Todays financial environment - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2490 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? INTRODUCTION Todays financial environment is highly risk prone. The volatility of economic variables such as interest rates, exchange rates, commodity prices etc has increased because of the increased internationalization of businesses. In order to have a stable business a firm must identify and manage its risk carefully. Risk is defined as the doubtfulness of returns. Any firm faces two types of risks. Business risk Financial risk A business risk includes the risk of competition, risk of a new technology hampering the business of a firm and risk of failure of a strategic decision made by the management. It is the responsibility of the manager of the organisation to identify and prevent these risks from affecting the organisation. A financial risk includes the risk of non payment of loan given to a debtor or the risk that a purchased asset or security is not liquid. A financial institution takes the responsibility of the financial risk and lets a firm concentrate on the business risk. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Todays financial environment" essay for you Create order MANAGING RISK There are many financial instruments available in the market by which a firm can manage the financial risks. It depends on the firms management capabilities to choose the right combination of these instruments to protect itself from such risks. The most commonly tool by firms is the derivatives. There are basically 3 types of players in the market today that use derivatives. Hedgers: They want to reduce their financial risk and can tolerate some costs to prevent loss in case of unfavourable changes in the market situation. Speculators: They forecast the future movement of the markets and want to make profits using derivatives. Arbitrageurs: their aim is to make risk less profit by trading in two or more markets (or contracts) at the same time. Thus, derivatives help in transferring risk from hedgers to speculators or arbitrageurs. CURRENCY MARKETS The currency market is called foreign exchange market. The traders in currency markets are Exporters, importers, banks etc. Foreign exchange rate is defined as the value of the foreign currency with respect to the value of the domestic country. A trade in currency market is done in currency pairs like US Dollar-INR contract. The first currency in a currency pair is called a base currency and the second currency is called the terms currency. An exchange rate can be interpreted as the amount of terms currency that a buyer must pay to obtain one unit of base currency. Thus, a USD-INR rate of Rs. 50.083 means that Rs. 50.083 must be paid to get 1 USD. Changes in Foreign exchange prices are very fast. Any price fluctuation is expressed as appreciation or depreciation of one currency relative to the other i.e. a change of USD-INR rate from Rs. 50 to Rs. 50.083 means that USD has appreciated and the INR has depreciated because now, a buyer of USD will have to pay more INR to b uy 1 USD than before. FACTORS THAT AFFECT EXCHANGE RATES There are many factors that affect exchange rates. Economic policies: The economic policies followed by the government affect the exchange rate. For example, if a country has balance of payment surplus then it will have favourable exchange rate. Rates: Interest rates: if the interest rate of a country rises then investors from other countries would want to invest in that country. So the demand for domestic currency and hence its value will increase. Inflation rate: High inflation rate reduces export and thus the demand of the domestic currency also reduces. Hence, the currency depreciates. Exchange rate policy and Central Bank interventions: The most important factor affecting the exchange rates is the Exchange rate policy of the country. Sometimes Central bank also intervenes to control the demand or supply of domestic currency. Political stability: Stability of government of a country also affects the exchange rate. Speculation: Speculation also affects exchange rate movements. If the currency of a country is speculated as overvalued, people will take out their money from that country resulting in reduced demand for that currency and depreciating its value. ANALYSIS OF INR The value of any currency does not remain stable for a long period of time.There is a number of factors that affect its strengthening/weakening. The factors that have a direct influence on value of a currency are: Stock market of India There is a positive correlation between Indian rupee and stock market index because as the stock market index rises, more investors would like to purchase stocks and thus demand for Indian rupee will increase resulting in appreciation in its value. In the Graph1(appendix), an upward moment of Sensex has resulted in an upward moment in the price of the Rupee (INR) and made it much stronger in the comparison of US Dollar. Global currency trends INR is related to currencies of many other countries especially USD and EURO. The relation between dollar and rupee in Graph 3 is that when the dollar get stronger the rupee is gets weak and when the rupee get stronger the dollar falls.Thus, dollar and rupee are inversely proportionate to each another. In Graph 4,we can see that when euro is at strong position,INR is showing recovery sign against its base currency (dollar). crude oil India is a big importer of crude oil and the value of INR gets highly affected by the increase in the prices of the crude oil.Graph 2 shows prices of crude and rupee from 26th June, 2008 to 26th June 29, 2009. CURRENCY DERIVATIVE PRODUCTS A currency derivative is a contract between the sellers and buyers whose values are calculated from the underlying-the Exchange Rate. The main purpose of Currency derivatives is hedging, although they can also be used for speculation. There are many types of derivative contracts. The 4 main are forward, future, option and swap. FORWARD: A future contract fixes the exchange rate between the two parties. This rate is carried forward to a fixed future date. Thus, both the parties can avoid exposure to risk in case of fluctuations in market. At the time of contract the exchange rate is decided, called as forward exchange rate or forward rate. FUTURE: Future contracts are similar in functionality to forward contract. The differences between future and forward contract are given in the table below. SWAP: Swap is an instrument in which the 2 involved parties agree to privately exchange cash flows in the future according to a prearranged formula. The currency swap means swapping both principal and interest between the parties. The cash flows in both directions are in different currencies. In a swap normally three basic steps are involved: Initial exchange of principal amount Ongoing exchange of interest Re exchange of principal amount on maturity. OPTIONS: Currency option gives the holder a right to buy or sell a given amount of foreign exchange at a fixed price for certain duration. The holder does not have to compulsory buy (call) or sell (put), rather he has an option to do so. A trader in currency market has three choices through the spot market or derivatives market. He may exchange the currency at current by entering into a spot transaction. If he wants to exchange the currency at a future date, he may: Enter into a futures/forward contract, where he agrees to exchange the currency in the future at a price decided now. Buy a currency option contract, wherein he commits for a future exchange of currency, with an agreement that the contract will be valid only if the price is favourable to the participant. PRICING OF FUTURES CONTRACTS Interest rate parity theory states that the currency margin is dependent on the prevailing interest rate for investment in the two currencies. The forward rate can be calculated by the following formula: Rh and Rf are simple interest rate in the home and foreign currency respectively. If we consider continuously compounded interest rate then forward rate can be calculated by using the following formula: STRATEGIES IN CURRENCY MARKET CURRENCY FUTURES FOR HEDGING There are 2 ways in which hedging which can be done by a firm in currency market: Short-Hedge Short position means that a party agrees to sell the base currency and receive the terms currency at the pre-specified exchange rate in future. A short hedge involves taking a short position in the futures market. This is done by a party that already owns the base currency or is expecting a future receipt of the base currency. long-Hedge Long position means that a party agrees to buy the base currency and pay the terms currency at the pre-specified exchange rate in future. A long hedge involves taking a long position in the futures market. This is done by a party that needs base currency in future to make some payment. CURRENCY FUTURES FOR SPECULATION Speculators can also use future contracts if they anticipate that the spot price in the future will be different from the prevailing futures price. If a speculator anticipates an appreciation in base currency, he will hold a long position in the currency contracts to make profit when the exchange rates move up as per his expectation. If he anticipates a depreciation of the base currency, he will hold a short position in the futures contract so that he can make a profit when the exchange rate moves down. CURRENCY FUTURES FOR ARBITRAGE Arbitrage is the strategy in which the trader takes advantage of price differential of the same or similar product between two or more markets. The profit is the difference between the market prices of the products. An arbitrageur has access to both the markets and will identify price differences in the two markets for a product. If in one of the markets the product is cheaper, he will buy the product from that market and sell in the costlier market and thus make risk-less profit. In currency market an arbitrageur can enter into both a forwards and futures contract if he identifies any mispricing between them. If one of them is priced higher, the same shall be sold while simultaneously buying the other which is priced lower. On January 1, 2008, an Indian company enters into a contract to import 1,000 barrels of petroleum with payment to be made in USD on July 1, 2008. The price of each barrel of petroleum has been fixed at USD 100/barrel .The prevailing exchange rate of 1U SD = INR 39.41 .So, the cost of one barrel of petroleum in INR works out to be Rs. 3941.The USD is expected to appreciate and the company decides to do nothing about it. If on July 1, 2008 the exchange rate becomes 1USD=INR 43.23 then the company will have to pay Rs.4323 for one barrel of petroleum. Hedged: Consider that the company had purchased a USD/INR futures contract when the USD was expected to appreciate. This would have protected the company because strengthening of USD would lead to profit in the long futures position, which would counter the loss in the physical market. TESTING HEDGE EFFECTIVENESS A hedge is said to be effective if the derivative contract matches with the risk being hedged i.e. all critical terms of the derivative correspond to the critical terms of the risk. It is very important to select the right hedge effectiveness methodology. If a wrong selection is made it could mislead the firm. Many accounting standards (IAS39, FAS133) exist for hedge accounting but they only specify general guidelines and are very flexible. There are 3 main methods to measure hedge effectiveness: Critical Term Match Method Dollar-Offset Method Regression Analysis Companies should assess both the past and future hedge effectiveness. This would make sure that loses/gains of a derivative will contribute to earnings at the same time as the loses/gains associated with the hedged item. The Critical Term Match Method According to Critical Term Match Method a hedge is considered perfect if critical parameters in of hedged item and derivative contract match. For example, an interest rate swap is considered a perfect hedge if the parameters like Notional amounts, Terms, Payment and fixing dates, Amortisation schedules, Reference rates, Day conventions in both loan (hedged instrument) and swap (hedge) are identical. The limitation is that these terms do not often match. Thus, other methods must be applied. Dollar-Offset Method It is the easiest way to assess hedge effectiveness .In this method, the change in the value of the derivative is compared to the change in the value of the hedged item. If the ratio takes a value within a range of 80-120 percent the derivative is said to be highly effective. The disadvantage of this method is that it is often difficult to achieve high effectiveness consistently, from period to period. Regression analysis Regression analysis is a statistical technique that shows relationship between two or more variables. A derivative is said to be highly effective if the price (or interest rate or currency exchange rate) associated with the hedged item has a close relationship to the price associated with the hedging derivative. Simple regression explains the relationship between two variables and the correlation coefficient which quantifies the closeness of the relationship. Correlation coefficients may range in value from -1.0 to +1.0. A clear definition of hedging objectives is given i.e. defining the underlying hedged item and then the risk to be hedged. The definition of risk must include: Performance metric: like cash flow Risk class: like interest rate risk, foreign exchange risk, etc Amount of the underlying being hedged Desired risk characteristics: Step 2 In this step the hedging instrument and the hedge ratio are defined. The hedge ratio determines how many units of the hedging instrument are used to hedge one unit of the underlying. Ideally, one should select the optimal hedge ratio, corresponding to the maximal reduction in risk. Step 3 The objective is to select the method for evaluating hedge effectiveness. The choice of method comprises 7 dimensions: Reference exposure: Should the hedging instrument be compared to the underlying hedged item or to the Ideal hedge item. Fair value approach: how should changes in fair value be evaluated? Historical data to be used Method of applying historical data Maturity treatment Basis for comparison Type of effectiveness test Step 4 This is the implementation step in which actual evaluation of the effectiveness test is done to perform. Step 5 This is the interpretation step. The effectiveness results are interpreted in the context of the hedging objectives. CONCLUSION In the currency market a trade between two parties in currency pair is done. There can be many reasons for an investor to trade. He might invest to avoid exposure to risk (hedge), to make profits based on his prediction (speculation) or to make risk-less profits (arbitrage).The four instruments available for hedging are forwards, future, option and swap. It is very important for a firm to test the effectiveness of the hedging instrument in order to make the right choice. The 3 main methods to measure hedge effectiveness are Critical Term Match Method, Dollar-Offset Method and Regression Analysis. REFERENCES NCFM Currency derivatives. HEATâ„ ¢: A framework for evaluating hedge effectiveness.

George Orwell s Animal Farm - 1957 Words

Although George Orwell’s Animal Farm was created in order to mimic individuals as well as occurrences that took place during the Russian Revolution period, it is still possible to gain a comprehensive understanding of the text without a past knowledge of history through the exploitation of human nature’s imperfections. Following the publishment of his novel, Orwell confirmed that his goal in writing this fable was to expose the wrongdoing of the Soviet Union as well as the treachery of the true ideas of the Revolution. Nonetheless, there have been several other examples of events such as the French Revolution that can effortlessly be contrasted against components of the allegory. However, we need not to dig no deeper than to the†¦show more content†¦Orwell’s character of Old Major depicts V. I. Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik Party that gained control during the Revolution (CliffNotes. 2013). In his speech, it becomes apparent that Old Major has an uncomp romising hatred for humans – for he is quoted saying, â€Å"Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy† (page 6) – this mirrors how Lenin was inflexible with his views. An associate of Lenin’s was Leon Trotsky; his stand-in in Animal Farm is Snowball (SMMC PowerPoint. 2014.). Snowball’s hopes for the windmill reflect Trotsky’s intellectual demeanour as well as his ideas of how to put Karl Marx’s theory of Communism into action. Eventually, Trotsky was expelled from the Soviet Union and executed by Joseph Stalin, just like Snowball was banished from the farm by Napoleon (page 35) – George Orwell’s counterpart for Stalin. Napoleon’s dogs are a reference to Joseph Stalin’s secret police that he used to exterminate anyone who was seen as a threat to him. Stalin also used large amounts of propaganda – Squealer represents this in the novel (SMMC PowerPoint. 2014). The Battle of the Cowshed (page 26-27) mimics the Civil War that arose after the 1917 Revolution. Frederick Pilkington depicts Adolf Hitler, who established an

Essay on Beowulf (Christianity vs. Paganism) - 689 Words

Christianity vs. Paganism In the story of Beowulf, there is a noticeable struggle between Christianity and Paganism, and the characters personal battle between the two. Throughout the story the characters display actions that lead towards Paganism and Christianity. Contrary to Pagan belief Beowulf is seen as the epitome of good and beneficent to all of mankind. In Beowulf, the people showed their faith and love in God, however due to horrific events, paranoia caused them to look for a quick fix and turns them to Paganism. The pagan elements in the epic poem Beowulf are evident in the characters superhuman personifications. Beowulf is depicted as a superhero. Beowulf takes it upon himself to save the Danes from Grendel. In his†¦show more content†¦These battles are examples of epic folklore during pagan times. While many pagan influences appear in the poem, Christian overtones dominate. Many of the characters exhibit Christian characteristics. Beowulf has a Christ-like behavior in his good-hearted ness and charity. Beowulf understands the plight of the Danes that are being oppressed by the evil monster Grendel just as Christ knew of the oppression of the Jewish people. Both set out on a venture to save their people. To free themselves from the monster, the Danes need a savior, and Beowulf, through his desire to disperse their suffering, comes to save them. When Beowulf battles Grendel, he exhibits a sense of fairness when he refuses to use a weapon. The idea throughout the poem of living right, of loyalty, and of being a good leader can all be seen as traits of Christ. Just as Beowulf exemplifies Christ, Grendel mirrors Satan. Beowulf and Grendel represent the Christian beliefs of good verse evil. Grendel is referred to as a descendant of Cain, whom Satan tricks into sinning and committing the first murder. He is the image of a man fallen from grace through sin. Like Satan who is jealous of the happiness and joy that Adam and Eve have in the Garden of Eden, Grendel is jealous of the happiness and joy in Heorot. Grendel, as with Satan, is an adversary of God and poses a great challenge to Beowulf. Grendel lives in an underworld as Satan lives in hell. Grendel is referred to in the poem as the guardian ofShow MoreRelatedEssay about Beowulf (Christianity vs. Paganism)664 Words   |  3 Pages Christianity vs. Paganism nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;In the story of Beowulf, there is a noticeable struggle between Christianity and Paganism, and the characters personal battle between the two. Throughout the story the characters display actions that lead towards Paganism and Christianity. Contrary to Pagan belief Beowulf is seen as the epitome of good and beneficent to all of mankind. In Beowulf, the people showed their faith and love in God, however due to horrific events, paranoia causedRead MorePaganism In Beowulf953 Words   |  4 PagesThe Impact of Christianity and Paganism in Beowulf Beowulf was composed when England was transitioning from a pagan to a Christian culture. In chapter 3 of A Little History of Literature, it is said that Beowulf was likely written by a Christian monk who inserted Christian themes into the story. This is why Beowulf reflects both Christian and pagan views. These two religions and their elements affect the story in different ways. There are pagan views of fate and fame in Beowulf, but there areRead MoreTheme Of Christian And Pagan Elements In Beowulf978 Words   |  4 Pageselements Beowulf was written during the time that society was in the process of converting from Paganism to Christianity. Early Christianity developed in the Roman Empire, where many religions were practiced and formed into paganism. 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Sure paganism and christianity are in it as well as good vs evil but they are not as i would say the backbone of Beowulf. to prove my opinion I shall gather quotes from the epic novel wouldRead MoreChristianism And Paganism In Beowulf2091 Words   |  9 PagesChristianity vs. Paganism Beowulf is an epic poem combining different stories consisting of contrasting elements, such as paganism and Christianity. Within these stories of Beowulf and the followers of Beowulf, as well as the enemies, paganism actually played the role of the largest religion practiced versus that of Christianity. The stories that make up this epic go by their own titles like, The Wrath of Grendel, The Coming of Beowulf, The Battle with Grendel, The Monster’s Lair, The Battle with

The New Jim Crow Mass Incarceration Essay - 1401 Words

Michelle Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, examines mass incarceration in the United States, why the criminal justice system works the way it does towards minorities, the detriments associated with mass incarceration as it relates to offenders, and much more. In the introduction of her book, Alexander immediately paints the harsh reality of mass incarceration with the story of Jarvious Cotton who is denied the right to vote among other rights because he, â€Å"has been labeled as a felon and is currently on parole† (1). Other information Alexander presents in her introduction are her qualifications as an author of the book, and gives a brief summary of each chapter and how each one is laid out. Her qualifications are she is African-American civil rights attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and is also an Associate Professor at the University of Stanford Law School. From a critical standpoint, Alexande r seems very qualified to write on the topic, being part of the marginalized group and also being an expert in the legal field of which the topic covers, enhances her ethos to where one could consider her an expert in mass incarceration topics, as they relate to African-Americans. Overall, the introduction of her book does a great job starting out giving a stark reality of topic at hand, giving brief statistical references about mass incarceration in the United States, and giving an outline for her book. TheShow MoreRelatedThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration1370 Words   |  6 Pagesunrecognizable ways that fit into the fabric of the American society to render it nearly invisible to the majority of Americans. Michelle Alexander, in her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness shatters this dominantly held belief. The New Jim Crow makes a reader profoundly question whether the high rates of incarceration in the United States is an attempt to maintain blacks as an underclass. Michelle Alexander makes the assertion that â€Å"[w]e have not ended racial caste in America;Read MoreThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration1361 Words   |  6 PagesBook Review Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness The premise of the ‘The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness’ by Michelle Alexander, is to refute claims that racism is dead and argue that the War on Drugs and the federal drug policy unfairly targets communities of color, keeping a large majority of black men of varying ages in a cycle of poverty and behind bars. The author proves that racism thrives by highlighting theRead MoreThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration1477 Words   |  6 PagesThe New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness, by Michelle Alexander. 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The laws have been argued to have represented the legitimization of the anti-black racism in the US. The book The New Jim Crow Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness is written by Michelle Alexander and originally published byRead MoreThe New J im Crow : Mass Incarceration Essay1096 Words   |  5 PagesAlexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New York: The New Press, 2010. Study Questions for â€Å"The New Jim Crow†: 1) What is the relationship between the War on Drugs and the spread of crack cocaine through inner city neighborhoods in the 1980s? President Ronald Reagan officially announced the current drug war in 1982, before crack became an issue in the media or a crisis in poor black neighborhoods. A few years after the drug war was declared, crackRead MoreThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration1239 Words   |  5 PagesIn 2013, Michelle Alexander published her book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, hoping it served as a call to action. Immediately this book received a huge amount of attention because of the controversial topics presented. This book opened a lot of people’s eyes to the term colorblindness, a sociological perspective referring to the disregard of racial characteristics. There is no racial data or profiling, no classifications, and no categorizations or distinctionsRead MoreThe New Jim Crow : Mass Incarceration1547 Words   |  7 PagesSSP101 Final Michelle Alexander is a noble civil rights advocate and writer. She is best known for her 2010 book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the age of colorblindness. Michelle Alexander writes that the many gains of the civil rights movement have been undermined by the mass incarceration of black Americans in the war on drugs. She says that although Jim Crow laws are now off the books, millions of blacks arrested for minor crimes remain marginalized and disfranchised, trapped by

Snowboarding History Free Essays

As the excitement of fall winds down, many people fall into a depression. The leaves are gone, the woods are desolate, and the chill of winter air has crept upon us. While most people find this sad, I find it exciting! Why? Because it is time for my favorite sport, snowboarding. We will write a custom essay sample on Snowboarding History or any similar topic only for you Order Now Snowboarding’s a new, challenging sport that’s attracting new fans from all around the world. It has really changed since it was first invented. It’s become one of the largest and fastest growing sports in the world. Everywhere, people, including myself, are waiting for the snow to get a chance to go snowboarding. Snowboarding is the cross between surfing and skateboarding. Snowboarding use to be known as a child’s story, but now has evolved into a great sport. Since it was first invented, it has changed from a child’s sport to a new competitive sport that is great for both men and women. Some people saw snowboarding as an alternative to skateboarding, skiing, and surfing. People who could not afford to buy surfboards, like Jake Burton, used snowboarding as an alternative. Skateboarders saw snowboarding as a new sport that they could make their mark on. Nobody knows who truly invented the first snowboard. But in 1929, M. J. â€Å"Jack† Burchett invented one of the first snowboards. He used clothesline and horse reins to secure a piece of plywood to his feet. Thirty years later, Sherman Poppen, a chemical gases engineer invented â€Å"The Snurfer† as a toy for his daughter. He made the â€Å"snurfer† by bounding two skis together and putting a rope at the nose, so that the rider could hold it and keep it stable. Poppen licensed his idea to manufacturer when his daughter’s friends wanted a â€Å"snurfer† too. In 1966, â€Å"the snurfer† sold over a half million times. In 1979, Poppen left the snowboarding business after Jake Burton came up with the bindings and went back to his old profession. Jake Burton, another inventor of the snowboard, became interested in snowboarding after taking part in Poppen’s â€Å"snurfer† competitions that were organized by Poppen. His parents wouldn’t buy him a surfboard so riding the â€Å"snurfer† was a new and cool thing to do. In 1977, after he finished college, Burton moved to Londonderry, Vermont to make different types of the Snurfer. He made his first board out of laminated hardwood. In 1979, while at a Snurfer competition, Burton shocked everyone by using his new board that had the first binding. It made a big difference that allowed him to control the board and made it easier to beat the other riders. In 1969, Dimitrije Milovich, after he got the idea from sliding down a hill on a cafeteria plate in college, started making snowboards. His snowboards were based on surfboards combined with the way skis work. In 1972, he started a new company called â€Å"Winterstick†. He produced lots of snowboards and even got articles in magazines like, â€Å"News Week†, â€Å"Playboy†, and â€Å"Power†. In 1980, he left the snowboarding business, but was still known as a very important pioneer of the sport. At the same time that Jake Burton was producing his snowboards Tom Sims produced his first snowboards in 1977. Sims was an avid skateboarder who made a â€Å"snowboard† in a junior high school shop class. He made his out of carpet wood and aluminum. He glued some carpet to the top of a piece of wood and put an aluminum sheet on the bottom. He started making snowboards in 1977 in his garage with his friend and employee Chuck Barfoot. Barfoot actually made the boards and came up with the â€Å"Flying Yellow Banana†. It was a skateboard deck on top of a plastic shell with skegs. During 1980 Sims signed a skate-snowboarding deal with a big company called Vision Sports. Signing the deal helped Sims get out of his financial problems, but his friend Barfoot, was left out and tried to go into business for himself. He couldn’t compete with big competitors like Sims and Burton. The first modern competitive snowboarding contest took place in Leadville, Colorado in 1981. Then snowboarding competition took off from there and became worldwide. In 1982, the first national snowboarding race was held in Suicide Six, outside of Woodstock, Vermont. Because of the conditions of the hill, the goal of the race appeared to be mostly just surviving the race. The race was on a steep icy downhill run called â€Å"The Face†. Paul Graves put it on and Tom Simms and Jake Burton competed. Doug Bouton won first place overall. This race marked the last time that snowboards and snurfer’s raced together. In 1983, Jake Burton puts on the national snowboarding championships in Snow Valley. A couple of months later Tom Sims holds the inaugural World Snowboarding Championships at Soda Springs Ski Bowl in Lake Tahoe. That contest featured the first contest with a half pipe. In 1986 the World Snowboarding Championships moved from Soda Springs to Colorado. In 1986, a new European snowboarding generation launched. Then the Europeans began to organize their own regional events like the Swiss Championships in St. Moritz. In 1987, a group of riders and manufacturers formed the N. A. S. B. A. (National Association of State Boards of Accountancy) whose main goal was to create a unified World Cup tour with the Europeans. In 1988 N. A. S. B. A. got its wish and the first world cup was held in both Europe and the United States. It was the most expensive snowboarding contest ever. In 1994 everybody was happy because s nowboarding was declared a Winter Olympic sport. It was finally accepted as a real competitive sport and was first seen in the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. How to cite Snowboarding History, Papers

Education Industry in Australia

Question: The research proposal gives an idea about the challenges and issues faced by the educational institutes of Australia across various states. This includes the school and universities of Australia across various states. Answer: Introduction Education industry in Australia is the fourth largest export industry of Australia. This industry of Australia is mainly related to its higher education. Various courses for higher education are offered across several educational institutes in Australia (Provvidenzaet al. 2013). Overseas students make up a huge population of students in Australia. Australian government provides ample of opportunities to their students (Stromquist and Monkman 2014). The Australian government provide funds, scholarships and various opportunities to do part time jobs. Background of the study Australia have a part of worlds best organisations and instructions for the higher education and it have the strong educational infrastructure that provides better education to the students of Australia. This educational infrastructure attracts students all over the world and this industry had become one of the noteworthy attractions of the country (Lea and Nicoll 2013). The government spends a huge amount of money in the educational industry of Australia. They provide various facilities to the students and this strengthens the education industry of Australia. In todays world, the universities across the world are busy preparing champions from their country so that they can attract more students to their universities and display the talents of the universities . The academic workforce of Australia provides the best education to their students, but this workforce is aging with time. This results to a future crisis of the educational workforce in Australia (Stromquist and Monkman 2014) . On increase in demand of higher education, the commercial skills of the universities face various challenges. The universities are resistant to the change in their managements which results to dissatisfaction in the educational industry. Research aim The aim of this research is to understand the education industry of Australia and its current position in the education business in the world. Research objective The objective of this research is as follows: To find the demand of the education industry of Australia among the overseas students To find the trend of the demand of the education industry of Australia To find the limitations of the education industry of Australia To provide suggestions to overcome this limitations of the education industry in Australia Research question How is the demand of the education industry of Australia among the overseas students? What is the trend of this demand of the education industry of Australia? What are the limitations of the education industry of Australia? What suggestions could be provided in order to overcome these limitations? Research structure Figure 1: Structure of the research (Source: created by author) Literature review Australia is said to have the education industry as their fourth largest export industry. This industry houses the overseas students, which accounts over 20% of the total population of the students in Australia. According to the viewpoint of Arkoudis et al.(2014), every Australian state has various universities and schools that provides ample of opportunities to the students all over the world to pursue their studies. The overseas students mainly focus on the higher education at Australia. It was estimated that in 2012, an approximate number of 150000 international students from over 160 countries pursued higher education in the state of Victoria in Australia. As per the opinion of Ball (2013), it was found that 80% of the international students who pursued their education in Australia was from Asia. There are various benefits for the international education. This includes availing various opportunities to engage oneself in international events, improved professional connections and enhancing global perspectives. The students also get ample of opportunities in business, culture, research and various social activities. As per the viewpoint of Bhandari and Blumenthal (2013), the government of Australia spends huge sum of money to improve the education industry in Australia. They provide the students with various facilities that include scholarships, funds and opportunities to work along with their education. These opportunities help the students to have a better higher education and prepare themselves for the challenges of the world after completing their formal education. As per the opinion of Ferguson (2012), despite these facilities, the education industry of Australia has encountered decline in rate of the growth. This had become a major concern for the Australian government as the education industry is the fourth highest export business of Australia. Various factors had caused the reduction of the rate of growth. In the viewpoint of Johnson et al. (2013), it was found that the globalisation and digital revolution had reshaped the higher education in todays world. This had resulted in the change in landscape of the education industry. Decrease in source of income and rise in cost had intensified the challenges of education industry. Various educational institutes offer similar courses and modes of education at a lower cost than the universities of Australia. Prospective students had become consumer oriented and accordingly, they make decisions regarding their educations. The ranking of the universities also have an influence on the choice of the st udents. Based on the opinion of Jung and Latchem (2012), it was found that the students in todays world aim for those institutes where they can access to various services of education with the help of new and innovative technologies. The infrastructure of the universities must be updated with the new technologies and this requires huge investment and modification of infrastructures. Another challenge that is faced by the Australian education industry is the challenges of workforce. As per the viewpoint of Mitchell et al. (2013), it was found that the age of a quarter of academic workforce of Australia is over 55 years, whereas only 15% of the workforce in Australia have their age beyond 55 years. It was also seen that 54% of the academic workforce have their age over 45 years compared to 38% of the workers of other jobs in Australia. This shows that a significant proportion of workforce would retire in the nearby decade thereby creating vacancies in the educational industry. The government must take steps to build new workforce structure and new models to attract students to the Australian universities. As per the opinion of Paulsen and Smart (2013), measures should be taken to replace the non-traditional models of education industry. From the viewpoint of Pegrum et al. (2013), another challenge that is faced by the education industry of Australia is the resistant to change and build new models by the universities. The universities of Australia follow the traditional rules of academic independence and maintaining the purity of the mission. The leaders of the universities follow these traditions of admissions and teachings and they do not wish to change their business models. With the increase in speed of the market and competitiveness in domestic market and international market, the education industry of Australia is facing challenges (Stromquist and Monkman 2014). Introduction of new methods and business plans must replace the old one keeping the integrity of their traditional rules, would help in the growth of the education industry in Australia. The vital challenge that is faced by the education industry of Australia is the decrease in government funding to the universities. This had resulted in searching for various ways to get the funds of the university. The fees of the universities had increased over the years because of the decrease in funds (Provvidenzaet al. 2013). The fight for funds by the universities had been the result of the relationship with the Australian government that do not include any political factors. According to the viewpoint of Pinheiro et al.(2012), it was seen that the increase in cost of research infrastructure had resulted the universities to develop partnership with other universities. This had brought various research terms of equal strength together across various universities, several countries and many business sectors worldwide. The infrastructures required for the higher education in Australian industries face a major setback due to the lack of funding. As per the opinion of Provvidenza et al. (2013), it was found that maintaining the standard of competitiveness in the global market is another issue that had been caused challenges in the education industry of Australia. This challenge is combined with the increase in value of the Australian dollar, thereby making it difficult for the students to pursue their higher education in Australia. The restrictive rules of visa to Australia is another constraints that had resulted in reduction in number of application to the universities of Australia, thereby reducing the rate of growth in education industry of Australia. Methodology Data and data collection process Data for this research should be collected across the universities of Australia. Data for the last 10 years across the universities of various states of Australia must be collected. The data would be collected from the records of the educational institutes. One school and one university of each state of Australia should be chosen as the sample of this research. These school and universities must have overseas students studying for the past 10 years (Stromquist and Monkman 2014). The records of such institutes could be collected from the government of Australia. Students of these chosen institutes would be interviewed to gather the data for the research. The students of class 12 would be chosen for the interview from the schools while the students across various levels would be chosen randomly for the interview. The chosen samples would be asked about various questions ranging from their family background to their educational background. A sample of 50 students would be interviewed which includes 25 students from school and 25 students from universities across variables levels of universities. Different set of questionnaire would be set for the school students and the students of universities across the states. Both qualitative and quantitative data would be collected from the chosen samples. The questionnaire would include different questions for both the school students and college students that would result in quantitative and qualitative data for the research. Primary data collected from the survey would be used in the research. The method of data collection would be completed within ten days and the survey should be done during the peak season when most of the students attend their educational institutes. Data analysis The primary data collected from the survey would be subjected to various statistical methods in order to find out the trend of the education industry over the last ten years. The methods of descriptive statistics would give the idea about the demand of the education industry for the overseas students in the last ten years. On plotting these data in the graph would also give an idea about the trend of the education industry in Australia over the last ten years. The method of descriptive statistics would also give an idea about the limitations faced by the educational institutes (Provvidenzaet al. 2013). The frequency distribution method would give a count of the issues faced by the students while coming to Australia to pursue their education. This would help to know the major issues that are faced by the students and it would give an idea about the challenges faced by the universities over the last ten years. This would also give an idea about how the educational institutes had handle d the issues over the last ten years and whether they had improved the challenges or not, could be understood from the survey. The method of forecasting would help to give an idea about the future of the education industry of Australia. This would give a clear picture about the probable challenges that could be faced by the educational institutes of Australia in the upcoming years (Robbins et al. 2013). It would also help to predict the rate of growth of education industry of Australia in the near future and prepare the solutions of the challenges beforehand. The Gantt chart is as follows: Figure 2: Gantt chart of the research (Source: created by author) Research outcome The outcome of the research is expected to be decrease in the growth of the rate of educational institutes in the near future. The students from overseas are expected to face major problems due to increase in fees of the universities and cost cutting by the government. They are likely to face problem regarding the infrastructure of the studies and researches. The school students who are average would be expected to give their views in favour of returning back to their country for higher education or moving to other countries. The students of universities are expected to give their views in favour of opportunities that they get while studying overseas. It is expected that the students would give their views in favour of proper handling of challenges and the educational institutes are taking measures to eradicate the challenges effectively. Conclusion The research proposal gives an idea about the challenges and issues faced by the educational institutes of Australia across various states. This includes the school and universities of Australia across various states. Their decrease in the rate of growth is a major concern, as the education industry is the fourth largest export industry of Australia. Various factors had affected the growth rate of the education industry in Australia. The challenges faced by the universities indirectly affect the students and they face these challenges, which prevent them from applying to educational institutes of Australia in the near future. A survey would be done to know the challenges faced by the students, which would give an idea about the challenges faced by the educational institutes of Australia. It would also give an idea about the measures taken by the universities to eradicate these challenges over the last ten years. The analysis would help to predict the future of the educational institu tes of Australia. References Arkoudis, S., Baik, C., Bexley, E. and Doughney, L., 2014. English Language Proficiency and Employability Framework for Australian Higher Education Institutions.Centre for the Study of Higher Education. Ball, S.J. ed., 2013.Foucault and education: Disciplines and knowledge. Routledge. Bhandari, R. and Blumenthal, P., 2013. International students and global mobility in higher education: National trends and new directions.International Studies,1(11), pp.316-317. Ferguson, R., 2012. Learning analytics: drivers, developments and challenges.International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning,4(5-6), pp.304-317. Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Freeman, A., Ifenthaler, D. and Vardaxis, N., 2013. Technology Outlook for Australian Tertiary Education 2013-2018: An NMC Horizon Project Regional Analysis.New Media Consortium. Jung, I. and Latchem, C., 2012.Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Distance Education: Models, Policies and Research. Routledge. Lea, M.R. and Nicoll, K., 2013.Distributed learning: Social and cultural approaches to practice. Routledge. Mitchell, C., O'Reilly-Scanlon, K. and Weber, S. eds., 2013.Just who do we think we are?: Methodologies for autobiography and self-study in education. Routledge. Paulsen, M.B. and Smart, J.C. eds., 2013.Higher education: Handbook of theory and research. Dordrecht: Springer. Pegrum, M., Oakley, G. and Faulkner, R., 2013. Schools going mobile: A study of the adoption of mobile handheld technologies in Western Australian independent schools.Australasian Journal of Educational Technology,29(1), pp.66-81. Pinheiro, R., Benneworth, P. and Jones, G.A. eds., 2012.Universities and regional development: A critical assessment of tensions and contradictions. Routledge. Provvidenza, C., Engebretsen, L., Tator, C., Kissick, J., McCrory, P., Sills, A. and Johnston, K.M., 2013. From consensus to action: knowledge transfer, education and influencing policy on sports concussion.British journal of sports medicine, pp.bjsports-2012. Robbins, S., Judge, T.A., Millett, B. and Boyle, M., 2013.Organisational behaviour. Pearson Higher Education AU. Stromquist, N.P. and Monkman, K. eds., 2014.Globalization and education: Integration and contestation across cultures. RL Education.