Study On Currency Risks Handled By Indian Firm Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 10 Words: 3000 Downloads: 6 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Cause and effect essay Did you like this example? The objective of this project is to examine how the impacts of currency exchange risks are dealt by the Indian Firms. Currency Exchange Risk in Global Market is a burning issue for any firm or corporate involved in business overseas. In this scenario, India is of course the one country where we have a lot of scope to focus on as far as the study of currency risk in business is concerned. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Study On Currency Risks Handled By Indian Firm Finance Essay" essay for you Create order If we see the world wide scenario, the financial sector is facing a lot of adjustment problems in the rapid changes in the economic financial environment. Now Indian financial system cannot be indifferent to this universal phenomenon. I would like to take the example of the Indian IT giants with special emphasis on TCS, in this exploratory paper to see how the currency swings affected the business of TCS in last couple of years and would try to provide some supportive data to show the same. It is very interesting to see how the companies like TCS uses different derivative instruments to keep the sustainability of its performance in the financial market by hedging the financial risks, specially related to the volatility of the money market and foreign currency exchange rates. How Companies use Derivatives for Hedging Risk Management Hedging Hedging, in simple words, says controlling or reducing risk. This controlling or reducing risk is done by taking a position in th e futures market that is opposite to the one in the physical market with an objective to reduce or limit risks associated with price changes. A simple example will help us understand it better. A wheat farmer can sell wheat futures to protect the value of his crop prior to harvest. If there is a fall in price, the loss in the cash market position will be countered by a gain in futures position. 2.2. Derivatives Derivatives are those financial instruments whose values depend on the value of not only the underlying financial instruments but on any underlying asset. We can take the same example of the wheat farmer. Here, the wheat farmer can protect itself of any fall in price by entering into a contract with the merchant. Some of the derivative instruments are: Futures, Swap, Options, and Forwards. To summarize, Hedging can be defined as a method where one can reduce the financial exposure faced in an underlying asset due to volatility in prices by taking an opposite position in the derivatives market in order to off-set the losses in the cash market by a corresponding gain in the derivatives market. This above definition captures the basic essence of derivatives hedging. Now having understood the basic meaning of hedging and derivatives, we would now see how corporate use these derivative instruments for hedging. 2.3. Foreign Exchange Risks The most common corporate uses of derivatives is for hedging foreign-currency risk, or foreign exchange risk, which is the risk that a change in currency exchange rates adversely impacts business results. Lets consider an example with Infosys Technologies, a multi-national IT company which even exports soft wares to other countries, and mainly to US. Lets make an assumption that Infosys Technologies exports software worth 1000 Crores to US in 2006-07 when the price of per US Dollar was at Rs. 40 (assumption). When the rupee per dollar exchange rate increases from Rs. 40, Rs. 42, Rs. 44, it takes more rupees to buy one dollar, meaning the rupee is depreciating or weakening. As the rupee depreciates, the softwares which Infosys exports would translate into greater sales in rupee terms. This demonstrates how a weakening rupee is not all that bad: it can boost export sales of Indian companies. Now lets illustrate a simple hedge that a company like Infosys Technologies might us e to minimize the effects of any Rupee / USD exchange rates, Infosys purchases 2000 foreign-exchange futures contracts against the Rupee / USD exchange rate. The value of the futures contracts will not, in practice, correspond exactly on a 1:1 basis with a change in the current exchange rate (that is, the futures rate wont change exactly with the spot rate), but we will assume that it does anyway. Each futures contract has a value equal to the gain above the Rs. 40 Rupee/USD rate. (Only because Infosys took this side of the futures position, somebody the counter-party will take the opposite position.) Of course, its not a free lunch: If the strategy of Infosys goes against it, that is, if the dollar were to weaken instead, then the increased export sales are mitigated (partially offset) by losses on the futures contract. 2.4. Hedging Interest Rate Risks Companies can hedge interest-rate risks in various ways. Consider a company that expects to sell a division in one year and at that time to receive a cash wind-fall that it wants to park in a good risk-free investment or a company had an unexpected profit, if the company strongly believes that interest rates will drop between now and then, it could purchase (or take a long position on) a treasury futures contract. The company is effectively locking in the future interest rate. Fair Value Hedges The Company [XYZ] had two interest rate swaps outstanding at January 1, 2008 designated as a hedge of the fair value of a portion of fixed-rate bonds. The change in fair value of the swaps exactly offsets the change in fair value of the hedged debt, with no net impact on earnings. XYZ Company uses an interest rate swap. Before it entered into the swap, it was paying a variable interest rate on some of its bonds. (For example, a common arrangement would be to pay LIBOR plus something a nd to reset the rate every six months.) Now lets look at the impact of the swap, the swap requires XYZ to pay a fixed rate of interest while receiving floating-rate payments. The received floating-rate payments are used to pay the pre-existing floating-rate debt. XYZ is then left only with the floating-rate debt, and has. Therefore, managed to convert a variable-rate obligation into a fixed-rate obligation with the addition of a derivative. Here we can call this as a perfect hedge: The variable-rate coupons that XYZ received compensates for the companys variable-rate obligation. 2.5. Commodity or Product Input Hedge Companies that depend heavily on raw-material inputs or commodities are sensitive, sometimes significantly, to the price change of the inputs. Airlines, for example, consume lots of jet fuel. Historically, most airlines have given a great deal of consideration to hedging against crude-oil price increases although they need to be very careful and a great forecasting before going for such a strategy because the strategy itself would cost them a lot. As we reviewed here three of the most popular types of corporate hedging with derivatives. There are many other derivative uses, and new types are being invented. The derivatives that are reviewed are not generally speculative for the company. They help protect the company from unanticipated events: adverse foreign-exchange or interest-rate movements, and unexpected increases in input costs. The investor on the other side of the derivative transaction is the speculator. However, in no case are these derivatives free. Even if, for exam ple, the company is surprised with a good-news event like a favorable interest-rate move, the company (because it had to pay for the derivatives) receives less on a net basis than it would have without the hedge. Warren Buffetts stand is famous: he has attacked all derivatives, saying he and his company view them as time bombs, both for the parties that deal in them and the economic system. Foreign Exchange Risk Management Firms dealing with multiple currencies face risk in terms of unanticipated gain/loss on account of sudden/unanticipated changes in exchange rates, quantified in terms of exposures. Exposure is defined as a contracted, projected or contingent cash flow whose magnitude is not certain at the moment and depends on the value of the foreign exchange rates. The process of identifying risks faced by the firm and implementing the process of protection from these risks by financial or operational hedging is defined as foreign exchange risk management. My paper limi ts its scope to hedging only the foreign exchange risks faced by firms like TCS. 3.1. Kinds of Foreign Exchange Exposure Risk management techniques vary with the type of exposure (accounting or economic) and term of exposure. Accounting exposure, also called translation exposure, results from the need to restate foreign subsidiaries financial statements into the parents reporting currency and is the sensitivity of net income to the variation in the exchange rate between a foreign subsidiary and its parent. Economic exposure is the extent to which a firms market value, in any particular currency, is sensitive to unexpected changes in foreign currency. Currency fluctuations affect the value of the firms operating cash flows, income statement, and competitive position, hence market share and stock price. Currency fluctuations also affect a firms balance sheet by changing the value of the firms assets and liabilities, accounts payable, accounts receivables, inventory, loans in foreign currency, investments (CDs) in foreign banks; this type of economic exposure is called balance sheet exposure. Transactio n Exposure is a form of short term economic exposure due to fixed price contracting in an atmosphere of exchange-rate volatility. The most common definition of the measure of exchange-rate exposure is the sensitivity of the value of the firm, proxied by the firms stock return, to an unanticipated change in an exchange rate. This is calculated by using the partial derivative function where the dependant variable is the firms value and the independent variable is the exchange rate (Adler and Dumas, 1984). 3.2. Necessity of managing foreign exchange risk A key assumption in the concept of foreign exchange risk is that exchange rate changes are not predictable and that this is determined by how efficient the markets for foreign exchange are. Research in the area of efficiency of foreign exchange markets has thus far been able to establish only a weak form of the efficient market hypothesis conclusively which implies that successive changes in exchange rates cannot be predicted by analyzing the historical sequence of exchange rates.(Soenen,1979). However, when the efficient market theory is applied to the foreign exchange market under floating exchange rates there is some evidence to suggest that the present prices properly reflect all available information (Giddy and Dufey, 1992). This implies that exchange rates react to new information in an immediate and unbiased fashion, so that no one party can make a profit by this information and in any case, information on direction of the rates arrives randomly so exchange rates also fluctu ate randomly. It implies that foreign exchange risk management cannot be done away with by employing resources to predict exchange rate changes. 3.3. Foreign Exchange Risk Management Framework Once a firm recognizes its exposure, it then has to deploy resources in managing it. A heuristic for firms to manage this risk effectively is presented below which can be modified to suit firm-specific needs i.e. some or all the following tools could be used. Forecasts: After determining its exposure, the first step for a firm is to develop a forecast on the market trends and what the main direction/trend is going to be on the foreign exchange rates. The period for forecasts is typically 6 months. It is important to base the forecasts on valid assumptions. Along with identifying trends, a probability should be estimated for the forecast coming true as well as how much the change would be. Risk Estimation: Based on the forecast, a measure of the Value at Risk (the actual profit or loss for a move in rates according to the forecast) and the probability of this risk should be ascertained. The risk that a transaction would fail due to market-specific problems4 should be taken int o account. Finally, the Systems Risk that can arise due to inadequacies such as reporting gaps and implementation gaps in the firms exposure management system should be estimated. Benchmarking: Given the exposures and the risk estimates, the firm has to set its limits for handling foreign exchange exposure. The firm also has to decide whether to manage its exposures on a cost centre or profit centre basis. A cost centre approach is a defensive one and the main aim is ensure that cash flows of a firm are not adversely affected beyond a point. A profit centre approach on the other hand is a more aggressive approach where the firm decides to generate a net profit on its exposure over time. Hedging: Based on the limits a firm set for itself to manage exposure, the firms then decides an appropriate hedging strategy. There are various financial instruments available for the firm to choose from: futures, forwards, options and swaps and issue of foreign debt. Hedging strategies and in struments are explored in a section. Stop Loss: The firms risk management decisions are based on forecasts which are but estimates of reasonably unpredictable trends. It is imperative to have stop loss arrangements in order to rescue the firm if the forecasts turn out wrong. For this, there should be certain monitoring systems in place to detect critical levels in the foreign exchange rates for appropriate measure to be taken. Reporting and Review: Risk management policies are typically subjected to review based on periodic reporting. The reports mainly include profit/ loss status on open contracts after marking to market, the actual exchange/ interest rate achieved on each exposure, and profitability vis-Ã  -vis the benchmark and the expected changes in overall exposure due to forecasted exchange/ interest rate movements. The review analyses whether the benchmarks set are valid and effective in controlling the exposures, what the market trends are and finally whether the ove rall strategy is working or needs change. Figure 1: Framework for Risk Management Effect of Currency swings in Indian market Cross-currency volatility is gnawing at the profit margins of almost every tech company. The movement of non-dollar currencies has undone the gains from rupees downward movement against the US dollar. When Indian IT companies were first exposed to the rupee-dollar volatility in 2007 (that time the Indian currency was strengthening against the greenback), they had hedged themselves against the dollar. However, while the rupee movement reversed again, IT companies and their CFOs were caught off guard as other currencies showed unexpected volatility for which they had very little hedges in place. As per the research and news: Indias total trade now accounts for over 40% of its GDP, and this highlights the increasing openness of the Indian economy and its reliance on foreign trade. However, as companies revenues increasingly come from cross-border trad e, they also become more vulnerable to fluctuations and swings in currency rates. There are many such examples amongst the Indian business. A midsize iron ore manufacturer and exporter suffered losses to the tune of $9.5 million due to adverse currency movements and losses of derivative transactions, which caused its profitability to slump to 4.5% as compared with 15% in the previous year. In another example, a mid-size auto component manufacturer suffered exchange losses of $1.2 million in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009. This was because the company did not have a foreign exchange (forex) strategy in place to proactively counter this risk. It has now started hedging on selective basis by way of plain vanilla forwards as a corrective step. Looking at the cases like these, companies are now stepping up their cross-currency hedges. Example of TCS As per the annual report of TCS in the year 2007-2008, we get the following details, which reflect the derivative instr uments used by TCS to hedge the forex risk. Derivative financial instruments The Company, in accordance with its risk management policies and procedures, enters into foreign currency forward contracts and currency option contracts to manage its exposure in foreign exchange rates. The counter party is generally a bank. These contracts are for a period between one day and eight years. The Company has following outstanding derivative instruments as on March 31, 2008: The following are outstanding Foreign Exchange Forward contracts, which have been designated as Cash Flow Hedges, as on: Â Â March 31,2008 Â Â Â March 31,2007 Â Foreign Currency No. of Contracts Notional amount of forward contracts (million) Fair Value (Rs. In crores) Â No. of Contract Notional amount of forward contracts (million) Fair Value (Rs. In crores) Â Gain/(Loss) Â Gain/(Loss) U.S.Dollar 14 290 25.21 Â Sterling Pound 3 15 3.91 Â 5 21 0.32 Euro 3 19 11.78 Â Â Â 0.35 The following are outstanding Currency Option contracts, which have been designated as Cash Flow Hedges, as on: Â Â March 31,2008 Â Â Â March 31,2007 Â Foreign Currency No. of Contracts Notional amount of forward contracts (million) Fair Value (Rs. In crores) Â No. of Contract Notional amount of forward contracts (million) Fair Value (Rs. In crores) Â Gain/(Loss) Â Gain/(Loss) U.S.Dollar 67 3871.50 (88.70) Â 27 830.00 32.71 Sterling Pound 7 55.65 (2.23) Â 5 47.50 (1.93) Euro 12 99.25 (38.75) Â 11 76.50 (0.60) Net loss on derivative instruments of Rs.21.83 crores recognized in Hedging Reserve as of March 31, 2008, is expected to be reclassified to the profit and loss account by March 31, 2009 The movement in Hedging Reserve during year ended March 2008, for derivatives designated as Cash Flow Hedges is as follows: Particulars Year ended March 31, 2008 Year ended March 31, 2007 Â (Rs. In crores) (Rs. In crores) Balance at the beginning of the year 73.71 4.42 Gains / (losses) transferred to income statement on occurrence of forecasted hedge transaction 64.91 4.42 Changes in the fair value of effective portion of outstanding cash flow derivatives 174.78 29.64 Net derivative gain/(losses) related to a discontinued cash flow hedge 150.83 44.07 Balance at the end of the year 15.15 73.71 In addition to the above cash flow hedges, the Company has outstanding foreign exchange forward contracts and currency option contracts aggregating Rs. 2167.95 crores (previous year : Rs.2062.61 crores), whose fair value showed a loss of Rs.4.46 crores as on March 31, 2008 (previous year : gain of Rs 6.76 crores), to hedge the future cash flows. Although these contracts are effective as hedges from an economic perspective, they do not qualify for hedge accounting and accordingly these are accounted as derivatives instruments at fair value with changes in fair value recorded in the profit and loss account. Exchange gain of Rs.283.96 crores (previous year gain of Rs.45.13 crores) on foreign exchange forward contracts and currency option contracts have been recognized in the year ended March 31, 2008.

Personal Statement Health Field - 774 Words

The reason I wanted to be involved in the health field is because I wanted to pursue a career that gives back to other people the blessings that I received when I first entered this world. I was born prematurely and my mother often reminds me that it was the dedicated hard work of the physicians, nurses, and other health-care workers who saved my life when I was born. Throughout my life, this has always been an inspiration and motivation for me to help others. Having a profession in the health field should not be treated as just a career to earn a salary or a paycheck, but as a career where you will be helping to make the world a little healthier and better. My philosophy is that individuals in healthcare have a responsibility for the community to provide safe, rounded, patient care. Never go with the assumption that you know what going on with the patient and recognize that not every patient you deal with is the same. In order to fight against assumption, we must challenge our own assumptions about what is normal to us and what is normal for the patient. As a healthcare provider, we should work to foster a wide-ranging environment that recognizes the supports and cares for all, regardless of someone’s race, gender, ethnicity, beliefs, age, sexual orientation or disability, because a comprehensive setting can enhance and improve the quality of healthcare for all patients. I must understand that the patients are not just a number, but are people that deserve and are entitledShow MoreRelatedHigher Education Faculty Teaching Philosophy845 Words   |  4 Pagesinstitutions have a statement of philosophies of their own derived from t heir pioneer or parent institutions or organizations (Higgins Leonora, 2009). The Catholic University of America School of Nursing has its pioneer group that is the Catholic Church. 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Health Care Sector

Question: Write an essay on Health care sector. Answer: Introduction: Health care sector needs urgency in patient care and the use of IT in the hospital management is now an emerging trend globally. The IT implementation has enabled the physicians, administration in the hospital intranet with that of the third parties like drug firms, patients, insurance leading to improve care, better utilisation of resources, reduction in the wastes and increased patient satisfaction (Joumard et al. 2010). Use of resources: The case here is the Sydney Adventist Hospital based in Wahroonga, Sydney which we will analyse to understand the level of IT usage in rendering benefits to stakeholders. The Sydney Adventist Hospital has a dedicated website where it offers, contact information, finding specialist doctors, news, health facts, links (patients, and visitors), links (doctors and community), departments (emergency, maternity, cardiac, orthopaedic, cancer, urology, diagnostic). It also has nursing college Avondale College) in the campus. The hospital has 494 overnight beds but it has outpatient services (physiotherapy, cardiac rehabilitation, pathology radiology, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, wound care, radiation oncology, dietician services. Important for business survival: The use of hospitality management system has integrated the administration work that has eliminated the duplication, errors caused by the employees, impart digitalisation of reports and records (Erdtmann, 2016). This is shareable on real time basis, that is enabling hospital operations to be streamlined that has enabled reduction in overall cost of care. This is important from the patient point of view as convenience and ease of dealing with the Sydney Adventist Hospital has led to lesser time spends, accurate billing and electronic records that are accessible on real time anytime anywhere. Better diagnosis and management of patient, drug administration, treatment process is possible with the use of IT (Britain, 2012). Failing to implement leads to waste of time, efforts and bad patient experience, hence Sydney Adventist Hospital implementing web enabled architecture has improved its survival factor in Australia. Apply IT into business (Cost, planning, designing, equipment, installation, training) The costing of the end to end solution software like this can be outsourced to a specialist IT firm that has previous experience in end to end implementation. This is vital and the Sydney Adventist Hospital should be able to implement IT architecture in its premises with the servers and databases and dedicated team to control the IT administration. The IT planning of the hospitality management system should have the patients, physicians, support staff, finance, records management, drug inventory, housekeeping, departmental information embedded in it. The design as per business requirements should be scalable with the integration of the computer to capture the legacy (old records) current prescriptions, slides, test reports, images, to be integrated into one platform (Berg, 1999). The system for Sydney Adventist Hospital should have self help menu to enable first time users to learn navigate through the software, followed by self login, secured password and training area added to it. The hardware part should be uniform with only servers in Sydney Adventist Hospital to be stored, safely under security. The access of each IT module as per the designation and role in the Sydney Adventist Hospital is key to maintaining the CIA (confidentiality, integrity, accountability) in the whole system meeting ethical norms. Business use IT (internally such as staff, employees, and externally such as customers, suppliers) The web enabled process in Sydney Adventist Hospital requires a dedicated backend server which have databases of customers, doctors, transactions, records where the whole process is driven by a unique customer ID. The records system needs to have text based documents like prescriptions, while the reports of visual images. The integration of the records to be digitally converted needs software license and access by respective customer with their ID. The employee database which serves the patients as per departments are around 2300 with 700 support staffs need attendance, work area login, compensation, training, knowledge case studies to equip them. The records management are shareable between the testing department, physicians, nurses, that enables real time consultation at any stage of patient treatment process. The installation of integrated intranet for communication between doctors, email, chat are key to patient diagnosis process (Porter and Teisberg, 2006). The planning of hospi tal management will require customisation of software built on Java language with web interface (XML) and database as Oracle. The finance module is payment based so patient will register and pay with cash or card otherwise will opt for insurance (limit) to start the treatment (Stead and Lin, 2009). The communication with stakeholders will use invoice and purchase orders for the listed suppliers and vendors for drugs, house keeping for hospital beds, Benefits and advantages does IT bring to business? (Revenue, flexibility, reduces cost) There is significant spending for the hardware and the total networking cost in Sydney Adventist Hospital. Though it is a one time investment but the Sydney Adventist Hospital board needs to approve as it has long term cost realisation in terms of lesser wait times, accessing records multiple times by patient and physicians anywhere anytime. This flexibility allows better patient management, superior diagnosis, drug procurement and usage, treatment regimen improving the quality of health care (Systems, 2011). Physicians are able to cross consult for second opinion with an intrusive angle to understand a complicated patient case by accessing EHR (electronic health records) that will benefit the patient. Advanced level IT system enables the surgeon to view imagery which use lasers for micro surgery and that requires the employee to stay for very short stays. So both at tactical level for everyday and for strategic (patient care history) are the key factors which is enabling the medical profession. Thus both patients and the carers are able to access information and share in real time is a boon while the advanced level IT usage can lead to telemedicine (telepsychaitry, telepathology, remote patient monitoring), cross country teleICU of a patient (Rice, 2013). These are preventive technologies and also can be used to save 30-50% of patient inhouse treatment cost. Administration sending emails, SMS in phones for appointment or test reminders to outpatients are also enabling better patient experience in Sydney Adventist Hospital. Type of risk does IT bring to business (security, privacy, confidentiality) There are different kinds of risks involved when IT is considered (Starfield et al. 2005). Therefore meeting the medical norms and guidelines are default that is built to practice. So the next risk is about the patient record system (EHR). The issue of security of the records (radiologic images, lab test results, medicine prescription, invoice and bills), patient details and personal information is stored and accessed by the software (Kaplan and Porter, 2011). The unauthorised access, breaches of user access, is violating the electronic media and the availability of records to those who needs access. Thus each member attached to a patient needs to use the patient information, with the physician(s) allocated during treatment regimen need to set the privacy and security settings (Hillestad et al., 2005). It has two aspects of intranet sharing and the external sharing of the information or records should be dealt with legalities. IT staff of Sydney Adventist Hospital should be notified while audits to proactively control these issues should be done frequently. Patient privacy policy about physical and electronic medical information can have a devastating effect on the patient as it breaches patient rights, puts other stakeholders into forced legal responsibilities (Berwick, 2003). This can be resolved in Sydney Adventist Hospital with the use of VPN (virtual private networks), added with the SSL (secure socket layer) embedded in the financial module for any transaction, communication messages in intranet and extranet (encrypted) (Guptill, 2005). The use of biometrics can be used to access the computer and PC in the Sydney Adventist Hospital. Anti virus and firewalls can be constructed to prevent intranet access by unauthorised persons. Similarly, the database servers in the Sydney Adventist Hospital IT room needs password protection to maintain the data integrity. The use of the automatic account logoff in case of inactivity, single sign on, invalid user ID strict ly controlled should be implemented. These proactive measures and norms will help Sydney Adventist Hospital to take care of EMR (electronic medical records database). Data integrity in the hospital can be done while any physician or medical support staff to verify and modified in between to test intrusion detection. Use of digital signatures in test, lab, radiology reports and prescriptions can help to streamline the risks (Devore and Champion, 2011). Business maintain and monitor IT: Patient care system is vital part of the bigger system of hospitality management system, and there are several technologies involved (Blackstone and Fuhr, 2007). The basic ones are providing information and advice, administration and transaction, consultations and clinical, diagnosis and monitoring, relationships (internal and external) that will form a larger part of Sydney Adventist Hospital activities. The IT monitoring team in Sydney Adventist Hospital needs to be separate to that of the IT admin as they till try to find gaps in the IT architecture design, IT performance, security breach. The cross sectional analysis of the IT system in Sydney Adventist Hospital will see patient (family member) initiated actions (40%) for choosing a doctor and booking and appointment (web and telephone) which will lead to e-prescription services (10%), rest equally shared by testing, checking prescriptions for drug dose, lab reports (Christensen and Hwang, 2009). The IT design of modules should r eflect a value proposition for the user, which should ideally support the very purpose of IT enabling transactions, patients care with lesser effort. Conclusion: The emergence of an efficient Sydney Adventist Hospital administration will have patient and treatment procedures in a dashboard, which will help to create better quality services. The integration of IT and mobile has been a boon that has enabled to personalise communication. The challenge in medical equipment monitoring and data capture into IT system needs special attention for the hospital team. The newer avenues like video or telemedicine, interactive health information will be key to the future use of technology in the hospital domain. References: Berg, M. (1999). Patient care information systems and health care work: a sociotechnical approach. International journal of medical informatics, 55(2), pp.87101. Berwick, D.M. (2003). Disseminating innovations in health care. Jama, 289(15), pp.196975. Available at: Blackstone, E.A. and Fuhr, J.P. (2007). Redefining health care: Creating value-based competition on results. Atlantic Economic Journal, 35(4), pp.491501. Christensen, C.M. and Hwang, J. (2009). A Disruptive Solution for Health Care. BusinessWeek Online, p.3. Available at: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=trueanddb=buhandAN=36806067andsite=ehost-live. Devore, S. and Champion, R.W. (2011). Driving population health through accountable care organizations. Health affairs (Project Hope), 30(1), pp.4150. Available at: https://content.healthaffairs.org/content/30/1/41.short. Erdtmann, F. (2016). Improving Diagnosis in Health Care. Military Medicine, 181(March), pp.183186. Guptill, J. (2005). Knowledge management in health care. Journal of health care finance, 31(3), pp.1014. Hillestad, R. et al. (2005). Can electronic medical record systems transform health care? Potential health benefits, savings, and costs. Health affairs (Project Hope), 24(5), pp.110317. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16162551. Joumard, I., Andr, C. and Nicq, C. (2010). Health Care Systems: Efficiency and Institutions. OECD Economics Department, (769), p.133. Kaplan, R.S. and Porter, M.E. (2011). How to solve the cost crisis in health care. Harvard business review, 89(9). Rice, T. (2013). The behavioral economics of health and health care. Annual review of public health, 34, pp.431447. Available at: Starfield, B., Shi, L. and Macinko, J. (2005). Contribution of primary care to health systems and health. The Milbank quarterly, 83(3), pp.457502. Stead, W.W. and Lin, H.S. (2009). Computational Technology for Effective Health Careà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¯: Immediate Steps and Strategic Directions. The National Academy Press. Sydney Adventist hospital, (2016) About Us. Available[Accessed on 29 May 2016] Systems, B, S. (2011). Health IT and Patient Safetyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¯: Building Safer Systems for Better Care, [Accessed on 29 May 2016]

Agricultural Reforms Policy Australia †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Agricultural Reforms Policy Australia. Answer: Introduction In the composition of national GDP agriculture, contribute a significant portion in Australia. Australia makes huge export earnings from exporting its primary products. Australian farmers are able to produce 93% of domestic product used by Australian natives on daily basis. Other than, that agricultural sector possesses linkage with other sectors in the economy. Agricultural sectors also contribute to employment generation in Australia and unemployment rate significantly lower. Nearly 1.6 million people are engaged in agriculture and other related farming industries. Despite so much importance, agricultural sector receives least assistant from the government. The paper makes aneconomic analysis on news report capturing different types of agricultural reform policy of Australian government. Essence of the story There is a well known different between the agricultural policies devised by the Australian government and that of the rest of the world. A subsidized or regulated agricultural market is the most common form of reform. In contrast free market approach has been given more priority in Australia. In other contemporary countries like Ireland or United Kingdom follows Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) (queenslandcountrylife.com.au, 2017). The farmers there receive agricultural subsidies and participate in programs for agricultural development. In contrast, Australian farmers are independent of EUs subsidy allowance. Australian government is reluctant to give price support to farmers. Australia stands as second in the list of OECD countries in terms of giving lowest support in its agriculture. In other OECD countries, CAP subsidy accounts a significant part of farmers income. This makes Australian agriculture more sensitive to market forces. CAP has a different type of operation in Australia. Apart from basic subsidy, other benefits under CAP policies include healthy regional communities, efficient management of agriculture product and inputs (Swinbank Daugbjerg, 2017).The target of the Australian government is to make agro business to run profitably and viably. Australian government aims at designing a market based sustainable agro policy keep it primary sector competitive in the world market. Economic theories and concept Agricultural reforms in Australia though largely rely on free market policies there are some areas where government intervene. Australian government had initially imposed a high tariff rate to protect the agricultural sector. A tariff is a tax on imports (Park, 2017).To protect famers from low price imported agricultural product tariff was imposed. However, due to the distortion resulted from tariff policy government decides to relax all the restriction and back again to the free market policy. Demand, Supply and Free Market Demand for a product is defined as people ability to buy the product at the existing market price (Kirwan Roberts, 2016). On the other hand, supply of a product measures producers ability to supply at different pricing point. Market equilibrium is ensured at a point where decision of buyers matches with the decision of seller (Frank, 2014). Corresponding to the equilibrium point, market price and market quantity is determined. Free market price and quantity are P* and Q* as obtained from the intersection of demand and supply curve. At any price higher the P* there will be excess supply and at any price below P8 there will be excess demand. In such situations forces of demand and supply adjusts and restore equilibrium. Price mechanism known as invisible hand ensure efficiency in the market. In the free market, there are no amount of market power either in the hand of buyers or in the hands of sellers (Nicholson Snyder, 2014). Hence, the surpluses are equally divided among buyers and sellers. Resources are efficiently allocated and hence optimally utilized. This justifies the Australian government decision of free market policy. Agriculture support policy With support price policy, there are always distortions in the market (Bernanke, Antonovics Frank, 2015). The following figure describes the market with a agricultural support policy. In the above figure free market price and quantity are P* and Q* respectively. In the free market situation, consumer and producer surpluses are shown by the area abe and cf. Now, suppose government intervene and sets price to P min to increase producers surplus. Higher price induces consumer in the grain market to reduce their demand from Q* to QM while supply increase from Q* to QT. Because of supply outpacing its demand there will be excess supply in the market that the government has to purchase at the regulated price. This may increases the stock of grains to government but in most of the situation the grains are wasted (Ciaian, Kancs Swinnen, 2014). The loss occurred due to government spending to purchase additional grains shown by the area HEFGJI. Recommendation The price support policy to agriculture is not very effective in Australia. However, government cannot stand still leaving this sector completely on free market situation. In agricultural sector, productivity matters a lot. The productive growth is measured through the change in output contributed from factors in addition to direct factor inputs. These include innovation and adaption of new technology in the production process. Australian government should increase investment in innovation. This will increase productivity in agricultural sector. The government may continue with its non-subsidy policy but investment should be made to improve the infrastructure of agriculture. Conclusion In the paper, a critical evaluation is made on the article published in Australia on reform agricultural policies in Australia. The article finds the difference of reform approach in Australia and that in other European countries. Agriculture is an important sector for Australian economy. The policy agricultural reform in Australia is different from that of other European countries. While most of the countries generally adapt price support policy or other agricultural subsidy policy farmer in Australia usually, deal with free market condition. The agricultural sector is strong enough in Australia but still there is some field where the government should intervene. Areas like innovation or other infrastructural facilities require government investment. With government support, the sector can make a remarkable progress. References Ag system differences an interesting study. (2017).Queensland Country Life. Retrieved 10 August 2017, from https://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/story/4841904/ag-system-differences-an-interesting-study/. Bernanke, B., Antonovics, K., Frank, R. (2015). Principles of macroeconomics. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Ciaian, P., Kancs, D. A., Swinnen, J. (2014). The impact of the 2013 reform of the common agricultural policy on land capitalization in the european union.AppliedEconomic Perspectives and Policy,36(4), 643-673. Frank, R. (2014). Microeconomics and behavior. McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Kirwan, B. E., Roberts, M. J. (2016). Who Really Benefits from Agricultural Subsidies? Evidence from Field-Level Data.American Journal of Agricultural Economics,98(4), 1095-1113. Nicholson, W., Snyder, C. M. (2014).Intermediate microeconomics and its application. Cengage Learning. Park, H. W. (2017). Economics 100 04 Introductory Microeconomic. Swinbank, A., Daugbjerg, C. (2017). The Changed Architecture of the EUs Agricultural Policy Over Four Decades: Trade Policy Implications for Australia.

A Room of Ones Own essays

A Room of One's Own essays Virginia Woolfs A Room of Ones Own broke new territory in suggesting that the reason there were very few acknowledged womens writers at this time was because women lead hard lives in comparison to men and that the conditions needed to produce women writers was not conducive for them at this time. Her response was that for women to write literature they must have a room of their own, both literaraly and symbolically. This entailed real space and privacy for women to write in, the financial freedom to write without enduring unwanted jobs, women role models and the freedom and power to choose their own career path. Throughout this course the majority of women we have studied have had the privilege of fulfilling these requirements and thus had a room of ones own. Therefore, to be a successful female writer it is essential to have a room of ones own, although I believe that the above requirements are not all necessary and that todays room has changed. Womens lives were made less accessible to writing because of the requirements on women. Women were the wives, cooks, cleaners and employees. Women were responsible for bearing and raising the children and because of this they were at a disadvantage to the opportunities afforded to men. Women simply did not have the time to sit down in a quite room and write and moreover, she argues that women were not allowed until very recently to gain an education parable to mens, and even this is debatable. Throughout time, Woolf argues, women have been slaves, often locked up, not free to choose their partner and frequently beaten by their husbands. Women were shut up in unwanted families that force them to become economically, psychologically and physically dependent on men. How can women write quality literature amid these conditions? Woolf writes, Making a fortune and bearing thirteen children- no human being...

Biography of Tiberius, 1st Century Roman Emperor

Biography of Tiberius, 1st Century Roman Emperor The Roman emperor Tiberius (November 16, 42 BCE–March 16, 37 CE) was a very capable military leader and a sensible civic leader who tried to restrain Romes out-of-control budget. But he was also dour and unpopular. He is known primarily for his trial for treason, sexual perversion, and eventually shirking his responsibility by going into seclusion. Fast Facts: Tiberius Known For: Roman Emperor in the first century CEBorn: November 16, 42 BCE on the Palatine Hill, RomeParents: Tiberius Claudius Nero (85–33 BC) and Livia DrusillaDied: March 16, 37 CE in RomeEducation: Studied with Theodous of Gadara and Nestor the AcademicSpouse(s): Vipsania Agrippina (m. 19 BCE), Livia Julia the Elder, (m. 11 BCE)Children: Drusus Julius Caesar (with Vipsania), Julia, Ti Gemellus, Germanicus (all with Julia) Early Life Tiberius was born on November 16, 42 BCE on the Palatine Hill or at Fundi; he was the son of the Roman quaestor Tiberius Claudius Nero (85–33 BC) and  his wife Livia Drusilla. In 38 BCE, Livia was forced to divorce Tiberius Nero to become the wife of the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius Nero died when Tiberius was 9 years old. Tiberius studied rhetoric with Theodorus of Gadara, with Nestor the Academic and perhaps with Athaneaus the Peripatetic. He became fluent in Greek and meticulous in Latin. In his early civic career, Tiberius defended and prosecuted at court and before the Senate. His successes at court included the securing of a charge of high treason against Fannius Caepio and Varro Murena. He reorganized the grain supply and investigated irregularities in slave barracks where free people were detained improperly and where draft dodgers pretended to be slaves. Tiberius political career soared: he became quaestor, praetor, and consul at a young age, and  received the power of a tribune for five years. Marriage and Family In 19 BCE, he married Vipsania Agrippina, the daughter of the renowned general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (Agrippa); and they had a son, Drusus Julius Caesar. In 11 BCE, Augustus forced Tiberius to divorce Vipsania and marry his daughter Livia Julia the Elder, who was also the widow of Agrippa. Julia had three children with Tiberius: Julia, Ti Gemellus, and Germanicus. Early Military Accomplishments Tiberiuss first military campaign was against the Cantabrians. He then went to Armenia where he restored Tigranes to the throne. He collected missing Roman standards from the Parthian court. Tiberius was sent to govern the long-haired Gauls and fought in the Alps, Pannonia, and Germany. He subjugated various Germanic peoples and took 40,000 of them  as prisoners. He then settled them in homes in Gaul. Tiberius received an ovation and a triumph in 9 and 7 BCE. In 6 BCE, he was ready to accept command of the eastern Roman forces, but instead, at what would seem to be a height of power, he abruptly retired to the island of Rhodes. Julia and Exile By 6 BCE, Tiberius marriage to Julia had gone sour: by all accounts, he regretted leaving Vipsania. When he retired from public life, Julia was banished by her father for her immoral behavior. His stay on Rhodes lasted at least eight years, between 6 BCE and 2 CE, during which time he wore a Greek cloak and slippers, spoke Greek to the townspeople, and attended philosophical lectures. Tiberius tried earlier to return to Rome when his tribunician power ended, but his petition was denied: thenceforth he was referred to as The Exile. After Lucius Caesar died in 2 CE, Tiberius mother Livia arranged for his recall, but to do that, Tiberius had to renounce all political aspirations. However, in 4 CE after all other likely successors had died, Augustus adopted his step-son Tiberius, who in turn had to adopt his nephew Germanicus. For this, Tiberius received tribunician power and a share of Augustuss power and then came home to Rome. Later Military Accomplishments and Ascension to Emperor Tiberius was given tribunician power for three years, during which time his responsibilities would be to pacify Germany and suppress the Illyrian revolt. The German pacification ended in disaster in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (9 CE), when an alliance of Germanic tribes destroyed three Roman legions and their auxiliaries, led by Publius Quinctilius Varus. Tiberius did achieve complete submission of the Illyrians, for which he was voted a triumph. He postponed the triumph celebration out of deference to Varus disaster in Germany: but after two years more in Germany, he settled things and put on a triumphal banquet with 1,000 tables. With the sale of his spoils, he restored the temples of Concord and Castor and Pollux. As a result, in 12 CE, the consuls awarded Tiberius joint control of the provinces (co-princeps) with Augustus. When Augustus died, Tiberius, as tribune, convened the Senate where a freedman read Augustus will naming Tiberius as successor. Tiberius called on the praetorians to provide him a bodyguard  but didnt take the title of emperor immediately nor even his inherited title of Augustus. Tiberius as Emperor At first, Tiberius despised sycophants, intervened in matters of state to check abuses and excesses, abolished Egyptian and Jewish cults in Rome, and banished astrologers. He consolidated the Praetorians for efficiency, crushed city riots, and abolished the right of sanctuary. However, his reign turned sour when informers accused Roman men and women of many, even silly crimes that led to capital punishment and confiscation of their estates. In 26 CE, Tiberius exiled himself to Capri, leaving the empire in control of his Socius Laborum (partner of my labors), Lucius Aelius Sejanus. In Capri, Tiberius stopped fulfilling his civic obligations  but instead engaged in licentious acts. Most notorious is his training of little boys to act as nipping minnows or tiddlers, to chase him when he went swimming in the imperial pool, nibbling between his legs. Tiberius mean and vengeful streak caught his erstwhile confidant, Sejanus, accused of conspiracy against the emperor. Sejanus was executed for treason in 31 CE. Until Sejanus was destroyed, people had blamed him for the excesses of the emperor, but with his death, the blame rested solely on Tiberius. The empire continued to run on without the direct input of the emperor, who remained in Capri. During Tiberius exile in Capri, Gaius (Caligula) came to live with Tiberius, who was his adopted grandfather. Tiberius included Caligula as joint heir in his will. The other heir was Tiberius brother Drusus child, still a teenager. Death Tiberius died on March 16, 37 CE, at age 77. He had ruled for nearly 23 years. According to Tacitus, when it looked as though Tiberius would die naturally, Caligula tried to take sole control of the empire. Tiberius, however, recovered. At the request of Caligula, the head of the Praetorian Guard, Macro, stepped in and had the old emperor smothered. Caligula was named emperor. Sources Balmaceda, Catalina. The Virtues of Tiberius in Velleius Histories. Historia: Zeitschrift fà ¼r Alte Geschichte 63.3 (2014): 340–63.Rutledge, Steven H. Tiberius Philhellenism. The Classical World 101.4 (2008): 453–67.Seager, Robin. Tiberius. 2nd edition. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell, 1972, 2005.  Syme, Ronald. History or Biography. The Case of Tiberius Caesar. Historia: Zeitschrift fà ¼r Alte Geschichte 23.4 (1974): 481–96.

Political Theories Class Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Political Theories Class - Essay Example This led to her detainment and interrogated by the Gestapo. Fearing for her life in Germany, she fled to France. In chapter three, she majors on why the Nazi government hated the Jews. She claims that the government spread this hatred because most of the Jews properties in Germany. In a bid for the German government to gain control of its citizens, they had to create a common enemy. She states that the holocaust was not about eliminating Jews but about consistency and megalomania among the Germans. In chapter 4, Hannah writes about a junior Jewish officer in the French army convicted of high treason. There was no extensive examination of the extension presented. Dreyfus was the soldiers name; this affair caused a significant scandal in the French government. The actual French officer who was a traitor was a senior officer acquitted after two hearings of his trial, and his name cleared. This shows how the government can make mistakes in trying to control the activities of its people. After his hearing in Paris, a considerable scandal arose, and that led to his reinstating in the army as principal. In conclusion, Hannah focuses on the effects the Jews suffered from totalitarianism. Her Jewish background helps her in