidency had to live through. America was growing rapidly, expanding into the lower south of the U.S. During the 19th century white settlers moving into the area, were faced with Native Americans living on the land. These settlers were looked upon as a major obstacle for expansion of the United States. Driven by gold fever and the ideas for new business, the settlers were looking towards the government to help them take the land away from the Natives. Presidents had acknowledged the issue of Natives and whites coexisting and the problems that would be addressed, but it wasn’t until Andrew Jackson stepped into American history that a change would’ve be made. â€Å"Andrew Jackson was a wealthy slave owner and infamous Indian killer, gaining the nickname ‘Sharp Knife’ from the Cherokee,† (Source 3) He grew up to be a well-known, tough Indian fighter by reputation and a fearless military leader. Unlike presidents before him, he was from South Carolina, born into the common class. He represented the average white man. He and his supporters created a political organization called Democracy. Jackson was a relentless man doing what needed to be done for the growth of America and it’s values, and he would do anything to make sure that the working class had the same social rights. To take out the NativeShow MoreRelatedThe Era Of Andrew Jackson1663 Words   |  7 PagesThe Era of Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States, elected in eighteen twenty-eight. Prior to his presidency Andrew Jackson was well known and favored for his success against the British in the war of eighteen-twelve. Upon election, Andrew Jackson became known as the people’s president gaining the majority of electoral votes over his opponent John quincy Adams.Throughout his presidency many events occurred that would shape America as a nation. During his timeRead MoreAndrew Jackson And The Influence Of The Jacksonian Democracy1259 Words   |  6 PagesDuring the 1820s and 1830s, the Democratic Party grew under the influence of the politician Andrew Jackson. The Democrats believed in a limited federal government and supported giving more power to the states. The economic monopolies in the East concerned the Democrats, they wanted equal opportunity for white males in the South and West. By the presidential election in 1828, new amendments to voting qualifications al lowed more white males to vote. With support from this new population of voters,Read More Andrew Jackson Essay1491 Words   |  6 Pages There are many things that set Andrew Jackson apart from other presidents. His policies and personality set him apart from most. Although he was the seventh president, he was the first in many ways. Jackson was the first president to be born in a log cabin, and he was the first president to ride on a railroad train. Along with that, he was the only president to serve in both the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Andrew Jackson was also the first to have a vice-presidentRead MoreAndrew Jackson : The Age Of Jackson1376 Words   |  6 Pagesfrontier. This made him the main target for presidency in election 1824. Once coming to power, Jackson no longer portrayed humble beginnings, but became a conundrum to the people he was leading by removing indians from their homeland and forcing them West. His use of power can be debated based on the state of the country thereafter. Although Andrew Jackson was dubbed â€Å"The People s President†, his time in office reflected a very different outcome. First, Andrew Jackson was highly revered for his humbleRead MoreAndrew Jacksons Presidency: Inefficient or Efficient?651 Words   |  3 PagesStates is one of the most powerful officials. The seventh president of the United States, Andrew Jackson, made the presidency more powerful because he represented the â€Å"common man.† Jackson grew up in the rural parts of South Carolina and when he was thirteen years old, he joined the army at during the American Revolution War. Jackson was involved in many wars and became a war hero. He fought in the American Revolution and the War of 1812. After serving at war, he would serve two terms as presidentRead MoreAndrew Jackson: One of the Most Influential Presidents of All Time 1712 Words   |  7 PagesAndrew Jackson’s influence on the politics of his time was remarkable. He was the only president to have an era named after him. He also changed the way this country was run and expanded the country’s borders. He changed mu ch, but the four most important aspects of this era, in chronological order, were his victory over the British, his defeat in the presidential race of 1824, his successful presidential campaign in 1828, and his decision to remove Native Americans to land west of the MississippiRead MoreAndrew Jackson: The Seventh President of the United States Essay818 Words   |  4 PagesIn the United States so far, there have been dozens of presidents. To be exact, there have been 44 presidents. Every president has made his own, unique contribution to get the country to where it is today. Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, was perhaps the most controversial president America has experienced. Jackson was a successful president in his own mind, escaping difficult living conditions as a child in South Carolina and fighting for the nation in the War of 1812Read MoreEssay about Andrew Jackson765 Words   |  4 Pages Andrew Jackson   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Andrew Jackson was born in the Waxhaws near the border of North and South Carolina, on March 15, 1767. When Andrew Jackson was born, no one probably guessed that he would be the seventh president of the United States of America. He wasn’t a â€Å"high class† person or had all the same credentials, but he became a war hero thus lifting him to his presidency.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Andy Jackson was born the third child of Scotch-Irish parents. Jackson’s father, also named Andrew, died as a resultRead MoreThe Book I Reviewed By Sean Wilentz Essay1102 Words   |  5 Pagesknown books. Some of which include: Chants Democratic and The Rise of American Democracy. Sean Wilentz is clearly qualified to write on the subject of history. The book I reviewed is a biography about the 7th president of the United States, Andrew Jackson. Wilentz tells about Jackson’s life from his childhood to his second term as president. Society’s opinions of Jackson have changed throughout the years. People either love Andrew Jackson, or they hate him. He is considered controversial by some standardsRead MoreThe Legacy Of Andrew Jackson1090 Words   |  5 PagesAndrew Jackson America’s history is rich and full of countless heroes, scandals, and incredible stories. Perhaps one of the most interesting of those stories is that of Andrew Jackson’s. To some, he was a hero, but to others, he was their worst enemy. Being raised in the mountains of the Carolinas, he became the first â€Å"backcountry president† of the United States (Wilentz, 13). His fame, though, began years before his presidency. Jackson’s reputation was established during the War of 1812, namely

Essay about Arab and Seljuk Conquests of the Middle East.

1. Compare the Arab and Seljuk conquests of the Middle East. How did each group of conquerors control their own followers and supporters and govern their new subjects? Can these conquests be put into a long-term context? Hint: don’t dwell overlong on sequences of events, though it is fine if you want to examine an event as part of a broader analysis of a larger historical process. The history of the Middle East tells a story of continuous conquer and seemingly One cannot help but recall the Muslim historian Ibn Khaldun, and detect his analysis of historical cycles in the all but systematic rise and fall of ruling forces within this region of the world. Two influential ruling states of the Middle East, the Arab empire and Seljuk†¦show more content†¦The Arabs did not force their authority upon the groups of people they had conquered in the ways that past empires had. The Arabs were tolerant of other religions and cultures. They did not force groups to change their beliefs or assimilate to Arab lifestyles. Instead they allowed practice of any monotheistic religion, , and established garrison towns to separate Arab armies from the people they had conquered. Although, as with any empire, the Arabs had their own wellbeing foremost in their minds, they did give the people they ruled many individual choices that were not available in most previous empires. Similarly, the Seljuks also established a much more lax governance than u sual. After the Seljuk victory at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, hordes of nomadic tribes began to spill into the newly Seljuk-controlled lands of Anatolia. However, instead of forcing these tribes to settle into towns, so as to be able to implement their control more easily and efficiently, the Seljuks allowed them to remain nomadic and establish themselves wherever they pleased. Finally, the way in which each respective empire mounted their decline and fall was strikingly akin. By the middle to late 800’s, the Islamic empire began to show rifts in their social and political structures. Problems started to arise between the caliphate and several groups within the empire. The army, which by this timeShow MoreRelatedThe World Political Entity Comprising The Levant Region Of The Middle East777 Words   |  4 PagesA myriad of factors contributed to the inauguration of Outremer (as the crusader states shall be referred to throughout the entirety of the research paper) a s the dominate political entity comprising the Levant region of the Middle East, predominately the methodology employed for the formation of Outremer; the reaction to religious discrepancies within the crusaders’ territorial expanse and its innovative characteristics comparative to contemporary Western Europe; the architectural constructionsRead MoreHow Did The Ottoman Empire Differ From Earlier And The Middle East?1247 Words   |  5 Pagesdiffer from earlier Islamic empires in the Middle East? The Ottoman Empire, or Ottoman Turkish, was one of the longest in history, having gone through the whole modern era and only come to an end with the end of World War I in 1918. The event that is commonly taken by historians as the inaugurator of the Modern age is the fall of Constantinople, the center of the Byzantine Empire, and was triggered by the Turkish-Ottoman. Also, you certainly heard about the Arabs, the Muslim religion and Islam. CertainlyRead More The Fall of the Western Roman Empire 1269 Words   |  5 Pagesthe Western Roman Empire in the late fifth century plunged Europe into a long period of darkness and barbarism. This era until the dawn of the ‘age of discovery’ in the sixteenth century was later termed to be the ‘Middle Ages’. While this epoch of European history is labeled as ‘middle’ or even ‘dark’, it was during this time that many social, political and cultural developments took place. The obliteration of th e great Roman Empire left Europe prey for disunity and continuous foreign invasion andRead MoreRise of Islam2102 Words   |  9 Pagesestablished in 224 and controlled the areas of Iran and Mesopotamia. The Sasanids confronted Arab pastoralists on their Euphrates border and the Byzantine Empire on the west. Relations with the Byzantines alternated between war and peaceful trading relationships. In times of peace, the Byzantine cities of Syria and the Arab nomads who guided caravans between the Sasanid and Byzantine Empires all flourished on trade. Arabs also benefited from the invention of the camel saddle, which allowed them to take controlRead MoreReligion Is A Peaceful Religion Or A Corrupt1785 Words   |  8 Pagesreligion or a corrupt. In order to have a better understanding of the religion, one must know about the history and the way the religion has evolved throughout the years. The evolution in their political system, economic and social impacts during the middle ages and the Renaissance. In addition, what they have accomplished throughout those years. It may be an achievement in medicine, agriculture or their industrial system. The religion Islam is made up of various factors. Factors that are a whole andRead MoreIslamic World Evolution Of Islam1779 Words   |  8 Pagespeaceful religion or a corrupt. To have a better understanding of the faith, one must know about the history and the way the religion has evolved throughout the years. The evolution of their political system, economic and social impacts during the middle ages and the Renaissance. Also, what they have accomplished throughout those years. It may be an achievement in medicine, agriculture or their industrial system. The religion Islam is made up of various factors. Factors that are a whole and have anRead More The First Crusades Essay1960 Words   |  8 Pagesthe Holy Land from Muslims. The First Crusade played a vital role in Late Antiquity (Middle Ages) Europe; consequently, setting the stage for future events in European history and the preface for the Crusades to follow. The reason for the initiation of the First Crusade, how it was fought and who were involved, notable battles and generals, and how upon its finale it reshaped the Byzantine Empire. The conquest to pursue war against Sejul Turks, who were Sunni Muslims, began when Crusaders realizedRead MoreIbn Khalduns 4 Step Model1505 Words   |  7 Pagesto flourish and expand. They migrated into the Middle East in the 10th-11th centuries. The Turks were warriors of the Islamic faith and had been assigned to defend the caliphate (they were Praetorian Guards). Tugrul Bey, a Seljuk khan, wanted the caliph to see him as a ruler in Mesopotamia and Persia, and he began his reign by removing Arabs from government and replacing them with a force of Persian ministers that later were named the â€Å"Great Seljuk sultanate.† â€Å"Each year the ghazis cut deeper intoRead MoreThe Religious And Economic Center Essay2155 Words   |  9 Pagessacrifice his son. In the Islam belief, the son sacrificed was not Isaac, but really Ishmael, the son of Hagar who was also the forefather of the Arabs. 3. Arabs differ from Muslims in that the term Arab identifies a person of a certain regional origin. However, Muslims are people who embrace the religion of Islam. Not all Muslims are Arab and not all Arabs are Muslim. 4. Muhammad was similar to Jesus Christ and Augustus Caesar because he was a man who started a serious change in a society. MuhammadRead MoreHow Did Christians Justify Their Claim to the Holy Land B2417 Words   |  10 PagesFinal Paper How did Christians justify their claim to the Holy Land before and during the Crusades? One of the most significant and remarkable incidents of the Middle Ages was the series of conflicts known collectively as the Crusades. Generally these conflicts were militant pilgrimages to the Levant (though sometimes elsewhere) undertaken by medieval Europeans in the name of Christendom. Though there were many political and social issues involved in the whole affair, the primary theme

The Federal Reserve Meeting - 920 Words

During the Federal Reserve meeting in April 2016, the range was left unchanged for federal funds at 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent (TRADING ECONOMICS, 2016). Labor markets experience growth confirmed by policy makers, yet economic activity was monitored as being slow (TRADING ECONOMICS, 2016). The risks associated with the financial developments of the country have ceased (TRADING ECONOMICS, 2016). The average percentage of interest rate in the U.S. averaged at 5.8. March of 1980 a record high was recorded at 20% (TRADING ECONOMICS, 2016). The lowest interest rates were recorded in the month of December 2008 at 0.25% (TRADING ECONOMICS, 2016). The United States has some of the largest financial markets worldwide (Commerce.gov, n.d.). These financial services, aid, in the financing of manufactured goods and agricultural products which are exported (Commerce.gov, n.d.). There are several advantages for investment in the financial services of the United States (Commerce.gov, n.d.). One of the United States most effective tools is The Earned Income Tax Credit which encourages work and improvement of family poverty (Center for American Progress, 2016). In the year of 2014 Earned Income Tax Credit helped more than 6.2 million Americans in the fight against poverty (Center for American Progress, 2016). A disadvantage to the Earned Income Tax Credit, is experienced in workers whose income is relatively low without qualifying children (Center for American Progress, 2016). In theseShow MoreRelatedThe Federal Reserve Meeting Essay899 Words   |  4 PagesDuring the Federal Reserve meeting in April 2016, the range was left unchanged for federal funds at 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent (TRADING ECONOMICS, 2016). Labor markets experience growth confirmed by policy makers, yet economic activity was monitored as being slow (TRADING ECONOMICS, 2016). The risks associated with the financial developments of the country have ceased (TRADING ECONOMICS, 2016). The average percentage of interest rate in the U.S. averaged at 5.8. March of 1980 a record high was recordedRead MoreFederal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke s Meeting2051 Words   |  9 PagesJanuary 28-29, 2014 Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke s meeting dealt mainly with the issues that could stabilize the economy after the great recession. After creating a number of policies to fight the 2008 crisis, Chairman s move to further reduce Quantitative Easing was a bit of a disappointment. The Fed will reduce its purchases of long-term Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities by another $10 billion a month. Apart from this, Fed is going to concentrate on maximizing employment ratesRead MoreThe Federal Reserve Transparency Act1492 Words   |  6 PagesWhen discussing various issues affecting the federal government, transparency issues have to be put on the front line because the Federal Reserve’s should have one of the most transparent systems. The Federal Reserve transparency act was formulated in order to ensure that there is transparency in the federal reserves through making the federal government publicize most of the financial institutions that it offers loans to and the organ izations which use the open market operations in order to purchaseRead MoreThe Federal Reserve System Is The United States Central Bank1339 Words   |  6 PagesHayden Hill Macroeconomics Professor Gislason 27 April 2017 The Federal Reserve System The Federal Reserve System, also called â€Å"the FED†, is the United States central bank, a national institution which governs the production and distribution of money. It was created to provide the United States with a more secure and more stable financial structure. The Federal Reserve System has many responsibilities today. First, the FED controls U.S. monetary policy by altering the supply and demand of the economyRead MoreThe Federal Open Market Committee1571 Words   |  7 Pageswill happen if the Federal Open Market Committee brings back up the interest rates that have been down? Since the interest rates have been down, great things for businesses and employment have been happening. If interest rates go back up, corporate finance is going to be challenged. About the FOMC The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is the monetary policymaking body of the Federal Reserve System. The Federal Open Market Committee is composed of 12 members: five of the 12 Reserve Bank presidentsRead MoreThe Central Bank For The United States980 Words   |  4 PagesBlah blah blah something about an article I find. The federal reserve in simple terms is the central bank for the United States. In a more in depth description of the â€Å"the Fed† it is made up of the Board of Governors. This board is made up of seven members, all selected by the President himself. However, they also need to be confirmed by the Senate. This board is located in Washington D.C. but has 12 regional banks around the country. Some of these places include San Francisco, Philadelphia, MinneapolisRead MoreWhich Of The Monetary Tools For The Federal Reserve Is Most Often Used? Why? Essay739 Words   |  3 Pagesmonetary tools available to the Federal Reserve is most often used? Why? The monetary tools often used by Federal Reserve are open market whose operations are flexible. Open markets is a trade that involves buying and selling of U.S. Treasury and federal agency securities in the open market and consists members of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and 5 Reserve Bank presidents. The FOMC holds 8 regularly scheduled meetings during the year and other meetings as needed. Therefore openRead MoreThe Federal Reserve Board Is A Regulating Body That Determines How United States Will Lend Money Essay957 Words   |  4 PagesThe Federal Reserve Board is a regulating body that determines how United States will lend money by coordinating the banks and defining the value of the dollar. A Governor on the Federal Reserve board communicates with the twelve region s bank presidents, economic analysts, and their regional directors, and collectively define the dollar by selling long-term and short-term bonds that advance a percentage of the worth. Once an agreement has been made upon fraction percentage, banks are required toRead MoreThe Federal Reserve System Is The Central Banking System Of The United States987 Words   |  4 PagesThe Federal Reserve system is the central banking system of the United States. It was created because there were a series of panics in the U.S that needed to be controlled in the monetary system. The main points of this system that was created was to originally maximize employment, stabilize prices, and moderate long-term interest rates. It now does much more for example it supervises and regulates banks, maintains the stability of the financial system and provides financial services to depositoryRead MoreThe Federal Open Market Committee1313 Words   |  6 PagesAbstract The Federal Reserve System has three branches: the Board of Governors, The Federal Open Market Committee, and Reserve Banks. The Federal Reserve System (Fed) supplies and regulates America’s money to all the banks. The Board of Governors is the main authority of the three branches of the Fed, and it supervises other banks. The Federal Open Market Committee is the most prominent policymaker of the three branches and regulates the supply of money in the economy. Federal Reserve Banks serve

Sustainability - 4560 Words

Table of Contents Title Page (s) | Executive Summary | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | 1 | Introduction | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | 2 | Sustainability | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | 3 | The Importance for managers to understand sustainability ---------------------------- | 4 ~ 5 | The influence of sustainability on organizational behavior ------------------------------ | 6 | Definition of Team†¦show more content†¦1.3 Limitations Due to word count limitation of 4,000 words for the team assignment, the authors were not able to cover all the views related to sustainability, team work and teambuilding. 1.4 Assumptions It was assumed that the organization does not have team work culture in place and the organization has the financial capability and means to implement all recommendations to build high performance teams suggested in this report. The leaders and managers mentioned in this report are the decision makers necessary for policy creation or improvement. Sustainability The universal definition of Sustainability, defined in the Brundtland Report back in 1987 and quoted by Mulder (2007) is â€Å"Development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs†. In 1972, United Nations had its first Conference in Stockholm , where it discussed about the need for all member nations to have a common outlook based on common principles so as to inspire and guide the people of the world in the preservation and enhancement of the our environment (United Nations, 1972). Subsequent United Nation Conferences further discussed the development of sustainability and action plans in achieving the objectives. All these actions were in response to the industrial wastages, consumer and commercial waste and toxicity, depletion of non-renewable and renewable resources (Senge, Smith,Show MoreRelatedSustainability And The On Sustainability1016 Words   |  5 PagesSustainability â€Å"Sustainability refers to the long-term maintenance of brass according to environs al, economic and sociable considerations† (Crane Matten, 2010). Now a twenty-four hours, sustainability has become a part of our everyday lives or in business sector. There are some laws and policy that every business administration must follow the triple tail course also known as sustainability account. In triple bottom line, every brass must stress on three P’s namely profit / economy, people /societyRead MoreSustainability : Sustainability And Environmental Sustainability1625 Words   |  7 PagesSustainability is a topic that has become very important in recent years. Sustainability is defined as, â€Å"the ability to continue a defined behavior indefinitely.† (Finding and Resolving the Root Causes of the Sustainability Problem, 2014) There are three pillars that make up overall sustainability: social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Social sustainability focuses on all human needs being met and a society functioning properly indefinitely. Economic sustainability is achieving aRead MoreThe Sustainability, Economic Sustainability And Social Sustainability1861 Words   |  8 PagesSustainable and Sustainability are used to describe many different approaches for improving our life. Sustainability is about people and culture, our environment, jobs or countries. Could be defend as an ability or capacity of something to be maintained or to sustain itself. It s about taking what we need to live now. There is many departments of sustainability but the main are three environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and social sustainability. The term sustainability in a businessRead MoreThe Sustainability, Economic Sustainability And Social Sustainability1860 Words   |  8 PagesSustainable and Sustai nability are used to describe many different approaches for improving our life. Sustainability is about people and culture, our environment, jobs or countries. Could be defended as an ability or capacity of something to be maintained or to sustain itself. It s about taking what we need to live now. There is many departments of sustainability but the main are three environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and social sustainability. The term sustainability in a businessRead MoreSustainability : The Issue Of Sustainability1096 Words   |  5 PagesSustainability The issue of sustainability in today’s generation has developed as a result of a rapid and enormous population growth, growth in our world’s economy, and huge depletion of our natural resources. During the time of the Industrial Revolution our world population was around nine hundred million people. Since that time there has been an enormous growth in population, which in turn has placed a huge demand on our earth’s natural resources. By the year 2000 the earth’s population was sixRead MoreSustainability And Its Impact On Sustainability1169 Words   |  5 Pageswhat sustainability is? Sustainability could be defined as an ability or capacity of something to be maintained or to sustain itself. It’s about taking what we need to live now, without jeopardizing the potential for people in the future to meet their needs. If an activity is said to be sustainable, it should be able to continue forever. what sets it apart from simply â€Å"environmentalis m† or â€Å"environmental protection† Sustainability, in contrast to the environmentalism, represents the idea that humanRead MoreSustainability684 Words   |  3 Pagestoday’s global economy sustainability is very important; from the biological aspect to the industries they all play a role on the marine environment. As world population increases the demand of fish rises causing overfishing. Certain laws have been placed to limit the amount of wild fishing to reduce the risk of endangerment. To meet the demand of the population, fish farms are introduced. Pollution and health related issues are part of the challenges of fish farming. Sustainability also affects socialRead MoreSustainability And Development Of Sustainability1422 Words   |  6 PagesSustainability is the development to meet current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (WCED, 1987). Today, sustainability is being incorporated into business strategie s, as organisations begin to adopt a sustainability strategy. This strategy is involving organisational operations to be sustainable, such as reducing pollution, each organisation identifies sustainability slightly differently and it is reflected in their strategy which is designed andRead MoreImpact Of Globalization On Sustainability And Sustainability1295 Words   |  6 PagesSustainability is one of the most discussed subjects at the present time. With global warming, increase in the population, clean water deficiency and shortage of food, people more and more thinking about how to make their life more sustainable. But what is sustainability? According to United Nations, â€Å"sustainability means meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own need.† To satisfy our needs we use natural resources as well as social and economicRead MoreSustainability And Its Impact On Sustainability Essay2015 Words   |  9 PagesSustainabili ty is a growing concern for many individuals and companies as resources are becoming increasingly limited, hazardous, and expensive. Over the last few years, more people have been informed about sustainable options, which have been easier to obtain and contribute to, as well as wanting to purchase more sustainable options from companies. Since the idea of sustainability is so broad, everyone can contribute in a way they feel is most beneficial. Whether individuals and companies are giving

Banc One Corporation an Analysis of Their Hedging Strategy free essay sample

The fall in stock prices put a damper on this drive for acquiring banks with potential for earnings and growth (it had 10 pending acquisitions worth $9 billion in November 1993). In this study we analyze the possible reasons for the fall in stock price and suggest ways to stop the hemoraging. In December 1993 Banc One held presentations in New York, Boston, and San Francisco to clarify its position on the use of financial instruments known as derivatives. Banc One used Interest Rate Swaps, the most common type of derivative instrument, to manage interest rate sensitivity. At these presentations, Richard Lodge, the chief investment officer, made clear that Banc One was not a dealer but an end-user of swaps. Lodge emphasized that the bank’s position was one of hedging and not of speculating. They first started using swaps in 1983, and subsequently, when the tax reform act of 1986 eliminated the advantages of municipal bonds as a tool for managing interest rate exposure, their dependence on swaps further increased. We will write a custom essay sample on Banc One Corporation an Analysis of Their Hedging Strategy or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page By 1993 the notional value of Banc One’s derivative portfolio had grown to $38 billion, a sum almost equal to half its assets! The amounts of Banc One’s swaps contracts depended on various factors such as: the loan demand, the slope of the yield curve, the amount of capital held by the bank, and the cost of cash market versus the derivative market. Interest rate swaps have several inherent advantages over bonds and other instruments: capital is preserved, liquidity is increased, swaps contracts enabled faster response to changes in market conditions, and swaps can be customized for duration and other variables. In the light of these overwhelmingly positive features of swaps and other similar instruments, Banc One was in the derivative market to stay. Hence, their task was to ease investors fears of these relatively new instruments and reassure them of the prudence of the continued use of these instruments. Banc One intended to be as transparent as possible in reporting its derivative dealings. In the rest of this study we examine the various issues involved in this complex case. USE OF SWAPS Like most regional banks, Banc ones natural balance sheet position is asset sensitive, hence interest rates on their assets reset more quickly than on their liabilities. On one hand 73% of Banc One’s assets are indexed to the prime rate, and thus vary with the market, while on the other hand, 50 to 60% of bank liabilities, mostly non-commercial loans (Certificates of Deposit) are fixed rate. This situation is exacerbated by the fact that commercial customers are more responsive to interest rate movements and will exercise their options to refinance quicker, unlike non-commercial customers who are mostly CDs holders which are considered sticky-fixed. The result of this asset sensitive position is that Banc One’s earnings rise and fall with interest rates. To minimize this interest rate exposure banks traditionally invested in short and medium-term U. S. Treasures and high quality municipal bonds as a hedge against their asset sensitive position. They would borrow at a floating rate and use the proceeds to buy U. S. treasuries and municipal bonds and thus increase their fixed rate assets. The result is a reduction in its asset sensitivity. Prior to 1986 municipal bonds had an added attraction in that banks could deduct 80% of the interest expense incurred on the money which funded their purchase. Furthermore, the income earned on the bonds was tax exempt. The result was that Banc One earned a large spread on the municipal bond hedge. The 1986 Tax Reform Act eliminated the tax deductibility feature of municipal bonds. Banc One looked for a substitute hedge that would provide high yield and safety. Mortgage backed securities (MBSs) seemed to foot the bill. However, mortgage backed pools provided lower after-tax return and carried a prepayment risk. Because the mortgagor has the option to prepay a mortgage, the holder of the MBSs are short interest rate volatility. This short position is particularly relevant when interest rates fall and mortgagors refinance mortgages en-mass. This is a double whammy for MBS holders since they become awash in cash when interest rates are low and have to re-invest this cash in an unfavorable environment. In addition, when interest rates rise MBS holders are stuck with a below market yield since now the mortgagors have a good deal and they hold on to their mortgages. To avoid the risks associated with MBS, Banc One held collatteralized mortgage obligations (CMOs). CMOs are pooled mortgage securities. The pool is divided into different groups or tranches which differ in priority of prepayment. The groupings allowed Banc One the ability to better gauge the speed of prepayment. But the prepayment risk still remained. By holding CMOs Banc One had sold a call option on interest volatility. Banc One was short volatility. Thus, the sale of the option increased the banks revenue though at the same time increased its exposure to interest rate volatility. Another disadvantage of CMOs was that they were less liquid than Treasuries or municipal bonds. However, the biggest drawback of CMOs was that the capital adequacy guide lines required that Banc One hold 50% of the principal value of the asset. Cash and Treasures required no risk adjusted weighting while municipal bonds required 20% and municipal revenue bonds required 50% weighting. In the late 1980’s Banc One realized that it could use swaps to adjust its floating to fixed position. The swap contract acted as a synthetic investment and held numerous advantages over Banc Ones prior risk management strategy. First, swaps improved Banc Ones liquidity. They also freed up capital for short term investment which provided cash when needed to repay liabilities such as CD withdraws. Second, the off-balance sheet accounting of swaps increased ROA and ROE. The receive fix rate swaps did not appear as an asset or a liability, but were disclosed in footnotes to the financial statements. Yet gains and losses would still be placed on the income statement. If the bank were to use a traditional hedge, buying a fixed rate bond and selling a floating rate security both would appear on the balance sheet: the net result being to lower traditional profitability measures. Finally, as outlined above capital adequacy requirements are a concern to all banks including Banc One. Swaps allowed Banc One to get around these requirements. HEDGING RISK vs MANAGING RISK With the success of its initial CMO and swap strategy, Banc One looked to replace these instruments with synthetic CMOs. This lead to the development of Amortized Interest Rate Swaps (AIRS). These swaps allowed for high yields in exchange for taking on prepayment risk. One of the major benefits of AIRs was the substantial reduction of capital adequacy requirements. This reduced capital requirement was cited by Banc one as one of the primary reasons for entering into AIRS. Richard Lodge was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying, Why in the world more banks do not use interest rate swaps to preserve capital, I dont know Its not an esoteric phenomenon anymore, WSJ February 1993. The AIRS also avoided unpredictable or idiosyncratic prepayment risk associated with MBS and CMOs. In addition the AIRS also were more liquid than traditional CMOs, an important consideration for a bank that might need or want to re-hedge its position. How do AIRS work? The AIRS replicated the mortgage backed securities with similar prepayment features. The notional amount of the AIRS were reduced or amortized if interest rates fell. As interest rates declined, the AIRS would amortize faster. Just like CMOs, Banc One would have to reinvest just when market yields were at their lowest. If market rates rose the instrument’s maturity would wind up longer than expected, again leaving Banc One with below market returns. What are the advantages of AIRS? When Banc One entered into the contract it received a fixed 120 bases points over the current Treasury security of the same maturity. By contrast, a comparable CMO would yield 100 basis points over treasury and a plain vanilla swap only 20 basis points over Treasury. Thus Banc One goosed up its returns by entering into the AIRS. In effect Banc One was willing to sell a call option on interest rate volatility in order to earn above market returns. The premium it received for selling this embedded call option was part of the 120 basis points it received. Thus Banc One was short a call option on interest rate volatility. The value of the call Banc One sold increased with interest rate volatility. Mortgage backed securities like CMOs, are tied to the high end of the yield curve because mortgages are long term obligations. The high end of the yield curve is less volatile than the short end of the curve. But the AIRS with quarterly payment periods are tied to the more volatile short end of the yield curve. The 20 additional basis points Banc One received on AIRS over traditional CMOs reflected the additional interest rate volatility sensitivity built into AIRS. The prepayment risk or amortization feature of AIRS complicated the task of measuring interest rate risk. The embedded option made Banc Ones earnings sensitivity nonlinear: Banc Ones returns now followed a convex path. This convexity or nonlinear risk profile because of the embedded options introduced a second order exposure to Banc Ones position. This second order derivative in effect exposed the bank to gamma sensitivity in addition to the delta sensitivity of interest rates. The bank now had significantly greater exposure to the volatility of interest rates. This volatility exposure was much greater than if the bank used plain vanilla swaps or Treasury securities to hedge their risks. The effectiveness of AIRS as hedging substitutes for Treasuries and CMOs depended critically on the cash flow characteristics of Banc Ones on balance sheet assets and liabilities. Banc One chose to trade the risk of increased exposure to volatility for higher earnings. This strategy would pay off for the bank if stable interest rates prevailed. When interest rates suddenly moved upwards in late 1993 and early 1994 Banc Ones interest rate volatility exposure hurt them by negatively effecting the AIRS. The question we must now ask is: Was Dick Lodge totally candid in his 1993 presentations? At the time he went on record as stating that Banc One used swaps only to hedge risk and not to speculate. Although Banc One certainly did use AIRs and other derivatives to hedge interest rate exposure, the above analysis reveals that in doing so Banc One took on exposure to interest rate volatility. Our feeling is that it would be naive to assume that Banc One did not know what it was doing. By trading volatility risks for higher returns the bank was taking a position on volatility. Labeling this as speculation may be somewhat of a strong statement, but there is no doubt that Banc One took a view and acted on it. We feel that Mr. Lodge must be more definitive in his explanation of Banc One’s derivative usage. MANAGING SWAP RISKS: BASIS RISK, COUNTER PARTY RISK Although swaps are superior to cash instruments in managing interest rate sensitivity, the use of swaps raised additional issues. Unlike Treasuries, or bonds, swap derivatives brought on basis risk and credit risk which Banc One had to deal with. The floating leg of most conventional swaps are indexed to LIBOR which changes daily. However, Banc Ones floating rate assets were mostly based on the U. S. rime rate which changed infrequently. The difference in the spread of these two indices caused a basis risk problem. To manage the bases risk Banc One entered into additional bases swaps. The bases swaps required Banc One to pay floating rate based on prime and receive floating rate based on LIBOR. This simple transaction allowed Banc One to confidently deal with the bases risk brought on by the original swap contract. The second is sue confronting Banc One was credit risk. U. S. Treasuries posed no credit risk and municipal bonds posed only minor credit risk. Swaps, however, exposed Banc One to the risk of counter party default. Swaps naturally mitigated this credit risk in two ways. First, the higher yield as compared to treasuries compensated for the additional credit risk. Second, while the entire principal of a bond or security is at risk, with a swap only the net payment, not the notional amount is at risk. Banc One went beyond these provisions by establishing strict policies for managing its counter party exposure. First, the counter parties it dealt with were rated no lower than single A. Second, Bank One constantly monitored its mark-to-market exposure to each counter party. Total derivative and direct lending exposure to any one counter party was limited by in-house guide lines. Finally, Banc One required that each counter party post collateral in the form of securities or cash against the credit exposure. The amount of collateral posted was equal to Banc Ones possible losses in one month from an extreme movement in interest rates. In addition, counter parties were required to post additional collateral as the market value of the swap changed over the life of the contract. The net result was that Banc One was not exposed to sums due for which it was not fully collateralized. If a counter party was to default, the mark-to-market value of the collateral would allow Banc One to enter into a new swap with a new counter party to replace the defaulted agreement. These collateral agreements were unique. Banc Ones solid credit rating allowed it to obtain these collateral agreements. Furthermore, Banc One disclosed the identity, notional amount, amount of collateral, potential exposure, and net credit exposure of each counter party. A list of the counter-parties with whom Banc One had swap agreements in October 1993 is shown below. STOCK PRICE Banc One’s stock price dropped dramatically during the latter half of 1993 from $44. 36 to a year end close of $35. 57, nearly a 20% drop. There are many theories to explain why the stock price dropped and why shareholder wealth suffered. We will attempt to explain the theories we subscribe to. First, Banc One was focused primarily on earnings volatility risk and had a strategy of entering into swaps which would enabled them to dampen their susceptibility to asset interest rate sensitivity. Based on their analysis, Banc One determined that an interest rate fluctuation of more than + 100 basis points was unlikely. Given this assumption, the decision was made to enter into AIRS to take advantage of higher yields for such low interest rate volatility. This strategy theoretically allowed Banc One to gain an additional 100 basis point advantage over Plain Vanilla Swaps (PVS). This swap strategy essentially guaranteed them constant positive earnings over the next ten years in the range of + 100 basis points. By effectively locking in earnings over this very small range, Banc one exposed itself to large volatility risk. Based on their analysis, the firm predicted that low volatility in interest rates would not have an effect on shareholder value. But, because stock value is the sum of all expected future cash flows discounted back at the current discount rate, its value is effected by changes in the discount rate. As interest rates increased by 175 basis points between November ‘93 and October ‘94, Banc One’s earnings decreased drastically. This reduction adversely effected the stock value. Intuition tells us that if the cash flows decrease over time and the discount rate continues to increase, the value of the stock will decrease. If we look at the mathematical implications, the formula shows us that decreased earnings means the numerator is becomes smaller while the increase in ‘r’ forces the denominator to become larger. The ultimate result is the stock price decreases. Second, the fact is that in 1993 the business world was still trying to sort out the issues associated with using derivatives, especially exotic swaps, to decrease interest rate risk. The industry was comfortable with the use of CMOs and plain vanilla swaps as risk management tools. The use of AIRS was viewed as speculative in nature and was not completely understood by many analysts and investors. Banc One’s derivative portfolio consisted of numerous AIRS and generated a large portion of the firm’s income (around 26%: $442 million out of $1. 7 billion). Although Banc One tried to formulate an extensive teaching and disclosure plan, the level of acceptance and understanding was not adequate to maintain stock value. Unfortunately, after the disclosure meetings many of the analysts and investors were left with more questions than before. This resulted in analysts and investors making subjective assessments of the firm’s future cash flows as being risky. Their assessment carried with it a risk premium, which in effect put downward pressure on stock prices. Again, intuition tells us that if the expected cash flows are risky the discount rate rises: the stock price and shareholder value will decrease. Mathematically, the denominator is increasing causing the stock price to decrease. Finally, the market was extremely leery of the use of exotic derivatives such as AIRS as risk management tools because of the events in Orange County, California, and cases involving Banker’s Trust at the time. The disaster that befell them and the apparent risks associated with the extensive use of derivatives only served to discount the positive aspects of Banc One’s strategy. Furthermore, the disclosure that Bankers Trust was Banc One’s largest counterparty (see chart on page 11) did not help quell investors fears. The market fears forced the analysts to subjectively add a risk premium, which caused downward pressure on the firm’s stock prices. As with the point above, intuition tells us that if the expected cash flows are smaller while the discount rate is rising, the stock price will decrease. INTEREST RATE VOLATILITY AND EARNINGS As we saw above, Banc One did not disclose that they had actually increased their exposure to volatility in order to earn higher yields while hedged against small movements in interest rates. During the same ten year time period, prior to 1993, Banc One had also swapped into a position to keep a relatively stable stream of earnings for the next ten years of 2. 37%. How do these two issues relate to each other and how did they adversely affect the stock and firm values? First, the issue of volatility risk is significant to Banc One because they essentially counted on interest rate movements being very small over the life of their swap agreements. They demonstrated this by entering into numerous AIR swaps, which hedged out almost all risks associated with small interest rate movements while exposing them to large volatility risk. There are two reasons why this may have happened: improper analysis of possible future interest rate fluctuations or a deliberate assumption of volatility risk in return for higher yields. Second, is volatility in earnings of significant risk to Banc One? The firm had adequately hedged against variability in earnings by essentially swapping into a situation where they were receiving a higher overall interest rate than they were paying out. By doing this, they locked in a fixed spread and stabilized their earnings. The stabilization of earnings through the year 2004 effectively resulted in a no growth earnings situation. Again, although the firm was hedged against small changes in interest rates, a large swing in interest rates would drive down earnings and force the discount rate at which future cash flows are discounted to rise, lowering the value of the stock. With the firm hedging against their exposure to changes in earnings over such a small range in interest rates, they have inadvertently exposed themselves to another increased risk in volatility. It is evident to us, that the exposure to volatility risk was the key ingredient to the devaluation of Banc One’s stock prices. The need for minimized volatility in earnings is clearly essential. There must be an appropriate balance between the value of the spread gained by investing in AIRS and the amount of exposure a firm faces in terms of interest rate volatility. DISCLOSURE Banc One realized early on that their derivative usage was being characterized as speculative in nature and that many of its investors were simply unclear on the use of derivatives as a hedging tool. Under these circumstances, the Chairman and CEO of Banc One, John B. McCoy, embarked on a plan to make full disclosure of Banc One’s off balance sheet derivatives portfolio activity. This discussion will focus primarily on the disclosure associated with one particular derivative, the interest rate swap. During the ten years prior to 1993, Banc One had made a significant move away from the use of United States Treasury securities to manage interest rate sensitivity and instead dealt with interest rate risk by careful selection of interest rate swapping arrangements. By the end of 1993, Banc One held an off balance sheet derivatives portfolio of notional value of approximately $38 billion which amounted to a sum nearly half that of the assets on its balance sheet. How important is a strategy of disclosure to Banc One? First, one must analyze the pros and cons. The most important advantage in McCoy’s opinion, was that disclosure was the only way to educate the public in the area of derivatives usage. Knowledge was the key to the market’s positive assessment of Banc One’s strategy. Further, a positive assessment of their strategy was essential to the value of the firm’s stock. Full disclosure of off-balance sheet activities was not required by the FASB and was certainly not a common practice among the other banks utilizing derivatives. What are the cons associated with disclosure of financial activities not required? One important disadvantage is that disclosure can signal other firms in the industry as to your competitive strategy. It may also dispel other firm’s fears of your ability to conduct business in a price warfare environment and actually force competitors to engage in such practices. Given that the pros far outweigh the cons in this case (and for the sake of our argument), why were McCoy’s efforts to disclose the firm’s derivatives package and its portfolio management strategy in late 1993 and early 1994, largely unsuccessful? It is our opinion that in the hopes of educating investors and analysts, McCoy and Lodge actually confused them about Banc One’s overall derivatives strategy. We hold McCoy and his financial staff accountable for several reasons. The most important reason is that in disclosing the off balance sheet figures, they did not adequately represent the risk position of the firm after the hedge was set in place. Our analysis follows: Because Banc One relied heavily on Amortizing Index swaps (AIRs), it put itself in an excellent position to manage interest rate sensitivity between the ranges of + 100 basis points. This very important decrease in exposure to small interest movements was only one half of the story and was highlighted in their derivatives presentations in New York, Boston, and San Francisco. However, the firm neglected to highlight the significant increase in exposure to interest rate movements above and below 100 basis points. Consequently, some investors and analysts were able to foresee the shift in convexity in the value function of Banc One with the heavy use of AIR swaps, and the omission of this information further added to their skepticism. The failure to address this issue had the effect of painting a picture that was to good to be true. Discounting investors’ knowledge/ignorance of all the specifics involved in derivative risk management techniques, the natural reaction of risk conscious investors is to question the perfect investment’s merit and perhaps even to put a subjective negative twist on the firm’s future cash flows and ultimate value. This inadequate disclosure contributed to the decline in the firm’s stock price. RECCOMMENDATION A basic tenet of finance is that in equilibrium the rate of return the market expects on an investment increases as the risk involved in the investment increases. A stylized representation of this is shown in the figure below. Thus, a corporation that assumes a risky strategy should anticipate the market to demand a correspondingly high return for its investment. We saw that a sizable portion of Banc Ones fixed rate investments were in mortgage backed securities, CMOs, and AIRs. These three instruments all involve prepayment risk (in addition some of the bank’s liabilities, like CDs, also involved prepayment risk). The diagram below shows the value of an AIR contract, which is really a synthetic CMO, with respect to a plain vanilla swap as a function of interest rates. Notice that, for a range of interest rates AIRs pay better than plain vanilla swaps but outside this range the value of AIRs drops below that of a plain swap. Hence, because of the three fixed income instruments: mortgages, CMOs, and AIRs, which have similar yield curves, the earnings for Banc One corporation assumes convexity with respect to interest rate fluctuations as shown in the diagram below. When this position is hedged using plain vanilla swaps the earning curve for Banc One is as shown below. As can be seen in the diagram below, for a range of interest rates Banc One’s earnings are high but if the rates were to fluctuate outside this range its earnings would drop dramatically. Banc One took this position hoping that interest rates would not fluctuate beyond this range. It took this risk in its pursuit of higher yields and lost its bet since interest rates rose higher than it had anticipated in late 1993 and early 1994. Banc One should realize that the market is efficient and the fall in their stock price was in part due to the volatility created in its earnings because of its large fixed rate portfolio of AIRs, CMOs, and mortgages which are exposed to volatility risks. Hence our recommendation to Banc One is the following: †¢Banc One should reasses the amount of risk they want to assume and expect a corresponding yield: There are no free lunches. †¢Re-hedge their fixed rate investment portfolio to reduce its volatility risk and be satisfied with a lower yield. †¢ BIBLIOGRAPHY Banc One Corporation (A): Harvard Business School Case, Dale O. Coxe, June 1995. Banc One Corporation: Asset and Liability Management. Harvard Business School Report, Ben Esty, Peter Tufano, and Jonathan Headley. Derivative use in Banks: The six ironies, Robert Albertson, Goldman Sachs Co. Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Vol 7, No. 3, p. 52, Fall 1994. The Use of Index Amortizing Swaps by Banc One, Christopher James and Clifford Smith, Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Vol 7, No. 3, p. 54, Fall 1994. Comments on Banc One, Ethan Heisler, Salomon Brothers, Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Vol 7, No. 3, p. 59, Fall 1994. What Can Bankers Learn About Hedging Strategy From The Banc One Case, Edward J. Kane, Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Vol 7, No. 3, p. 61, Fall 1994. Futures Options Swaps Forwards Default Risk AIRs Risk Management Lectures Home

The Competing Value Framework Samples †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Competing Value Framework. Answer: The competing value framework (CVF) is referred to as a widely used and effectual structure for assessment of organizational culture and dynamics of organization. Grabowski et al. (2015) suggests that CVF necessarily stemmed from research of detection of criteria of effectiveness. Furthermore, these specific criteria of effectiveness were necessarily internal and external dimensions. Basically CVF recognizes various underlying dimensions or metrics of arranging that exist in almost all organizational activities and human beings (Wang and Ritchie 2015). However, in the current case, the CVF framework presented below reveals the four diverse quadrants in a single spider web with two dimensions. The first dimension focuses on effectiveness of a corporation that essentially has an internal orientation with concentration on development, assimilation of various actions, coordination as well as collaboration (Wang and Ritchie 2015). The following dimension concentrates on efficacies of a corporation along with culture that necessarily exerts impact on both stability as well as flexibility. A spider web is hereby presented designed according to the responses to the questions of the survey. As is presented below, the role of an innovator and a broker primarily relies on both creativity and communication skills of executing change. Particularly, in this segment, I have secured a high score. Again, the monitor as well as coordinator role can be regarded to be very relevant for administration of system and integration and this requires proficiency inmanagement of projects and expertise in supervision (Wang and Ritchie 2015). However, in my current case, the score is pretty good and is similar to my score as innovator and broker. Also, roles of director and producer are essentially geared towards achievement of goal and in this segment as well my score is high as presented in the CVF framework below. Again, roles of facilitator and mentor chiefly orient around at developing an inspired work force that is necessarily driven by superior levels of commitment together with inten se engagement. In this segment, there is high score replicating my strengths in this area as well as well. References Grabowski, L., Neher, C., Crim, T. and Mathiassen, L., 2015. Competing values framework application to organizational effectiveness in voluntary organizations: A case study.Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly,44(5), pp.908-923. Wang, J. and Ritchie, B.W., 2015. The influence of organizational culture on crisis planning: an application of the Competing Values Framework (CVF) in Chinese hotels.Tourism crisis and disastermanagement in the Asia-Pacific, pp.44-61.