Erikosonian Psychosocial Tradition And Social Identity Theory

Erikosonian Psychosocial Tradition And Social Identity Theory Several psychological theories have attempted to provide a definition of identity and an explanation of the processes that develop it. Many theorists see identity development as a means for an individual to explain the present as a bridge from the past to the future, agreeing that identity consists of both individual and social elements. This essay aims to consider the contributions and implications posed by two different associated fields of study; the Erikosonian Psychosocial tradition and Social Identity Theory. Eriksons Psycho-social method was the first identity theory to provide an explanation between our self image (psycho) and the others in the community (social). He proposed individuals must have a stable sense of core identity, as failure to do so would mean the individual may be subject to an identity crisis. This is not to say that people must never experience a conflict of interest between individual needs and social demands. In fact Erikson argued that only by the successful resolution of these normative crises is the achievement of identity possible. He went on to identify eight stages in this life-long development of identity, marked by a distinct conflict, for which successful, normative crisis resolution would result in a favourable outcome. According to Erikson, the most important conflict takes place during adolescence, the fifth psychosocial age. Here the individual re-evaluates everything that was established in childhood by enduring psychosocial moratorium. During this so cially approved period of uncertainity, the indiviual can experieent with dfferent scial roles and consquently personality, self concept and self worth, may all be altered. Psychosocial Theory is a persuasive model. It is both accessible and relevant, resulting in Erikson being highly regarded amongst psychologists. He has been described as a visionary, providing a basis for the work of James Marcia on different forms of identity. The theory is still relevant in todays modern life, due to its utility in many professional arenas [such as] clinical, theoretical and empirical (McKinney, 2001). Erikson has had a huge impact in child development, resulting in teachers, parents and counselors drawing on ideals of his to support their work. Theorists such as Mary Ainsworth, who studied attachment in infancy explained concepts similar to those of Erikson, offering credibility to his work. The approach has been useful for understanding and explaining how personality and behaviour manifest, and therefore has become a much-used tool in dealing with conflict managent and in general self-awareness. It also provides a convincing explaination for many current issues, such as bullying in school. During stage 5à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. and current racial issues and why it can cause so much aggression and understanding of motives behind terrorism. However the theory does not go without criticism. Santrock (2004) highlights research which suggests that identity formation does not begin or end in adolescence, that the conflict is notably less dramatic than proposed, and that in fact some individuals go through their teenage years without any real problems at all. It therefore seems that erikson may have placed too much emphasis on adolescence. This maybe due to eriksons own personal experiences having an effect on his interpretation of results. His young life was fraught with problems, not least being tall and blond and living in a jewish neighbourhood, with a jewish step-family. This need for acceptance and the conflict associated with being different became important themes in his theory. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Based on field work, so reliable as in own environment; He studied combat crises in U.S. soldiers during World War II, child-rearing practices in Native American communities and soci al behavior in India. There are two basic problems with the pychosocial approach to identity. Firstly that large social group were ignored beause although Erikson believed person and social were interlinked, he treated them separately. And secondily Erikson focused on individual identities to explain how people identitfy with indivudal groups. Sit:- 700 words get down to 200! social identity theory (SIT) aims to resolve some of these problems highlighted with the pychosocial tradition, by producing a social rather than individual focus on identity, empahsising on the way we compare ourselves to others. concerned with when and why individuals identify with, and behave as part of, social groups, adopting shared attitudes. Tajfel, the founder of the theory, directly challenged the eriksons concept that group behaviour could be explained by looking at the psychology of individuals. He studied the relationships between people and proposed two separate sub-systems; Personal Identity (describing oneself as a friend or parent for example) and Social Identity (in instances such as referring to gender, race or religion). Their alternative theory suggested a distinctive level of collective psychological processes. This meant that people acted as group members as well as individuals. Their central idea was that behaviour and identity operated on a continuum based on situation, ranging from the highly individual and unique at one end (purely interpersonal), to the collective and common at the other (purely intergroup).The theorys fundamental idea is that identity is drawn from selfcatagorisation, when describing characteristics from our social group. This provides labels for ourselves, in turn provding rules for our behaviour. The category in which we place ourselves is called the ingroup. There is a sence of elitism and a tendency to exclude others; the outgroup. Tajfel research aimed to consider this discrimination between the groups, by proposing superficial differences, he split participants into inial groups and subjected the to à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.he concluded that this was sufficient enough to generate predujices. This has been demonstrated, for instance in one example where school boys were placed in groups based on preference for abstract painters such as Klee or Kandinsky. Even using this trivial basis for grouping, and despite the fact th at the school boys didnt know who was in the groups, the boys allocated more resources towards ingroup members than outgroup members. In addition, the resources were given to other individuals in a group instead of the group as a whole, so the boys were not just giving resources to themselves out of self-interest.[13] This experiment was especially interesting because it challenged other models of intergroup interaction which are based on the idea that discrimination between groups happens because there is a clear reason for it, such as a competition for resources or a conflict of interests between the groups. Sit proposes that the reason for this discrimination is because of the need to belong to a group, taht are distinctive and have a high status, it boosts self esteem by making the other group inferior however sit argues that the resistance to this prejudice can result in some individuals seeking to iprove their status by using social obility or leaving behind their soial group. Others may attept social change, by social creativietly, a redefition of the group or through social competition, actively dmenading alternative social ideas in regard to a particular group. People dont like being in the out goup; so one answer is Moving to another group, but requires social mobility to be practicable. For instance, this may be viable in the case of social class or a job, but not so much in groups based on race or gender for example. Social mobility is at the individualistic end of the social behaviour continuum suggested by social identity theory.At the other end of the continuum, group level strategies focus on direct competition. But for this to be possible, there needs to be a belief that change is genuinely possible as well as desirable. In addition, group members need to perceive the current relationships with other groups to be unjustified.Finally, if neither of the above two options are viable, members of groups wishing to change their status may decide to compare themselves using different criteria where they compare more favourably, or focus on comparisons with a different group compared to whom they fare better. People can also choose to redef ine the negative elements of their group identity, or even redefine the group identity itself. These actions are not as effective as the others described above, but do allow group members to contend in a small way with the undesirable current perception of their group. Good bits Attepts to explain prejudies and self esteem, where erikson did not. Self-categorization theory grew from Tajfel and Turners early work on social identity. It is a development of social identity theory, specifically in the part of the relationship between group behaviour and self-concept that describes the social cognitive processes that create social identity effects. The theory describes how people define themselves at a group level but also at an individual level.[4][15] It considers group and individual identities to be at different levels of self-categorization, and more distinct from each other than social identity theory does. For instance, individuals can have several different group identities (e.g. gender, occupation, or nationality) and also several different individual identities depending on context (e.g. how someone considers themself as a male or how they consider themselves compared to their colleagues at work).[16][17] This concept of a hierarchy of different identities replaced the continuum in social identity theory, and allowed an individual an unlimited range of identities based on context.[18] The salience of a particular group identity is based on how accessible a categorization is to an individual, and how well it fits the social context (e.g. bearing in mind what the individual wants to achieve with their behaviour, or what they did last time they were in the situation). For instance, when discussing political issues in a conversation, nationality may become more salient.[19] Bad triviualise issues such as diability Ethical ? Labtest unreliable? Can results be applied to real life stuations. Some criritces cos it trear groups as indivudals (see bx on pg 66) Conclusion:- Although Eriksons theory of identity development is widely cited, other theories provide important knowledge about identity and its development. However Eriksons work is as relevant today as when he first outlined his original theory, in fact given the modern pressures on society, family and relationships and the quest for personal development and fulfilment his ideas are probably more relevant now than ever. Erikson was keen to improve the way children and young people are taught and nurtured, and it would be appropriate for his ideas to be more widely known and used in day-to-day life, beyond the clinical and counselling professions. Eriksons psychosocial theory is. As with any concept there are critics, but generally Eriksons theory is considered fundamentally significant. Erikson was a psychoanalyst and also a humanitarian. So his theory is useful far beyond psychoanalysis its useful for any application involving personal awareness and development of oneself or others. Social learning theories expand the constructs of self concept and self worth as the basis of self description in late childhood. Cognitive development theory describes the age-related processes leading to a childs limitation before adolescence and competence during adolescence for establishing identity. Researchers investigating Eriksons theory of identity development have provided important modifications to the theory.

Investor Attitudes Towards Risk on Stock Market

Investor Attitudes Towards Risk on Stock Market For the abnormal return in stock market, investor attitudes will become increasingly important. This paper attempts to analyze the impact of investor attitude towards risk that have a greater influence on stock market .In this study researcher focused on particular Islamabad stock market and obtain primary data based on five point Likert scale from investor of ISE. The data indicate that investors have substantially different attitudes toward various investments. However, there are significant statistical differences between attitudes of the investor groups in their attitudes toward three risk types. These data also show significant differences in attitudes toward risk. After analyzing the data through the Regression and Correlation, including ANOVA test, the result found the significance impact of variables on stock market. Introduction The whole financial theory is based on the basic hypothesis of rational investor on the financial markets. This rationality is characterized by a continuous quest of the investors to maximize their utility function (actually maximizing the return of the investment for a given risk level or minimizing the risk for an expected return level). In spite their rationality; investors have a different perception over risk, its bearing having an important psychological factor. Most investors show different attitude towards risk like motivated risk aversion, but we can find on the financial markets. While risk behavior has been studied intensely and a large number of risk perception. Through attention to risk perception and risk propensity which are mediators in attitude transaction, financial institutions can realize the effects on investor behavior and their returns expectations. The first section of this paper is the introduction, the second section is the literature review, the third secti on establishes hypothesis model, the fourth section presents the study results and the fifth section is the conclusion and recommendations.Different Studies are available; far less research exists regarding peoples mind-sets towards risk taking, i.e., risk attitudes, such as, risk aversion, risk tolerance and risk neutral. These can be conceptualized as two poles of a one-dimensional attitude towards risk-taking but also as two separate concepts. It is widely assumed that people differ considerably in their attitude towards risks, ranging from good sense to risk-seeking and even pleasure in risk-taking. The first trial of conceptualizing the investors risk aversion belongs to Milton Friedman and Leonard Savage (Milton Friedman, Leonard Savage Utility Analysis of Choices Involving Risk, JPE, 1948) who defined the risk aversion by using the following decisional situation: an investor who can chose among comparable investments will always chose the one with the lowest risk. Explaining the investment behavior using the returns of risky financial investments utility function brought a new perspective to the risk aversion theory. Further studies showed that there are also other factors with direct impact over the attitude towards risk (economic growth forecasts of a market, the level of training and the experience gained, fluctuations of the exchange market, psychological factors, biases and heuristics etc.). This paper follows studies conducted with investors to examine investor attitudes and behavior towards inherent risk and potential returns in stock market. Statement of the Problem The problem statement of research was à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Impact of Investor Attitude towards Risk on Stock Marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. Major variables used in this study include stock market return volatility and risk attitude i.e risk tolerance, risk aversive, risk neutral variables that are the indicators of investor attitude. Objective: the objectives of research are:- To study how these attitude types are affecting the stock market. To find whether there is any relationship between stock market index and investor behavior. Significance of the Study The market return fluctuate according to events and trends , the human mind also have some psychological factor that can be influenced or might directs towards good or bad decision making regarding investment. From this study individual investor can get knowledge how their behavior that can maximize or minimize their utility in investment plan in market portfolio. They can change their behavior accordingly. Every Kind of individual like small investor including Man, Women with different status i.e. single or Martial with different age can change their mind set and able to understand how they should make decision to see the market trends or events. Review of Literature There is lot work has been done so far in this regard. Now we have overview some of researcher works in this section of the paper as review literature. With the reference of research topic, some of studies are being done in which all the variables includes Risk attitude factors i.e; Risk Aversion, Risk Tolerance, Risk are taken into consideration to define the impact of those variables on stock market. Levin, Synder and chapman (1975) were concerned with the differences between men and women in accepting the risks of financial investments, they focused on a group of 110 students using a questionnaire regarding lotteries to check the more risk aversive according to gender differentiation. the results indicating that women are more risk aversive than men Powell and Ansic (1997) questioned a small group regarding property insurance and the exchange market and again found that women are more aversive than men (this study was among the first which analyzed individual aversion towards speculative and pure risks); using information regarding the weight of the funds invested in risky assets. Jaimie Sung and Hannna (1996) analyzed the risk tolerance corresponding to four ethnic groups: Caucasian, Hispanic, Black and others. Given the substantial differences among risk tolerance capacities of these groups (the Caucasians have the highest risk tolerance and the Blacks the lowest) we may assert that this factor has a direct impact on the way investors accept and perceive the risk attached to financial investments. Education also has a direct influence on risk tolerance, as several studies prove a direct link between higher education and the acceptance of higher risk related to investments. The analysis was conducted on four education levels: primary school, high school, college and postgraduate studies. The results demonstrate an intense and direct impact on accepting financial risk: the higher the subjects education, the higher his tolerance to risk. Sitkin and Pablo (1992) developed a model of determinants of risk behavior. In this model, personal risk preferences and past experiences form an important risk factor in which to frame the problem, and social influence also affects the individuals perception. Sitkin and Weingart (1995) extend the Sitkin-Pablo model leading to the definition that risk perception and propensity are the mediators in risk behaviors of uncertainty decision-making. Shyan-Rong Chou, Gow-Liang Huang, Hui-Lin Hsu (2010) has done research on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Investor Attitudes and Behavior towards Inherent Risk and Potential Returns in Financial Productsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. They establish a model by which to measure attitudes and behavior towards investment risk.They used variables: Risk propensity, Risk perception, Behavior finance, Decision making. They study to form a framework (framing) for interpretation of their respective populations attitudes and behaviors. Empirical results found no difference by gender to investor propensity to take risk, nor in cognitive perception of such. However, higher and lower perceptions of risk were indicated by investors according to their personal investment experience. Investors with little experience in stocks and structured notes were found to have significantly sensitive perception of risk. Thus the model proposed is relevant in finding a positive correlation between experience and propensity of risk, though the un derstanding of such remains uncertain. In respect to financial products other than mutual funds, investor propensity and perception of risk tend to show a negative correlation. Amos Tversky; Daniel Kahneman (1974) defines in their research à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biasesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? that Heuristics that are important feature of the individual decision-making process which may be considered to include thought representativeness and availability. They founded that there is anchoring bias in the decision-making process which arises due to factors such as overconfidence, loss aversion, status quo bias, mental accounting, framing and so on. Investors in the process of assessing the risks and returns are influenced by this anchor effect. All these studies proved the complexity of risk aversion and its subjective dimension, as the estimates are difficult to obtain accurately. Investors have ultimately a unique behavior which results in un balanced price, no matter how adverse they are to risk. Understanding risk aversion offers another perspective for constructing and optimizing risky financial portfolios. Theoretical Frame work Our theoretical frame work is as under: (Independent Variables) Risk Aversion Risk Tolerance Risk Neutral (Dependent Variable) Stock Market Explanation The possibility of physical or social or financial harm /detriment / loss due to a exposure. This is the (dominating) negative perspective; however, there is also a neutral perspective, i.e., risk = uncertainty about the outcomes (good and/or bad ones) of a decision; and a positive perspective. A persons opinion belief about how large the risk associated with a hazard is (regarding negative outcomes) A general perspective of humans mind towards taking or avoiding a risk when deciding how to proceed in situations with uncertain outcomes. Risk Attitude towards taking risks or avoiding risk are; i.e, Risk aversion, Risk Tolerance, Risk Neutral. So, all decisions about how acceptable a risk is in individual or societal terms deepened on market events or trends. The actual behavior of people when facing a risk situation, each investor has unique personal risk tendencies, investment style, and level of risk awareness. These characteristics, in addition to the expectation of returns, help investment decision making and portfolio construction. According to traditional finances capital asset pricing model, due to investor risk aversion, rational investors understand that increased investment risk demands return with a higher premium. Diagrammatical Expression of Variable:  [1]   Purpose of the study (Hypothesis Testing) Hypothesis testing offers an enhanced understanding of the relationship that exists among variables. It could also established casual and effect relationship. The research à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Impact of Investor attitude towards risk on Stock Marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, includes there are certain variables upon which the growth of Stock Market depends; these are interest rate, Risk Aversion, Risk Tolerance, Risk Neutral ,Uncertainty. Research is being carried out to analyze the nature of the relationship between all these variables. Hypothesis Risk Tolerance Investor: Investors who tend towards higher risk are more adventurous and so are willing to attempt high-risk, high reward investments. H1: Investor who has a higher tolerance to risk that have significant impact on stock market volatility H2: Investor who has a higher tolerance to risk that have no significant impact on stock market volatility Risk Aversive Investor: People who tend towards lower risk behavior are less willing to engage in risky adventurous behavior due to their low risk tolerance. That is, this kind of investor has a high degree of risk perception in financial products. H3: Investor who are risk aversive has significant impact on stock market volatility H4: Investor who are risk aversive has no significant impact on stock market volatility Risk Neutral Investor: Someone is completely indifferent to the risk involved an investment and is only concerned about expected return. H5: Investor who are risk neutral has significant impact on stock market volatility H6: Investor who are risk neutral has no significant impact on stock market volatility Methodology: (Sample Data Collection) Sample is taken from Islamabad stock exchange and data collection is based on primary data using questionnaire consist of five likert scale including Strongly Agree, Agree, No Strong Opinion, Disagree, Strongly Disagree to analyze the dependent and nondependent variables. The questionnaire sample obtained from the valid source à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The Scottish Life Risk Attitude Profiling Questionnaire is based on the Byrne Blake Risk Profile Questionnaireà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?  [2]  . The Respondents which have obtained during the research work are 30 that included 20 brokers, 10 small investors i.e Man, Woman having different qualification, age and income groups. To analyze the data being a researcher we used Regression and correlation in SPSS to see the impact and relationship between variables. Data Analysis and Discussion The results drawn from statistical analysis is based on regression analysis. As the independent variable is comprised of three facets i.e, risk aversion, risk taking and risk neutral so several hierarchical regression analyses are performed to formally check the hypothesis. Separate regression analyses are run for analyzing independent-dependent relationship. Regression has been used in order to measure that how much variation in dependent variables has been caused by independent variable. The results are as follows: Risk Aversion (a) Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .467(a) .218 .048 .48900 Interpretation Table illustrate that value of R Square is 0.218 which is equal to 21.8 %. This means that independent variable i.e. risk aversion is accounting for 21.8 % of variation in the dependent variable i.e stock market. (b) ANOVA Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F 1 Regression 1.535 5 .307 1.284 Residual 5.500 23 .239 Total 7.034 28 a. Predictors: (Constant), risk aversion b. Dependent Variable: Stock market Interpretation F ( 1. 101) = 1.284 ; P Since the value of P is less than 0.01, so we can say that the overall effect of this independent variable is highly significant. RISK Tolerance (a) Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .442(a) .195 -.025 .50735 Predictors: (Constant), risk tolerance Interpretation Table illustrate that value of R Square is 0.195 which is equal to 19.5 %. This means that independent variable i.e. risk tolerance is accounting for 19.5 % of variation in the dependent variable i.e. stock market. (b) ANOVA Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F 1 Regression 1.372 6 .229 .888 Residual 5.663 22 .257 Total 7.034 28 a. Predictors: (Constant), risk tolerance b. Dependent Variable: Stock market Interpretation F ( 1. 101) = 0.888 ; P Since the value of P is less than 0.01, so we can say that the overall effect of this independent variable is highly significant. Risk Neutral (a) Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .687(a) .472 -.056 .51517 Predictors: (Constant), risk tolerance Interpretation Table illustrate that value of R Square is 0.472 which is equal to 47.2 %. This means that independent variable i.e. risk neutral is accounting for 19.5 % of variation in the dependent variable i.e. stock market. (b) ANOVA Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F 1 Regression 3.319 14 .237 .893 Residual 3.716 14 .265 Total 7.034 28 Predictors: (Constant), risk neutral Dependent Variable: Stock market Interpretation F (1. 101) = 0.893; P CONCLUSION This study uses the questionnaire approach to test the risk attitudes and returns expectations of investors of particular Islamabad stock exchange. There are different trends and economic crisis that rapidly changed the attitude of investors of male and female. Variance analysis also found that less experienced investors have lower risk propensity and higher risk perception. However, considering individual attitude and perception about returns of stock market either influenced positively or negatively that assessed during research questionnaire. In the test model, investor experience and their risk propensity is in positive correlation. So, the conclusion of this study is consistent with recent literature, however the relationship between risk attitude and expected returns has not yet been determined as successful and strong empirical result. RECOMMENDATIONS Researcher recommended the followings ways to gain higher return from their investing attitude. Compare current stock value with historical results of securities or bonds markets. If you are risk aversive and need higher income during shorter period of time and at low risk, you will need to find other financial instruments.   As we know that, there is direct correlation between risk and income. The higher is income, the higher is risk so investor should ensure about their instruments worth in which he/she going to invest such can be divided as follows: bank savings, bonds and shares.   Another issue is that somehow media reports negatively about stock market return so, investor rapidly change their mind set as the framing heuristic applied without thinking the validity of information. So investor should protect his or her investments. Having purchased securities, keep monitoring securities market periodically. Other Recommendations are that Do not spread the whole money in the market and prefer to invest in only those companies that pay a dividend and that have a history of raising their dividend every year. Investor should forget making a profit; instead focus on the income provided from the stock portfolio and make every stock purchase with the intent that the purchase will be a long-term investment. Develop a savings plan to add to your holdings each quarter to help dividend reinvestments to accumulate more shares on a cost averaging basis. REFERENCES Amos Tversky; Daniel Kahneman Science, New Series, Vol. 185, No. 4157. (Sep. 27, 1974), pp. 1124-1131. Jaimie Sung, Sherman Hanna, Factors related to risk tolerance, Financial Counseling and Planning, Vol. 7,1996, pag. 14). Levin Irwin P., Mary A. Snyder and Daniel P. Chapman (1975), The Interaction of Experiential and Situational Factors and Gender in a Simulated Risky Decision-Making Task, Journal of Psychology, 1988, 122(2),pp. 173-181) Powell Melanie, and David Ansic (1997), Gender Differences in Risk Behaviour in Financial Decision-Making: An Experimental Analysis, Journal of Economic Psychology, 18(6), 1998, pp. 605-628. Risk Attitude Profiling questionnairehttp://www.scottishlife.co.uk/scotlife/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?fileName=Risk_Attitude_Questionnaire.pdf Source:http://www.emeraldinsight.com/books.htm?chapterid=1760442show=html Sitkin and Pablo (1992) Review of management Review-1992.vol 17, No.1, p-38). Shyan-Rong Chou, Gow-Liang Huang, Hui-Lin Hsu (2010) International Research Journal of Finance and Economics ISSN 1450-2887 Issue 44 (2010)  © Euro Journals Publishing, Inc. 2010. http://www.eurojournals.com/finance.html) Investor Attitudes Towards Risk on Stock Market Investor Attitudes Towards Risk on Stock Market For the abnormal return in stock market, investor attitudes will become increasingly important. This paper attempts to analyze the impact of investor attitude towards risk that have a greater influence on stock market .In this study researcher focused on particular Islamabad stock market and obtain primary data based on five point Likert scale from investor of ISE. The data indicate that investors have substantially different attitudes toward various investments. However, there are significant statistical differences between attitudes of the investor groups in their attitudes toward three risk types. These data also show significant differences in attitudes toward risk. After analyzing the data through the Regression and Correlation, including ANOVA test, the result found the significance impact of variables on stock market. Introduction The whole financial theory is based on the basic hypothesis of rational investor on the financial markets. This rationality is characterized by a continuous quest of the investors to maximize their utility function (actually maximizing the return of the investment for a given risk level or minimizing the risk for an expected return level). In spite their rationality; investors have a different perception over risk, its bearing having an important psychological factor. Most investors show different attitude towards risk like motivated risk aversion, but we can find on the financial markets. While risk behavior has been studied intensely and a large number of risk perception. Through attention to risk perception and risk propensity which are mediators in attitude transaction, financial institutions can realize the effects on investor behavior and their returns expectations. The first section of this paper is the introduction, the second section is the literature review, the third secti on establishes hypothesis model, the fourth section presents the study results and the fifth section is the conclusion and recommendations.Different Studies are available; far less research exists regarding peoples mind-sets towards risk taking, i.e., risk attitudes, such as, risk aversion, risk tolerance and risk neutral. These can be conceptualized as two poles of a one-dimensional attitude towards risk-taking but also as two separate concepts. It is widely assumed that people differ considerably in their attitude towards risks, ranging from good sense to risk-seeking and even pleasure in risk-taking. The first trial of conceptualizing the investors risk aversion belongs to Milton Friedman and Leonard Savage (Milton Friedman, Leonard Savage Utility Analysis of Choices Involving Risk, JPE, 1948) who defined the risk aversion by using the following decisional situation: an investor who can chose among comparable investments will always chose the one with the lowest risk. Explaining the investment behavior using the returns of risky financial investments utility function brought a new perspective to the risk aversion theory. Further studies showed that there are also other factors with direct impact over the attitude towards risk (economic growth forecasts of a market, the level of training and the experience gained, fluctuations of the exchange market, psychological factors, biases and heuristics etc.). This paper follows studies conducted with investors to examine investor attitudes and behavior towards inherent risk and potential returns in stock market. Statement of the Problem The problem statement of research was à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Impact of Investor Attitude towards Risk on Stock Marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. Major variables used in this study include stock market return volatility and risk attitude i.e risk tolerance, risk aversive, risk neutral variables that are the indicators of investor attitude. Objective: the objectives of research are:- To study how these attitude types are affecting the stock market. To find whether there is any relationship between stock market index and investor behavior. Significance of the Study The market return fluctuate according to events and trends , the human mind also have some psychological factor that can be influenced or might directs towards good or bad decision making regarding investment. From this study individual investor can get knowledge how their behavior that can maximize or minimize their utility in investment plan in market portfolio. They can change their behavior accordingly. Every Kind of individual like small investor including Man, Women with different status i.e. single or Martial with different age can change their mind set and able to understand how they should make decision to see the market trends or events. Review of Literature There is lot work has been done so far in this regard. Now we have overview some of researcher works in this section of the paper as review literature. With the reference of research topic, some of studies are being done in which all the variables includes Risk attitude factors i.e; Risk Aversion, Risk Tolerance, Risk are taken into consideration to define the impact of those variables on stock market. Levin, Synder and chapman (1975) were concerned with the differences between men and women in accepting the risks of financial investments, they focused on a group of 110 students using a questionnaire regarding lotteries to check the more risk aversive according to gender differentiation. the results indicating that women are more risk aversive than men Powell and Ansic (1997) questioned a small group regarding property insurance and the exchange market and again found that women are more aversive than men (this study was among the first which analyzed individual aversion towards speculative and pure risks); using information regarding the weight of the funds invested in risky assets. Jaimie Sung and Hannna (1996) analyzed the risk tolerance corresponding to four ethnic groups: Caucasian, Hispanic, Black and others. Given the substantial differences among risk tolerance capacities of these groups (the Caucasians have the highest risk tolerance and the Blacks the lowest) we may assert that this factor has a direct impact on the way investors accept and perceive the risk attached to financial investments. Education also has a direct influence on risk tolerance, as several studies prove a direct link between higher education and the acceptance of higher risk related to investments. The analysis was conducted on four education levels: primary school, high school, college and postgraduate studies. The results demonstrate an intense and direct impact on accepting financial risk: the higher the subjects education, the higher his tolerance to risk. Sitkin and Pablo (1992) developed a model of determinants of risk behavior. In this model, personal risk preferences and past experiences form an important risk factor in which to frame the problem, and social influence also affects the individuals perception. Sitkin and Weingart (1995) extend the Sitkin-Pablo model leading to the definition that risk perception and propensity are the mediators in risk behaviors of uncertainty decision-making. Shyan-Rong Chou, Gow-Liang Huang, Hui-Lin Hsu (2010) has done research on à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Investor Attitudes and Behavior towards Inherent Risk and Potential Returns in Financial Productsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. They establish a model by which to measure attitudes and behavior towards investment risk.They used variables: Risk propensity, Risk perception, Behavior finance, Decision making. They study to form a framework (framing) for interpretation of their respective populations attitudes and behaviors. Empirical results found no difference by gender to investor propensity to take risk, nor in cognitive perception of such. However, higher and lower perceptions of risk were indicated by investors according to their personal investment experience. Investors with little experience in stocks and structured notes were found to have significantly sensitive perception of risk. Thus the model proposed is relevant in finding a positive correlation between experience and propensity of risk, though the un derstanding of such remains uncertain. In respect to financial products other than mutual funds, investor propensity and perception of risk tend to show a negative correlation. Amos Tversky; Daniel Kahneman (1974) defines in their research à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biasesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? that Heuristics that are important feature of the individual decision-making process which may be considered to include thought representativeness and availability. They founded that there is anchoring bias in the decision-making process which arises due to factors such as overconfidence, loss aversion, status quo bias, mental accounting, framing and so on. Investors in the process of assessing the risks and returns are influenced by this anchor effect. All these studies proved the complexity of risk aversion and its subjective dimension, as the estimates are difficult to obtain accurately. Investors have ultimately a unique behavior which results in un balanced price, no matter how adverse they are to risk. Understanding risk aversion offers another perspective for constructing and optimizing risky financial portfolios. Theoretical Frame work Our theoretical frame work is as under: (Independent Variables) Risk Aversion Risk Tolerance Risk Neutral (Dependent Variable) Stock Market Explanation The possibility of physical or social or financial harm /detriment / loss due to a exposure. This is the (dominating) negative perspective; however, there is also a neutral perspective, i.e., risk = uncertainty about the outcomes (good and/or bad ones) of a decision; and a positive perspective. A persons opinion belief about how large the risk associated with a hazard is (regarding negative outcomes) A general perspective of humans mind towards taking or avoiding a risk when deciding how to proceed in situations with uncertain outcomes. Risk Attitude towards taking risks or avoiding risk are; i.e, Risk aversion, Risk Tolerance, Risk Neutral. So, all decisions about how acceptable a risk is in individual or societal terms deepened on market events or trends. The actual behavior of people when facing a risk situation, each investor has unique personal risk tendencies, investment style, and level of risk awareness. These characteristics, in addition to the expectation of returns, help investment decision making and portfolio construction. According to traditional finances capital asset pricing model, due to investor risk aversion, rational investors understand that increased investment risk demands return with a higher premium. Diagrammatical Expression of Variable:  [1]   Purpose of the study (Hypothesis Testing) Hypothesis testing offers an enhanced understanding of the relationship that exists among variables. It could also established casual and effect relationship. The research à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Impact of Investor attitude towards risk on Stock Marketà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?, includes there are certain variables upon which the growth of Stock Market depends; these are interest rate, Risk Aversion, Risk Tolerance, Risk Neutral ,Uncertainty. Research is being carried out to analyze the nature of the relationship between all these variables. Hypothesis Risk Tolerance Investor: Investors who tend towards higher risk are more adventurous and so are willing to attempt high-risk, high reward investments. H1: Investor who has a higher tolerance to risk that have significant impact on stock market volatility H2: Investor who has a higher tolerance to risk that have no significant impact on stock market volatility Risk Aversive Investor: People who tend towards lower risk behavior are less willing to engage in risky adventurous behavior due to their low risk tolerance. That is, this kind of investor has a high degree of risk perception in financial products. H3: Investor who are risk aversive has significant impact on stock market volatility H4: Investor who are risk aversive has no significant impact on stock market volatility Risk Neutral Investor: Someone is completely indifferent to the risk involved an investment and is only concerned about expected return. H5: Investor who are risk neutral has significant impact on stock market volatility H6: Investor who are risk neutral has no significant impact on stock market volatility Methodology: (Sample Data Collection) Sample is taken from Islamabad stock exchange and data collection is based on primary data using questionnaire consist of five likert scale including Strongly Agree, Agree, No Strong Opinion, Disagree, Strongly Disagree to analyze the dependent and nondependent variables. The questionnaire sample obtained from the valid source à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“The Scottish Life Risk Attitude Profiling Questionnaire is based on the Byrne Blake Risk Profile Questionnaireà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?  [2]  . The Respondents which have obtained during the research work are 30 that included 20 brokers, 10 small investors i.e Man, Woman having different qualification, age and income groups. To analyze the data being a researcher we used Regression and correlation in SPSS to see the impact and relationship between variables. Data Analysis and Discussion The results drawn from statistical analysis is based on regression analysis. As the independent variable is comprised of three facets i.e, risk aversion, risk taking and risk neutral so several hierarchical regression analyses are performed to formally check the hypothesis. Separate regression analyses are run for analyzing independent-dependent relationship. Regression has been used in order to measure that how much variation in dependent variables has been caused by independent variable. The results are as follows: Risk Aversion (a) Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .467(a) .218 .048 .48900 Interpretation Table illustrate that value of R Square is 0.218 which is equal to 21.8 %. This means that independent variable i.e. risk aversion is accounting for 21.8 % of variation in the dependent variable i.e stock market. (b) ANOVA Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F 1 Regression 1.535 5 .307 1.284 Residual 5.500 23 .239 Total 7.034 28 a. Predictors: (Constant), risk aversion b. Dependent Variable: Stock market Interpretation F ( 1. 101) = 1.284 ; P Since the value of P is less than 0.01, so we can say that the overall effect of this independent variable is highly significant. RISK Tolerance (a) Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .442(a) .195 -.025 .50735 Predictors: (Constant), risk tolerance Interpretation Table illustrate that value of R Square is 0.195 which is equal to 19.5 %. This means that independent variable i.e. risk tolerance is accounting for 19.5 % of variation in the dependent variable i.e. stock market. (b) ANOVA Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F 1 Regression 1.372 6 .229 .888 Residual 5.663 22 .257 Total 7.034 28 a. Predictors: (Constant), risk tolerance b. Dependent Variable: Stock market Interpretation F ( 1. 101) = 0.888 ; P Since the value of P is less than 0.01, so we can say that the overall effect of this independent variable is highly significant. Risk Neutral (a) Model Summary Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 1 .687(a) .472 -.056 .51517 Predictors: (Constant), risk tolerance Interpretation Table illustrate that value of R Square is 0.472 which is equal to 47.2 %. This means that independent variable i.e. risk neutral is accounting for 19.5 % of variation in the dependent variable i.e. stock market. (b) ANOVA Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F 1 Regression 3.319 14 .237 .893 Residual 3.716 14 .265 Total 7.034 28 Predictors: (Constant), risk neutral Dependent Variable: Stock market Interpretation F (1. 101) = 0.893; P CONCLUSION This study uses the questionnaire approach to test the risk attitudes and returns expectations of investors of particular Islamabad stock exchange. There are different trends and economic crisis that rapidly changed the attitude of investors of male and female. Variance analysis also found that less experienced investors have lower risk propensity and higher risk perception. However, considering individual attitude and perception about returns of stock market either influenced positively or negatively that assessed during research questionnaire. In the test model, investor experience and their risk propensity is in positive correlation. So, the conclusion of this study is consistent with recent literature, however the relationship between risk attitude and expected returns has not yet been determined as successful and strong empirical result. RECOMMENDATIONS Researcher recommended the followings ways to gain higher return from their investing attitude. Compare current stock value with historical results of securities or bonds markets. If you are risk aversive and need higher income during shorter period of time and at low risk, you will need to find other financial instruments.   As we know that, there is direct correlation between risk and income. The higher is income, the higher is risk so investor should ensure about their instruments worth in which he/she going to invest such can be divided as follows: bank savings, bonds and shares.   Another issue is that somehow media reports negatively about stock market return so, investor rapidly change their mind set as the framing heuristic applied without thinking the validity of information. So investor should protect his or her investments. Having purchased securities, keep monitoring securities market periodically. Other Recommendations are that Do not spread the whole money in the market and prefer to invest in only those companies that pay a dividend and that have a history of raising their dividend every year. Investor should forget making a profit; instead focus on the income provided from the stock portfolio and make every stock purchase with the intent that the purchase will be a long-term investment. Develop a savings plan to add to your holdings each quarter to help dividend reinvestments to accumulate more shares on a cost averaging basis. REFERENCES Amos Tversky; Daniel Kahneman Science, New Series, Vol. 185, No. 4157. (Sep. 27, 1974), pp. 1124-1131. Jaimie Sung, Sherman Hanna, Factors related to risk tolerance, Financial Counseling and Planning, Vol. 7,1996, pag. 14). Levin Irwin P., Mary A. Snyder and Daniel P. Chapman (1975), The Interaction of Experiential and Situational Factors and Gender in a Simulated Risky Decision-Making Task, Journal of Psychology, 1988, 122(2),pp. 173-181) Powell Melanie, and David Ansic (1997), Gender Differences in Risk Behaviour in Financial Decision-Making: An Experimental Analysis, Journal of Economic Psychology, 18(6), 1998, pp. 605-628. Risk Attitude Profiling questionnairehttp://www.scottishlife.co.uk/scotlife/nmsruntime/saveasdialog.asp?fileName=Risk_Attitude_Questionnaire.pdf Source:http://www.emeraldinsight.com/books.htm?chapterid=1760442show=html Sitkin and Pablo (1992) Review of management Review-1992.vol 17, No.1, p-38). Shyan-Rong Chou, Gow-Liang Huang, Hui-Lin Hsu (2010) International Research Journal of Finance and Economics ISSN 1450-2887 Issue 44 (2010)  © Euro Journals Publishing, Inc. 2010. http://www.eurojournals.com/finance.html)

Essay --

The American Red Cross The American Red Cross is an organization which has been helping people for many years. They take donations and put them toward helping people in times of need. They are a valued institution in the US. This paper will discuss the causes and effects of the American Red Cross. The Red Cross started in Geneva Switzerland. It provided nonpartisan care to wounded and sick starting in 1863. Clara Barton started a branch of the Red Cross in the US in 1881. It is called the American Red Cross. The American Red Cross takes donations and uses them to help the victims of disasters, wars and other times of need. The American Red Cross now responds to about 63,000 disasters every year. The American Red Cross has some paid employees as well as many volunteers. (American Red Cross). Human societies of different nations and culture contain people (also social members and actors) that constantly interact with social institutions and organizations, primarily because these institutions achieve a common goal that is desirable and agreeable to an individual or group. The American Red Cross is an example of such organization, which is a humanitarian organization centering on volunteerism, and provides "relief of victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies. This is one the biggest Red Cross relief operation in the past five years, and we are so grateful for the generosity of Walgreens and its customers in support of our work said Gail McGovern, president and CEO of the Red Cross. (Gail McGovern) â€Å"This non-profit and independent organization offers humanitarian services such as blood donations, financial/monetary donation and funding, tissue donation, volunteerism, planned... ...Over 116,000 individuals and families were affected. The American Red Cross also operated over 470 shelters. The hurricane destroyed 16,500 dwellings and damaged 140,000 others. It killed at least 65 people and disrupted the area’s water and electricity. In the Caribbean over 300 paid staff and disaster specialists were assigned to help and 230 paid employees were assigned in the US. This hurricane cost 64 million dollars’ worth of damage. The American Red Cross helped rebuild homes, clean up damage, provide shelter for those who lost homes etc. 30 days after Hugo hit an earthquake rocked North Car! The Red Cross has helped many people and the Red Cross will hopefully continue contributing to the US and other parts of the world for many years to come. They have been working very hard since the 9/11 tragedy. They deserve a lot of credit for all of the work.

Schools Should Prepare Children For Life In Society :: essays research papers

Schools Should Prepare Children For Life in Society In today's information society people often think that characters from TV-shows or talkshow guests reflect our society. Although that opinion is rather based on the disability of people to use information than on any logical thoughts, there is something every talkshow reminds us of: people are not perfect. So, I say, society can not be perfect either. I believe that society works by that society doesn't work. People are too different to put them all into one melting pot, but you have to, because otherwise society would end in destruction and hate (as seen in the Third Reich). I believe that schools have an obligation to prepare children for life in society. Therefore they don't necessarily have the ability to change society but I think today's situation in Germany is not nearly as bad as the situation in "Dead poet's society", a movie based on a true story. In the movie a teacher tries to let his students be creative and critical towards everything they see and hear while neglecting values like punctuality and obedience. At first he is successful, but as soon as the school board notices his ambitions, he gets suspended for some odd reason. If a teacher in Germany tries to influence students in the way that they are more creative that is generally seen as positive, but what almost makes this impossible is the number of students in a class and the time frame of just 45 minutes, which is short if you are going to hear all the different opinions of all the students. If we accept that there do exist problems in society that need to get fixed, we also have to see that it is not school's job to do this alone.

A Mans Struggle to Heal Himself in Big Two-Hearted River Essays

A Man's Struggle to Heal Himself in Big Two-Hearted River Ernest Hemingway's "Big Two-Hearted River"* is such a rich text that it has probably received more literary critical attention than many novels of several times its length. Hemingway's ardent use of intricate detail and his intentional, calculated use of short, simple sentences help to make "River" a treasure chest of critical ideas and possible interpretations. Historically, much of the criticism of "River" has examined the dark underlying themes of the story, such as the alleged omission of some preceding, devastating event and Nick's wounded spiritual and mental state. These sentences, such as "There was no town, nothing but the rails and the burned-over country," are representative of the abundance of similar language throughout the story and make it easy to understand why many critics focus on dark themes, devastation and mental instability. Without denying or dispelling any of the valid "dark" critiques, I intend to show that "River" may also be easily understood in a more posi tive light as an account of one man's struggle to heal himself by returning to what he knows and loves. The intense detail that abounds within the story makes an easy job for the deconstructionist. The intricate descriptions of Nick's actions are susceptible to deconstructive criticism, as may be seen in James Twitchell's "The Swamp in Hemingway's 'Big Two-Hearted River." Twitchell focuses on the physical improbability of the swamp existing adjacent to the river as it is described in the story. A swamp is an area where the water moves very slowly, if at all; however, Nick describes the river as being lined with boulders, having a pebbly bottom, and "fast moving water" (209). Twitchell po... ... Green, James L. "Symbolic Sentences in 'Big Two-Hearted River.'" Modern Fiction Studies 14 (1968): 307-312. Kyle, Frank B. "Parallel and Complementary Themes in Hemingway's Big Two-Hearted River Stories and 'The Battler.'" Studies in Short Fiction 16 (1979): 295-300. Smith, B.J. "' Big Two-Hearted River:' The Artist and the Art." Studies in Short Fiction 20 (1983): 129-32. Stewart, John F. "Christian Allusions in 'Big Two-Hearted River.'" Studies in Short Fiction 18 (1978): 194-96. Svoboda, Frederic J. "Landscapes Real and Imagined: 'Big Two-Hearted River.'" Hemingway Review 16 (1996): 33-42. Twitchell, James. "The Swamp in Hemingway's 'Big Two-Hearted River.'" Studies in Short Fiction 9 (1972): 275-76. Weeks, Lewis E. Jr. "Two Types of Tension: Art Vs Campcraft in Hemingway's 'Big Two-Hearted River.'" Studies in Short Fiction 11 (1974): 433-34.

Islamic Womens’ Rights Essay

Islam since its inception has maintained the claim of universality – a message and a way of life applicable and appropriate to all peoples in all places and times. Now more clearly than at any other point in the history of the Islamic tradition, this claim seems to be manifested through the presence of Muslim communities literally across the world. The Muslim population is estimated in the range of one billion, approximately half of whom are women representing a great range of cultures, racial-ethnic identifications, interests, attitudes, and aspirations. While it may be rather daunting to attempt to generalize about Muslim women, it is nonetheless true that certain themes emerge with some regularity when one looks across the Islamic world. Muslims struggle with and attempt to reconcile the affirmation of their heritage with the challenges of the modern world and the ongoing legacy of Western imperialism. Muslim women in all societies are key to these discussions, both subjects and objects in a very important and continuing debate about what it means to be a Islamic woman. Women’s rights (both Islamic and constitutional) are under constant debate, as are matters of seclusion and segregation, the relationship of women’s circumstances to fundamentalist religious pressures, and the role of women in political struggles for independence and economic advancement. Some countries such as Egypt have stressed the importance of women’s education for the better part of the century. Others like Saudi Arabia have only recently begun to work toward this goal. It is clear that overall there is increased attention to the importance of education for Muslim females both as a right and a value in and of itself, and as an essential ingredient in the advancement of nations. As in many areas, it is also clear that enormous differences exist educationally for women in urban and in rural areas, a dichotomy that at least in the short run probably will become even more pronounced (Carroll 85). There is also the major concern of women’s employment in Muslim countries and the debate over which occupations are considered proper for women to pursue. In many countries shortages in the labor force are making it imperative for women to work, but the tide of traditionalism tends to mitigate strongly in limiting those opportunities. In many countries increasing numbers of women are engaged as wage earners, but they are limited primarily to such occupations as teaching and medicine (Hussein and Radwan 12). The oil wealth of the Gulf states had led both to better education and to more work opportunities, although the conservative Islamic ethos has severely complicated the situation. Kuwait offers the greatest opportunities for women’s employment, and Bahrain with its economic diversification is opening new doors for female employment (Hussein and Radwan 12). Whether because of or despite Islam or government policies, women across the Islamic world are becoming more economically active. This does not necessarily mean, of course, that they are pressing for increased work opportunities. Many women would prefer not to work, doing so only because of economic necessities and happy that the extra money earned means a more comfortable life for their families. Enhanced professional opportunity for women is not without its down side. Women in a number of cultures have come to realize that along with the societal and familial strains that occur when women work outside the home (including perceptions that men cannot support their families) is the reality of women taking on added responsibilities without the expectation that they will be able to do less in other areas of their lives. And the relationship of economically and politically active women to the advancement of the state adds further strains for many women (Mintjes 17). In Iraq, for example, women’s liberation and full integration into society is a part of the Ba’th party platform. But reforms in personal status laws lag behind the political rhetoric, adding to the burdens of women (Sanasarian 124-125). This is generally true across the Islamic world, and it means that these burdens will continue as long as there is no real resolve in the tension between needing women for national development and not being able to accord them full status in society because of socio-religious restrictions (Rassam 99). The other issue is, undoubtedly, the question of women’s dress which is one of the most pressing concerns of Islamic societies today. Sometimes the government in allegiance with the religious establishment and seeking its support insists on women wearing â€Å"appropriate† covering. In other instances governments are making every attempt to discourage the wearing of Islamic dress precisely because they fear the rising power of extremist fundamentalism (Yeganeh 26-27). Today controversy over the government’s ban on students wearing Islamic dress at the universities has become a major ideological and political issue. Islamic conservatives say that the Quran dictates the wearing of the turban, preferably with a kind of long loose overcoat covering the body to the feet. The government’s supreme educational council has recommended disciplinary action for any female students appearing in such dress. The debate has become a major one in the struggle between secularist ideology and Islamic revivalism in that country (Bahry 502). Besides, the question of birth control is a matter of major concern to many Muslim families. While a few of the ulama, if supported by state efforts, are saying that there is Islamic sanction for some preventive measures, the majority oppose any such control as un-Islamic. When young Iraqi men and boys were being killed in the war with Iran, the government waged a campaign stressing the role of women as mothers. Contraceptives were no longer allowed at the same time that men were encouraged to take second wives for the purpose of having more children. Clearly there are differences in men’s and women’s attitudes on the issue of birth control. In Tunisia, for example, where legislation concerning women is generally seen to be more progressive than in many other countries, a survey showed that far more women than men favored the use of contraceptives. Where official policy does not support the possibility of contraception more subtle measures are sometimes used. In Bahrain housing projects limit the number of bedrooms so that they are available only to families with two children (Bahry 509- 511). Finally, a word needs to be said about Muslim women and the rise of feminism. It cannot perhaps be emphasized too strongly that whatever stand Islamic women may take on issues of education, employment, and equal opportunities in society, they have serious reservations about what they understand to be feminism in the Western context. For the most part they find it too individualistic, too removed from genuine cooperation between males and females, and too much tied to forms of Western colonialism and imperialism. â€Å"Sexual behavior that may strike an American feminist as liberated,† said one young Tunisian woman, â€Å"may strike me as just another form of slavery, and a rather neurotic form at that† (Megademeni 10). Muslim women and men together are still very much in the process of working out ways in which to affirm their Islamic identity as members of societies and nations moving into a new century. The issues they face will not be quickly or easily resolved. Women are not only faced by a number of conflicting pressures and claims on their allegiance, but find themselves speaking to a number of different audiences – their husbands and families, their Islamic sisters, their Western critics, the clerics or government agencies responsible for determining many of the circumstances of their lives, themselves. There is little question that many women across the Islamic world are becoming increasingly aware of the rights that belong to them within the Islamic system, as well as of themselves as key players in the movements that will continue to redefine the Islamic way of life. The responses they give to their own changing circumstances may vary with the different situations to which they are called to respond, and they may change fairly dramatically in the next few years. But it is clear that whatever solutions are found to the issues that they face, for most women they will be discovered in conversation with other females as well as males in the Muslim community, and they will be – in one form or another – Islamic solutions. Works Cited Bahry, Louay. â€Å"The New Saudi Woman: Modernizing in an Islamic Framework.† Middle East Journal. Vol. 34: 4, 2002. Carroll, Lucy. â€Å"Nizan-I-Islam: Processes an Conflicts in Pakistan’s Programme of Islamisation, with Special Reference to the Position of Women. † In Journal of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics. Vol. 20: 1992. Hussein, Freda and Radwan, Kamelia. â€Å"The Islamic Revolution and Women: Quest for the Quranic Model. † Freda Hussein, ed. , Muslim Women. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1994. Megademeni, Negiba. â€Å"Muslim Women Developing a Theory of Islamic Feminism. † Unitarian Universalist World. Vol.16: 8, August 15, 1995. Mintjes, H. â€Å"The Doctor and the Ladies: A New Debate on ‘Women and Islam’ in Pakistan. † al-Mushir. Vol. 25: 1993. Rassam, Amal. â€Å"Revolution Within the Revolution? Women and the State in Iraq. † Iraq: The Contemporary State. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2002. Sanasarian, Eliz. The Women’s Rights Movement in Iran. New York: Praeger, 2001. Yeganeh, Nahid. â€Å"Women’s Struggles in the Islamic Republic of Iran. † Azar Tabari and Nahid Yeganeh, eds. , In the Shadow of Islam: The Women’s Movement in Iran. London: Zed Press, 1982.

Infosys: Financing an Indian Software Start-Up

Infosys is small software development venture which provides information technology (IT) consulting services for international clients. The company is located in Bangalore and was founded back in 1981 by a small group of skllfull entrepreneurs, with very little equity of 1000$ and without backing from a large companies. Mr. R. Narayana Murthy is the CEO and chairman and Nandan Nilekani is the president and chief operating officer (COO), of Infosys Technologies Ltd. Being a company grounded on a Indian soil at that tome was not an advantage for Infosys because the economic policy supported by the government prior to 1991 caused many problems for business, especially for those businesses that wanted to import goods from a foreign market. Therefore the easiest business solution for Infosys was to develop software services , since production of hardware could have been a troble because all the devices they need for the hardware development were imported from abroad. Because the domestic market held no real opportunity for the new company, Infosys focused on international markets for its software products. Up till 1999 Narayana Murthy bought out all the shares from the remaining founders, the company has dramatically transformed its business and image and grown with over 100 employees. It faced possible bancropcy but somehow managed to survive it, took the advantage of the capital markets with one of the first market-priced IPOs and brought itself a tremendous growth in its business. It is our vision at Infosys, to create world-class leaders who will be at the forefront of business and technology in today's competitive marketplace. Challenges: As the mission for the company was to become a globally respected firm and a leader in the Indian market, they needed to transform Infosys as a desirable place to work not only for domestic people but also for the foreigners who have complementary skills. That is why they have invested the money from the IPO and created an environment that would enhance the overall experience for employees by taking three most important values: learning value-added, if there is financial value-added, and if there is emotional value-added. This was very well percieved by the internal employees as well as all other gratuated students who were considering Infosys as the best place to work. Employees had very good training programm, chance for carrier development, possibility for company loans for private reasons etc. Infosys even offered stock options to all qualified employees. The factor which helped Infosys to grow at a faster pace than others was the low employee turnover. The turnover rate at Infosys was around 11% as opposed to industry average for software companies' of over 25% during the 1990s. Infosys' retention capability was a function both of its rigorous selection procedures as well as proactive HRD practices Increasing productivity was their next challenge in order to remain competitive on a global basis. Therefore they considered three objectives: increase our customer penetration, to increase our brand equity, increase the amount of fixed price contracts we work on. Hiring international employees was a possibility to accomplish many of the objectives with regard to productivity. And finally the most important challenge was regarding future growth and financing. Infosys' shares trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The company must decide whether it should seek to also list its shares on a U. S. stock exchange and, if yes, whether to list on NASDAQ or NYSE. Solution: There are several opportunities and constraints for considering the current situation and objective of the company. The main challenge is to move up the value chain by increasing our revenues per employee and by increasing our customer base. For accomplishing this goal, the brand should be enhanced not with tools like advertising and other â€Å"traditional† forms of marketing but with word-of-mouth publicity that will highlight the uniqueness of our company compared to our competitors. Secondly, an ADR offering in the United States would help accomplish other goals, such as the recruitment of international employees. Thirdly, in addition to providing currency for our employees, a listing would also provide currency for acquisitions in the United States or any another international location. Finally, it would be helpful for our current investors as well. Very few contraints appeared for infosys’s listing on the US exchange, mostly related to the valuation of the company on the US exhange. Conclusions: In my opinion I think the company should be list its shares on the US exhange due to the following reasons: The offering would be fantastic for investors as there are very few, if any, comparable ways to invest in this part of the world and there is a huge desire to invest in international markets. Possibility to recrute international employees. Finally with the listing Infosys will voluntarily opt to behave like a US domestic issuer, rather than subjecting itself to the less stringent standards of a foreign issuer. When it comes for deciding the right exchange, I would choose NASDAQ since it is a favoired market for technology stocks and offers better conditions for foreign companies unlike NYSE .