Glucocorticoids Drug Metabolism - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 11 Words: 3366 Downloads: 9 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Science Essay Type Argumentative essay Tags: Drugs Essay Did you like this example? The Role of Glucocorticoid Receptor in the Regulation of Drug Metabolism Introduction Glucocorticoids are extremely important in our life due to their pivotal roles in maintaining homeostasis and coping with stress. Tremendous attention has focused on glucocorticoids because of their wide usage in the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases and their implications to the pathogenesis of many wide-spread disorders, such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, etc. Many pathophysilogical effects of glucocorticoids are contributed by their transcriptional regulation of approximately 10% of our genes (Buckingham, 2006) and these effects are predominantly dependent on the interaction between glucocorticoids and the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), a ligand-activated transcription factor. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Glucocorticoids Drug Metabolism" essay for you Create order Although a variety of physiological functions, such as immune response, metabolism, growth, etc, could be closely related to the GR-mediated gene regulation, this review will mainly focus on the GR-mediated enzyme regulation and its crucial role on drug metabolism in human. It has been appreciated that nuclear receptors play important role in xenobiotic response by regulating expression and/or activity of drug-metabolizing enzymes, thereby modifying the targeted concentrations of the drug and altering the therapeutic drug response. With the development of molecular biology, structure biology, genetics and metabolism studies, tremendous effort has been made to understand the fundamental functions of nuclear receptor superfamily, which makes up a complex regulatory network with extensive cross communication in regulating the xenobiotic response between them. GR becomes my focus not only because of the essential physiological process aforementioned but the key role it plays in drug metabolism. Exploring and understanding the fundamental mechanisms underpinning the actions of GR is critical and is of great help to explain the drug response and some pathophysilogical effects of glucocorticoids as well. GR: structure Glucocorticoid receptor belongs to subfamily 3C of nuclear receptor superfamily and is the first cloned human steroid receptor (Hollenberg et al., 1985). Two protein isoforms of GR, termed hGR alpha (777 amino acids) and hGR beta (742 amino acids) are distinguished by the last 15 amino acids at the C-terminal end and differed binding properties with glucocorticoids. hGR alpha is transcriptionally active while hGR beta is unable to bind glucocorticoids or induce gene transcription. Some studies suggest that it may act as a negative regulator of glucocorticoid action and contribute the tissue sensitivity to glucocorticoids (Bamberger et al., 1995). Three major functional domains: N-terminal domain (NTD), DNA binding domain (DBD) and ligand-binding domain (LBD) are well studied for the GR. Within N-terminal domain, a major activational function domain1 (AF1) is required to enhance maximal transcriptional activity. The DBD contains the most conserved amino acid sequence and comprises two cysteine-rich zinc fingers, which are essential for GR dimerisation and site-specificity of DNA binding. The C-terminal located LBD is responsible for recognition and ligand binding. It also contains the other activational function domain2 (AF2) and this AF2 is also important in regulating the transcriptional activity of GR. In addition to the three major domains, a D-domain or hinge region links DBD and LBD is considered playing a role in GR nuclear translocation (Kumar and Thompson, 2005; Buckingham, 2006). Recent progresses in crystallographic studies solve the crystal structure of the DBD and LBD of the GR, which reveal more insights into the structure: function relationship of GR and help to better understand the importance of molecular organization in the transcriptional activity as well (Lu et al., 2006). GR: activation and gene regulation A chain of impressive reactions occur during the activation of GR and resulting gene regulation. As a ligand-activated transcription factor, the cytoplasm located inactive GR is bound to heat shock protein 90 (hsp90) and other proteins which prevent the nuclear localization of this unoccupied GR. After binding to specific ligand, such as glucocortcoids, the GR is activated and dissociate the oligomeric protein complex, undergoing nuclear translocation, dimerizing via the essential DBD, binding with glucocorticoid response elements (GREs) in the promoter region, recruiting and interacting with other regulatory proteins to induce or repress the expression of targeted genes (Hayashi et al., 2004; Buckingham, 2006). In addition to the direct regulate gene transcription by activated GR binding with GREs, some recent research suggest the indirect regulatory role of GR via protein-protein interactions (Buckingham, 2006). In this manner, GR could interact with other transcription factors, such as NF-B and AP-1, to reduce the expression of pro-inflammatory genes. Most notably in drug metabolism, an extensive cross-talk between GR and other nuclear receptors exists, such as pregnane X receptor (PXR), constitutive androstane receptor (CAR) and retinoic X receptor (RXR) and it further complicates the GR-mediated gene regulation and drug response (Pascussi et al., 1999; Pascussi et al., 2000b; Pascussi et al., 2004; Dvorak et al., 2005). Role of GR: Cytochrome P450 3A4 CYP3A4 is the most important and abundant cytochrome p450 in human liver. It has the largest range of substrates and plays a pivotal role in steroid catabolism and xenobiotic metabolism. The fundamental mechanism underlying the transcriptional activation of CYP3A4 is complex and involves many nuclear receptors, such as PXR, GR, vitamin D receptor and CAR. In fact, several observations indicate the important role of GR in the inducible gene expression of CYP3A4. First of all, glucocortcoids are the classic inducers of CYP3A4 in mammals; secondly, RU486, an antagonist of GR, block the dexamethasone-mediated transcriptional activation of CYP3A4 in HepG2 cells cotransfected with GR and CYP3A4 promoter (Ogg et al., 1999). Although CYP3A4 is highly inducible by glucocortcoids, theres few evidence for the direct interaction of GR with the CYP3A4 promoter since no consensus glucocorticoid receptor response element (GRE) existed in CYP3A genes. Several possible hypotheses account for the role of GR in the transcription regulation of CYP3A4 have been projected (El-Sankary et al., 2002). Either a nonconsensus GRE present in the CYP3A4 promoter region could be used to explain the direct interaction of GR with the CYP3A4 promoter or as previously mentioned via an indirect manner, GR could interact with other transcription factors thereby interacting with the CYP3A4 promoter to induce CYP3A4. Opposed to these hypotheses, study from a GR-knockout mice model shows that GR is not essential for the glucocortcoids-mediated induction of CYP3A (Schuetz et al., 2000). Although someone may argue that such knock-out animal study may cause some other compensating pathway; further extrapolating result from rodents is not scientifically reasonable. Hence the regulation role of GR in CYP3A4 expression is still debatable. On the other hand, since PXR has been demonstrated as a major steroid hormone nuclear receptor in regulation the CYP3A4 gene expression (Lehmann et al., 1998), an indirect evidence for the latter hypothesis could be supported by the interactive regulatory cross communication between GR and other nuclear receptors, especially PXR, CAR and RXR (Pascussi et al., 2000a; Pascussi et al., 2000b; Gerbal-Chaloin et al., 2002). It is highly possible that GR indirectly contributes to the inducible gene regulation of CYP3A4 by interacting and controlling the expression of PXR, CAR and RXR. Indeed, in studies using human hepatocytes, dexamethasone has shown to enhance the PXR, CAR and RXR expression, leading to enhanced PXR-mediated CYP3A4 expression (Pascussi et al., 2000a; Pascussi et al., 2000b). Unfortunately, no convincing evidence has been provided in relation to the direct implication of GR in CYP3A4 gene induction. Furthermore, more complicated phenomenon has been observed recently using placental trophoblast cell line (Pavek et al., 2007). In this study, GR-mediated CYP3A4 induction indicates hepatocyte-specific regulation pattern and some other hepatocyte-specific transcription factors are required for the GR-CYP3A4 gene regulation process. It is of my point that since most of the studies have been done in vitro using human hepatocytes, in vivo situation could be far more complex especially in human body. Clearer picture depicting the role of GR in CYP3A4 gene expression is intriguing and it will be extreme important in understanding the regulation mechanism of this crucial enzyme, which ultimately leads to better predictions of clinical important drug-drug interactions. Role of GR: Cytochrome P450 2C9 2C19 In contrast to CYP3A4, CYP2C9 is secondly most abundant drug-metabolizing enzymes in human liver and accounts for the metabolism of a wide range of clinically important therapeutic agents, such as phenytoin, S-warfarin and some nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Although a great amount of knowledge has been known about this enzyme including genetic polymorphism, pharmacology, etc, very little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying the transcriptional regulation of CYP2C9. Specifically, it has been demonstrated that CYP2C9 is inducible by dexamethasone (DEX) in primary human hepatocytes and the role of GR related to this inducible CYP2C9 gene expression has been carefully investigated by Sabine and his coworkers (Gerbal-Chaloin et al., 2002). In addition to the transcriptional regulation by hCAR and PXR, deletional analysis of CYP2C9 regulatory region in the presence or absence of cotransfected GR and directed mutagenesis studies have been carried out to characterize the location of the functional GRE in CYP2C9 regulatory region; Further gel shift assays prove the direct interaction between hGR with CYP2C9-GRE. These observations provide a convincing evidence for direct implication of GR in the inducible CYP2C9 expression and shed light for further understanding this crucial enzyme gene regulation. In stead of using human primary hepatocytes, some research group investigated the role of GR in the transcriptional regulation of CYP2C9 in placental cell line. Interestingly, unlike the hepatocytes, due to lack of hepatocyte-specific transcriptional factors, such as hepatocyte nuclear factor 4a (HNF4a), CYP2C9 is not inducible in this special placental cell line (Pavek et al., 2007). Similar observation seen in the aforementio ned CYP3A4, which might indicates the tissue-specificity regulatory role of GR-CYP gene regulation. CYP2C19 is also abundantly expressed in the liver and several clinically important agents undergo CYP2C19-mediated oxidative metabolism including omeprazole, diazepam, etc. A high interindividual variability related to CYP2C19 expression has been observed, which may partially contributed by the nuclear receptor-regulated CYP2C19 gene expression. By examining the transcriptional regulation of CYP2C19, the functional GR and CAR response element have been identified in the CYP2C19 promoter and mutation of GRE abolishes DEX-induced CYP2C19 expression in human hepatocytes (Chen et al., 2003). This provides clear evidence showing the importance of GR in regulating CYP2C19 expression. Role of GR: Cytochrome P450 2B6 The role of GR in the xenobiotic-induced expression of CYP2B in rodents has been shown as evidenced by several groups. For example, GREs have been located in mouse CYP2B10 and rat CYP2B2 (Jaiswal et al., 1990; Stoltz et al., 1998) and GR has been shown as a requirement for maximal induction of these 2 genes in rodents (Shaw et al., 1993; Honkakoski and Negishi, 1998). This arise the question of the role of GR in the regulation of human CYP2B6 expression.CYP2B6 is a member of Cytochrome P450 group and has been considered as playing minor role in drug metabolism. But recent studies suggest the importance of CYP2B6 by taking into account of the fact that CYP2B6 actually involve in metabolizing about 25% of all the pharmaceutical agents. Notably, CYP2B6 is also inducible and hepatic expression is highly variable between individuals (Xie and Evans, 2001). Due to increased attention and urgence in understanding the molecular determinants of CYP2B6 regulation, the role of GR in the CYP2B6 regulation has been evaluated by several research groups. For example, by a study using primary human hepatocytes cotransfected of hGR and hPXR or hCAR with CYP2B6 reporter constructs (Wang et al., 2003), GR seems to function synergistically with hPXR and hCAR to regulate the xenobiotic-induced CYP2B6 expression while GR alone dose not exert this effect in human hepatocytes. As previously mentioned about the role of GR in gene regulation, it again suggest that activated GR could act as a coactivator to enhance the hPXR and hCAR-mediated CYP2B6 expression. Role of GR: phase II drug-metabolizing enzymes Glucuronidation, sulfation, and glutathione conjugation are the three most important conjugation reactions in phase II drug metabolism. In addition to the essentiality of GR in phase I drug metabolizing enzymes that I summarized above, GR seems also play role in regulating these three phase II drug metabolizing enzymes. In a UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) 1A1 reporter gene study by Toru and his coworkers (Usui et al., 2006), a dose-dependent induction of UGT1A1 by DEX has been observed and co-expression of hGR in the transfected HepG2 cell line enhance the induction by 7-fold; Further treatment with GR antagonist RU486 inhibit the DEX-mediated UGT1A1 induction. The data suggest the important role of GR on the effective induction of UGT1A1 in cultured human hepatocytes. In terms of human sulfotransferase (SULTs), unlike the rat SULT1A1gene that GR mediates the transactivation of this gene expression (Fang et al., 2003); the expression of human SULT1A1 is not affected by glucocorticoids treatment in primary human hepatocytes (Duanmu et al., 2002). On the other hand, human SULT1A3 gene is induced by glucocorticoids through a GR-mediated transactivation in human HepG2 cells and the GRE is identified for the SULT1A3 (Bian et al., 2007). However, human hydroxysteroid sulfotransferase (SULT2A1) gene expression is induced by glucocorticoids through a more complex nuclear receptor-mediated mechanism, with some involvement of GR while PXR is considered as playing a major role in SULT1A3 gene regulation (Duanmu et al., 2002). Glutathione S-transferase (GST) mediated detoxification of electrophilic chemicals is pivotal in preventing toxicity in human body. Unlike the rodent models, little is known about the role of GR in the GST gene regulation. Interestingly, some research conducted to evaluate the role of GR on GSTA2 expression (Falkner et al., 2001). In transfected HepG2 cells, activated GR repress the expression of GSTA2 with low concentration of DEX; while with high concentration of DEX, GSTA2 is inducible via a PXR-dependent mechanism. However, extrapolation of these results to human is not reliable and requires future studies. Conclusion In this review, some clinical important phase I and phase II drug-metabolizing enzymes are examined related to the role of GR in the gene transcriptional regulation in human. Notably, these enzymes play pivotal role in xenobiotic metabolism and nuclear receptor-mediated xenobiotic regulation to a large extent rely on the transcriptional regulation of these enzymes expression. Molecular mechanism underlying the gene regulation has been elusive as the role of nuclear receptors being characterized. GR, as the first cloned human steroid receptor, seems play a controversy role in terms of its relative contribution and regulation mechanisms in different phase I and phase II drug-metabolizing enzymes. Although this article mainly focus on research data in human, examinations of the species difference and in vitro- in vivo correlation are crucial given that significant amount of available information deal with rodent models. Carefully investigating these results could help us better understand the complicated role of GR in drug metabolism and guide the clinical intervention. Reference Bamberger CM, Bamberger AM, de Castro M and Chrousos GP (1995) Glucocorticoid receptor beta, a potential endogenous inhibitor of glucocorticoid action in humans. J Clin Invest 95:2435-2441. Bian HS, Ngo SY, Tan W, Wong CH, Boelsterli UA and Tan TM (2007) Induction of human sulfotransferase 1A3 (SULT1A3) by glucocorticoids. Life Sci 81:1659-1667. 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Analysis Of Ruination And Drosscape - 1341 Words

Ruination and Drosscape Ruination is a recurring theme through the creative field; primarily in art, art theory and poetry. There is a grand human reaction to ruin that transcends this word into a conceptual state. It is a concept that artists have had an abiding interest in, which has in turn led the conception of the modern ruin. My uncoverage of this concept has been through a multitude of resources whilst researching for my own artistic practise. Art theorists and artists have thematically looked to ruin as an aid to understand human nature and the ways in which we cope with the rapidly developing world around us through a sentimentality for what is past and lost. There is a need to discern this reaction to ruin and to simultaneously validate it. Ruins hold a curious charm that is produced by the coinciding state of decay and regeneration, which oscillate randomly and chaotically. Ruins draw people in and inspire creation. Similarly, art necessarily develops from the past’s foundation, the neglec ted; without a break, and wherever it may end up, reference to the past remains. Ruin provokes nostalgia for the aesthetic forms and iconography of the former, resulting in an ongoing phenomenon that recycles and regenerates in art and art theory. In Allan Smith’s Essay Entropic steps: Rocks, ruins, and increase in John Ruskin, Robert Smithson, and Per Kirkeby, he triangulates the writings of Ruskin, Smithson and Kirkeby, in order to show a breadth of reaction to ruin (primarily

Establishing Effective Leadership Development in an Organization

Question: Describe about the Establishing Effective Leadership Development in an Organization. Answer: Introduction Personality has been the central point in establishing effective leadership development in an organization. Buss, (2009, p. 360) argues that there is a strong relationship between personality and job performance within an organization. Personality refers to the psychological attributes that contribute to people's distinctive feelings, thoughts, and patterns of behavior within the workplace. Job performance portrays how productive employees their mandates, the initiative they take as well as the resourcefulness they represent in solving problems. With increased competition in the business world, organizations need to hire high-performing employees, and this necessitates the management to have an understanding of who may perform better towards competing efficiently. Buss, (2009, p. 365) states that personality traits exhibited by the personnel guide the managers in this entire process. This essay explains the relationship between personality and job performance, and how organizational behavior scholars and practitioners should apply this knowledge in achieving organizational success. Relationship between Personality and Job Performance Awais Bhatti, et al., (2014, p. 80) states that the five-factor model of personality traits namely neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness play a significant role in affecting job performance within an organization. Group behavior scholars argue that job performance remains to be controversial, and this necessitates a further study regarding the integration existing between individual characters and approaches to job performance. Based on the five factor model of personality dimensions, character plays a crucial role in job performance. While each character trait suits a particular business culture, their integration under different circumstances within the workplace enable a business to thrive efficiently when it comes to realizing the set goals. According to Belle, (2013, p. 144), a clear understanding of the relationship between these two aspects and their applicability under different environments helps OB scholars and leaders to influence the em ployee's performance and behavior. The recent research on organizational performance shows that personality traits predict the behavioral outcomes in the workplace. Personality supersedes the effect of cognitive abilities when it comes to efficient job performance (Awais Bhatti, et al., 2014, p. 96). Concerning the five-factor model and job performance factors, a clear explanation of the relationship between personality and job performance as applied by organization behavior scholars and leaders will get expressed. Neuroticism According to Askarian and Eslami, (2013, p. 322), neuroticism correlates negatively with managerial approaches of job performance within an organization. As opposed to emotional stability, neuroticism singles those employees who show shyness, anger, feel insecure, are depressed, anxious, and always vulnerable while in the workplace. The OB scholars and leaders should seek to understand the nature of their personnel, especially in the recruitment process. As per Le, et al., (2011, p. 113), emotional instability creates an impulse and pressure on the part of employees in a manner that they cannot cooperate with organizational objectives since they are unable to cope with stress. The shy, insecure, and vulnerable individuals act as a drawback for an organization when it comes to achieving the set objectives. The OB scholars and leaders should ensure that all participants within their organization remain confident, happy, and cooperative with one another. Failure to which, this will resu lt in continued failure for the team. Business managers must have the ability to differentiate between the emotionally stable and unstable employees. Under neuroticism, self-consciousness remains to be the most valuable, valid and recognized estimator of job performance across all occupations and work tasks in different organizations (Le, et al., 2011, p. 113). However, emotional stability among the part of the employee creates an excellent climate for commitment. The organization behavior scholars and practitioners should have a clear understanding of the effect of anxiety, anger, and depression in establishing a good rapport for business excellence. Of great importance, OB scholars and leaders should understand that neurotic employees perform worse if compared with less obsessive workers. Therefore, organizations should recruit personnel who are emotionally stable since they always feel secure and show calmness while carrying out their mandates within the workplace. Extroversion Extroversion entails the quantity and intensity of recommended interpersonal relationships within the workplace, approaches to organizational operations, need for stimulation, and capacity to impart happiness within the industry. The OB scholars must understand that extroversion correlates positively with leadership ratings for job performance in the context of organizations general tasks. In particular, Leutner, et al., (2014, p. 60) argues that extrovertive people tend to be sociable, optimistic, loving, affectionate, charismatic, active, and talkative to one another while in a similar setting or environment. About these attributes, business leaders should come up with policies that seek to recruit only those individuals who value interaction with every other person in the workplace. Further, extroversion predicts managerial performance under the circumstance that the OB scholars need to rate task performance amongst the employees. Managers should apply this trait by evaluating all staff job performance so as to adequately reward them in agreement with their value of the input to the job performance. Organizations should make it mandatory for employees to show warmth, activeness, assertiveness, excitement, and positive emotions when carrying out their tasks in the workplace. Since the extroverted personnel have a higher ability to excel in the workplace, the OB scholars and leaders should require all employees to socialize and be highly interactive with one another in the process of job performance. Barrick, et al., (2013, p. 136) makes it clear that assertiveness and activeness impacts are positively when it comes to rating the job performance levels of the employees. Employees who grade higher in activity effectiveness are considered valid than the relaxed and high tempered personnel who always score low in job performance. Effective job performance improves the overall firm's productivity and profitability. Further, when recruiting new staff, the management should be keen in considering whether the candidates possess these characteristics since they remain to be the most relia ble indicators of satisfactory performance in all organizational departments. Openness to Experience The organization behavior scholars and leaders should seek to appreciate the art, adventure, ideas, and qualities of the existing staff for the team. Openness to experience includes aesthetic sensitivity, attentiveness to the inner feelings, intellectual curiosity, active imagination, and independence of judgment. Effective integration of these traits amongst the employees hired by an organization impacts significantly towards improving performance and productivity of a company (Belle, 2013, p. 153). Personnel who express the ability of openness when addressing the senior managers, communicating with the firm's clients, and while interacting with workmates always tend to score higher in job performance. Further, the OB and leaders should understand that openness to experience relates to success in consulting, training, and development when imparting changes within organizational processes. The most open employees should get consulted by the top managers within an organization so as t o make the right decisions for efficient job performance. Openness to experience is a valid predictor of job performance, and this should be an excellent rationale for OB scholars and leaders to apply within an organization's processes. However, it is important for business practitioners to understand that different jobs have different requirements. Mostly, the personnel who are independent in judgment portray attentiveness to inner feelings and tend to feel for the others who always seek for consultation from them in areas where they are not confident and independent (Korschun, et al., 2014, p. 22). The management should, however, establish a job environment that entertains professional code of ethics within the workplace. Behavior conservativeness necessitates the OB scholars and leaders to prefer emotional responses amongst the part of employees since this provides them with feedback on their approaches to making the work environment suitable for each and every employee. Furthermore, the OB scholars and managers should understand that su ccessful workforce significantly scores low on openness as compared with the unsuccessful personnel. Agreeableness The ability to be cooperative and compassionate with one another in the working environment plays a significant role in effective job performance. The organizational behavior scholars and practitioners show sympathy to the team members, are eager to help them, and always believe that every player in the company is helpful in ensuring the success of the set goals. The leaders should create a working environment which values the input of each and every member of the organization. With proper cooperation amongst the workers themselves and supervisor-subordinate relationship, job performance is achieved in the most optimal manner possible (Askarian Eslami, 2013, p. 322). Managers should encourage all employees to help one another in carrying out their tasks as well as valuing the input of every participant in decision making. It is also essential for the OB scholars to diverse their attention from the top executive positions within an organization at the lower organizational levels so a s to understand the needs of the subordinate officers within their organization. Further, establishing a line of communication that recommends the subordinates to express their opinions on the organizational progress and raise complaints to the top management is essential for the OB scholars and leaders if they need to achieve success in job performance. The cooperative nature of friendly personnel leads to business success in occupations where teamwork and customer service are vital. Further, agreeableness relates to effectiveness in the training process amongst the part of employees within the organization. Contrastingly, the rude employees tend to be selfish, skeptical of other participants intentions, and competitive rather than cooperative (Belle, 2013, p. 148). This cynical nature of disagreeableness predicts poor job performance within an organization. The organizational behavior and leaders should apply this knowledge by dealing away with employees who tend to create pressure on others since this hinders efficient job performance. Managers must recognize that agreeableness significantly predicts job performance and thus only the cooperative and empathetic individuals should secure positions in the job recruitment process in case a need arises. The employment of friendly people enables the firm to compete effectively as well a s increasing a company's overall productivity in the business sector. Conscientiousness Business success depends on the nature of employees and managers who belong to the concerned organization. To improve job performance, there is a need for achievement, self-discipline, and planned behavior amongst the part of employees and practitioners. Barrick, et al., (2013, p. 150) postulates that self-discipline necessitates self-control in the deserved direction, active resource planning, organizing and carrying out the mandated responsibilities of an individual. First and foremost, the OB scholars and leaders must always act to their duties with confidence so that they may be able to issue orders and coordinate the operations of the subordinates (Leutner, et al., 2014, p. 63). A conscientiousness leader remains focused, purposeful, and determined to achieve. Provided the plans of an OB scholar remain organized, then job performance of the team members will get organized and motivated towards the positive direction. In the current business world, effective planning, organizing, and coordination of roles play a significant role in efficient job performance, and this calls for managers to consider these traits actively. According to Buss, (2009, p. 362), conscientiousness creates a positive correlation with supervisory ratings of job performance within an organization. With self-confidence and self-discipline, an individual acts to the highest of his or her ability in ensuring completion of all the started tasks despite boredom and other distraction. However, various employees score low in job performance not because they do not have self-discipline, but because they lack the idea of applying the trait in a work environment. The managers, therefore, should understand this barrier and take the necessary steps of curbing this since it leads to poor job performance. Employees need to get trained of how to correlate their day to day public self-control mechanisms with the workplace environment so as to improve job performance (Awais Bhatti, et al., 2014, p. 93). Further, conscientiousness and integrity go hand in hand and influence job performance amongst the part of employees in the business setting. T o improve job performance, the OB scholars and leaders should set autonomous goals and make them known to all the personnel. Conclusion Personality factors play a significant role in enhancing efficient job performance. There are grounds for optimism the application of standard character traits predicts job performance measures of employees. Individuals who show high levels of extraversion, and conscientiousness, and people who score low under neutophism perform better in organizational effectiveness. The human resource management of any company should consider the traits of self-discipline, competence, integrity, and tolerance when recruiting employees in different departments for an organization. The utilization of personality trait analysis in personnel recruitment provides valuable information to the OB scholars and leaders regarding any employment decision. Therefore, the group behavior scholars and leaders should actually study the effects of personality traits differences on job performance. With a clear understanding of organizational perspective and personality traits testing tools, the management may be abl e to distinguish the potential staff that the firm may use to achieve the highest level of job performance. References Askarian, N. Eslami, H., 2013. The relationship between personality traits and job performance (Case study: Employees of the ministry of education Kerman). Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 5(8), p. 322. Awais Bhatti, M., Mohamed Battour, M., Rageh Ismail, A. Pandiyan Sundram, V., 2014. Effects of personality traits (big five) on expatriates adjustment and job performance. Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, 33(1), pp. 73-96. Barrick, M. R., Mount, M. Li, N., 2013. The theory of purposeful work behavior: The role of personality, higher-order goals, and job characteristivs. Academy of Management Review, 38(1), pp. 132-153. Belle, N., 2013. Experiemental evidence on the relationship between public service motivation and job performance. Public Administration Review, 73(1), pp. 143-153. Buss, D. M., 2009. How can evolutionary psychology successfully explain personality and individual differences. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 4(4), pp. 359-366. Korschun, D., Bhattacharya, C. B. Swain, S. D., 2014. Corporate scocial responsibility, customer orientation, and job performance of frontline employees. Journal of Marketing, 78(3), pp. 20-37. Le, H. et al., 2011. Too much of good thing: Curvilinear relationships between personality traits and job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96(1), p. 113. Leutner, F., Ahmetoglu, G., Akhtar, R. Chamorro-Premuzic, T., 2014. The relationship between the entrepreneurial personality and the Big Five personality traits. Personality and individual differences, 63(6), pp. 58-63.

Project Management Planning And Techniques -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Project Management Planning And Techniques? Answer: Introducation Scope of the project is a part of project panning which involves the determination and documentation of a list of specified project goals, features, deliverables, functions, deadline, task and lastly costs (Kerzner, 2013). Further, the present project is based upon the installation of solar energy plant near Murray River. The scope of Victorian renewable energy is to implement the 25% of solar power in the Victoria city till 2020 and the 40% would be installed by 2025. Moreover, the state planned for the implementation of various solar power plants at top of canal and state government would transfer the canal land on the lease amount of $ 10 Lac. Furthermore, cost effective technology will be transferred like solar PV generation psychology. Moreover, budget is constraint by the Victorian Government. Bidder will follow the time and budget constraints and for time, bidder will submit the document on time. Roles, Responsibilities And Authorities Project engineer, project manager and government official will be involved in the installation of solar power plant (Burke, 2013). Roles and responsibilities of these authorities have been listed below: Project manager: Planning and defining scope for installation of power plant, planning of a resource procurement, cost estimation and budget development, analyzing the risk, etc. Project Engineer: Development of projects objectives after reviewing project proposals, determining project responsibilities and specification, controlling project schedules and costs. Government Officials: Assigning of land and license for installation of power plant, reviewing the documents of projects for better installation of plant. Schedule Activities Years 1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year 4th Year 5th Year 6th Year Making of implementation agreement Approval of implementation agreement Planning the project Budgeting Contracting and procurement Commissioning Installation process Complete Installation Follow up Budget Budget is basically an estimate of an income and expenditure which is to be incurred in a course of one year. The project manager will make the budget for the present project during the time of planning only so that a clear estimation of the income and expenditure can be made. Furthermore, the major expenses will be done as follows: Expenses Amount 1. Licensing fee: $ 2000 2. Purchase of raw material: $ 35,000,000 3. Plant installation cost: $ 25,000 4. Salary to engineers and workers: $ 1,00,000 Total $ 35,127,000 Project Communication Plan The communication plan of project includes the government officials and project management as sender, they send the message to the receivers who are engineers and workers installing the power plant, recipient send back the feedback to the sender and this is how the communication between them takes place. Moreover, the communication flow is free flow between them in order to get the information in an appropriate manner. Document Management System During the installation of solar power plant; project manager has to put emphasize upon the documentation of each data in order to avoid any mishandling (Larson and Gray, 2013). However, it is not possible to carry all the paper documents in hand every time. For that aspect, project will utilize the document management system. In this, manager will track all the data and input the daily information related to installation. Moreover, workflow of every day will be done by reviewing the planned data documented in the document management system. Project Risk Register No. Description of Risk Owner Probability (Low, Medium, High) Risk Severity (Low, Medium, High) Countermeasures Date Type of Risk (Business, Project, or Stage) 1. Availability of recycled material Assistant project manager Medium High Backup vendor 5th Oct. Project 2. Availability of labors Operational manager Medium High Increasing the wages 6th Oct. Business 3. Change in Government rules Legal executive Low Medium Clearing the government about the plan 6th Oct. Project 4. Explosion of plant Project Engineer High High Looking into each part on a daily basis. 7th Oct. Project Contracting And Procurement The company will hire the engineers and workers on a contract basis in order to engage them until the project is completed and the workers do not fall on short (Meredith and Mantel, 2011). Furthermore, the manager will hire the cranes and other machines required in the installation on a contract basis in order to reserve them till the completion of project. In addition to this, the project teams will procure the recycles material for the solar power plant as the permission has been granted on this condition that it will be done using recycled products only. For that aspect, team will list out all the vendors and from them only they will procure the raw material. Safety And Environmental Issues During the installation of power plant, there are high chances of risk that explosion may occur, thus, it is a safety concern. For this aspect, project accounting team will make sure that proper safety to be provided to all the workers and engineers working on site, example, helmet, life jacket, eye glasses, etc. Further, the team will take care about that surrounding does not get degraded due to the installation and for that team will plant maximum trees in the surrounding. Quality Assurance Various strategies will be made for maintaining the quality standards. Firstly, team will assure that material used in the plant is of utmost quality; secondly, team will make sure that installation would be done under experts supervision in order to avoid any explosion in future. Lastly, they will also take care that purpose get resolved for which the plant is being installed. Commissioning Strategies The solar power system connected with greed has been commissioned in less than 20 months from the date implementation agreement. Some of the parameters related to commissioning are: In case of delay up to a month then state government will en-cash 30% of the overall performance guarantees. In case, delay is up to five months or more than state government will en-cash 50% of overall performance guarantees. If the delay is up to 15 months from the signing day of agreement then the project developer or the bidder will pay cash o power management department in relation to liquidated damages as per the rate of $200 per MW due to the delay of non-commissioned capacity. Close Out And Final Documentation After the complete installation, project manager will make the full documents starting from scratch to end. It will include the information regarding the material used, how the installation has been done, who all were included during the installation and many more information. Further, at the end of the project, contract will be closed which have been made with the engineers, workers, licensing of cranes and other machines, etc. Lastly, follow up of the plant will be taken on a timely basis. References Kerzner, H., 2013.Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley Sons. Burke, R., 2013. Project management: planning and control techniques.New Jersey, civil-engineering. Larson, E.W. and Gray, C., 2013.Project Management: The Managerial Process with MS Project. McGraw-Hill. Meredith, J.R. and Mantel Jr, S.J., 2011.Project management: a managerial approach. John Wiley Sons.

Link between Borrowers Risk and Mortgage Lending

The History of the Common Bean

The History of the Common Bean The domestication history of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is vital to understanding the origins of farming.  Beans are one of the three sisters of traditional agricultural cropping methods reported by European colonists in North America: Native Americans wisely intercropped maize, squash, and beans, providing a healthful and environmentally sound way of capitalizing on their various characteristics.   Beans are one of the most important domestic legumes in the world, because of their high concentrations of protein, fiber, and complex carbohydrates. P. vulgaris is by far the most economically important domesticated species of the genus Phaseolus. Domesticate Properties P. vulgaris beans come in an enormous variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, from pinto to pink to black to white. Despite this diversity, wild and domestic beans belong to the same species, as do all of the colorful varieties (landraces) of beans, which are believed to be the result of a mixture of population bottlenecks and purposeful selection. The main difference between wild and cultivated beans is, well, domestic beans are less exciting. There is a significant increase in seed weight, and the seed pods are less likely to shatter than wild forms: but the primary change is a decrease in the  variability of grain size, seed coat thickness and water intake during cooking. Domestic plants are also annuals rather than perennials, a selected trait for reliability. Despite their colorful variety, the domestic bean is much more predictable. Centers Of Domestication Scholarly research indicates that beans were domesticated in two places: the Andes mountains of Peru, and the Lerma-Santiago basin of Mexico. The wild common bean grows today in the Andes and Guatemala: two separate large gene pools of the wild types have been identified, based on the variation in the type of phaseolin (seed protein) in the seed, DNA marker diversity, mitochondrial DNA variation and amplified fragment length polymorphism, and short sequence repeats marker data. The Middle American gene pool extends from Mexico through Central America and into Venezuela; the Andean gene pool is found from southern Peru to northwestern Argentina. The two gene pools diverged some 11,000 years ago. In general, Mesoamerican seeds are small (under 25 grams per 100 seeds) or medium (25-40 gm/100 seeds), with one type of phaseolin, the major seed storage protein of the common bean. The Andean form has much larger seeds (greater than 40 gm/100 seed weight), with a different type phaseolin. Recognized landraces in Mesoamerica include Jalisco in coastal Mexico near Jalisco state; Durango in the central Mexican highlands, which includes pinto, great northern, small red and pink beans; and Mesoamerican, in lowland tropical Central American, which includes black, navy and small white. Andean cultivars include Peruvian, in the Andean highlands of Peru; Chilean in northern Chile and Argentina; and Nueva Granada in Colombia. Andean beans include the commercial forms of dark and light red kidney, white kidney, and cranberry beans. Origins in Mesoamerica In 2012, work by a group of geneticists led by Roberto Papa was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Bitocchi et al. 2012), making an argument for a Mesoamerican origin of all beans. Papa and colleagues examined the nucleotide diversity for five different genes found in all forms- wild and domesticated, and including examples from the Andes, Mesoamerica and an intermediary location between Peru and Ecuador- and looked at the geographic distribution of the genes. This study suggests that the wild form spread from Mesoamerica, into Ecuador and Columbia and then into the Andes, where a severe bottleneck reduced the gene diversity, at some time before domestication. Domestication later took place in the Andes and in Mesoamerica, independently. The importance of the original location of beans is due to the wild adaptability of the original plant, which allowed it to move into a wide variety of climatic regimes, from the lowland tropics of Mesoamerica into the Andean highlands. Dating the Domestication While the exact date of domestication for beans has not yet been determined, wild landraces have been discovered in archaeological sites dated to 10,000 years ago in Argentina and 7,000 years ago in Mexico. In Mesoamerica, the earliest cultivation of domestic common beans occurred before ~2500 in the Tehuacan valley (at Coxcatlan), 1300 BP in Tamaulipas (at (Romeros and Valenzuelas Caves near Ocampo), 2100 BP in the Oaxaca valley (at Guila Naquitz). Starch grains from Phaseolus were recovered from human teeth from Las Pircas phase sites in Andean Peru dated between ~6970-8210 RCYBP (about 7800-9600 calendar years before the present). Sources Angioi, SA. Beans in Europe: origin and structure of the European landraces of Phaseolus vulgaris L. Rau D, Attene G, et al., National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, September 2010. Bitocchi E, Nanni L, Bellucci E, Rossi M, Giardini A, Spagnoletti Zeuli P, Logozzo G, Stougaard J, McClean P, Attene G et al. 2012. Mesoamerican origin of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is revealed by sequence data. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition. Brown CH, Clement CR, Epps P, Luedeling E, and Wichmann S. 2014. The Paleobiolinguistics of the Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Ethnobiology Letters 5(12):104-115. Kwak, M. Structure of genetic diversity in the two major gene pools of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L., Fabaceae). Gepts P, National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, March 2009. Kwak M, Kami JA, and Gepts P. 2009. The Putative Mesoamerican Domestication Center is Located in the Lerma-Santiago Basin of Mexico. Crop Science 49(2):554-563. Mamidi S, Rossi M, Annam D, Moghaddam S, Lee R, Papa R, and McClean P. 2011. Investigation of the domestication of common bean ( Functional Plant Biology 38(12):953-967.Phaseolus vulgaris) using multilocus sequence data. Mensack M, Fitzgerald V, Ryan E, Lewis M, Thompson H, and Brick M. 2010. Evaluation of diversity among common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) from two centers of domestication using omics technologies. BMC Genomics 11(1):686. Nanni, L. Nucleotide diversity of a genomic sequence similar to SHATTERPROOF (PvSHP1) in domesticated and wild common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Bitocchi E, Bellucci E, et al., National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, December 2011, Bethesda, MD. Peà ±a-Valdivia CB, Garcà ­a-Nava JR, Aguirre R JR, Ybarra-Moncada MC, and Là ³pez H M. 2011. Variation in Physical and Chemical Characteristics of Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Grain along a Domestication Gradient. Chemistry Biodiversity 8(12):2211-2225. Piperno DR, and Dillehay TD. 2008. Starch grains on human teeth reveal early broad crop diet in northern Peru. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 105(50):19622-19627. Scarry, C. Margaret. Crop Husbandry Practices in North America’s Eastern Woodlands. Case Studies in Environmental Archaeology, SpringerLink, 2008. J, Schmutz. A reference genome for common bean and genome-wide analysis of dual domestications. McClean PE2, Mamidi S, National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine, July 2014, Bethesda, MD. Tuberosa (Editor). Genomics of Plant Genetic Resources. Roberto, Graner, et al., Volume 1, SpringerLink, 2014.

Fibre optics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Fibre optics - Essay Example In this theory, the behavior of light is able to be shown or rather described within the optical fiber. This theory is majorly used in describing the causes of attenuation, dispersion of light and also the optical fiber absorption. Construction of Fiber Optic Cables Fiber optic cables are first given the core size which is 50/125 as the diameter then followed by the cladding size which is 125 microns while the 8/125 has a core diameter of 8microns with a cladding diameter of 125microns.A larger diameter has a larger core which allows more light which can be coupled depending n the angle cone. They can ether operate on a single mode propagation or a multimode propagation. The fiber-optic cables are made up of either glass, plastic or plastic-clad silica which differ to its attenuation. Attenuation can be seen to be majorly caused by absorption or scattering. In the glass fiber optic cable it is seen to consist of the lowest attenuation which when made it consists of glass core and gla ss cladding. It is also the most common preferred and has spread worldwide as it is easy to install because most of the people have accessed to it. The glass used is pure mad of silicon dioxide which during its fabrication process the impurities are added in order for it to produce a desire refraction of light. Boron or Fluorine is also added to decrease the refraction index. Plastic fiber optic cable has the highest attenuation as compared to the others made of plastic core and cladding. The core is made up of the polymethymethacrylate and coated with fluoropolymer. It’s better to used considering its costs and also do not have the flammability effect. Plastic clad silica fiber optic cable attenuation is between the glass and plastic. Its fiber optic cable has glass core commonly vitreous silica and its cladding is plastic. Its use of the silica makes it have a lower refractive index. It is fabricated with silicone elastomeric cladding which causes difficulty in its applicat ion, plasticity and also it makes it insoluble in organic solvents which bar it from being used by most of the people. Basic Fiber Optic Cables This is the type f technology which uses glass threads in order to transmit information or data. The bundles of the glass threads used are the ones capable in transmitting information which is later modulated into light waves. It is majorly used because of its advantages over the metal cables used earlier regarding on speed which is high as compared to the other communication lines among other advantages like it being thinner and light in weight. Although they are advantageous they also are disadvantageous in that they are expensive in its installation and also fragile among others. Fiber optics are becoming common in the local area networking enabling companies being able to use this as a better communication way. Types of Fiber Optic Cable There are 2 main types of fiber optic cables; these are the single mode and multimode fiber optic cab le. The single mode fiber optic cable (also referred to as uni-mode fiber, mono-mode fiber among other names) is used for a broad range of transmission as it covers longer distances making it suitable for multichannel television broadcasting system among other long distances transmission (Tricker 2002, pg. 20). This is caused by the ability to restore or allowance for a larger capacity for the transmission of information as it can retain the fidelity of light pulse. In this kind of fiber a lot of information is able to be sent

Media's influnces Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Media's influnces - Research Paper Example As such, the power that media has upon the lives of individual around the globe is dynamic and likely will increase as globalization and media integration continue to be evidenced. As a function of seeking to understand the impact that media has on stakeholders within society, the following analysis will engage the reader with some of the most prominent ways in which media impacts the way in which people think, act, and define/constrain their lives. A negative aspect regarding the current realities of media coverage and terrorism is with respect to the overall level of understanding that continual 24/7 coverage of terrorism related events ultimately has upon societal consciousness. If one considers, for instance, the recent Boston bombing was indicative of the way in which media proliferation and continual coverage worked to undermine any type of understanding, realization, or remorse for the events and focused upon anything but rational or substantiated reports. In effect, the media circus that surrounds many of the terrorism incidents, especially those take place to mastic way, has escalated to such a scale as to diminish any semblance of professional reporting and devolve this into something of a media circus/frenzy in which each and every potential angle and/or hearsay is given air time and discussed as a means of continually providing the viewer/listener/reader with a new take, a new stance, or new information concerning the topic at hand. Ultimately, all of this is done as a means of providing the media outlet with a further level of revenue. This is due to the fact that they are solely and completely aware of the realization that their profits and revenues are contingent upon their ability to continue to manufacture and engage the participant with what can be considered â€Å"new† information. Understanding that is necessary to continually compete with the viewer/reader/listener’s attention, these media outlets engage in a form and level of coverage that would have been unheard of that a few years previously. Although such a level of analysis is circumstantial at best, the reader could seek to create a level of understanding between the rapid increase in global terrorism and the rapid increase in media coverage that it is garnered over the past 10 years time. The profit-driven nature of the news media strikes at the very core of the issue up for discussion within this analysis. Ultimately, the very sad reality is that the news media derives a very great deal of profitability of the suffering and magnitude of harm that both man-made and natural disasters in her around the world (Thomas 53). At Within such an understanding, it becomes quite obvious to the reader that the news media is ultimately desirous of events such as terrorist actions which will greatly increase the scope of viewership that they would otherwise derive any one particular time. Although this is indeed sadistic, a rapid increase in viewership as a res ult of terrorist action allows for the news/media outlets to rapidly increase its profitability. Once again, although such a reality is difficult to fathom and completely understand within an ethical interpretation of the current paradigm, it is nonetheless true and impacts upon the extent and level to which terrorism is engaged and the extent and level to which societal stakeholders are presented with a continual influx of

Technology in America Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Technology in America - Research Paper Example According to Beer (52) â€Å"the use of social media on the internet has been shown to reduce with increasing age†. Thus, technology has changed the social norms in the American society. Technology like the internet has revolutionized how individuals relate to each other. Family members, colleagues at work and even students in school can now communicate easily and faster among each other. The internet is fast and sometimes more private and this has increased social interactions especially on social platforms like Facebook, twitter, MySpace and Google plus. People no longer have to meet physically or send letters in order to communicate. They can even form groups and have meetings online without having to meet physically. With technology making interaction between individuals easy and efficient, an increase in the feeling of sense of belonging has been the observed in many of these individuals. According to the 2010 Consumer reports, Technology has fostered creation of new relationships and even sustained the ones that existed before. However, despite the many positive changes that technology has brought, many negative effects have been observed in the subsequent stu dies carried out. Dangers of online networking especially on the teenagers have been clear demonstrated. Social networking reduces face-to-face interactions among the teenagers and the consequence has been an increased level of loneliness and stress. Cross (40) states that â€Å"some teenagers even end up committing suicide as a result of feeling left out or inferior† A substantial number of the avid internet users have become addicted to it. They can hardly spend ten minutes without looking at their phones; staying away from their computers is a hard ordeal to them. Missing out in important activities has been the consequence if this addiction. Those who are

Impact of Green Marketing on Young Consumers

Impact of Green Marketing on Young Consumers INTRODUCTION This study provides an overview of green marketing (is also known as ethnical and environmental marketing), the impact of green marketing towards the young consumers in Malaysia. The first part covers section on research problem, research objectives and research questions. RESEARCH BACKGROUND Throughout the twentieth century, many technologies and business practices have contributed to the destruction of the very ecological systems on which the economy and life itself depends, including toxic contamination, depletion of fisheries and forests, soil erosion, and biodiversity loss (Ottman et al.,2006). Many companies and consumers are beginning to respond to programs to help conserve the Earths natural resources, and green marketing is making a comeback (Ottman et al., 2006). Business management researchers Stuart Hart and Mark Milstein argue that the emerging challenge of global sustainability is catalyzing a new round of creative destruction that offers unprecedented opportunities for new environmentally sensitive innovations, markets, and products (Ottman et al., 2006). The progress of environmentalism in a country has significant role in changing consumers purchase behaviour as well as changing companys strategies to more environmental friendly. According to Kotler and Armstrong (2008), the first wave of modern environment and quality of life by environmental group and concerned consumers whereas second wave which passed law and regulations governing practices impacting the environment. At the moment, environmentalism waves is merging into a third and stronger wave in which companies are accepting responsibility for doing no environmental harm by adopting policies of environmental and sustain environment and produce profit (Kolter et al, 2008). PROBLEM STATEMENT The emerging trend of Go Green in the global is becoming more significant to the society in line with the growing awareness of global warming is accelerating, and the perception that it is posing a serious threat to humanity and the worlds environment (Star Publications (M) Bhd, 1995-2011). According to Our green world research report 2008 survey conducted by global insight and information group TNS, United Kingdom and other European countries are showing high interest in adopting changes in lifestyle and behaviour in the past to benefit the environments. The environmentalism in Asian countries especially for Thailand and Singapore are even more distinct through the society adaptation in environmental protection and green purchases through the effort of governments. On the aspect of eco-friendliness of habits and behaviours only 8% of Malaysian respondents responded they have changed their behaviour in a great deal to benefit the environment (Nabsiah Abdul Wahid et al, 2011). Despite the social adaptation of environmental consumption is rising, research indicates that many green products have failed because of marketers myopic focus on their products greenness over the broader expectations of consumers or other market players (such as regulators or activists) (Ottman et al., 2006). On the other hand, Tully and Schonfeld (1994) found that young consumers showing high concerned with social issues, particularly environmentalism. Many products are begin to tailored to suit young consumers as this group is representing a new generation of consumers with a strong potential impact on the type of goods and services offered in the market (Tan Lau, 2009). It is undeniable that young consumers play a relatively important consumers segment in the market as many researchers have been studying the behaviour and consumption patterns of this group which are the future marketing planners, policy makers and the new educators of the new economy. Therefore, the research is striving to find out how young consumers in Malaysia aware of green marketing? Does green marketing effectively changes the adaptation of green purchases among young consumers? RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The objectives of this study are as following: To review the concept of green marketing in consumer market. To analyse the environmental awareness, attitude and knowledge of young consumers in Malaysia. To evaluate the way that young consumers aware of green marketing. RESEARCH QUESTION What is the concept of green marketing in consumer market? What are the extent of environmental awareness, attitude and knowledge of young consumers in Malaysia? How the young consumers aware of green marketing? SIGNIFICANT OF STUDY The study aims to contribute the understanding of how young consumers perceived about green marketing in Malaysia. The research will examined the level of awareness of young consumers towards green marketing whether it will leads to positive environmental knowledge and attitude in making purchases. At the end of research, it is believed to provide some insights to green marketers regarding how they can expand their operation in Asia especially in Malaysia (Elham Rahbar and Nabsiah Abdul Wahid 2011). LITERATURE REVIEW Green marketing Green marketing is defined as holistic marketing concepts where in the production, marketing consumption and disposal of products and services happen in a manner that is less detrimental to environment with growing awareness about the implications of global warming, non-biodegradable solid waste, harmful impact of pollutants etc (Tariq Ahmad, 2010). Kotler Armstrong (2008) defined it as an organized movement of concerned citizens and government to protect and enhance peoples living environment. The concept is starting to popularize in many countries and companies as a cognitive persuasion strategies to involve environmental costs into the consumers decision process (Suplico, Luz T, 2009) especially in their purchases of goods and services. Marketers always coined the term ecological marketing, green marketing, environmental marketing, eco-marketing and sustainable marketing (Coddington, 1993, Fuller, 1998 and Ottman, 1998) as a label of the greenness of their product and services. Despite many agree with the powerful function of green marketing, green products is still remained as niche goods attributed to marketers selling strategy which only to committed ethical consumers without the aid of mainstream marketing techniques (Josephine Pickett-Baker and Ritsuko Ozaki, 2008). Thus, many companies has started to include green concept in advertising as a way to connect consumers with their environmental friendly product and services. Green advertising Green advertising is known as environmental advertising which include popular terms such as recyclable, environmentally friendly, ozone safe and biodegradable (Clare DSouza Mehdi Taghian, 2005). Consumers response towards green advertising may turn out to be effective when the products meet their needs and aligns with their values (e.g saving money on fuel and increasing childrens safety) (Josephine Pickett-Baker Ritsuko Ozaki, 2008). Some consumers response negatively towards the messages in green advertising due to the credibility of green advertising is relatively low (Kilbourne, 1995) which is insufficient for attitudes change towards the advertisement leads to changes in brand attitudes (Gorn 1982; Lutz, Mac Kenzie and Belch, 1983; Mitchell and Olson, 1981). However, the study of Davis (1993) revealed that consumers weak response to environmental advertising is not the consequence of consumers unwillingness to take action and change their behaviour to purchase green products; rather consumers are unwilling to change their purchase behaviour given the manner in which green products have been promoted and advertised (Elham Rahbar and Nabsiah Abdul Wahid, 2011). However, many authors believe advertising works well when it tries to appeal to those values that drive consumer decision processes (Josephine Pickett-Baker, Ritsuko Ozaki, 2008) Hawkins et al. (1998) explain how the emotional content in advertisements increases attention, a critical step in the perception process. Emotional messages may be processed more thoroughly and remembered better as a result of increased alertness. It is reasonable to assume that advertising green products using emotional content would be more successful (Josephine Pickett-Baker Ritsuko Ozaki, 2008). Mendleson (1994) even commented that marketers should emphasize the ecological knowledge in their organizations, their products and their advertising in order to achieve the goal of changing the consumer purchasing behaviour (E lham Rahbar and Nabsiah Abdul Wahid, 2011) Young consumers Generation Y is the prevalent group of young consumers born between the years of 1980-1994 (Halstead, K, 2006 cited in Tee, 2007) which has greater purchasing power than any prior generation and it will heavily influence markets in the near future (Martin and Turley). Gen Y learns to shop at young age will eventually shape their shopping behaviour as adults (Ward, as cited in Halstead K, 2006). Therefore, it came as no surprise that many marketing and promotional efforts are targeted at this group of growing young consumers (Tan Lau, 2009) from consumer acceptance of unethical consumptions). Pratt et al. (1983) in their study found that young consumers often differ from elderly consumers in terms of their moral thinking (Tan Lau, 2009). This group of people are more open minded and strongly influence what happens in their homes (Josephine Pickett-Baker and Ritsuko Ozaki, 2008) Young consumers purchase decision According to Kotler and Armstrong, consumer purchase decision involves three major components: inputs, process and output (). The input consists of both internal and external influences. The output component involves the purchase behaviour and the post-purchase evaluation. The process component involves the psychological field such as motivation, perception, learning, personality and attitudes (Kotler Armstrong, 2008 cited in Luz T. Suplico, 2009). The study followed the proposed model of consumer decision-making process used in Luz T. Suplico (2009) that involves inputs, process and the output. Inputs will include environmental attitude, knowledge and the extent of awareness to green marketing (Peter Olson, 2009 cited in Luz T. Suplico, 2009). The expected output is the whether the consumers choose to purchase the product. Green consumption Green consumption defined as contradicted as consumer concerns about the environment do not necessarily behave in a green way in general, or in their purchasing (Josephine Pickett-Baker Ritsuko Ozaki, 2008). Green consumption began when consumers purchase behaviour is influenced by environmental concerns (Shrum, McCarty Lowrey, 1995 cited in Clare DSouza Mehdi Taghian, 2005). Study found that people who are environmentally conscious do not necessarily behave pro-environmentally: for example, people might throw rubbish away when most people around them do so (reactive process, as opposed to intentional decision making (Ohtomo and Hirose, 2007 cited in Josephine Pickett-Baker Ritsuko Ozaki, 2008). In most cases, consumer will experience an improvement of environmental quality only when major sectors of the global population pursue generalized green consumer behaviour. Thus, the perceived individual customer benefit might not be a sufficiently powerful motivation to green purchasing (Belz and Dyllik, 1996 cited in Patrick Hartmann, Vanessa Apaolaza Ibà ¡Ãƒ ±ez, 2006). Environmental Awareness Environmental awareness and behaviours were found to be influenced by values, attitudes and knowledge (Haron et al, 2005). German scholars of Pakistan have added that the buyers level of awareness will affect attitude to environmental protection, the attitude of the environmental protection will affect the attitude of his green lifestyle, people with positive attitude of green lifestyle will involved in the purchase of green product and consumption activities (Juan Zhang, 2010, p.178). Unfortunately, in the case of Malaysia, the environmental awareness is still very low from the view of the importance of separating household solid waste and involvement in recycling programmes (Haron, S.A., Palm, L. Yahaya, N., 2005, p.428). Environmental Attitude Attitudes are the most consistent explanatory factor in predicting consumers willingness to pay for green products (Chyong et al., 2006 cited in Tan, Lau, 2010, p.30). Consumers product purchasing decisions are often based on their environmental attitudes (Irland, 1993; Schwepker and Cornwell, 1991 cited in Tan Lau, 2010). Environmental attitude is defined as the individuals value judgement of environmental protection which taps the individuals cognitive assessment of the value of the environmental protection (Lee, 2008 cited in Nabsiah Abdul Wahid et al, 2011). However, the demand and attitudes for green products is likely to be uneven across different market segments and cultures (Ottman Peattie, 1992 cited in Elham Rahbar and Nabsiah Abdul Wahid 2011) which need to be closely study. Environmental Knowledge In numerous studies, knowledge is an important factor in consumers decision-making process. Cohen (1973) commented that green marketing activities had play an important influence on increasing consumer knowledge and in shifting consumer into purchasing green products (Elham Rahbar and Nabsiah Abdul Wahid, 2011). Findings of Gendall et al reveals that men tended to have more knowledge than women; younger people tended to be more knowledgeable than older people; and the higher the level of education, the higher the level of knowledge (Haron, S.A., Palm, L. Yahaya, N. 2005, p.428). However, they concluded that generally the overall level of knowledge of Malaysian teenagers is low, especially among those studying in the arts stream compared with those studying in the sciences stream. (Haron, S.A., Palm, L., Yahaya, N., 2005, p.428). Bradley et al. (1999) commented that environmental education is able to create environmental awareness and promote environmentally responsible behaviour (c ited in Tan, Lau, 2009). Malaysian government has been promoting sustainable consumption practices among the public in various strategies. Social advertising is one of the approaches of Malaysian government to educate and foster environmental concern among the public (Haron et al., 2005). HYPOTHESIS Referencing from the existing literature, it is thus hypothesized that: HI: Green marketing has a positive H2: H3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Independent Variable Dependent Variable Impact of Green Marketing on Purchase Behaviour of Young Consumers in Malaysia Environmental Awareness Environmental Attitude Environmental Knowledge RESEARCH DESIGN For the purpose of this study, descriptive research will be undertaken using quantitative methodology to examine the impact of green marketing on young consumers purchase decision, environmental awareness, attitude and knowledge. SAMPLING DESIGN Target Population The target population for this study will be the under graduate, graduate and postgraduate students age ranging 18 to 25 years old. The reason of choosing individuals above this age is because they are familiar with purchasing of products and are also empowered in their decisions for choosing the right items between many available choices, therefore, considerate to environmental issues in their purchasing behaviour (Elham Rahbar and Nabsiah Abdul Wahid, 2011). Sampling Technique In this study, cluster sampling is deployed as it is a type of probability sampling where a random of subgroups is selected and all members of the subgroups become part of the sample (David A. Aaker, V. Kumar, George S Day, Robert P. Leone, 2010). By using probability sampling technique, the research findings can be generalized to the target population with a specified level of confidence (Hair et al., 2007). The advantage of cluster sampling is able to enhance sampling efficiency improved by decreasing cost at a faster rate than accuracy. The limitation of cluster sampling is resulted in relatively imprecise samples, and it is difficult to form heterogeneous cluster because, for example, household in a block tend to be similar rather than dissimilar (David A. Aaker, V. Kumar, George S Day, Robert P. Leone, 2010). Sampling location The questionnaire survey will be conducted in four private colleges or universities in Klang Valley in order to enhance the results of the findings. Sampling size The sampling size involved in this study will be 400 participants either in private colleges or universities in Klang Valley. DATA COLLECTION The data collections of this study consist of primary data and secondary data. Primary data will be collected through the distribution of questionnaires. James P. Neelankavil (2007) stated that secondary data collection is an important step in the research process because it is the key to accomplishing low cost research programme. The secondary data is retrieved from different websites, newspaper, magazines, journal articles database such as Emerald insight and Anglia Ruskin e-library which is both permanent and available in a form that may be checked relatively easily by other (Denscombe, 1998 cited in Saunders, M., Lewis, P. Thornhill, A., 2007). However, the secondary data might fails to provide the information that appropriate to answer the research questions or research objectives will result in invalid answers (Kelvin, 1999 cited Saunders, M., Lewis, P. Thornhill, A., 2007) PILOT STUDY According to Zikmund, et al (2010) the questionnaire has to be pretested to ensure the respondents understand the intended meaning of the questions as well as checking the problems attached in the wording and measurement. Thus, pilot study will be conducted by circulating 200 questionnaires among universities or colleges which the result is important to check the reliability and suitability the instrument. MEASURES The questionnaire will be divided into four sections. The first section will include demographic information which adapted from the study of Fong (2006) on environmental orientation of consumers in Malaysia (Nabsiah Abdul Wahid et al., 2011). The second section include the The third section of the questionnaire measuring on the respondents environmental attitude, the respondents environmental awareness and respondents green purchasing behaviour based on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree) and (1 = never, 5 = always) is used in the study of Nik Abdul Rashid and Elham Rahbar and Nabisha Abdul Wahid. DATA ANALYSIS For this research, the data will be processed using statistical techniques which include factor analysis, descriptive analysis, and multiple regression analysis. Factor Analysis Factor analysis which is one type of multivariate analysis is used to define the underlying structure called factors among the variables in the analysis (Hair et al., 2007). Factor analysis will performed using the all the variables in this study to test whether the concept is correctly theorized. Descriptive Analysis Descriptive analysis involved summarizing and transforming the data into an understandable and interpretable mode (Zikmund et al., 2010). Descriptive analysis will be utilized in most parts of the analysis using mean and standard deviation of variables to help researchers understand the respondents perception of variables and other detailed analysis that were performed (Elham Rahbar and Nabsiah Abdul Wahid, 2011). Multiple Regression Analysis Multiple regression analysis will be performed to analyze the relationship between a dependent variable and independent variables and addressed hypothesis (Coakes and Steed, 2001; Hair et al., 1998 cited in Elham Rahbar and Nabsiah Abdul Wahid, 2011). The control variables to be analyse included age and educational level of respondents whom constantly influenced by environmental knowledge (Haron et al, 2005). LIMITATIONS There are few limitations in this study. Firstly, the main limitation is the study will opened for colleges or universities students in Klang Valley only. Therefore, the result may not be appropriate to generalize finding to all young consumers in Malaysia. TIME SCALES REFERENCES Afzaal Ali, Athar Ali Khan, Israr Ahmed Waseem Shahzad, 2011. Determinants of Pakistani Consumers Green Purchase Behavior: Some Insights from a Developing Country. International Journal of Business and Social Science [e-journal] 2(3) Available at: [Accessed 18 April 2011]. Clare DSouza Mehdi Taghian, 2005. Green advertising affect on attitude and theme. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics [e-journal] 17(3)Available through: Emerald Group Publishing Limited database [Accessed 13 February 2011]. David A. Aaker, V. Kumar, George S Day, Robert P. Leone, 2010. Marketing research. John Wiley Sons (Asia) Pte Ltd: Asia. Elham Rahbar and Nabsiah Abdul Wahid, 2011. Investigation of green marketing tools effect on consumers purchase behaviour. Business Strategy Series. [e-journal] 12(2) Available through: Emerald Group Publishing Limited database [Accessed 13 March 2011]. Hair, J.F.Jr., Money, A.H., Samouel, P., Page, M., 2007. Research methods for business. Chichester: John Wiley Sons Ltd. Haron, S.A., Palm, L. Yahaya, N. 2005. Towards sustainable consumption: an examination of environmental knowledge among Malaysians. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 10 April 2011]. James P. Neelankavil, 2007. International business research, M.E.Sharpe, Inc: New York. Josephine Pickett-Baker Ritsuko Ozaki, 2008. Pro-environmental products: marketing influence on consumer purchase decision. Journal of Consumer Marketing [e-journal] 25(5) Available through: Emerald Group Publishing Limited database [Accessed 12 April 2011]. Juan Zhang, 2010. Green Marketing Strategy Analysis of Real Estate Based on Low-Carbon Economy. [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 April 2011]. Kaman Lee, 2008. Opportunities for green marketing: young consumers. Marketing Intelligent Planning [e-journal] 26(6) Available through: Emerald Group Publishing Limited database [Accessed 4 February 2011]. Kaman Lee, 2011. The Green Purchase Behaviour of Hong Kong Young Consumers: The Role of Peer influence, Local Environmental Involvement and concrete Environment Knowledge. Journal of International Consumer Marketing. [e-journal] 23(1), Abstract only. Available through: Informa plc database [Accessed 4 April 2011]. Kotler, P., Armstrong. G et al., 2008. Principles of Marketing, 5th ed. FT Prentice Hall: Harlow. Kotler, P., Keller, L., Brady, M., Goodman, M. And Hansen, T., 2009. Marketing Management, Pearson Education Limited: Harlow. Luz T. Suplico., 2009. Impact of green marketing on the students purchase decision.[online] Available at: [Accessed 4 April 2011]. Margaret K. Hogg Margaret Bruce Alexander J. Hill, 1998. Fashion brand preferences among young consumers. International Journal of Retail Distribution Management [e-journal] 26(8) Available through: Emerald Group Publishing Limited database [Accessed 4 April 2011]. Nabsiah Abdul Wahid, Elham Rahbar Tan, S.S., 2011. Factors influencing the green purchase behaviour of Penang Environmental Volunteers. [online]Available at: [Accessed 20 April 2011]. Nancy Engelhardt Furlow Cynthia Knott. Whos Reading the Label? Millennias Use of Environmental Product Labels. [online] Available at: [Accessed 1 April 2011]. Ottman, J.A., Edwin R. Stafford, E.R., Hartman, C.L., 2006. Avoiding Green Marketing Myopia. [online] Available at: [13 March 2011]. Patrick Hartmann, Vanessa Apaolaza Ibà ¡Ãƒ ±ez, 2006. Green value added. Marketing Intelligence Planning [e-journal] 24(7) Available through: Emerald Group Publishing Limited database [Accessed 12 April 2011]. Saunders, M., Lewis, P. Thornhill, A., 2007.Research method for business studies, 4th ed, FT Prentice Hall: Harlow. Star Publications (M) Bhd, 1995-2011.Green initiative. (Updated 11 July 2009) [online] Available at: [Accessed 4 February 2011]. StartupNation, LLC, 2011 Marketing to Gen Y: What you cant afford not to know. [Online] Available at: http://www.startupnation.com/business-articles/9011/1/marketing-GenY.htm [Accessed 23 March 2011]. Tan, B.C., Lau, T.C, 2009. Examining sustainable consumption patterns of young consumers: is there a cause for concern. [online] Available at: [Accessed 23 March 2011]. Tan, B.C., Lau, T.C, 2010. Attitude towards the environment and green products: consumers perspective. [online] Available at: [13 March 2011]. Tariq Ahmad, 2010. The New Age Marketing Book. [online] Available at: [13 March 2011]. Tee, S.C, 2007. A critical analysis on brand loyalty of generation Y towards Athletic wear brand in Klang Valley. Degree. KBU International College.

The Economy Essay -- Economics

The Economy Economic Factors: Interest Rates: An interest rate is the rate of increase over time of a bank deposit Inflation: Inflation is persistent increase in the level of consumer prices or persistent decline in the purchasing power of money. Exchange Rates: The exchange rate is the price of one currency when traded with another. For Example, Â £1 will approximately buy the following at a given point in time: 1.50 Euros 2.70 Australian Dollars 1.60 US Dollars Impact of changes on WFP: Rising interest rates: Rising Interest Rates will work to the disadvantage of West Ferry Printers. They will have to pay more amount of money on loans and, as a result, their expenditures will increase. Falling interest rates: Falling Interest Rates will benefit West Ferry Printers. It can adopt an aggressive market strategy by reducing the prices of its products and enhance its market share In a situation involving a high rate of inflation, West Ferry Printers will not be able to plan its finances accurately. If the company is left with less money it will not be able to pay its staff decent remuneration for their services. Disputes may occur if workers are unable to secure wage increases to sustain their standard of living. Like any other business, West Ferry printers will be better off if rate of inflation stays within the normal range. West Ferry Printers will have ample time to devise their costing and other plans carefully. Low in...

Week 3 Acct2522

ACCT2522 Management Accounting 1 Session 1, 2013 Tutorial Week 3 – Cost basics Overall Theme We will explore fundamental assumptions of cost functions and discuss the relationships between cost behaviour, cost estimation and cost prediction. The concept of cost driver analysis and its application to cost estimation and cost management will also be discussed. We will also describe how to estimate cost behaviour using managerial judgment, engineering methods and other quantitative techniques. Desired Learning Outcomes and Essential Reading Langfield-Smith, K. , H. Thorne, and R. W. Hilton (2012).Management Accounting 6e: Information for Managing and Creating Value, 6th ed, McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd. (Hereafter referred to as LS) †¢ Chapter 2 †¢ Chapter 3 (include Appendix 3 portion on â€Å"Evaluating the regression equation† p. 108109) TOPIC 3 COST BASICS After completing this topic, you should be able to: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Why are costs important? Wh at does ‘different costs for different purposes’ mean? Understand and apply various classifications of costs. Understand cost drivers and the role of cost driver analysis. Describe and apply the activity hierarchy of costs and cost drivers.Explain the relationships between cost estimation, cost behaviour and cost prediction. Understand and apply various methods for cost estimation. Understand some practical issues faced in estimating cost functions. 1 Tutorial Questions (must be prepared prior to the tutorial) Question 1: Langfield-Smith, Chapter 3, Case 3. 41 Parts Q3-8 only Please note that all numbers in the cost functions should be rounded off to 2 dec places. Excel regression outputs are as follows: Part 1: If only patient load is considered as a determinant of administration costs, a simple regression can be used, utilising Excel.The output is reproduced below. Regression Statistics Multiple R 0. 927088078 R Square 0. 859492304 Adjusted R Square 0. 824365379 Stand ard Error 401. 9749382 Observations 6 ANOVA df Regression Residual Total 1 4 5 Coefficients Intercept Patients 6 181. 36646 3. 838509317 SS 3 953 664. 596 646 335. 4037 4 600 000 Standard error 730. 0175478 0. 775999898 MS 395 3665 161583. 9 F 24. 468191 Significance F 0. 00778042 t Stat 8. 467422 4. 946533 P-value 0. 0010661 0. 0077804 Lower 95% 4 154. 51281 1. 6839882 Upper 95% 8 208. 220107 5. 993030436Part 2: When both patient load and the number of emergency procedures are considered as determinants of administrative cost, a multiple regression must be used. Utilising Excel, the regression statistics are reproduced below. Regression Statistics Multiple R 0. 92919029 R Square 0. 86339459 Adjusted R Square 0. 77232432 Standard Error 457. 669779 Observations 6 ANOVA Regression Residual Total df 2 3 5 SS 3 971 615. 12 628 384. 8797 4 600 000 MS 1 985 808 209 461. 6 F 9. 480532 Significance F 0. 05048959 Standard Lower Coefficients Error t Stat P-value 95% Intercept 5943. 98625 1161 . 190869 5. 18871 0. 01443 2 248. 558665 Emergency 24. 9140893 85. 10570782 0. 292743 0. 788799 -245. 930256 Patients 3. 80756014 0. 889819838 4. 279024 0. 023443 0. 975756281 Upper Lower Upper 95% 95. 0% 95. 0% 9 639. 414 2 248. 5599 639. 414 295. 7584 -245. 932 95. 7584 6. 639364 0. 975756 6. 639364 2 Question 2: Refer to Beth and Jessie’s ice cream factory from the tutorial last week. Please assume that in addition to chocolate chip ice-cream, Beth and Jessie have expanded their operations to produce Extra Chewy Cookie Dough ice-cream and Super Creamy Strawberry Cheesecake ice-cream. They hired semi-retired chef on a project-by-project basis to help develop these two flavours; and he is currently experimenting with another new flavour – Very Juicy Mango Delight. We further assume that the processes are exactly the same to manufacture all three types of ice-creams, except that different flavours and different â€Å"extra ingredients† are added. A. Please give examples of the following: Cost object = A box of ice-cream. 1. A unit level cost 2. A batch level cost 3. A product level cost 4. A facility level cost B. For each of the your examples, 1. Suggest a potential cost driver 2.Classify the cost as manufacturing or non-manufacturing 3 Self Study Questions and Solutions (complete in your own time) 1. 2. 3. 4. LS, Chapter 2, Self-Study problem 1. LS, Chapter 2, Review Question 2. 7 LS, Chapter 3, Question 3. 34. Mowen, Chapter 3, Question 3. 10. (Note: You are not required to run a regression, the output table is provided below. 4 Self Study Questions and Solutions (complete in your own time) 1. LS, Chapter 2, Self-Study problem 1. Solution is on p. 61-62 with the following amendments: 4) Answer should a, and h. (Sales and marketing are often used interchangeably. 7) Answer should be a, and NOT b. (The word-processing equipment is used for administration purposes and should not be inventorised. ) 9) Answer should be a, and either g or h. (If the new product packaging is designed to attract customers’ attention and increase sales, the cost of material can also be considered a marketing cost. ) 2. LS, Chapter 2, Review Question 2. 7 When analysing cost behaviour the ‘level of activity’ refers to the level of work performed in the organisation. The activity generally causes the cost and, for this reason, the level of activity is often referred to as the level of cost driver.Activity can be expressed in many different ways, including units produced, number of machine hours, number of direct labour hours, number of transactions, kilometres driven, kilowatts used, pages printed, number of set-ups, number of engineering hours and so on. 3. LS, Chapter 3, Question 3. 34. Answers to this question will vary. Rather than looking for a right answer, students should seek an understanding of the concepts. 1. Given that a full-time technician is hired, this component of the cost is a fixed cost.The additional c ost of repairs by the local dealer may be related to the number of instruments used in the school, or number of hours of instruction. A semi-variable cost. 2. The number of audit hours is a cost driver, which, in turn may be related to the number of students (influencing the number of transactions. ) A variable cost. 3. No cost driver – a fixed cost; step-fixed cost if the number of students grew beyond the ability of existing admin staff to cope and another new staff has to be hired. 4. Number of students enrolled, or number of hours of instruction. Variable cost. . No cost driver i. e. a fixed cost (if annual fixed salary paid) or, (if paid on an hourly basis) the number of hours employed or the number of hours of instruction (i. e. , a variable cost). 6. Number of students enrolled. A variable cost. 7. A fixed cost; no driver. (However, in the long term, the cost of new instruments purchased will drive the depreciation charge. ) 8. Probably fixed; no cost driver. 9. Number of hours the school is open. A semi-variable cost. 5 4. Mowen, Chapter 3, Question 3. 10 Note: You may have a slightly different figure due to rounding (e. g. ,  ±1). 6