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Foreign exchange rate policies during a financial panic

In order to avoid further down-turn, the central bank should carry out the following payment mechanisms that will keep the economy intact. First and foremost, the central bank should prevent panic sparked off by bad companies from getting to good banks. This implies that the central bank must give sufficient reserves to good banks to meet the withdrawal of deposits but not enough for them to extend new loans to help speculation against currency. Another step is for the central bank to ensure that customers, especially exporters, for the banks which have failed continue to receive credit so as to keep the production going on. This means that the functions of failed banks must be kept alive by the central bank as it restructures the balance sheet for their final sale. The central bank should allow for currency depreciation by floating the currency so as to avoid capital inflow. If the amount of working credit remains unchanged, domestic firms will take an advantage of the depreciating currency and increase their exports CITATION Par01 l 1033 (Park, 2001). The resulting increase in exports will bring about a recovery from the economic down-turn. The growth will restore confidence in the economy, prompting domestic firms to repatriate their capital from abroad. The result will be an appreciation in the value of currency from its depreciated state, although not often to the pre-crisis state CITATION Lee11 l 1033 (Lee & Lee, 2011).

Asian financial crisis in Thailand

Thailand reduced its liquid foreign exchange reserve in a bid to protect its currency. When the Thai baht fell against the dollar in value, regional currencies increased in value, causing the cost of foreign debt to skyrocket. This triggered the financial crisis whereby most countries of the South East Asia were rendered bankrupt. Therefore, these countries could not be able to pay their financial debt and required a lot of financial aid from multination financial aid organizations such as the IMF. Thailand’s baht lost 52 percent of its pre-crisis value against the dollar CITATION Bat08 l 1033 (Batum Corporation, 2008). IMF provided financial support to these countries with the aim of restoring investor confidence and removing Thailand from the hook of the crisis. However, the funds seemed to exacerbate the flight instead of reducing its effects. This is because it served to emphasize domestic financial weakness hence diminishing investor confidence. The economies that suffered the economic crisis are now teaming up to self insure themselves against the consequences of balance of payments difficulties experience earlier. The country has managed to reserve foreign currency so as to avoid another financial turmoil. The regional policy makers and firms were avoiding unbridled financial liberalization and therefore issued few external bonds.

Thailand was praised by the World Bank for being receptive to foreign investment, having market friendly philosophy and being outward looking. Its reception of foreign investment made it a home for many Japanese manufacturing companies. However, this was the main contributor to its collapse when the financial crisis hit Asia. The bank of Thailand tried to maintain the baht-U.S dollar peg by buying currencies that were being traded. This was done by use of official foreign reserves. By the end of July, 1997 the remaining option for Thailand was to replace the fixed exchange rate with a managed float since it could tap no more reserves. A request for loan by Thai’s finance minister was turned down which led to his call for IMF’s assistance. This had been fifteen years since the last call on IMF for assistance. The government was forced to set as its economic objective a budget surplus of 1% of its GDP CITATION Man03 l 1033 (Manuer & Ayatolla, 2003). This was as a result of the restrictions imposed by IMF following their financial aid. The expected revenue was expected to fall to a certain value which forced the Thailand to cut its spending and increase taxes. This further brought down the economy. This saw a decrease in the decrease in employee salary and even laying off of workers. There was a nationwide decrease in retail sales by four percent in the first three-quarters of 1997. Import for consumer goods reduced by one percent during the same period. The investment by private institutions shrank considerably by during the year. The heavy depreciation of baht led to an increase in the amount of export by 26%. The increase in exports was seen as a possible turn from the downturn of the financial crises CITATION Lin10 l 1033 (Lindsay, 2010).

The stiffening of the monetary policy in order to raise interest rates to curtail further currency depreciation, the sudden closure of poorly performing financial institutions, a significant cut in budget outlays and the increase of prudential ratios created a huge credit crunch that deepened the financial crisis in Thailand. To honor its exchange rate commitment, Thailand depleted its foreign exchange rate reserve. The move was to defend its overvalued currency. With the fall in reserves, foreign creditor companies panic and demand an immediate repayment of their loans. It is evident that the Asian financial crisis brought the economy of Thailand to its knees CITATION The07 l 1033 (The Economist, 2007). Multinational companies in Thailand were not spared in its wake. The measures that the country took to control the crisis served to worsen it as its economy deteriorated further. The call for aid from the IMF to cushion their down-turn attracted stiffer restrictions from IMF. The limit by IMF was to see a cut in their financial budget by a certain percentage. This further depreciated baht hence leading to a further financial turmoil. Multination companies in Thailand suffered a big blow as most of them registered a loss. It is estimated that a single multinational company registered an abnormal (-1.43%) loss in its monthly income. Currency derivatives use and potential working hedging strategies did not protect firms from the Asian financial crisis. IMF ordered the closure of up to 58 companies in Thailand. Multinationals were not spared. This is probably due to the magnitude of the panic and the resultant lack of liquidity in the market of the derivatives during and after the crisis CITATION Mor12 l 1033 (Morodum Inc., 2012).

The measures taken by Thailand are not very attractive taking into consideration that it is still grappling with the then financial crisis. It has never returned to its initial state. The financial bailout from IMF was a good turn for them which saw them bend their knees further. This serves as a lesson to Thailand and other countries. The slow recovery of Thailand from the turmoil is reflected easily by the slow growth of the multinational companies still present CITATION Wes02 l 1033 (Weston & Allayannis, 2002).

Asian financial crisis in Malaysia

The Malaysian experience from the crisis shows that Asian countries have liberalized their financial sector and still contain their financial flows through selective capital regulations or control in order to prevent speculation. Malaysia resorted to a controversial capital control as a result of the crisis. Domestic coalitions between the private and the public sector in Malaysia have had a significant contribution to the economic growth of the country between 1998 and 2007. When financial crisis hit South East Asia, Malaysia responded promptly by embracing IMF-like measures (Gitman & McDaniel, 2009). Tight monetary and fiscal policies were implemented in order to defend the Ringgit, limit interest rate hikes and slow credit growth. The first policy, macroeconomic, implemented by the government under the guide of the then Deputy prime-minister Anwar Ibrahim failed to exude confidence in investors and hence exacerbated the crisis. Owing to the worsening crisis, the tight fiscal policies transformed to an expansionary one with higher capital spending and tax reductions in the month of August 2008. The shift was not enough and the country embarked on the controversial exchange and capital controls. The main aim of this was to remove speculations against Ringgit, limit capital flight and gain monetary independence for Malaysia (Hansen & Guan, 2009). The measures taken were: the Ringgit was pegged at RM 3.8 per US dollar, investors were refrained from withdrawing their financial investments in Malaysia for at least one year, Ringgit trading outside the country was prohibited so as to cut down on offshore Ringgit trading market, the transfer of funds outside the country was subject to approval, trade settlements in Ringgit, as well as international lending and borrowing were prohibited, and export and export of Ringgit banknotes were restricted CITATION Nau74 l 1033 (Nauman-Etienne, 1974).

This decision was contrary to international financial market’s expectations. In fact, rating agencies downgraded Malaysia, its sovereign bonds were increased relative to those of Korea and Thailand and Malaysia was gotten rid of from major investment indices. This was as a result of the measure it had taken which brought uncertainty on their influence on direct foreign investment. Initially, financial sector regulation was better established in Malaysia than most of its neighbors. This was because of the central financial reforms Malaysia had undertaken CITATION Sha02 l 1033 (Shapiro, 2002).

Capital controls in Malaysia was met with a lot of resentments as multinational companies and other foreign investors thought that Malaysia was going to experience extreme slowdown and hence would not be able to recover from the financial crisis. However, after its absorption in September 1998, Malaysia experienced a strong and fast recover y from the economic meltdown. The ban of offshore trading brought a stop to capital flight which allowed a decrease in interest rates and business expansions (Field, 2009).

The capital control policy by Malaysian government greatly impacted on the business of multinational companies. The uncertainty in the measures taken by the government led many multinational companies withdraw their investment in Malaysia. This was brought about by the fear for any further economic melt-down. The declines in exports, as well as consumer confidence were among the biggest setbacks for multinational companies as their product could not gain the wider market and hence registering huge losses. The financial crisis led to many workers being laid off. This negatively impacted on multinational companies because the government policy preferred the laying off of a foreign worker to a local worker (Moss, 2007). However, the reduced interest rates attracted other multinational companies. Investors were attracted by the cuts on their investment charges. The country did this in order to regain its image economically as investors would bring an economic through reduction of unemployment and payment of taxes to the government. Portfolio investors who had been denied the chance to withdraw their finances were worst hit because reinvestment on their part could not be realized. This meant that they had to wait for a year or more in order to make huge investments from their finances in the Malaysian banks CITATION Bha00 l 1033 (Bhalla, 2000). Multinational companies which also had their finances banked with Malaysian banks could not invest in other better performing economies as they were financially tied. In a general perspective, multinational companies were negatively affected by the financial crisis. The companies made huge losses, laid off most of its workforce and others opted out of Malaysia immediately CITATION Lip11 l 1033 (Lipson, 2011). It is of importance to note that Malaysia recovered fast from the turmoil and hence those multinational companies present then also experienced a strong economic growth too CITATION Zum08 l 1033 (Zumkehr & Edo, 2008).

Multinational companies in Eastern Asia generally faced negative and significant effects from the credit crunch. The response strategy by Malaysian government was the best choice in the case for it speeded up the recovery of the state from its state of bankruptcy. For multinationals in Malaysia, the experience was the same. The recovery of the country brought a simultaneous recovery in the multinational companies. The companies’ growth was significant, although they were not reinstated. Malaysia is one of the economies to emulate in South East Asia as it took a very different approach towards managing the crisis. Unlike other countries, it did not subscribe to borrowing from IMF. It adopted a capital policy which saw it rise faster than other countries like Korea and Thailand CITATION Ril12 l 1033 (Riley, 2012).

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Batum Corporation. (2008). Internation Monetary Funds. International Monetary Funds Policies .

Bhalla, v. k. (2000). International Financial Management. Delhi: Anmol Publications pvt. Ltd.

Field, A. (2009). Diagnosing and Fixing Dysfunctional Teams. Harvard Management Update .

Gitman, L., & McDaniel, C. (2009). The future of business : the essentials. Mason: South-Western Cenage Learning.

Hansen, D., Mowen, M., & Guan, L. (2009). Cost management : accounting and control. Mason: South-Western.

Lee, A. c., & Lee, C. F. (2011). Financial Analysis,Planning and forecasting. Francisco: Rutgers University Press.

Lindsay, J. (2010). Investments on Banks. Investment by Financial Institutions .

Lipson, M. (2011). Financial Management. ISI Journal Citation Reports .

Manuer, F., & Ayatolla, G. (2003). Financial crisis in Thailand. Thailand and Financial Turmoil .

Morodum Inc. (2012). The Financial crisis in South Eastern Asia. Joiurnal of Morodum Inc.

Moss, H. k. (2007). Improving Service Quality with the Theory of Constraints. Journal of Academy of Business and Economics .

Nauman-Etienne, R. (1974). A framework for Financial Decisions in Multinational Corporations- A summary of recent research. Financial and Quantitative Analysis .

Park, Y. (2001). Financial Management. An Overview of Financial Management .

Riley, J. (2012). Introduction to financial Management. finance and Accounting .

Shapiro, A. c. (2002). Multinational Financial Management. Prentice Hall of India pvt. Ltd .

The Economist. (2007). How Asia shrugged off its economic crisis. Ten Years On .

Weston, J., & Allayannis, G. (2002). The impact of Asian financial crisis on U.S. multinationals. Intenational Finance Review .

Zumkehr, H. J., & Edo, A. (2008). Malaysia and South Korea: A Decade after. Chulalongkorn Journal of Economics .

Chapter 6; Topic 6

Basic DCA Operations

Correct channel assignment is paramount when multiple APs are used in a wireless network because it facilitates client mobility and efficient use of airtime. A new AP uses the first non-overlapping channel in each band when it first powers up. In the case of channel 1, it uses 2.4GHz, while in the case of channel 36, it uses 5GHz. The DCA algorithm tends to look at each AP individually to find the ones with the worst RF conditions and the lowest CM. The algorithm identifies the one that can be improved by moving them to a better channel. The DCA algorithm also uses a sensitive threshold to keep channel changes under control.

Basic DCA Operations; Internet Source

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/technotes/8-3/b_RRM_White_Paper/dca.htmlThe Dynamic Channel Assignment maintains the performance of individual radios by adjusting the channel dynamically. It also manages 20/40/80/160 MHz bandwidth OBSS’s actively. The DCA makes decisions using an RSSI-based cost metric function which evaluates performance based on interference for each available channel. Additionally, the DCA manages channel assignments for an RF group in a dynamic system and evaluates the assignments on a per AP per radio basis. Under the DCA algorithm, the group leader maintains the neighbor lists for all APs in the RF Group. The group leader also organizes these neighbors into RF Neighborhoods. It uses metrics like DCA sensitivity and channel load to track each AP in the RF Group.

Business entrepreneurship

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Chapter 7:Business strategy

The global market provides many incentives and opportunities for any business to venture. Any business can be tempted to venture into the global market. However, the global market also poses a significant risk that must be fine-tuned to reap its benefits. Businesses go global for several reasons such as to increase the market size, to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities, to enhance a product’s growth potential, to explore the reverse innovation, and to optimize the location of the value chain activity. Globalization emphasizes the increase in market capitalization in the world. It means that there is increased trade in goods and services and the exchange of money, ideas, and information.

Expansion poses several international risks that must be addressed by the corporate board. Politics is a major risk that determines the level of investment. Countries that lack the rule of law, civil unrest, and are in military turmoil may destroy one’s property and make operations impossible. Hence, the executive must assess the country of interest. Economic risks such as piracy and counterfeiting are deleterious to investors. A country’s currency may pose risk since it determines the cost of production. The management may also be forced to adapt to the local environment. Corruption risk is prevalent in countries such as Sudan, Somalia, and North Korea. To survive the risks a company must find solutions to the risks. A nation’s competitiveness is determined in part by four factors: factor endowments, demand conditions, related and supported industries, and the firm strategy, structure, and rivalry.

International strategies require the diffusion and adaptation of the mother company to meet the demands of the foreign markets. For international strategies, both pressures for local adaptation and lowering costs are minimal. For global strategies, the pressure for lowering costs is high while that for local adaptation is low. Global strategies permit for the centralization of operations as well as standardization of products. The multi-domestic strategy contrasts with the global strategy because the products and services adapt to the local market and the decisions may be decentralized. The transnational strategy seeks global competitiveness through tradeoffs. The pressure for both local adaptation and lowering costs is high.

Chapter 8: Entrepreneur strategy and competitive dynamics

The entrepreneurial strategy provides the means via which a firm creates and reestablishes its crucial sets of relationships with its environment. Good entrepreneurs know that they have to analyze the market before venturing into it. In today’s ever-changing global market, one must be focused on their goals. They must study the market. Opportunities are always available, they just require one to analyze and study the business niche. An entrepreneur must be aware of the value creation and assess the risk. The ideas can arise from many areas. New value can be created from start-up ventures, non-profit firms, established institutions, and family-owned businesses. Some may get ideas from existing customers or suppliers or even as a result of technological advancements.

Entrepreneurial strategies revolve around three concepts, opportunity, resources, and the entrepreneur. The concepts must interplay. Let’s discuss the necessity of the opportunity. First, the opportunity must be discovered and then evaluated to determine its viability and feasibility. Viable ideas are attractable, attainable, durable, and value-creating. Resources include finances, human, social, and government capital. Perhaps entrepreneurial leadership is the most important factor. For example, they must be dedicated and committed to the idea to be successful. The leader must have a vision and the ability to command her employees towards it. New ventures require an entrepreneurial strategy to understand the industrial conditions and the competitive environment. They need to determine the entry strategies, generic tactics, and combination strategies. Whichever works out must be assessed and analyzed beforehand.

Competitive dynamics elaborate on why the market responds and why the approaches evolve. New competitors may shape the market if they survive. Hence, the existing competitors often choose to react to the entry of new competitors. They respond in different ways. Hence, an entrepreneur must sit down and predict the reaction. They must understand the types of competitive actions that can be undertaken. They should do threat analysis and predict the likelihood of a given competitor reacting. Hence, this may answer questions like, how do I enter the market? How should one compete? How should one deal with the competitor’s reaction?

Chapter 9: strategic control and corporate governance

An entrepreneur must first develop the strategy, after which they proceed to implement it. A control mechanism is integrated within the system to ensure that the performance meets the strategic goals. The mechanisms are known as strategic control. There are three types of strategic control informational, behavioral, and corporate governance. To review the approach there are two methods. First, the traditional way which compares the performance against the control. It involves lengthy time lags with single-loop learning. The traditional approach is applicable where the environment is stable and simple and when the objectives can be measured with absolute certainty. It is less interactive than a contemporary approach.

The contemporary approach combines both formulation, implementation, and control. There is constant interaction between these fields. Informational control involves doing the right things. It requires continuous surveillance of the environment. It ensures that the business fits within current trends. Informational control asserts that time lags are shortened, changes are detected earlier and this facilitates a speedy and flexible response. Behavioral control is concerned with doing things right. All firms have a manner of running it. Hence they have cultures, rewards, and boundaries to make this happen. Even the smallest corporates have cultures. Therefore, scholars are trying to come up with the best cultures to teach to students. They have understood that the culture must be tailored to each institution. It is a system of unwritten rules that influence behavior. Organizations have reward systems to motivate and control employees. A good reward system must be fair and equitable. Boundaries state the dos and don’ts for all workers.

Corporate governance explains the relationship between shareholders, management, and the board of directors. A successful organization can align the interests of these groups. The three entities have their roles. For example, the management is responsible for the company, while the board of directors protects the interests of the shareholders. Shareholders have limited liability and can participate in profits. There is the question of CEO duality. There are opposers and proposers of this concept. Hence, the theories of a unit of command and agency that favors separation. Besides, there are external governance control strategies, such as market, auditors, banks and analysts, regulatory bodies, and the media that influence a corporate firm.

Chapter 10: creating effective organizational designs

An organization structure refers to the formalized patterns of interaction linking tasks, technology, and people. It ensures that delegation is successful and also asserts efficiency and effectiveness in the running processes. Organization design is essential for the successful implementation and coordination of the strategic plan. There are several forms of organizational design and choice depends on the size of the firm among other factors. Leadership is key to the successful running of operations and human resources.

The simple organizational structure is the oldest and most common form utilized by businesses. It is suitable for minor corporations that deal with single or small product lines. In this system, the owner-manager makes most of the decisions, and the staff is merely an extension of the manager’s personality. One main advantage of the system is that it is easy and faster to coordinate duties due to direct interaction with employees. It also requires little specialization. The disadvantages are that the employees may take advantage of the lack of rules. It also provides limited opportunity for upward mobility. Functional organizational structures are suitable for small firms that operate single closely-related products or services with high production volumes. The system is a little different from the previous one because here, the owner-manager may recruit specialists since the firm is much larger. However, the CEO still makes most of the decisions.

In a divisional organizational structure, products, groups, and projects are categorized internally. The divisions are autonomous and different from those other departments. Each division has its specialists and functions. The strategic business unit structure is another type. Here, similar products or markets are grouped into units to achieve synergy. It has a decentralized form of authority and allows for quicker responses to a changing market. The other types are holding company and matrix organizational structures. For firms that want to go international, they must consider the following, the type of strategy that is driving the corporate for foreign operations, the degree of diversity, and the extent to which a firm is dependent on foreign sales. Boundaryless organizational design has three types namely barrier-free, modular, and virtual. Ambidextrous designs address the challenges of maintaining adaptability and how to achieve alignment.

Chapter 11: strategic leadership

Leadership is essential for any organization or business. It is the most essential entity directly responsible for success. The usual task is to find good leaders. Leadership transforms firms from what they are to what they are supposed to be. Successful leaders are proactive, goal-oriented, and focused on the vision. The leaders set the direction, design the organization, and nurture a culture that is dedicated to excellence and ethical behavior. Setting the direction means that the leader scans the environment for knowledge about the stakeholders and salient environmental trends and events. The leaders set the vision and objectives beforehand. In designing the organization, the leader comes up with mechanisms for implementing the leader’s vision through structures, teams, systems, and processes. The leader must accept responsibility for developing and strengthening ethical behavior. They should develop and reinforce role models and corporate credos and codes of conduct.

Leadership is not an easy task. It requires appropriate character, vision, resolve, and determination to overcome barriers to change. Organizations are prone to inertia after prolonged success periods. Hence, the leader must overcome political barriers, personal time constraints, behavioral and systemic obstacles, and the status quo. The leader must exercise his or her power to influence others, overcome resistance, and also persuade others to do things.

Successful learning organizations create proactive and creative approaches that ensure that they are on toes with everything essential. The leaders are committed to change and are action-oriented. In learning organizations, the leaders inspire and motivate the employees toward specific objectives, empower employees at all levels, gather external information, and also challenge the status quo. The other crucial task of a leader is to create an ethical organization. Ethics deals with right and wrong. Organizational cultures form operation cultures and acceptable conduct. The ethical orientation of the leader unites, creates value and shapes behavior.

Chapter 12: managing innovation and fostering corporate entrepreneurship

Companies constantly conduct innovations. Innovations enable them to remain competitive, develop new products and services, and seek out novel opportunities. Innovations require new knowledge from the latest technology, experimental results, creative insights, and competitive information. There are six types of innovation. First, product innovation is common during the industry’s early life cycle. During this period, the company makes new product designs and applies technology to develop novel products. It is associated with the differentiation strategy. Process innovation occurs in the later stages of the industry. Here, the company is concerned with improving its efficiency, increase the quality, shorten the cycle time, and enhance material utilization.

Radical innovations are highly disruptive since they depart from existing practices. It is commonly seen when there is a technological change. It can practically transform or revolutionize the whole industry. Incremental innovations enhance existing practices. They make small improvements to the products and services. Sustaining innovations extend sales in an existing market. Disruptive innovations overturn the market, to meet the consumers’ needs. It appeals to less-demanding customers.

Businesses face many innovation dilemmas that must be addressed with finesse. This section shall list some of them and discuss two of them. They include seeds versus weeds, experience versus initiative, internal versus external staffing, building capabilities versus collaborating, and incremental versus preemptive launch. Leaders are often faced with the dilemma of who to entrust with innovations. Senior managers provide experience and credibility but tend to be more risk aversive, while the mid-level personnel tends to be more enthusiastic. Internal staff have greater social capital, know the firm’s culture. However, they may not think outside the box. External staff on the other hand are expensive and lack social capital but will provide a different understanding. The leader must determine the middle-ground. How does a leader manage innovations? By cultivating innovation skills, defining the scope of innovation, managing the pace of innovation and the staff.

References

Class notes review.

Chapter 6; Topic 7

Coverage Hole Detection Criteria

The TPC algorithm can tune the transmit power to the level of each AP to optimize cell coverage and minimize co-channel interference with a correctly designed wireless network. The mounting of AP means that each of its internal radio antennae has a coverage cell centered around the AP’s location. Because the 5GHz has more to offer regarding non-overlapping channels used in high-density areas, wireless designs usually use the 5GHz and 2.4GHz cell boundaries to determine the AP placement. Furthermore, each signal is subject to frequency-dependent free space path loss. It implies that a 2.4GHz signal will reach its 67dBm boundary farther away from the AP than the 5GHz signal at the same power transmit level.

Coverage Hole Detection Criteria; Internet source

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/technotes/8-3/b_RRM_White_Paper/chd.htmlAn administrator can effectively track and identify areas of the network that might require additional APs through close monitoring of the coverage hole algorithm. The coverage hole detection and Mitigation algorithm have four distinct roles; Coverage Hole Detection, validation of the Coverage Hole, and mitigation if Prudent. Initially, the coverage hole algorithm was established to evaluate coverage requirements as the network grows and changes. CDC is based on five seconds histogram of each client Received in RSSI values and maintained by the AP. The RSSI value sets the minimum receive threshold for voice and data separately. On the other hand, the minimum failed client count per AP determines the minimum number of clients in a coverage hole before mitigation can be considered.

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Chapter Summary

Chapter 8

Chapter 8 stood out from the rest of the chapters in a number of ways. It discusses advocacy with much importance. Advocacy in this book is demonstrated looking out for the best interests of students. These teachers will go out of their way to help with life problems in addition to looking after the best interest these kids. The chapter also discussed social justice and how teachers use it to look out for their students. Teachers want to create an environment that ensures students learn at full capacity.

Chapter 9

Chapter 9 discusses the importance of recognizing great teachers. Teachers driven by something beyond money. Great teachers do not necessarily work at the best schools. Chapter 9 as a recap of many chapters highlights the many teachers discussed throughout the text as well as their approach to helping students including advocating for their justice. Teachers who are authentic and open with their students develop better people holistically and ensure their class is attentive. Teaching as advocacy is about being open with students and cultivating hope and goals for the future. Educators who prioritize and maintain open and honest relationships with their students make significant differences in schools and society.

Multimedia Reflection Journal

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Introduction.

Advancement of technology towards security has led to the capture of high profile rogues. The law breakers are however catching ground with the same technology. They have devised ways that help them conceal their identities. This is possible because most surveillance cameras are placed overhead. Thieves now use hooded clothes and caps to conceal their heads thus hamper easier facial recognition.

The choice of coming up with enhanced security surveillance cameras is to counter the ever growing evasion of law breakers. This will be achieved by development of ground cameras that are strong enough to withstand weights of up to 150kgs. The cameras will be placed on the ground of entrances that are to be surveilled. They will provide a facial recognition from below and any content that is being withheld. The cameras will also be fitted with security scanners thus detect explosives and fire arms. These devices will be water proof to function in all weather conditions. People will not know whether they have undergone security screening because they will be placed outside the doors and will resemble door mats, floor tiles and mud removers. These devices will measure five feet by three feet so there is no way one can evade from stepping on them.

The choice of this kind of project is due to the fact that, it will create a cutting edge over other types of security appliances. Time will be saved due to the easier identification of persons unlike now where there is a lot of time consumption in unraveling the perpetrators. This choice is further fuelled by my ambition to join the security sector and possible start my own security firm.

Works Cited

BIBLIOGRAPHY Wilson, D. (2005). Behind the cameras. Plagrave Macmillan Security Journal , 43-54.

Multinational company.

A multinational company is a company that has got its facilities and assets in other countries other than the home country. These kinds of companies are said to have factories or offices in varied countries and they usually have a central headquarter that coordinate the global management. In this case, the multinational company under study is the coca cola company.

About the company.

The company of coca cola is a multinational beverage company corporation of American history and a retailer, manufacturer, and the marketer on beverages syrups and concentrates that are nonalcoholic. The company has its headquarter in Atlanta, Georgia. The company is well known for its popular product coca cola.

The company was formed by John Stith in Columbus in 1886. The company runs a system of franchise distribution that started from 1889 when the company produced on the syrup concentrate that was the sold to some bottlers across the universe who had a separated territory. The anchor bottler of the company is found in North America. ( (Depan & Doz 1986).

Pricing of revenue and costs in the cola coca company.

The products of Coca-Cola Company are of the same level with those of the competitors so as to meet the pricing competition. The company has to be perceived as different from others but affordable.

. Just like the other company that has existed for a longer period, Coca-Cola Company has to remain consistent and fluent with the strategy of pricing. Stiff competitions from other big companies have made the coca cola company faster, smarter and better. ( (Depan & Doz 1986).

The company has been making many decisions on pricing of its cost and revenue with the goal of maximizing the value of the shareholder. Coca-Cola company makes use of the lower price points to make a penetration into the new markets that are sensitive especially to price.

It does this to face the competition and to raise the awareness of the brand among the target group. Once a brand is well implemented, it positions itself as the premium company about other competitors.

The brand at the moment will possess the image or bring the intangible benefits in lifestyle, moments of happiness and joy and group affiliation. The marketing strategy will still focus on affordable life enjoyment.

At the retailers level, there are the regular on pack promotions so as to meet the objectives of the company as well as attract the consumers to purchase them even more.

Regarding revenue pricing, the company prices their products in a way that it can consolidate the maximum revenue that can be found. This is done by considering the demand of the public or the consumers and ensuring that the prices are not too high or low as compared to that of the competitors charging the consumers. Otherwise, there would be no sales or buying of the products thus leading to low priced revenue.

The contribution the operational companies are making to the parent firm’s profits.

The coca cola company has, by and large, spread all over the world was serving a great population. The company has continuously gained momentum and growth as is capitalizes on the fast expanding industry of beverages and ranked as the largest company of beverages in the world.

. The company expanded greatly after the Second World War. It has proven its flexibility and innovative nature all around the globe, adapting to the local eras of news and markets without distorting the image of the brand

. The company itself sells the syrup that is highly concentrated to bottling companies who add the carbonated water and then bottle the end product before distributing them and selling to the market. the company has the full control to make the investment in bottling companies as well as withdrawing themselves when the bottlers are not meeting the high standards of the company.

The company provides a lot of resources for their operational nations that sell their products for them to maximize their potential regardless of the kind of environment they are operating.

One of the operational countries is the South African nation and the Eastern African countries. The efforts of the company in African continent speak a lot about the economic strength and the size of the company. ( (Depan & Doz 1986).

The two regions of Africa that is the Southern Africa and the Eastern African made an agreement to combine the operations of bottling of their ready to drink non-alcoholic drink beverages businesses.

The new bottler. That is the Coca-Cola Beverage Africa, is aimed to serve the 12 high growing nations that account for about 40 percent of all the coca cola drinks in the African region.

This amalgamation is just not for the sake of the benefits and profit of the African nations but also at large the parent Coca-Cola Company also harvest some profit from them. Africa with the two operational regions that are the Eastern and Southern Africa offers a significant potential for growth in beverages that is underpinned by the increasing individual disposable income, a population that is growing fast and increasing the per capita consumption.

This, by and large, throws back the profit to the mother coca cola company since the demand and the consumption of their products are too high. The coca cola Beverage Africa would be the biggest coca cola bottler in the entire continent, with the scale and capabilities that are complementary and the resources to acquire and accelerate the top line growth.

This aspect would allow the merged company to develop the best practices of operation and invest in the production, distribution and sales, and marketing to make benefits from the expanding demands and the drive for gaining profit by the company and the parent company ( (Depan & Doz 1986).

The means the coca cola company use to hedge against exchange rate risk

Because a large number of the developed currencies are free-floating, it is impossible to make the prediction of the value of the asset in the currency of a foreign nation at any point in time in the future. It is obvious that influence greatly the return of the investments.

International business activities carry the risks that any return on the investment can change favorably or not due to the difference in exchange rates at the purchase time and the moment the dividend is received, or investment is sold.

To hedge the risk of exchange, the coca cola company buys the hedge from any financial institution in question. This currency hedge is a kind of derivative that aims at either locking in a rate of exchange in the present day for a transaction that will take place in the future or at exercising an earlier agreed upon rate of exchange at the future time. Buying into the hedge is a good solution to the risk of rates of exchange.

The company is in a position that will not worry about the value of the product in the other country as it is agreed on a pre-determined rate of exchange between the home country and the currency across the border with the bank. The company would, however, be rest assured that the return on the investment is just the return of the company’s portfolio in addition to the return of the foreign currency. ( (Depan & Doz 1986).

Another means that Coca Cola Company uses to hedge the risk of rates of exchange is by swapping the currency. This transaction represents an agreement to make an exchange of one currency for another at the rate of exchanged that is agreed upon.

During the operation, there are two transactions that are taking place concurrently; one is the buying and another one of selling the same amount of currency at two different dates of value that are usually the SPOT and FORWARD that agree earlier at the time when the transaction is being closed.

In swapping of the currency, the bearer of the unwanted money exchanges the currency with that of the equivalent amount of the other currency. Thus, the company exchanges its interests and the exposures of a rate of currency from one kind to the other or benefits of the financing of the bank at a lower rate. Depan & Taylor 2003).

Making forward transactions that are flexible is another means that are employed by the coca cola company to hedge the risk of the rates of exchange. These methods have more or like the same qualities like the forward transaction with only a single specific distinction.

This distinction is that the settlement of transaction can take place at any given time until the contract matures. The company can choose to make a partial settlement for the transaction at any time of interest until the time the contract matures, with the obligation of exchanging the whole national currency until the time of maturity.

This means a lot of benefits to the company as the transaction can take place at any time of need until the maturity of the contract under the same already established rate. It enhances the best management of the liquidity of the company and the well-coordinated incomes and payments. Depan & Taylor 2003).

The effect of increase or decrease in the dollar’s exchange value on the profitability of the firm.

When there is a decrease in the value of exchange on the dollar, the export of the country would be cheap, and the imports would be much expensive. This decrease of the dollar makes the export transactions more competitive; therefore, there would be a decrease in the imports and an increase in the exports.

About the coca cola company that exports or sells it concentrated syrups to the potential bottlers; the exports would be much as the countries will be running for the cheaper and affordable products at the expense of the expensive ones.

This would increase the profitability of the firm by a greater margin. The firm will benefit from the sales that have increased. This aspect would lead to massive employment and creation of jobs lowering unemployment rates especially in the industry that is exporting the products. This depreciation of the value of exchange will increase the value of profits and the income of the coca cola company. (Depan &Frankel 1993).

The decrease in the value of exchange of the dollar would buy and larger have a great impact on the company. This depreciation would reduce the incentive for the exports to cut the costs. There would be less incentive to reduce the cost of the company and boost the productivity at a greater deal. This is the opposite of the increased value of exchange.

A decreased value of exchange of dollar makes it harder for the trade deficits of the company to the creditors of overseas. It increases the cost of importation like the rising cost of the raw materials of a company and the technology that is imported.

This causes an inward drift of the company and can affect the long-run potential of production. The poor demand of the company can make the stance of the company be at risk making it hard for the company to export as the fundamental marketers would be in recession and the sales of overseas are failing.

When the elasticity of the price of the demand for the imports and exports are low, the decrease of the value of exchange will cause a worsening of the trade balance in the services and good of the company. This is referred to as the effect of the J-Curve.

On the other hand, an increase of the exchange value would result in the decrease import expenses and the company will benefit from the cheap imports. This effect would boost the company’s profit as it would be saving much money and making profits by buying the raw materials at the cheaper rate. The coca cola company would be making impulse buying at the lowest prices possible that will enable the have enough resources and also stores other for the future use. This would increase the incentives for the company.

At the same time, the appreciation of the value of exchange would have a worrying impact on the rate of exports. The company’s products would be more expensive as compared to those of others on the other countries.

This can result in the reduction of the demands of the products. This is a great negative effect on the profitability of the company as the bottling company will find it very expensive to purchase the concentrated syrups. They will either buy the little they could afford or even refrain completely from buying them.

This challenge will also affect the consumers on the other hand. The bottlers will tend to hike the costs of the products so as to balance the financial budgets and avoid losses. And the consumers would reduce the rate of buying the products. Thus, it reduces the rate of consumption. (Depan & Frankel 1993).

Reference

Depan S & Doz L(1986). Strategic management in multinational companies. Pergamon

Press.

Depan S & Taylor P (2003). The Economics of Exchange Rates. Cambridge University Press.

Depan S &Frankel A (1993). On Exchange Rates. MIT Press.

Multi-media Training

With the business world changing at the blink of an eye nowadays, it has now become crucial for corporations to make sure that all employees are up-to-date in their respective fields. This is usually achieved through training sessions that are either provided for by the company or are required for the employee to keep their job. But, just as the business world has changed due to technology; the computer, Internet, and other various multimedia tools have also impacted the world of training. With technology easily and readily available in this day and age, it comes as no surprise that many companies are already reaping the benefits of multimedia training. However, is this type of training flawless? Are other companies who do not provide this type of training employing less productive workers? By looking at reasons why multimedia training has become so popular and also investigating some recent trends in multimedia training, I will attempt to answer these questions. I will also look at a company’s experience that has already begun to utilize multimedia training.

As pointed out earlier, computer technology has already changed the way people perform their jobs. The recent trend has been to change the way people learn how to perform their jobs. While it is apparent that computers will never entirely replace human-aided training, more and more training will begin to take place in front of a screen instead of at seminars over the next few years. There are several reasons why this is true.

The first benefit to multimedia training is cost. It is true that interactive training tools are very expensive to produce initially, but as technology becomes cheaper and cheaper in the future, the costs to produce this type of training will also begin to decline. Also, when looking at a long-term picture, multimedia training is relatively cheap. The initial cost is high, but it can still be far less expensive than having a human instructor teach several training sessions over a long period of time. Plus, one multimedia-training tool, such as a CD-ROM, can be used or shared among several employees, whereas a human instructor would have to hold several sessions to teach several employees.

The next reason for the recent growth in multimedia training is the accessibility it provides. When using a human instructor, a company may not want to hold a training session until enough employees are hired that could benefit from the training so that the company could avoid holding multiple sessions. With multimedia training, this is simply not true. The media could be used by one person or by a group at relatively the same cost, so it is not necessary to gather a large pool of employees before training can begin. Also, multimedia tools can be delivered just-in-time or whenever the trainees need it. There is no need to work around a trainer’s schedule and a trainee’s schedule. For example, assuming the employee has access to a computer, he or she could be given a training CD-ROM to take home and study. The employee could then be quizzed the next day to see how much they learned. This seems to be much more advantageous than waiting until there are enough employees who could benefit from the human instructor and then finding an appropriate time that all employees and the trainer could meet.

Another benefit of computer-based training is its ability to minutely track the learning event. Since the user is interacting with a computer, the system is able to track and monitor each interaction. This can provide personnel with the information they may need to further the learning experience. It can show them what the trainee knows and does not know, what they have learned from using the media, how fast they learned the new information, and how they learned the new information. All of this information would be virtually impossible to collect from a human trainer who had just held a seminar that instructed numerous employees.

The last, and probably the strongest, argument for multimedia training is its effectiveness. George Roughan, president of Chimera Multimedia Productions, say of the multimedia programs he has developed, “With multimedia interactive training we can model or create the perfect instructional environment better than with any other method, short of one-to-one apprenticeship. In the multimedia virtual reality world, we can build the composite perfect instructor. We can also build a virtual environment within which students can engage in discovery learning – – exploring, trying different ways to do things, making mistakes and trying again until they discover what works and what doesn’t.” Studies have shown that this type of experimental learning works better than others because it helps ensure retention of knowledge and skills.

But, just as training has changed over the few years to a more technology-based type of training, multimedia training has also recently been changing and developing certain trends within itself. The main trend seems to be moving from computer-based training (CBT) to web-based training (WBT). Web-based training refers to instructional programs delivered on the Internet and intranet-based training systems. In 2002, WBT accounted for roughly half of all corporate training programs while CBT has steadily declined over the past few years. There are several advantages to WBT that are the possible reasons for this increase. The first advantage is the low cost relative to CBT. WBT can be delivered to anyone who has a computer and an Internet connection, which is a lot cheaper and more efficient than producing numerous CD-ROMs for employees to use. Another advantage to WBT is how easy it is to update the material. With WBT, the resources can be updated by simply adding new information to the already existing program; however, with CBT it becomes necessary to create brand new CD-ROMs with the new information in it. Probably the biggest advantage of WBT is its fluidity. Since a CD-ROM is published, the user is limited to its parameters. To be more specific, the user can only browse through the different areas that the CD-ROM may cover. But with WBT, the different learning objects can be stored and can be accessed by a keyword search rather than tediously searching through chapter menus on a CD-ROM.

With all of the advantages of multimedia training, it is surprising to find out that there are still companies who do not use it. So, have the companies that do utilize this training benefited from it? Caltex Oil Company based in Australia tested the implementation of multimedia training in its convenience stores. The programs were developed to allow more training to occur on-site or after hours to minimize labor costs. The software allows the user to browse around the “virtual” convenience store, clicking on areas within the store to learn more about customer service, add-on selling, and merchandising. In the stores with the multimedia training, overall sales increased by 11% and sales within the shop itself increased by 18%. As more of the stores implemented the program, similar results were found.

It may seem that multimedia training is a flawless tool; that it is a win-win situation for the company and the employees. While this may be true to some extent, multimedia training still has its drawbacks. For one thing, nothing can ever replace a human instructor as far as feedback is concerned. Any question may be asked of a human instructor, which may not be true with different types of technology. Also, one of the benefits of multimedia training is also one of its flaws: price. Even though savings may be achieved in the long run, a company with very few employees may want to pursue other training options due to the extremely high initial cost of multimedia training software.

There are many ways a company may benefit from the use of multimedia training: the long-term savings, the effectiveness, the fluidity, and the accessibility. Despite all of these benefits, multimedia training is not flawless. Although it seems as though this training is the way of the future, it is important for a corporation to realize that the best teachers are still human instructors. Perhaps the best answer is a mix between multimedia training and human instruction. However, the spread and rapid growth of multimedia training is a testament to its success and effectiveness.

Bibliography:

Multiple Births

When bearing a child there may be a possibility of having more than just one child, which is referred to as a multiple birth. A multiple birth is one in which two or more fetuses develop at one time in the uterus. This happens when a woman naturally releases more than one egg from her ovaries. Most multiple births are caused from using fertility drugs.

The most common types of multiple births are twins. Twins are categorized into different groups. The two most common types of twins are fraternal and identical.

Fraternal twins are a result of two eggs and two sperm (Segal 4). Twins can be conceived at different times when there are two separate sperm. The tendency to conceive fraternal twins seems to be heredity. Some studies show higher incidence where there is a history of twins on the mother’s side of the family. Fraternal twins can be boy/girl, girl/girl, or boy/boy. Opposite sex twins make up one-third of the twin population, about one in 240 births (Wolner 32). Boy/girl twins develop as differently as single birth children from the time of conception. Fraternal twins can be conceived at the same time, but their birthdays can be days, weeks or even months apart (Segal 37).

The second most common type of twins is identical twins. Chances of having identical twins are one in two hundred births (Vaughan 12). Identical twins happen when a single fertilized egg splits usually one to fourteen days after conception (Segal 6). Identical twins are genetically alike. They have the same chromosomes and usually have a lot of the same physical features. They always have the same blood type, hair, eye color, nose, ears, and lip shapes

Almost one quarter of identical twins are mirror twins. This means that the twins will appear to be reflections of one another (Wolner 102). One twin will be right-handed and the other will be left-handed. Internal organs and skeletal features will be on the opposite sides of the body. Their hair whorls will turn in opposite directions. Mirror twins are identical twins that scientists believe split later in the embryonic stage (Wolner 103). When the cluster of cells do finally spit, there is already a formed right side and formed left side with one twin developing from each side. There are even medical examples where one mirror image twin has internal organs on the right side of the body and the other on the left (Wolner 104).

Multiple gestation is a medical term that refers to a women who is pregnant with twins, triplets, or other higher- order multiple pregnancies (Segal 97). This will occur in slightly less than two percent of all pregnancies (Segal 97). Within the category of multiple gestation, twin births are by far the most common, accounting for ninety-five percent of all multiple pregnancies.

Triplets are a unique type of multiple births. Triplets are born at the same time of the same mother. One set of triplets is born about every 9,216 births (Vaughan16). Fraternal triplets are born from three egg cells. Identical triplets are born from one egg cell that divided into three separate eggs. Triplets may also include an identical pair plus a third fraternal.

Quadruplets are four children born to a mother at one time. They occur more often than quintuplets, but less often then triplets. Quadruplets are born once in every 884,763 births (Wright 19). Identical quadruplets are born from the cell mass of a single egg that became separated. There are also four possible combinations of identical and fraternal quadruplets. That happens when some are in one cell mass and the other one or two have their own separate cell mass. There are also fraternal quadruplets that have their own egg cell.

Quintuplets are five babies born to the same mother at one time. They are estimated to occur once in every eighty-five million natural births (Wright 26). It is very common for all of them not to survive.

In history, there has been as many as fifteen babies conceived during pregnancy, one thirty-five year old women had quindecaplets removed from her womb. It was known that the babies would not have a chance of survival. There are many reported births of sexuplets (6), septuplets (7), octuplets (8), nonuplets (9), decaplets (10), undecaplets (11), duodecaplets (12), tridecaplets(13), Quadecaplets (14), and quindecaplets. The highest number of surviving babies is octuplets (Rugh 22).

One of the rare types of twins is a conjoined twin, also called Siamese twins. Siamese is a term made famous from Chang and Eng born in 1811 in Siam (Rugh 65). It is estimated that conjoined twins occur one in 50,000 to one in 100, 000 births (Segal 29). They are joined at identical sites. Conjoined twins originate from a single fertilized egg. The developing embryo starts to split into identical twins within the first two weeks after conception. However, the process stops before it is complete, leaving a partially separated egg that develops into a conjoined fetus. Among those deliveries, forty to sixty percent are stillborn and thirty-five survive only one day (Segal 297). The overall survival rate of conjoined twins are between five and twenty-five percent (Segal 30). If the twins have separate sets of organs, chances for surgery and survival are greater than if they share the same organs.

Conjoined twinning is unaffected by maternal age, ethnicity, and number of previous children. Family history of conjoined twinning is also unrelated to producing conjoined twins; so genetic factors are not involved.

Conjoined twins born today are detected during routine prenatal examination including sonograms. However, before sonograms were available only fifty to seventy percent of conjoined twins were identified before birth (Segal 301). A first diagnosed conjoined twin was in 1976 at thirty-seven weeks (Segal 302). Conjoined twins have been diagnosed as early as nine weeks.

Parents and physicians struggle over whether or not to separate conjoined twins. Separation was first attempted in the tenth century on the first recorded conjoined pair in history (Segal 304). Nearly two hundred surgical separations of conjoined twins have been attempted with approximately ninety percent occurring after 1950 (Segal 306). Seventy-three percent of conjoined twins are connected at mid torso, twenty-three percent at lower torso, and four percent at the upper torso (Segal 306). Survival of one or both twins has occurred in close to 150 cases.

When separating conjoined twins, operations are generally delayed until twins reach six to twelve months of age to improve their trauma tolerance and to avoid newborn care complexities. The extra time required is also critical for allowing the twins skin to expand.

The most unique form of twin births is called heteropaternal superfecundation. This occurs when an egg is released, even though another egg has been fertilized (Wright 96). If another man’s sperm fertilizes the second egg, the fetuses would be no closer genetically than half siblings.

Multiple births can be risky. A women’s uterus is only capable of carrying, feeding, and providing oxygen for a certain amount of fetuses. Twins are more susceptible to birth defects, spontaneous mutations, and vascular problems that threaten early life (Wright 89). Simply being a twin is stressful and raises the odds against survival because of the competition for space and nutrients. If an embryo disappears in the first trimester it has probably been absorbed by the placenta or by the other twin with little or no evidence that it ever existed, except for the tiny image left on ultrasound (Segal 87). A careful examination of the placenta after birth will sometimes reveal a nodule that turns out to be the remains of a vanished twin. The death of one twin poses a real threat to the other. Identical twins share the same circulation in the womb, and the death of one could cause a blood clot to pass into the survivor, causing heart damage (Wright 96).

When having multiple births your children may be premature, have low birth weights, respiratory difficulties, and learning disabilities. One-third of all twins will be delivered premature ( Vaughan 120). The greater number of fetuses increases the weight and volume, which causes strain on the mother’s cervix. Pressure on the cervix is stronger leading premature labor. When children are born early their birth weights are lower. The average birth weight of a child is about 7 pounds, 5 pounds for twins, and 3 pounds for triplets (Vaughan 127). Babies who are born very prematurely are also more likely to have complications that can lead to long-term problems. The babies may have problems in functioning of their lungs, heart, brain, mental retardation, seizure disorders, vision problems, hearing loss, and kidney problems. A premature baby is more likely to die than one who is born at full-term. Twins and triplets are at much greater risk for health problems than single births. Twins are five times more likely to die in the first year as in single births, and triples on up are ten times more likely to die in the first year too (Segal 99). In 1993 the Office for National Statistics recorded that triplets were about six times more likely to die than single births in the first year of their lives.

Not only are the babies in trouble when being a multiple but the mother is in great danger also. Mothers have a risk of anemia, high blood pressure, and convulsions during pregnancy. They also suffer from emotional problems. The mother has to worry about feeding and caring for more than one child.

To reduce the risks, doctors try to get mothers to have babies one at a time, but that is not possible in all cases. In some multiple pregnancies, doctors may recommend that some of the embryos be aborted. The others have more of a chance of survival, because they have more space to develop.

When women have trouble getting pregnant they resort to fertility drugs, such as Clomid, Pergonal, Humegon, Repronex, Gonal F, and Follistim. A women’s ovary uses only 400 eggs out of the half-million she has available. Surplus eggs are released into the fallopian tubes, leading to twin conception in about ten percent of the women who take fertility drugs such as clomiphene citrate. Pergonal, another powerful drug that helps the egg mature, causes twins in about twenty-five percent of the pregnancies. In vitro fertilization and other new technology require taking eggs from the ovary and mixing them with sperm in a petri dish. When the eggs are fertilized, they are placed in the uterus or fallopian tube. Typically more than one egg is implanted, so the chances of multiple births are quite high.

For the one out of five couples who have not needed contraceptives because the seemed to be sterile, there are antisterility pills. These pills, which are really hormone additives, not only help many women to overcome some kinds of biological sterility but also seem to increase the likelihood of multiple births. Some sterile women, treated with these ovulations-stimulating hormones, have born twins, triplets, or even quadruplets.

Older women are more likely to give birth to multiples naturally, but they also have more trouble conceiving and therefore they turn to fertility drugs. Multiple births are one-third due to older women and two-thirds due to fertility drugs. Fifteen percent of pregnancies resulting multiple births are due to fertility drugs compared to one percent naturally (Rugh 12).

Multiple births occur when doctors prescribe strong fertility drugs that stimulate

the growth of follicles, sacks of fluid that each contain one egg until they grow to an inch

in size. Under normal circumstances, a woman’s body regulates the process and only

allows one follicle to release its egg. In women who take fertility drugs because they

do not ovulate properly; the ovaries are supercharged by the drugs. This can prompt as

many as 40 follicles to mature. And in some women who are sensitive to the drugs, up to

a dozen eggs may be released all at once. A dozen eggs can become a dozen babies.

To avoid multiple conceptions, fertility experts are supposed to carefully monitor the

follicles daily with the use of an ultrasound scan to accurately determine how many are maturing at once.

Identical twins spend a lot of time together and are usually each other’s best friend. Although they like other people, their twin is the person they usually choose to be with, especially when they are young. They do not like to be apart. Identical twins usually have their own private language and have the ability to do the same in the same activities. They also enjoy each other’s company because the usually have the same interest. Identical twins usually care for one another more deeply than fraternal twins. This is because of the special bond between them that grew while they were inside their mother. After age nine or ten, identical twins usually choose to form their own identities.

Identical twins that were reared apart were actually somewhat more alike in their attitudes than identical twins reared together (Wright 147). Various tests of ability show extremely high levels of heredity; whether raised apart or together, identical twins scored almost as alike as the same person tested twice (Wright 147). Identical twins reared apart are more likely to be similar in personality, temperament, occupational interests, leisure-time interests, and social attitudes as identical twins raised together. This leads to believe that the similarities between twins are due to genes, not the environment. Environment does play a substantial role in the formation of individual personalities. “Family influences show clearly in attitudes, values, choice of mate, and in presence of nonpsychotic psychiatric symptomatology. The cultural or regional influences transmitted by the family and social network also are present and probably show in general personality traits ranging from emotional expressivity to drinking habits… everything in these data points toward the massive and perhaps predominant influences of family and culture on attitudes and psychological traits” (Wright 70).

Early in a Minnesota study, the ending results indicated that separated twins were sometimes more similar than twins raised together. “ You could argue that the twins reared together, because of the presence of each other, forced themselves apart. They wanted to differentiate. Whereas, if they were reared apart, they couldn’t care less about this” (Wright 70).

The Minnesota project studies the physical, mental, and social changes that occur in twins as they pass from childhood into adolescence and from adolescence into young adulthood.

University of Minnesota researchers, led by psychologist Bouchard, found that seventy percent of the intelligence is accounted for by genes, the strongest correlation found for any characteristic. Genetics also accounts for about fifty percent of personality differences, including traits such as extroversion, fifty percent of religiosity, including how often someone attends religious events, and about forty percent for job interest. Environment accounts for the rest of the differences, but the researchers note that even two children in the same family many not share the same environment (Wright 70).

The study has been widely profiled in the news media because of the eerie similarities that have been observed in reunited twins. For example, two twins were reunited at the age of thirty with similar mustaches hairstyles, glasses, big belt buckles, and key rings. Each twin was a volunteer firefighter and made their living installing safety equipment. Each also drank Budweiser and crushed the cans when finished.

The statistics have shown that on average, identical twins tend to be around eighty percent the same in everything from stature, to health, to IQ to political views (Wright 84). The similarities are partly the product of similar upbringing. The evidence from the comparison of twins raised apart points rather convincingly to genes as the source of a lot of that likeness. In the most widely publicized study of this type, launched in 1979, University of Minnesota psychologist Bouchard and his colleagues have chronicled the fates of about sixty percent of identical twins raised separately (Segal 86). Some of the pairs had scarcely met before Bouchard contacted them, and yet the behaviors and personalities and social attitudes they displayed were often remarkably alike.

Identical twins become less similar in terms of physical traits like looks and weight over time. However, they become more similar in abilities such as vocabularies and arithmetic scores. As fraternal twins get older, they leave their home, marry, start careers, families, and develop their own circle of friends. They become less similar with respect to vocabularies and arithmetic scores.

Identical twins tend to have more similar ages at the time of death than fraternal twins do. That is, identical twins are more likely to die at about the same age, and fraternal twins are more likely to die at different ages.

In summary, there are many risks to any pregnancy, but the risks during multiple births are great. Researchers have found that premature birth is more common amoung multiple birth pregnancies. The thought of having more than one child at a time is unbelievable. Hospitals are becoming more equipped to handle these types of situations. This new technology gives more hope to successful multiple and premature births.

Bibliography:

Chapter 6; Topic 8

FRA Coverage Overlap Percentage Criteria

The coverage overlap Factor COF is computed BY FRA using the NDPneighbor list data. The COF is significant because it indicates the percentage of an AP’s cell area with overlapping signals from other APs. The overlapped signals are usually 67dBm or stronger. Overlapping of two AP cells on different channels makes it difficult to get wireless clients evenly distributed across the two radios. Some of the methods used by the FRA to influence the BSS clients able to join the bandwidth include 802.11 probe suppression, 802.11ksite report, and 802.11Vbss transition. FRA monitors client RSS in micro/macro cases to steer clients towards the micro or macro BSS depending on the signal strengths thresholds.

FRA Coverage Overlap Percentage Criteria; Internet source

https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/9800/16-11/config-guide/b_wl_16_11_cg/cisco-flexible-radio-assignment.htmlThe flexible Radio Assignment (FRA) feature has several benefits. Their benefits include but are not limited to; their ability to address nonlinear traffic, enhance the High-Density Experience (HDX) with one AP, permit one AP with one Ethernet drop to function like two 5–GHz APs, and solves the problem of 2.4–GHz over coverage and avails the Creation of 2 diverse 5–GHz cells doubles the airtime. The FRA takes advantage of the dual-band radios included in APs like 4800, 3800, 2800, and the new 11AX APs. Its unique feature added to the RRM to analyze the NDP measurements manages the hardware used to determine the role of the new flexible radio in the wireless network

.