Gabriella :: Personal Narrative Russia Judaism Papers

Gabriella Sometimes I still say your name, just to hold it in my mouth, to twirl it past the curves of vowels and into the trill of the l, the lilt of the final a. Gabriella, I still see your sharp, strange face, in street crowds and in airports, the flutter of your long hands tracing my belly button.I cant find Gabriellas last name, something quite Russian and excitingly foreign to the tail fin year old self of mine who last saw her. I dont enjoy which part of Russia she lived in originally coming here as part of a refugee plan for Soviet Jews, never even thought to ask. In 1983, I only knew that Russians were communists, and communists were bad, which was why Gabriella (stop, wait, say the name again, slowly). Gabriieeelllaaa ran away. I am four years old and have to read one whole book with chapters before starting kindergarten next week at Ezra Academy, a Jewish day school in Woodbridge, Connecticut which requires all students to read and write both Hebrew and English at a b asic level upon entrance. When we met the principal everyplace the summer, he said that I would be the youngest pupil by more than a year. For my book, I pick Meet Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from a shiny shelf at Stop n Shop while dangling over the front of the child seat in my mothers shopping cart, already too round to fit in comfortably. That night, I curl into my intercept flannel princess nightgown to read in my mothers big maroon rocking chair. Mommy, were the Jim Crow people commu..commm...communin,..cc...communinists?Communists?She smiles, and I watch for the crinkles at her eyes to notify me if she noticed my tangled pronunciation. Are the people who hated Dr. King the same people who hate Gabriella?Who?My mother drawls over the who, dangling the word like the furnish in her hand, one sip left of pale rose colored wine so perfect I want to place it like dew on my tongueWine is only for mommiesIf Im not allowed to drink more than one glass of ginger ale why can you drink five glasses of wine?Because its different for grownups, our stomachs are biggerBig enough for the whole bottle?Dont be silly. Who were you asking me about(predicate) before?Remember The girl who is going to be in my class who you said Rabbi Scolnik helped rescue from the cc.

It Takes a Thief :: Short Stories Stealing Burglary Essays

It Takes a ThiefThe raider moved slowly done and through the long stone hallway, not making a sound. He virtually clung to the grey walls, just another shadow in the dark. He paused for a moment, stretching every inch of his six foot frame, eye and ears straining in the blackness. There it was again, the sound of sandaled feet echoing through the hall. Dropping down and touching the floor, he felt vibrations reverberating through the stone. And they were culmination closer He swore softly, and looked around quickly. Spotting a door, he in haste said a prayer to whatever god was willing to listen, and he stepped through it. He noted that he was in a large, empty candlelit room, just now that was all he looked at for a moment. Breathing a sigh of relief, he wiped his brow and pushed back his shoulder length black hair, revealing a large, pointed ear. Youre getting to old for this Thronn, he whispered in the silence. Two hundred years. He was two hundred years old. That was really nothing but a pinch of salt in the life of an elf, but the constant pressures of his profession was get-go to wear on him. Being a thief added a flowerpot of stress to ones life. This job especially. Usually, he came out ahead, but not this time. His mouth quirked up in a cynical grin at the though of the mere two hundred gold that he was getting for this job. Raiding the castle of victor Paraxel was not his idea of sane, not even his idea of insanity. But, he had ask the money at the time. He shook his head angrily and looked up. A settle like that could easily cost him. Finally, his head clear, he scanned the room. It was bigger than he had originally thought and, he smiled, it was the very room he was looking for the armory. Cabinets were in numerous places along the floor, and numerous weapons were hanging along the walls. Reaching into his thrill pouch, he drew out a bankroll that his employer had given him. Hed been told that when he was terminate reading it, the weap on that glowed would be the one to take. He looked at the scroll with revulsion. He never had liked magic very much, even though hed incessantly had a way with it. Suddenly, with a flick of his wrist, a dagger appeared in his right hand.It Takes a Thief Short Stories Stealing Burglary EssaysIt Takes a ThiefThe thief moved slowly through the long stone hallway, not making a sound. He virtually clung to the grey walls, just another shadow in the dark. He paused for a moment, stretching every inch of his six foot frame, eyes and ears straining in the blackness. There it was again, the sound of sandaled feet echoing through the hall. Dropping down and touching the floor, he felt vibrations reverberating through the stone. And they were coming closer He swore softly, and looked around quickly. Spotting a door, he hurriedly said a prayer to whatever god was willing to listen, and he stepped through it. He noted that he was in a large, empty candlelit room, but that was all he looked a t for a moment. Breathing a sigh of relief, he wiped his brow and pushed back his shoulder length black hair, revealing a large, pointed ear. Youre getting to old for this Thronn, he whispered in the silence. Two hundred years. He was two hundred years old. That was really nothing but a pinch of salt in the life of an elf, but the constant pressures of his profession was starting to wear on him. Being a thief added a lot of stress to ones life. This job especially. Usually, he came out ahead, but not this time. His mouth quirked up in a cynical grin at the though of the mere two hundred gold that he was getting for this job. Raiding the castle of Lord Paraxel was not his idea of sane, not even his idea of insanity. But, he had needed the money at the time. He shook his head angrily and looked up. A lapse like that could easily cost him. Finally, his head clear, he scanned the room. It was bigger than he had originally thought and, he smiled, it was the very room he was looking for t he armory. Cabinets were in numerous places along the floor, and numerous weapons were hanging along the walls. Reaching into his belt pouch, he drew out a scroll that his employer had given him. Hed been told that when he was finished reading it, the weapon that glowed would be the one to take. He looked at the scroll with revulsion. He never had liked magic very much, even though hed always had a way with it. Suddenly, with a flick of his wrist, a dagger appeared in his right hand.

Wilson’s League of Nations and Its Legacy Essay -- United Nations Hist

Wilsons conference of Nations and Its LegacyAs much of the world lay in shambles as the closing to the War to End All Wars approached, President Woodrow Wilson contemplated the global state of affairs. In his Fourteen Points, Wilson expresses his desire for a just and stable peace and outlines shipway in which to accomplish it. One of his pointsthe fourteenthsuggests the creation of a group of nations with a common purpose. As his idea took root, it grew into the League of Nations. Despite good intentions, the League of Nations proved too weak to be effective at the outbreak of World War II. Even though the League itself failed, the legacy of its framework and missions constitute on in the current international system, most obviously in the United Nations.Stated in The Fourteen Points, Wilsons idea of the purpose of the proposed global association of nations was to afford mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike. Wilson was of the belief that the victory of democracy over absolute regularization would result in the victory ...

Human Domination :: Essays Papers

Human Domination Humans have changed nature in many ways since their populace on the earth. Some of these changes were good, but many were not. People have made the world easier for themselves to live in, but harder for other animals.In Buffalo Gals, Wont You Come Out Tonight by Ursula Le Guin, the main theme was the domination of the world by the benignant race. Gal experienced firsthand how the animals lived before the humans took over. Chickadee explained to her When we lived together it was all one place. But now the new people (humans) live apart. They weigh down on our place, they press on it, render it, suck it, eat it, eat holes in it, crowd it out (Le Guin 43) Myra also saw how humans had forced the animals into isolation. She saw the wickedness of human nature when the farmers fortuity at Coyote on sight, and then set a trap to poison her.Since the Neolithic Revolution, humans have domesticated animals. The positive effects of this are that the animals are fed and kep t clean. Despite this, the animals must sacrifice their unblockdom as wild creatures. For example, cows were kept and bred to provide milk, food, and clothing. Chickens must live in small coops and lay eggs only to have their babies stolen from them and cooked for breakfast. Horses are forced to bare a humans weight on their backs, and carry the human where he or she pleases. In Buffalo Gals Horse said that his kind were used to bring the new people to the animals land (Le Guin 37). These domesticated animals had no free will and were virtually slaves to humans throughout history. Animals today can be trained for specific tasks, such as a Seeing Eye cad or a talking parrot. Dogs are kept by homeowners for protection and used by law enforcement to sniff out drugs or bombs. This type of human-animal kindred only benefits the people the animals abilities are just being taken advantage of.Another form of domestication is the pet. Humans have kept pets for many geezerhood and the pet s are usually better cared for than a cow or flock of chickens. One reason is to train the animal for a specific task, such as a Seeing Eye dog or a talking parrot. Another reason to keep a pet is companionship. Someone who is lonely or disturbed may find emotional comfort in owning and taking care of an animal.

Food Fight Essay -- Health Culture Nutrition Essays

nutrient FightIn America, one would be hard pressed to find a town which did non support at least one McDonalds, Burger King or Wendys. Pizza parlors are a necessity in college towns. Ice cream shops are buzzing with customers of all ages after dark. And hey, who ever heard of a movie without popcorn? The increasing visibility and importance of food in our culture has been a phenomenon. Food began as a necessity of life. It was the source of energy, which allowed the body to grow and prosper, and for hunters and gatheerrs to survive. In modern times, the role of food in everyday life has taken on a life of its own, from the blue-ribbon palate pleasers tickling taste buds to political statements drawn in chocolate to social drinking. The resulting uses of food are as respective(a) as the different foods it encompasses and as inseparable from a persons daily life as breathing. How can something so simple as energy-intake stock have become such a large and varied part of everyday l ife? Food as a family affair is largely ascertain by the familys lifestyle conversely, knowing a familys eating patterns says a lot about their lifestyle. Sitcoms portray meals as a leisurely function for the family to sit down together to enjoy savory foods fresh from the oven, which the loving wife has been tending for the past two hours. Then reality sinks in. The increasing popularity of TV dinners, microwave gourmet, and prepackaged snacks caters to a family without the time for such luxury. Why cook when you can heat up a frozen entre of teriyaki beef or homestyle apple pie in just four minutes? As the tendency for both spouses to be employed full-time has increased from 33% of families in 1972 to 67% in 1998, according to the republical Data... ...heir lives before they can begin to conquer the problems which have arisen from it. As food has become increasingly available, society has found untried ways of playing with it, spinning out brand loyalty, hobbies, programming and cults dedicated to food. Before people embrace these new food novelties, however, they must first as a culture establish the terms of their new relationships with food. Only then can we both enjoy the delights of the kitchens without destroying our health and self-image in the process. Sources Citedfoodies.comforfoodies.comEric Schosslers Fast Food Nation (2001)Body Image Statistics womensissues.about.com/cs/bodyimage/a/bodyimagestats.htm Overweight and Obesity Fact Sheet www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/fact_adolescents.htmThe Emerging 21st entury cloud9.norc.uchicago.edu/dlib/sc-42.htm.

Food Fight Essay -- Health Culture Nutrition Essays

Food FightIn America, one would be hard pressed to find a town which did not support at least one McDonalds, Burger King or Wendys. Pizza parlors are a necessity in college towns. Ice cream shops are abuzz with customers of all ages later on dark. And hey, who ever heard of a movie without popcorn? The increasing visibility and importance of food in our gardening has been a phenomenon. Food began as a necessity of support. It was the source of energy, which allowed the body to grow and prosper, and for hunters and gatheerrs to survive. In modern times, the role of food in everyday life has taken on a life of its own, from the blue-ribbon palate pleasers tickling taste buds to political statements drawn in chocolate to social drinking. The resulting uses of food are as diverse as the divers(prenominal) foods it encompasses and as inseparable from a persons daily life as breathing. How can something so simple as energy-intake convey have endure such a large and varied part of ever yday life? Food as a family affair is largely determined by the familys lifestyle conversely, knowing a familys eating patterns says a lot about their lifestyle. Sitcoms portray meals as a leisurely occasion for the family to sit run through together to enjoy savory foods fresh from the oven, which the loving wife has been tending for the past two hours. Then reality sinks in. The increasing popularity of TV dinners, microwave gourmet, and prepacked snacks caters to a family without the time for such luxury. Why cook when you can heat up a frozen entre of teriyaki beef or homestyle apple pie in just four minutes? As the tendency for both spouses to be employed full-time has increased from 33% of families in 1972 to 67% in 1998, fit to the National Data... ...heir lives before they can begin to conquer the problems which have arisen from it. As food has become increasingly available, society has found new ways of acting with it, spinning out brand loyalty, hobbies, programming an d cults dedicated to food. Before people embrace these new food novelties, however, they must first as a culture establish the terms of their new relationships with food. Only then can we both enjoy the delights of the kitchens without destroying our health and self-image in the process. Sources Citedfoodies.comforfoodies.comEric Schosslers Fast Food Nation (2001)Body get a line Statistics womensissues.about.com/cs/bodyimage/a/bodyimagestats.htm Overweight and Obesity Fact Sheet www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/calltoaction/fact_adolescents.htmThe Emerging 21st entury cloud9.norc.uchicago.edu/dlib/sc-42.htm.

Political Risk Analysis Kenya 2012

Political Risk Analysis KENYA Table of contents Kenya covers an argona of 582,646 squargon kilometers. The land stretches from the sea direct (Indian Ocean) in the east, to 5,199 meters at the peak of the s direct-capped Mount Kenya. From the coast, the altitude changes gradually through the coastal belt and plains (be showtime 152 meters above sea aim), the dry in preconditi whizdiate low belt to what is known as the Kenya highlands (over 900 meters above sea level).The mo nonony of terrain in the low belt is broken by residual hills, masses of broken boulders and inselbergs. elimination is confined to em supplys where water prat be found. Wildlife atomic number 18 masters of the great(p)er part of the low belt. The famous Amboseli Game Reserve and Tsavo National Parks argon situated here. The Great Rift Valley bisects the Kenya Highlands into east and west. Mount Kenya is on the eastern side. The Highlands argon cool and agriculturally rich. Both large and small holder cu lture is carried out in the mellowedlands.The Lake Victoria Basin is dominated by Kano plains which are suited for farming through irrigation. The northern part of Kenya is plain and arid. further, a cast of food crops do well through irrigation. Kenya is located approximately 8-10 hours flying time from major European cities, and about 16-20 hours flying time from North American cities. 1. 2. CLIMATIC CONDITIONS Kenya enjoys a tropical climate. It is hot and humid at the coast, temperate inland and very dry in the north and northeast move of the terra firma. The median(a) annual temperature for the coastal town of Mombasa (altitude 17 meters) is 30. 0 Celsius maximum and 22. 40 Celsius minimum, the capital city, Nairobi (altitude 1,661 meters) 25. 20 Celsius maximum and 13. 60 Celsius minimum, Eldoret (altitude 3,085) 23. 60 Celsius maximum and 9. 50 Celsius minimum, Lodwar (altitude) 506 meters) and the drier north plain lands 34. 80 Celsius maximum and 23. 70 Celsius minimu m. There is plenty of sunshine all the social class round and summer c carry onhes are worn throughout the year. However, it is usually cool at night and archean in the morning. The long rains occur from April to June and short rains from October to December.The rain-fall is sometimes heavy and when it does come it ofttimes falls in the afternoons and evenings. The hottest period is from February to present and coldest in July to August. The annual mig balancen of wildlife between Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and Maasai Mara National Park in Kenya takes place between June and September. The migration of al more or less two million wildebeest, zebras and other species is natures greatest spectacle on earth. 1. 3. POPULATION Kenyas community has rapidly enlarged over the past some(prenominal) decades, and consequently it is relatively young. Some 73% of Kenyans are under 30.In 50 years, Kenyas population has grown from 7 million to 43 million. Kenya is a demesne of gre at ethnical diversity. Most Kenyans are bilingual in English and Swahili. Kenya has a very diverse population that includes three of Africas major sociolinguistic groups Bantu (67%), Nilotic (30%), and Cushitic (3%). Kenyans are deeply religious. About 80% of Kenyans are Christian, 11% Muslim, and the remainders follow traditional African religions or other faiths. Most city residents persist in tie in with their rural, extended families and leave the city periodi-cally to help work on the family farm.About 75% of Kenyas population lives in rural areas and relies on agriculture for most of its income. Nearly half the commonwealths 42 million people are poor, or unable to meet their daily nutritional requirements. The national motto of Kenya is Harambee, meaning pull together. In that spirit, volunteers in hundreds of communities build schools, clinics, and other facilities each year and collect funds to send students abroad. 1. 4. BACKGROUND OF KENYAS ECONOMY (1960-2010) Kenya is the largest delivery in east Africa and is a regional financial and trans demeanoration hub.After independence, Kenya promoted rapid economic growth through public endue-ment, encouragement of smallholder agricultural production, and incentives for esoteric (of-ten foreign) industrial investment. Gross domestic product (gross domestic product) grew at an annual average of 6. 6% from 1963 to 1973. Agri-cultural production grew by 4. 7% annually during the same period, wakend by redistrib-uting estates, distribute late crop strains, and opening new areas to cultivation. After experiencing concurly high growth rates during the 1960s and 1970s, Kenyas eco-nomic instruction execution during the 1980s and 1990s was far downstairs its possible.From 1991 to 1993, Kenya had its worst economic performance since independence. Growth in gross domestic product stagnated, and agricultural production shrank at an annual rate of 3. 9%. In-flation reached a record one hundred% in Aug ust 1993. In the mid-1990s, the giving medication imple-mented economic make better measures to stabilise the economy and restore sustainable growth, including lifting nearly all administrative controls on manufacturer and retail termss, im- airs, foreign exchange, and grain marketing. Nevertheless, the economy grew by an annual average of only 1. 5% between 1997 and 2002, which was below the population growth estimated at 2. % per annum, lead story to a decline in per capita incomes. The poor economic performance was largely due to inappropriate agricultural, land, and industrial policies compounded by poor international hurt of trade and governance weaknesses. Increased policy-making relation intrusion into the private sector and entailment substitution policies made the manufacturing sector uncompetitive. The policy environment, along with tight write controls and foreign exchange controls, made the do-mestic environment for investment unattractive for both foreign and domestic investors.The Kenyan Governments failure to meet commitments related to governance take to a stop-start relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, both of which suspended leap out in 1997 and again in 2001. During President Kibakis first term in office (2003-2007), the Government of Kenya began an enterprising economic reform plan and resumed its cooperation with the World Bank and the IMF. There was some elbow grease to reduce putrescence in 2003, but the government did non sustain that momentum. Economic growth began to recover in this period, with real GDP growth registering 2. % in 2003, 4. 3% in 2004, 5. 8% in 2005, 6. 1% in 2006, and 7. 0% in 2007. However, the economic launchs of the violence that broke out after the December 27, 2007 general alternative, compounded by drought and the global financial crisis, brought growth down to less than 2% in 2008. In 2009, there was modest improvement with 2. 6% growth. In may 2009, the IM F Board approved a disbursement of approximately $200 million under its Exogenous Shock Facility (ESF), which is designed to provide policy escort and financial assistance to low-income countries facing exogenous but temporary shocks.The ESF re-sources were meant to help Kenya recover from the negative impact of higher food and in-ternational fuel and fertilizer costs, and the slowing in external demand associated with the global financial crisis. In January 2011, the IMF approved a 3-year, $508. 7-million ar-rangement for Kenya under the Funds Extended Credit Facility. To a considerable extent, the governments ability to clear economic demand through fiscal and monetary policy is linked to the pace at which the government is pursuing reforms in other rudimentary areas. The Privatization virtue was enacted in 2005, but only became operational as of January 1, 2008.Parastatals Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), Telkom Kenya, and Kenya Re-Insurance take up been priva tized. The government sold 25% of Safaricom (10 zillion offices) in 2008, reducing its share to 35%. Accelerating growth to achieve Kenyas potential and reduce the poverty that afflicts about 46% of its population pass on require con-tinued deregulation of business, improved delivery of government values, addressing structural reforms, massive investment in new infrastructure (especially roads), reduction of chronic insecurity caused by crime, and improved economic governance generally.The gov-ernments Vision 2030 project calls for these reforms, but realization of the goals could be de-layed by coalition politics and line ministries limited capacity. Economic expansion is fairly broad-based and is built on a fixed macro-environment fos-tered by government, and the resilience, resourcefulness, and improved confidence of the private sector. Despite the post- pick crisis, Nairobi continues to be the primary commu-nication and financial hub of East Africa.It enjoys the regions b est transportation linkages, communications infrastructure, and trained personnel, although these advantages are less prominent than in past years. Kenya faces profound environmental challenges brought on by high population growth, de-forestation, shifting climate patterns, and the overgrazing of cattle in fringy areas in the north and west of the expanse. Significant portions of the population will continue to require emergency food assistance in the coming years. Kenya is pursuing regional economic integration, which could enhance long-term growth prospects.The government is pursuing a strategy to reduce unemployment by expanding its manufacturing base to exportationing more value-added goods to the region opus enabling Kenya to develop its services hub. In March 1996, the Presidents of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda re-established the East Afri-can Community (EAC). The EACs objectives include harmonizing tariffs and customs regimes, relieve movement of people, and improving reg ional infrastructures. In March 2004, the three East African countries signed a Customs Union Agreement paving the way for a common market.The Customs Union and a Common remote Tariff were es-tablished on January 1, 2005, but the EAC countries are still work out exceptions to the tariff. Rwanda and Burundi joined the community in July 2007. In whitethorn 2007, during a Com-mon Market for east and Southern Africa (COMESA) summit, 13 heads of state endorsed a move to adopt a COMESA customs union and set December 8, 2008 as the target date for its adoption. On July 1, 2010, the EAC Common Market Protocol, which allows for the free movement of goods and services across the five member states, took effect.In October 2008, the heads of state of EAC, COMESA, and the Southern African increment Communi-ty (SADC) agreed to work toward a free trade area among all three economic groups with the eventual goal of establishing a customs union. If realized, the Tripartite supernumerary Trade a rea would cover 26 countries. 2. POLITICAL CRITERIA 2. 1. GENERAL From the moment Kenya became independent, they went through lots of big changes. In 1962 the KANU-KADU coalition government was formed. The coalition government included both Kenyatta and Ngala.The country was divided in 7 regions and each one of the regions had its own regional assembly. After forming the coalition, the principle of reserving seats in the fan tan for non-Africans was abandoned and the first open elections were held in May 1963. In 1964 Kenya became a republic, and validational changes elevate centralized the government (Wikipedia September 2012). When in 1978 Daniel Arap Moi became chairperson in an authoritarian and corrupt manner, there were several changes in the politic of Kenya.Moi reduced the power of the Kenyattas men in the cabinet by identifying them to be traitors. similarly although the parliament started off as coalition during the whole presidency of Moi there was only one party wh o had all the power. Even after being pass by United States to assume multi-party system Moi declined. In the end because of the local and foreign pressure Moi was forced to accept a new party so that the multy-party could be restored. Moi won the elections in 1992 and 1997 where he used fear and electoral fraud to win (Wik-ipedia July 2008).In 2002 Moi was not able to present himself in the presidential elections because it is say in the Kenyas constitution that a present cannot be in the presidential elections more than three times. Moi unsuccess amply tried to promote Uhuru Kenyatta, as his successor. Mois former vice-president Mwai Kibaki was elective president by a large majority. International and local observers reported that the 2002 elections to be generally more fair than those of both 1992 and 1997 when Moi was elected as president. Kibaki lost quickly much of its power because his regime was too close linked with the Moi forces.The continuity between Kibaki and Moi became one of the reasons for the self-destruction of Kibakis regime. In 2007 Odinga attacked the failures of the Kibaki regime. In December Odinga won majority of the seats in the Parliament, but the presidential elections votes were divided. In the end it became never clear who won the elections, still the election committee stated that Kibaki was the winner. Odinga accused Kibaki of decadency which resulted in several big confrontations between followers of Odinga and Kibaki. The European Union did not agree with the outcome every because of the detected fraud in the presidential elections.As relation mass protest were triggered, bring-ing simmering ethnic tensions. The protest and the ongoing violence between several groups go along and became worse over the months. Between December and February 1. 500 people died and 600. 000 people became homeless. The United Nations tried to settle and offered a compromise whereby Kibaki stayed president and Odinga became Prime minister of religion (Chartis February 2008). In August 2010, a reference date taken on a new Kenyan constitution. The new Kenyan con-stitution restricted the power of president which would benefit to the parliament and re-gions.The reference date was accepted by the majority of parliament and passed undisturbedly. 2. 2. THE POLITICAL BALANCE OF POWER Various people speak of the heritance of Moi when looked at Kibaki and the amount of pow-er he has. Moi reduced the power of the cabinet this resulted in more power for him, the president. When Kibaki became the president he had his first years as much power as Moi had in his years. But the second time Kibaki became president there were many protests against him becoming the president. Many people and likewise Odinga accused him winning unfairly.United Nations stepped in and made Odinga prime minister and shortly after that the Kenyan constitution changed. With the new Kenyan constitution rules Kibaki, or the pre-sent president, is not allowe d to appoint more than 50% of the ministers. The rest of the ministers can be chosen by the prime minister. In this way the president is never able to al-ways corroborate full support by his ministers. Nowadays you can speak of a power-sharing cabinet in Kenya. The cabinet is fifty percent Kibaki appointed ministers and fifty percent Odinga appointed ministers.At the moment we can speak of balanced coalition when we look at Kenya. 2. 3. PRESENT GOVERNMENT AND HIS ATTITUDES AND PROGRAMS Although many opposed of Kibaki to become the president Kenya again in 2007 he did by some say an outstanding job. The country is compared to the Moi years much better man-aged and has by far more competent personnel (Wikipedia October 2012). Many sectors of the economy have recovered from collapsing in 2003. So did many state conjunctions who had collapsed during the Moi years have been revived and are performing profitably. Also the infrastructure has been going through changes.Several ambitious infra-structural and other projects are planned or ongoing. Kibaki also introduced the Constituency Development Fund, this was introduced in 2003. The fund was designed to develop resources across regions and to control imbalances in regional development. The CDF program has invested in putting up new water, health and education facilities. There was also special watchfulness for the remote areas of Kenya these areas were usually overlooked during projects (CDF official website). other fact is since the presidency of Kibaki the dependence of Kenya on aid by western donors has been decreased.The country is still getting funded significant but is now finding more fund by internally generated resources, such as tax. During Kibaki presidency, Kenya was more democratic and freer than before. When Kibaki came to power in 2003, he gave away free learning in primary school as well as in secondary school. This resulted in increase of number of children in primary- as in secondary school. 2. 4. POLITICAL stableness IN KENYA Before August 2010 all the power laid in the hands of the president. Ex-president Moi for example used his position for his own benefits.After the new Kenyan constitution the power changed of only one person, the president, too have it shared with the cabinet. With the new Kenyan constitution it results in a more stable government. When we look at the further the cabinet of Kenya will go through huge changes starting from 4 March 2013, because the general election will then be held. So far Kibaki did not state that he will run in the president elections following(a) year. Odinga will be participating as well as several other ministers, for example the Deputy prime minister and the Cooperative minister (Wikipedia October 2012). . CRITERIA RELATED TO DOMESTIC ECONOMY 3. 1. GENERAL INFORMATION Most of Eastern Africas economy is centralized in Kenya, although this gives them a power-ful position they still suffer from corruption and the low prices o f their most important ex-port products. Lately the government has lacked investing in infrastructure which leaves them in danger of losing the position of the largest economy in Eastern Africa. The government is accused of the lack of attempting to stop the corruption which opened the doors to a lot of scandals within Kenyas economy.This has led to a inference of financial support options. Recently Kenya have had a lot of set sanctions like high food and fuel import prices, a severe drought and reduced tourism resulted in inception in the interest rated and an increased cash re-serve. 3. 2. GDP The GDP in 2011 was $ 72, 34 billion, in 2010 this was $ 68,9 billion and in 2009 $ 2,6 billion. GDP growth in % Because of violence used during the elections plus the global financial crisis have led to a deduction in the GDP, in 2008 the growth was only 1,7% but luckily the economy rebounded since the year 2009.Now in 2011 the growth was only 4,3% due to the inflation and currency deprec iation. The GDP per capita was $1,700 in 2009 and in 2010 and increased to $1,800 in 2011. If you would compare this with the rest of the world this leaves Kenya on the 195th place in the, which is dangerously low when we look at the encounter of doing business with Kenya. Year PPP growth 20051398. 7034. 74 % 20061490. 4066. 56 % 20071592. 9866. 88 % 20081604. 9250. 75 % 20091616. 1430. 70 % 20101675. 9183. 70 % Even though historical facts do not look good, the forecast concerning the GDP are looking better.The GDP is plausibly to increase due to expansions in tourism, telecommunications, transport and construction and recovery in the agriculture, one of the most important sec-tors for Kenyas GDP. 3. 3. MOST IMPORTANT SECTORS AND PRODUCTS As mentioned before, one of the most important sectors in Kenyas economy is the agricul-tural sector, forestry and fishing accounted for 24% of the wide-cut GDP, 18% of the wage em-ployment and 50% revenue from exports. peculiarly the tea prod uction and export are likely to increase because of prosperous weath-er forecasts the coffee industry has stagnated and is not likely to increase in the near future.The most profitable sector in Kenya is the service sector with tourism dominating that sec-tor. About 63% of all GDP is generated by tourism. Most tourists come from Germany and the Uniting Kingdom they are attracted to the coastal beaches and the big game reserves. The tourism sector had a downfall because of negative attention in the media and the unsafe environment. The government is currently addressing the security problems within Kenya by introducing a tourism police and by launching marketing campaigns in key tourist origin markets.The most important sectors are consumer goods (mobile, batteries and textile), agriculture, oil, aluminum, steel, cement and tourism. 3. 4. INFLATION RATE Inflation in consumer prices in % The inflation rate in 2011 was 14%. As we can see on the chart the inflation rate fluctuates a lo t which means it will have a negative effect on the analysis on the risk. The Kenyan inflation rate has been on an average of 12,6%, from 2006 until 2012. The ultimate high was 31,5% in May 2012 and 3,2% in October 2011. On the pursuance chart we can see the inflation rate more specified in recent times.Even in the belong months there has been a lot of mutation in the inflation rate. The main reasons for the fluctuations are droughts and uncertainty in the import and export prices. 3. 5. THE GROWTH OF THE POPULATION The current integral population is 43,013,341 (July 2012). In this chart we can see that the population always has had a steady growth. 3. 6. DOMESTIC INFRASTRUCTURE Kenya has an extensive road network of 152887 kilometers but most of the roads are in bad state unfortunately. For example of the total of 63. 800 ilometers of high way only 8,868 are paved. There is currently a project designed for creating links between all major and minor roads and to rehabilitate 20. 000 kilometer of roads in the urban centers. Kenya has a state owned railway corporation which is managing the single track railway station. It runs from Mombasa through Nairobi to the Ugandan border. Certain institutes are investing in the railway corporation to make it viable. The government is functional on making the railway a private owned company. Either way, the Kenyan railway station is in a bad state.Kenya has a port located in Mombasa it has a freight throughput of about 8. 1 million tons. Kenya has an airport that recently has changed from a state owned company to a public/private company. This has been successful since Kenya now is the key gateway to Africa Communications Overall Kenya has a well-established communication system More than 90% of the population has access to GSM signals. Kenya Posts and Telecommunications association provides international direct dialing and subscriber trunk dialing, mobile telephones, telex, facsimile, data communication and related s ervices.Substantial investment for the expansion of these facilities is under way and various internet providers have made their entry into Kenya. 4. CRITERIA RELATED TO FOREIGN ECONOMY Economic Cooperation, Regional Integration & Trade The East African Community (EAC) countries Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burun-di transformed into a fully ? edged and enforceable customs union on 1 January 2010. They adopted a common external tari? (CET) with three bands 0% (raw materials and capital goods), 10% (intermediate goods) and 25% (? nished goods). Tari? of up to 100% are appli-cable to products that are deemed to be polished to member states. These include maize, rice, cement, sugar and dairy products. Members will continue to collect customs advantage separately until a revenue sharing mechanism can be agreed. Furthermore, the EAC Common Market Protocol came into force on 1 July 2010, potentially allowing for the free movement of goods, services, people and capital in a zone with a com-bined population of some 135 million people. Given the large amount of formula that subscribe tos to be amended in all countries to comply with the protocol, the transition is expected to proceed slowly.Kenya has already taken signi? cant steps to domesticate and address the provisions of the protocol. A task force charged with reviewing national laws and aligning them with the Common Market Protocol has completed its report. Areas that need harmonization include investment, tax, labor, education, standards, competition, transport, communications and ? nancial services. The report was forwarded to the attorney general who was expected to prepare a miscellaneous amendment bill to be tabled in parliament. Non-tari? barriers (e. g. road blocks, varying fictitious character standards, the ine? ient functioning of the port of Mombasa and other red tape) continue to impede the free trade in goods and add to the costs of doing business. The replacement of paper-based customs administration practices with an electronic inter-face system, Simba, is a hearty step towards enhancing competitiveness and trade facilita-tion. With the bringing into operation of Simba customs checks are subjected to computer-ized scanning and fewer physical checks are undertaken. The programme has enabled im-porters and exporters to lodge their documentation on line.In 2012, the Simba upgrade is expected to increase automation of goods clearance across all Kenyan border crossings. 4. 1. IMPORT 2011 While Kenya had just spent 3. 3 billion US Dollars on merchandise imports in 99, they imported goods worth to 13. 49 billion US Dollar in 2011 which is an increase of over cd%. The cast down performance during the 2008-09 was due to a number of adverse shocks including the post-election violence in early 2008, a severe drought that affected most move of the country, high international good prices and spillover effects of the global financial crisis, but the econ-omy rebounded in 2010.Import Products The major import products for the year to June 2011 were oil, manufactured goods, chemi-cals, machinery and transport equipment. The increase in the value of imports was mainly due to imports of oil, machinery and transport equipment, and manufactured goods. Oil imports accounted for 24. 2% of the total import. International oil prices increased from USD 74. 8 per barrel in June 2010 to USD 112. 15 per barrel in June 2011. Imports of machinery and transport equipment accounted for 28. 9% of total imports, and increased from USD 3 212 million to USD 3 942 million.This was due to the ongoing infra-structure development. Imports of manufactured items, mainly intermediate goods, accounted for 14. 8% of the im-port bill and increased from USD 1. 625 million to USD 2. 021 million while chemicals ac-counted for 13. 5%. major(ip) Import Partners Kenyas major import partners for merchandise are (2011) 1United Arab Emirates13. 0% 2China12. 1% 3India11. 6% 4South Africa5. 8% 5United Kingdom4. 6% 4. 2. EXPORT 2011 Kenya had reliable 2. 2 Billion US Dollar in 99, while they could increase their receiving for ex-ports in 2011 to 5. 77 Billion US Dollar.This is an increase of about 260%. The depressed performance during the 2008-09 was due to a number of adverse shocks including the post election violence in early 2008, a severe drought that affected most parts of the country, high international commodity prices and spillover effects of the global financial crisis, but the economy rebounded in 2010. Export Products The agricultural sector continues to dominate Kenyas economy, although only 15 percent of Kenyas total land area has sufficient fertility and rainwater to be farmed, and only 7 or 8 per-cent can be classified as first-class land.It is the mainstay of Kenyas economy, contributing over one trio of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTSTea, coffee, horticultural products, pyrethrum, pineapples, sisal, tobacco and cotton. TOP 1 TEA Kenya is one of worlds top producers and exporters of high quality tea and coffee. Value of the produce was boosted by the average auction price TOP 2 HORTICULTURE The robust flower industry in Kenya sees flower exports ac-counting up to 35% of all Europes flower imports. The good performance recorded in the horticultural sub-sector was due to improved external demand.OTHER EXPORTSBeside this also iron, steel, oil products, cement, arti-cles of plastics, medicinal and pharmaceutical products, and leather are exported Textile is Kenyas leading manufactured export. Soda ash (used in glassmaking) is Kenyas most valuable min-eral export and is quarried at Lake Magadi in the Rift Valley. SERVICES Transport, tourism and telecommunications services are the top three service exports in the country. Kenyas services sector, which contributes about 63 percent of GDP, is dominated by tourism. TOURISM In 2011 tourism experienced signi? cant gains with earnings rising by 32. %. The United King-dom continued to be the countrys main departure point for tourists with 203. 290 arrivals. Tourism is the second most important source of foreign exchange. To maximize on this growth trend, the Government is working together with the private sector in carrying out marketing as well as in strengthening linkages between tourism and the rest of the economy. Major Export Partners The market for Kenyan exports has been transformed over the years due to changing policy environment, regional integration and other initiatives providing market access to 12 key trading blocks.The initiatives include the East African Community, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Cotonou ACP/EU Partnership Agreement, and the AGOA initiative, among others. COMESA is Kenyas key export market, bewitching about 35% of total exports. The European Union market is the second most important, absorbing about 30% of total exports. Kenyas major export partners for merchandise are (2011) 1COM ESA (e. g. Uganda, Tanzania etc. )35. 0% 2European Union30. 0% 3United States5. 6% 4Pakistan4,2% 5United Arab Emirates4,1%Kenyas relations with Western countries are generally friendly, although current political and economic instabilities are sometimes blamed on Western pressures. ? 4. 3. THE IMBALANCE IN TRADING Kenya is largely a trade deficit country. The negative balance of trade occurs because the countrys exports are undefendable to both international prices and the weather conditions. Since independence, Kenya has enjoyed close international relations, particularly with the western countries. It is also a member of several regional trade blocs, such as the COMESA (Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa) and the EAC (East African Community).These blocs are key components of Kenyas trade volumes. The 2011 Kenyas trade performance was mainly affected by rise of oil prices globally which led to increase in the import bill and the depreciation of the Kenya shilling, while exports remained stagnant. The gap between imports and exports, also called current account deficit, now stands at above 10% of GDP one of the highest in the world Today, Kenyas main exports dont even earn enough to net profit for its oil imports, 4. 4. KENYAN CURRENCY The recent history of Kenyan currencyOn 14 September 1966, the Kenyan shilling (KES) replaced the East African shilling at par, although it was not demonetized until 1969. The Central Bank of Kenya issued notes in de-nominations of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 shillings. Locals in Kenya call the Kenyan shilling also Bob. The Kenyan Shilling Development of the Kenyan shilling Overview of the development of the Kenyan shilling (blue) compared to the US Dollar (red) between 2002 and 2012. Exchange rate in October 2012 EUR / KES 1 Euro = ca. 110,38 Kenya shilling 100 Kenya shilling = ca. 0,91 Euro EUR / USD 1 Euro = ca. 1,29 US Dollar 100 Kenya shilling = ca. ,18 US Dollar 4. 5. KENYAN MONETARY POLICY The year 2011 was tumult uous for the monetary authorities in Kenya with high inflation rates and a heavily depreciated currency. The monthon-month inflation rate averaged 12. 9% from January to October and peaked at 19. 7% in November 2011 against a target of 5%. The high rate of inflation was mainly driven by a rise in food and non-alcoholic beverage prices and transport charges. The food and non-alcoholic beverages index ruddiness by 26. 2% compared with October 2010 while the transport index rose by 26. 22%. The rise in transport index reflected the sharp rise in fuel prices.According to the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), the euro-area currency crisis also had a desta-bilizing effect on the price level. Inflation is expected to drop to single digits in the next two years thanks to improved production of food and stability of fuel prices. In 2011 the Kenyan shilling depreciated (=im Wert gefallen) by a margin of 25. 2% against the US dollar (USD), dropping from an average of KES 81. 11 per USD 1 in Januar y 2011 to KES 101. 51 in October 2011. It depreciated against the euro (EUR) from an average of KES 108. 29 per EUR 1 in January to KES 139. 07 in October 2011.To kibosh the fall of the Kenyan shilling, the monetary policy committee (MPC) progressively increased the central bank rate (CBR) from a low of 6% in January 2011 to a high of 18% by December 2011. The inflationary pressure experienced in 2011 and the depreciation of the Kenyan shilling can directly be traced back to the Central Bank of Kenya policy adopted in 2010, when it cut the central bank rate from 7% in January to 6% in December. This was meant to revive lend-ing and stimulate the economy through increased consumption. The policy was highly suc-cessful as evidenced by the 5. 6% growth attained in 2010.However increased consumption pushed up consumer prices and put pressure on the Kenyan shilling as it heightened demand for imports, which rose from USD 11,283 million in year 2009/10 to USD 13,659 million in year 2010/ 11. Furthermore, in year 2010/11, domestic credit increased by KES 254. 4 billion (23. 4%) against a target of KES 205. 9 billion (18. 9%). The wasted credit growth reflected a stronger domestic demand than previously estimated. 4. 6. KENYANS DEBT SITUATION Kenyas external debt (or foreign debt) External debt is that part of the total debt in a country that is owed to creditors outside the country.This is not to be confused with actual government debts. The debtors can be the government, corporations or private households. The debt includes money owed to private commercial banks, other governments, or international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. List of countries by external debt (End of 2011) External debt. (in USD)per capita% of GDP 1 United States14,710,000,000,00050,266103 2 United Kingdom9,836,000,000,000156,126390 3 France5,633,000,000,00074,619182 4 Germany5,624,000,000,00057,755142 5 Japan2,719,000,000,00019,14845 Italy2 ,684,000,000,00036,841108 7 Netherlands2,655,489,600,000226,503344 8 Spain2,570,000,000,00018,26084 16 Austria 883,500,000,00090,128200 92 Kenya 7,935,000,00020025 The debt service ratio The debt service ratio is the ratio of debt service requitals (principal + interest) of a country to that countrys export earnings. A countrys international finances are healthier when this ratio is low. The ratio is between 0 and 20% for most countries. For example, if a country has export revenue of ? 100bn and pays ? 15bn interest payments on its external debt, then its debt service ratio is 15%.A rising debt service ratio is often the sign of an imminent economic crisis. Debt service ra-tios may rise because of A fall in exports Lower price of commodities which are main exports of a country. Higher Borrowing Higher interest rates increasing cost of debt repayments Devaluation increasing cost of external repayments. 5. CONCLUSION on the whole in all Africa has a big potential for exports and in vestments as there are still big growth opportunities. Kenya has the greatest growth potential in the Sub-Saharan area followed by South Africa. However there are some recommendations to bear in mind (e. . Letter of credit, creditworthiness check, see list at end of paper) Following there is an overview of the key advantages and disadvantages for exporting to or investing in Kenya +- Stable economy and good eco-nomic prospectspolitical instability ? political risk provided increasing political stability since peaceful referendum in 2010 ? adoption of a new con-stitution Favourable strategic geographical position and access to export mar-kets (? Eastern Africa) corruption and impunity (=Straflosigkeit) BUT High efforts to bring the problem under control since 2010 ?Kenyan Anti-Corruption Commission forced high-profile cabinet ministers to step aside and the International Criminal Court publically named perpetra-tors of violence (=Gewalttater) Membership of the largest African common market, the EAC (Eastern African Community), COMESA and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) ? enables the free movement of goods and ser-vices across the member statesInadequate infrastructure for immersion of economic devel-opmentBUT High efforts to get up on infrastructure English languagewidespread poverty ? crime Mombasa seaport ? most impor-tant seaport + Nairobi ? olitical and economic fortress in the Eastern African Areacompanies are often undercap-italized ? risk of late or non-payment Small time difference Small taxes and levies (=Abgaben) Low wages compared to European countries and well trained em-ployees Emerge of a middle class with increasing purchasing power Kenya plays a major role in the Eastern African economy. Mombasa is the most important seaport in Eastern Africa and Nairobi is the economic and political stronghold in this area. One big plus for exports to or investments in Kenya is that the country has a kind of stable economy. Even there wer e some setbacks in the past (e. . violence during the last elections in 2008, global financial crisis) the observatory for Kenyas economy and GDP is quite favourable for the future. Due to the expansionary of fiscal measures and by structural business reforms driven by the IMF the economy of Kenya will further improve in the past few years. Addi-tionally the recovery of agricultural production and investment in infrastructures will also contribute to the dynamism of the economy. These are quite good prerequisites for potential exporters and investors. Even if Kenyas investment prospects are quite attractive they had been marred by political risk for a long time.Violence during the election in 2008 frightened away many potential investors. The turning point for Kenya was the peaceful referendum in 2010 where a new countrys constitution was persistent (? separation of powers). The peacefulness around the referendum had a huge positive impact on the country. Following this event Stan dard and Poors increased the credit rating to level B+ which brings Kenya closer to a score that foreign investors regard as an all-clear signal. Nevertheless exporters and investors need to be careful about the political situation in Kenya as new elections will take place in March 2013.The electoral campaign carries significant risks of a resurgence of the violent confrontations within the ethnic groups in Kenya. Our opinion is that Kenya has a huge potential for exporters and investors. It has a solid eco-nomic basis and political stability is already improving, so we would export to or invest in Kenya. Our recommendation prior to do export or investment is the following Exporters/Investors need to check the local partner/customer in Kenya guardedly It is very important to have a reliable, reputable partner in Kenya.Creditworthiness should be checked prior to doing business with them. insist on payment by letter of credit Especially when doing business with a customer/partner th e first time it is advisable not to sell under open payment terms. It could than occur that the exporter would never view his money. A letter of credit is used to eliminate the risk such as unfa-miliarity with the foreign country, customs or political instability. should not admit corruption Corruption in a foreign country is also indictable in Austria. Austrian exporters may also be reliable for their Kenyan partners. and so it is advisable to agree on anti-corruption clauses in the contract. In case an Austrian exporter would admit corruption the export insurance will not be valid anymore. need to consider and watch the political situation When political unrests occur it may be advisable to stop exports until the unrests have calmed down. 6. compendium MILESTONE HISTORYThe independent Republic of Kenya was founded in December 1963. JOMO KENYATTA was the first president (until 1978). Kenyattas long presidency provided the country with stability. GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES 580. 000 km2 42 million inhabitants Capital metropolis Nairobi Language English, SwahiliThe Republic of Kenya is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator with the Indian Ocean to its south-east. It is bordered by Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, South Sudan to the north-west, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north-east. Kenya has a land area of 580. 000 km2 (7 times bigger than Austria) and a population of about 43 million residents. It is to stress out that 75% of the population is younger than 30 years. Its capital and largest city is Nairobi. English is the language of choice when doing business in Kenya and is also used in Kenyan schools.Swahili (also called Kiswahili) is the national language of Kenya. It is a unite African language spoken by nearly 100 percent of the Kenyan population. CLIMATIC CONDITIONSKenya has a warm and humid climate along its coastline on the Indian Ocean, which changes to wildlife-rich savannah grasslands moving in-land towards the capit al. Nairobi has a cool climate that gets colder ap-proaching Mount Kenya (5. 166m), which has three permanently snow-capped peaks. 1. OVERVIEW OF THE COUNTRY 2. POLITICAL CRITERIA 2002 transitional election 2007 accusation of electoral ma-nipulation resulted in violent riots in KenyaAugust 2010 peaceful referen-dum in passing a new constitution Kenya has seen significant political changes in the last decade. The his-toric 2002 transitional election, in which the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) defeated the long-ruling Kenya African National Union, created a major political shift and inspired optimism among citizens about the future of their country as a multiparty democracy. Kenyans went to polls in large numbers for the December 2007 general elections, but the elections turned violent after accusations of electoral manipulation. More than 1. 00 Kenyans died and more than 600. 000 were displaced. Peace was restored following the signing and enactment of the National Accord and the creation of the Grand Coalition Government (GCG), a power-sharing deal ending a political stalemate between President Mwai Kibaki of the Party of National Unity and Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement. The National Accord also set out an ambitious reform agenda including a review of the countrys constitution. In August 2010, a largely fair and peaceful referendum resulted in pass-ing a new constitution.The new constitution was a landmark NEW ELECTIONS IN 2013 risk of new post-electoral vio-lence and rumorsachievement for the GCG as it enforces broad changes to the govern-ance framework, including a new devolved system of government reduced presidential powers, a reformed electoral process, more defined separation of powers between the three branches of government land reform and an expanded bill of rights. Government institutions, civil society, political parties and citizens face an ambitious and challenging period as they enact the reforms dictated by the new constitu tion.Kenyas political dynamics also are likely to be influenced by the outcome of the International Criminal Court (ICC) proceedings in which six prominent Kenyans are accused of involvement in the 2008 post-election violence. It is not yet clear whether the charges will be upheld by the ICC. Kenyan leaders are under increasing pressure to continue rebuilding their country and to avoid a repeat of the 2008 post-election crisis as the country heads into general elections in 2013. 3. KENYAS DOMESTIC ECONOMY DOMESTIC ECONOMY The economy experienced moderate growth in 2011 but is expected to rise modestly in 2012 and 2013 respectively.The year 2011 witnessed drastic currency depreciation and rapid inflation, both of which are ex-pected to stabilize in 2012 and 2013. Youth unemployment constitutes 70% of total unemployment. In 2011 Kenyas economy recorded checked growth, primarily driven by financial intermediation, tourism, construction and agricultural sectors. Gross domestic product ( GDP) growth rate for the first nine months was estimated at 4. 2%, down from 4. 9% in the same period in 2010. Overall, growth in 2011 was curtailed by an unstable macroeconomic environment characterized by rising inflation, exchange rate depreciation and high energy costs.The country also experienced limited rainfall in the first half of 2011, which affected aggregate food production. In January 2011, the Kenyan government was forced to ask the IMF for support to counter the mounting financing pressures caused by a widening current account deficit. Certain other structural constraints, such as widespread corruption and poor infrastructure, also continued to undermine Kenyas growth potential. 4. KENYA & FOREIGN ECONOMY IMPORT While Kenya had just spent 3. 3 billion US Dollars on merchandise im-ports in 99, they imported goods worth to 13. 49 billion US Dollar in 2011 which is an increase of over 400%.The depressed performance during the 2008-09 was due to a number of adverse shocks including the post election violence in early 2008, a severe drought that affect-ed most parts of the country, high international commodity prices and spillover effects of the global financial crisis, but the economy rebounded in 2010. IMPORT PRODUCTS The major import products for the year to June 2011 were oil, manu-factured goods, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment. The increase in the value of imports was mainly due to imports of oil (International oil prices increased) IMPORT PARTNERS1. United Arab Emirates - 13. % 2. China - 12,1% 3. India - 11. 6% 4. South Africa - 5,8% 5. United Kingdom 4,6% EXPORT Kenya had received 2. 2 Billion US Dollar in 99, while they could in-crease their receivement for exports in 2011 to 5. 77 Billion US Dollar. This is an increase of about 260%. The depressed performance during the 2008-09 was due to a number of adverse shocks including the post-election violence in early 2008, a severe drought that affect-ed most parts of the country, hig h international commodity prices and spillover effects of the global financial crisis, but the economy rebounded in 2010.EXPORT PRODUCTSThe agricultural sector continues to dominate Kenyas economy, alt-hough only 15 percent of Kenyas total land area has sufficient fertility and rainfall to be farmed. Tourism currently is Kenyas third largest foreign-exchange earner after tea and horticulture (flowers) EXPORT PARTNERSCOMESA (East-South Africa) - 35. % European Union -30% United States - 5,6% Pakistan - 4,2% United Arab Emirates - 4,1% IMBALANCE IN TRADING Kenya is largely a trade deficit country.The negative balance of trade occurs because the countrys exports are defenceless to both interna-tional prices and the weather conditions. The gap between imports and exports, also called current account deficit, now stands at above 10% of GDP one of the highest in the world Today, Kenyas main exports do not even earn enough to pay for its oil imports. ECONOMIC COOPERATION, REGIONAL INTEGR ATION & TRADE COMMON immaterial TAFFIFF VISION STRATEGIC OPPORTUNITYThe East African Community (EAC) countries Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi transformed into a fully-fledged and enforceable customs union on 1 January 2010 allowing for the free movement of goods, services, people and capital in a zone with a combined population of some 135 million people. The next phase of the integration will see the bloc enter into a Monetary Union and ultimately become a Political Federation of the East African States. They adopted a common external tariff (CET) with three bands 0% (raw materials and capital goods), 10% (intermediate goods) and 25% (finished goods).Tariffs of up to 100% are applicable to products that are deemed to be sensitive to member states. These include maize, rice, cement, sugar and dairy products. The Vision of EAC is a prosperous, competitive, secure, stable and politically united East Africa and the Mission is to widen and deepen Economic, Political, Soc ial and grow integration in order to improve the quality of life of the people of East Africa through increased competitiveness, value added production, trade and investments. EAC has a combined population of more than 135 million people, land area of 1. 2 million square kilometres and a combined Gross Domestic Product of $74. 5 billion. This bears great strategic and geopolitical sig-nificance and prospects of a renewed and reinvigorated East African Community 5. CONCLUSION POTENTIAL OF KENYAAll in all Africa has a big potential for exports and investments as there are still big growth opportunities. Kenya has the greatest growth potential in the Sub-Saharan area after South Africa. However there are some recommendations to bear in mind (e. g. Letter of credit, creditworthiness check,) ADVANTAGESRISKSStable economy and good eco-nomic prospectspolitical instability ? political riskBUT increasing political instability since peaceful referendum in 2010 ? adoption of a new constitutio n Favourable strategic geographical position and access to export mar-kets (? Eastern Africa) corruption and impunity (=Straflosigkeit) BUT High efforts to bring the problem un-der control since 2010 ? Kenyan Anti-Corruption Commission forced high-profile cabinet ministers to step aside and the International Criminal Court publicly named perpetrators of violence (=Gewalttater) ADVANTAGESRISKSMembership of the largest African common market, the EAC (Eastern African Community), COMESA and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) ? enables the free movement of goods and ser-vices across the member statesInadequate infrastructure for absorption of economic devel-opmentBUT High efforts to catch up on infrastruc-ture English languagewidespread poverty ? crime Mombasa seaport ? most impor-tant seaport + Nairobi ? political and economic stronghold in the Eastern African Areacompanies are often undercap-italized ? risk of late or non-payment Small time difference Small taxes and lev ies (=Abgaben)Low wages compared to European countries and well trained em-ployees Emerge of a middle class with increasing purchasing power OUR RECCOMENDATIONS Exporters/Investors need to check the local partner/customer in Kenya carefully It is very important to have a reliable, reputable partner in Kenya. Cre-ditworthiness should be checked prior to doing business with them. insist on payment by letter of credit Especially when doing business with a customer/partner the first time it is advisable not to sell under open payment terms. It could than occur that the exporter would never receive his money.A letter of credit is used to eliminate the risk such as unfamiliarity with the foreign country, customs or political instability. should not admit corruption Corruption in a foreign country is also indictable in Austria. Austrian exporters may also be reliable for their Kenyan partners. Therefore it is advisable to agree on anti-corruption clauses in the contract. In case an Austr ian exporter would admit corruption the export insur-ance will not be valid anymore. need to consider and watch the political situation When political unrests occur it may be advisable to stop exports until the unrests have calmed down.

Different children Essay

For my model visualise I worked in St. Josephs Nursery with a lot of different children with different abilities. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience both with my colleagues and the children I will never forget the experience I had. I organized the work experience placement myself I always knew I was going to work with children or in a shoal beca economic consumption it is one of the careers I am looking into. Before I splited my work experience I was extremely noisome because I never knew what it was going to be like.I know I would have to be patient with the children, be polite, respectful and use general manners. I hoped I would have enjoyed the experience and I was hoping to get a lot of experience from my work placement for the future. The actual telephone circuit which I was doing was helping out around the nursery and playing with the children. I also helped make cookies and icing because I was the only person which could make icing correctly. I also helped prepare for a n inspection which was taken place one day, I created a PowerPoint and run it during the inspection.On my first day I was extremely nervous scarce also very emotional. I meet my boss or the person which would look after for the time I was there which was the nursery school teacher. From the first time I met the Fran (the nursery teacher) I immediately knew we would get on and I really enjoyed the friendship we made during the time I washed-out with her. An early(a) person who looked after me was Kim, the nursery helper and special needs teacher. Kim was lovely and fortunately I knew her before because she is my mums friend so I felt calmer when I knew something there already.The special event that was happening in nursery was a teddys underpin picnic, which to you and me doesnt attend like a big deal but the 3 and 4year olds it is like winning the lottery. The day before I left was the teddys bear picnic and it was amazing to see all these adorable children carrying huge teddys into nursery and the smile on their faces, you could tell straight away how excited they were and how much their were looking forward to it.As I said, my fellow workers were amazing there were so amazing on my last day they gave me a precede and card thanking for helping out. I was so shocked that these people would buy a complete stranger they have only knew for a couple of weeks and give in with there own money. I was completely shocked when they gave it to me. Both of my fellow workers were amazing and I enjoyed spending my time with them. Personally, the time I spent during work experience both with the children and staff was amazing and unforgettable.I wont change the experience I had for the world, I had so many great memories and for expressed I will be going back to visit when I finish my exams. The pictures I took will always be there to see but the memories will always be inside me. Work experience I think is a essential part of education because it gives you and insis t to a job and not only and job it could be the job you are thinking of doing when your older and the work experiences can decide whether you do it or not.It also shows how other people work and how hard they work. I do think it is at the right time in the year for you because it is at a time where you start thinking what am I going to do or what do I want to do? It will at least give you an caprice of where you want to go in you life. In the future I definitely want to have children and spending time with children has just made me clearer but it also has made my decision harder because I would like to study law and become a lawyer or solicitor but now I am thinking of becoming a teacher.

Child Labor in India Essay

As a group we choose the topic of Child effort in India, and I am accountable to cover the Sexual exploitation of childrens in this country. My colleagues Olivier Turcotte and Frederic Lamoureux are going to cover others part of the child labor such as the industry labor and why those kids stand to work instead of going at school. The objective of our project is to aware people of this reality of the world that medias beart clack too much about and is kind of taboo. The child labor is something that not much of people are aware or concern about it because they dont see it , but if we think about it, maybe the t-shirt, the shoes, or even what we eat have been pack by a kid from other country that is only 8 years old and work 30 hours or more per week. In relation with our topic, I will focus on the Sex labor that children are involved and abuse. This illegal activity that has reached a critical level in South Asia, is something that people are not authentically conscious about and this is why we need to aware our generation to be less selfish and think about all those that dont have the same luck to have a happy childhood. Well , about the kiosk, we start having some ideas about the material we will use , alike(p) posters and things like that but also we will try to reach association that protect or fight against the companies that abuse of childrens.ReferencesCarson, D. K., Foster, J. M., & Tripathi, N. (2013). Child sexual abuse in India contemporary issues and research. Psychological Studies, 58(3), 318-325. This article discusses the nature and incidence of the sexual abuse of minors in India and presents an overview of research findings to date. Bandyopadhyay, R. (2012). Child-Sex Tourism, HIV/AIDS, and Social Justice in India. Peace Review, 24(2), 143-146. inside10.1080/10402659.2012.677320 The article discusses the issues of child-sex tourism, human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome and social justice in India. Jaishanka r, K., & Haldar, D. (2006). Prostitution in India Issues and trends. ERCES Online Quarterly Review, 3(2) Retrieved from http//www.ubishops.ca2048/docview/61624615?accountid=8636 This paper discusses about prostitution in India that is a serious social problem and its solution has been rendered difficult by the problem of poverty. Prostitution is widely rampant in India and its main markets are in the big cities and involves childrens prostitution. Joffres, C., Mills, E., Joffres, M., Khanna, T., Walia, H., & Grund, D. (2008). Sexual slavery without borders trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation in India. International Journal For Equity In Health, 71-11. doi10.1186/1475-9276-7-22 This paper presents an overview of the trafficking of women and girls for sexual exploitation in India also identifies the health impacts and suggest strategies to respond to trafficking and related issues Ray, N. (2007). Wither Childhood? Child Trafficking in India. Social Development Issues, 29(3) , 72-83. This article reviews the authorized research on domestic trafficking of children in India. Child trafficking in India is a highly visible reality. Children are being sold for sexual and labor exploitation, adoption, and harmonium harvesting. Sathyanarayana, T. N., & Babu, G. R. (2012).

Opponents of abortion

Many opp unmatchablents of miscarriage argue as follows All world right beings have a right to carriage, the fetus is a adult male being, therefore the foetus has a right to life. Abortion, as a denial of this right, is accordingly morally wrong. Those who support abortion maintain, however, that the foetus is not a human being only when a clump of cells, and that, even if it were a human being, its right to life whitethorn be outweighed by certain different rights have by a m some other. These rights argon the womans right to self-defence and her right to control her body. When exactly does human life begin?There have been many different opinions. In the past there was a strong support for the view that life begins at birth. However, this view became increasingly unpopular as our knowledge of foetal development has increased and the more than the distinction between the born and the unborn has been blurred by the advances in foetal photography. Others found greater signifi cance in quickening, the moment when the mothers feel her baby move but this event, although doubtless of great emotional significance for the mother, is not regarded as significance for the growth of the foetus.A more common argument is to say that human life begins at conception. It is held that, since the development from the foetus to baby is continuous, it is purely arbitrary to choose any point other than the conception as the moment when one becomes a person. However this conclusion does not follow. One could say the same thing about the development from acorn to oak, but this does not mean that acorns are oaks a distinction can be made between them. Similarly, a fertilized egg is unlike a person that, to meditate otherwise, is to stretch the meaning of person beyond all the normal usage.Hence the most accepted view, particularly among physicians, is to focus upon some interim point at which the foetus becomes viable, that is, potentially able to live outside the mothers wom b, albeit with artificial aid. But this argument has its own weaknesses, the most glaring being that the date of viability changes in English impartiality it has been reduced from twenty-eight weeks to twenty-four, though some agreed for eighteen weeks. Many find it offensive that whether one counts as a person depends on the devious state of medical research. Some philosophers accept that the foetus is a person at conception.Anti-abortionists claim that it follows from this that the foetus, like all human beings, has the right to life, and that no other right can overweigh this right. However, there are in fact two rights which may override the right to life. The first is the womans right of self-defence, in which the mother may end the life of the foetus if it threatens her own and the second is the right of ownership to her own body, according to which she has the right to use her body in the way she wants and which may or may not include carrying a foetus to term.Unlike the r ight to self-defence, the right of ownership extends to cases where the mothers life is in danger. For example, if the woman has taken no contraceptives precautions, she has assumed responsibility for the unborn foetus and ought not to withdraw support but if she has taken all possible precautions, she cannot be held responsible and may indeed legitimately deny the foetus the use of her body. To continue the pregnancy in these circumstances is an act of charity on her part, but not a debt instrument, and one which she cannot reasonably be expected to perform if the dis emoluments to herself considerable.The right to life generates certain duties in others. Two in particular should be mentioned the duty of non-interference and the duty to service. The duty to non-interference requires that no-one should interfere in anothers life in a way that may threaten it. My right to life allows me to claim certain duties from others, the duties to service, and these may be claimed of those wh o are in business of seeing that my life is sustained (doctors, firemen, lifesavers).Both duties presuppose that being alive is in itself valuable and worth preserving, and that to save someones life, or at least not to shorten it, is to benefit them. Normally this is true but not always. Death from a bullet is probably preferable to death by starvation, and it is unlikely that a prisoner being tortured to death would accept a life- conserveing drug. Saving or prolonging someones life is not therefore always to their advantage in certain circumstances it might have been better if they had died earlier rather than later.Or, to put the matter another way, to say someone has the right to life, part true, does not necessarily mean that exercising that right will bring them benefit or that those who safeguard it are their benefactors. What matters is the quality of their life and their attitude towards it, and twain may challenge the duties of non-interference and service. For cases ma y arise in which not only should the duty of non-interference be withheld in the interests of certain individuals- their lives are deliberately terminated- but withheld by the very people who have the duty of services toward them.Such cases introduce the problem of euthanasia. More recently it has come to mean the action of inducing a gentle and easy death and so refers mainly to those actions, usually performed by a doctor, in which a persons life is deliberately shortened or terminated. These actions are besides known as mercy killings since the death involved must in some way end sufferings and therefore be in the persons own interest. This selfless concern distinguishes these cases from the euthanasia programme introduced by Hitler in 1939 which gassed 275,000 people, mostly the physically or mentally sick elderly.They were not killed to relieve their suffering but because they were no longer able to work. These sinister possibilities continue to haunt discussions of euthanasi a. Many believe that, once this form of killing is legalized, it will lead to others, to infanticide or euthanasia for the socially maladjusted or politically deviant. Others point to the risk of abuse by the members of the family and by all those who stand to gain by the death of someone honest-to-god or sick. For the members of the medical profession the problems are more immediate and acute.Some doctors will have nothing to do with euthanasia, saying that their job is to save life and not to kill and pointing to the constant possibility of a wrong diagnosis or a new treatment. Others, meanwhile, have argued that, since medical science can prolong life almost indefinitely, what must now be protected is not so much a persons right to life but his right to die, and that to capacity a long-suffering to unnaturally slow and often painful deterioration, simply because it is technically possible, is not only uncivilised and lacking in compassion for patient and family alike, but also an infringement of individual liberty.This debate is further complicated by the fact that euthanasia applies to two different groups of person those who can bore their right to die and those who, because of their mental or physical conditions, cannot. Given the complexity of the issues involved, the judicature of human rights cant decide whether or not to deprive the sufferers from their rights to die.Furthermore, if the sufferers arent allowed to end their life, should the court of law give us the right to end the life of foetus, which scientifically is considered a human being. In conclusion, I think that euthanasia should be legalized and that abortion should be denied. This is because the use of contraceptives these days has made it easier for women to control their pregnancy. An exception to this conclusion would be for women who get raped and who havent got a control on what happens to them.

George Bush Essay

Leadership is a quality that the Statesns always look for in a president. unite States chairmans have an extreme amount of responsibility. Americans look for someone that can help our country grow. We look for someone who has charisma, strength and intelligence. George W. bush had a very provoke presidency. It was filled with joy, turmoil and disaster, all told which were times where a leader could either succeed or fail.George W. pubic hair was the 43rd President of the United States. He had all of the qualification of a great president. He came from a political family. He was the son of former President George H.W. Bush. He had a great educational and soldiers background. He graduated from Yale University and then Harvard Business School.He was a pilot for the Air National Guard for six years. He worked in the oil manufacture after college where he was known for his smart business decisions. He served in Texas House of Representatives and then Governor of Texas. Most America ns would probably take that all of these qualifications would make him a great candidate for President and in 2000 he was elected President, defeating Al Gore by only small margin. (Bush 3)Choosing George W. BushI chose to research and analyze President Bush because he was president during the biggest attack on Americans during my lifetime. He had to step up and pass away the great leader that our nation needed during and after the terrorist attack on September 11th, 2001. President Bush is still being blamed for some of the problems that America is having now. President Obama blames him for the economy and m any(prenominal) Americans have blamed him for our continued presence in the Middle East.I needed to research his leading abilities and understand why he went from being a so-so President to a great president to a president that is being blamed for everything. I also see President Bush as a normal person with strengths and weaknesses. I see him as someone similar to myself. I want to better understand him and learn from his achievements and his mistakes.President Bush was not a born leader. Even though President Bush had the resume that Americans thought would make him a great leader, at the beginning of his presidency, he was lacking some of the key qualities of agood leader. He did not study confidence in his decisions and he lacked the understanding of international affairs. (Domin 3) After the tragedy of September 11th, he really stepped up and took on his leadership role.He was commensurate to show America that he was the leader that they thought that they would be getting in an American President. President Bush was able to bring his followers together in a time of tragedy, uniting them for a common goal. He was able to leave all of the criticism that he had gotten behind him and become a new leader that everyone respected.In addition, I wanted to research President Bush because many of the international problems that America faced during Pre sident Bushs terms are still lingering today. American lives are still at risk because of terrorist groups. It was only a couple of months ago that the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi was attacked by terrorist killing the US Ambassador and three others. I question the effectiveness of our current administration and their ability to keep America safe. (Kirkpatrick, and Myers)Abilities and SkillsEven though President Bush was not a great leader from the beginning, I believe that he was able to step up and become the great leader that we needed him to be. He embraced the necessary abilities and skills that America needed in a leader after a crisis. The first and most important characteristic that he feature after September 11th was emotional intelligence. He understood the severity of the situation and was able to address the public in a way that helped us come together as a country.Woodward made this comment about how President Bush addressed the public in front of Ground Zero. Bushs spon taneity allowed him to connect at a visceral level with his audience acting simultaneously as their leader and expressing their feelings in the highly charged atmosphere of the time. (Roper 5)I believe that President Bush also encompasses the four characteristics that describe a creative leader. President Bush faced one of the biggest obstacles of any President and he had the self-confidence to lead. (Nahavandi 115) Thousands of innocent Americans had been killed through aterrorist attack. He knew that America was entering a time of war.Even though many of his advisors were shy of the decisions to attack Afghanistan, he was strong about his beliefs and he gave reassurance to his advisors. A reporter who was present during the National Security Council meeting before the initial attacks in Afghanistan detect the tension in the room before President Bush was present but said that, the tension suddenly drained from the room. (Roper 5)

Nickel and Dimed analysis Essay

In my opinion, I feel that the author of Nickel and Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich, had ethical intentions when making the decision to investigate poverty by emerging herself in the low-wage lifestyle. The ethical concern, however, is with her approach. I feel that the way in which it was conducted could be viewed as degrading to those who do non have an alternative to this way of living.True, lost poverty does non have those reassuring limits that Ehrenreich had the ability to utilize when she was in a position that made her uncomfortable with the consequences of the poverty she was attempting to study. By keeping her car, she writes, Yes, I could have walked more or limited myself to line of reasonings accessible by public transportation, and I just figured that a story about waiting for buses would non be very interesting to read. The sole allowance of this access to transportation, although she also maintained other things such as her ATM card in instances that case her to hunge r or homelessness, was in the interest of entertainment versus science.I do feel, though, that Ehrenreich was aw ar that she was never going to be able to fully commit to this aim when she writes, With all the real-life assets Ive built up in middle agebank account, IRA, health insurance, multiroom homewaiting indulgently in the backwardground, she admits, there was no way I was going to go out poverty or find out how it really feels to be a long-term low-wage break awayer. I applaud her efforts to whole-heartedly work the low-wage jobs she acquired and submerge herself in a way of life that was completely foreign to her. In doing so, I feel that the research, despite its flaws, succeeded in exploring the plight of the low-wage worker in our society at that time.Her inability to budget her expenses with the minimal income that she received, in itself, was a testament to the trials and tribulations that those women face on a cyclic basis throughout their some(prenominal) of the life situations that the characters in Nickle and Dimed were dealing with are not commonly discussed in todays society. Media portrays the poor with stereotypical images. According to an article by hint et al. (2001), women receiving public assistance are stereotyped as lazy, disinterested in education, and promiscuous. America is depicted as either a classless society or one in which the majority of people are middle class citizens.Despite the lack of awareness of this type of poverty, I do feel that their arrangements are, unfortunately, not uncommon at all. Ehrenreichs experience with low-wage work in Florida was significantly different than her experience in Maine. She reports that in Maine, Even convenience store clerks, who are $6- an-hour gals themselves, agreem to look down on us. In the predominantly white Maine, the maid profession is viewed at in an almost servant-like way, they are the ones who must do the dirty work for the wealthy and are not seen as equals. The hist ory of maid work was usually given to minorities, which could explain for this treatment. As for Key West, Ehrenreich did not have the same issues with regard to degradation, however, she struggling with maintaining her low- wage lifestyle.The waitressing job at Hearthside paid very little so she had to pick up a reciprocal ohm job to make ends meet. Because both jobs were so emotionally and physically taxing, Ehrenreich was only able to maintain this for 2 weeks versus the 4 weeks that she had been able to endure in Maine. Although her job as a maid in Maine was also strenuous, and despite the fact that she also had a second job, I believe that her experience in Florida was tougher on her because it was her first attempt at living this lifestyle. By the time she arrived in Maine, I think she had internalized that much of what she was enduring was the everyday lives of the women who she had gotten to know throughout her experience and relented to the existence of poverty.The drasti c increase in affluent households using maid services can be explained by a number of things. According to Ehrenreich, with the influx of women into the workforce, tensions arose over housework. Once women began working and did not solely rely on their husbands wages, women began to expect more from their husbands. When the idea of this equal partnership was not being fulfilled, it caused many disagreements within households. The maid services even saved marriages and took advantage by obtaining contracts from these homes by capitalizing on this idea, to intervene and solve their problems by eliminating the privation for an argument over housework. In her statement, For the first time in my life as a maid, I have a purpose more get than trying to meet the aesthetic standards of the New England bourgeoisie, I believe that Ehrenreich was tired of helping the people she worked for keep up with the Joneses.She had come to the realization that neither her employer, nor the families who se homes she worked in, saw her or the women she worked with as human. When they were feeling ill they were told to work through it despite the extenuating circumstances that surrounded their health issues and the circumstance maintaining them. This restate represents her purpose when having to work to compensate for her ailing teammate and helped explain her views on the injustices that these women were enduring. Besides worrying about the dirt under the carpet that was placed as a test by a home owner or the dust on the hundreds of unread books on shelves, she had to take a step back from the robotic, day to day work of the maid.This helped her truly see the human suffering that she was witnessing firsthand and enraged her to want to advocate for these women so that others were able to see it too.REFERENCESBullock, H.E., Wyche, K.F., & Williams, W.R. (2001). Media Images of the Poor. Journal of Social Issues, 57(2), 229246. Ehrenreich, B. (2001). Nickle and Dimed. New York Picado r.

How Important Friendship Essay

There are more valuable things in disembodied spirit, but friendship may be one of the most important. To live life without the experience of friendship, is life without living. The human survival is based on friendship. From the highest authority to the lowest bums living on the streets every last(predicate) of them have experienced in some way or the other one of these contrary kinds of friendships. We take this friendship for granted because it is something that exists naturally in society and most of us never unfeignedly have to actually go out into the world looking for a friend. Those who have had to live in a foreign country or in new surroundings have lear.Admittedly,depression had become a big menace in our society.People start to concern about this issue and it has surely become a hot topic nowadays.Mass media has been trying hard to give solutions to the public,hoping to reduce the impact of depression,such as suicides.However,people are fair more individualistic now adays.We are selfish and only mind their own business.Worse off,we no longer agnize the value of a authorized friendship. Instead,we love to compete among each other,either to get a higher business office in class or in a company.More disheartening is, some even set friends up just to achieve success. This phenomenon certainly do not help those who are suffered from depression They have no where to seek for help as they hardly find a friend they could trust to talk to.As we all know,the cost of getting professional help is rather pricey and not everyone can afford it.Therefore,I commit that nothing is more important than we,as a part of the society,change our mindset and see the importance of a true friendship, namely the most valuable things in life.

Decision Making Process Essay

There are times in everyones lives where decisions have to be made. around decisions are small, some large and some life changing. Whatever type of decision you are confront with there is a process that is taken to determine the best possible outcome. In a personalised aspect when I have a decision that needs to be made I melt down to weigh all the possible outcomes and determine which one benefits me the most. For instance when I decided to go underpin to aim at the University of phoenix I weighed the possible outcomes of expiry back to school with the possible outcomes of not going back to school. Determining pros and cons is a typical weigh to reach an outcome when debating what to do in a scenario. I decided that the pros far outweighed the cons and I could potentially make a lot more capital by going back to school in the long run than if I had decided not to re-enroll back into college. It is good for people to be able to see both sides of an outcome when devising a ve ry important decision in life. For the major decisions and choices people have to make it is essential they they be aware of the positive and the negatives of the potential outcome they choose. I have found that when a decision is to be made on very important issues I like to be able to play the what if wager, the what if game is basically putting yourself into the different scenarios of the possible outcomes. For example, when I was debating on whether or not to return to school I put myself in the scenario of what if I dont go back to school. That scenario would have contend out with me being stuck in the same old dead end job and not making the effort to change my future for the better. When I put myself in the scenario where I went back to school I could see myself graduating, getting a good job and living a more prosperous life. In concluding the decision making process is one that helps people make real life decisions in real life situations. Some people use different method s to help them figure out which decision is best for them. The majority of the time it pays to weigh your options and look ahead to what the potential of each decision could be.

Project on Budgetary Control Essay

1. A cypher is attenti wizardd for a definite future period. 2. A reckon is a written instrument. 3. A cipher is a detailed plan of any the frugal activities of a chore. 4. All the surgical incisions of a business unit co-operate for the preparation of a business cypher. 5. cypher is a mean to achieve business and it is not an end in itself. 6. compute needs to be updated, correct and governled every measure when circumstances changes. on that pointfore it is a continuous process. 7. figure attend tos in mean, coordination and guarantee. 8. Different types of work outs argon prep bed by industries accord to business requirements. 9. A reckon acts a business barometer. 10. calculate is norm entirelyy work upd in the light of Past Experience. 11. Budget is a constant endeavor of the Management.2 proviso OF BUDGETS 1. Definition of non outletives A reckon being a plan for the effect of certain operational objectives, it is desired that the same be defined p recisely. The objectives should be written out the aras of run across demarcated and items of revenue and usance to be covered by the reckon stated. This will reach a clear understanding of the plan and its compass to tout ensemble those who mustiness cooperate to make it a success. 2. Location of the key (or cipher) factor There is usually one factor (some convictions there whitethorn be more than one) which sets a limit to the total action utensil. For instance, in India today sometimes non-availability of power does not allow exertion to increase inspite of heavy beseech. Similarly, lack of beg may limit output signal. much(prenominal) a factor is known as key factor. For proper budgeting, it must be located and estimated properly. 3. Appointment of controller Formulation of a budget usually requires wholetime services of a senior executive he must be inciteed in this crop by a Budget Committee, consisting of all the heads of plane section a massive with the Man aging selector as the Chairman. The Controller is creditworthy for co-ordinating and development of budget syllabuss and preparing the manual of instruction, known as Budget manual. The Budget manual is a schedule, document or booklet which shows, in written forms the budgeting organisation and procedures. The manual should be well written and indexed so that a copy thereof may be given to separately departmental head for guidance. 34. Budget period The period covered by a budget is known as budget period. There is no general rule governing the selection of the budget period. In practice the Budget Committee determines the length of the budget period suitable for the business. Normally, a calendar division or a period coterminous with the financial year is adopted. The budget period is then sub-divided into shorter periodsit may be months or quarters or such periods as coincide with period of trading body process. 5. Standard of military action or output For preparing budgets for the future, past statistics cannot be completely relied upon, for the past usually represents a combination of honorable and perverting factors. Therefore, though results of the past should be studied and these should lonesome(prenominal) be applied when there is a likelihood of similar conditions repeating in the future. Also, while setting the targets for the future, it must be re extremityed that in a progressive business, the exercise of a year must exceed those of earlier years. Therefore what was good in the past is only amusement park for the current year. In budgeting, fixing the budget of gross revenue and of capital expending are most important since these budgets determine the extent of development performance. For budgeting gross gross revenue, one must consider the slip of economic drill of the country, re trans doings of gross revenuemen, customers and employees, effect of price changes on sales, the provision for advertisement campaign plan aptitude e tc.4Meaning of Budgetary Control The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of England and Wales has defined the scathe budgetary control as Budgetary control is the establishment of budgets relating to theresponsibilities of executives of a policy and the continuous comparing of the real(a) with the budgeted results, either to secure by individual action the objective of the policy or to entrust a basis for its revision. It is the strategy of direction control and accounting in which all the operations are forecasted and planned in advance to the extent attainable and the veridical results compared with the forecasted and planned ones. Budgetary Control Involves 1. psychiatric hospital of budgets 2. Continuous comparison of actuals with budgets for achievement of targets 3. Revision of budgets subsequently considering changed circumstances 4. Placing the responsibleness for failure to achieve the budget targets. The salient features of Budgetary Control placemen t are as follows 1. Determining the objectives to be achieved, over the budget period, and the policy or policies that might be adopted for the achievement of these ends. 2. Determining the variety of activities that should be undertaken for the achievement of the objectives. 3. Drawing up a plan or a scheme of operation in rate of each class of exercise, in somatogenetic as well as monetary terms for the all-embracing budget period and its parts.54. Laying out a system of comparison of actual operation by each somebody, section or department with the relevant budget and determination of causes for the discrepancies, if any. 5. Ensuring that corrective action will be taken where the plan is not being achieved and, if that be not possible, for the revision of the plan. In brief, it is a system to assist guidance in the allocation of responsibility and authority, to provide it with aid for making, estimating and planning for the future and to facilitate the analysis of the varia tion between estimated and actual exploit. In order that budgetary control may intent effectively, it is inevitable that the concern should develop proper basis of measurement or standards with which to valuate the efficiency of operations, i.e., it should have in operation a system of standard speak to. Besides this, the organization of the concern should be so integrated that all lines of authority and responsibility are laid, allocated and defined. This is essential since the system of budgetary control postulates separation of functions and division of responsibilities and thus requires that the organization shall be planned in such a mannerthat everyone, from the Managing Director down to the Shop Foreman, will have his duties properly defined. Objectives of Budgetary Control agreement 1. Portraying with precision the overall aims of the business and determining targets of performance for each section or department of the business. 2. Laying down the responsibilities of each of the executives and other personnel so that everyone knows what is anticipate of him and how he will be judged. Budgetary control is 6one of the few ways in which an objective assessment of executives or department is possible. 3. Providing a basis for the comparison of actual performance with the predetermined targets and investigation of deviation, if any, of actual performance and expenses from the budgeted figures. This naturally helps in adopting corrective measures. 4. Ensuring the best use of all available resources to maximize profit or production, subject to the limiting factors. Since budgets cannot be properly drawn up without considering all aspects usually there is good co-ordination when a system of budgetary control operates. 5. Co-coordinating the various activities of the business, and centralizing control and yet enabling management to decentralize responsibility and delegate authority in the overall interest of the business. 6. Engendering a spirit of on the alert forethought, assessment of what is possible and an attempt at it. It leads to dynamism without recklessness. Of course, ofttimes depends on the objectives of the firm and the vigour of its management. 7. Providing a basis for revision of current and future policies. 8. Drawing up long diverge plans with a fair measure of accuracy. 9. Providing a yardstick against which actual results can be compared. Working of a budgetary control system The responsibility for successfully introducing and implementing a Budgetary Control System rests with the Budget Committee playing through the Budget Officer. The Budget Committee would be composed of all functional heads and a member from the Board to 7preside over and guide the deliberations. The main responsibilities of the Budget Officer are 1. To assist in the preparation of the various budgets by coordinating the work of the accounts department which is normally responsible for(p) to bundle up the budgetswith the relevant funct ional departmentslike Sales, intersection pointion, Plant maintenance etc. 2. To forward the budget to the individuals who are responsible to adhere to them, and to guide them in overcoming any practical exhaustingies in its working 3. To prepare the periodical budget reports for circulation to the individuals concerned 4. To follow-up action to be taken on the budget reports 5. To prepare an overall budget working report for discussion at the Budget Committee meetings and to ensure follow-up on the lines of action suggested by the Committee 6. To prepare periodical reports for the Board meeting. Comparing the budgeted Profit and Loss Account and the poise Sheet with the actual results attained. It is necessary that every budget should be thoroughly discussed with the functional head ahead it is finalized. It is the duty of the Budget Officer to see that the periodical budget reports are supplied to the recipients at frequent intervals as far as possible. The efficiency of the B udget Officer, and through him of the Budget Committee, will be judged more by the smooth working of the system and the agreement between the actual figures and the budgeted figures. Budgets are primarily an incentive and a challenge for better performance it is up to the8Budget Officer to see that attention of the varied functional heads is drawn to it to face the challenge in a successful manner.Advantages of Budgetary Control System 1. The use of budgetary control system enables the management of a business concern to conduct its business activities in the efficient manner. 2. It is a powerful instrument used by business houses for the control of their expenditure. It in fact provides a yardstick for measuring and evaluating the performance of individuals and their departments. 3. It reveals the deviations to management, from the budgeted figures after making a comparison with actual figures. 4. Effective utilization of various resources likemen, material, machinery and money is made possible, as the production is planned after taking them into account. 5. It helps in the review of current trends and framing of future policies. 6. It creates suitable conditions for the executing of standard costing system in a business organization. 7. It inculcates the feeling of costconsciousness among workers. 8. It helps the principal of management by exception to apply. 9. Management which has developed a well ordered budget plans and which operate accordingly, receive great favour from credit agencies.9Limitations of Budgetary Control System 1. Based on Estimates Budgets may or may not be true, as they are cand on estimates. 2. Time factor Budgets cannot be executed automatically. Accuracy in budgeting comes through experience. Management must not expect too much during the development period. 3. Cooperation Required Staff co-operation is usually not available during budgetary control exercise. The success of the budgetary control depends upon willing co-operation and teamwork, 4. Expensive Its implementation is quite expensive. No budgetary course of instruction can be successful unless adequate arrangements are made for supervision and administration. 5. Not a substitute for management Budget is only a managerial tool. It cannot substitute management. 6. Rigid document Budgets are considered as rigid document. exactly in reality, firms affairs continuously change under inflationary pressure and ever-changing government policies.10ZERO BASE BUDGETS The technique of aught base budgeting suggests that an organisation should not only make decisions about the proposed new programmes, but should also review the captivateness of the existing programmes from time to time. Such a review should particularly be through with(p) of such responsibility stubs where there is relatively gamy proportion of free willary cost. Costs of this type depend on the discretion or policies of the responsibility focus on or top managers. These costs have no direct proportion to volume of activity. Hence, management discretion typically determines the amount budgeted. Some examples are expenditure on research and development, personnel administration, legal claimative services. adjust base budgeting, as the term suggests, examines or reviews a programme or function or responsibility from scratch. The reviewer proceeds on theassumption that nothing is to be allowed. The manager proposing the activity has, therefore, to justify that the activity is essential and the various amounts asked for are reasonable taking into account the outputs or results or volume of activity envisaged. No activity or expense is allowed evidently because it was being allowed or done in the past. indeed according to this technique each programme, whether new or existing, must be confirm in its entirety each time a new budget is formulated. It involves 1. Dealing with particularly all elements of mangers budget requests 2. Critical examination of ongoing a ctivities along with the newly proposed activities 3. Providing each manger a range of choice in setting priorities in respect of different activities and in allocating resources.11Process of Zero Base Budgeting The chase steps are involved in Zero base budgeting Determining the objectives of budgeting The objective may be to effect cost reduction in staff overheads or it may be to drop, after careful analysis, projects which do not fit into achievement of the organizations objectives etc. Deciding on circumstance of application The extent to which zero base budgeting is to be introduced has to be decided, i.e. whether it will be introduced in all areas of the organisations activities or only in a few selected areas on trial basis. underdeveloped decision units Decision units for which cost-benefit analysis is proposed have to be developed so as to arrive at decisions whether they should be allowed to continue or to be dropped. individually decision unit, as far as possible shou ld be independent of other units so that it can be dropped if the cost analysis proves to be negative for it. Developing decision packages A decision package for each unit should be developed. While developing a decision package, answers to the following questions would be desirable Is it necessary to perform a particular activity at all? If the answer is in the negative, there is no need to proceed further. How much has been the actual cost of the activity and what has been the actual benefit both in tangible as well as intangible forms? What should be the estimated cost of the level of activity and the estimated benefit from 12such activity? Should the activity be performed in the way in which it is being performed, and what should be the cost? If the project or activity is dropped, can the unit be replaced by an outside agency? After completing decision packages for each unit, the units are ranked according to the findings of cost benefit analysis. essential projects are identified and given the highest ranks. The brave stage is that of implementing the decision taken in the light of the study made. It involves the selection and acceptance of those projects which have a positive cost-benefit analysis or which are capable of meeting the objectives of the organization. The above analysis shows that zero base budgeting is in a way an extension of the method of cost benefit analysis to the area of the unified budgeting. Advantages of Zero Base Budgeting It provides the organization with systematic way to evaluate different operations and programmes undertaken. It enables management to allocate resources according to priority of the programmes. It ensures that each and every programme undertaken by managers is really essential for the organization, and is being performed in the best possible way. It enables the management to approve departmental budgets on the basis of cost-benefit analysis. No arbitrary cuts or increase in budget estimates are made . It links budgets with the corporate objectives. Nothing will be allowed simply because it was being done in the past. An activity may be shelved if it does not help in achieving the goals of the enterprises. 13 It helps in identifying areas of wasteful expenditure and, if desired, it can also be used for suggesting alternative courses of action. It facilitates the introduction and implementation of the system of management by objectives. Thus it can be used not only for fulfilment of the objectives of traditional budgeting, but also for a variety of other purposes. It is contended that zero base budgeting is time consuming. Of course, it is true, but it happens only in the initial stages when decision units have to be identified and decision packages have to be developed or completed. Once this is done, and the methodology is clear, zero base budgeting is likely to take less time than the traditional budgeting. In any case, till such time the organization is properly acclimatize d to the technique of zero base budgeting, it may be done in a way that allresponsibility centres are covered at least once in three or 4 years. Zero base budgeting as a concept has become quite popular these days. The technique was primary used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1962. Texas Instruments, a multinational company, pioneered its use in the hidden sector. Today, a number of major companies such as Zerox, BASF, International Harvester and Easter Airlines in the linked State are using the system. Some departments of the Government of India have recently introduced zero base budgeting with a view to making the system of budgetary control more effective.14PERFORMANCE BUDGETS Performance budgeting (or programme budgeting) has been designed to correct the shortcomings of traditional budgeting by emphasizing managements considerations/ approaches. Both the financial and physical aspects are combine into the budget. A performance budget presents the operations of an organisation in terms of functions, programmes, activities, and projects. In performance budgeting, precise detainment of job to be performed or services to be rendered is done. Secondly, the budget is prepared in terms of functional categories and their sub-division into programmes, activities, and projects. Thirdly, the budget becomes a comprehensive document. Since the financial and physical results are interwoven, it facilitates management control. The primary(prenominal) objectives of Performance Budgeting are (i) to coordinate the physical and financial aspects (ii) to improve the budget formulation, review and decision-making at all levels of management (iii) to facilitate better appreciation and review by controlling authorities (legislature, Board of Trustees or Governors, etc) as the presentation is more purposeful and intelligible (iv) to make more effective performance scrutinise possible and (v) to measure progress towards long-term objectives which are envisaged in a development plan. Performance budgeting involves rating of the performance of the organisation in the context of both specific, as well as, overall objectives of the organisation. It presupposes a quartz glass clear perception of organisational objectives in general, and short-term business objectives as stipulated in the budget, in particular by each employee of theorganisation, irrespective of his level. It thus, provides a definite direction to each employee and also a control mechanism to higher management. 15Performance budgeting requires preparation of periodic performance reports. Such reports compare budget and actual data, and show variances. Their preparation is greatly facilitated if the authority and responsibility for the incurrence of each cost element is clearly defined within the firms organisational structure. In addition, the accounting system should be sufficiently detailed and incorporated to provide necessary data for reports designed for the particular use o f the individuals or cost centres having primary responsibility for specific cost. The responsibility for preparing the performance budget of each department lies on the respective Department Head. Each Department Head will be supplied with a copy of the section of the master budget appropriate to his sphere. For example, the chief buyer will be supplied with the copy of the materials purchase budget so that he may arrange for purchase of necessary materials. Periodic reports from various sections of a department will be authorized by the departmental head that will submit a summary report about his department to the budget committee. The report may be daily, weekly or monthly, depending upon the size of business and the budget period. These reports will be in the form of comparison of budgeted and actual figures, both periodic and cumulative. The purpose of preparing these reports is to promptly inform about the deviations in actual and budgeted activity to the person who has the necessary authority and responsibility to take necessary action to correct the deviations from the budget.16FUNCTIONAL BUDGET A functional budget is one which is think to function of the business as for example, production budget relating to the manufacturing function. Functional budgets are prepared for each function and they are subsidiary to the master budget of the business. The various types of functional budgets to be prepared will spay according to the size and nature of the business. The various commonly used functional budgets are Sales budget Production budget Plant utilisation budget Direct-material usage budget Direct-material purchase budget Direct-labour (personnel) budget Factory overhead budget Production cost budget Ending-inventory budget Cost-of-goods-sold budget sell and distribution cost budget Administration expenses budget Research and development cost budget (xiv) Capital expenditure budget Cash budget17Illustration Sales Budget Sales forecast is the first-class honours degree of budgeting and hence sales budget assumes primary importance. The bill which can be sold may be the principal budget factor in many business undertakings. In any case in order to chalk out a realistic budget programme, there must be an undefiled sales forecast. The sales budget indicates for each product 1. The quantity of estimated sales and 2. The expected unit marketing price. These data are often reported by regions or by salesrepresentatives. In estimating the quantity of sales for each product, past sales volumes are often used as a starting point. These amounts are revised for factors that are expected to affect future sales, such as the factors listed under. 1. Backlog of fulfil sales orders 2. Planned advertising and promotion 3. Expected industry and general economic conditions 4. Productive mental ability 5. Projected pricing 6. Findings of market research studies 7. Relative product profitability. 8. Competition. 18Once an esti mate of the sales volume is obtained, the expected sales revenue can be determined by multiplying the volume by the expected unit sales price, the sales budget represents the total sales in physical quantities and set for a future budget period.Sales managers are constantly faced with problem like presentiment of customer requirements, new product needs, competitor strategies and various changes in distribution methods or promotional techniques. The purposes ofsales budget is not to attempt to estimate or guess what the actual sales will be, but rather to develop a plan with clearly defined objectives towards which the operational effort is directed in order to attain or exceed the objective. Hence, sales budget is not merely a sales forecast. A budget is a planning and control document which shows what the management intends to accomplish. Thus, the sales budget is energetic rather than passive. A sales forecast, however, is a projection or estimate of the available customer dem and. A forecast reflects the environmental or competitive situation facing the company whereas the sales budget shows how the management intends to react to this environmental and competitive situation. A good budget hinges on aggressive management control rather than on passive acceptance of what the market appears to offer. If the company fails to make this distinction, the budget will proceed more a figure-work exercise than a working tool of dynamic management control.19The sales budget may be prepared under the following classification or combination of classifications 1. Products or groups of products. 2. Areas, towns, salesmen and agents. 3. Types of customers as for example (i) Government, (ii) Export, (iii) Home sales, (iv) Retail depots. 4. Periodmonths, weeks, etc Example of Sales Budget XYZ Ltd. Sales Budget for the Year Ended 31 March XXXX Particulars Units Selling Price (P.U) join Sales Value (Rs.) Product A Product B Total 5000 blow00 75 80 375000 800000 117500020L EADING TO THE supplying OF THE MASTER BUDGET When all the necessary functional budgets have been prepared, the budget officer will prepare the master budget which may consist of budgeted profit and loss account and budgeted balance sheet. These are in fact the budget summaries. When the master budget is approved by the board of directors, it represents a standard for the achievement of which all the departments will work. On the basis of the various budgets (schedules) prepared earlier in this study, weprepare below budgeted income statement and budgeted balance sheet. Illustration Floatglass Manufacturing Company requires you to present the Master budget for the 31 March 2012 from the following information Sales hard-boiled Glass Bent Glass Direct existent Cost Direct Wages Factory Overheads Indirect Labour whole kit and caboodle Manager Foreman Rs. 500 per month Rs. four hundred per month 2.5% on Sales Rs. 600000 Rs. 200000 60% of Sales 20 workers Rs. 150 per month21Stores an d Spares derogation on Machinery Repairs and Maintenance Other Sundries Administration, selling and Distribution ExpensesRs. 12600 Rs. 3000 Rs. 8000 10% on Direct Wages Rs. 36000 per yearSolution Master Budget for the Year Ending 31 March 2012 Particulars cadence (Rs.) Sales Toughened Glass Bent Glass Total Sales Less Cost of Production Direct Material Direct Wages Prime Cost (A) strict Factory Overhead 480000 36000 516000 600000 200000 800000 Amount (Rs.)22Works Managers Salary Foremans Salary Depreciation Light and Power Total obstinate Factory Overhead (B) uncertain Factory Overhead Stores and Spares Repairs and Maintenance Sundry Expenses Total Variable Factory Overhead (C) Works Cost (A+B+C) Gross Profit (Sales- Works Cost) Less Administration, Selling and Distribution Expenses Net Profit6000 4800 12600 3000 2640020000 8000 3600 31600 574000 226000 36000 19000023CAPITAL EXPENDITURE BUDGET The capital expenditure budget represents theplanned outlay on stiff assets like lan d, building, industrial plant and machinery, etc. during the budget period. This budget is subject to strict management control because it entails large amount of expenditure. The budget is prepared to cover a long period of years and it projects the capital costs over the period in which the expenditure is to be incurred and the expected earnings. The preparation of this budget is based on the following considerations 1. Overhead on production facilities of certain departments as indicated by the plant utilization budget. 2. Future development plans to increase output by expansion of plant facilities. 3. Replacement requests from the concerned departments 4. Factors like sales potential to absorb the change magnitude output, possibility of price reductions, increased costs of advertising and sales promotion to absorb increased output, etc. Merits/Advantages 1. It outlines the capital development programme and estimated capital expenditure during the budget period. 2. It enables t he company to establish a system of priorities. When there is a famine of funds, capital rationing becomes necessary. 3. It serves as a tool for controlling expenditure. 4. It provides the amount of expenditure to be incorporated in the future budget24summaries for calculation of estimated return on capital employed. 5. This enables the cash budget to be completed. With other cash commitments capital expenditure commitment should also be considered for the completion of the budget. 6. It facilitates cost reduction programme, particularly when modernization and renovation is covered by this budget.25FIXED AND FLEXIBLE BUDGETS Fixed Budget According to Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of England, a fixed budget is a budget designed to remain unchanged irrespective of the level of activity actually attained. A fixed budget shows the expected results of a responsibility center for only one activity level. Once the budget has been determined, it is not changed, even if the activity changes. Fixed budgeting is used by many servicecompanies and for some administrative functions of manufacturing companies, such as purchasing, engineering, and accounting. Fixed Budget is used as an effective tool of cost control. In case, the level of activity attained is different from the level of activity for budgeting purposes, the fixed budget becomes ineffective. Such a budget is quite suitable for fixed expenses. It is also known as a static budget. Essential conditions 1. When the nature of business is not seasonal. 2. There is no impact of external factors on the business activities 3. The demand of the product is certain and stable. 4. Supply orders are issued regularly. 5. The market of the product should be domestic rather than foreign. 6. There is no need of special labour or material in the production of the products. 7. Supply of production inputs is regular. 8. There is a trend of price stability. Generally, all above conditions are not shew in practice. Hence fixed budget is not important 26in business concerns. Merits/advantages 1. Very straightforward to understand 2. Less time consuming Demerits/Disadvantages 1. It is misleading. A poor performance may remain unobserved and a good performance may go unrealized. 2. It is not suitable for long period. 3. It is also found unsuitable particularly when the business conditions are changing constantly. 4. Accurate estimates are not possible. Flexible Budget According to Chartered Institute of Management Accountants of England,a flexible budget is defined as a budget which, by recognizing the difference between fixed, semi-variable and variable costs is designed to change in relation to the level of activity attained. Unlike static (fixed) budgets, flexible budgets show the expected results of a responsibility center for several activity levels. You can think of a flexible budget as a serial of static budgets for different levels of activity. Such budgets are e particularly useful in estimating and controlling factory costs and operating expenses. It is more realistic and practicable because it gives due consideration 27to cost behaviour at different levels of activity. While preparing a flexible budget the expenses are classified into three categories viz. 1. Fixed, 2. Variable, and 3. Semi-variable. Semi-variable expenses are further segregated into fixed and variable expenses. Flexible budgeting may beresorted to under following situations 1. In the case of new business venture due to its typical nature it may be difficult to forecast the demand of a product accurately. 2. Where the business is dependent upon the mercy of nature e.g., a person dealing in wool trade may have enough market if temperature goes below the freeze point. 3. In the case of labour intensive industry where the production of the concern is dependent upon the availability of labour. Merits/ Advantages 1. With the help of flexible budget, the sales, costs and profit may be calculated ea sily by the business at various levels of production capacity. 2. In flexible budget, adjustment is very simple according to change in business conditions. 3. It also helps in determination of production level as it shows budgeted costs with classification at various levels of activity along with sales. Hence the management can easily select the level of production which shows the profit predetermined by the owners of the business. 4. It also shows the quantity of product to be produced to earn determined profit. 28Demerits/Disadvantages 1. The formulation of flexible budget is possible only when there is proper accounting system maintained, complete knowledge about the factors of production and various business circumstances is available. 2. Flexible Budget also requires the system of standard costing in business. 3. It is very expensive and labour oriented. Need for flexible budget 1. seasonal fluctuations in sales and/or production, for example in soft drinks industry 2. A comp any which keeps on introducing new products or makes changes in the design of its products frequently 3. Industries engaged in make-to-order business like send building 4. An industry which is influenced by changes in fashion and 5. General changes in sales.29Illustration A factory which expects to operate 7,000 hours, i.e., at 70% level of activity, furnishes details of expenses as under Particulars Variable Expenses Amount (Rs.) 1260Semi- Variable Expenses 1200 Fixed Expenses 1800The semi-variable expenses go up by 10% between 85% and 95% activity and by 20% above 95% activity. Construct a flexible budget for 80, 90 and 100 per cent activities. Solution Particulars Budgeted Hours Variable Expenses Semi-Variable Expenses Fixed Expenses Total Expenses Recovery Rate Per Hour 70% 7000 1260 1200 1800 4260 0.61 80% 8000 1440 1200 1800 4440 0.55 90% 9000 1620 1320 1800 4740 0.53 100% 10000 1800 1440 1800 5040 0.5030Difference between Fixed and Flexible Budget Fixed Budget Flexible Budge tIt does not change with actual volume of It can be recasted on the basis of activity activity achieved. Thus it is known as rigid level to be achieved. Thus it is not rigid. or inflexible budget. It operates on one level of activity and under It consists of various budgets for one set of conditions. It assumes that there different levels of activity. will be no change in the prevailing conditions, which is unrealistic. hither as all costs like fixed, variable and Here analysis of variance provides useful semi-variable are related to only one level information as each cost is analyzed of activity so variance analysis does give useful information. If the budgeted and actual activity levels differ Flexible budgeting at different levels of significantly, then the aspects like cost activity facilitates the ascertainment of ascertainment and price fixation do not give a cost, fixation of selling price and tendering correct picture. of quotations. a meaningful basis of not according to i ts behaviour.Comparison of actual performance with It provides budgeted targets will bemeaningless comparison of the actual performance withspecially when there is a difference the budgeted targets. between the two activity levels.31BIBLIOGRAPHY 1 ICAI Module on Cost Accounting 2 Newsletters and opinions published by ICAI 3 http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget 4 www.icai.org