Category: Money

As it can be seen from our everyday life, the real estate is one of the most rapidly developing markets. Looking from a broad historical perspective, Niall Ferguson devotes the chapter Save as Houses to the observation of the real estate concept transformation, describes the place of the real estate market in the economic systems of the Western democracies and traces the corresponding prerequisites of the world financial crisis.

Since the time immemorial, the desire of owning a stable home has been the inalienable part of the human as the social animal. However, for the huge historical period the aristocrats had the privilege to own residential property. It was not until the mid of the 19th century when the positions of big landlords were shaken by the government actions aimed to establish control over the immense territories. In Great Britain, the palace of Duke of Buckingham was sold at the auction in 1848; that was the harbinger of a new, democratic age (Ferguson, 2008, p. 240). The people could receive the right to vote if they rented a house, not only owned.

The concept of property-owning as a democratic value emerged and crystallized in America. There were not too many mortgages issued before the 30s of the XX century; in the peak of and after the Great Depression most of them were foreclosed. The Roosevelts administration made significant reforms by creating low-cost homes, long-term mortgages and specialized institutions, such as Home Owners Loan Corporation, Federal Home Loan Bank, Federal Housing Administration. The Federal National Mortgage Association was established in 1938 and introduced the secondary realty market. However, there also existed some problems such as discrimination of the black people, who were named uncreditworthy up to the end of the 60-s.

The author also notes that there was always a place for fraud in a democratic and deregulated real estate world. The most notorious examples were found among the Savings & Loan Associations, which were free to invest not only in long-term mortgages but to more risky ones as well. S&Ls were very popular in the 80s, but when it was revealed in 1991 that Danny Faulkners association was successfully earning money on nonexistent objects in Texas, S&Ls were diminished. However, the idea to issue risky subprime mortgages at extremely high-interest rates was revived when it became possible to convert mortgages into bonds. The activities of such investment banks as Salomon Brothers and Meryl Lynch are the brightest examples of how issuing such mortgages to subjects with dubious creditworthiness could lead to the global financial crisis of 2008.

At the end of the chapter, we can also find the authors opinion of how it would be possible to develop the real estate market in the Latin America. He refers to the research of the famous Peruvian economist Hernando De Soto. There are plenty of properties in the Latin America, but people cannot make much use of them because of too sophisticated bureaucratic procedures. The latter should be reduced, and the system of property right should be established so that people could earn money and increase the countries GDP.

Overall, the author considers the houses may not be the safest types of investment. In some ways, stocks might be better, more liquid, but at the same time sell unstable. The only truth is that to ensure financial security one should have a properly diversified portfolio of assets (Ferguson, 2008, p. 282).

References

Ferguson, N. (2008). The ascent of money: A financial history of the world. New York, NY: The Penguin Press.

Two gas pipelines are built across the Andes: one from Bolivia to the Atlantic coast of Brazil, the second  the longest in the world  from Patagonia to Buenos Aieres. This became possible because of an invention of joint-stock, limited-liability corporations. Multiple investors jointly own the companys capital. Limited-liability because the separate existence of the company as a legal object protected the investors from losing all their wealth if the venture failed. The primary discipline on companies comes from stock markets where shares (small pieces of companies) are brought and sold. The price for a share tells how much people rely on the cost of the company in the future. Stock markets hourly evaluate the company on various aspects. The life of a stock market represents the reflection of human moods on the price of shares of a company. Optimistic buyers of stocks are bulls; pessimistic sellers are bears. There are five stages of stock markets life that repeatedly continue as a cycle: displacement, euphoria (overtrading), mania (bubble), distress, revulsion (discredit). The three other recurrent features of stock markets are asymmetric information, the role of cross-border capital flows, and easy credit creation (banks play a role in creating bubbles). Falls and rises of Dow Jones Industrial Average  the longest running American stock market index  in 1979-2002 and its erroneous prediction by the press are presented. In the long run American stock market is the best. The average return is 4,73 percent per year; Sweden (3.71); Switzerland (3.03). Market interruptions are the result of war or revolution. Stocks for the long run are not a universal treatment, but better than bonds.

The Company You Keep

John Law of Edinburg invented the stock market bubble. Amsterdam became the capital of innovation in finances by 1690s. The worlds first central bank was the Amsterdam Exchange Bank. It solved the problem of debased coinage by creating a reliable form of bank money. The join-stock company system was invented in Amsterdam based on high risks of delivery spices by sea. United Dutch Chartered East India Company or VOC was established in 1602. The structure and functioning of the company follows. The VOC initiated the creation of stock market built in 1608. The Amsterdam Exchange Bank was found in 1609 since a stock market could not readily function without an efficient monetary system. There was never such a thing as a Dutch East India Company bubble. The rise and fall of the VOC closely tracked the rise and fall of the Dutch Empire. John Law was inspired by Dutch financial system. He said: I have discovered the secret of the philosophers stone it is to make gold out of paper.

The First Bubble

Frances fiscal problems were in an especially desperate condition. Law claimed to have the solution  to establish a public bank on a Dutch model issuing paper money. The monarchs credit would effectively operate within a trading company financial system in Laws scheme. He proposed to take over Frances trade with the Louisiana territory that led to a foundation of a new Company of the West. The bubble was based on rosy visions of the colony that were not true. The bubble collapsed in 1720 and resulted in total financial catastrophe in France. That was one of the preconditions of Revolution. The South Sea Bubble in Britain was smaller.

Bulls and Bears

The Great Depression hit the entire world in 1929-1932. Except the USSR. The reasons and the conditions that led to the Depression are discussed. Five reasons are named. Two major conclusions are inept or inflexible monetary policy in the wake of a sharp decline in asset prices can turn a correction into a recession and a recession into a depression and the benefits of a stable exchange rate are not so great as to exceed the costs of domestic deflation.

A Tale of Fat Tails

The Federal Reserve prevented the financial crisis in the 1980s by injecting money into the system. The story of bubbles of the 1990s and the Enron Company bubble follows.

The Reasons for Selecting the Investments Chosen

Defining the steps that must be undertaken to buy profitable stocks and shares and be able to invest in the companies of choice is not an easy task; a careful analysis of the current economical, financial, and even political and social changes within the state, as well as the trends and influences from abroad, must be taken into considerations. However, by far the most important factor that predetermined the choice of companies for the given portfolio was the companies diversity. Since with several companies related to the same field, the chances of investing in a non-profitable venture are quite high, it is crucial to use the principle of diversification by choosing the most profitable companies that belonged to different fields. Thus, the fields of information technology, which Sirius XM belongs to, e-commerce, which Amazon deals with, online trade, which Amazon is famous for, and banking, which Sprint Corp. and FEDEX are related to, have been chosen.

The Beta for the Stock Portfolio and Its Significance

The items of the stock portfolio in question have also been chosen based on their beta value. A rather complicated and consequently important element of a companys financial performance index, beta is traditionally defined as a ratio between the volatility of a specific stock portfolio and the one accepted in the existing market. Therefore, the beta of the companies mentioned above also served as a major indicator of the companies trustworthiness and profitability. The account of the betas of every company in question is provided below:

Table 1. Betas of the Companies in the Portfolio

It is noteworthy that in the given portfolio, the beta indices of the companies involved vary considerably. The given variation allows for better flexibility and taking more chances. For example, while with Sprint Corp., the stock value is dependent on the volatility on the benchmark to a considerable degree; however, the profitability of the company compensates for the risks. Amazon and USAA, on the contrary, can be used as a lifebuoy for the venture in case Sprint Corp. and Siriuss stock price goes down.

Losses and Gains over a Period: The Impact of Economic Events

There is no need to stress that, much like any other business venture involving the creation of a stock portfolio, the given enterprise had its hits and misses; as a matter of fact, the times when the given enterprise faced serious crises. Most of the issues were related to the swings in the shares price of the Sprint Corporation. Being the company with the highest beta on the list, surely affected the revenues of the given venture. The changes that the given venture has undergone can be displayed with the help of the table below:

Table 2. Project performance

Analyzing the above-mentioned chart, one might notice that the results of the given business experiment have actually turned out rather inspiring; not only was most of the capital retained, but also some revenues came as a result of managing the shares of the companies in question. According to the calculations carried out, the total income made 2,700, which is 0.27% of the total sum that has been originally invested into the given enterprise.

As one might have noticed, the key weakness of the given portfolio concerned the choice of the sprint Corp. the Amazon shares, on the other hand, appeared to be a very solid backup for the given venture, despite the anticipations of its ultimate crash in June. While the overall amount of gain acquired over to period cannot be considered huge, it is still a decent step in starting a financial venture.

Performance Compared to the S&P 500 Index

One of the crucial elements in the evaluation of performance for the given project, the S&P 500 index will also have to be used. By dividing the performance of the given project by the average of the top 500 companies performance, one could possibly figure out how close to economical perfection the given project was. According to the existing data, the current S&P 500 Index makes 1,655.83 (Google Finance, 2013).When speaking about the project in question, one must admit, though, that its outcomes are far from being as much impressive as the S&P 500 Index. Compared to it, the performance of the given venture can be evaluated as 0.27. However, it is noteworthy that the given project still came out as profitable.

Performance Analysis: Gains and Losses

As it has been stressed above, the given project had its gains and losses. The rise and fall of the project can be depicted in the following way:

The table above has already shown that the given venture appeared to be quite successful; however, it displayed only the key landmarks of the great journey that the authors of the given project had to go through to handle the shares of the five companies specified above and come up with a positive experience about creating a stock portfolio. The chart above shows the steep rises and the nonetheless painful fall that the given project has suffered.

As one might notice, the basic problem of the given project concerned the analysis of the outside factors. While handling the inside issues was relatively easy and demanded only that different assets of different companies should be put to proper use, the outer factors demanded considerable accuracy, attention, and luck. As a result, in certain cases, the campaign suffered impressive losses.

Tracking of the Stock Market Indexes

To understand the full potential of the given shares, the latter must be compared to the basic stock market indices.

Dow Jones Industrial Average

According to the existing records, the Dow Jones Index was about 15,081.47, which gave much room for financial operations, yet created an uncomfortable atmosphere of tight competition.

S&P 500 Stock Index

As it has been pointed out previously, the S&P 500 Index has made 1,655.83 (Google Finance, 2013) on the chosen time slot.

Russell 2000 Index for small caps

Last, but definitely not the last, the Russell 2000 Index was 1023.40, which also added to the tension within the market and allowed for a more dynamic change of values of the stocks and shares in question.

Reference List

Google Finance (2013). S&P 500. Web.

Historical prices (n. d.). Web.

USAA (2013). USAA Investment Management Company USAA Managed Portfolios  UMPTM program (Appendix 1). Web.

Money, motivation and employee performance

Money is categorized under financial benefits and rewards in performance management. Money has been used a major source of employee motivation in personnel management for a long time. This is still embraced in contemporary human resource management where the relevance of financial rewards and benefits in employee motivation is emphasized. Awarding employees with financial rewards is an important motivator to employees.

This can be argued from basis of the organizational behavior theories like the Maslows hierarchy of needs theory. According to the theory, basic needs are placed first in the hierarchy. Satisfying the needs of employees should be a priority. Financial benefits and rewards help employees meet most of their basic needs. A salary increment means that an employee can meet an extra basic need, thereby making the employee fairly comfortable to work (Caruth & Handlogten, 2001).

How compensation ranges are determined by employers

The contemporary human resource management practices are governed by laws and regulations. There is compensation in the present working environment, which calls for organizations to embrace rationality in the determination of salary range for their employees as part of the efforts to sustain employees. While each employer would like to have a given salary scale to reflect the control of costs and expenditure, external factors in the present managerial environment play a critical role in determining the salary range for employees.

Employers keep watching what the competitor organizations are paying their employees and use it to set the salary range for their employees. Employers compliance with the wage and labor laws only comes in as a secondary factor, and it is only embraced in determining the salary range for low-scale employees (Chingos, 2002).

What can organizations do to better control benefits costs?

The goal of each organization is to enhance performance outcome. One of the desirable modalities of enhancing the performance of an organization by reducing costs through balancing of costs and their benefits to the organization. There are different methods that are used to relate costs to benefits in organizations. Some accounting tools like cost accounting are deployed by organizational managers to determine the payoff of a number of costs that are incurred by the organization.

From the analyses, organizations try to eliminate functions that are deemed to have few benefits to the organization. However, it is critical to observe that most of the costs of organizations go into the maintenance of organizational workforce (Kinney & Raiborn, 2009). Therefore, most of the cost cutting measures that are implemented by organizations target the benefits of the employees.

How to measure effectiveness in matters of compensation and benefits

The effectiveness of the compensation and benefits system in an organization is often determined by the level of employee performance. The main reason for implementing the benefits and compensation system in an organization is to steer the employees so that they can increase their rate of productivity.

For each of the compensation or benefits package that is unleashed by an organization, there is a certain level of performance that is expected to be attained as a payoff by the employees to the organization. Compensation and benefits are meant to motivate the employees, thereby encouraging them to increase their level of input. The increase in work input is reflected in work output and profitability of the organization (Jackson, Schuler & Werner, 2011).

References

Caruth, D. L., & Handlogten, G. D. (2001). Managing compensation (and understanding it too): A handbook for the perplexed. Westport, CT: Quorum Books.

Chingos, P. T. (2002). Paying for performance: a guide to compensation management. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Jackson, S. E., Schuler, R. S., & Werner, S. (2011). Managing human resources. Mason, OH: South-Western.

Kinney, M. R., & Raiborn, C. A. (2009). Cost accounting: Foundations and evolutions. Mason, OH: Thomson/South-Western.

Introduction

Virgin Money is a giant firm that offers various financial products on a platform of three distinct brands. Although its products were initially available in the United Kingdom in the mid 1990s, the management has focused on expanding the business into other nations. Due to the independence that typifies various entities of the organization in different countries, it is critical to underscore the entities also offer unique services. This paper aims at analyzing the issues identified in the case study and discussing whether the business establishment would succeed in Canada.

Analysis

In the context of the information provided, it would be stated that Virgin Money would succeed in Canada. One important thing to note is that Richard Branson, the founder of the Virgin Group, has always concentrated on providing affordable services to consumers across the world. In the case study, he says that innovative and creative ideas are key to the organizations culture. Thus, he believes that the firm would be positioned strategically to take advantage of the huge opportunity that the Canadian market presents.

In view of the business tactics that the company utilized to enter the US, South Africa, and Australia, it is evident that it would expand into the new market and break even within a relatively short period. In the three markets, management teams have focused on learning the approaches to offer financial services that are adopted by traditional banks. Thereafter, they use models that are exemplified by more affordable charges and innovative products, which would meet customers dynamic needs. In fact, Virgin Money reduces its costs of doing business by emphasizing on low charges that correlate with improved customer service.

PEST framework could also be used to analyze the case study. Political factors in the nation are conducive. It is evident that the government is focused on implementing policies that attract and retain foreign investors. Economic factors include inflation rates, exchange rates, and economic growth trends, among others. In this context, the factors would positively impact the organization in relation to business decisions. For example, the relatively low inflation rates in the nation would enable the firm to make important short-term and long-term decisions.

Social factors in Canada would help the business establishment to operate successfully. Social factors would correlate with demand for unique products that would be offered by the subsidiary of the Virgin Group. For example, it would be expected that the company would recruit workers based on the prevailing demographics. Lastly, it is clear that technological factors in the country would support innovative financial products. This implies that Virgin Money would focus its services on a stable information technology platform, which would be essential to achieve exemplary results.

Based on the PEST analysis, it is clear that the macro-environment factors would support operations of the firm. When the factors are coupled with strategic approaches, it is no doubt that the company would produce excellent results. A business analyst in the case study was quoted saying that Virgin Money does not take risks directly, but it focuses on forming partnerships that reduce the level of negative impacts of risks in any market.

Recommendations

It would be recommended that the management should focus on the following:

1. Identifying gaps in the financial sector in the country.
2. Identifying the costs of doing business in the nation.
3. Carrying out a CAGE analysis that would help to determine the best market niches.
4. Determining the best approaches to offer financial services in Canada.
5. Partnering with other businesses so that they would reduce risks.

Conclusion

The business model of Virgin Money is based on high levels of creativity and innovation. With regard to expanding into Canada, it is apparent that the firm would succeed. Thus, the management would be advised to take the broad step by adopting the recommendations in this paper.

Motivation is described as the forces that account for the stimulation, assortment, course and continuance of behavior^[1]. This then means that quite a number of things can motivate people as motivation is goal oriented behavior.

People tend to do things for the rewards they will receive at the end of the task or at the end of a period of time. Money, at the work place is one of the things that get people to work harder. This then shows that money can and is used as a motivational factor in the work place so that employees can strive to give their best and their all at the end of the day.

Nowadays, people tend to look at how much they are going to get paid rather than job satisfaction, hence in this light money becomes a motivational force for the workplace and for the employees. In short, money makes people wake up in the morning to go to work, sit behind a desk for eight or more hours and go back home tired at the end of the day ready to repeat the whole process again the following day.

When workers are money motivated, they will carry out their duties effectively, efficiently and thoroughly so that they can make as much money as possible in the shortest time possible.

According to management study guide, Motivation is very important in an organization as it improves the level of efficiency of employees which in turn leads to an increase in productivity, reducing the cost of operations and improving overall efficiency. Motivation in the work place also leads to achievement of organizational goals. Organizational goals are achieved when co-ordination and cooperation take place at the same time which can effectively be achieved through money motivation^[2].

Motivation plays a big role when it comes to survival of organizations. If the way to fully motivate employees is to offer them money then organizations will offer their employees money so as to motivate them fully in their work therefore improving the organization as a whole. Employers need to also appreciate what inspires employees within the environment of their work and the responsibility that they perform.^[3]

There are theories of motivation of employees that are linked to money in one way or another. Different researchers came up with different theories explaining the needs of workers:

According to Abraham Maslows Needs Hierarchy Theory (1983),

Employees have five levels of needs: physiological, safety, social, ego and self-actualizing. Physiological needs are important as they sustain human life and one cannot survive without them. They are; food, water, warmth, shelter, sleep, medicine and education. Safety needs are the needs to be free of physical danger, fear of losing a job, property, and protection against emotional harm.

Social needs include the need to belong and acceptance from others not forgetting the need for affection and friendship. Ego/esteem needs include satisfaction of power, prestige status and self confidence while self actualization is the drive to become what one is capable of becoming, it includes growth, achieving ones potential and self fulfillment^[4]. (Maslow 1943)

Maslow insisted that for one to move on successfully to the next level, the wishes at the lower level have to be completely achieved and fulfilled so as to be motivated by the higher needs level. In simple terms, for example, one would not be motivated by social status before he has achieved security or one would not be motivated by safety before he can afford the basic needs, food, shelter, clothing, education, medication, water and sleep.

This shows that individuals have to work hard to get enough money so as to satisfy their needs and the needs of their dependants fully. In such a scenario, an employee would be motivated by the money he receives at the end of the work period as then would the employee be able to fulfill his needs therefore proving Maslows hierarchy needs theory.

According to Shah, and Professor Shah; and Vroom in reference to Vrooms Valence x Expectancy theory: employee effort will lead to performance which will lead to rewards. The theory focuses on three things: efforts and performance relationship, performance and reward relationship, rewards and personal goal relationship^[5].

The theory states that the force of inclination to behave in a certain way depends on the strength of anticipation that the act will be followed by a specific result and on the allure of that result to the individual. In simple terms, valence x expectancy theory states that an employee can be motivated to work harder when their belief is that hard work will result in awareness of individual targets in form of some prize; the prize in this case being money.

Rewards can either be positive or negative, the more positive the reward the higher the level of motivation of the employee goes, while the more negative the reward, the less the level of motivation for the employee. In this sense money is seen as the positive reward, encouraging the employee to work harder and more effectively as the results of the employees hard work are positive, generating money for the employee, while loss of income is looked as the negative reward.

Frederick Herzbergs two-factor theory states that certain aspects in the work place result in job satisfaction but when these aspects are abolished they lead to dissatisfaction.^[6] In his theory Herzberg states that intrinsic factors are related to job satisfaction, while extrinsic aspects are related to dissatisfaction. He based this theory on the question: what do people want from their Jobs? he carried out a research and concluded that removing dissatisfying characteristics from a job does not necessarily make the job satisfying.

He claims that certain aspects when present in the work place make employees more motivated to work but when these aspects are absent, there is less motivation in the work place. In this scenario money bonuses can be seen as the aspect that brings more motivation to the work place and when there is absence of money there is less motivation amongst the employees.

For example, if employees are told they will be paid extra money to come to work during public holidays and weekends, majority of the employees will show up as they are expecting a bonus which is in form of a sum of money at the end of the day. In this way money acts as a motivator to the employees who would give up their weekends and holidays with the aim of receiving a certain amount of money.

Herzberg pointed out that there are two types of peoples needs: hygiene factors create dissatisfaction when they are missing and create satisfaction when they are there , employees often tend to take existence of these factors for granted for example; salary, working conditions, or job security. Motivators; contribute to satisfaction for example recognition in the work place, promotion, responsibility just to mention but a few. To achieve high motivation and employee output, motivation and hygiene factors must be used together^[7].

In reference to Jeremy Benthams the carrot and stick approach, individuals are driven by their own self-interest and they are motivated by the desire to avoid pain at all costs and achieve maximum pleasure at the lowest possible cost.

An employee will work only if the reward is attractive and big enough or if the punishment is sufficiently horrible.

The carrot in this theory refers to the rewards while the stick refers to the punishment, in simpler terms employers use the system of rewards and punishment to induce certain behavior traits in their employees.

In majority of motivational theories, some kind of carrot are recognized and awarded to individuals in this case money, or some form of financial bonuses like a paid vacation, a company car that one does not have to fuel are used as motivational aspects for employees to keep working hard so that they can enjoy the financial rewards at the end of the day. The issue with the carrot approach is that more often than not, individuals get the reward, in spite of their performance levels.

The stick on the other hand refers to the punishments accorded to individuals who do not perform their duties well. In the form of fear; fear of loss of job, loss of income, reduction of a bonus, demotion or some other form of consequence has, is, and will still continue being an effective way of motivation among employees. The thought of loosing ones job and not having a steady income creates fear in the employees who work hard to keep their jobs and secure their income.

The stick approach results in poor quality work, defensive behavior from the employees and it is not the best way to use when it comes to motivation of employees. Through the stick approach employees tend to fear and work because they have no other choice and they want to keep their jobs and get income at the end of the day.

In using the carrot and stick approach to influence motivation among employees one ought to be careful so that the rewards, money and the penalties that is, loss of employment balance out. In this way an employer will have a peaceful working environment for his employees and himself. Money offers and financial bonuses should be attractive enough and sufficient enough for the employee needs so that they can work hard not only for their benefit but for the benefit of the employer and organization at large^[8].

According to B.F. Skinner he uses the term operant conditioning to illustrate the effects of the outcomes of a specific character trait on the future repetition of the particular behavior.

There are four kinds of operant conditioning: positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, punishment and extinction. Positive and negative reinforcement fortify behavior while on the other hand punishment and extinction deteriorate behavior. Positive reinforcement encourages behavior in that it offers rewards after certain good behaviors are observed for example; if your work is outstanding one gets an extra bonus and perhaps a promotion. Negative reinforcement on removes a stress factor as a result of good behavior.

For example, economic sanctions being lifted from a country due to an improvement on their corruption levels. Extinction refers to getting no reward for something one has done. For example: if one is not getting paid for overtime, they stop working over time. Punishment is where one has to pay for their behaviors, for example; not getting paid the day one comes into work late^[9]. In this case of operant conditioning money can be seen as positive and negative reinforcement.

This means that the rewards an employee gets for working hard are in form of money either a bonus, or an increase in salary the more the money, the higher the level of motivation among employees . Punishment and extinction in this case can be looked at as loss of work, loss of a steady income and this will lower motivation levels among the employees.

People have witnessed workers striking around the world due to payment issues that have arisen from delayed wages, salary arrears, more taxes, or minimum wages. Employee strikes have become a common site mostly due to the financial situations. When employees refuse to work and strike or go on a go-slow, the employer suffers a lot as work becomes stagnant.

Most employees strike due to lack of motivation in the financial aspect. In the United Kingdom, college staff of the University and College Union went on strike over pay changes. The employees were demanding a standardized payment scheme while the college was proposing a new scheme that would pay employees according to the number of people passing a course.

From this example, we see that the financial security of the employees was threatened hence they decided to go on strike to force their employer to reconsider his decision. We see that indeed money was the motivating factor here and since money was to be taken out of the picture, the employees reacted and made their opinions known as well as securing their income^[10].

In England, July 8^th 2010, 200 workers walked out of the Astrum plant in Stanhope that manufactures tank track over lack of a pay rise that was to be given during the year. The employees, complained that overtime had been banned and that talks for a pay rise had not succeeded. This shows that the overtime and pay raise motivated the employees to work hard and gave them an incentive to go to work each morning as they knew that they would have something to look forward to at the end of the day.

This price they were looking forward to was the overtime pay and the pay rise which when both of them were canceled pushed the workers to strike. This shows that money is indeed a motivational factor in the work place and that without money work would not take place as effectively as it should.^[11]

In Middle East, the first ever workers strike was witnessed in Turkey, in the IT sector on the 9^th of July 2010. The employees went on strike claiming that their salaries were far much lower than those who worked in other companies in the same positions. This shows that the employees felt cheated and used as their knowledge and hard work was not being rewarded accordingly.

These employees wanted to feel appreciated by their colleagues and their employer and wanted to feel equal to their fellow employees who worked in other companies. They claimed that collective bargaining about the salaries and failed and that they would resume work only if their salaries were raised to the standard of their colleagues in other companies.^[12]

In Africa, Egyptian textile workers recommence their demonstrations over owing wages after guarantees of payments went unpaid for four months.

The workers had not received payment from the year 2007; this made the workers vow not to go back to work until they were paid. Abraham Maslows notes after a 21- day sit-in by employees outside parliament buildings, an agreement between the Manpower Ministry and Immigration and Bank Misr agreed that the employees were going to be paid LE 106 million which they were owed.^[13]

This scenario shows and reinforces the idea that money is a huge motivational factor when it comes to employees as without money the employees do not work. When these Egyptian employees were promised to be paid the first time they went back to work hoping that the employer would keep his word and pay them as he had promised.

After four months of no pay, the aggravated employees decided to go on strike and even sit outside parliament buildings to make sure that their voices were heard and their needs taken care off. If money was not a motivational factor for employees they would not have gone on strike they would have kept on working but because money is a big motivational factor for employees they went on strike and demanded to be paid for their hard work^[14].

In Nigeria, health and medical workers suspended their on-going industrial action because the government agreed to pay 50% of their arrears.

They however gave the government an ultimatum that if their arrears were not going to be paid in the course of a weeks time they would resume their industrial action. This shows that money is the underlying factor for employees in all job sectors. If the health workers go on strike it means sick people are suffering more than they should be as they are not being attended they way they should be attended to.

The Nigerian government then shifted the payment issue to the bank claiming that the banks were holding the money for their own selfish interests. This however does not matter to the employees as all they want is their money paid so that they could fulfill the needs and wants. This situation again shows distinctively that money is an underlying factor that motivates employees to work and work hard for that matter^[15]

In conclusion, this paper has proved that indeed money is a motivational factor in relation to employees at the work place. Nobody wants to get tired working for nothing so the incentives at the end of the day, that is salary and bonuses give individuals the strength and zeal to work everyday without complaining that they have to go thorough the same routine every single day.

Money has become a motivational factor at the workplace because every single thing in the world is becoming expensive due to the inflation rates that seem to be escalating every single day.

Without money, it is extremely difficult for one to survive so one has to work hard at their jobs so as to earn enough money to sustain themselves and their dependants. Money is the driving force behind all jobs that an individual takes up. Majority of employees all want to become millionaires or billionaires at one point in their lives so that they could stop working and sit back and enjoy the fruits of their labor

Money motivates and provides incentives to employees to give their all when at work as once they have the money in their hands there is a level of satisfaction that they have achieved and this satisfaction encourages then to work more harder so as keep getting the money.

Money is a motivational factor for employees as it allows them to purchase luxury items and enjoy their money in any way they feel like. Without money many people who are employees in one place or another, would not be able to purchase items like cars, houses, entertainment systems for their houses just to mention but a few.

Money also brings about status quo among employees and respect. In the world today, the more money you have the more respect you get from other people. Individuals tend to compare themselves in terms of how much money they have in their bank accounts. Musicians are producing songs about how much money they have so as to get respect not only from their peers but also from other people.

The kind of car one drives and the kind of house one lives in will earn one respect and this is all possible because of the amount of money one has that comes from ones hard work.

In short money makes the world go round, if one has enough money, ones world will spin smoothly and efficiently according to his needs, on the other hand if one does not have money, yes, ones world will spin but it will have difficulties and major ones for that matter as one will be unable to take care of his needs let alone the needs of the people who depend on him.

Money is a form of motivation for employees in that the more they work, the more money they get to contribute to their monthly pensions and the more the monthly pensions gain interest therefore at the end of the working term, one will be looking forward to a huge amount of money that resulted from his hard work. For Example, retirements benefits corporate offer this attractive package to employees increasing their motivation in their work.

Bibliography

An, Theories of motivation, Analytictech , 2003. Web.

An, Importance of motivation, Management study guide, 2001. Web.

Bentham, J., Jeremy Bentham: Life, Influence and Perspectives on his thought, Routledge, New York, 1993.

Biehler, R. & Snowman, J., Psychology Applied to Teaching, 12th ed, Houghton Mifflin, New York, 1997.

Knights, D. & Willmott, H., Organizational behavior and management, London, Thomson Learning, 2007.

Maslow, A. H., A theory of human motivation, Psychological Review, vol. 25, 1943, pp. 370-396.

Shah. K. & Shah, J. P., Vroom,V. H. work and motivation, Laynetworks, 2000. Web.

Ukwuoma, B., Muanya, C. & Olayinka C., Health workers suspend strike, govt to pay 50% arrears, 2000. Web.

Vroom, V. H. Work and Motivation, Krieger Publishing Company, Manhattan,1982, pp. 48.

Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa, World Socialist 2010. Web.

Footnotes

1. R. Biehler & J. Snowman, Psychology Applied to Teaching, 12^th ed. Houghton Mifflin, New York, 1997, 399.
2. Management study guide: importance of motivation
3. V. H. Vroom, Work and Motivation, Krieger Publishing Company, Manhattan, 1982, pp. 48.
4. A. Maslow, A theory of human motivation, Psychological Review, vol. 25, 1943, pp. 370-396.
5. K. Shah & J. Shah, Vroom,V. H. work and motivation, Laynetworks, 2000.
6. D. Knights & H. Willmott, Organizational behavior and management, London, Thomson Learning, 2007, 83.
7. D. Knights & H. Willmott, Organizational behavior and management, London, Thomson Learning, 2007, 104.
8. J. Bentham, Jeremy Bentham: Life, Influence and Perspectives on his thought, Routledge, New York, 1993, 65.
9. An, Theories of motivation, Analytictech.com, 2003.
10. Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa, World Socialist.
11. Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa, World Socialist.
12. Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa, World Socialist, 2010.
13. A. H. Maslow, A theory of human motivation, Psychological Review, vol. 25, 1943, pp. 370-396.
14. Workers Struggles: Europe, Middle East & Africa, World Socialist, 2010.
15. B. Ukwuoma, C. Muanya & C. Olayinka, Health workers suspend strike, govt to pay 50% arrears, 2000.

Introduction

Due to fluctuations in economies, all organizations need to take into consideration concepts of the time value of money in any investment venture. Calculations of future outcomes from current investments play the central role in determining an organizations sustainability in times of turbulent variations in economies. For example, the value of business units never remains stagnant, but they are in continuous change, hence necessitating organizations to adopt strategies, which will ensure economic sustainability of their businesses. Time value of money not only affects business finance, but also affects both government and user finances, who are the main stakeholders in an organization (Garrison, 2009, Par. 1).

Time Value of Money

Time value of money (TVM) is a monetary approximation, which gives worth to money at hand more value than future expectations of financial gains. It helps in weighing investment ventures, hence providing solutions to financial problems primarily resulting from mortgages, allowances, and savings. Finances held presently by an organization are more worth compared to expectations of future gains because the organizations can invest them, hence gain an organization profits in the future. The main principle of investment in TVM is; organizations can convert future expectations of monetary gain to an equal value today. Organizations can calculate future gains from an investment so long as any four of the following are available: current expenditures, present and expected future value, charged interest rate, and time span needed for an investment (Cedar spring software, 2002, Para 1-4).

In TVM, organizations obtain future value through compounding interest, which present investments will bring into an organization. As operational time changes, organizations should add obtained gains on investments to original invested capital, which an organization should use to calculate future times interests.

Importance of Time Value of Money

For organizations to avoid risks associated with poor investments, they should always consider both the incremental and total cash flows resulting from an investment. This involves analyzing the following components: previous outlays, scale value, expected cash flows from ventures, terminal value, and correct timing in organizing investment projects. All these should play a central in all decisions made by an organization to ensure viability of business ventures. In business, positive incremental cash flows play the central role of giving business directions, because it indicates sustainable business ventures (Adair, 2005, pp. 185-187).

For organizations to meet all business obligations for example loan repayments and payroll requirements, they must always keep correct records of their cash flow, for they will help to maintain the credibility of businesses to both investors and stakeholders. On the other hand, for organizations to calculate correctly time value of money, they have to consider initial investment cash, all operating cash flows, investment cash flow, financing cash flow, and end cash flow. This will guide correct decision-making in terms of business investments with minimum risks and maximum profits, within planned or approximated time.

In calculating TVM, net present values (NPV) help organizations to analyze profitability of projects whereby analysis of cash inflows and outflows helps in drafting correct project budgeting for organizations. The sensitivity of NPV helps organizations to calculate profits, which an organization can gain from an investment, hence enabling management and planning teams to take corrective actions in project investments. NPV takes into consideration both the inflations and outcomes of investment projects, whereby it applies the principle of investment depending on the outcome. In this regard, if management teams suspect a likelihood of occurrence of a negative NPV then, they should cancel or avoid such investment opportunities. This is because the probability of occurrence of negative cash flows from such an investment is high (Glink, 2009, p.1). In addition, to calculate NPV organizations need to consider the discount rate, which may result from future cash flows about present values. The majority of organizations prefer high discount rates as the main substitution for risky projects; this is sometimes necessary but, time consideration as dictates NPV is important because it helps in determining the yield curve. This helps to reflect the real scenario of a business venture, hence guide the decision-making process (Herrick, 2003, PP. 254-259).

Consideration of payback period is also important to calculate TVM of any investment. It helps in decision making in that, an organization can accurately determine the amount of time a specific venture will take before repaying invested money. At all times an organization needs to adopt business ventures with the shortest payback periods in order to lessen limitations that may result from investments. Although this method is good, it has many limitations, in that it lays less emphasis on time value of money. When using this approach in decision making organizations should take precautions by incorporating other methods such as the internal rate of return to ensure assumptions made are correct. Discounted payback period helps to account for all business flaws, which may occur by considering inflation and the amount of interest investment will give an organization. In addition, payback calculations are important because they can help managements to evaluate various business ventures hence, make correct investment choices, which will ensure the viability of an enterprise (Pisello, 2005, Par. 1-5).

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is very essential to correctly approximate the time value of money because it helps in giving clear outcomes of ventures an organization seeks to invest in. In addition, correct calculations can help an organization determine the amount of time it will take an organization to realize expected profits, hence take correct measures to avert associated risks.

Reference List

Adair, T. A. (2005). Corporate finance demystified. Columbus: McGraw-Hill.

Cedar spring software. (2002). Time value of money. Get objects. Web.

Garrison, S. (2009). Time value of money. Study finance. Web.

Glink, I. (2009). Calculating the net present value (NPV) of a foreclosure vs. a loan modification. Money watch. Web.

Herrick, D. F. (2003). Media management in the age of giants: business dynamics of journalism. New Jersey: Wiley-black well.

Pisello, T. (2005). Why pay back periods are important. Sap tips. Web.

Introduction

This paper is intended to be a rhetorical analysis of the article Illegal Immigrants: Theyre money by Gregory Rodriguez. This paper looks at the issue of illegal immigrants to the US from the perspective of their value to businesses as cheap labor and as a market for their goods like credit cards etc. I discuss the contemporary issue of immigration reform and the position taken by the democratic and republican contenders in the presidential campaign of 2008.

Cheap labor

The US has had an uneasy relationship on the question of immigration. From the time the early immigrants started arriving on American shores in the 1990s to the present day, the debate over how many immigrants to be allowed and from where has drawn deep divisions on both sides of the political spectrum. According to the article in question, whenever it was convenient for the government of the day to import workers, skilled or otherwise, enabling legislation were passed that guaranteed these foreign workers certain rights under US law. Thus, the 60s saw an increased amount of immigration partly due to the fact that the US needed large numbers of people in sectors ranging from the high-tech to the mundane. Most of the legislation concerning immigrants has been passed with a view for the big businesses to procure cheap labor. Where it is costly to hire a native, an immigrant was available to do the same job at a lower rate. And when the question of illegal immigrants comes into play, it is even better for the businesses as this category of workers need not be paid even the minimum hourly wage as they are not officially recognized in the country. Thus, in a way, businesses have been prodding the government to wink at illegal immigration and as we see later in the context of immigration reform.

Easy market

Illegal immigrants are being wooed as a market for goods and services that otherwise would not be easy to sell. In the article, the author makes a point that Bank of America may not be wrong to sell them credit cards and the like as these are the tools for the immigrants to gain acceptance and move up the economic ladder. What is wrong is the fact that such targeted marketing is made without a thought for the potential customers and just treating them as a commodity. This is clearly against established norms, and thus, the author makes the point that BOA is reluctant to discuss the issue in public. Another notable point is that there exist medical and other facilities that are solely for those without insurance, and these operators often are unscrupulous in their attitude towards the immigrants. One potential way out of the situation would be to overhaul the immigration laws, as we discuss in the next section.

Presidential campaign and Immigration

McCain has called himself an unabashed admirer of free trade and is all for the NAFTA and the CAFTA free trade agreements. He voted for the bills on the immigration reform though Congress twice failed to clear them through. He has gone as far as to go for a full throated defense of the immigration reform that nearly cost him his presidential bid. He has vowed that if elected, he would not try a third time. This has come in for considerable criticism from Obama, who says that McCain has been flip-flopping. Obama has not been too forthcoming on the issue of immigration overhaul and has been relatively cool towards the issue of immigration legislation overhaul. In the recent past, both candidates have tried to shift the blame on each other as far as their positions go, and this has led to much sparring between the two camps.

At stake is the Hispanic vote, and both sides do not want to be seen antagonistic towards the cause of the Hispanics, and they would rather be seen as pro-reform though they have been inconsistent in their approach towards this issue.

The shifting stance of each candidate when it comes to the tricky issue of immigration reform has not gone un-noticed by the mainstream media. Contrast this with the stand of the losing democratic contender, Hillary Clinton, who was a staunch supporter of the mostly Hispanic illegal aliens rights. However, McCain and Obama have pledged to take a hard look at this issue if they are elected that gives some comfort to the rights groups.

Conclusion

As long as the US dithers on the question of how to treat immigrants who do not have valid documents and instead relegates them to the bottom of the society while utilizing their services at the same time, the lot of the illegal immigrants is bound to worsen. Given the fact that there are economic as well as social and political issues at stake, a clear headed policy on immigration is the only answer. In passing, it would be worthwhile to note that the term illegal is as much a reflection on their status under the law as the way in which these people are being treated by the society at large.

The focal point of the paper is to present a critical evaluation of Gregory Rodrigezs article Illegal Immigrants: Theyre Money. This article was published in the book Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments. The main article was published in the Los Angeles Times in 2007. The author is an Irvine fellow of the New American Foundation. He is known for his numerous articles on racism, immigration, politics, and social causes. This article deals with the aspects of illegal immigration and the double standard of the US authorities. The author mentions the banking system is cashing on the needs of the illegal immigrants by issuing them credit cards and on the other hand, they are denied access into the country. The author mentions the Mexican border in the denials for migrants that are entering this country from all over the world as the numbers increase exponentially. The US has gone so far as to create the Homeland Security office to ensure that human trafficking is policed, and has created new laws to create fencing between the US and Mexican border to prevent more immigrants from entering the country illegally. An attempt at appeasement for Mexico concerning what was known as the bill to create a guest-worker program failed in gaining the necessary acceptance. The author places these arguments in a logical and systematic manner and it is obvious to mention that he is extremely successful as a persuasive writer.

The writer presents his persuasive essay in an effective manner as his appeal is based on clear logic and data. He makes us understand the truth that migration or immigration is a subject that is studied on all levels when dealing with humanity and its idiosyncrasies. In order to understand migration, we must understand the various components involved in migration, including internal migration, external migration, immigration, and both refugees and Internally Displaced Persons. The author attempts to understand the reasons to migrate and how laws affect the various forms of migration and if there would be solutions to this practice of migration. The objective is to study the problems, the solutions, and the reasoning behind migration as a whole.

In order to understand the reasons behind the migration of people, we must first define the various components of migration. Migration refers to the movement of an individual from his or her home country, also known as the source country to another country as his or her destination. The two main movements are involved include immigration and emigration. Immigration would be the movement of individuals into a country. Emigration is the movement of individuals from their home country. The balance between emigration and immigration would be known as net migration and this can be either positive or negative. Positive would be when immigration exceeds emigration and negative would be the reverse of that process.

There are many different influences and consequences relative to migration for anyone that moves from where they originated. Factors that would have to do with migration include the economic growth and development of the country that people are leaving, specifically GDP, the level of domestic development, and finally income and quality of life within the countries. Another two factors include the context urbanized area would be and variations in that consideration along with levels of education that would, in fact, be available for children across the country of origin in place of isolated areas. Occasionally, the amount of US influence on a country can either adversely or conversely affect the amount of migration. We see this today as we build walls along the US and Mexican border. The author is perfectly spot on to indicate the manner that the US allowed foreigners to enter the country in accordance with the economic need of the country.

In general, it can be stated that there was only one weak point about the article. It is a lack of any emotion. The entire approach of the article was pain narration without any emotion that could be identified as the weakest part. The strongest point of the essay is not one but an amalgamation of three vital reasons. The major reason behind the success of the article is the direct analytical nature of the author with logical reasoning backed by an essential amount of relevant information. Another important factor that was instrumental in the whole approach was the narrative that provided a constant flow of information that was used with the perfect terminology and word usage. Thirdly, the position of the author in social and administrative levels made him extremely credible and trustworthy. This, backed by thorough knowledge of the issue made the entire article extremely persuasive. These elements put together made it possible to convince the viewpoint of the author.

Works Cited

Rodrigez, Gregory; Illegal Immigrants  Theyre Money; Good Reasons with Contemporary Arguments; Fourth Edition; Los Angeles Times; 2007; pp: 202-204.

In January of 2010, the reporters of NPR News in cooperation with Planet Money have purchased a toxic asset to learn more about the 2008 financial crisis. Toxic assets are usually financial assets that have lost their value due to mortgages not being paid and cannot be sold at a good price anymore. The reporters acquired one of these and decided to look into its history, and learn the stories of the people who invested in it. After conducting their investigation, the events were documented in audio, text, and video form, which garnered a significant audience. One of the unique features of this project is the video presentation made by Planet Money, as the creators chose to portray the toxic asset as an anthropomorphized creature named Toxie.

When recounting the story of Toxie, the reporters explain how she came to be, and how her life began at the peak of the housing market, progressed through the years. They visually show how subprime loans from banks made Toxie worse, with many borrowers being unable to or deciding not to pay their mortgages, abandoning the accumulated debt and property. With many people not paying the banks, the investors also did not get their money back, and quickly tried to get rid of their assets while they still have value. This shift is represented in the animated video as Toxies becoming weird and getting sent to the pet store to get sold at a large discount. The cuteness of the simplified presentation helped me to acknowledge the timeline and to get a better understanding of the more difficult parts of this event. The association of a toxic asset with a pet was useful for showing how different involved organizations influenced it, as well as to help the viewer base engage with the content.