Anabaptists

Digging deeper will bring to light many groups coming together under the belief that the state church was no longer leading and teaching biblical theology. There were groups that popped up all across Europe in the wake of reformation lead by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Lurch Zinging. Even before the time of the Anabaptist movement there was a high level of persecution for those who stood against the state church and the pope. There was a difference between what the reformers were doing and what the Anabaptists were doing. The Reformers aimed to reform the old Church by the Bible; the Radicals attempted to build a new Church from the Bible. † There are also many great leaders from this radical group of Christians that need to be studied to know where this group was coming from. There is much more to this radical group known as the Anabaptists than meets the eye. Looking at the roller of the Anabaptist faith It Is seen as diverse and persecuted across Europe, seeking to build a biblical church and freedom from religious persecution. Anabaptist Beginnings look unto their origin.Anabaptist with the most literal definition means re-baptizes â€Å"from Go. ;v; and Paint(w). † ;v; meaning each or in the midst and meaning to â€Å"make whelmed (I. E. Fully wet)† Ultimately they received their name because they were Baptizing their converts even if they were already baptized as Children in the state church. Cornelius Dock breaks down the way each country at the time defined Anabaptists as he states â€Å"Anabaptist, which means re-baptizes, was a sixteenth-century spiritual, moral, and social renewal movement in Western Europe.In German-speaking lands its adherents were referred to as Taffeta– meaning Baptists or baptizes because they practiced believers' baptism. In The Netherlands they were called Depositing– baptism-minded† Dock goes on to point out that while the Anabaptists were beginning to pop up at the tail end of the reformation hey are generally connected with the Radical Reformation because the Anabaptists didn't think there was a way to reform the state church from within. They wanted to start from the foundation that the apostles used when building the church from the New Testament.Second we will have to look at the theological beliefs of the Anabaptists. The Anabaptist movement really followed in the footsteps and work of the great Protestant Reformers, biblical studies conducted by humanism leaders of the day, social and political fighting, the exploitation of people conducted by the state church, ND a deep urge to be spiritually fulfilled by the church. Bag shows how much influence their church model was able to gain in a short amount of time during their beginning.He states â€Å"the course of the Anabaptists was so swift, that their doctrines soon overspread the whole land and they obtained much following, baptized thousands and drew many good hearts to them; for they taught as it see med naught but love, faith and endurance, showing themselves in much tribulation patient and humble. † Most of the people that fell into the Anabaptist group also believed that the end of the world was coming to an end in the near future. Denny Weaver claims that theology of the Anabaptists is not unique to the Anabaptists that surfaced in the sixteenth-century.He believes at the root of all the theological beliefs sits a set of beliefs that can be found throughout the ages. He points out, â€Å"The central themes from the description of the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition do not belong to Anabaptists and Mennonites alone. Rather, they depict an outlook running thought the entire history of Christianity sometimes as a motif within the dominant church, sometimes gaining expression though the structural alternative to the established church. So in the eyes of the Anabaptists at the time they were not coming up with new theologies, they were bringing the church back to its origin als roots.The state church has gone so far away from the Biblical teachings they saw no way to fix the church from the inside and sought reform through starting anew. Shining a light on the basic theological views of the Anabaptists we find any of the main staples you would find common in most protestant theologies from the time period. â€Å"When it comes to the tenets of Protestant theology, most Anabaptist groups adhered to sound teaching on the Scriptures, the Trinity, Justification by faith, and he atonement of Jesus Christ. They found Christ to be the center of their salvation Catholic Church had been presenting for such a long time. They also believed in the infallibility and inherently of scripture. This allowed them to build the rest of their theological beliefs from the Word of God placing a firm foundation for most of their core beliefs. The Anabaptist did not share all the same beliefs and basic tenets with the Protestants, which placed a target on their back for both C atholics and Protestants to aim at. They faced persecution from both religious groups because of some key preferences in core theology.The first major difference in beliefs comes in when talking about believer's baptism. They outright rejected infant baptism, as they saw no evidence in scripture of this practice. Both Catholics and Protestants practiced infant baptism and Catholics were under the belief that without being baptized you couldn't enter into heaven even as a child. â€Å"Their denial that infant baptism was true baptism led to the nickname. † Bag shows that the Anabaptist took their rejection of infant baptism a step further claiming the Anabaptist taught â€Å"that infant baptism is of the Pope and the Devil†The second major difference was their belief in the separation of Church and State. They wanted no part in any state church; instead they were made up of small individual churches much of what we see today in many churches. They wanted the community t o be involved in what they were doing and the government to stay out, keeping the politics separate as well. The first person to push for separation from the Church of England was Robert Browne and many feel that his Separatist group had many common beliefs with the Anabaptists that were forced to meet in secret or not formally meet at all in England.The key difference seems to be that the separation from the state was meant to be temporary in order to allow the church to get back on the right path and then have the state come back in. This was not the case in the Anabaptists view; they wanted permanent separation, as they didn't believe the church could be fixed with the state attached to it at all. Many of the Anabaptists fled the country moving across Europe to avoid religious persecution. The Third was a push for Christians to live in community with one another sharing material possessions with all others within the community.As most Anabaptists thought the end was coming soon t here was not real need to hoard material things for any length of time. Bag states that â€Å"Their repudiation of all personal property was emphatic; they preached barefooted and in coarse garments, wherever they went. † At times they would only travel with their clothing, a staff, and money to fulfill their calling to preach the Word of God to the elect. It should also be noted that in the early days of the Anabaptist in Switzerland they did not set out to be radically sectarian, but this was something they slowly moved to.They were pushed to this addict ideology because of the political hostility and a strong leadership from the sectarian movement. There is a general agreement among scholars today is that the communities of Anabaptists were small simple communities of re-baptized believers. The sign of brotherhood was a commitment to the community and being baptized into the body of Christ. Each community had a lead known as a shepherd and was typically chosen by the broth erhood of believers.His Job was teaching, exhortation and prayer for the it such as breaking of bread, community bible reading, and helping the community in alluding and upkeep. Anyone outside of these communities were considered to be heathen and an abomination. There were many small groups that had different beliefs on what the community should focus on and different rules the community was to follow. There were groups like the Silent Brothers that held to the belief that preaching was no longer needed and abolished it. They believed that the Apostle Paul taught there would be a time to be silent and they were in that time.They wouldn't answer any religious questions even if pulled aside and asked specific questions, â€Å"they would be silent and give him owe answer†. There was also a group called the Separate Spiritual Baptists that tried to take themselves out of the world and become monks. This group made all kinds of rules, from eat and drinking to standing and walking . They would scold anyone that was happy in the name of the Gospel. Many more groups existed under the title of Anabaptists that held to weird and quirky beliefs that never caught on in the larger groups.One group in particular has stretched the Word of God so far from its original meaning they appeared to be Just as far gone as the state run church. They were now as the Free Brothers and they held on to their Christian liberties and they took the freedom in Christ in the most literal sense. They thought it to be unchristian to tithe to the church and did away with the concept of debts. They also persuaded women to believe that it was impossible for them to enter into heaven without giving up their virtue.They taught that God would only let those who were willing to sacrifice everything they held dear into the gate of Heaven. Further they taught they shame and disgrace must be taken on for Chrism's sake, â€Å"for has not Christ said that he publicans and the harlots should enter f irst into the kingdom of heaven, before the righteous, by which was plainly meant that women should become harlots†. They taught that sin as impossible for those who were baptized as adults and having intercourse with the other members of the community was not sinful because of the spiritual bond they shared.This brings us to what Denny Weaver tells us about the group as a whole, â€Å"Because of the variety of backgrounds, sixteenth century Anabaptist could not, and did not, develop as an entirely homogeneous movement. † So because of all these different sects they were unable to fully connect all the groups united in faith and doctrine. Fourth many of the Anabaptists groups preached both pacifism and strict forms of Church discipline. Internal pressures to conform to the rules that the group had set up ruled many of these smaller sects or communities. Their pacifism also played a role in the conformity that was seen in the Anabaptist faith.This has stood the test of t ime and remained a key part in the Mennonite faith. Each of these key parts of the Anabaptist faith shows the major distinctions between Anabaptists and other Christian groups. The Founders of the Anabaptist Movement Because the Anabaptist movement was so diverse and wide spread across Europe there are a multitude of influential leaders that spanned across Europe. Weaver backs up with this point saying, â€Å"The Original cast of Anabaptist players included a noblemen- who reflected an equal variety of religious backgrounds and came from a variety of regions of Western and Middle Europe. With knowing there are so many influential leaders in the Anabaptist movement there needs to be a focus on what lead to the persecution of the Anabaptists Just a few to remain focused. Starting with the radical Swiss reformer Conrad Grebes who helped found the Anabaptist movement. Grebes was a well-educated man who was working in Zurich Switzerland looking forward to Zinging coming to town. He was able to Join up with Felix Mans and Zinging in studying the Greek New Testament, with the plan to bring the reformation to the city. He began to grow impatient as Zinging slowed on the issue of infant baptism.At this point he was already to give up on the state church and begin again, this made him wonder if anyone would really follow him. Jumping over to Mans, one will find another well-educated man who Joined Zinging n 1519. Mans quickly came to reject Zinging as the ultimate authority in the reformation of the church. â€Å"He believed that the church must be made up of only those who have true faith in Jesus Christ as Savior. † He threw his support in favor from Grebes and they began to work together towards re-baptism of true believers in Christ.Grebes and Mans gather his followers up in January 1525 and took the first step in separating from the state run church by baptizing their first convert. The state run church did not take kindly to this as one might expect and th ey tried to stop this event before it got out of Zurich. They did slow the spread in Zurich but they didn't stop it from spreading to other parts of the country. Three days after he gave his sermon on refusal of infant baptism many of the leaders received notice to leave their position in the church within the next week.By taking on believer's baptism and entering into this new community, Grebes, Mans and their followers were cutting themselves off from the rest of Christianity. Zinging was not ready to Jump off the deep end with them but he did understand their position much better than Luther or Calvin did. While in modern time this doesn't seem like a huge undertaking at the time it put this small group against the rest of the world. Bag show how big of a deal this really was when he says, â€Å"The change, slight as it seems to us, has an electrical effect. Their message was something original as no other party was suggesting getting rid of infant baptism and people really seem ed to connect with this new doctrine. The people of Zurich who jumped into the Anabaptist camp saw their city much like Nineveh, which was lost and broken city that would not listen to the Prophet Joana. Seeing their city Just as cost and broken aided in the spread of this doctrine in the city and beyond. This electric response to this new sect of Christianity is what lead to the persecution beginning.While it seemed to the state church that going after these new converts would silence the Anabaptist it had quite the opposite effect. The most persecution that was faces the more followers seemed to get behind their cause. Persecution of the Anabaptists Throughout history we see different level of persecution within the Christian faith. Many of the original disciples were killed for their faith so persecution is not something new to Christianity. What as new was how much internal persecution new group of radical reformers and at least up to this point reformers like Luther wanted to c hange the church from within.This allowed Luther to avoid such server persecution that the Anabaptists faced. Even before this time we know that re- baptizing someone or being re-baptized was punishable by death. According to Erwin Flashbulbs Beginning in â€Å"the 5th century, repainting could be punished by death, and the code of Justinian (527-65), which was still in effect in much of Europe as late as the 16th century, demanded for conviction only that the fact of repainting e proved. † The state run church did not quickly Jump to killing the Anabaptist but they did swiftly kick them out of Zurich, which lead to them forming the small communities covered previously.The state run church did not remain peaceful for long and Anabaptist began dying for their faith. While what the state run church was doing was wrong they were well within their legal rights to go after the Anabaptists with everything they had. In the sad reality of life they did give it all they had, â€Å"By 1 539, in German-speaking territories alone, the Anabaptists had recorded 780 arts. † It did not start out they harsh, it started most notably in the church of SST. Laurent. Both Grebes and Zinging went to debate their respective sides on infant baptism and ultimately they sided on Single's side.This was only after openly hearing from both sides and allowing each side to present their arguments and counter arguments. They agreed to forbid re-baptism, making it punishable by imprisonment and banishment for those who were baptizing and a large fine for those who were re- baptized. Banishing these pastors and leaders within the church only furthered their each as a church as they wouldn't stop preaching as they were sent to a different country. This helped lay the foundation for all of the small sects of Anabaptists that were popping up across Europe.It took a couple of years to really get things moving but as Bag points out, â€Å"By the end of 1527 the new propaganda has done its work. The process or absorption was complete, and the great Anabaptist movement had entered upon its changeable and exchequer career. † 1527 really kicked off a server level of persecution for the Anabaptists. Bag provides a vast amount of detailed accounts of death because people would not recant their actions. In Salisbury in 1527 there was a plan to kill all of the priests monks and ex-priests.Over 40 people were caught and of those that were caught three priests refused to recant and were burned alive. A group of five others were killed by the sword. Two women wouldn't recant and they were drowned in the local horse pound and burned afterwards. A nobleman wouldn't recant shortly after and he was burned. The strongest showing was when they burned a girdle-maker and a shoe-latched maker in the public square to make an example out of them. Yet time after time there would be those who wouldn't recant their decision to be re-baptized. They knew what was coming and were wil ling to die for their convictions.The number of Anabaptist Martyrs in the five years spanning 1 525 to 1 530 is estimated to be around a thousand in Tyro and the territories surrounding the area. Six hundred is the number slain in the southern area of Austria and the peak being sixty-six being killed in a six week time period. There were leaders such as Duke Wilhelm of Bavaria who â€Å"gave the order that all those who recanted should be beheaded, whilst those Pockets of reformed territories like Gangling and Lutheran began popping up and hill the persecution did not start out as sever there were the same number of Anabaptist facing persecution.There was a certain level of tolerance that could be found in the early stages of the Anabaptist movement in these areas but that quickly gave away to prison time and executions. Felix Mans was still in Zurich, which fell under Single's teachings when he was put to death by drowning. â€Å"He was bound, carried to a boat, and thrown into t he river Limit near the lake, Jan. 5, 1527. He praised God that he was about to die for the truth, and prayed with a loud voice, â€Å"Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit! Much like Mans, Grebes faced persecution on many level because of his faith.He was â€Å"rearrested, and charged with communistic and revolutionary teaching. † Grebes was sure to use his time in prison to his advantage as he sought to carve more detail into his personal beliefs and defenses for baptism. He was one of the few leaders of the Anabaptist movement that did not die a martyr's death. He was able to escape from prison and went to go live with his sister where he died shortly there after in 1526. With their deaths more and more converts were accepting believer's baptism and the Anabaptist faith was spreading.

Ethics Assessment Essay

It is a fact that any business organization must have its principles of code of conduct. These principles must be generally accepted as they act as a mirror to the company’s or organization’s policy of ethics and responsibility, its employees, and the entire marketing team in maintaining consumer as well as community relationships. The organization’s policy has to be based on high-level ethical principles that are fair to all its stake holders. The aim of these principles is to provide a general guidance to the organization without which no meaningful business can take place (Dubois & Fattore, 2009). The mission statement, just like the code of ethics or code of conduct, is very essential as part of the organization’s business plan. It is very vital in giving the organization a clear direction concerning how the organization’s plans should be implemented as well as its future plans. The employee handbook Is another equally as important document and it is often used to evaluate the worker’s organization’s overall performance in terms of profitability and its relation with its customers and the general community. The management of any company or organization is supposed to take routine evaluation based on the key areas of the company’s or organizations set-up. These are the Mission Statement, the Ethics Code or Code of Ethics, the Supervisor’s manual as well as the employee handbook. These are the basic things that a company needs so as to be able to survive in the highly competitive world of business where excellent service delivery is the secret to success. The mission statement of any company or organization should be clear to all concerned; the employees, the supervisors and the managers in that order. The mission statement originates from the management and it is here that the managers map out the company’s guide and modes of operation (Stone, 2008). The overall manager or director of the organization should then discuss it thoroughly with fellow managers of the various departments to make sure that it meets the right description of the company before it is released to the employees and subsequently the general public who make up the target market. In order for a mission statement to be deemed successful, it must reach the intended audience as fast as possible and in a clear manner. The services or goods that the company or organization offers are sometimes not well spelt out. This leads to a misunderstanding, miscommunication or misinterpretation . This in turn leads to loss of business because the customers do not know much about the business or exactly what it is that they offer. An example is that of the hospitality industry. Some companies or organization do not care to include in their mission statement full details of what they offer. In such a case a customer may enter a business premise not knowing anything that the organization offers. If prospective customers do not know the full details of the company’s or organizations mission, then disappointment is the result and this The result in most cases is disappointment and loss of prospective customers. Such an oversight should be avoided by setting out clearly on paper what it is that the organization is dealing in instead of leaving it upon customers to guess. A mission statement is the heart of the company’s operations and therefore the managers should make sure that the set code of ethics or conduct is adhered to for the implementation of the company’s or organization’s mission to be successful. Two different companies dealing in the same goods and services were evaluated in terms of how their structures for the communication of their mission statement with relation to their business ethics and standards. In some strange way it was identified that the organization with a wide range of mission statement content performed worse than the organization with a wider range of code of ethics content (Shafritz & Hyde, 2007). The above fact is characteristic of the mission and vision statement of the giant Coca Cola company which they describe as enduring, a declaration of their purpose as a corporation. This mission statement acts as the yardstick against which they weigh their decisions and actions. The company acknowledges that the world is fast changing and as such they have to look at the future. They have to understand the forces and trends likely to shape their business in the foreseeable future and the only solution is to move with speed in preparing for any challenges that may come up. The mission statement takes one only a few seconds to go through but the clarity of the message is outstanding. The three point statement reads; ‘To Refresh the World†¦ in body, mind, and spirit. , To Inspire Moments of Optimism†¦ through our brands and our actions. , To Create Value and Make a Difference†¦ everywhere we engage’ (Fry, 1989). The company’s mission is communicated to the public in a clear and simple way and this is the reason for the continued confidence consumers have always had confidence in their brands over the years. Theirs is a perfect example of an inspiring, well-crafted mission statement from a very successful corporation in the world. The company communicates its mission statement through an aggressive campaign aimed at sensitizing the consumers about their aims and goals. The inspiration for everything they do I attributed to their enduring mission. Both the workers and the management find the resolve to go on with the challenges of the corporate world by drawing from the inspiration in the mission statement. Coca Cola has as a result managed to outsmart other well positioned companies like Pepsi Cola and Schweppes Cola which had for sometime rivaled the corporation. The company is socially responsible. It has, through its mission statement managed to create stable communities by manufacturing superb brands that has provided an alternative to other less health-sensitive drinks. The factors behind this are the code of ethics under which the company operates. The customer is the most important person to the company and in essence they strive to keep him satisfied. It is the mission statement, source of their inspiration, which keeps everyone in the company focused with a view to achieving this goal (Kettl & James, 2009). Coca cola’s employee manual and the supervisor’s manual provide for all the needs of the employees and the management, ranging from health benefits to reasonable pay allowances. The company has a strict program of ethics and compliance to ensure that its code of ethics is adhered to. This code of conduct requires employees be honest and have integrity in everything they do for the company and has so far been successful in guiding its business conduct (Stone, 2008). This is communicated through reading the manual and all the directors are supposed t understand and exercise them within the company and the outside community at large. The company has an ethics and compliance committee whose job is the evaluation of the compliance with relation to the company’s productivity and its relations with the outside community. This committee determines code violation and recommends the action to be taken against the violator. The code of ethics is routinely revised to improve its effectives. The company needs to improve the code of ethics and update it so as to meet the challenging and changing trends in the business fraternity. Some regulations need to be adjusted so that the employees can interact with the outside community more freely, but this should be done with some regulations so that the people who work in the production department do not leak the company’s production formula to other rival companies (Fry, 1989). Company needs to urgently review mission statement. The statement is too sketchy and many other companies have come up with more catching and better worded mission statements and this has made them sneak their way into the company’s consumer base therefore reducing Coca Cola’s share of the market. Many people all over the world who used to rely on Coca Cola for refreshment have in the recent past turned to other means like tea, water and coffee and therefore the company should redraft its mission statement to reflect the current needs of the consumers. These changes should be communicated in a very aggressive advertisement exercise that will reach all the concerned people (Shafritz & Hyde, 2009). This will surely make a change in the consumers’ hearts and renew their confidence in the company’s products. If I were the general manager of the Coca Cola Company, would hire a team of experts to review the company’s ethics, evaluate it and come up with suggestions on how make the existing one better. The team would have to the consumers armed with questionnaires and ask the relevant questions to determine how best the company can improve its services to suit the likes of the consumers. REFERENCES Dubois, H. F. W. & Fattore, G. (2009). ‘Definitions and typologies in public administration. Routledge. Fry, R ( 1989). Mastering Public Administration; from Max Weber to Dwight Waldo. Chatham, New Jersey: Chatham House Publishers, Inc. Kettl, D & James (2009). The Politics of the Administrative Process. Washington Shafritz, J & Hyde, A (2007). Classics of Public Administration. Routledge. Stone, D (2008) ‘Global Public Policy, Transnational Policy Communities and their Networks,’ Journal of Policy Sciences.

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Does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy work best for Bipolar I or Bipolar Research Proposal

Does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy work best for Bipolar I or Bipolar II Disorder - Research Proposal Example Other aspects that were found to be common among bipolar II patients include interpersonal conflicts, breakdown of families and instability in marriage (Marneros and Goodwin, 2005, p. 95). What a psychotherapist is supposed to realize is that, people who have a high risk of falling from grace are those with a bi-polar disorder. They are also most likely to get into problems because of failing to adhere to advice or due to the state of their moods. This may lead them into several behaviors that may be risky. It is however paramount for any given psychotherapist to realize that some patients may be required to fail for quite a while before learning from their mistakes and acquiring mastery. Therefore, important nuances for management are being able to leave the door open for the patient to come back at another stage or showing a certain level of leniency in the course of psychotherapy. This is suitable rather than doing away with psychotherapy to someone who seems not to be compliant ( Yatham, 2010, p. 350). Nonetheless, since a bipolar disorder may be progressive with the accumulation of episodes, and it may readily show response to interventions been done at a period early enough during the sickness, attempts to engage patients in treatment early enough are of paramount importance. Moreover, a set of problem strategies that are family based, cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal have been detailed to apply to those who have the condition of bipolar II (Yatham, 2010, p. 350). Arguments have been put forth in support of the well being plans for patients with bipolar II disorder. The axiom ‘knowledge of power’ is the underlying one for the strategies. It is observed that the often-used strategies are ensuring enough sleep, being able to manage stress, being aware of early warning triggers and signs, taking suitable medication and seeking relevant professional support (Yatham, 2010, p. 350). It is therefore in the scope of this research to establish whether Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) works well for Bipolar I or Bipolar II. Research Questions There are three research questions in this study: The first one is what is the comparison between bipolar I and bipolar II disorders; the second one is how does Cognitive Behavioral Therapy work for bipolar I and bipolar II; and lastly, between bipolar I and bipolar II disorder, which one appears to have Cognitive Behavioral Therapy working better for? Research Hypothesis The first hypothesis reveals that using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy will lead to significant outcomes for the case of bipolar I than bipolar II. On the other hand, according to the null hypothesis, there will be no significant difference between the outcomes of using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in bipolar I and bipolar II. Basis and Purpose of the Research The basis of this research is to ensure that answers have been provided for the above hypotheses to the extent of the effect of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy on bipolar I and bipolar II disorders. The research is particularly intended to find out whether Cognitive

Database Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Database - Essay Example In this scenario, IT managers face a lot of challenges in an attempt to bring real business intelligence within time and budget constraints. In the past, when the huge mainframe system empire clasped into a desktop era, IT businesses evolved as well. Additionally, the system storage capacity, processing power, specialized tools and decision-making information were distributed to clients who required freedom of corporate decision making. However, after few years, the pendulum started to shift and with the development of intranets and the Internet connected PC clients formed a networked society that valued information sharing. In this scenario, the IT businesses at the present must develop again. Nowadays they are forced to offer the central data repository and control that illustrate the mainframe era, in addition the rapid decision making and self-directed analysis that grows in the PC era (SAS, 2005), (Jiang et al., 2010) and (Lee & Noah, 1999). Carrefour, which is a France based co rporation, has decided to implement a new technology based solution for overall corporate marketing analysis and decision making. This report will present a detailed analysis of implementation of enterprise intelligence platform at Carrefour. OVERVIEW of Business Carrefour, which is a France based corporation, has decided to implement a new technology based solution for overall corporate marketing analysis and decision making. This report presents a detailed analysis of important aspects of the new enterprise intelligence platform establishment and investigates possible security and confidentiality related issues in customer data in business data warehouse. INTRODUCING NEW ENTERPRISE INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM The basic purpose of implementing enterprise intelligence platform at Carrefour business is to enhance the business productivity and performance through better operational technology solutions. Seeing that, an enterprise intelligence platform is a collection of manual or computer-s upported methods and tools that help manage a number of decision-making activities. In addition, in present day business structure, enterprise intelligence platforms are frequently recognized to be computerized administration information structures to facilitate business owners, decision-makers and executives to determine complicated business issues and challenges. In this scenario, a high-quality enterprise intelligence platform can be helpful for the business staff to carry out a broad range of jobs such as concept ranking, cash flow analysis, product performance development, multistage fore-casting and resource sharing investigation. Furthermore, in the past it was considered as a method or tool for huge corporations, but enterprise intelligence platform has now become equally important tool for small to large size businesses (ReferenceForBusiness, 2011), (Tang, 2006) and (Essaidi, 2010). Enterprise intelligence platform is a wide-ranging group of high-tech and advanced interacti ve computer systems and tools, mainly customizable systems, intended to support business data analysis and managerial decision making. In addition, enterprise intelligence framework is a member of a very large group which is known as management support systems. Furthermore, the main objective of implementing enterprise intelligence platform applications is to build an administrative structure in a more well-organized

War and Peace in the Middle East Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

War and Peace in the Middle East - Essay Example The Middle East political plethora is characterized by fighting raging from Syria and its spillover effect felt in Lebanon Bahrain and Iraq. There is no denying the sectarianism is commonplace in the Middle East politics with religious identity the most vital end in defining the political life of the people. Therefore, the war in these countries remains a familiar factor in the pursuit of national interest of the individual countries in the oil-rich region (CASHMAN, 2000:45). Various ideas, theories, and values shape policy and motivate the political behavior of citizens in certain countries. International relations theorists disagree over the inevitability of war. To classical realists and neo-liberalists, war is inevitable. They posit that each state is compelled to harm the other in pursuit of their interests and to avoid the worst possible outcome. This follows with states increasing their defense capabilities thereby increasing tension and chances of war. Realism has evolved int o the dominant paradigm in explaining state behavior and the eruption of war. Neo-realists hold that state behavior is driven by the need for survival in the international system. States try to survive by maximizing their power and shifting the balance of power in their favor. Mearsheimer’s ‘Offensive Realism Theory’ asserts the rationality of states in an anarchic world system. This leads to a security dilemma where a defensive action taken by one state on the verge of survival is a threat to another.... To classical realists and neo-liberalists, war is inevitable. They posit that each state is compelled to harm the other in pursuit of their interests and to avoid the worst possible outcome. This follows with states increasing their defense capabilities thereby increasing tension and chances of war. Realism has evolved into the dominant paradigm in explaining state behavior and the eruption of war. Neo-realists hold that state behavior is driven by the need for survival in the international system. States try to survive by maximizing their power and shifting the balance of power in their favor. Mearsheimer’s ‘Offensive Realism Theory’ asserts the rationality of states in an anarchic world system. This leads to a security dilemma where a defensive action taken by one state in the verge of survival is a threat to another. Realism fronts war as one of the best strategies for states to maximize their power and ensure their survival. In other cases, the threat of force may be used to maximize power. According to the theory also, other states may insight war between rival nations in a bid to reduce their power and eventually increase their own (DUNNE, KURKI, & SMITH, 2013:79). A good illustration is Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, at an individual level; Saddam Hussein may have calculated that his actions on Kuwait will not provoke military response from the international community due to his originally ruthless nature. However, at the state level Iraq is pursuing its own national interests and attempting to regain oil fields that were previously annexed by the British (CASHMAN, 2000:79). According to Mearsheimer’s theory also, the polarity between states or the possibility of war depends in the number of

HL7 vs. Meaningful Usage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

HL7 vs. Meaningful Usage - Essay Example ngful Use and therefore have a great role to play in supporting Meaningful Use requirements in the future (Meaningful Use - Wyoming Electronic Health Record Incentive, 2012). According to HL7 Overview - A Comprehensive Guide to HL7, HL7 is a standardized syntax involve in formatting and passing data via a message between computer systems. A medical concept is only achieved through the combination of the HL7 model and standardized medical vocabulary. The objectives of the HL7 model are easily identifiable. However, the objectives of the Meaningful Use are not straight forward and may even seem arbitrary. The only way to analyze their objectives and use to the healthcare system is by viewing the parts as a whole and as a single part (HL7 Overview - A Comprehensive Guide to HL7, 2008). HL7 functional models have a lot to offer in terms of offering support to solutions. They are used to improve the abilities of the HIE interface, improve storage and data collection standards, enhance data transfer abilities and enhance reporting and extraction of core measures. On the other hand, the reasons for improving Meaningful Use are mainly centered on figuring how electronic health records can be beneficial to patients and healthcare providers. They include- providing accurate and sufficient information that is easily accessible to the healthcare providers, providing improved access to information through sharing vital clinical information and empowering the patient so that he/she can be more involved in the health status of his/her family

Father of Modern Management Essay Example for Free

Father of Modern Management Essay The satisfaction of social needs is something that is achievable for most individuals. People can meet others who share similar interests by joining relevant clubs or associations and can mix with peers by attending relevant social functions. There are also dating agencies and dinner clubs for those who are seeking companionship. Where social services are often required to assist is when a person is unable to easily or practically address these social needs, for example, someone who is elderly or housebound. Organisations such as Age Concern provide facilities like luncheon clubs and day centres, where individuals can benefit from company and conversation. They also collate information on other available resources like reminiscence and friendship groups (Age Concern, 2008). There are many routes to satisfying esteem needs. These include finding challenges of a vocational or academic nature or becoming part of a community group to gain a sense of achievement and social inclusion. For some, actively satisfying their own esteem needs can be a daunting process. Where social services can assist is in providing accessible services in a variety of formats. One example is the Gateway Team, part of Poole Social Services (Borough of Poole, 2008) who list their aim as: To enable adults in Poole to achieve, maintain and enjoy emotional and social well-being through the provision of a specialised service. This includes free psychology and counselling services and workshops aimed at addressing anxiety and depression or providing assertiveness training. It also focuses on actively helping individuals to attain social inclusion by providing ideas for getting involved in the local community. Additionally, help is given by sourcing self-help material in the form of books or online resources. The Gateway Team is merely one localized example to highlight available support but this picture is replicated throughout the country with the provision of services available from local authorities, charities, volunteer groups and private organisations. Moving on to self-actualisation, it is important to differentiate between this level and the others within Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. As it is concerned with a constantly evolving set of ambitions rather than a basic set of needs, self-actualisation does not require a safety net provided by social services. However, the social services framework can be utilised by enterprising individuals to help realise their potential. For example, undertaking volunteer work can build confidence, increase social networks and heighten the sense of well-being. Additionally, career prospects can be significantly enhanced as 73% of employers would employ a candidate with volunteering experience over one without (TimeBank, 2008). In conclusion, this essay has demonstrated that social services, in the widest definition of the term, provide a wide range of facilities to address the Hierarchy of Needs as set out by Maslow. Although society is far from perfect and the eradication of neither poverty nor suffering is likely to be achieved, the assistance available in this country to those in need is comprehensive. Imagine what life was like for those most in need before the welfare state was established and before charities and other caring organisations became widespread. Consequently, the aim should be to bolster this supportive network and make it the very best it can be. Just like people, social services must continue to strive to fulfil its potential. Reference List Abraham Maslow Father of Modern Management (2007) Available from: http://www. abraham-maslow. com/m_motivation/Hierarchy_of_Needs. asp [Accessed: 4 October 2008]. Age Concern Kingston upon Thames (2008) Social Activities [online]. Available from: http://www. ageconcernkingston. org/whatwedo_socialactivities. htm [Accessed: 5 October 2008]. BBC News Online (2004) Homeless Face More Violent Crime [online]. Available from: http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/uk/4099727. stm [Accessed: 5 October 2008].

Procter Gamble P And G Marketing Essay

Procter Gamble P And G Marketing Essay Procter and Gamble (PG) was formed by William Procter a candle maker and James Gamble a soap marker on the 31st of October 1837. It is an American multination consumer good manufacture and one of the largest in the world. It has its headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio USA and manufactures products ranging from beauty and grooming, pet food and household and fabric care, baby and family home care products. Between 1858 and 1859, PG had about 80 staffs and their sales reached $1million. It won several contacts from the Union Army during the American Civil War to supply candles and soap. Apart from the profit it made during the civil war, it expanded it market by introducing military personals all over the country to PG products. Operation and brands In recent years, PG and become an international corporation be acquiring different companies. PG became an international corporation in 1930 after the acquisition of Thomas Hedley Co based in England. It introduces several new brand names and products like Tide detergent in 1946, Prell Shampoo in 1946 and the first tooth paste to contain fluoride branded Crest in 1955. PG purchased Charmin paper mill in 1957 and started marking products paper products like toilet rolls (Charming). Procter and Gamble operates in about 80 countries and is well known in about 180 countries. It has 50 brands which most of them are well-known products. These brands amounts more than 90% of PGs sales and profit. 26 of its leadership brands produces more than a $1billon each in net annual sales. (PG, 2012). Some of PGs strongest brands includes Always, Ariel detergent, Bounty, Charmin, Crest, Downy, Gillete, Lams, Olay, Pampers, Pantene, and Tide. It used to produce food and beverage products prior to the sales of Pringles to Kellogg Company for $2.7 billion in 2012. Pringles was one of PGs major revenue driver with a sales of about $1.5 billion yearly. It was the only food business after the sales of Jif peanut butter and Folgers coffee to Smuckers in recent years. PG is no longer in the food business, it is laying more focus on personal care and beauty products. (Reuters, 2012) Manufacturing Operation PG manufacturing operation spread around 5 different regions. (PG, 2012) Regions Details Regional Headquarter Countries Asia The world faster growing economy and home to over 3 billion customers Singapore China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, India, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Bangladesh Central Eastern Europe, Middle East And Africa (CEEMEA). PGs largest Geographic regions. Geneva, Switzerland The Balkans, Central Europe North, Central Europe South, Eastern Europe, Middle East, Sub Sahara, Turkey/Caucasia And Central Asian Republic. Latin America With presence dated back to 60 years. Panama City 14 Countries North America Cincinnati, Ohio, USA Over 25 manufacturing plants Western Europe With presence dated back to 1930. PG has presence in ever western European country. Geneva, Switzerland 4 Countries. United Kingdom, Belgium, Germany and Italy Procter Gamble recorded a sales of $83.68 billion in 2012 and was listed on the spot of Global Top Companies for leaders in Fortune Magazine. It is also at fifth place of the Worlds Most Admired Companies list and named the overall best company for leadership development on the list of the 2012s 40 Best Companies for Leaders by Chief Executive Magazine. It has also received several awards which includes the Worlds Most Admired Companies and Top MBA Employers from Fortune, Worlds Most Respected Companies from Barrons, Best Place to Work from Glassdoor.com, and The Worlds Most Attractive Employers from Universum. (PG, 2013). Case Study Overview. In recent Years, PG has been us The environment is everything happening in the world outside that There are numerous factors that affects the decisions of managers of a company. Examples of macro environments are new laws and government policies, trade barriers, tax changes, social changes. To help examine these factors, I would be using the most popular external environment analysing model known as PESTEL which stand for political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, legal and ecological environment (thus the acronym PESTEL). This coursework will focus on the macro (external) and micro (internal) environments that have major impacts on Procter and Gamble. A PESTEL analysis on PG will be done to the macro environment. Analyse the macro business environment in respect of PG group and identify the factors that will have significant impact on Groups business. The success of any company does not reply only on the efficiency and management methods of the company. There are other factors involved the market performance. The macro environment contains the external and uncontainable influence that might affect the market performance, strategies and decision making of the company. As Baines (2011) describe: The operating environment for all organisations is never static and seldom entirely predictable, and can therefore profoundly affect a companys course of action. Strategic management experts stated that for a company to achieve a competitive advantage, its needs to follow strategies that develops existing capabilities, resources and formulate strategies that develops extra capabilities, resources. (Hill Jones, 2010) PESTLE Analysis All combined the macro environment factors analysis will be known as PESTEL. Macro environment factors are beyond the control of an organization. This is because those factors are    positioned outside the organisational system. Those forces are the prime factors in corporate strategization i.e. determining the objectives of an organisation, its drive for profits, its projection for future sales as well as a protection step in preventing any losses or problems. According to Lowe and Marriott (2006,p. 181),macro factors are the major trends Strengths Verities of business segments (6 operating segments). One of PGs major strength is the large scale on which it operates. It produces over 300 different product and leading globally in different categories of products like beauty and health, fabric, baby, personal and home care products sold in about 180 counties in the world. PG strong brand man is one of the most successful due to its solid branding. Most of PGs products are not for all seasons Leading globally in detergent, diapers, care products. Has industry experience of over 170-year, international operations for over 25 years and extensive experience in personal and oral hygiene products. PG is one of the world best marketers has it has a wide experience in marketing in different market sectors. The acquisitions of leading of beauty and health care companies in the products in Europe. High gross profit margin. PGs profit margin is 15 times the industry average. P G is known for investing greatly in research and development for improving and developing new products. Weaknesses Ability to achieve business objectives dependent on how well can respond to local and global competitors Face risks with significant international operations A failure of a key information technology system, process or site could have a material adverse impact on our business Price paid for commodities and other materials subject to fluctuation 7 Production cost Production capacity for the demand on the first years. Leads times for alternative pack sizes and designs. Work capacity. Different culture, wants and needs of customers. Unable to protect imitation PGs innovative products and marketing strategies of competition Competitors had pre-empted them in national markets where the local subsidiary was constrained by budget or organizational limitations. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Many of the top brands of P G are losing their market share rapidly. In online media leadership and presence P G is lagging behind. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The beauty and health products by P G are mostly for women. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ P G does not make and offer any private label products for the retail customers and is, missing an opportunity. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The large scale operation of the company makes the culture heavy and processes slow. This also leads to quality control problems. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ P G does not divest its weak or poor brands. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The major customers of P G are located at some of the places and it concentrates heavily as them. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ When P G acquired Clairol business in year 2001, it was unable to grow this business. The Clairol Herbal Essence brand failed to enter new markets as the market had access to better and innovative products. This shows weakness of P G in the beauty care division. Opportunities  · Research and development efforts ($2001 million spent on RD in 2011) to develop technology and obtain patents  · Worldwide reach and potential to expand into even more countries The growth of the shampoo and conditioner market. The increase of hair washing products. The undeveloped conditioner market in Europe. The experience and the leader positioning of the new companies that PG bought. The Know-how of the success of Pert Plus in the US market à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ An opportunity for P G is health and beauty products for men. With the acquisition of Gillette, the company now has several growth opportunities in this market segment. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ P G has doubled its Environmental Goals for the year 2012 and thus, promises more value for the environment concerned customers today. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Using the online social networks and internet marketing techniques is also an opportunity for P G. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Divest brands that are not in accordance or do not meet P Gs long-term goals à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Company is constantly trying to pursue growth overseas. Threats  · A material change in consumer demand for products could have a significant impact on business  · Business is subject to legislation, regulation, and enforcement in the U.S. and abroad The number of suppliers and brands, the European market was even more crowed as US. The top and bottom price classes was even bigger than the US. Difference between prices for the same quality. Many important competitors. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ There is a cut throat competition in the fast moving consumers goods markets today. Companies like Kimberly Clark, Unilever, Johnsons Johnsons and Colgate-Palmolive etc pose a serious threat to itsmarket share in different countries. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The competitors are making their product portfolios diverse day b day and using different marketing and promotional strategies to increase their market share. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In the market many substitutes are available for P G products at cheaper prices. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ The private label growth is also a serious threat to the P Gs market share. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Due to recession, the consumer spending has decreased globally. Also, the prices for raw materials are increasing so cost to the company is increasing http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/15/us-kellogg-pringles-idUSTRE81E0S620120215

Nuclear Weapons are a Threat To World Peace :: Atomic Bombs

It is a well-known fact that the dropping of the two atomic bombs near the end of World War II in 1945 ushered in the dawn of the Atomic Age. For the first time in human history, the world was introduced to the awesome power of nuclear weapons. Since that time, there have been several different nuclear threats to the world, and one of those threats can be found along the Pacific Rim, in the country of North Korea. Like the dropping of the atomic bombs, it is also known that the North Korean government has admitted to possessing nuclear weapons, and in doing so, it stands as a silent, potential nuclear danger to the rest of the world. To understand this situation more fully, one must be given some background, starting in the early 1950s. Due to the harsh differences between the peoples of Korea, and especially due to the onset of Communism, the Korean War erupted and the nation split in half, with the Communist-supported Democratic People’s Republic in the north and those who favored democracy in the Korean Republic of the south (Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000). The two separate countries of North Korea and South Korea went their opposite ways, and each has experienced different fortunes in the past half-century. The South Koreans managed to recover from the turmoil of the 1950s and 1960s to become an economic power and a democracy supporter. On the other hand, North Korea can be viewed as a retro country, based first on a Communist ideology, laid down by leader Kim Il Sung and inherited by his son, the current dictator Kim Jong Il, then evolving into a totalitarian state (Pacific Rim: East Asia at the Dawn of a New Century). Today North Korea holds the distinction of being one of the very few remaining countries to be truly cut off from the rest of the world. Author Helie Lee describes this in her novel In the Absence of Sun: â€Å"An eerie fear crawled through my flesh as I stood on the Chinese side of the Yalu River, gazing across the murky water into one of the most closed-off and isolated countries in the world.† (1)

The Indignity of the Church :: Essays Papers

The Indignity of the Church In the article â€Å"The Priest Scandal†, by Carol Cannon expresses her views in the American Journalism Review regarding the scandals within the Catholic Church. She continues to explain how the Catholic Church has been trying to keep the whole issue hidden from society. Carol Cannon makes a point how the media has struggled with pursuing this issue for many years, while America wasn’t ready to hear the truth on such a controversial topic. Carol Cannon is writing to many different groups. Catholics are probably going to be the most interested, but since this issue is so huge it affects many different audiences and ages. Cannon’s article on sexual child abuse by priests, is written through the use of logic, credibility and emotions. She displays a clear topic and supports with using reason along with values and beliefs. The claims that Cannon makes are logical because many priests have come forwards or been charged with child molestation. Cannon makes logical claims by issuing persuasive arguments on the issue that child molestation by priests has been covered up for years. She has been reporting on the issue of pedophilia by Church officials for more than 13 years. Cannon uses evidence to support her claim. She has a combination of evidence, some which of were interviews of children who were sexual molested by priests. Cannon, along with others has also been granted permission to explore archives where the priest’s cases have been taken to court. Cannon’s examples are convincing through her arguments. She also has credible sources of other journalists that wrote on the same topic as she did. Cannons argument appeal to everyday common sense because the issue has become such a big deal to Americans. The media has also played a large part in the growth of this topic. When reporters were told to pick another topic the news media didn’t listen and were heard. Since the issue of child molestation has been around for awhile, the public knows of the issue and has a stance on it. The structure of the article has much to do on the argument of the topic. The author starts out with her credibility and then a short narrative which is an attention getter.

Fantasys Integral Role In The Creation Of A Killer :: essays research papers fc

Fantasy's Integral Role In The Creation Of A Killer Through out history seldom has an individual been able to hold a city in fear. Most times people will just either ignore the individual, let the police handle the situation, or call them wacko or crazy. But then there are the extreme cases. On this end of the scale people may have extreme mental problems or very strong motives, so extreme or so strong that they captivate an entire city or even nation. Jack the Ripper did it by killing and murdering five prostitutes. In recent times it has been people like Charles Manson and the Boston Strangler, who assaulted and murdered thirteen women keeping the entire city captivated in a state of fear. Serial Killers... Fantasy plays a very important role in creating and or modeling a serial killer and it is shown through remorse, uniform and weather or not they have or follow a trademarked style. All of these elements combined expose the fantasy portrayed by a serial killer. Pain, does a serial killer have or feel pain for their victims? Sometimes the killer may depending on the psychological state they are in. But then regarding the fact most serial killers grow up in violent households one might say that the killer does not or even can't feel remorse because violence is what they were brought up in and to believe is true so it is what they have been conditioned to believe. Or you could take the approach that the killer feels they are being threatened by their victims so they had to be removed from the picture altogether. Or finally it might be the killer is so mentally unstable that they have very little to no consciences awareness of what they are doing. But what if they do feel sorrow? Can a serial killer feel sorrow? One researcher says no. "The inner workings of the mind of a serial killer cannot grasp the feeling of any kind of sorrow or remorse". Therefore a serial killer is hate manifested into a physical state and may or may not have motives to kill. Serial killers may be killing For many reasons weather it be for revenge or whatever but one thing remains as a standard among killers you have to be smart to stay alive. Once you have that intellect comes avoidance from the law and your capture. One of the best cases of a extremely intelligent killer was the case of the Zodiac Killer in California. His uniform was to kill couples parked in cars, by shooting through the window with a .

Greed is for Wimps

In a Wall Street Journal article titled â€Å"Greed is for Wimps†, the writer talks about how the new generation, Generation Y, is becoming more socially aware. According to the article, this new generation of professionals wants to give back to the community. Apparently it’s not enough to be successful and make all the money in the world. These young professionals are no longer satisfied with driving expensive cars and wearing name brand clothes. An interview with one such young entrepreneur explained how â€Å"the positive impact [we] make on people’s lives is the best measure† of accomplishment. (Omidi) With the way this new generation has such easy access to information over the Internet and socially networking sites, it facilitates them to become more socially conscious. Also, with the effects of the financial crisis still lingering around, this new generation is beginning to find unappealing careers that focus just on making money. Perhaps today’s youth is realizing that everyone’s lives in this world is more intertwined than we believed. We can no longer just look out for ourselves and we can’t decide to help others once we have all the money we want. Instead we should help others as we make our money. I really hope this article is revealing what’s really going on in today’s professional generation and it’s not just subjective. It would be great if everyone began to see that â€Å"social returns outweigh the financial ones. †

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Essay

Shelley wanted the audience in this scene to feel greater sympathy for the monster as he is turned away yet again by mankind because he is simply judged too quickly because of his appearance. Branagh remains true to Shelley’s intentions in this scene by making the monster appear heartbroken. Cries echo through the forest, he runs with a limp through the forest away from the house and collapses on the ground as soon as he thinks he is out of sight from the family. These things were very good for building up sympathy for the monster. This scene is also where we see the monster beginning to change. He goes back to the house and sees that the family have fled their home, this makes the monster so angry and upset that he sets fire to the cottage and swears that he will have revenge on the man who made him, so he reads the journal left in his jacket and goes to Geneva to get his revenge on Frankenstein. Branagh made this part of his film very dramatic by using very fast powerful music against the roaring of flames and black smoke that engulfed the cottage and the monster stood in front of the cottage looking fiercely at the flames with a look of anger in his eyes. This is good because it shows that the emotions and feelings which the monster has been hiding are all being forced out of him because he is determined to find answers to all the questions he has about his life and this is exactly how Shelley intended this scene to look as the monster suddenly realises his purpose of life is an experiment. When the monster kills William and sets up Justine Branagh managed to plan this very well because Shelley wanted the monster to kill the little brother and also be able to plant it on Justine without losing sympathy from the audience for the monster and Branagh is able to do this by not actually showing the monster killing William. In the next scene the monster and Frankenstein meet in the mountains, the monster has his chance to get his answers from the man who made him. The monster comes across as being very certain of his knowledge and his feelings. This appears to scare Frankenstein because he doesn’t actually know why he did something so evil and didn’t realise the greatness of the pain he had caused. Shelley wanted this conversation between the monster and Frankenstein to make the audience judge the monster as the ‘good guy’ and Frankenstein as the ‘bad guy. ‘ Branagh does this by making the monster talk and ask a lot more questions than Frankenstein. Frankenstein has a look of shock on his face throughout the conversation but the monster looks very certain and meaningful of everything he says to Victor, again making the monster seem superior to Frankenstein. Shelley wanted the audience to feel that the monster only did certain evil things because he was given emotions and senses but not shown how to use them and Branagh fits that into the film by the monster asking Victor Why he made him and brought him into the world to live and so very quickly and then left him to die. Shelley believed that no child should be bought into the world without being loved by parents; Branagh shows this belief of Shelley’s by building up a father and son relationship and shows the father-like character abandoning an innocent child-like character. The monster asks one thing of Frankenstein and that is to have a bride that will look as ‘ugly’ as him so that she would accept him for whom he is and vows that they will never be seen again. This again shows the maturity and sense of the monster. Frankenstein grants him this and promises he will have his bride. Frankenstein doesn’t keep his promise and returns home to marry his bride and travel away with armed men on their wedding night so they will have protection if the monster does come to kill them which he promised he would if he did not get his bride. It is a dark and stormy night and raining very heavily which makes it very hard to see through the dark night, Frankenstein goes outside because he thinks he hears the monsters pipe playing and leaves Elizabeth on her own, quiet slow music start to play but it starts to get faster and louder which says to the viewer that the monster is close by, which he is because he climbs through the window and punches Elizabeth in the chest and pulls her heart out, spraying blood everywhere making a very gruesome sound and very nasty to look at. Frankenstein refuses to accept the death of his new bride so he takes her back to his laboratory and starts cutting up Justine’s body and stitching parts of her and Elizabeth together and revives her so once again we see all the gory bits of limbs being cut up and sewn together, as Elizabeth awakens she realises what Victor has done to her as the monster comes into the laboratory and mistakes her for his bride which victor had promised her, she becomes so angry and upset with the fact that she has been part of Victor ‘playing God’ she sets herself on fire and runs through the house alighting everything. This scene is again highly over exaggerated, as it is very gory and horrifically unnecessary to the viewer. As Walton and his crew come to burn Frankenstein’s body the monster emerges from the distance and is offered by Walton to come with them, this being his first offering of acceptance to mankind, the monster says â€Å"he was my father† and decides to set himself alight upon Frankenstein’s body so that they burnt together. I think Branagh managed to remain true to most of Shelley’s intentions of ‘Frankenstein’ by portraying the monsters character as a very innocent, childlike character linking it all in very well with Shelley’s beliefs she had before and whilst writing ‘Frankenstein’. Branagh definitely pandered to the accepted stereotype of the horror genre by showing a lot of close-ups of quite disturbing images and very horrific noises that went with the images that a book can’t do. Branagh also used a very wide range of music that managed to fit into all the horrific parts of his film very well. Charlotte Tufnell 10M Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Mary Shelley section.

Administrative Ethics Paper Grading Criteria Essay

Resource: Administrative Ethics Paper Grading Criteria on your student website Find a current administrative issue in a newspaper, magazine, or journal article relating to topics such as patient privacy, confidentiality, or HIPAA. Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper that includes the following: †¢ Describe the issue and its impact on the population it affects most. †¢ What arguments or facts are used in the article to support the proposed solution? †¢ What are the ethical and legal issues reported for your administrative issue? †¢ Explain the managerial responsibilities related to administrative ethical issues. If none were stated, what should have been done? †¢ Identify any proposed solutions. See more: Strategic Management Process Essay Include at least three sources in your paper. Resource: Administrative Ethics Paper Grading Criteria on your student website Find a current administrative issue in a newspaper, magazine, or journal article relating to topics such as patient privacy, confidentiality, or HIPAA. Write a 1,050- to 1,400-word paper that includes the following: †¢ Describe the issue and its impact on the population it affects most. †¢ What arguments or facts are used in the article to support the proposed solution? †¢ What are the ethical and legal issues reported for your administrative issue? †¢ Explain the managerial responsibilities related to administrative ethical issues. If none were stated, what should have been done? †¢ Identify any proposed solutions.

Different Between Adaptive and Rational Expectation

Working Paper No. 00-01-01 Are Policy Rules Better than the Discretionary System in Taiwan? James P. Cover C. James Hueng and Ruey Yau Are Policy Rules Better than the Discretionary System in Taiwan? James Peery Cover Department of Economics, Finance, and Legal Studies University of Alabama Phone: 205-348-8977 Fax: 205-348-0590 Email: [email  protected] ua. edu C. James Hueng Department of Economics, Finance, and Legal Studies University of Alabama Phone: 205-348-8971 Fax: 205-348-0590 Email: [email  protected] ua. edu and Ruey Yau Department of Economics Fu-Jen Catholic University Taiwan Phone: 619-534-8904 Fax: 619-534-7040 Email: [email  protected] csd. edu Correspondence to: C. James Hueng Department of Economics, Finance, and Legal Studies University of Alabama, Box 870224 Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 Phone: 205-348-8971 Fax: 205-348-0590 Email: [email  protected] ua. edu Are Policy Rules Better than the Discretionary System in Taiwan? ABSTRACT This paper investigates whether th e central bank of Taiwan would have had a more successful monetary policy during the period 1971:1 to 1997:4 if it had followed an optimal rule rather than the discretionary policies that were actually employed.The paper examines the use of two different instruments—the discount rate and the monetary base—with several different targets — growth of nominal output, inflation, the exchange rate, and the money growth. The results show that most of the rules considered would not have significantly improved the performance of the Taiwanese economy. The only rule that is clearly advantageous is one that targets inflation while using the interest rate instrument. Keywords: monetary policy rule, small open economy, dynamic programming JEL classification: E52, F41 1.Introduction How well has the Central Bank of Taiwan implemented monetary policy during the past three decades? With the exception of two inflationary episodes during periods of oil-price shocks (1973-1974 and 1979-1981), as far as inflation is concerned, the historical record suggests that monetary policy in Taiwan has been very successful. Figure 1 shows that during other periods the rate of inflation in Taiwan typically has been relatively low, nearly always being between 2% and 7% per year. But could the Central Bank of Taiwan have performed much better than it actually did?That is, could it have achieved a lower and less variable rate of inflation at little or no cost in terms of lost output? Because Taiwanese monetary policy has been discretionary, rather than based on a formal rule, there is a strand of macroeconomic theory that suggests the answer to this question must be yes. If the structure of the Taiwanese economy is such that an unexpected increase in the rate of inflation causes output to increase, then policy makers have an incentive to increase inflation. This implies that a discretionary monetary policy will have an inflationary bias [Kydland and Prescott (1977) and Barr o (1986)].The existence of this inflationary bias makes it difficult for policy makers to lower expected inflation without first earning a reputation for price stability. If the only way to earn this reputation is through actually achieving low inflation, then the cost of reducing inflation is a significant loss of output. A solution to this reputation or credibility problem is for the monetary authority to follow an explicit formal rule that eliminates its discretion to inflate. It therefore follows that a monetary policy implemented according to a rule will achieve lower inflation than a discretionary monetary policy.For example, Judd and Motley (1991, 1992, 1993) and McCallum (1988) have examined the empirical properties of nominal feedback rules and find that the use of simple feedback rules could have produced price stability for the United States over the past several decades without significantly increasing the volatility of real output. 1 This paper examines whether the cent ral bank of Taiwan would have had a more successful monetary policy if it had followed an explicit rule rather than the discretionary policies it actually implemented.Of the rules considered here, only one yields both an output variance and an inflation variance appreciably lower than those actually realized by the Taiwanese economy. Hence this paper concludes that the discretionary policies implemented by the central bank of Taiwan were very close to being optimal. Svensson (1998) divides proposed rules for monetary policy into two broad groups, instrument rules and targeting rules. Instrument rules require that the central bank adjust its policy instrument in response to deviations between the actual and desired value of one or more variables being targeted by the monetary authority.Examples of this type of rule are those proposed by both Taylor (1993) and McCallum (1988). A rule that requires the Fed to raise the federal funds rate (its instrument of monetary policy) whenever the growth rate of nominal GDP is unexpectedly high (the rate of growth of nominal GDP being the target variable) regardless of other information available to the Fed is an example of an instrument rule. But because instrument rules do not use all information available to the monetary authority, as shown by both Friedman (1975) and Svensson (1998), they are inferior to monetary policy rules that do use all available information.If a monetary policy rule minimizes a specified loss function while allowing the monetary authority to use all available information, then Svensson (1998) calls it a targeting rule. If the monetary authority is following a targeting rule, then it will respond to all information in a manner that minimizes its loss function. The loss function formalizes how important the monetary authority believes are deviations of its various target variables from their optimal values. The policy rule is derived from the optimal solution of the dynamic programming problem that m inimizes the loss function subject to the structure of the economy.The resulting rule expresses the growth of the policy instrument as a function of the predetermined variables in the model. That is, the policy instrument responds not only to the target variables but also to all other variables in the model. Hence a targeting rule would not 2 always require the Fed to raise the federal funds rate when the growth rate of nominal GDP is unexpectedly high because other information might imply that the relatively high rate of growth of nominal GDP is the result of an increase in the growth rate of real GDP (rather than an increase in inflation).Although there appears to be a growing consensus that price stability should be the central long-run objective of monetary policy, there are still continuing debates about the proper selection of the policy instrument and the best target variables. But clearly the choice of the best policy instrument and the best target(s) is an empirical issue. Furthermore, the best choices can vary from country to country because the controllability of any particular policy instrument and the effectiveness of each target most likely vary across countries.Therefore, this paper examines two different policy instruments and several targets to search for the best policy rule for Taiwan. The rest of this paper is organized as follows. Section 2 discusses the instrument and the targets of monetary policy that this paper considers. Section 3 describes the method used to derive the policy rules and conduct the simulations. Section 4 describes the data and presents the simulation results, while Section 5 offers some conclusions. 2. Instruments and Targets of Monetary Policies In discussing how monetary policy should be implemented it is helpful to draw a istinction between the instruments and the targets of monetary policy. The targets of monetary policy are those macroeconomic variables that the monetary authority ultimately desires to influence through its policy actions [Friedman, 1975]. For this reason Svensson (1998) prefers to call target variables only those variables that are important enough to be included in the monetary authority's loss function. The targets of monetary policy therefore are a way to formalize the overall objectives of a monetary authority.On the other hand, the instrument of monetary policy is the variable that the monetary authority chooses to control for the purpose of meeting its overall objectives, i. e. minimizing its loss function. 3 Monetary policy instruments basically fall into two categories: the monetary base and short-term interest rates. Proponents of using the monetary base as the instrument of monetary policy argue that the base is the variable that determines the aggregate level of prices, and therefore is a natural instrument for the control of inflation [McCallum (1988)].But most central banks, including the central bank of Taiwan, use a short-term interest rate as their instrume nt of monetary policy. Proponents of an interest rate instrument point out that it insulates the economy against instability in the demand for money, that interest rates are a part of the transmission channel of monetary policy, and that no useful purpose is served by wide fluctuations in interest rates [Kohn (1994)]. This paper presents simulation results using both types of instruments. The results support the central bank of Taiwan's decision to use an interest rate instrument.This paper examines four target variables: a monetary aggregate, the exchange rate, nominal income and the rate of inflation. 1 The targeting of a monetary aggregate often is advocated by those who believe that business cycles largely result from changes in the growth rate of a monetary aggregate [Warburton (1966), M. Friedman (1960)]. Another reason for choosing a monetary aggregate as the target variable for monetary policy is its ability to serve as a nominal anchor that can prevent policies from allowin g inflation to increase to an unacceptable level.Although this allows a monetary aggregate to communicate long-run policy objectives to the general public, as Friedman (1975) points out, it is by its very nature an inferior choice as a target variable because the monetary authority is only concerned with monetary aggregates to the extent that it provides them with information about inflation and output growth. 2 1 Recent For a more complete discussion about different target variables, see Mishkin (1999). That is, monetary aggregates are intermediate targets rather than true targets of monetary policy. Friedman (1975) shows that the use of intermediate targets is not optimal. Although Svensson's (1998) idea of using forecasts of the target variable as a synthetic intermediate target is implicit in Friedman's (1975) discussion. 4 instability in the velocity of money for the time being has ended any possibility that a monetary aggregate will be used as a target for monetary policy in t he United States. McKinnon (1984) and Williamson and Miller (1987) argue that monetary policy should target the exchange rate in an open economy.For example, the exchange rate has been the sole or main target in most of the EMS countries. Pegging the domestic currency to a strong currency prevents changes in the exchange rate from having an effect on the domestic price level. But exchange rate targeting results in the loss of an independent monetary policy. The targeting country cannot respond to domestic shocks that are independent of those hitting the anchor country because exchange rate targeting requires that its interest rate be closely linked to that in the anchor country.McCallum (1988) suggests a nominal GDP targeting rule because of its close relationship with the price level. The nominal GDP target has intrinsic appeal when instability in velocity makes a monetary target unreliable. As long as the growth rate of real GDP is predictable, there is a predictable relationship between nominal GDP and the price level. However, recent studies on the time series properties of real GDP raise questions about the predictability of real GDP.If real GDP does not grow at a constant rate, then a constant growth rate for nominal GDP does not guarantee a stable price level. Recently there has been a great upsurge of interest in direct inflation targeting, a policy that has been adopted by the central banks of New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Finland, Australia, and Spain. Although this policy has been implemented with apparent success in the above countries, there are theoretical concerns with inflation targeting.One problem with inflation targeting is that the effect of monetary policy actions on the price level occurs with considerably more delay than its effects on financial variables. The use of a financial variable such as monetary aggregates or exchange rates as the target would provide an earlier signal to the public that policy has deviated fr om its goals. In addition, attempts by the central 5 banks to achieve a predetermined path for prices may cause large movements in real GDP, but only if the price level is sticky in the short run.But the apparent success of inflation targeting, where it has been tried, suggests that these concerns are misplaced. 3 Also, because the effect of monetary policy on long-term trends in output and employment is now considered to be negligible, many economists are now advocating that monetary authorities should use only inflation (or the price level) as the sole target for monetary policy. According to this view the main contribution that monetary policy can make to the trend in real output is to create an environment where markets are not distorted by high and volatile inflation.The central bank of Taiwan appears to have accepted this position. It has repeatedly stated that its number one priority is price stability and the reaction function estimated by Shen and Hakes (1995) confirms that it has behaved as if price stability is an important policy goal. So what combination of policy instrument and target variable would result in the best rule for monetary policy in Taiwan? Would the adoption of such a rule have improved Taiwanese monetary policy during the past three decades?To answer these questions this paper experiments over two policy instruments (monetary base and interest rate) and four target variables (the rate of inflation, the growth rate of nominal GDP, the growth rate of the monetary base, and the change in exchange rate) in an attempt to find what would have been the best targeting rule for Taiwan during the period 1971:1-1997:4. The historical performance of the Taiwanese economy is then compared with the performance predicted by the â€Å"best† targeting rule to evaluate how good Taiwanese monetary policy has been.This comparison is made by comparing the volatility of the relevant variables resulting from the proposed rules with those from the historical data. 3 A careful reading of Friedman (1975) and Svensson (1998) also suggests that these concerns are misplaced. 6 Although, as noted above, by their very nature targeting rules are superior to instrument rules. Hence this paper emphasizes targeting rules. But just how much better targeting rules are than instrument rules is an empirical question of some practical importance because instrument rules are more transparent than targeting rules.Hence, for completeness, this paper also presents results for instrument rules using the rate of interest and the monetary base as instruments and the rate of inflation as the target variable. 3. The Model and Methodology 3. 1 The instrument rule An instrument rule adjusts the growth of the policy instrument in response to deviations between the actual and desired value of the target variable. That is, ? It = (? xt-1 – ? xt-1*), (1) where It represents the policy instrument, ? xt is the target variable, the superscript * denot es the target value desired by the central bank, and ? efines the proportion of a target miss to which the central bank chooses to respond. In this paper, variables are expressed as deviations from their own means. Therefore, there is no cost in terms of generality to set the targeted growth rate desired by the central bank to zero. The economy is characterized by an open-economy VARX model which includes five variables: the growth rate4 of real income (? yt), the rate of inflation (? pt), the change in the logarithm of the exchange rate (? et), the growth rate of the monetary base (? mt), and the change in the interest rate (? rt).Since the purpose of this paper only requires a model that fits the Taiwanese economy well during the sample period, we use a general VARX model with a 4 Growth rates in the empirical work are calculated by taking log-first differences. 7 maximum lag length of four and adopt Hsiao’s (1981) method to determine the optimal lags for each variable. 5 S pecifically, the general VARX model can be written as: ? Xt = A0 + A1? Xt-1 + A2? Xt-2 + A3? Xt-3 + A4? Xt-4 + i =0 ? ai ? I t ? i 4 + ? t, (2) where ? Xt is the 4? 1 vector that contains variables other than the growth of the policy instrument.The policy instrument has immediate effects on other variables if the 4? 1 vector a0 is not zero. For example, if the instrument is rt and the target is ? pt, then Xt = [ yt, pt, et, mt ] and equations (1) and (2) can be written as: ? rt = ? ?pt-1, ? Xt = A0 + A1? Xt-1 + A2? Xt-2 + A3? Xt-3 + A4? Xt-4 + (1)’ i =0 ? ai ? rt ? i 4 + ? t. (2)’ Previous studies such as Judd and Motley (1991, 1992, 1993) and McCallum (1988) estimate equation (2) and assume that the economy faces the same set of shocks that actually occurred in the sample period.The estimated equation, the historical shocks, and the policy rule (1) are used to generate the counterfactual data. Statistics calculated from the counterfactual data are then compared to the historical experiences. In these studies, the response parameter ? is arbitrarily set and the results from different ? ’s are compared. However, given linearity of the model and the variance-covariance matrix of historical shocks, one can analytically solve for the value of ? that minimizes the variance of the inflation rates. Specifically, substituting (1) into (2) yields a VAR(5) in ?Xt. For convenience, the VAR(5) system can be written as a more compact expression: 5 We tried to adopt Ball's (1998) open-economy Keynesian type model to Taiwan, but this model was not supported by the Taiwanese data. 8 ?Wt = B0 + B1? Wt-1 + ? t, (3) where Wt = [ Xt, Xt-1, Xt-2, Xt-3, Xt-4 ] and ? t = [? t, 0] are both 20? 1. Assume that ? Wt is stationary. Denote V? W as the variance-covariance matrix of ? Wt and V? the variance-covariance matrix of ?t. Equation (3) implies V? W = B1 V? W B1†² + V?. (4) Given the regression results of (2), the variance of ? t is a function of ? only. Th erefore, the value of ? that minimizes the variance of ? pt, given historical shocks, can be calculated. The advantages of an instrument rule include its simplicity, transparency to the public, and the fact that it is always operational. The central bank responds to observed deviations from the target and does not need to base its policy actions on forecasts that require knowledge of the structure of the economy. However, as noted above, instrument rules are not optimal in the sense that they do not use all available information.The policy instrument only responds to the target variables, which is usually inefficient compared to rules that allow the instrument to respond to all the variables in the model. The following section uses an optimal control problem to derive the optimal policy rule, instead of specifying the rule in advance. 3. 2 The targeting rule A targeting rule is derived from the minimization of a loss function. This loss function reflects the policymaker’s des ired path for the target variable. A commonly used one is a quadratic loss function which penalizes deviations of the target variable from its target value.The policymaker’s optimization problem can be solved with the knowledge of the dynamics of the economic structure, which is equation (2). That is, equation (2) is used as the constraints in the dynamic programming problem. To simplify analysis, equation (2) is written as a first-order system, Zt = b + B Zt-1 + C ? It + ? t, (5) 9 where Zt = [? Xt, ? Xt-1, ? Xt-2, ? Xt-3, ? It, ? It-1, ? It-2, ? It-3]. The constant vector b is 20? 1, B is 20? 20, C is 20? 1, ? t is 20? 1, and their arguments should be obvious. Therefore, the central bank's control problem is to minimize a stream of expected quadratic loss function: T 1 E0 ?Zt ‘ K Zt, T t =1 (6) subject to Zt = b + B Zt-1 + C ? It + ? t, (5) where the expectation E0 is conditional on the initial condition Z0. Again, without loss of generality, the target value is set t o zero since all the variables are expressed as deviations from mean. The elements in the matrix K are weights that represent how important to the central bank are deviations of the target variables from their target values. For example, if the central bank wants to target the inflation rates, then the [2,2] element of K is 1 and the other elements are all zeros.The loss function is equivalent to (1/T) E0 ?t =1? pt 2 . T If the central bank wants to target the nominal GDP, then the 2? 2 block on the upper left corner of K is a unity matrix and the other elements are all zeros. The loss function in this case is (1/T) E0 ?t =1(? yt + ? pt ) 2 . T Now the problem is to choose the policy instrument ? I1, . . . , ? IT that minimizes (6), given the initial condition Z0. By using Bellman's (1957) method of dynamic programming the problem is solved backward. That is, the last period T is solved first, given the initial condition ZT-1.Having found the optimal IT, we solve the two-period prob lem for the last two periods by choosing the optimal IT-1, contingent on the initial condition ZT-2, and so on. Letting T > ? , the optimal policy rule can be expressed as [see Chow (1975, ch. 8) for derivation details]: ? It = G Zt-1 + f , with (7) 10 G = -(C ‘ HC) ? 1 (C ‘ HB), f = -(C ‘ HC) ?1 C ‘ (Hb-h), H = K + (B+CG) ‘ H (B+CG), and h =[I-(B+CG) ‘ ] ?1 [- (B+CG) ‘ Hb]. The rule defines the policy instrument as a function of the predetermined variables in the model. The economy is assumed to face the same set of shocks that actually occurred in the historical period.Therefore, the estimated equations, the policy rule, and the historical shocks are used to generate the counterfactual data. The resulting statistics are compared. Even though it is usually more efficient to let the instrument respond to all the relevant variables than to let it respond only to the target variables, the ad hoc instrument rules are more widely discussed in th e literature. The reason for the preference for simple instrument rules may be that the targeting rule is more sensitive to model specifications. For example, the assumption of full information is generally maintained for the computation of an optimal rule.This tends to make the targeting rule less robust to model specification errors than are the simple instrument rules. In addition, the optimal rule may require larger adjustments of the instrument because it responds to more variables. This would in turn yield undesired higher volatility of the other variables such as output growth. Therefore, again, the choice between the instrument rule and the targeting rule cannot be determined by theory alone and is an empirical issue. 4. Empirical Results 4. 1 Data This paper uses Taiwanese national quarterly time series data for the period 1971:11997:4.The sample starts in 1971:1 because of data availability. All data are taken from two databanks: the National Income Accounts Quarterly and the Financial Statistical Databank. 11 The rediscount rate is used as rt because it indicates the policy intentions of the central Bank of Taiwan most directly. The monetary base mt is defined as the reserve money. The exchange rate target is the NT/US dollar rate. The variable yt is real GDP in millions of 1991 NT dollars, and pt is defined as the GDP deflators. Except interest rates, all variables are in logarithms. All variables are in first-difference form and expressed as deviations from their means.The Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test is used to ensure that the variables are transformed into stationary processes6. The top row of Table 1 presents the historical standard deviations of the variables in the model in order to allow comparison with the values obtained from the simulations. 4. 2 Estimation results under instrument rules Panel A in Table 1 presents the standard deviations obtained using an instrument rule with inflation as the target variable. The first row of Panel A presents simulation results under an interest rate instrument, while the second row presents results under a monetary base instrument.The simulations using an interest rate instrument yielded standard deviations for output growth, the change in the exchange rate, and money growth that are only slightly higher than those for the historical data, while the standard deviation of inflation is slightly lower than its historical value. The only standard deviation in the first row of Panel A that differs substantially from the historical data is that for the change in the interest rate, which is much lower in the simulation.These results indicate that actual policy in Taiwan achieved results almost as good as those that would have been obtained under an optimal interest-rate instrument rule with the 6 The lag lengths in the ADF regressions are determined by the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and the Schwartz's (1978) criterion. The maximum length is set to 12. A time trend is includ ed in the yt, pt, and mt regressions. All results indicate that the original time series are integrated of order one. The results of the tests are available from the authors upon request. 12 xception that the optimal rule would have yielded a more stable rate of interest. The simulation using the monetary base as the instrument yielded slightly higher standard deviations for all variables except the rate of inflation. Those for output growth, the change in the exchange rate, and the rate of interest were only slightly higher than the historical values, while the standard deviation of the growth rate of the monetary base was much higher than its historical value. The standard deviation of the inflation rate is slightly lower than the historical value but is higher than that in the interest rate instrument rule.These results suggest that the discretionary policy implemented in Taiwan was superior to an optimal monetary base instrument rule. They also indicate that an instrument rule u sing the rate of interest would have been superior to one employing the monetary base as instrument, though not by a large margin. 4. 3 Estimation results under targeting rules Panel B of Table 1 presents standard deviations of the variables under the various targeting rules considered here. The first four rows of Panel B present results obtained using an interest rate instrument.In the first row of Panel B the standard deviation of nominal GDP is minimized; in the second row the standard deviation of inflation is minimized; etc. The last three rows of Panel B present results under a monetary base instrument. Notice that for both instruments, if nominal GDP is the target, then the standard deviations of all variables are higher than their historical values. This implies that the growth rate of nominal GDP would not have been a suitable target variable for Taiwan. Furthermore, notice that for all targets under the monetary base instrument the standard deviation of output growth is mu ch higher than its historical value.This effectively rules out consideration of the monetary base as the instrument of monetary policy under a targeting rule for Taiwan. Now notice from the fourth row of Panel B that if the monetary base is the target under an interest rate instrument, the standard deviations of output growth and inflation are both higher 13 than their historical values. This effectively rules out the use of the monetary base as an appropriate target for monetary policy in Taiwan. Finally, by comparing rows â€Å"? pt Target† and â€Å"? t Target† of Panel B, one sees that if the rate of inflation is the target, then the standard deviations of output growth and inflation are lower than if the exchange rate is the target. Also, if inflation is the target, the standard deviations from the simulations for inflation and output are lower than their historical values. Hence it is concluded that Taiwanese monetary policy would have been better than its histor ical performance if it had used an optimal targeting rule with the rate of interest as instrument and inflation as the target. 5. Conclusion Taiwan has been very successful in using discretionary monetary policies.This paper attempts to see whether there exist policy rules that can improve the Taiwanese economy for the past several decades. This paper evaluates several monetary policy rules using Taiwanese quarterly data from 1971:1 to 1997:4. Two types of policy rules are examined. Instrument rules adjust the growth of the policy instrument in response to deviations between the actual and desired values of the target variable. Unlike those in the previous studies where arbitrary instrument rules are proposed, this paper solves analytically for the optimal instrument rules that minimize the standard deviation of the rate of inflation.Targeting rules are derived from the solution to the dynamic programming problem that minimizes a loss function subject to the structure of the economy . The rule expresses the growth of the policy instrument as a function of all the predetermined variables in the model. Two policy instruments (interest rate and monetary base) and four targets variables (nominal GDP growth, inflation rate, changes in exchange rates, and money growth rate) are examined in the paper. Simulations of a simple VARX model and the policy rules suggest that, 14 ompared to the historical policy, the use of a policy rule in Taiwan would not have reduced substantially the volatility of inflation rate. The only policy rule that would appeal to the authority is the direct inflation targeting rule with the interest rate as the instrument. This rule would have reduced the standard deviation of the inflation rate in Taiwan by 0. 7% while maintained similar volatility of the other variables to those in the historical data. 15 References Ball, L. (1998), â€Å"Policy Rules for Open Economies,† NBER Working Paper 6760. Barro, Robert J. (1986). Recent Developme nts in the Theory of Rules Versus Discretion,† The Economic Journal Supplement, 23-37. Bellman, R. E. 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H. and Hakes, D. R. (1995), â€Å"Monetary policy as a decision-making hierarchy: The case of Taiwan,† Journal of Macroeconomics 17, 357-368. Taylor, John B. (1993). â€Å"Discretion versus Policy Rules in Practice,† Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, 39: 195:214.Warburton, Clark (1966), â€Å"Introduction,† Depression, inflation, and Monetary Policy: Selected Papers, 1945-1953. Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore. Williamson, John and Miller, Marcus (1987). Targets and Indicators, Washington: Institute for International Economics. 17 Table 1:Standard Deviations of the Variables (in Percentage) Output Growth ? yt Historical Data: Simulated Data: (A) Instrument Rules: Interest Rate Instrument: ? pt Target Monetary Base Instrument: ? pt Target (B) Targeti ng Rules: Interest Rate Instrument: ? (yt + pt) Target ? pt Target ? et Target ? t Target Monetary Base Instrument: ? (yt + pt) Target ? pt Target ? et Target 5. 346 3. 862 3. 798 4. 964 1. 972 3. 449 2. 767 5. 950 2. 139 14. 63 27. 781 6. 794 0. 185 0. 198 0. 159 4. 348 2. 993 3. 047 4. 446 4. 314 2. 092 3. 064 6. 880 3. 076 2. 469 2. 361 2. 771 5. 421 4. 473 4. 281 4. 058 0. 485 0. 175 0. 332 0. 431 -2. 38 3. 308 2. 748 2. 718 6. 540 0. 178 3. 185 Inflation Rate ? pt 2. 793 Change in Exchange rate ? et 2. 415 Monetary Base Growth ? mt 4. 315 Change in interest rate ? rt 0. 162 Optimal ? : 0. 0133 3. 201 2. 633 2. 601 4. 454 0. 035The sample period is from 1971:1 to 1997:4. The variable ? yt is real GDP growth rate, ? pt is inflation rate, ? et is change in exchange rates, ? mt is monetary base growth rate, and ? rt is change in interest rates. All data are from the National Income Accounts Quarterly and the Financial Statistical Databank data banks. The response parameter ? in the instrument rules defines the proportion of a target miss to which the central bank chooses to respond. 18 Figure 1 Inflation Rate (annual rate %) 70 60 Inflation Rate (% per year) 50 40 30 20 10 0 -10 70 74 78 82 Year 86 90 94 98 19