Media and Entertainment Paper free essay sample

A reporting application that provides managers of more than 1,300 cost centers with fast, easy access to financial data, allowing them to manage their businesses more effectively. 2 SAP Customer Success Story | Media | BBC Executive overview Company Vision Why SAP Implementation Solution Benefits Upholding a long-standing mission From its start as a radio broadcaster in the 1920s, the BBC has adhered to a consistent philosophy – to inform, educate, and entertain. Even as the broadcasting industry and the BBC specifically have evolved and expanded over time, the organization has held true to this mission. Headquartered in London, England, in the United Kingdom (UK), the BBC has more than 22,000 employees, an annual income of ? 3. 6 billion (approximately US$5. 6 billion), and an operating budget (managed through cost centers) of ? 2. 1 billion ($3. 3 billion). Established by a Royal Charter, the public service broadcaster is funded by a license fee paid by UK households. Services include 8 national TV channels plus regional programming, 10 national radio stations, and 40 local radio stations. The organization also maintains an extensive Web site. Outside the UK, the BBC World Service broadcasts to the world via radio, television, and the Internet, providing news and information in 32 languages. The BBC World Radio stations 50 Service is funded by a government grant, not from the license fee. The BBC also has a commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, whose profits are returned to the BBC for investment in new programming and services. Through these many media outlets, the BBC provides a critical link to news and information and, through its arts and entertainment programming, enjoyment to patrons worldwide. SAP Customer Success Story | Media | BBC Executive overview Company Vision Why SAP Implementation Solution Benefits The need to reduce operating costs Like many publicly funded organizations, the BBC must reduce operating costs. The broadcaster has an agreement with its governing body, the BBC Trust, to reduce costs by 20% by the year 2017. A key to achieving this objective is to enable fast, easy access to financial data, so cost center managers can make informed decisions for greater cost savings. Still, managing a ? 2. billion budget across 26 brands and 30 operating divisions can be daunting. Cost center managers are responsible for tracking license fees, and they must report on how costs align with the budget, as agreed to with the BBC’s governing trust. Data was scattered across its 30 operating divisions – data that managers could use to tighten control and communicate results. Yet accessing the data was cumbersome. Managers had to log into the portal, request a report, provide parameters, and wait for the report to run. Accessing the data directly required specialized training. The resulting ?2. 1 billion Budget output was not easily customized, often needed further filtering, and required labor-intensive cutting and pasting to arrive at a presentable report. The BBC wanted to equip its managers with the tools to spend less time gathering and sifting data so more time could be spent making decisions to manage costs. Ultimately, the goal of the BI team was to deliver complex, multisource data seamlessly and efficiently within the BBC. 4 SAP Customer Success Story | Media | BBC Executive overview Company Vision Why SAP Implementation Solution Benefits Leveraging an SAP software landscape To equip cost center managers with the decisionmaking insight they need, the BBC leveraged its existing software infrastructure. The BBC was already using the SAP ERP application and other SAP software across its enterprise to facilitate business processes. Now, as it embarked on its financial transformation, the BBC’s finance BI team looked to SAP software once again, shifting its emphasis to using SAP software for information management. The BBC began its initiative with a proof of concept of SAP BusinessObjects solutions. Valued software services partner Computer Systems Integration (CSI) Ltd. helped the finance BI team to configure the proof of concept. In addition to helping install the SAP BusinessObjects solutions, CSI made hardware recommendations and educated the team to make sure it was prepared to make the best use of the BI and information management software. The concept met technical and functionality requirements, so the BBC proceeded with a full implementation. A side benefit of continuing to work with SAP was the BBC’s existing inhouse expertise. Since the BI team was already omfortable working with SAP software, it was able to avoid the issues and support costs it likely would have encountered by going to an outside software solution. Another deciding factor in favor of an SAP solution was the rich array of business intelligence and information management solutions from SAP that support the BBC vision. Frontline software users were hit with a series of business demands that had t o be mapped onto new solutions related to information. The new requirements led the BBC’s financial applications and strategy team to adopt SAP BusinessObjects solutions. SAP Customer Success Story | Media | BBC Executive overview Company Vision Why SAP Implementation Solution Benefits Pulling together relevant data in a single access point Since it had already configured a working proof of concept, the implementation team was able to save time as it rolled out the solution to the broader enterprise. Pulling together relevant data in a single access point, the team extracted transactional data from SAP ERP, the SAP NetWeaver ® Business Warehouse component, SQL databases, and other data points for self-service reporting and analysis. The finance BI team chose to begin the implementation with the BBC news cost centers, which were reasonably indicative of the rest of the BBC. The team held meetings and workshops to identify how the software could help them work better, where they felt information was lacking, and where there was too much. It then adapted the solution based on end-user input. Within three months, the BBC rolled out the solution across all 1,300 cost centers. Given the variable nature of business at the BBC, the implementation team deliberately kept the pace at a comfortable level. For example, the BBC needs to continually respond to world events and be prepared to send people to cover such events; in turn, the finance BI team must continually react to changes in cost and priorities. Thus, as the team rolled out new functionality, it was sensitive to the demands the cost center managers were facing. The solution was accepted very well, and cost center managers can use it with minimal instruction. The interface is designed to be intuitive, so managers can go in and within three clicks get useful information. 6 SAP Customer Success Story | Media | BBC Executive overview Company Vision Why SAP Implementation Solution Benefits Enabling information and insight with a click of a mouse The new reporting application, based on SAP BusinessObjects business intelligence solutions, helps BBC cost center managers access the financial data they need quickly and efficiently, so they can better manage their businesses. Cost center managers open the reporting solution by clicking a link that is saved as a â€Å"favorite† in their Web browser or on their desktop. From the main screen, managers click different tabs to find information associated with their cost centers. Managers can view a summary of their cost center, look at forecasts, and see what they’ve spent by period or agency. Also, they can view administrative projects or see a staff list. SAP BusinessObjects Dashboards software displays the corresponding information on-screen, organized neatly in tables and graphs. Although the back-end data-integration activity is invisible to cost center managers, managers can run queries using SAP BusinessObjects Web Intelligence ® software to access more detail about what’s appearing on-screen. For example, the managers can look at the aggregated information or drill down and see to the penny how much they’re spending and who is spending it. This same level of detail is available across all of the categories. With SAP BusinessObjects software, the solution is horizontally integrated to provide access to data held within various BBC software applications. 7 BBC Executive overview Company Vision Why SAP Implementation Solution Benefits Embodying a culture of simplicity and effectiveness The reporting application delivers significant benefits to the BBC user community while greatly reducing the back-office effort required to support individual cost center managers. Before, to run reports for the cost center managers, counterparts in finance spent up to two hours per month compiling and formatting data. Analyzing the reports could take the cost center managers a full day. With the new reporting solution, information is immediately available in a dashboard, allowing cost center managers to analyze it in a fraction of the time. The company is saving roughly 200 days per year across production accountants, finance analysts and partners, and business analysts. Now, cost center managers no longer need to run reports to reconcile data as they review line-item information. Having the data readily available in dashboard format has resulted in dramatic time savings – roughly 1,755 days per year for production managers and 225 days per year for program managers. Days saved per year among managers and analysts The BBC is realizing other benefits as well.

Child Soldiers in the Republic of Congo

The deadly conflicts experienced by the Democratic Republic of Congo at the end of the twentieth and the beginning of the twenty-first centuries caused numerous negative consequences resulting in the severe social crisis in the country. The Second Congo War that started in 1998 has become one of the most dreadful armed conflicts of the second half of the twentieth century (McMullen, O’Callaghan, Shannon, Black, Eakin, 2013).Advertising We will write a custom proposal sample on Child Soldiers in the Republic of Congo specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Recruitment of child soldiers is one of the practices often used by official and nonofficial armed forces in the country. Such practice presents a serious threat to the life and psychological health of children as the experience gained in the army leaves irreversible changes in their social attitudes and psyche. Finding an effective solution to the problem of child soldiers in C ongo is necessary for ensuring the healthy environment for the population of the country. Though numerous actions were taken to demobilize the child soldiers after the official end of the war, a certain number of children is still recruited by military groups. The process of demobilization of child soldiers is complicated by the fact that many children do not find support in the society and do not consider themselves a part of it. Investigating the social and ethnic background of former child soldiers can contribute to the success of prevention of future recruitment. The aim of this paper is to answer the questions related to the social and ethnic identity of demobilized child soldiers. The research is aimed at checking if the hypothesis that most soldiers come from the same social and ethnic group is true to life. Confirming or refuting the hypothesis are of vital importance, as the identification of a certain group of children most vulnerable to being recruited by the army will he lp to prevent further recruitment by encouraging proper institutions to focus on providing appropriate preventive activities for this group. The Overview of the Research Design As the purpose of the study is to answer the questions about the background of the child soldiers in Congo, descriptive research design seems to be the most appropriate one. A good description is â€Å"fundamental to the research enterprise† as it contributes to the knowledge of the nature of the society (What is research design?, n.d., p. 1). The specifics of descriptive research fit the purpose of the study, as such research helps to obtain the information that is crucial for devising hypotheses and proposing associations (Monsen Van Horn, 2008). As description â€Å"paves the way to prediction†, the chosen research design will help to predict the association between the social and ethnic background of children and their inclination to participate in the Army (Mitchell Jolley, 2013, p. 272). Advertising Looking for proposal on ethnicity studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Quantitative research, as a type of descriptive studies, appears to be suitable for the study, as it will help to collect data about the issues discussed above and organize it into valuable descriptive statistics (Monsen Van Horn, 2008, p. 5). The choice of data collection and analysis methods should correspond to the chosen research design. The Data Collection Methods Gathering data about the social and ethnic background of former child soldiers in Congo can be done by using survey methods. As the researcher is learning French, which is the first language in Congo, it will be relatively easy to use such method of data collection as focus group interviews. Focus groups will include family members of demobilized child soldiers and the members of civil society. Each of the group will consist of 5-9 people (Kwok-to Choi Chan, 2013). Such surv ey data collection technique as constructing necessary questionnaire will be used to create an appropriate basis for the interviews. Each group will be requested to answer a certain number of questions during an-hour-long sessions. The participants will be asked to share their views on the discussed issue, and the appropriate records will be made. Monitoring of narratives of demobilized children in Congo will also be used as an additional method of obtaining data for the study. The narratives will be selected based on careful analysis to identify certain features related to social and ethnic background common among child soldiers. Analysis Methods The collected data will be analyzed by reviewing the answers of the participants and identifying if they reflect common social and ethnic patterns typical of child soldiers in Congo. The detailed statistical analysis of obtained information will be conducted to demonstrate if certain social and ethnic groups prevail among former child sold iers. Descriptive statistics analysis will suit the purpose of the study and help the researcher to find the association between the investigated factors and the willingness to participate in the army. Descriptive statistics will help to describe the basic features of the data obtained during the study and provide summaries about the sample (Trochim, 2006). Such statistics will enable the researcher to describe what the data shows. Two variables, social background and ethnic origin of former child soldiers, will be analyzed. As it is rather difficult to calculate the statistics when there two or more variables, appropriate statistics program should be used. The data will be put to Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program to get the appropriate table of results.Advertising We will write a custom proposal sample on Child Soldiers in the Republic of Congo specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More A Sampling Scheme A random sample will be used to ensure that the results can predict the features common to the whole population. A sample frame will be defined to determine a complete list of the population from which the sample should be selected. The creation of sample frame database will enable the researcher to conduct random number selection. The necessary information about the families of former child soldiers will be attained from appropriate institutions, and ten families from different parts of the country will be chosen based on the method of probability sampling. Ten groups of the members of civil society living in various regions of the country will also be chosen randomly. Such method of sampling will help to prevent inaccuracy and ensure that the identified patterns refer to all child soldiers. The written narratives for analysis will also be selected randomly from the database of appropriate institutions located in different regions of Congo. The total number of chosen narratives will be twen ty. The assessment of the selected sample will be conducted to eliminate the risk of missing certain groups of population and getting subjective results. Sample validation will be carried out to ensure that the selected participants truly represent the whole population. Strengths and Weaknesses of the Research Design The main strengths of the research design include its suitability to the purpose of the study. The chosen research design enables the researcher to answer the initial research questions and check the hypothesis. Besides, such research design enables the researcher to ensure that the data obtained during it is objective, and the results can be applied to the whole population. The objectivity of the results is of vital importance, as it lets the researcher make well-grounded claims and encourage further research based on already gained relevant information on the issue. Usage of group based interviews will help to monitor a big number of the people living in Congo in a re latively short period. On the other side, the absence of individualistic approach in group interviews can be defined as a weakness of the research design. However, careful and friendly communication with the individuals included in the groups will help to eliminate the risks related to lack of individualistic features of the survey.Advertising Looking for proposal on ethnicity studies? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Descriptive statistics analysis will help to analyze the collected data and draw certain conclusions. The researcher will be able to find the correlation between certain social and ethnic groups and the level of children’s participation in military groups. The usage of SPSS software will help to prevent any possibility of making mistakes while calculating the statistics. Usage of random sampling gives numerous benefits to the research, as it helps to ensure that the results are appropriate for being considered typical for the whole population of Congo. Though such sampling requires more time and effort, careful communication with appropriate institutions will help to overcome these challenges. The chosen research design has numerous benefits and will enable the researcher to answer vital questions about the nature of the phenomenon of child soldiers in Congo. The gained results will help other specialists to suggest the appropriate strategy for combating children’s inv olvement in military organizations in Congo. References Kwok-to Choi, M., Chan, K. (2013). Online dating as a strategic game: Why and how men in Hong Kong use QQ to chase women in mainland China. Berlin: Springer Heidelberg. McMullen, J., O’Callaghan, P., Shannon, C., Black, A., Eakin, J. (2013). Group trauma-focused cognitive-behavioural therapy with former child soldiers and other war-affected boys in the DR Congo: A randomised controlled trial. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 54(11), 1231-1241. Mitchell, M., Jolley, J. (2013). Research design: Explained (8th ed.). Belmont, California: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Monsen, E., Van Horn, L. (2008). Research: Successful approaches (3rd ed.). New York: American Dietetic Association. Trochim, W. (2006). Descriptive Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/statdesc.php What is a research design? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.nyu.edu/classes/bkg/methods/005847ch1.pdf This proposal on Child Soldiers in the Republic of Congo was written and submitted by user Cali Howell to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Anti-Federalism essays

Anti-Federalism essays The adoption of the U.S. Constitution created a centralized authority giving a great amount of power to the federal government. I think that the governments powers should be reduced and more equally divided among its branches. With such things we could have specific limitations on the government's taxation and commerce powers as well as many other things that would make our society better for the people. I feel that the Articles of Confederation work, they just need amending. This new found liberty is something that shouldn't be given up on so easily. At the Constitutional convention in which George Washington was elected President many key people were absent from the meeting; Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were away on foreign affairs and Patrick Henry refused to attend the meeting because he "smelt a rat". Patrick Henry's suspections were correct being that James Madison who had been behind the formation of the meeting had in mind the creation of a powerful central government and the subversion of the authority of the state legislatures. With the meeting being held without the presents of some of the country's major political leaders, decisions were not made to their greatest potential. In their absence some ideas were proposed such as Madison's idea that called for the near annihilation of the State legislatures and the creation of an implied empire. Other ideas came about like Alexander Hamilton's statement that the British government was above all others and had a plan to appoint lifetime executive officials - a Monarchy. The reason most Anti-Federalists oppose to the Constitution is that the republic must remain in the states, it must be geographically small in order to meet the needs of the people. With such a large demographic, the interest of the people would be too diverse and should be kept divided for individual control. SUch large districs ...

Autism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 6250 words - 1

Autism - Essay Example This estimate have risen in recent years due to more awareness about Autism. Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), also known as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) along with the developmental disorders that fall under its umbrella are disorders are characterized by deficits in social and communication skills. The Autism Spectrum Disorders include: Asperger’s Syndrome, Pervasive Developmental Disorder – Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS), Autism Disorder, Child Disintegrative Disorder and Rett Syndrome. In recent years, diagnoses of Autism have increased both in breadth and in depth. The increase in the prevalence of this developmental disorder to 1 in 88 children has become so alarming that many parents and practitioners have been more diligent in knowing more about it. Zalla et al. (2006) has encapsulated the definition of Autism as follows: It is â€Å"a complex developmental disorder characterised by severe difficulties in communication, social interactions, and executive functions. Social and communication disturbances are generally explained in terms of a defective neurocognitive mechanism responsible for the attribution of thoughts and feelings to oneself and to others† (p. 527). The many symptoms presented by individuals with Autism have been inconsistent in pointing to just one disorder that is why it had to be spread out to various disorders within the Autism spectrum. Although there are overlaps of symptoms, there are also categorical clusters that belong to one disorder that can be differentiated from another disorder. Under the umbrella of the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) exists the highest functioning Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD) subtype called Asperger’s Syndrome (Kurita, Koyama & Osada, 2005). This is characterized by several deficits in age-appropriate social interactions and restricted,

Loyal Nine or The Sons of Liberty Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Loyal Nine or The Sons of Liberty - Essay Example 1765:-The beginning of our activities first unfolded by the group hanging an effigy of Andrew Oliver on a tree along Newbury Street. Oliver was the one who was to commission the stamps for Massachusetts. Alongside the effigy, there were large boots with a kind of a devil picture hanging out of it. The whole idea of the group was to show that public that Oliver was deeply associated with the Stamp Act. The outcome of this act was disastrous to Oliver and everything that belonged to him. 1766:-It was an open secret that the group ruled the entire Boston by end 1766...all the Sheriffs kept it low. We had a common purpose, that was to force all the Stamp Distributors to Resign. All the Merchants who declined to cooperate with our idea to â€Å"Non-Importation Act† had pressure applied to them to do so or face our wrath. It was a great success. 1768:-Lucky enough a good number of our members were printers and publishers. This made it easy for us to employ what we simply call â€Å"newsprint propaganda† especially in 1768. Where our achievement and activities were made known to all readers. By the time the Stamp Congress had concluded their business we had developed into a very large organization and it was not easy to just brush us off like a simple militia group. 1770:-We had succeeded in attacking most symbols of the British Authority like the Custom's officers, Gentry, and Companies. During this active Decade of operation, we made sure that all the Stamp Officers in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York and New Jersey underwent a lot of intimidation and had either resigned or if they persist they would be seized and burned. 1775:-We had a well-organized group at this time. All the way we operated with great confidence and Loyalty to our officials with high hopes that parliament would yield to the pressure and repeal the tax.  

Study On The Objectives Of Micro Finance Institutions Finance Essay

Study On The Objectives Of Micro Finance Institutions Finance Essay A sustainable economic growth and development has its foundation on economic agents access to financial services (credit, savings, pension funds etc). Studies have shown that there has been a failure of both the government and financial institutions to provide access to loan able funds to the grass root level of the economy (GCAP, 2010; Sundaresan, 2008), for this reason it has become increasingly fashionable for national economies to set up Micro-finance Institutions to meet the need of these groups of people. Microfinance is becoming widely accepted especially in the developing countries and it is now playing a major role in reduction of poverty and the economic development in the world. This essay seeks to analyse both theoretical and empirical evidence with the view to ascertaining whether MFIs have lived up to their objectives as key drivers of economic growth and development. In addition, the essay will look at the impact of MFIs in Nigeria in relation to poverty eradication wi thin the following perspectives: Provision of Financial Services Access to Finance and Regulatory and Legal Framework for access to finance Nigeria Financial Services Sector is made up of the commercial banks, the Microfinance Banks, Discount houses, Cooperative societies, Insurance sector and Pension funds, Savings and Loans, Leasing companies etc. The essay will focus on those financial institutions that are licensed to take deposits and create loans. Microfinance is defined in terms of the services they offer; the provision of a wide range of services including deposit taking, advancement of loans, payment services, money transfers, and insurance services to the low income members of the economy (ADB, date). Microfinance can simply be seen as the provision of quality financial services to the poor. The theory of Microfinance dates back to 1975 to Mohammed Yunus, an Economics University lecturer in Bangladesh. In his classic research project he designed a credit and delivery system to provide banking services to the rural poor (Hulme et al, 2009). The research gave birth to what is known today as the Grameen bank; that has grown both in assets and operations (Grameen, 2009). The provision of financial services within the Nigeria context has been an abysmal failure. Recent survey by the FinScope found some staggering fact about the level of banking participation in the economy FinScope (2008). According to the study 74% of the adult population have not been banked, 15% of women at the time of the survey have no bank account and 86% of rural adults are not unbanked (FinScope, 2008). A comparison of the level of access to financial services particularly the deposit money bank done amongst four countries in African including; Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Tanzania found that Nigeria has the second largest number of non-banking population see Fig. 1 (Isern et al, 2009). The level of financial services illiteracy amongst the adult population is equally very low according to the survey (FinScope, 2008). See Fig 3. The close proximity of Microfinance banks to the rural population offers them a great advantage to reach the nonbanked populace unfortunately; emp irical studies showed that only 3 percent of adults use Microfinance as their main bank (Bun et al, 2007). The Small and Medium Enterprises have been identified as the engine room of growth and development in most economies (Malik and Teal, 2008). However, this very important sector of every developed and developing economy has been very dormant in Nigeria. A World Bank study in 2008 (World Bank, 2008) have identified access to finance amongst others as one of the top constraints of the development of SMEs in Nigeria. In a study that compared the Sectoral contribution to GDP, it was observed that Nigeria SME sector was much smaller than that of other developing countries; according to the study, the SME accounted for about 50% of the nations GDP very little when compared with the 80% of the other developing economies. To improve on this the country need a well funded and operationally strong Microfinance institutions, it is arguable though whether the MFIs operating in the country have lived up to their expectations. For instance, a study done by Malik and Teal (2008) showed that only 5% of firms have received loans from Microfinance Institutions even when 80% applications were received from the SMEs. See Fig.4. The study showed the extent to which access to and cost of financing are a problem for Nigerian SMEs. Access to loan able funds was seen as a function of size; according to the survey, about 59% of small firms faced varying degrees of difficulties in accessing finance compared to 35% of medium firms and 11% of large SME firms. A world comparison of access to and cost of credit done on India, China, South Africa, Indonesia and Brazil saw Nigeria closely following Brazil as countries with the highest impediments to access to credit see Fig 5 (ICA 2008). The study of Isern et al (2009) showed that households, rural populace and SMEs are not very interested in accessing investment funds from MFIs. Part of the reasons adduced for this lacklustre attitude include high interest rates (cost of funds), collateral requirements, maturities mismatch etc. However, the study done by ICF in 2008 showed that cost of funds is cheaper in Nigeria relative to the other 5 countries surveyed. The supply of Microfinance services has a very long history in Nigeria, although this was frequently done in informal ways. A study done by Food and Agricultural Organisation in 2004 estimated that 25% of Nigerians accessed some informal sources of financing (FAO, 2004). USAID in 2005 carried out a survey that estimated that a majority of funding for Manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises came from personal savings, informal lending schemes known as esusu and gifts from family members (USAID, 2005). The FinScope survey in 2008 equally revealed that 24% of SMEs used informal sources of funding for their businesses. Various forms of Non-Governmental Organisations NGOs which are not for profit oriented micro-credit schemes have been in place since the 1980s. For instance Ford Foundation began supporting households and SMEs in 1993 and as 2004 have provided capacity building grants to 123 organisations worth $180,000 US dollars at the 2000 exchange rate, and the Foundation have refinanced loans to 241 organisations to the tune of $1.7 million (Isern et al, 2009). The study noted that majority of the NGOs used Grameen solidarity groups model to provide loans to small groups of people. The 2005 Microfinance framework made provision for traditional community banks that were operating in the country to be re-licensed as microfinance institutions with a minimum capital base of NGN 20 million (CBN, 2005). The community banks operating in the country before the re-licensing were privately held companies licensed to take deposits from the public as well as provide credit services. CBN reports showed that these banks became very successful in deposit mobilization but failed in their functions as lenders to the rural households and SMEs within the communities that they operated (CBN/OFID Reports, date). As at July 2008, about 125 Microfinance licenses were processed by the Central Bank of Nigeria and most of these licenses were for internationally experienced Microfinance organisations such as ACCION International which is a partnership between Citibank-Nigeria, Ecobank, Zenith bank, IFC and SME manager. Other international organisations like K-REP (Kenya), BRAC (Bangladesh), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) have provided both funding and technical expertise to MFIs. The traditional commercial banks were not left out of the Microfinance arrangements as most of them opened subsidiaries that undertook the functions of MFIs (CBN reports, 2008). The growth of MFIs in Nigeria was encouraging. See Fig 6. The international capital flows as well as the technical expertise helped to build the much needed confidence that was lacking when the banks operated as community banks. However, the growth and concentration of MFIs may become too risky; as majority of them are serving the same market. CBN data showed that 100 of MFIs were operating in Lagos State alone and 16 in Abuja the Federal Capital. Reports from the CBN showed that as at the end of October 2008, a total of 724 MFIs were fully licensed and in operations, with 607 of them being community banks that were re-licensed as MFIs, about 86 MFIs have been given approval in principle during the period under review (CBN, 2008) Again another important source of risk is from the very low capital base that is required for the MFIs and poor regulatory and supervision framework. The CBN in their current reforms are taking some major steps to mitigate these risks; with the proposal of merging and consolidations within the sector. If the various reforms pull through, the country may see more financial strong MFIs that are able to perform their functions as key drivers of national growth and prosperity. Despite the rapid growth of the MFIs in both size magnitude and operations; lending to rural households and SMEs has continued to stagnate. The growth in MFIs have failed to translate into easy access to investment funds, SMEs and households have continued to bedevilled by high cost of funds and collateral requirements. Adverse selection within the financial services sector has continued to persist as a result of information asymmetry. Information asymmetry in the sense that the MFIs have no way of fully guiding and protecting their loanable funds to the public, as a result of this; higher risk premia are demanded to provide financial services which excludes high quality borrowers. The table showed the low reliance of SMEs in the country on capital from financial institutions; clearly borrowed funds from the banks including the MFIs have remained very low, largely as a result of the factors mentioned before. The result is even worst when compared with that of other developing economies like Brazil, South Africa, China, India, Indonesia and Kenya. Source: ICF Survey (2008) the result showed is for short term financing as in the case of long term financing firms depend entirely on personal funding. Table 8 clearly shows that only 4% of SMEs have access to lines of credit/loans while 8% have access to various forms of overdrafts. MFIs account for a very low percentage of financial services funding in Nigeria, largely because of loan ceiling that is active within that sector. Microfinance institutions operating in Nigeria are mandated to keep 60% of their loan portfolio below the NGN 500,000 (US$4310) loan threshold. Central to the Microfinance regulatory framework is the CBN guidelines for licensing of microfinance banks (MFBs). The guidelines provide two licensing options; unit MFBs that are licensed to operate within the local government area in which they are registered with a minimum capital base of NGN20 (US 172,000) million naira. The unit MFBs according to the guideline may expand their operations subject to the NGN20 million capital requirement per branch. State MFBs are licensed to operate in all parts of the state in which they are registered and are subject to a minimum capital requirement of NGN 1 billion (US $8.6 Million). For the state registered MFBs to raise additional funds and open more branches; they are required to have covered at least two-thirds of the state and raise additional NGN 20 million to open a branch in another state. The prudential regulations of MFIs are designed to manage credit risks that are part of the Microfinance operations; the capital adequacy ratios of the MFIs are set with the notion that the institutions will be engaged in mostly unsecured credit financing, the capital adequacy ratio is set at a risk-rated 10:1 ratio (CBN2005). In addition, there are strict guidelines setting up reserves and dividend pay-outs. Microfinance prudential regulations are designed to reduce risk concentration by putting a cap on the amount of credit an individual and groups can access. The Microfinance prudential regulation is designed to reduce risk concentration by putting a ceiling on individual loans (1% of unimpaired shareholder funds and 5% for group borrower), a 100% provisioning is required for loans over 90 days in arrears or restructured (Isern 2009). Microfinance deposits up to NGN 100,000 (US $862) are protected by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Fund (CBN 2008). The Supervision of microfinance is based on both on and off-site supervision, box 2 shows a summary of the regulatory and supervision principles of microfinance institutions in Nigeria. Interest Rate policy of Microfinance institutions in Nigeria ranges above 20-30% for loans, advances, overdraft facilities and other types of lending services (Isern, et al 2009). The interest rates charged by the MFIs are quite high when compared to that charged by the conventional money deposit banks see Table 13. The high rates of interest reflects the high risk premia of the targeted audience that the MFIs are designed to serve. The high rate of interest rate has been identified as one of the key factors that limit rural households and businesses from access to credit through the MFIs (Philips 2002). This imposes distortion in the flow of credit as companies that cannot afford the high cost of borrowing look for informal sources which are marred by risks and uncertainties. The review of the operations of Microfinance Institutions in Nigeria has clearly revealed that there should be a trade-off between high cost of funds on one hand and provision of financial services on the other hand. From what they are designed to achieve, they are supposed to provide some sort of lose collateral lending and as such have a higher risk than the conventional commercial banks. Microfinance Institutions in developing economies like Nigeria faces some challenges both in their operations and in the environment in which they operate. One of these challenges as noted by Cerven and Ghazanfer (2008) includes some cultural practices that discriminate against women such as specific cultural, familial and personal circumstances other important considerations to women empowerment in Nigeria are religious issues like Purdah: (seclusion of women) which is rampant in Northerner Nigeria. Technical know-how and in-adequate regulation has been identified as one of the internal and external factors that militate against the growth of MFIs in Nigeria (Campion 2002). Microfinance been in a somewhat embryonic stage; developments and regulations are still evolving is expected that the sector could face some hiccups before stabilizing. Microfinance Institutions have enormous growth opportunities in Nigeria as a result of most of the factors highlighted in this essay; the nature of their operations and the Acts establishing them makes them a better preferred choice for consumers of financial services. However, this comes with a high cost to both the MFIs and their customers. To the MFIs the potential for high loan defaults are present; this may if not managed properly lead to financial fragility in the sector. To their customs; the high cost of interest and cumbersome application process that they have to face is a big challenge; there is an irony in the interest rate charged by MFIs in Nigeria, a country that has a forecasted average growth rate in GDP of between 5-6% per annum, has a cost of fund of between 20- 30%, this presupposes that businesses should grow more than the countrys GDP. Despite all the challenges of the MFIs in Nigeria, they remain substantial to the growth and development of any economy; and in Nigeria in particular the MFIs have large un-tapped markets and are set for long-run profitability if the relevant infrastructures are put in place. Fig 3 Percentage of adults who have never heard of the listed services and products

Cancer :: essays research papers fc

Cancer My friend, Matt, was diagnosed with cancer in May 2002. I was shocked when Matt’s girlfriend, Amber, told me that he had cancer, because Matt was only twenty-three years old when diagnosed. The type of cancer Matt has is called Leukemia, which is cancer of the white blood cells. This cancer starts in the bone marrow but can then spread to the blood, lymph nodes, the spleen, liver, central nervous system and other organs. Cancer affects many people each year including my grandmother who had cancer and now one of my close friends.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The type of Leukemia Matt has is Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), which causes his body many problems. Matt’s first symptoms of Leukemia started with him filling weak and fatigued, looking pale faced, and vomiting on occasion. Matt’s mother is a nurse at the Aiken Hospital, ambling her to know that something was seriously wrong with Matt. Matt’s mom took him to the Aiken Hospital where he was later diagnosed with Leukemia. Matt’s family and friends were shocked to find out he had this disease because of his young age. This is a disease that occurs most commonly in young children, but also affects adults. The doctors have no idea how Matt became infected with cancer. Some risk factors for some cases of cancer are smoking, exposure to massive amounts of radiation, and drugs used for the treatment of other cancers. Leukemia cells in the Acute Leukemia grow rapidly and require therapy right away (Veritas Medicine). This type of disease i s hard on the body because it affects the blood cells. Bone Marrow is the soft, spongy, inner part of bones (American Cancer Society). All of the different types of blood cells are made in the bone marrow. Bone marrow is made up of blood-forming cells, fat cells, and tissues that aid the growth of blood cells (American Cancer Society). The two types of blood cells are white and red blood cells. White blood cells (leukocytes) help defend the body against germs—viruses and bacteria (American Cancer Society). Red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to all other tissues of the body(American Cancer Society). They also carry away carbon dioxide. Matt began to have a shortage of red blood cells, which caused his weakness.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since Matt had this type of disease that grows rapidly his mom had to take him to a hospital in Charleston, South Carolina immediately.