Monday, January 27, 2020

India during The Great Recession

India during The Great Recession India during the ‘Great Recession Introduction: Economists called the financial crisis of the 2007 2009 as the â€Å"Great Recession†, since it is a critical factor and vital cause for the failure of many businesses and significant influencer that has worsened many economies. After US busted out the housing bubble, this raised the rates of sub-prime and mortgage rates. India, the country which is fully an export driven economy like many other countries, the GDP of India mainly relies on domestic consumption. If a countrys GDP is based on domestic consumption, then how this financial tsunami did left vestige in India. The software industry, though not a prime deterministic factor for Indian economy, contributes notable financial transactions towards Indian economy. This brought flow of foreign funds in to the economy. The portfolio investments are visible in the Indian stock exchanges where foreign borrowings and FDI inflows remain less visible. When the global economies started decelerating, all these three factors bound t o decease, which caused an impact on Indias emerging economy. The following essay is presented in a macroeconomic perspective, when the period of growth alternated to a period of stagnation, how Indian economy faced the crisis and how government and Reserve Bank of India responded by taking various steps to handle the economic downturn. Effects in Indian Economy India, after a subsequent growth, experienced a decline in its economy due to the global economic downturn. Faced many uncertainties like stumbling industrial growth, reduced foreign exchange and diminishing rupee value. This economic instability gave a worst hit in Indian economic portfolio by acutely affecting Indian banks. Many public sector units and banks, who invested money into derivatives, were funded by Lehman Brothers Inc and Meryl Lynch Inc for the exposure in the derivatives market. As Lehman Brothers Inc dissolved, many companies including leading banks in India filed losses for few hundred million dollars. The impact of this huge financial crisis affected not only the financial markets primarily, but also the Indian IT industry, availability of global funds, and decrease in exports. Reduced Availability of Global Funds The availability of the global funds, which is accounted as one of the major driving force of the emerging economies like India, was considerably less. The initial stage experienced a rise in the interest rates and the equity prices were affected as the funds transformed into bonds. This less inflow didnt affect the GDP of the Indian economy, since it holds the larger share on its domestic household savings. Indian companies, which relied on the foreign funds for its trading activities, were allowed less access, which affected corporate profitability due to high interest rates, created large demand for the domestic fund access and peer supply pressure restricted from capacity increase. Effects in Indian Exports India faced a sudden decline in its exports during this economic crisis, as a piece of Indian economy is a sole dependent on exports. In October 2008, after 35% growth in the previous months, filed its decrease in exports calculated to 15%, and shipments decreased to 33.33%, recorded to be a largest drop ever. This drop affected many industrial sectors right from the manufacturing goods to jewellery exports. This fall in the exports which lead to many job losses estimated to be 1million and closure of many small units. Effects in Indian IT Industry As discussed above, one of the main tools to transact and access the flow of foreign funds is the Indian IT industry, which contributes significantly a mind share towards the Indian GDP. Indian IT companies are well accredited for its quality software and services, well stated to be a major employment opportunity creator. Since, India has abundant labor resources and plays a major service provider across the globe. Many foreign companies are attracted to the Indian IT companies for its software development and for its service outsourcings. The recent outsourcing boom into India from the foreign countries mainly from US left an impact in the in the IT industry, which is accounted to be a major player in employment and foreign exchange. Approximately 60% of the Indian IT sectors revenue is fully based only on the US suppliers. Around 30% of the industrys revenue is generated from the financial services companies from US. Indian companies were appreciated for its flexibility in work, Qu ality product deliveries and for its efficient services. As there were no intense partnering between Indian firms and major financial services, major share of the IT firms were saved from the impact of the recession. Even though, some Indian IT companies partnered with US financial companies like Lehman Brothers Inc and Meryl Lynch Inc affected a little. This slowdown in the US economy lead 70% of the firms to negotiate for lower rates with their suppliers and nearly 60% have cut back the contracts. The sudden fall in the US economy reduced the growth of Indian IT firms down by 2-3%. Now and then many new outsourcing opportunities were given to the Indian companies from the US firms, which involved in mergers and acquisitions, since the companies would look forward to reduce its selling, general and administrative costs through offshore developments. Even when some firms were affected a little in the economic downturn, however this crisis created equal opportunities in the outsourcing side of the IT industry. Effects in Indian Financial Industry The Indian financial market remained resilient, when the foreign institutional investors disappeared. As the impact of the economic crisis, the mental attitude of investors took a drift to withdraw from risky markets ended with substantial capital outflow that led to a liquidity crunch putting Indian stock market under huge pressure. Indian market continued to be healthier since its prime drive is through domestic consumption which includes productivity in agricultural sector, domestic infrastructure products and through small medium enterprises. Indian banks have gained the investors trust and have most of the deposits, since most of the banks are nationalized and the investments are protected by the Indian Government. Even though the domestic banking is secure as the nationalized banks remain the core of the system. This economic crisis created fragility as many banks invested the investments of US financial firms into the derivatives. Many other factors like decline in the foreign exchange reserves held by Reserve Bank of India, diminished value of rupee with respect to US dollar value, and decline in the share value of the stocks. Steps for the Recovery Efforts made by the Reserve Bank of India to stop the depreciating rupee value led to a proportionate fall in the foreign reserves value of India. The Indian economy experienced a high inflow of money in the form of capital investment. This decreased the value of rupee with dollar; India faced a large trade deficit and factor payments abroad such as debt repayment and profit repatriation. Along with this the stock market side also showed a decline after its steady increase during previous months. The government of India and the Reserve Bank of India started responding to this challenge by following various efforts and procedures in order to maintain a free flow position of rupee liquidity, maintain the foreign exchange liquidity and maintain it credit tracks through strict monetary policies to avoid inflationary pressures. But however, it changed its current approach towards the current scenario eased the monetary constraints by reducing the interest rates, reduced the quantum of bank reserves impounded by central bank and expanded with liberalization to refinance facilities for export credit. To manage the foreign exchange, the Reserve Bank of India made an upward adjustment on interest rate ceiling on the foreign deposits by non-resident Indians. Substantially relaxed the external commercial borrowings regime for corporate. It allowed access to foreign borrowing to non banking financial companies and housing companies. The Reserve Bank of India even took many unconventional measures to boost up the economy from the liquidity scenario. Many Indian banks were given a currency swap facility especially for Indian rupee and US dollar to fulfill the short term fund requirements. IT also supported many non banking financial organizations through an exclusive refinancing channel. Housing and exports were boosted to reach higher levels by enabling the lending resources even to small industries. In addition to the various efforts of the Reserve Bank of India, the Central Government of India constituted the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act to make the fiscal sustainable in the global economic crisis. The emergency act by the government of India seeks a relaxation from the fiscal targets. Two fiscal acts were launched. Both the fiscal acts valued around 3% of the GDP, which included agricultural farmer loan waiver, infrastructure investments, additional coverage for SMEs and public spending. These fiscals were injected to stimulate demand. As the result the amount accounting to 7% of the GDP made available in the financial system. India is witnessing a mixed result of growth prospects in this economic downturn. The services sector which accounts for the 57% of the Indias GDP and has been the prime growth engine in the last five years is slowing mainly in the construction, transport, communication, trade, hotels and restaurants. Indias exports which account for 15% of the economy grew 3.4% to 168.7 billion in the fiscal year ended march 3108, missing a target of 200 billion set by the government. Corporate margins were down due to the high input costs and the weakened demand. Business confidence had been affected due to the uncertainty in the economic condition. India certainly had some advantages in this financial crisis. The inflation fell sharply, faster than expected, which is measured by the wholesale price index. Thus the fall in inflation should revive consumer demand and reduce costs for the corporate. Fiscal prices will open up the spending on the infrastructure developments as the decline in the global crude oil and naphtha prices will reduce the amount of subsidy given to the oil and fertilizer companies. Imports are expected to shrink more than the exports, to keep the current account deficits at some modest levels. The banking system in India with its well capitalized and prudently regulated measures, helped to sustain the financial market stability to a larger extent. Gaining confidence from the foreign investors on Indian economy is an additional plus, due to the comfortable levels of foreign reserves. The negative impact of the wealth loss effect in the capital markets that have plagued the developed countries will not affect India because majority of Indians have bordered themselves away from assets and equity markets. Credit for agriculture will also remain unaffected because of Indias mandated priority sector lending. The farm waiver package from the government acts as an additional insulation to the agricultural sector. Indias several social safety and awareness programs e.g. the rural employment guarantee program, will protect the poor and migrants from ill effects of global crisis. Conclusion Thus the global financial crisis made a hit in the Indian economy. After severe uncertainties in various sectors such as IT industry in India, Financial market in India, Non availability of global funds and impact in the export business have given broader outlook to the impact of the global financial crisis, starting from US and how it had en route to India. All the fields were discussed with several insights on how the various industries have been affected by this economic downturn, some had opportunities to grow and some were flattened, since the Indian economy is one of the emerging economies in the world, which recorded to be the least affected by this economic crunch. Even government faced a wide range a problems during this credit crunch. The Indian Government and The Reserve Bank of India, worked collaboratively with consultation and coordination, after initiating and implementing various processes, rules and acts, kept this huge economic problem under control. Thus the global economic crisis is inevitable till the economy of the developed, developing countries become stable and self sustainable. The effects of the economic downturn are a test to check the financial stabilities in market and regulations across the global economy.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Assessing Organizational Culture Essay

Almost every organization, whether public or private, on paper or in practice, has a culture that fairly dictates its everyday functioning. The term culture has many definitions but in this discussion it is defined as shared beliefs, values, symbols, and behaviors. Culture binds a workforce together and is its control mechanism, or purpose, to facilitate its functioning. These items are powerful driving forces in the success of an organization and their value to the community they serve whether it is a public or private entity will affect the success of any organization. While cultures are found in some organizations more prominently than in others, there are those organizations where the culture of that specific organization’s ideal stands out above others. Police departments, military units and religious organizations all have a strong, centralized culture that forms its base and permeates its entire existence. Many times people outside of those professions do not understand the mentality or job commitment a person from one of these career fields shares with his/her co-workers. An example would be the duty and honor commitment of a United State Marine, especially when considered by a person who was anti-military; the Marines belief or core value system is not understood. The medical profession and more specifically hospitals, demonstrate a common goal that simply stated, is the care and healing of the sick or injured. For the most part, the medical staff employed at a hospital is there for that specific purpose. The medical field brings together a vast array of individuals from different backgrounds and cultures. But once they become a doctor, hospital nurse, surgical technician, etc. they take on a new life and thereby absorb a new culture into their lives. Subcultures, as defined by organizational theorists John van Maanen and Stephen Barley, are â€Å"a subset of an organization’s members who interact regularly with one another, identify themselves as a distinct group†¦and routinely take action on the basis of collective understandings unique to the group† (Cheney, 2011, 78-79) The organizational culture in a hospital is based on the premise that the hospital is there to provide a place for the care and healing of the sick or injured. Organizational theorist Mary Jo Hatch puts forth that there are five (5) â€Å"Degrees of Cultural Integration and Differentiation† (Cheney, 77) identified as follows: Unitary, Diverse (Integrated), Diverse (Differentiated), Diverse (Fragmented) and Disorganized (Multi-cephalous) (Hatch, 1997, 210). A hospital in its purest form would be well represented as a Unitary culture because the staff as a whole all have the same values or beliefs. But individual staff or even medical units may fall into any of the other cultures identified as well. A particular unit, i. e. cardiac telemetry floor, may be a Diverse (Fragmented) unit due to a group of nurses who do not view their critical task requirements in the same way and as a result the level of patient infections or deaths rises, causing unrest among the staff, supervisors, patient families and resulting in legal ramifications thereby fragmenting the staff’s solidarity. Social psychologist Edgar Schein formulated a theoretical model that shows an organization’s culture is built on three levels: artifacts, values and norms, and assumptions and beliefs. Artifacts are usually the most common and visible sign of a specific culture. Schein puts forth that things such as nursing uniforms, terminology, surgical protocols and more, actually and accurately represent the basic aspects of organization’s culture. The values and norms aspect of his theory, while not always visible, can be seen through behavior of the individual or group; it reveals what is important to the group and how they treat each other within their organization. Each aspect of the profession may have an operating procedure or environment nique to that area of specialization, but still have the same values and norms for their actions. In a surgical room, sterilization of the environment is much more important than it would be in a patient’s room on a medical/surgical floor, but they still have the same belief in keeping an open wound as clean as possible. While values in the medical profession do not vary as a whole, values do define accepted behavior and action. Genuine assumptions and beliefs are nurtured by a persons or organizations values and norms. Values vary only slightly in the various medical professions and facilities. Depending on the medical specialty area, operational norms and methods may differ according to training priorities, equipment and environment unique to that specialty. For instance, the hospital in-patient wound care team may have the same desire to treat a patient’s wounds as a home health nursing team, but the methods of treatment or medications used may be different. Differences begin to surface when a patient is sent home on a negative pressure wound therapy system, i. e. a wound V. A. C.  ®, that aids in the healing of wounds via suction (http://www. kci1. com/KCI1/vactherapy). Many home health nurses does not know how to properly change the intricate dressing or fully understand this equipment or the damaging results that can occur if not changed properly. Faulty assumptions are therefore made based on the beliefs of the home health nurse of what should be done for the patient. When that happens, problems arise in this particular scenario that could result in the patient being brought back to the hospital for a further period of hospitalization due to a breakdown of their wounds or even the creation of new wounds as a result of improper V. A. C.  ® placement. The overriding culture of the medical field is based on the Physician’s Creed of â€Å"First, do no harm† (author uncertain but it is based on the Hippocratic Oath which states â€Å"to abstain from doing harm†). This belief echoes throughout the medical field all over the world. And while there are individual exceptions or exceptions in areas such as animal research for the betterment of mankind or the ethical issue of abortion, the creed has gone unchanged since the time of the ancient Greeks and before. Schein’s three (3) levels of artifacts, values and norms, and assumptions and beliefs, are evident in every clinical setting. With further exploration, Hatch’s five (5) Degrees of Cultural Integration and Differentiation will also be found, albeit not everyone will be seen on every hospital floor or unit. Medical facilities are a kaleidoscope or a microcosm of many subcultures under the roof of the main culture of being a place for the care and healing of the sick or injured. Without that organizational culture giving guidance to all of the subcultures involved in this humanitarian career field, the death rate for minor injuries and diseases would compound exponentially.

Saturday, January 11, 2020

Study of a Second Language

Much debate has taken place over when foreign language education should begin in American schools. Currently, the majority of foreign language programs are ineffective and poorly organized. Programs would be most substantially improved if the instruction of foreign languages began in early elementary grades. Teaching foreign languages to American students at the elementary level would be truly beneficial for several reasons. Firstly, if the study of a second language were to begin in elementary grades, children would have more years to practice and learn the language. It is ridiculous that teenagers are expected to speak a foreign language fluently after two to four years of high school language classes. More time is needed to comprehend and absorb a language to the point where it can be spoken fluently. Therefore, it is necessary for foreign language education to begin much earlier than in high school. Furthermore, foreign language education would be much more effective if were taught at elementary grade levels because children are more likely to practice the language. They are less likely to feel uncomfortable speaking in a foreign language. Most children like having an extra ability and consider it a talent. Young children are also very competitive. Competitions over who has greater proficiency in a second language are likely to ensue in an elementary language class. Young children are also more likely to participate in activities that help one to learn a language such as singing songs and engaging in hypothetical dialogue. In contrast, high school students have a much harder time learning a second language. â€Å"Only three percent of American high school graduates reach a meaningful proficiency in a second language.† (Crawford 2) This astonishing statistic could be altered if foreign language education was mandated in all American elementary schools. High school students are met with great difficulty when attempting to learn a second language because they are much less passionate; they are not interested in learning another language after English has been mastered. Also, high school students are easily embarrassed. They do not participate in class for fear of making a mistake and feeling unintelligent. They also do not enjoy playing games and engaging in other silly activities that might help them learn a second language. Many believe that teaching young children a second language can be a threat to their general education. It is thought that a child's mind can be clouded by an attempt to learn a second language. However, â€Å"psycholinguists have long since debunked the myth that bilingualism confuses the brain.† No valid negative effects can be traced to learning a foreign language at a young age. With foreign language education beginning at the elementary level, chances for the mastery of a second language are much higher. Children who learn a second language benefit greatly from the ability. They tend to be more cultured and are offered more scholastic and occupational opportunities. The quality of adult life for today's children would be greatly improved if they were able to master a second language. However, this can only take place if foreign language education programs were altered in most American schools. It is imperative for the instruction of foreign languages to begin at the elementary level if greater opportunities for success are desired for America's youth.

Friday, January 3, 2020

Amy Tan Overcoming Faulty Relationships and Self Identity...

Amy Tan struggled with many issues caused by her dual cultures, which she expressed thoroughly in her works. Daisy and John Tan were post war immigrants and the parents of Amy Tan (Amy Tan). Tan was given the Chinese name An-Mei, which stands for blessings from America (McCarthy). To them she was the blessing that they had received after their own struggles. Tan’s father came to America after WWII to become a minister (Amy Tan). Even though it seemed like Tan’s life was running smoothly tragedy struck. Both Tan’s father and older brother died of a brain tumor when Tan was only fifteen years old (Wiener 27). In her works, Amy Tan focuses on the struggles that Chinese-American women face in mother-daughter relationships, their struggles to†¦show more content†¦Tan shows that daughters do not care about their mother’s past, which causes the daughter to become selfish (Parini 294). In Daisy’s eyes, compliant and non-compliant daughters were the only two kinds of daughters that existed (Showalter 797). From Tan’s rebellious childhood, she was seen as the non-compliant daughter. The main reason for the huge crack in the mother-daughter relationship is due to the joint culture that they share and their conflicting opinions on their joint cultures (Parini 294). Communication problems with their mothers, in Tan’s writings, are due to the daughters of Chinese mothers wanting to be more American than Chinese (Tan The Opposite of Fate†¦. 22). Mothers who have immigrated to America face language barriers and feel the pressure of their new culture (Wiener 22). To a Chinese American daughter, not only does the Chinese mother humiliate the daughter, but traditions that tie back to their past are also humiliating to them (Parini 292). After the death of her father, Tan’s relationship with her mother decreased and caused her to become more rebellious to her mother’s good intentions (Angel 26-27). Not being able to always be perfect was another issue that really caused the relationship in Tan’s books between the Chinese-American mother and daughter to seem rocky. The mothers in The Joy Luck Club expected nothing more than perfection in their daughters. TheyShow MoreRelatedStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesWork–Life Conflicts 21 †¢ Creating a Positive Work Environment 22 †¢ Improving Ethical Behavior 22 Coming Attractions: Developing an OB Model 23 An Overview 23 †¢ Inputs 24 †¢ Processes 25 †¢ Outcomes 25 Summary and Implications for Managers 30 S A L Self-Assessment Library How Much Do I Know About Organizational Behavior? 4 Myth or Science? â€Å"Most Acts of Workplace Bullying Are Men Attacking Women† 12 An Ethical Choice Can You Learn from Failure? 24 glOBalization! Does National Culture Affect Organizational