Essay about Knowing God Mysticism in Christianity and...

Knowing God: Mysticism in Christianity and Other Religions Mysticism, mystic experiences, and encounters with the divine are important—and even integral—to many religions throughout the world. Mysticism, defined as experiencing the divine, should have a special importance in Christianity. Christianity posits a God who is transcendent, yet immanent, and as Christians we believe we can have a relationship with the Deity. Because of this we should have a unique conception of mystical experiences as significant to our spiritual lives. I will begin by giving an overview of mysticism in other religious traditions—Buddhism, Hinduism, Shinto, Islam, and Judaism—and then concentrate on the role that mysticism and experience should have in†¦show more content†¦One cannot achieve unity with divine, nor have an experience of the divine that is in anyway unusual, simply because the individual and the deity are one and the same; all experiences in life are experiences with the divine because there is no distinction between divine and non-divine. It is because of this that the divine is transcendent, subsuming all things into its being. Islam Orthodox Islam emphasizes the absolute transcendence of God, but there is a sect of Islam called Sufism, which has placed a major emphasis on mystical experiences. To quote John Esposito: The Sufi path is a way of purification, a discipline of mind and body whose goal is to directly experience the ultimate reality. Sufis seek to experience God directly, utilizing poverty, fasting, silence, celibacy, recitation of the Most Beautiful names of Allah, music, dance, and veneration of the saints. Sufism is a combination of worldly renunciation and meditation with undying devotional love of God. Geoffrey Parrinder says that the chief characteristic of Sufism is the loss of will to find the eternal self in God. The word used for this is fana, the obliteration of the soul in God, which has three stages—obliteration ofShow MoreRelatedChristian Mysticism Essay1219 Words   |  5 PagesMysticism is a word we find in many books that relate to religious experiences. Mysticism is interpreted as searching for spiritual truth and wisdom through the unification with the Divine. Many Christians today believe that the words associated with mysticism like meditation and mystic are not coherently related with Christianity, but more with many Eastern religions. Eastern religions are definitely known for their mysticism, but it is believed to not be a part of Christianity. Mysticism is actuallyRead MoreThe Nature of Islam 1006 Words   |  4 PagesThe Nature of Islam Although Islam is the second largest religion in the world with over 1.6 billion devotees, making up about twenty-three percent of the world’s population, for the hoi polloi, the image of Islam remains unclear. In contrast to contrary popular belief, research shows that Islamic practice is simplicity itself. Muslims live a normal life on a day to day basis. Its’ practice does not require mediation of ministers, priests or gurus, instead it incorporates five rules to live byRead MoreThe Search For Truth Through God1354 Words   |  6 PagesNovember 8, 2014 â€Å"Love Loves Difficult Things† The search for truth through God is where the philosophy of attaining knowledge intersects with religious doctrine. Although the esoteric and mystical system of Sufism has its origin in Islamic orthodoxy, Sufism can be seen as less as an individual sect and more of a stepping-stone towards Christian revelation. In the Sufi allegory The Conference of the Birds by Farid Ud-Din Attar, God is represented as a mystical essence within and beyond all of creationRead MoreThe existence of God Based on Religious Experience Essay2414 Words   |  10 Pagesï » ¿1. Examine the strengths and weaknesses of the argument for the existence of God based on religious experience. (18) 2. ‘The argument merely indicates the probability of God and this is of little value to a religious believer.’ Discuss. (12) In contrast to the classical arguments for the existence of God, namely the ontological, cosmological and teleological arguments, the argument from religious experience doesn’t just entail a set logical of points arriving at a conclusion on a piece of paperRead More Trading Salvation for Personal Gratification in Anna Karenina1287 Words   |  6 Pages The epigraph of Anna Karenina: Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord, implies that judgment is a theological entitlement   (Romans, 12:19).   Tolstoy uses both social and moral issues to illustrate his characters attitudes towards religion.   For Oblonsky, Vronsky, and Karenin, religious values are secondary.   Their lives are devoted to establishing a social position and monetary gain.   Levin finds salvation and happiness because they learn to live for something beyond themselves andRead MoreEssay Camparing Christian Mysticism and Buddhism3257 Words   |  14 Pagesdoes one begin to describe the indescribable? The very act of discussing ineffability questions whether anything can be truly ineffable in the first place. Religion almost always critically depends on the ineffability of some experience or entity. This is a widespread tendency, but some would argue that it is a rule for all religions. That there must be the recognition of something â€Å"beyond,† â€Å"transcendent† or â€Å"pure.† Prior to judging Christian or Buddhist beliefs, it is necessary to understandRead MoreEssay on The Sufi Philosophy in Islamic Faith1274 Words   |  6 Pagesbeliefs from that of the other Islamic sects that we know of today. One thing I personally found interesting is how this particular sect of Islam isn’t as popularly spoken of like the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam. Some of the most interesting and distinctive differences in this division of Islam is are wool clothing that the Sufi’s wear along with the most popular practice they are known for, the Whirling Dervishes. Yet these faith has many similarities with many other religions and sects of Islam.Read MoreA Comparative Analysis of the Various Contemporary Theologies Presented by Paul Enns and Millard J. Erickson3614 Words   |  15 Pagesstudy of God†. According to the online Wikipedia, Paul P. Enns is an evangelical Christian pastor, biblical scholar and writer who serves as a full-time minister at Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz, Florida, and as adjunct professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is notable as one of the translators of the updated New American Standard Bible and as the author of The Moody Handbook of Theology. Enns defines theology as â€Å"coming from the Greek words theos, meaning â€Å"God†, and logosRead MoreThe Romantic Era1008 Words   |  5 Pagesissues and spiritual filter into his own works. Blake trusted in the correspondence between the physical world and spiritual world, be was able to do that by using poetic metaphors and express his beliefs. Blake was able to integrate the bible and other Christian traditions into his mythology. Romanticism â€Å"is a phenomenon characterized by reliance on the imagination and subjectivity of approach, freedom of thought and expression, an idealization of nature†. It has been said that Romantics wrote withRead More The Colossian Heresy Essay example2864 Words   |  12 Pagesstood Colossae. Before the Christian era, Colossae was a principle city in the Lycus Valley . Part of a major trade route in Asia minor from Ephesus to Miletus, the city was most known for its production of textiles, especially its purple wool . With other large cities such as Laodicea and Hierapolis, this was a well-populated and high business area in the Lycus Valley. Yet, with changes in the road system, Laodicea became a more important trade city than Colossae. And though once a city of great prominence

ICT History Free Essays

There has been a general concern in the public about how ICT in the early years was like in terms of the facilitators that were being used by the people so that they could pass information as well as communicate with one another. The effects of these modes of communication such as delayed information and also possibilities in alteration of the message have all been central focus by the public so as to make a remarkable development in the areas where these modes of communication failed. People are geared to developing new technology that will fully replace the information and communicating technology that was used in the early days. We will write a custom essay sample on ICT History or any similar topic only for you Order Now The modern technology will see the production of very fast, effective, as well as reliable tools of communication such as telex, telephones, telegram as well as the internet. This are of is important to research on since the knowledge of information and communication is the backbone of technology. Human being are able to continue with life because they communicate to one another so that they can help reach solutions to problems. Business industry which is the chief sustainers of the economy of each country is only able to succeed through ensured constant flow of information. Delayed information in the early years led to so many effects on the people. For example, people could die on their way to medicine men just because of lack of good communication means that could be fast enough to reach these healers who some times could treat a person in his/her home area. The study is timely especially in the advent of stiff growth of information communication technology. The investigation into existence of information and communication technology in early years will provide crucial information and data to decision and policy makers who will in turn use the results to come up with new policies which will trigger the invention of new and fast as well as effective ways of communicating. 1. 3Limitations of the study. The study will be limited in that it shall draw a lot from existing data much of which may not be reliable. It also expected that lack of previous research in the field might also pose challenges to the researcher. In addition, there may be false information from some people who do not have any idea on the modes of communication that were used during the early years. This may lead to unreliable results and hence reluctance in settling for inventions and innovations of more advanced technology. Literature review. During the early days ICT was also used in various ways by the people. Agriculture was the first technology to be adopted by man followed by writing (Pemberton Shurville 2000p. 56-67). Fire was very much used as a means of communication whereby it was so slow in passing the information to the targeted individuals or groups. Use of smoke, wild creatures like birds and also whistling were among the most used means of passing information. In addition, communication was very much essential among the people and it was affected by songs, dances as well as poetry where information was conveyed through how these activities were performed (Rahtz , 1987p. 1-20)). Drums were also used in passing information and they also facilitated the performance of dances. According to Watts, and Lloyd, (2004p. 103), all humans were hunters and gatherers. This provoked the existence of so many massagers who made the passage of information from one person to another quite easy since most of the people were mobile. People during these days relied so much on local technology like manufacturing of tools as well as weapons, cutting and digging tools such as axes and hoes since they relied heavily on agriculture. These tools were made from iron, bronze or copper metals since they were thought to be resistance to rusting. According to Chambers and Davies (2001p. 12-16)), ship technology was on rise and people used simple constructed ships to cross the oceans and communicate with people of different boundaries and countries. This required one to have knowledge about the currents in the ocean, star maps as well as weather patterns. The growth of early information and communication technology was facilitated by the remarkable revolution of agriculture, which enabled people to begin permanent settlements and stop migrations. Most people also stopped the hunting and gathering activities and settled for agriculture and this saw consolidated efforts in working to improve the Information and communication sector. These early modes of communication were very much unreliable since they were slow. For example, use of people as agents of passing information was very unreliable method because alterations of the content of the message was possible. The messages were also liable to failure to reach their destination or face a lot of mis-reporting. Early information and communication technology was generally poorly developed but as people continued evolving, information and communication technology as well began to expand since people began to do some inventions on this sector. People invest heavily on this area since they saw its importance and the impacts it had to their lives. Early information and communication technology had also many advantages to the people. Through ICT in the early days, people were able to convey important messages that helped them to understand one another other and also helped them to establish good relationships (Riley,1995p. 8-104). It is also through information and communication technology that people were able to learn for example through writing on stones which later developed to more satisfactory learning ways like writing on books. Writing materials also evolved in the same line, from metallic instruments that were used for writing on stones to pencils and biros that are even used in modern s ociety for writing on books. Information and communication in early days have been compared to today’s Information and communication technology and quite remarkable differences have been marked. The modern ICT is actually very appreciated for its satisfaction of people’s needs since it’s the modes of passing the information are very fast. No delays of message failures that may lead to adverse effects of the people. Methodology: The study will interview several individuals whose conducts and addresses will be obtained from the ICT office. A total of 50 randomly selected people will be interviewed. What makes this study unique is that the people who shall answer the survey will be drawn from various states using a randomized sampling approach. The researcher will utilize the survey method in which questionnaires and interviews will be used as data collection instruments. Analysis. Significance tests will be performed on all relationships and only those with statistical significance will be presented here. Qualitative data analysis will be involved and the data gathered in the data collection will be analyzed using statistical software called SPSS in order to arrive at findings. Conclusion. It is very important for people to know where to base their activities or innovations. It is only through this that people are able to know where to begin and what to aim at achieving. This research study will be successful only if the modes of communication that were used in the early days as well as their effects that they had to the people are known. It is through this knowledge that innovations and production of new modes of communication that are fast and effective enough, with more advantageous factors to the people will be invented. These modes are even thought to be more powerful than the telephones, telegrams, computers as well as the Internet. This will really be a tremendous improvement and technology advancement. How to cite ICT History, Papers

Investigations on Combustion and Emission †Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Investigations on Combustion and Emission. Answer: Introduction Biodiesel is an alternative to fuel which can be considered similar to the conventional or fossil diesel. It is produced directly from vegetable oil, animal fats, tallow and the waste of cooking oil. The method by which these products are used for transforming into the form of biodiesel is known as transesterification. The major sources of oil are the rapeseed, palm and soybean. Most of the biodiesel produced in UK comes from the rapeseed. But the contemporary production of biodiesel is sourced from the wasted vegetable oils of restaurants, chip shops, industrial food producers and so on (Gui, Lee and Bhatia 2008). As the raw oil is very costly therefore the oil directly from the agricultural industry is not produced for the commercial purpose even though it can be considered as the greatest possible source. The final cost of the oil after the addition of transforming it to biodiesel is a lot as compared to fossil fuel Although waste vegetable oil can be available for free or at a ve ry cheap rate but it needs to purified before converting to biodiesel. The fact is that the biodiesel that is produced from the waste of vegetable oil has the ability to compete with fossil diesel. This assignment will look into the benefits of biodiesel and the different factors that play an important role in its production. Biodiesel is an environmental friendly product which has many beneficial properties. One of the important benefits of biodiesel is that it can be considered carbon neutral. The specific term refers to the fact there is no net output of carbon from this fuel in the form of carbon dioxide. The reason behind this effect is that same amount of carbon dioxide is absorbed as well as released in the process of growing of the crop and the combustion of the fuel (Balat 2011). Moreover, the carbon dioxide is released in the production of the fertilizer which is necessary to fertilize the agricultural field in which the oil crops are cultivated. Biodiesel is a biodegradable product which is totally non- toxic that is, spillage of the fuel pose a minimum amount of risk as compared to the spilling of fossil diesel. It also has a higher flashpoint as compared to fossil diesel and therefore safe and secured in the course of crash (Atabani et al. 2013). In the production of biodiesel, the process of transesterification is used which is also known as alcoholysis. It involves the displacement of alcohol from an ester by another alcohol in a process which is similar to the method of hydrolysis with a slight difference of using water in the other. Non- edible plant oils are also used for crude oil production of biodiesel. When the use of non- edible oils are compared to edible oils, it is found to be significant as well as costly but there is availability at large. The production of biodiesel from the non- edible oilseed crops includes jatropha, karanja, tobacco and so on (Churchill and Srinivasan 2017). The production of biodiesel from the waste cooking oil into the partial alternative of petroleum diesel is a probable option for solving the issues of energy crisis as well as environmental pollution. The edible vegetable oil fuels were not taken into consideration because of their cost which was higher compared to petroleum fuels. The reaction between oil or fat and alcohol is a process of reversible reaction therefore it must be added in surplus for driving the reaction in the appropriate direction to enable complete conversion (Collet et al. 2014). With the success of the transesterification process, the separation of the ester and glycerol layers are signified after the time of reaction. The production of biodiesel is a complex process which involves the mixing of alcohol and catalyst followed by the separation and removal of alcohol. Then the process of glycerin neutralization takes place followed by methyl ester wash. It must be assured that the finished biodiesel is analyzed by means of sophisticated analytical equipment so that the necessary specifications are met with (Issariyakul and Dalai 2014). To list the most crucial factors in the production of biodiesel are- complete reaction, removal of glycerin, catalyst and alcohol and absence of free fatty acids. Impact of biodiesel Due to the instability in the political condition of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries or OPEC the price of fossil fuels ate soaring high. Again the countries with comparatively lesser production of fuel or without fossil fuel production would be profitable from the utilization of the previous land resources used for the cultivation of bio- fuel crops. This is the reason behind the increase in production of bio- fuel each year and there is an assumption that in the upcoming days, biodiesel is going to be the main bio- fuel all over the world. The graph of biodiesel production has not fallen down since 1991 (Lee et al. 2014). While studying the impact of biodiesel in the world, it was found out that the space available in the UK for producing the biodiesel crops is not enough according to the target set for meeting the renewable energy production in UK. Also, the demand for water is much more in the bio- fuel crops as compared to the traditional crops. The second gener ation bio- fuels also pose certain benefits such as improving the soil quality, carbon requisition in soil and soil erosion (Murugesan et al. 2009). It was also found out that as the bio- fuel industry has expanded, the price of foods has increased and there is shortage of land available for the cultivation of food- based crops in most of the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America (Rawat et al. 2013). It is a non- toxic fuel which degrades at a speed four- times faster than diesel whereas pure bio diesel degrades around 85%- 88% in water. One of the most important advantages of using biodiesel is that when it I mixed with diesel fuel, the efficiency of engine is increased. The storage becomes safe due to the higher flashpoint in bio diesel. Being an oxygenated fuel, it is implied that the oxygen content plays an important role in making the fatty compounds fit for diesel fuel by burning the cleaner. Ames mutageniety tests have found out that it is responsible for reducing the risk of cancer by 90%, thus providing a domestic and renewable supply of energy (Murugesan et al. 2009). The list of benefits of biodiesel also includes the non- production of greenhouse effects as the amount of carbon dioxide released in the production process equals the amount of carbon dioxide used in the plants. It can also be used directly in the compression of ignition engines without any kind of consid erable adjustment in the engine. It does not contain sulphur and the features are relatable to the future policies of Europe which will put restriction on the use of sulphur (Singhasuwan et al. 2015). The chemical characteristics of bio diesel showed that there are lower levels of poisonous and reactive hydrocarbon species when the bio diesel fuels were used. Along with all these advantages, the bio diesel is not free of disadvantages which are listed below. There are only few disadvantages of biodiesel as compared to its advantages. The use of bio diesel has resulted in a bit of decrease in the fuel economy on the energy basics. As its density is more than diesel fuel in the cold weather therefore there might be a need to use the blends in the sub- freezing conditions. With the decrease in production of vegetable oil it has become more expensive (Talebian-Kiakalaieh, Amin and Mazaheri 2013). Bio diesel market development The market of bio diesel is one of the fastest growing in the chemical industry. The production of bio diesel is the highest in the European Union where the rate is higher than ethanol but the production of both these fuels are comparatively smaller than that of Brazil and the United States. There are two factors that have made EU the leader in the production of bio diesel. One factor being the amendment in the Common Agricultural Policy which is a supranational and locally oriented policy of the farm for the member of European Union countries. the other factor being the high tax of the fuel which have led to the indirect subsidy of the production of bio fuel either through full or partial exclusion from the fuel excise tax. In the EU member countries tax generally comprise 50% or more than the selling price of diesel (Unosson et al. 2014). EU is the global leader in the production and consumption of bio diesel with a figure of 4.98 million tones with an increase of 1.8 million in one year. Bio diesel was accountable for around 80% of the bio fuel production in the EU countries. The EU still continues to be the leader in the market of bio diesel production and will continue to do so, followed by US and Brazil. Other countries in the run for bio diesel production include Netherlands, China, India, Thailand and New Zealand. In todays world biodiesel has to overcome a lot of challenges for becoming the mainstream energy source. The challenges might be the cost of feedstock, availability of feedstock, quality of fuel or the changing norms of International Compatibility of Bio diesel Testing Standards. Such issues are not to be solved in a short span of time which reflects that the road to achieve biodiesel as the main source of energy is not going to be smooth. It might take a minimum of 5- 10 years for the change to take place. Bio fuels do not only face technical challenges but also come across social, economic and environmental challenges ((Rawat et al. 2013). A combination of the price hike, shortage of supply and issues related to global climate change are urging the development of alternative ways apart from the burning of fossil fuels so that the transportation energy requirements could be met. The best option in this regard can be considered as the use of liquid fuels that is derived from the cellulosic biomass. These new bio fuels have the ability of clean burning, carbon- neutral and also renewable. The main focus is on the technological challenges to produce superior quality of bio fuels in such a way that can win over sustainability and have economically competitive advantage over gasoline. The other challenges include the restraint that is posed by market and economics, limitations of resources, risks related to health, climate forcing, demand of water and land use. To cope up with these challenges there is a requirement of efficient life- cycle perspective. There is a need to understand the farmers, feedstock options and predict bio fuel production technologies and practices for evaluating the transitions and confront with uncertainty (Singhasuwan et al. 2015). Conclusion Therefore it can be concluded from this assignment that biodiesel is a renewable fuel that can be used in place of the diesel fuel manufactured from petroleum. The major sources of biodiesel include rapeseed oil, sunflower oil and palm oil. The process of bio diesel production is a complex one involving a number of stages. They are used in regular diesel engines without any kind of changes in the engine. It can be stored as well as transported with the use of diesel fuel tanks and other equipments. This renewable and clean burning diesel replacement has decreased the dependence on foreign petroleum to a great deal. The components of production include a diverse mix of feed stocks which include recycled cooking oil, soya oil and animal fats. Bio diesel is the first and only EPA- designated advanced bio fuel in the commercial sector of the production process across the country and also the pioneer in reaching the production level of one billion gallon. Thus, it can be recommended that it can be used in the diesel engines without any change and abiding by the stern technical fuel quality and the specifications of engine performance. Reference Atabani, A.E., Silitonga, A.S., Ong, H.C., Mahlia, T.M.I., Masjuki, H.H., Badruddin, I.A. and Fayaz, H., 2013. Non-edible vegetable oils: a critical evaluation of oil extraction, fatty acid compositions, biodiesel production, characteristics, engine performance and emissions production.Renewable and sustainable energy reviews,18, pp.211-245. Avinash, A., Subramaniam, D. and Murugesan, A., 2014. Bio-dieselA global scenario.Renewable and sustainable energy reviews,29, pp.517-527. Balat, M. and Balat, H., 2008. A critical review of bio-diesel as a vehicular fuel.Energy conversion and management,49(10), pp.2727-2741. Balat, M., 2011. Potential alternatives to edible oils for biodiesel productionA review of current work.Energy Conversion and Management,52(2), pp.1479-1492. Churchill, G.V. and Srinivasan, C.A., 2017. Experimental Investigations on Combustion and Emission Characteristics of Biodiesel Blends in CI Engine. Collet, P., Lardon, L., Hlias, A., Bricout, S., Lombaert-Valot, I., Perrier, B., Lpine, O., Steyer, J.P. and Bernard, O., 2014. Biodiesel from microalgaeLife cycle assessment and recommendations for potential improvements.Renewable Energy,71, pp.525-533. Gui, M.M., Lee, K.T. and Bhatia, S., 2008. Feasibility of edible oil vs. non-edible oil vs. waste edible oil as biodiesel feedstock.Energy,33(11), pp.1646-1653. Issariyakul, T. and Dalai, A.K., 2014. Biodiesel from vegetable oils.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,31, pp.446-471. Lee, A.F., Bennett, J.A., Manayil, J.C. and Wilson, K., 2014. Heterogeneous catalysis for sustainable biodiesel production via esterification and transesterification.Chemical Society Reviews,43(22), pp.7887-7916. Murugesan, A., Umarani, C., Chinnusamy, T.R., Krishnan, M., Subramanian, R. and Neduzchezhain, N., 2009. Production and analysis of bio-diesel from non-edible oilsa review.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,13(4), pp.825-834. Murugesan, A., Umarani, C., Subramanian, R. and Nedunchezhian, N., 2009. Bio-diesel as an alternative fuel for diesel enginesa review.Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews,13(3), pp.653-662. Rawat, I., Kumar, R.R., Mutanda, T. and Bux, F., 2013. Biodiesel from microalgae: a critical evaluation from laboratory to large scale production.Applied energy,103, pp.444-467. Singhasuwan, S., Choorit, W., Sirisansaneeyakul, S., Kokkaew, N. and Chisti, Y., 2015. Carbon-to-nitrogen ratio affects the biomass composition and the fatty acid profile of heterotrophically grown Chlorella sp. TISTR 8990 for biodiesel production.Journal of biotechnology,216, pp.169-177. Talebian-Kiakalaieh, A., Amin, N.A.S. and Mazaheri, H., 2013. A review on novel processes of biodiesel production from waste cooking oil.Applied Energy,104, pp.683-710. Unosson, J., Blomberg, A., Sandstrom, T., Kabele, M., Mills, N.L., Newby, D.E., Boman, C., Langrish, J.P. and Bosson, J.A., 2014. Biodiesel Exhaust Exposure Causes Vascular Dysfunction In Healthy Subjects. InA49. AIR POLLUTION: CARDIOVASCULAR AND PULMONARY EFFECTS(pp. A1671-A1671). American Thoracic Society.

America West Airlines Essays - Airline Tickets, OpenTravel Alliance

America West Airlines America West Airlines has influenced their customers' buyer behavior with a not so pleasant track record. The airline industry is a service that satisfies customer needs for traveling. Whether for business or leisure the airline industry is an increasingly growing business. If companies are not able to compete with their rivals in an already overly competitive market, then they will not benefit financially. The market segments that we will be discussing are the business traveler and the vacation traveler. The benefits between the markets are similar between the two segments. I will discuss some recommendations that could benefit the company. Most importantly, delivering the view of the consumer and what a consumer should expect from an airline. Determining a result depends on these components. This paper will discuss some of these problems and resolutions. The airline industry started out as a luxury item. Business travel has changed this industry to a necessity. As we become a global economy and communication between international companies is a key tool, travel has increased dramatically. The vacation traveler has always had the need for the airline industry. Satisfying the customer needs today involves competitive rates along with convenience of booking flights and benefits with those flights. America West Airlines has not able to provide a quality service lately. The business travelers need competitive rates for travel. The marketing mix for business people consists of the actual flights, pricing, where and how it is promoted, and finally its distribution. America West has low-fares marketed to meet the business and travelers' needs. This full-service airline is a coast-to-coast route system and includes most major destinations across the US, with additional destinations in Mexico and Canada. America West utilizes its Phoenix and Las Vegas connections as gateways for travel throughout its destinations. America West has a code-sharing agreement with Continental, which was the first extensive alliance of its kind between two carriers. The company also has a code-sharing agreement with Mesa Airlines and Air Midwest. Some of the marketing strategy involves sponsorship with sports teams. Between these different affiliations, America West uses this in part for distribution and marketing. Some of the problems with this industry are personally experienced. The airline has a difficult time being punctual. This is lately a norm in the industry, although, it is avoided by other companies. The airline industry historically fluctuates in response to general economic conditions that are present. The airline industry is sensitive to changes in economic conditions that affect business and leisure travel. The industry is highly susceptible to situations that result in declines in air travel, such as political instability, regional hostilities, recession, fuel price escalation, inflation, adverse weather conditions, consumer preferences, labor instability or regulatory oversight. The Company's results of operations for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of those for the entire year, because the travel business is subject to seasonal fluctuations. Due to the greater demand for business and leisure travel during the summer months, revenues in the airline industry for b usiness and leisure travel in the second and third quarters is typically greater than revenues in the first and fourth quarters of the year. This has an overall impact on the industry. The next phase is making recommendations for the company. The recommendation is to gain the customer's confidence back by informing them of the changes made with their timeliness. The general experience with the company has been rescheduled departures and delays, which attributes to their failure. They have also had some maintenance issues they need to be addressed. Customers for the business travel market segment need to have reliability, punctual flights, ease of booking flights, and frequent flyer miles for needs of traveling. The needs of the market segment for leisure travel consists of all of the business segment and the company could do promos for flying to certain destinations that the airlines receives great deals on. If the company can provide the benefits and satisfactions associated with good business practice, the consumers resolve their traveling requirements with America West Airlines. The company could use a marketing strategy that would involve informing the customer how they gave the company a facelift. The company could address the fact that they have had punctual issues and resolved the

Banking Risk Management

Banking Risk Management Credit Risk Models The Black-Scholes-Merton Model There are various credit risk models, which have been proposed by researchers in order to reduce the risks associated with future transactions. One of these models is the BSM framework structured models. This model was proposed by Merton in 1974. He derived the value of an option from a company, which could default loan repayment (Merton, 1974).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Banking Risk Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The Black-Scholes-Merton model assumes that there is a latent firm asset value, which is determined by the company’s future cash flows. This model is used to determine the firm’s debt and equity value. This model includes components, such as risk free interest rates, asset payment ratio, and asset risk premium. Merton (1974) argues that the asset return rate and the risk free interest rates are the constants which are non-sto chastic. The model also assumes that the company’s capital structure relates to a pure equity and a single zero coupon debt, which matures within a given time. Incase of a default experienced by a company, the stock price of the defaulting firm is expected to go to zero. According to this model, the debtor is assumed to be a seller in the European put option. On the other hand, the equity holder is assumed to be a buyer of European call option (Merton, 1974). The model uses the Black –Scholes option pricing in order to determine the relationship between the equity market value and the bond market value. Shibita and Yamada (2009) proposed the BSM structural model to a bank, which was just this side of bankruptcy. This helped the bank in its recovery processes. According to Shibata and Yamada (2009), the banks choice to continue operating or be liquidated plays a vital role on the losses of the loan. They assumed that this decision should be made severally at a certain t ime after the bankruptcy. Individual-level reduced-form models This refers to the models which are not of the class of structural models. At the individual level, a reduced form model can also be described as the credit scoring one. This model was developed by Altman (1968). The credit scoring model uses linear and binomial models to regress the defaults among companies.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It identifies various accounting components, which have statistical explanatory capability, in order to differentiate between the defaulting and non defaulting firms. After estimating the coefficients of the model, the loan applicants are given a Z-score in order to classify them as good or bad. Several decades after its proposal, the credit scoring model got a significant development. Altaman and Saunders (1998) discussed the wide spread of the individual level mode l and its major developments over the years. Altman and Narayanan (1997) evaluated the historical accounting variables used in the credit scoring models across the world. According to them, most of the studies proposed the use of financial ratios, which determine profitability, and liquidity. These financial ratios may include market value equity/debt, (EBIT)/sales as well as working capital/debt. Altman (2005) proposed a scoring system known as Emerging Market Score Model to use to define the emerging corporate bonds. Portfolio reduced form models These models were proposed by Jarrow and Turnbull (1992). According to them, the idea of these models is related to the concept of risk neutral. Risk neutral is a common technique used to predict the probability of the future cash flow. It helps in computing the asset prices by using risk neutral default probabilities. Jarrow and Turnbull (1992) used the idea of risk neutral to develop the credit risk premium which is also known as the cr edit spread. They decomposed the credit risk premium into two components. Poisson /Cox process model This is a subclass of the portfolio reduced form models. It was developed by Jarrow and Turnbull (1995), and it can be described as the simplest model of the portfolio reduced form model. In this approach, the default process is assumed to be a Poisson process with a constant intensity where the default time is exponentially distributed. Markov chain model This is a credit risk model, which was originally proposed by Jarrow et al. (1997). This model considers the default event as the absorbing state and the default period as the first period when the Markov chain hits the absorbing state.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Banking Risk Management specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Factor model This is a credit risk model, which puts into consideration two vectors of explanation variables. The first vector is a set of macr o economic variables, such as interest rate, inflation rate, money supply growth as well as GDP growth. This vector explains the systematic risk, which causes default events. The second vector involves a set of firm-specific variables, which determine individual risk. According to Pederzoli and Torricelli (2005), the variables are considered simultaneously. Conclusion The credit risk models have various shortcomings. For instance, the BSM framework structural model consists of several simplified assumption in its derivation. The simplified assumptions restrict the applied value of the model. This has made the subsequent researchers focus on reducing these assumptions. The individual level reduced form models may not pick up fast moving developments in borrowers conditions. This is because the model uses explanatory variables, which are based on accounting data. According to Agarwal and Taffler’s (2008), credit scoring models, such as Altman’s Z-score, may not be used t o forecast distress as compared to the structural models. References Altman, E 2005, An emerging market credit scoring system for corporate bonds,  Journal of Emerging Markets Review, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 311-323. Altman, E, Saunders, A 1998, Credit risk measurement: Developments over the last 20 years, Journal of Banking and Finance, vol. 21, pp. 1721-1742. Gordy, MB, 2000, A comparative anatomy of credit risk models, Journal of Banking  and Finance, pp.119-149.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Jarrow, R, Turnbull, S 1997 A Markov model for the term structure of credit risk spreads, Review of Financial Studies, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 481–523. Merton, C 1974. On the pricing of corporate debt: The risk structure of interest rates.  The Journal of Finance, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 449–470. Saunders, A Allen, L 2002, Credit risk measurement: New Approaches to Value at  Risk and Other Paradigms. John Wiley Sons, New York.

The Structured Interview Method Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Structured Interview Method - Essay Example The interviewee was a Speech Pathologist at an Elementary School in Northwest suburbs of Chicago.  Ã‚  Ã‚  She indicated that she has been teaching at this school for six years and she has seven years experience as a teacher. She currently teaches 45 students of which are 30 males while 15 are females. The interviewee has also worked for a rehab company in skilled nursing facilities. In this interview, I sought to gain insight about the approach she uses when he teaches a class of learners with special needs. She indicated that parent(s), resource teacher, OT, PT, principal, nurse, school psychologist or general education teacher attend IEP meetings if applicable. The meetings usually vary from 30 minutes to 60 minutes depending on the needs of the student. The interviewee also stated that consultative minutes are completed weekly. However meetings to discuss students on the caseload or those who may need services due to concerns are held twice a month. The teacher indicated that m eetings with the teacher to discuss goals, vocabulary needing to be addressed with the speech therapy setting as well as any other concerns that the teacher may have are usually done at least once a week. The site also uses student study team meetings and it also implements RTI process. The success of this initiative is attributed to the use of cooperative/collaborative teams as well as co-teaching One great lesson I learnt from this interview is that continued teacher education is essential with regards to dealing with special needs learners. The needs of these learners constantly change depending on the environment in which they are living in hence the teachers need to improve their knowledge constantly in order to be in a position to meet the changing needs of the learners. Teachers can gain more knowledge through group discussions since these allow them to interact freely. Teamwork as well as inclusion of all teachers concerned in teaching special education classes are basic ten ets of success with regards to the achievement of the desired goals in improving the quality of education for learners with special needs. The interviewee indicated that SPED students are graded using the same method as regular education students. The goals are goals being addressed through their IEP are noted on progress updates completed at each report card. She also stated that flexible grouping and volunteer parent intervention are essential in order to establish the need of the students with special needs. The other strategy used in teaching students with special needs is to move them down to a grade lower level reading group if it is seen as appropriate to his or her level. However, the only shortcoming I have realised of all the strategies used is that they grade the students with special needs in the same way they grade general students. These two groups are quite different hence they may not use the same strategy to grade them. In conclusion, I can safely say that this inte rview achieved its objectives. As the interviewee aptly stated, there is no right way for everything. This is mainly because of the fact that we live in different areas and these are characterised by different things. For instance, the people in each area have their own way of doing things.

Youth Unemployment in UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Youth Unemployment in UK - Essay Example According to the report, which defines youth as the age between 16 to 24 years, individuals claiming allowances for jobseekers rose from 5,300 to 1.6 million in October 2011. In general, the rate of youth unemployment has gone just past twenty percent, the highest ever recorded since 1992. Some economists have attributed these results to the reeling effects of the 2009 recession to the increase in the number of youths leaving school or university. That is the convectional belief. The government of UK blames the rise in unemployment on the deteriorating job market and the effects of the euro-zone debt crisis. Chris Graylin, employment minister, gave a statement blaming the euro-zone troubles for increasing unemployment rates. Graylin called for the government to help the youth through schemes such as the government initiated work experience and work program that have placed several people out of benefits into workplaces. Lord Oakeshott, a Liberal Democrat, dismisses the ministerâ€⠄¢s view blaming the government policy of cutting spending as reason behind the rise (Shimer, 2010:45). He says that the government has been cutting its spending budget too fast and too far, pushing the rate of borrowing and unemployment high. The recent employment scheme adopted by the government, the New Deal, has the objective of reducing the long-term unemployment rates among older workers and youths. The scheme includes employment training and employment subsidies for the participants. There is need to define unemployment in order to understand the issues of youth unemployment. According to International Labor Organization, unemployment is actively searching for economic employment/ work without success. Some economic critics claim that there are jobs for the youth; it is only that the youth are not willing to work hard and are unreliable. A recent feature in the Telegram by Alasdair Palmer concerning the recent report by ONS, the author of the feature gives an example of emplo yer from a fruit grower company complaining about the lack of English recruits in the region’s labor market (Palmer, 2011:21). The fruit grower has 300 workers in the farm, and only one is English. According to the fruit grower, the jobs are there but the English are not willing to drop the unemployment benefits they enjoy and some request to be paid cash. The author goes ahead and gives another industry where Briton youths are unemployed: bars and restaurants. According to the author, Britons youths are unreliable and rude to customers. An analyst would most likely advocate for abolition of minimum wage or temporary imposition of moratorium on it to create more employment opportunities. Nevertheless, this has not been any successful, at least in research. A research by Institute of Fiscal Studies indicates that the minimum wage system has no direct effect to the level of unemployment. The report raises concerns that withdrawal of the benefits upon taking a job and reduction of the minimum wage rate would result to inability of people to live on the offered amount sustainably (Boeri & Ours, 2008:44). According to Dr Jonathan Wadsworth from London School of Economics, the youth do not lack employment because they are work shy or because of the minimum wage. According to him, the employees are not willing to employ them. Older people already in work positions have accepted pay cuts and pay freeze in order to maintain their jobs. This means that most employees have managed to maintain their job position, resulting to the low rate of unemployment that resulted from the recession. Despite this, the result means that employers have not been absorbing new employees who are traditionally youth. Such policies are the causes of