Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 5 Words: 1590 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Many companies, both producers and/or users of commodities can be negatively impacted by sudden price changes in their production inputs or outputs. Producers of commodities such as in the mining, oil or farming industries would sure benefit from increasing prices of their respective outputs, but face a risk of very serious losses and even bankruptcy should the opposite happens. On the other hand, within those industries and most others, some commodities are also used as production inputs and therefore would negatively impact companies may prices rise. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity Finance Essay" essay for you Create order In all cases, the overall price volatility in commodities is often negatively perceived and, to the extent of a companys level of exposure to commodities in its production process, can be seen as a very serious business risk. (). In order to reduce some of the risk and often with the objective of protecting their profit margins, companies will resort to hedging. The risk management strategy of hedging can be described as a way limit or offset the probability of a loss from the volatility in the price of a commodity, securities and/or currency (Hull, 2012). For the purpose of this thesis, a hedge will be defined as taking a short position in the futures market in order to cover one contract of a long position held in the spot market by the hedger. Other derivatives such as forward contracts or options are also used for hedging purposes, but futures are seen as the most dominant in commodity markets mainly because of their liquidity and transparency advantages (Geman, 2005). The exact amount of the futures contract to be purchased against that one spot position is called the hedge ratio (HR) and the HR chosen to minimize the variance (volatility) of the hedgers portfolio will be referred to as the minimum varia nce hedge ratio (MVHR). Countless research papers have been written about MVHR, its relevance and the different ways of estimating it (see, for example Johnson 1960; Ederington, 1979; Myers 199). With constant advancements in the field of Econometrics, researchers began investigating more and more complex methods to derive the MVRH, for example by incorporating time variation into the estimation of the variance-covariance matrix (see, for example .. ****************). However, no clear consensus has been reached yet on the best ways to construct a MVHR, and many of the empirical studies considering assumptions and estimated variables, concluded to somewhat contradictory results. Furthermore, many of the newer, more complicated models require cumbersome econometric models and, therefore, might not be most suitable for actual use by companies in the commercial world. This thesis aims at capturing the recent advancement made on the MVHR while considering and testing models that could be considered as (to be continued (About 1 more page)talk a bit about the commodities +++ the rest of this thesis willÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ÃƒÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ ) Framework The Spot and Futures Markets The spot market can be defined as a market where a commodity is bought or sold for immediate (or with a minimum lag) physical delivery. Not that long ago, those markets where actual physical places where buyers and sellers would meet to exchange, for example, their crops. Its important to note that all commodities are traded on spot markets. In the 18th century, some U.S. farmers started selling their own crops at the time of planting to help finance them and across the ocean, in London, metal began trading in the same fashion, leading the way to the first derivative market: the forward market (Geman, 2005). We can consider this market as an informal one where over-the-counter contracts for future delivery of commodities are exchanged by participants. The standardization of such informal markets by ways of controlling quantities, qualities, dates of deliveries and locations, led to the establishment of the Futures exchanges (Bailey, 2005; Hull, 2012). Some of the better known exchanges are, for example, the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) founded in 1848 (agricultural and financial futures), the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) founded in 1874 (livestock and financial), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) (precious metal and energy) and the London Metal Exchange (LME) (base metal). On these exchanges, standardized contracts are bought and sold by a variety of participants with different objectives. First we have the hedgers, whose opposite positions to their own spot exposure have for goal to reduce risk and protect their profit margins. Second we have the speculators who, taking advantage of the quasi costless characteristic of futures contracts, will use them to speculate on commodity prices. Third comes the arbitrageurs whose presence is essential to make sure the relationship between spot and future prices as well as prices on different exchanges remains true. In principal, the value of a futures contract should approximat e the spot market price plus the cost of carrying the commodity, such as interest, storage and insurance costs. If such difference came to exist, arbitrageur would take position in the markets making a risk free profit and bringing prices back in line in the process. And finally, futures, often due to their unique correlation to financial markets, are now increasingly used by portfolio managers in order to hedge their general portfolio risk (Bailey, 2005; Geman, 2005). Hedging with Futures Contracts As previously discussed, hedging is primarily done with intent of reducing risk. Four basic categories of futures exists where the underlying can be a physical commodity (such as it is the case in this thesis), a foreign currency, an asset earning interest or and index (Hull, 2012). Also, different hedging strategies exists as some hedgers want to protect only part of their exposure sometimes due to a certain risk profile or some industry standards, and others, highly risk averse participant, will choose to eliminate the price risk as much as possible, often preferring to protect their profit margins deriving from their main business activities. Throughout this thesis such an assumption will be made as the HR will be built with the intent of hedging as much as possible the exposure of a risk-averse hedger. This can be referred to as a pure risk-avoidance hedging strategy (Bailey, 2005). In practice, hedgers will use futures contracts in two ways. Companies knowing they will have to buy a certain asset in the future can choose to lock in the price of that asset and buy a long position in a related futures contract (referred to as a long hedge). Alternatively, some companies such as commodity producers will know the approximate quantity of an asset they will have to sell in the future and will want to lock in today the price of that asset (this is referred to as a short hedge). The later way will be used in this thesis to construct the hedged portfolio used in order to assess the hedge effectiveness. As only the variance reduction is considered, using either ways would give the same results. Basis Risk Although hedging aims at reducing risk, doing it right is often not as simple as just buying or selling the opposite quantity of the exposure. This is mainly due to the introduction of basis risk in the equation. Understanding it is essential to understand the reasons being the HR. Basis is defined as: Best example of Basis risk is the German Company and its oil positionÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ A Look at the Selected Commodities Optimal Hedge Ratio OHR A Review Static versus dynamic hedging OHR for Commodities OHR The Methods To perform an empirical study of the minimum variance hedging strategy, the HR needs to be estimated with the help of some statistical models. (see (19) page 8) No Hegde NaÃÆ'ƒÂ ¯ve Hedge Constant OLS Rolling window OLS EWMA OLS Simplified GARCH (1,1) Data Analysis As the aim of this thesis is to provide evidence of the best hedge ratio methodology using recent data, only the quantitative approach will be used, providing empirical results onÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦. Statisitcal MethodologyÃÆ' ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬Ãƒâ€šÃ‚ ¦ Introduce the reason for the 3 periods (financial crisis.. volatility effect, etc) Statistical Tests Test for Normality Test for Stationary Time Series Test for Autocorrelation Test for Heteroskedasticity Statistical Tests Results Delimitations and Assumptions The main assumption in this thesis, as it also is in most literature relating to OHRs, is that the hedger has perfect knowledge of the amount of commodities needed or produced at a future date. In reality, this is obviously rarely the case, therefore producers or users of commodities will use estimates to construct their hedging strategy (). Delimitations: This thesis do not differentiate between long and short hedgers, exclude foreign exchange risk and possible correlation, Only cover Futures (not Options and FWDs), Focus only on Commodities, No forcast tool intended Only OLS (normal + rolling window) is used, leaving aside GARCH etc Assumptions: Risk aversion, In this thesis, as it the case for most of the literature written on OHRs, only the variance is used as the measure of risk (see for example: balbalbal), therefore making the generally accepted assumption which gives equal weight to both positive and negative returns. Since Markowitz (1952), the variance became the most widely used measure of risk but this traditional approach has been criticized by some (Cotter 2005, etc) who suggested that OHR estimations could be improved if tail specific metrics such VaR, Semi-Variance and LPM were also evaluated. (is this needed because of risk aversion ) Other assumptions: The hedge period is set and sure at the time od hedging No FX is considered Empirical Findings Optimal Hedge Ratio The Results Discussion () Conclusion There is no question to the importance for companies of having a sound and tested risk management strategy. As one of the most traded derivative instruments for commodities, futures certainly play an important role in the hedging process. Appendix

Exploring The Four Ancient Civilizations- Mesopotamia,...

Before the beginning of history, people from across the land gradually developed numerous cultures, each unique in some ways while the same time having features in common. Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Israel are all important to the history of the world because of religious, social, political and economic development. In the first civilization, both Mesopotamia and Egypt relied on a hunter-gatherer economic system, during that time, every country in the world strived on it. Mesopotamia had rich soil for agriculture, but experiences floods. For the Mesopotamians, these floods would destroy major cities, but for the Egyptians it would keep the soil rich all year long without the damage that the Mesopotamians had experienced.†¦show more content†¦Egyptian women could enter into contracts under their own name; they could initiate civil court cases and could, likewise, be sued; they could serve as witnesses in court cases; they could serve on juries; and they could witness lega l documents. Religion was practiced throughout Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. Both the Mesopotamians and Egyptians shared polytheistic beliefs. Each god was responsible for an action, but they did not consider the gods to be equal in Mesopotamian society, in order to please the gods, a sacrifice must be made to please them in order to avoid the god’s wrath. The separation of church and state did not exist in both ancient civilizations, pharaohs of Egyptian society was known to be a god on Earth, the incarnation of Horus, the falcon god. The Mesopotamian rulers were known as a representative to the gods. Although they worship to several different gods, they do have differences between the two. The idea of an afterlife, In Mesopotamia didn’t exist but for the Egyptians the idea of an afterlife was of significant importance to them, rituals were held to ensure that the body and soul would be ready for an eternal life after death. The writing systems of both the Mesop otamians and the Egyptians have many similarities. Pictographic writing, which was developed by the

The similarities and differences between the sciences Essay Example For Students

The similarities and differences between the sciences Essay During the course of this essay, I Will attempt first to criticism science and scientists and show the arrogant assumptions that are made about science. Will then discuss the similarities between arts and sciences in the light of my criticisms, and finally look closely at the many differences between arts and sciences. There are several different criticisms that have been commonly leveled at science and scientists as a whole. Shall begin by attempting to identify these criticisms and identifying the reasoning behind each of them. The first of these criticisms is that science has been given similar status to a elision. It was commonly thought in the early days of science that science would eventually develop a theory for everything, thereby replacing religion through removing the ambiguous and the incomprehensible parts to elite with which religion dealt, In many ways science has replaced religion in the 21st century, as it has become the object of faith and even devotion. A blind faith has been placed in the unquestionable correctness of science and scientific research. It avgas Mile Druthers who first advanced the theory that given enough time, science would replace all traditional religions to be replaced by formal, unquestionable religion based upon science. It is the arrogance of many scientists that leads us to believe that scientific theories are facts, and can be treated as truth replacing religion by explaining the facts behind the creation and existence Of the world. The problem With this belief that science is unquestionable fact and can be treated in a similar way to a religion is twofold. First, scientific theories are advanced through observation and experimentation, these theories can never be proved entirely correct since they are based only on certain observations, as the full facts can never be known, a theory can only e said to be correct in so far as it is correct from the observations made given the facts available. Secondly, science and religion can never be directly linked since they do not overlap in any shape or form, Science deals with the physical, religion with the insubstantial. In their very essence the two are diametrically opposed to one another and cant be compared, In short, science deals with the how, religion, the why. Although science attempts to understand the world around us, how it was created and how we and other creatures came to exist, it can never fully explain the automated human search tort a higher being. There seems to be a desire within humans to believe in something larger and greater than that which is visible and physical, something science can never explain. For this reason, science can never replace religion, as it simply does not explain enough. Its explanations tall tar short of what would be needed to satisfy human curiosity. Religion, in general, does a much better job of explaining what needs to be explained about human nature. However, Scientists in recent years hue attempted to give their work a status of being unquestionably correct. As have already explained, the truth of science r the correctness or Otherwise Of a given theory can never be entirely proved. A theory can only be proved correct in so far as it is correct given a certain set Of facts, and Without having all the facts available, a theory can never be given the status of absolute fact, and consequently, no scientific theory can ever be proved, although it can be proved false through further research. However, this strong criticism of science can be taken even further. Karl Popper put forward the theory that scientific facts of the present day are simply probabilities, and only hold this status until such time as new evidence emerges allowing the hero to be dropped or adapted. Thomas Kuhn took this criticism of scientists even further, he believed that scientists, for the vast majority of the time, went to great lengths to fit their experiments to already existing theories, or when new information was taken into account, and it was simply accommodated by existing theories rather than new theories being created. Kuhn went tether in his criticism; he claimed that when new theories were advanced, it was normally due to a competition between two scientists. Eventually, one theory would emerge victorious, however, this emergence, claimed Kuhn, had little to do with he correctness or otherwise of the theory and more to do with the political connections and status of the scientists involved in the battle. Aberdeen takes his criticism of the methodology of science to the extreme and claims that the scientific experiments are not based on observation of facts, but interpretation of vat was seen. Essay On Jefferson EssaySimilarly, the brain Of a painter may interpret a beautiful sunset through the eyes and hence the painter Will paint an image based upon his perception. The historian, in a similar way to the way in which a scientist analyses his collected data, will analyses the facts that are presented to him in order to come up with a theory. In this way the many similarities between the sciences and arts as intellectual disciplines can be seen clearly, they are all ultimately reliant on perception and interpretation. Therefore, it can be assumed that although scientists attempt to distance homeless from and repute any claims that science as a discipline is subject any form of human error and instead attempt to give the impression that scientists are meticulous, rational, careful, observant and prepared to check and recheck theories until it is certain that they are correct, they are in fact as subject to human creativity and capability to make errors as their artistic counterparts, It is this reliance upon humanity in the discipline of science that makes it so similar to the arts in its ability to make assumptions and mistakes. However, despite all of this criticism, it is difficult to compare sciences and arts erectly as they are evidently a considerably different in their very essence as they essentially deal with entirely different concepts, and all though some Of the analysis and observation skills are common to both sorts of discipline the two are in many ways diametrically opposed to one another. Essentially, science is intent upon understanding that which exists in the world around us, whereas the arts are more concerned With interpretation Of that same world. This fundamental emphasis that science places upon understanding may rely upon hurrah observation and inspiration and therefore involve and element of human interpretation, but ultimately is far more concerned with looking closely at the already existing interrelations between two things and upon close scrutiny, an interpretation can be made that can explain for the most part a complex interrelationship. On the other hand, the arts will not delve below the surface and look at the very fundamentals of life itself and break this down through complex analytical processes, instead the arts are concerned with that which exists in a different way. The arts are far more concerned with an appreciation of that which is perceived, and an interpretation tooth same. For example, instead of breaking down a wheat field into many stalks of wheat composed of a stems, composed of vascular bundles and pith etc, an painter or poet will simply look at the beauty of the field in its entirety and write about or paint a picture of what he sees. In conclusion, the sciences and arts have much in common; they are essentially dependent on the human imagination for inspiration. The creative influence of the human mind exerts a powerful influence over both intellectual disciplines, and scientific theories can be considered just as dependent upon this creative factor as the artistic disciplines. However, it can be said that in many ways science is more concerned by observation Of facts reducing the scope for creativity after the initial idea. The scientific may not be able to suppress entirely his creative, artistic side but this is certainly less apparent in the scientist than in the artist. The scientist must be objective and look at everything as impartially as is humanly possible, rather than letting himself be swayed by What he expects or wants to happen. It is obvious that there is a certain element of bias is all scientific theories, but this is less apparent than with the artistic disciplines, here the artist has total control over how he portrays a given instance or scene and what bias he personally has. Sciences and arts separate essentially in what they deal with as a discipline, Science is essentially concerned with understanding, whereas the arts are more concerned with perception. This is the fundamental difference been the sciences and arts as intellectual disciplines, and although there are many comparisons to be drawn between to two intellectual disciplines due to their common dependence upon the frailties and faults of human nature, they are never the less essentially different in what they concentrate on,

Success free essay sample

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you none otherthan the one and only Nick A.! screamed the announcer into themicrophone, in a vain attempt to be heard over the eruption of cheers from theoverflowing auditorium. As I stood, brimming with pride, the noise grew to adeafening level. I walked slowly toward the podium, my grin growing with eachstep. The announcer shook my hand, the principal slapped me on the back, and as Istepped up to the podium, I looked up at a gigantic banner blazing forth mysuccess. It read: Nice Guy Builds Ramp! Well, it probablywould never happen that way. Nice Guy Builds Ramp! is not exactly acommon honor at an awards ceremony. The fact is I am, for the most part, a niceguy, and I did, in fact, build a ramp. And here is another fact: the truereward did not come from any ceremony but rather because I built it for someone Idid not even know, and it made a world of difference to her. We will write a custom essay sample on Success or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page She was an olderwoman, perhaps in her 70s. I never found out what was wrong with her, but she hada gigantic oxygen tank in her simply furnished living room, and she waswheelchair-bound. The whole business began when I participated in a summerprogram where teens from all over come together to do projects for people who aretoo old or poor to get them done. With other kids, I was assigned to build a rampfor this lady who had not been out of her house in seven years. At first Icould not believe I had been talked into going to a work camp, but I soon found Ihad never felt so good or had so much fun. My crew and I really bonded, with thiscommon goal of helping a woman who was only seeing the world from her window. Instantly, our group seemed to know each other. Lindsey was tall andathletic with really stretchy skin she could use to launch pencils from her knee,a talent she often demonstrated at lunch. Matt was a year younger and muchshorter, his crew cut not helping him much in the height department. We came tocall him the Handy Man because he was never without super-cargo pants that heldmore tools than seemed humanly possible. Michelle had great,super-precisely braided hair that looked as if it had taken hours to do. I wasreally impressed until one of the braids fell out. Oh, shoot, shesaid, and tied it back in. My whole world came crashing down when I realized thebraids were synthetic and that lots of girls wear them. As our workprogressed, we were so involved that we became impervious to the attacks ofpassersby who stopped to ask what we were doing and could not believe we wereworking for free. The big payoff came when our lady rolleddown the ramp for the first time. I will never forget her tears. For the firsttime in seven years she collected her mail herself. We all gave her a gigantichug. Still in a state of amazement, she invited us to visit anytime, claiming shehad plenty of soda. And as she thanked us over and over again, Ill admit it Iteared up. Building a ramp is not the only thing I was ever praised for. Iwon a bronze medal in the Rockland Final Fencing Tournament junior year, so Iknow what it is like to have people clapping when my name is called. But I alsoknow that building a ramp was a much greater success than any medal I could everwin. Success free essay sample â€Å"I don’t want to do it! I should just drop out!† I yelled. There are only two terms left, but I’ve got much better things I can be doing with my time. Like not being here. But I’m stuck here; doing work I don’t want to do, being more stressed than I need to be. I’m sitting at my desk, trying to do work, when my best friend comes in. Well, she used to be. But all the stress has really built up. I started smoking to try to deal with it, and she doesn’t approve. She begs me to stop, but I see no other way. So every night, I do my homework, find time for a smoke break, and continue. It’s better than dropping out, right? People should see things my way. I never get a break. I hate that she doesn’t want to talk to me anymore, but what else can I do? It’s 5-0, bottom of the seventh, your team is down, and you are coming up to bat. We will write a custom essay sample on Success or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page You have 2 options. You can give up before you even get up there, before the inning even starts, or you can go up there saying â€Å"I’m going to take the best three swings of my life† and give your team a chance at making that comeback. Whether or not you actually get a hit, and keep your team alive doesn’t matter as much as the decision that you make. To give up before your at bat, is to fail, is to not succeed. By giving up, and showing that you give up, you bring the rest of your team down with you. Even if it is not a team thing, more so an individual thing, the people around you will also be brought down in some way or another. To take that chance, see what you can do, that is to succeed, that determines whether your at bat was â€Å"successful† or not. Success means different things to different people. To some, it’s achieving something, becoming well-known, and the wealth that goes along with it. To others, it’s passing a test, a cla ss, an interview, a tryout, anything that applies. To me, success is simply not giving up. Doing your best, trying your hardest, when the only possible outcome seems like a lose-lose situation. Success is all about choice, and what a person does when it comes time for her to make that important choice. It’s about doing the right thing when she has the option of doing the wrong. Instinct tells her to give up, once the situation she is looking at is leaning towards a negative outcome. Her instinctual reaction is not always right, but sometimes what she decides to do is what is easiest. And what is easiest is not always what is best, it rarely is. It can be as simple as what you decide to do in that game, or as important as passing high school, passing college, or making a life for yourself. Whether or not you put in the effort, the time, or the will to achieve a goal determines what the outcome is. It’s just as easy to give up in either circumstance, though the result o f some of your actions can be life-changing. Success, to me, is the way you get through life, and handle the hard times. It’s about not bringing you morale down, or the morale of those around you. To not give up and always keep going, no matter what. Like my one teacher says, â€Å"Go, kid, go† and â€Å"never give up!† Success free essay sample When I was younger, I wished for a Porsche and a mansion. That was my idea of success. I vigorously took all the advanced classes possible and aced the exams with my mind set on going to an Ivy League school. I just knew that I would somehow become famous and be able to afford that car and the dream house. All the way through junior year, my mind was planning this idyllic future. Then in eleventh grade, multiple losses changed my na/Ove mindset. First, one of my friends died at age 16. Soon after, my great-grandmother passed, followed by my school’s assistant director and, on the same day, my beloved fourth-grade teacher. The devastation left me not knowing what to do or where to go. Death had never touched me so closely. After a long period of emptiness, it finally struck me: Life is not promised and neither is my future success. We will write a custom essay sample on Success or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page While I was going through the motions in an attempt to attain material success, I was not enjoying my daily life. I was just existing. It occurred to me that life has more purpose than acquiring possessions, which will only be yours until you can no longer keep up with the payments. Although I had often been told this, I finally understood. I realized that finding inner peace, purpose and happiness will stick with you forever and that is real success. Enjoying life’s precious quirks makes a person more successful than a wealthy person who is not content and takes everything for granted. The summer before senior year, my attitude changed drastically. Instead of memorizing facts, I began learning information. Instead of focusing on the future, I focused on today and the many blessings and successes that come with it. I still make excellent grades, but now I dedicate weeks to studying instead of cramming for exams, and I think about the future with a deeper sense of meaning. Success, just like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. For me, being successful means truly living life each day, being thankful, and impacting the world.

Definition and Examples of Spelling Reform in English

Definition and Examples of Spelling Reform in English The term spelling reform refers to any organized effort to simplify the system of English orthography. Over the years, organizations such as the English Spelling Society have encouraged efforts to reform or modernize the conventions of English spelling, generally without success. Examples and Observations [Noah] Webster proposed the removal of all silent letters and regularization of certain other common sounds. So, give would be giv, built would be bilt, speak would be speek, and key would be kee. Though these suggestions obviously didnt take hold, many of Websters American English spellings did: colour - color, honour - honor, defence - defense, draught - draft, and plough - plow, to name a few.(Kristin Denham and Anne Lobeck, Linguistics for Everyone: An Introduction. Wadsworth, 2010)Shaws Alphabet[S]ince the middle of the [19th] century, there has been a long succession of individual scholars, writers and even politicians with strong views on spelling reform and offering a wide spectrum of proposals for change. Why should spelling not be open to reform in the same way as currency, weights and measures and other institutions of society? The main argument for reform is self-evidently valid: that the removal of irregularities in our present writing system would make for greater and e asier literacy. . . .A wide range of spelling reform schemes have competed, with little tangible success, for public approval. The most extreme proposal was undoubtedly the Shaw alphabet, subsidized by the estate of George Bernard Shaw . . .. This was based on the strict alphabetic principle of one consistent symbol per phoneme. The new alphabet could have been contrived by augmenting the 26 letters of the Roman alphabet with extra letters or accents, but Shaw took the extreme option of commissioning a completely new set of 40 letter shapes in which, to a limited extent, phonetically similar sounds had a similar form. . . . The criterion of economic cost, which was Shaws main argument for his experimental alphabet, underpins the system of Cut Spelling proposed by [Christopher] Upward . . ., which dispenses with any letters considered to be redundant.(Edward Carney, A Survey of English Spelling. Routledge, 1994) Misguided Spelling ReformsThe 16th and 17th centuries must surely be the Golden Age of . . . etymological tinkering. . . . A b was added to debt, making explicit a distant link to Latin debitum. The b might be justified in the word debit that we stole directly from Latin, but it was the French who gave us dette, and there was no b in its spelling back then. Subtle and doubt also received their b as an attempted spelling reform. Notice, too, that such is our high regard for the authority of the written language that these days we speak of these words as having a silent b. The consonant was erroneously inserted, and now we accuse these words of losing it!Around the same time as b was being added to debt, subtle and doubt, coude was given an l so that it would look like would and should. The thinking here is even more wrongheaded. Could has no etymological connection whatsoever with words like would, and the addition of l is totally unjustified.(Kate Burridge, Gift of the Gob: Morsels o f English Language History. HarperCollins Australia, 2011) Why Spelling Reforms FailWhy has spelling reform in English not met with greater success, considering the number of proposals for reform? One reason is the natural conservatism of people. Reformed spelling looks strange. . . . [T]he general public reaction is to invoke the adage: If it aint broke, dont fix it.If we take a more scholarly, scientific view of spelling reform other problems emerge. One, English is spoken with many dialects. Which dialect would be chosen as a standard? . . .The second concern is that evidence from psychology suggests that some of the so-called irregularities of English actually serve to facilitate reading, especially for the experienced reader. Experienced readers tend to perceive words as single units and do not read them letter by letter. Evidence suggests that we process the information slightly faster when homophonous morphemes are spelled differently: pair-pear-pare.(Henry Rogers, Writing Systems: A Linguistic Approach. Wiley-Blackwell, 2005) The Lighter Side of Spelling ReformA spelling reformer indictedFor fudge, was before the court cited.The judge said: Enough!Your candle well snough,His sepulchre shall not be wighted.(Ambrose Bierce)

Business Ethics and Hospitality

Under the continual changing environment in petitive business, organisations are always r mended to e up with several advanced avenues to stay ahead in respective sectors. The invention goals are always encouraged for the business organisations, in order to achieve sustainable growth in the petitive markets. The goals of the managers in the hospitality and tourism sector are involved with responding to the collaborative relationships locally. However, many organisations are there to consider environmental values as the keys to their successes in modern era hospitality business. Dubai is mainly in the tropical climate that is predominantly based on desert area. Dubai has been suffering from the carbon footprint and this country uses large natural resources. The process of urbanisation creates environmental issues, however, they face scarcity in water, food and building materials. This study has focused on these issues analytically through the activities of Grandiose Resorts and SPA, a widely acknowledged hospitality centre in UAE. R mendations have been given at the end regarding environmental issues of Grandiose Resorts and SPA and an overall conclusion has been provided in the final section. Grandiose Resorts and SPA is working on hospitality sector and this resort has 250 rooms that contain 1 presidential suite in main building and 2 royal presidential suites that provide bird view and tiger enclosure. This resort includes 50 deluxe rooms and 197 superior rooms. This resort is 20 floors in main building and it is located on Jumeirah beach road, UAE. This resort has the features of 2 restaurants, roof top bar with organic herb garden with a butterfly garden. There is pools and game room in the hotel. This resort has the special facility of hunting which is not real and the people can have experience of private beach. The hospitality industry is largely based on the ethical and cultural resources and the hospitality industry engages interacting with the natural system. The practitioners of hotel industry use to ascertain the importance of implementing the ethics and keep developing them to ensure the improvement goals for the hospitality sector. As per the discussion of Collins (2012), tourism has emerged as one of the top industries in last few years. This industry has driven up the global economic growth radically and increased diverse opportunities for the practitioners. With the development of this industry, countries around the world had been able to take part in it either as the source market or as the tourist destination. However, the entire industry is usually operated within a plex environment. This plex environment is often found endorsing negative environmental and social impacts for the businesses. Grandiose Resorts and SPA is a widely recognised tourist destination in UAE, which is visited by numerous people every year. It has earned major acclamations in the petitive markets of his sector and has flourished globally. Grandiose Resorts and SPA has acknowledged the environmental considerations into their ethical values, which have provided them a r mendable goodwill in the market. The energy saving policies they endorsed at their restaurants, bar roof top or all along the hotel property have let them contribute to society at major scale. People within the society have also acknowledged their contribution widely, which had given them a massive drive in the petitive market. Grandiose Resorts and SPA has enabled an advanced waste management system in their organisation, which have again brought them extensive customer loyalty. They have addressed an advanced technology to extract fertilisers from waste food and also recycle them to produce foods for the fishes, animals or the birds inside the hotel. It has been considered as a major step to save the natural resources. The hospitality industry has also expressed their major concern on the animal and aqua lives as well, which had brought them enormous goodwill from the nature lovers along with the conservators (Talib, Rahman & Qureshi, 2012). These moral issues have led them much ahead in the business in parison to their petitors. According to Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell (2012), Grandiose Resorts and SPA has played a major role in saving the aqua live by installing a grand tank for the fishes in their resort. They have also propagated public awareness on the aqua lives, and other sea animals which had pr ovided them with a massive plight in moral consideration issues. Ethical decision-making approaches are highly prioritised in this modern era of hospitality business. Most of the organisations in this sector have enabled their management to follow the guidelines of ethical considerations in order to sustain in the petitive markets for long-term. Most of the decision-making methodologies in the hospitality sector are based on two fundamental approaches, such as Deontology and Teleology. The approaches in the decision-making methodologies of the managements of the business organisations are liable to lead the loyalty through a large-scale consumer satisfaction (Hartman & DesJardins, 2011). Grandiose Resorts and SPA has enabled both these principles in action while ensuring their decision-making methodologies. This organisation has considered all the needful actions under considerations related to the principles of Deontology and Teleology. However, they are not limited to implicate the service options only, they also have aligned them with the present scenario of the business. They have considered diverse factors under control, such as environment, marketing, and people. These factors had been found liable to address the fundamental needs of this sector from the large groups of consumers. Grandiose Resorts and SPA has addressed another framework to be considered in their ethical decision-making process, which were proved as highly effective for the growth of their business. They have followed a Venn diagram that is liable to consider all the needful factors in action. According to Easterby-Smith, Thorpe, & Jackson (2012), ensuring all these three responsibilities in action provide the opportunities to the hospitality organisations to gain massive loyalty among the consumers in a society. Figure 1: Venn diagram of Corporate Social Responsibility (Source: Hooley, Wellens, & Marriott, 2012) The ethical responsibilities followed by Grandiose Resorts and SPA, under the Venn diagram, had considered several environmental issues. They have planned fruitful designs to save the marine lives and conserve them for the benefits of mankind. They have also encouraged the waste management system that is liable to preserve the natural resources and save them from pletes exhaustion. This has been recognised as a major step from their end, mostly in the context of UAE, where the natural resources are being exhausted rapidly due to the rich lifestyles of their residents. The Legal Responsibilities of Grandiose Resorts and SPA have insisted them to follow all the Government rules and regulations. They have ensured all the Corporate Social Responsibilities in their organisation and kept checking them with care. They always tried to imply them into their decision-making policies (Rettab, Brik & Mellahi, 2009). Organisations in Hospitality sector are always liable to earn the maximum profits from their marketing, as it has already been recognised as the most revenue generating industry across the world. They are also liable to provide the highest levels of services to their guests and maintain them always to achieve sustainability in the market. However, in the argumentative words of Politis et al. (2009), managers from this sector often confront massive issues related to the ethical considerations. As per the discussion of Burchell & Cook (2006), the hospitality industry has been found as the major responsible for the negative impacts of the environment. This industry is believed to have frightening consequences over the environmental issues. However, the recent environmental considerations addressed by most of the organisations have changed the perception radically. In most of the cases, the ethical considerations from these organisations have empowered the environmental sustainability effectively. It not only has encouraged the managements to earn more customer loyalty through this, however, it also has allowed them, to meet their financial expectations as well. In the words of Katsioloudes & Brodtkorb (2007), the successful implications of ethical considerations have allowed the organisations to bring an environmental sustainability issues in forth. Grandiose Resorts and SPA has also approved these considerations as beneficial enough for their financial expectations and cons umer trustworthiness.   Grandiose Resorts and SPA has played a major role for the environmental causes and enabled promising actions in energy saving policies. As per their reviews, the hospitality sectors are mostly responsible for the damages in nature as they ruin the biodiversity massively. They find themselves responsible enough for exhausting the natural resources rapidly along with the water resources. Grandiose Resorts and SPA has coined these issues and grudges from the perspectives of the social people. They have always considered these obligations carefully while planning their policies of corporate social responsibilities. Hotel industry provides or contributes largely impact on the environment and this industry is trying to improve the condition at the regional or local context. Grandiose Resorts And SPA produces daily various hazardous products that are liquid, gas, powder, solid or dust particles. These products are not healthy at all. On the other side, non-hazardous products that are non-toxic es out from resorts. These products mingle with sea water and pollute the water. The waste disposal is increasing day-by-day. Grandiose Resorts and SPA can try to manage this with recycling projects. As stated by (Alonso & Csaba, 2012), these toxic and non-toxic products are harmful to both human and animals. Birds are facing issues from the polluted water. Not only water, air is polluted with the hospitality industry. The waste from the hospitality sector gets higher with the advancement of time and these affect the environment directly or indirectly. In global basins, 920, 000 tonnes of food items are wast ed from which 75% food items can be eaten. In the case of Dubai, the cost of food that is wasted in UAE from the hospitality sector is estimated at a few billion per year. As the researches done in the recent time, it is clearly showed that hospitality sectors create the waste that is mostly from 90% of the UK citizens, 30% Americans citizens and 70% of Australian citizens. Plants, sea and animals of Dubai get affected of this place. Local animals in Dubai are Arabian fox, sand Gazelle, Arabian Tahr, Arabian Leopard, Hare and Spiny tailed lizard. This country has several sea animals like, Pelagic, Demersal Fish, the shallows, Khor Kalba etc. Several marine animals are there like, Sea turtles, sea sharks, whales and Dolphins. Dubai faces the issues undrinkable water and emissions of carbon di-oxide etc. In most of the cases, the fundamental idea of improving the social and environmental practices is involved with sustainability. Thus, they are often enabled in the market segmentation processes as well. This process always indicates at a collective form of services, through which organisations are liable to enhance their loyalty from both people and government perceptions. Grandiose Resorts and SPA has also taken several factors into consideration while designing their environmental practices. They have strategized several goals on the basis of their prof itability. However, most importantly they had succeeded to engage their shareholders and stakeholders in their environmental practices Pearce (2012). This consideration has brought them enormous success in the hospitality sector. Grandiose Resorts and SPA must follow Federal Law NO. (24) Of 1999 that is for the protection and Development of the Environment of UAE. The economic responsibilities have also been followed by Grandiose Resorts and SPA, which included several actions under consideration. They have implicated strategies to involve guests in the environmental practices while strategizing the CSR activities. They have also propagated public awareness policies while promoting their services. In the words of Hooley, Wellens, & Marriott (2012), appointing local people and training them to work under a workforce culture have benefited the local economic structures effectively. Dubai is a country which is clearly based on the energy of oil resources and the water and air of this place are affected of this. Moreover, in Dubai region where the Grandiose Resorts and Spa are located is nearby the sea as it is on Jumeirah beach. As this place is nearby the sea, the saline water is not healthy for a drink. It is very difficult to purify the sea water as the seawater is very saline. The sea water cannot be drunk and Dubai region is full of oil resources. Energy resources are the main economical standpoint for Dubai and financial support es from energy that is oil-resources. Grandiose Resorts and SPA generates a significant amount of waste that is organic and the hospitality centre can follow recycle option. In addition with this, this organisation can follow reducing the waste costs as it helps to develop reusable resources that e from the landfill.   Any sort of diversification within it may change their goals and conclude with a mere failure in the industry. Approaching towards the maximum number of consumers and providing them the best services are considered as the top priorities for them. However, they are also liable to follow their corporate social responsibilities as well. As stated by Fineman (2001), CSR activities are meant to be providing financial supports as well for the organisations through customer reliabilities. (Refer to Appendix) In Hospitality sector, most of the organisations are associated with the shareholders and stakeholders, who always expect value for their money. They are r mended to be learnt it extensively and convinced about the economic success through it. According to Gentile (2010), controlling the food waste and providing donations of food that have been wasted have allowed them to assure food preservations for the munity and poor people. This is a major advantage they have addressed in order to earn a major scale loyalty among the consumers. Grandiose Resorts and SPA has introduced the most effective tools for their energy consumption policies. One of them is known as the Energy Star Portfolio Manager, which is liable to provide the additional information about nature as well. The use of Centralised Room Management System (CRMS) in Grandiose Resorts and SPA has effectively controlled the air conditioning system. It has allowed them to prevent massive carbon emission caused by the uses of air conditions in the organisation. The use of Centralised Room Management System also helps the organisations to control lightning in the guest rooms. The use of occupancy sensor all along the guest rooms has reduced the overall electricity consumption. Using the LED lightning in the rooms has not only reduced the electricity consumptions, it has also reduced their costs up to 50% per month. Management of Grandiose Resorts and SPA has considered their ethical values with active manner. They have led their strategical movements to the ne xt levels from the conservative techniques. Grandiose Resorts can install a reflective roof with energy curtains in freezer rooms with SAS switched to LED lights as the cost of $2,307 and with the savings of the first year would be high. The technique of solar panel can be taken that reduces the cost of electricity with giving natural energy and heating. mercial fuel cell system can give Grandiose Resorts and SPA a domestic hot water that is more efficiently than electricity. They have also focused on saving the water resources and enabled recycling policies to save the other natural resources. Grandiose Resorts and SPA has coined an extensive range of trustworthiness among the global travellers, who are highly concerned about the natural resources.   Recycling the wastage foods for the animals and produce substances from them for the animals along with the aquatic lives has also provided them with a massive success from environmental perception. Reusing the attributes and other materials for the guests along with the employees have also reduced the consumption of natural resources. The organisation can recycle the food scraps with bulk waste that contain intensive liquid fertiliser. Enabling recycle technologies in the organisations have allowed them to enjoy a r mendable position in the hospitality business sector. They have focused on contributing towards the natural resources and conserve them for the future generations. They have found these techni ques fruitful enough in their economic growth as well, which have encouraged them to introduce several other actions, such as wide solar scales, mercial fuel power system, refillable amenity dispenser, megawatt system, soil moisture system, rainwater harvesting systems, and aerators. Grandiose Resorts and SPA can ensure several actions under their ethical considerations, which included energy management policies for the future generations, water management policies for preservation, and waste management policies for recycling. Grandiose Resorts and SPA can use laundry equipment that has microprocessor with the controlling system, they can implement an ozone system with installing waterless urinals in public and employee restrooms and bathrooms. In the roof, Grandiose Resorts and SPA, they can   use rain gauge for watering the organic garden and they can use soil moisture for pouring water to butterfly garden. Harvesting water that has saved in rain and bio-retention basin can be helpful. Reusing the guest linen and their towels saves the energy and water for the organisations. Water is an issue mostly in Dubai, Grandiose Resorts and SPA can use Aerators on all the place in public and hotel places that helps to reduce the use of water consumption by 40%. Grandio se Resorts and SPA need to maintain the pool where water leaks and waste most water. Moreover, Grandiose Resorts and SPA can distribute 2 types of bins for waste management to the local munities to provide support to the government’s reunification policies such as, plastic, waste. They can use green waste bins for recyclable waste and black for non-recyclable products. Tourism biodiversity conservation in hospitality is one of the important aspects of conservation of animals, birds and plants altogether. Conservation and biodiversity are significant for the corporate social responsibility. Nature conservation is important in Dubai and hospitality industry should look into this. Grandiose Resorts and SPA needs to focus on their CSR activities and enabled their workplaces to follow them effectively. They have encouraged several ethical and moral considerations in their workplaces in order to gain the desired reputation from the global tourists. The proper implications of CSR activities have provided them with a massive loyalty in this sector. Besides, they have also succeeded to gain desired trustworthiness from the government officials and nature conservationists. Under the moral and ethical considerations, they have also insisted their shareholders and stakeholders follow all the guidelines of their environmental practices and CSR activities carefu lly. It is really hard for an organisation to convince them to conduct the CSR activities and consider the ethical values in action. Biodiversity is associated with the ecological processes and it is associated with the human needs. The policy that can be taken by Grandiose Resorts and SPA is reducing the cycling, soil management, purification of water and providing pure oxygen. This system can regulate the climate and manage the air. Corporate Social Responsibilities are considered as one of the most popular terms of modern era hospitality business. Organisations in the hospitality sector are always liable to follow them with proper ethical and moral considerations. Grandiose Resorts and SPA evaluate their ethical and moral standpoints that indicated towards conducting operations without harming the others. This study has tried to analyse all the factors that enhance these considerations. This study has also focused on the issues, which are liable to influence the ethical considerations for the organisations in this sector. The financial expectation goals are also addressed in this study with respect to the implication of environmental considerations. Grandiose Resorts and SPA has provided major evidence in regards to their environmental and social considerations, which have allowed the study to r mended further actions to the organisations. Alonso, M. J., & Csaba, N. S.   (2012).  Nanostructured biomaterials for ove ing biological barriers  (No. 22). Royal Society of Chemistry. Blowfield, M., & Murray, A. (2008). Corporate responsibility: A critical introduction. Oxford University Press. Burchell, J. (2008). The Corporate Social Responsibility Reader: Context & Perspectives. London: Routledge. Burchell, J., & Cook, J. (2006). Confronting the â€Å"corporate citizen† Shaping the discourse of corporate social responsibility. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 26(3/4), 121-137. Campbell, T., & Miller, S. (Eds.). (2006). Human rights and the moral responsibilities of corporate and public sector organisations (Vol. 20). Springer Science & Business Media. Carroll, B. A., & Buchholtz, A. K. (2015). Business and society, ethics, sustainability, and stakeholder management (9th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Collins, D. (2012). Business ethics: how to design and manage ethical organisations. NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Crane, A., & Matten, D. (2010). Business ethics: managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalisation (3rd ed.). UK: Oxford University Press. DesJardins, J. R. (2012). An introduction to business ethics (4th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. Easterby-Smith, M., Thorpe, R., & Jackson, P. R. (2012). Management research. Sage. Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2012). Business ethics: ethical decision making and cases (9th ed.). Mason: South-Western Cengage Learning. Fineman, S. (2001). Fashioning the environment. Organization, 8(1), 17-31. Fisher, C. M., & Lovell, A. (2009). Business ethics and values: Individual, corporate and international perspectives. New York: Pearson education. Gentile, M. C. (2010). Giving Voice to Values: How to Speak Your Mind When You Know What? s Right. USA: Yale University Press. Grace, D., & Cohen, S. (2010). Business ethics (4th ed.). South Melbourne, Vic: Oxford University Press. Hartman, L. P., & DesJardins, J. R. (2011). Business ethics: decision making for personal integrity and social responsibility (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Hooley, T., Wellens, J., & Marriott, J. (2012). What is Online research?: Using the Internet for social science research. London: A&C Black. Hyde, K. F., Ryan, C., & Woodside, A. G. (Eds.). (2012). Field guide to case study research in tourism, hospitality, and Leisure (Vol. 6). Emerald Group Publishing. Katsioloudes, M. I., & Brodtkorb, T. (2007). Corporate social responsibility: an exploratory study in the United Arab Emirates. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 72(4), 9-11. Pearce, D. G. (2012). Frameworks for tourism research. UK: CABI. Politis, Y., Litos, C., Grigoroudis, E., & Moustakis, V. S. (2009). A business excellence model for the hotel sector: implementation to high-class Greek hotels. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 16(4), 462-483. Rettab, B., Brik, A. B., & Mellahi, K. (2009). A study of management perceptions of the impact of corporate social responsibility on organisational performance in emerging economies: the case of Dubai.Journal of Business Ethics, 89(3), 371-390. Swailes, S. (2013). 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Has Reality Television Made Voyeurism Another Form of Entertainment Essay

Has Reality Television Made Voyeurism Another Form of Entertainment - Essay Example Although earlier forms of this type of entertainment have been seen as early as 1948 with Candid Camera, it gained more notoriety and a wider genre by the end of 1990s with the introduction of the shows like Survivor, Big Brother, and American Idol (Caudle, 2011). These shows portray various situations and activities, with some featuring contests between ordinary people competing for money and other prizes, others portraying ordinary people living their lives while raising their children, and some others featuring celebrities carrying out daily activities. All in all, these shows seem to share common themes – taking ordinary people and placing them in extraordinary situations or presenting the reality of celebrities’ lives to an audience who would likely be engaged in the fascinating and magical lives that these celebrities are living. Reality shows seem to portray the magical and the ordinary, the reality and the ‘non-reality’ of celebrity or non-celebrity lives. For some shows, an element of voyeurism seems to be one of the common elements, especially as these allow the viewers a peek into the lives of celebrities and non-celebrities. The voyeur element also seems to lend entertainment value for viewers as melodramatic events like weddings, dates, births, and arguments often draw in high ratings. This paper shall explore reality television and how it engages the magical and the real. It will also discuss how reality television has made voyeurism a form of entertainment. Initially, a brief overview of popular reality television shows will be discussed, indicating reasons for their popularity. Secondly, this paper will present the negative and the positive impact of reality television. Thirdly, a deeper analysis of the reasons for the popularity of reality television shall be considered. Lastly, this essay shall be summarized and its themes clearly established in order to answer its primary goals and research issue. This article is be ing carried out in order to establish a clear understanding of reality television, its general impact, and what it implies about current TV behaviors as well as preferences. Body Overview of reality television shows When the shows Big Brother and Survivor became major successes in 2000, reality television suddenly gained widespread popularity. Specifically, the shows Survivor and American Idol consistently topped the television ratings since their inception (Hill, 2005). Other shows like America’s Next Top Model, Dancing with the Stars, The Apprentice, Fear Factor, and Big Brother were soon able to gain a global audience in the years that followed. Some television companies have also set aside networks, including Fox Reality, Global Reality Channel in Canada and Zone Reality in the UK to cater specifically to these reality shows (DeVolld, 2011). Other networks like Bravo, VH1 and MTV have also numerous reality shows in their line-up. Other successful shows like COPS have beco me major successes and the profit generation for TV networks and producers has also been very significant (Hill, 2005). Reality show celebrities have also made millions of dollars in profit for their TV contracts and product endorsements (Hill, 2005). This genre has also spawned new singers, dancers, models, chefs, actors, directors, and celebrities like the Kardashians who have been known as