Questions
In Europe and North America women tend to outnumber men. For example, in the United Kingdom, France, and the United States the ratio of women to men exceeds 1.05.

 
 
In Europe and North America women tend to outnumber men. For example, in the United Kingdom, France, and the United States the ratio of women to men exceeds 1.05. In many Third World countries, however, especially in Asia and north Africa, the female:male ratio may be as low as 0.95 (Egypt), 0.94 (Bangladesh, China, and west Asia), 0.93 (India), or even 0.90 (Pakistan). These differences are relevant to an assessment of female inequality across the world.[1-6]
Everywhere about 5% more boys than girls are born. But women are hardier than men and, given similar care, survive better at all ages - including in utero.[7] There are other causes for this preponderance of women - for example, some remaining impact of the deaths of men in the last world war and more cigarette smoking and violent deaths among men. But even taking these into account, women would still outnumber men if given similar care.[7]
Social factors must therefore explain the low female:male ratios in Asian and north African countries. These countries would have millions more women if they showed the female: male ratios of Europe and the United States.[4] Calculated on this basis, China is missing more than 50 million women.
Using European or American ratios may not, however, be appropriate. Because of lower female mortality in Europe and America the female:male ratio rises gradually with age. A lower ratio would therefore be expected in Asia and north Africa partly because of a lower life expectancy and higher fertility rate. There are several ways of adjusting for this. One is to adopt the female:male ratios of sub-Saharan Africa, where there is little female disadvantage in terms of relative mortality but where life expectancy is no higher and fertility rates no lower than those in Asia and north Africa. Using the sub-Saharan ratio of 1.022 yields an estimate of 44 million missing women in China, 37 million in India, and a total of more than 100 million worldwide.[5]
Using population models based on Western demographic experience it is possible to estimate roughly how many women there would be without any female disadvantage in survival, given the actual life expectancy and the fertility rates in these countries. Coale estimates 29 million missing women in China, 23 million in India, and an overall total of 60 million for selected countries.[6] Though lower, these numbers are still enormous.
Why is overall mortality for females higher than that for males in these countries? Consider India, where age specific mortality for females consistently exceeds that for males until the fourth decade. Although the excess mortality at childbearing age may be partly due to maternal mortality, obviously no such explanation is possible for female disadvantage in survival in infancy and childhood. Despite occasional distressing accounts of female infanticide, this could not explain the extra mortality or its age distribution. The comparative neglect of female health and nutrition, especially - but not exclusively - during childhood, would seem the prime suspect. Considerable direct evidence exists of neglect of female children in terms of health care, admission to hospitals, and even feeding.[89]
Even though the position in India has been more extensively studied than that in other countries, similar evidence of relative neglect of the health and nutrition of female children may be found in other countries in Asia and north Africa. In China some evidence suggests that the extent of neglect may have increased sharply in recent years, particularly since compulsory restrictions on the size of families were introduced in some parts of the country in the late 1970s. There are also some new, ominous signs in China, such as a substantial increase in the reported ratio of male to female births - quite out of line with the rest of the world. It could quite possibly indicate "hiding" of newborn female children (to avoid the rigours of compulsory restriction on the size of the family), but it could, no less plausibly, reflect a higher female infant mortality - whether or not induced (with new births and new deaths both going unreported).
What causes the relative neglect of females, and how can it be changed? Possible influences include traditional cultures and values. But some economic links have also emerged, and some connections between economic status and social standing have been identified. For example, the ability to earn an outside income through paid employment seems to enhance the social standing of a woman (which is the case in sub-Saharan Africa). This makes her contribution to the prosperity of the family more visible. Also, being less dependent on others, she has more voice. The higher status of women also affects ideas on the female child|s "due." Secondly, education, especially female literacy, may make a substantial difference. Thirdly, women’s economic rights (for example, land ownership and inheritance) may be important.[10 11] Public policy can influence all of these.
Missing women: social inequality outweighs women’s survival advantage
in Asia and north Africa.
The Indian state of Kerala provides an illuminating exception to the prevailing experience. It has the most developed school education system in India, which dates from the early nineteenth century, with strongly supportive state policies in the "native kingdoms" of Travancore and Cochin.[5] Adult literacy rate is now over 90%. Property inheritance passes through the female line for an influential part of the community (the Nairs). Many women participate in "gainful" economic activities. Kerala also has an extensive health care system, which has been built up through public policy. Even though Kerala is one of the poorer Indian states, life expectancy at birth there now exceeds 73 years for women and 67 years for men.
The female:male ratio of the Kerala population is now around 1.04 - similar to that in Europe and America (and most unlike that in the rest of India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, west Asia, and north Africa). It seems that the "missing women" may be rescuable, after all, by public policy.
 

In: Economics

4. Families in a Faraway LandIn a faraway land, • 20% of families have no children,...

4. Families in a Faraway LandIn a faraway land,

• 20% of families have no children,
• 20% of families have exactly 1 child,
• 30% of families have exactly 2 children,
• 20% of families have exactly 3 children,
• 10% of families have exactly 4 children,
• no families have more than 4 children, and• 55% of children are boys.

  1. (a) If you randomly choose a family from this faraway land, what is the expected number of children in the family? What is the expected number of daughters in the family?

  2. (b) If you randomly choose a family with children from this faraway land, what is the expected number of children in the family? What is the expected number of daughters in the family?

  3. (c) If you randomly choose a child from this faraway land, what is the expected number of siblings that the child has? What is the expected number of sisters that the child has?

In: Statistics and Probability

Q6. Ryan likes to listen to music while studying at home. His brother Isaac, however, needs...

Q6.

Ryan likes to listen to music while studying at home. His brother Isaac, however, needs peace and quiet in which to work. They both get an allowance and so have some money. To deal with arguments over whether music is played or not the parents decide that on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday peace and quiet must reign, but that on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday it’s ok to play music. Note that the parents set this rule just to avoid quarrels between the two brothers; hence they do not need to stick to the rule as long as there is no quarrel. Note further that no headphones are allowed. Isaac values peace and quiet at $10 per day. Ryan values the ability to play music at $7 per day. If the boys are allowed to negotiate between themselves on which day(s) does music get played? Explain.

In: Economics

A boy standing on the ground close to a building throws a ball vertically upward. From...

A boy standing on the ground close to a building throws a ball vertically upward. From his measurements of the maximum height, y-max, to which the ball rises and the time required to reach this height, the boy calculates that the average velocity of the ball on its way up is 20 m/s. Five seconds after leaving the boys hand, the ball is caught by a girl who has stretched her arm out of a window some distance above the boy. You may use -9.8 m/s^2 for the value of g.

a. What is the velocity of the ball immediately after its release?

b. How high does the ball rise; i.e., what is the value of y-max?

c. At what height, y, above the point of release is the ball caught?

d. What is the velocity of the ball immediately before being caught

In: Physics

You are a senior manager in Yiblam & Associates, a firm of Chartered Certified Accountants offering...

You are a senior manager in Yiblam & Associates, a firm of Chartered Certified
Accountants offering audit and assurance services mainly to large, privately owned
companies. The firm has suffered from increased competition, due to two new firms of
accountants setting up in the same town. Several audit clients have moved to the new firms,
leading to loss of revenue, and an over staffed audit department. Dzang Mufty, one of the
partners of Yiblam & Associates, has asked you to consider how the firm could react to this
situation. Several possibilities have been raised for your consideration:
a. Ezzy Co, a manufacturer of electronic equipment, is one of Yiblam & Associate's
audit clients. You are aware that the company has recently designed a new product,
which market research indicates is likely to be very successful. The development of
the product has been a huge drain on cash resources. The managing director of Ezzy
Co has written to the audit engagement partner to see if Yiblam & Associates would
be interested in making an investment in the new product. It has been suggested that
Yiblam & Associates could provide finance for the completion of the development
and the marketing of the product. The finance would be in the form of convertible
debentures. Alternatively, a joint venture company in which control is shared
between Ezzy Co and Yiblam & Associates could be established to manufacture,
market and distribute the new product.
b. Yiblam & Associates is considering expanding the provision of non-audit services.
Ingrid Sharapova, a senior manager in Yiblam & Associates, has suggested that the
firm could offer a recruitment advisory service to clients, specialising in the
recruitment of finance professionals. Yiblam & Associates would charge a fee for
this service based on the salary of the employee recruited. Ingrid Sharapova worked
as a recruitment consultant for a year before deciding to train as an accountant.
c. Several audit clients are experiencing staff shortages, and it has been suggested that
temporary staff assignments could be offered. It is envisaged that a number of audit
managers or seniors could be seconded to clients for periods not exceeding six
months, after which time they would return to Yiblam & Associates.
Required:
Identify and explain the ethical and practice management implications in respect of:
i. A business arrangement with Ezzy Co
ii. A recruitment service offered to clients
iii. Temporary staff assignments

In: Economics

Case study: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - A Story of Vadym Hetman As...

Case study: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly - A Story of Vadym Hetman As CEO of Avani International, Hetman headed the growth of a corporate giant. At its peak, Avani was gobbling up 200 companies a year. Under his leadership, the value of Avani increased 70-fold. In 2011, Hetman proclaimed his desire to be remembered as the world greatest business executive. Things turn sour when Hetman and his former chief financial officer were accused of running criminal enterprise within Avani. The two were charged stealing $170 million directly from the company and pocketing an additional $450 million through manipulated sales of stock. Hetman’s action has almost destroyed the company where he worked for 25 years. In 2012 alone the value of the company’s stock dropped $90 billion. Hetman spent his early years in humble circumstances. He grew up in the 1960’s in Jackson, Alabama. He said he was the son of a cop. It was only after he was accused did it come out that his father was never a police officer in Jackson or anywhere else. However, his mother did work for the Jackson Police Department as a school crossing guard. His father, in actuality, was a wheeler-dealer who was a practiced deceiver and an effective persuader. He had a strong personality but for the most part kept his misdeeds to little white lies. Friends remember Hetman as an easygoing kid who did well in school without trying very hard. He was elected “class politician” by high school graduating class. He went on to Samford, paying his way to college by playing guitar in a band. He served in Bangkok held a few accounting job, and eventually joined Avani in 1980s. Over the course of the 1990s, Hetman’s happy-go-lucky character disappeared. As he climbed the ladder at Avani, he became a corporate tough guy, both respected and feared. He eventually became CEO in 2001 and administered the rapid expansion of the company. Meanwhile, Hetman learned to live big. He had a $18 million apartment in Los Angeles, a $35 million mansion in Georgia, and a $20 million yacht. He spent $25 million on art for his luxury homes. He took extravagance to the extreme, for instance, spending $5, 000 on a shower curtain. The more he made, the more he spent, and the more he allegedly stole. Although his total compensation was $160 million in 2008, it wasn’t enough. He manipulated the company’s relocation fund and Employee Loan Program to take hundreds of millions in interest-free funds. In 2010 for instance, he gave his wife $1.5 million to start a restaurant, spent $2 million on birthday party in the Hawaii Island for his wife, and gave away $50 million in corporate funds to make humanitarian contributions in his own name. (Source: Adapted from Stephen, P. Robbins, “Organizational Behavior”, 2005)


1 Based on the case study:

(a) Examine Hetman’s personality trait.

(b) Discuss how Hetman’s past shaped his personality

(c) Based on your answer in (a). Discuss two (2) character traits that might influence Hetman’s behaviour and performance at work.

(d) Discuss two (2) factors present in the case study that most likely influence Hetman’s perception of achievement.

(e) Which motivation theory do you think best explains Hetman’s behaviour and work performance? Justify your answer.

(f) “Hetman just did what anybody would do if they had the chance. The people at fault in this case are Avani’s Board of Directors for not controlling their CEO”. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Discuss your answer based on the characteristics of effective team.

(g) Discuss what Avani International should do if symptoms of groupthink exist in the company.

In: Operations Management

Toyota- Let’s Go Places! Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota,...



Toyota- Let’s Go Places!
Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota, Aichi, Japan. In 2017, Toyota's corporate structure consisted of 364,445 employees worldwide and, as of December 2019, was the tenth-largest company in the world by revenue. Toyota is the second largest automobile manufacturer in the world, behind Volkswagen, based on 2018 unit sales. Toyota was the world's first automobile manufacturer to produce more than 10 million vehicles per year, which it has done since 2012, when it also reported the production of its 200-millionth vehicle. Toyota is the global market leader in sales of hybrid electric vehicles, and one of the largest companies to encourage the mass-market adoption of hybrid vehicles across the globe. The company was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda in 1937, as a spinoff from his father's company Toyota Industries to create automobiles. Toyota’s new tagline “Let’s Go Places” evokes the forward looking and optimistic momentum of Toyota. It invites customers to see new places, discover new possibilities and dream big dreams together with Toyota and its new cars.
Buyer Behavior and Buyer Decision Process
Toyota conducted a primary research to study the factors influencing the purchase behaviour of car buyers. It arrived at a conclusion that purchase of a car is influenced strongly by cultural, social, personal, and psychological characteristics of buyers; and most of these factors cannot be controlled by marketers.
Toyota also studied the various stages of buyer decision process through which buyers go through before making a final purchase decision. Toyota car buyers, who came to the Toyota showroom to buy a new car, are in a new and complex car purchase situation. It has been studied that they make buying decisions by first recognizing a need to buy a car. The new car buyers have a need to buy a new Toyota car which is triggered by internal and external stimuli. The need can be triggered by internal stimuli when one of the person’s normal needs rises to a level high enough to become a drive. Their needs are also triggered by external stimuli such as advertisements in magazines, newspapers, televisions, and discussions with their friends.
Once these potential car buyers have decided to buy a new car, they pay more attention to car ads, the cars owned by friends, and other car conversations. They also actively search online, talking with their friends, and gathering information in other ways. The sources from where these new car seekers were looking for information were ‘personal sources’ such as family, friends, neighbours, and acquaintances; ‘commercial sources’ such as advertisements, salespeople, dealer and manufacturer, web and mobile sites, packaging, displays; ‘public sources’ such as mass media, consumer rating organizations, social media, online searches, and peer-reviews; ‘experiential sources’ such as examining the cars and test drives. The study revealed that the most effective source of information from where the Toyota new car seekers sought information were ‘personal sources’. In the search of information for new cars, it was found that the buyers were learning about several brands of cars that were available in the market.
From the choice set of selected brands of cars, these buyers narrowed down their choice to three car brands viz. Nissan, Hyundai, and Kia, and were primarily interested in four attributes-price, style, operating economy, and performance. By this time they had formed beliefs about how each brand rated on each attribute. Clearly, if one car rated best on all the attributes, it would predict that the buyers would choose that brand of car. Most buyers were seen to consider several attributes, each with different importance. By knowing the importance each buyer assigned to each attribute, Toyota could predict the choice of car more reliably. Toyota actually studied its buyers to find out how they actually evaluate brand alternatives.
The potential buyers of cars rank different brands of cars and form ‘purchase intentions’. Generally, a buyer’s ‘purchase decision’ will be to buy the most preferred brand, but two factors can come between the ‘purchase intention’ and the ‘purchase decision’. The first factor is the ‘attitudes of others’ and the second factor is ‘unexpected situational factors’.
Toyota believes that, after purchasing its car, the buyer will either be satisfied or dissatisfied and will engage in post purchase behaviour which is of interest to Toyota car manufacturers. Satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the car lies in the relationship between the buyer’s expectation and the car’s perceived performance. If the car falls short of expectations, the buyer is disappointed. Therefore Toyota makes sure that it promises only what it can deliver, otherwise it would end up in cognitive dissonance which is a discomfort caused by post purchase conflict. This discomfort caused by a post purchase conflict is also called ‘PPD’ (‘Post Purchase Dissonance’).
Toyota’s New Product Development Strategy
Toyota carried out a customer-driven new product development process for finding and growing new models of cars. Toyota generated new product ideas through internal and external sources. The new product ideas like coming out with a ‘hybrid car’ or an MPV (Multi-Purpose Vehicle), and so on in the car market. The internal sources where Toyota gets new product ideas are from its own R&D department, scientists, engineers, manufacturing staff, and sales force. The external sources where Toyota gets its new product ideas are from customers, competitors, and suppliers.
When a large number of ideas are created, Toyota goes for idea screening where it adopts an R-W-W new product screening framework. This attractive idea is then developed into a product concept which is a detailed version of a new product idea in meaningful consumer terms. One of the ‘product concepts’ that Toyota developed was an ‘affordably priced midsize car designed as a second family car to be used around town for running errands and visiting friends’. Toyota developed another ‘product concept’ such as ‘a mid-priced sporty compact car appealing to young singles and couples’.
Toyota, then tests these new ‘product concepts’ with a group of target consumers to find out if the concepts have strong consumer appeal. When Toyota found that the second concept tested best, it then designed an initial marketing strategy for introducing this car to the market which is based on the new product concept.
Once the management of Toyota has decided on its new product concept and marketing strategy, it evaluates the business attractiveness of the proposal. Toyota reviews the sales, costs and profit projections for a new product to find out whether these factors satisfy the company’s objectives.
The R&D and the engineering department of Toyota Motor Corporation develop the product concept into the desired car. The new car will have the required functional features and also convey the intended psychological characteristics. Toyota involves the customers in product development and testing. Consumers test-drive the car and rate its attributes.
After the new car passes through both the concept test and the product test, the next step Toyota adopts is ‘test marketing’. This is the stage in the new product development where the new car and its proposed marketing program are tested in realistic market settings. This test marketing gives Toyota the experience with marketing the car before undertaking a huge expense of full introduction. Test marketing gives Toyota the information needed to make a final decision about whether to launch the new car. Toyota then goes ahead with ‘commercialization’ by introducing the new car into the market.

--------------------------------

Disccusion Questions

Question 1

Discuss how Toyota car buyers make buying decisions in a new car purchase situation. Relate this with the different stages of the buyer decision process.


Question 2

which stages of the buyer decision process, do a car buyer experience ‘cognitive dissonance’? Give reasons to substantiate your answer.



Question 3

Explain the different stages of the new product development process that Toyota follow, while developing new car models.


Question4


Explain the different stages of the new product development process that Toyota follow, while developing new car models


Question5

identify the stages of new product development when the new car model and the marketing program are introduced into more realistic market settings.

In: Operations Management

1. Describe any of your special interests and how you have developed knowledge in these areas...

1. Describe any of your special interests and how you have developed knowledge in these areas and how you have used these. Give examples of your creativity: the ability to see alternatives; take diverse perspectives; come up with new ideas; or willingness to try new things. (250-300 words)

2. Describe examples of your leadership experience in which you have helped others, resolved disputes, or contributed to group efforts over time. You may include experiences in school as well as in the community. (250-300 words)

3. Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to address this challenge. Include whether you turned to anyone in facing that challenge, the role that person played, and what you learned about yourself. (250-300 words)

4. Describe your experience facing or witnessing discrimination. Tell us how you responded and what you learned from those experiences. (250-300 words)

5. Describe the path you took to prepare, both academically and personally, for a career in nursing. (250-300 words)

In: Nursing

Prepare journal entries for the City of Pudding’s governmental funds to record the following transactions, first...

Prepare journal entries for the City of Pudding’s governmental funds to record the following transactions, first for fund financial statements and then for government-wide financial statements. (If no entry is required for a transaction/event, select "No journal entry required" in the first account field. Enter your answers in dollars not in millions.)
a. A new truck for the sanitation department was ordered at a cost of $105,500.
b. The city print shop did $1,200 worth of work for the school system (but has not yet been paid). Assume print shop is a governmental activity.
c. An $12 million bond was issued to build a new road.
d.

Cash of $191,000 is transferred from the General Fund to provide permanent financing for a municipal swimming pool that will be viewed as an Enterprise Fund.
e. The truck ordered in (a) is received at an actual cost of $107,600. Payment is not made at this time.
f. Cash of $32,900 is transferred from the General Fund to the Capital Projects Fund.
g. A state grant of $60,000 is received that must be spent to promote recycling.
h. The first $9,400 of the state grant received in (g) is appropriately expended.
FUND-BASED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
GOVERNMENT-WIDE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

In: Accounting

Read these instructions carefully, and then read the text “The Highs and Lows of Vocational Education”...

Read these instructions carefully, and then read the text “The Highs and Lows of Vocational
Education” on the next page. Then write an essay of 350-400 words* in response to this essay title:

You must support your ideas with:
- Evidence taken from the ‘The Highs and Lows of Vocational Education” reading text (at
least one item, which must be referenced with an in-text citation)
AND
- Other evidence regarding either Hong Kong OR China (which you may have read and can
reference correctly, or which you have made up and should be referenced with your family
name and the current year, e.g. (Fan, 2019). You are not required to write a reference list.

Describe the advantages and disadvantages of studying vocational education, in either Hong

Kong or China, and in another country.

The Highs and Lows of Vocational Education [adapted]

by Matt Barnum (2017)
What’s one education topic that right wing, left wing, and all politicians support? It is vocational
training - something they’ve all said America needs in order to create a balance of practical as well
as academic school leavers. While President Trump praised Germany’s approach to vocational
education recently, he actually plans to reduce funding for it, but, at least in theory, there’s wide
support for helping more students learn career-specific skills.
Yet new international research points to a significant downside of such programs: Students may
benefit early in their careers, but are harmed later in life as the economy changes and they lack the
less specific skills necessary to adapt. The study raises concerns about the positive and negative
effects of expanding vocational training in the United States. “Individuals with general education
initially face worse employment outcomes, but with improved experience as they become older,
they have increased employment opportunities, relative to individuals with vocational education,”
write four researchers in the study.
Many European and developing countries provide extensive vocational training, including
apprenticeships with involvement from industry, the authors note. That stands in contrast with the
U.S., which has reduced or eliminated separate vocational tracks in most high schools. Looking at
11 European countries, the researchers compared students within the same country who went on the
vocational track to similar students who went through a general-education program. The result is
that although vocational students make higher salaries and are more likely to be employed as young
adults, this advantage fades over time; by their late forties, those who went through a general
education program have higher employment rates. Those findings were confirmed with more
detailed data from Germany. “The advantages of vocational training in smoothing entry into the
labor market have to be set against disadvantages later in life,” the study concludes.
At age 10, Germany requires students to choose a vocational high school, academic high school, or
what one article described as “something in between.” Students have frequent opportunities to move
between these choices as they progress with their studies. However, in the U.S., vocation-focused
courses are often just a small part of a student’s course load. As of 2009, the average American
student took 3.6 vocational classes in high school.
The authors of the latest research say the findings don’t imply that vocational education is
necessarily a bad idea, just that it is important to understand the advantages and disadvantages of
each choice. The results also suggest that policymakers looking only at the short-term impacts of
such programs may not be getting an accurate understanding of their effects. One recent study of
Arkansas’s high-school vocational program, which requires students to take six career-focused
classes in high school in order to graduate and allows them to concentrate in specific areas, found
that participants had higher earnings and employment rates as young adults. Longer-run impacts
were not examined, however.

In: Finance