Change Management Compulsion Or An Option British Airways Business Essay

Change Management Compulsion Or An Option British Airways Business Essay There is a famous saying stated by an unknown author The only thing that is constant is change (Berman, 2007). With the current changing customer requirements and external environment necessities, organisations which behave as closed systems and do not constantly change themselves to fit the market requirements and customer demands will fail in the long term (Harigopal, 2006). Organisational change is an ongoing process which brings the systems and procedures of the organisation in line with the factors prevailing in the external and internal environment of the organisation (Nemetz and Fry, 1998). As business management gurus argue, external forces of change require not only adaptive, flexible organisations and new management approaches but also competent managers able to adopt to changing times and to manage organisational change (Beckhard and Harris, 1987). It is essential to understand how organisations in the real world implement and deal with organisational change. One such organisation which has implemented various change methodologies in the past few years in response to the changing business environment is British Airways. British Airways is the UKs flag carrier and one of the largest airlines in the world. Like many large organisations, the airline has had to change its strategy, technology, structure and culture in order to achieve competitive advantage in todays rapidly changing global business world. 1.2 Aims Objectives of Research The main objective and strategic aim of this study is to explore the role and significance of Change Management in this era of globalization and changing market needs by taking the case study of British Airways in specific. Research Question- The primary research question of this research study is: To explore the extent to which change management is necessary for a firm to achieve sustainable competitive advantage? Additionally, the secondary research question is to examine the change management initiatives previously taken by British Airways to attain competitive advantage and profitability. 1.3 Literature Review This chapter will highlight the various aspects of change management. It will use academic research to understand the concept of change management by looking at its definition and determining the various approaches of change management. It will then describe the framework for change and various change management initiatives taken by organisations. The various change models will also be listed and analysed and the organisational background of British Airways will be provided along with a SWOT analysis of the organisation. 1.4 Methodology This chapter will determine the methodology used to conduct this research and the reasons for various data collection methods chosen. It will also look into the philosophical aspects of the research study. 1.5 Research Findings and Discussion During this chapter the researcher has analysed the findings and compared these with the literature review and methodology to establish the extent to which change management is necessary for an organisation to sustain competitive advantage and the role and significance of Change Management initiatives taken by British Airways to attain profitability. 1.6 Conclusion The last chapter is the Recommendations and Conclusion chapter. This chapter will list the recommendations generated from the research study findings while also bringing to light the limitations of the research study. The references used and the research related appendices will then be presented at the end of the research study. CHAPTER 2 Literature Review This chapter will review the existing literature on change management. It is important to understand current research on the subject area, to enable the reader to understand the nature of the existing knowledge of the subject (Denscombe 1998, p.15). Specifically, this literature review will focus on the following issues; Firstly, it will determine the definition of change and list the various types from the typology of change. Secondly it will describe the framework for the change process, generic model of change and the various change management diagnostic models are discussed. Thirdly the importance of communication in Change Management is explained. Fourthly the SWOT analysis is also described along with the various change initiatives taken by organisations in the aviation industry. 2.1 Typology of Change Change in academics is defined as the substitution or succession of one thing in place of another. As per research studies conducted, it is identified that the patterns of change repeats and is recurring in every industry. These patterns of change constitute of incremental and radical changes. The increasing frequency of these patterns of change in various industries over the past couple of decades has necessitated for organisations to predict the pattern of changes in their external industry environment so that they are better equipped with the resources and capabilities required to embark upon change and maintain their competitive advantage. A typology of change was developed by Nadler and Tushman to outline the various abilities of organisations to predict the patterns of change in the external industry environment. They have divided the ability to predict changes into two types of proactive and reactive while listing the scope of change as being transformational or incremental in nature. The typology of change is created by Nadler and Tushman by developing a matrix of the type and scope of change. They have differentiated the change strategy among organisations into four types of fine tuning, adaptation, re-orientation and re-creation. These strategies have been described in the following paragraphs (Hayes, 2007 and Chaffey, 2006). The first two changes of fine tuning and adaptation in organisations which occur are incremental changes. Fine tuning is the change process where organisations are proactive and will try to fill in the inefficiencies and gaps internal to the company when compared to the changing external environments which act as reducing agents to the effective performance of the business processes of the organisation. Adaptation is a reactive change process where the organisations have to make changes to their internal processes after they have felt a threat in their competitive position due to the changes made in the organisation. These changes are limited and do not affect the core functions or business processes of the organisation but are targeted towards reducing or removing the threats from the external environment and competition in an effective manner (Cook, Macaulay Coldicott, 2004). The two changes although occur for a long duration, are only basic changes and do not impact the fundament al aspects in which the organisations operations work (Hayes, 2007). The change processes of re-orientation and re-creation are both transformational in nature since they impact the fundamental operations of change. They occur when the need for change is vital to survive (Poole Van de Ven, 2004). The re-orientation change process in organisations basically requires organisations to change or re-define their existing corporate or business strategy (Chaffey, 2006 and Hayes, 2007). This change is conducted for two reasons. The first is to pro-actively prepare the organisation for the future changing external environment or to change the external environment itself by innovation such that the core competency of the organisation is increased over its competitors (Hayes, 2007 Potter, 2004). In Re-orientation, since there is no external threat to the organisation and it is being pro-active, it is difficult for the employee workforce to understand the need for such a drastic radical change. This change process requires the management of the organisation to create a sense of urgency and a necessity for change among the organisational employees so that the change process can be enforced. Otherwise it is difficult for organisations to implement this change. The last type of change process is Re-creation. This is a forced change and is transformational in nature. This type of change is implemented by organisations when they feel they need to change their core operations in order to sustain in the changed external environment. In most scenarios, the success of these re-creation changes can determine the survival of the organisation. These changes however are high risk changes since the organisations do not plan these changes ahead and do not, in most scenarios, have the required time and resources for their successful implementation. The change impact is mostly lower than expected for many reasons such as low involvement and motivation among employees, inadequate readiness in management etc. This change if not tackled effectively can lead to employee resistance and de-motivations (Chaffey, 2006 and Hayes, 2007). 2.2 Framework of Change The framework of change as developed by Lewin (1951) constitutes of the same three steps in all change processes. These steps are unfreeze, change and refreeze. Unfreeze is where the organisation tries to create an urgency for change so that the employees and the management are ready for change. Change, as the name indicates, is the second stage where the change occurs. Freeze is the final stage where the change made is now ensured to become part of the organisation. As per the framework, every change process has a higher level of uncertainty leading to resistance among employees. However, certain techniques can be adopted in order to avoid this resistance. One of these techniques is to introduce additional steps such as identifying the future state prior to implementing the framework of change (Weick Quinn, 1999). There have been many new models which have evolved in the past few years which have tried to add more steps or make modifications to this model. One of them is the generi c model of change created by (Hayes and Hyde, 1998) however, the general concept and baseline in all these change models is still the same. The generic model of change signifies the change process to be continuous in nature. It states that the change results of one process act as the triggering factor for some new required changes. Change process begins by determining the internal inefficiencies and improper capabilities of the internal organisation and the external environment in the industry the organisation operates in and using this gathered information to develop the new organisations strategy. This new strategy will now automatically implement the new anticipated change in the organisation (Johnson, Scholes Whittington, 2008). The ability to determine the correct strategy is the most crucial step in any change process since an incorrect change strategy can also be implemented successfully however it will not deliver the same benefits and fill in the required market inefficiencies as required and the overall change process can in turn be a failure (Buttrick, 2005). After looking at the above studies, the change process is modified as below. The initial aspect of the change process is now moved to identifying the resources required to implement the change process and the various techniques which can be used further to begin unfreezing the organisation. While this is being done, the organisations inefficiencies and gaps with the external environment are determined in order to develop the change strategy. This change strategy is designed that such that it achieves the anticipated future state of the organisation and reviewed to make any modification such that it is aligned towards realising the future state. The next step is to create a change plan before directly implementing the change. This change plan is implemented on a step by step basis and upon completion of each step, it is reviewed to determine if it is still aligned or the future state and rectify any identified deviations. Once this is completed and the future state is realised by the organisation, new techniques in order to merge this change with the organisations culture will be implemented. This is when the final stage of refreezing appears and the success or failure of the change process and the involved resources is determined. It is also used to collect feedback of the change process and reward the resources who had performed effectively towards achieving the future state (Jones, 2008). This generic model of change created by Hayes Hyde in 1998 and the change framework developed by Lewin in 1951 are both effective models which can used to implement change. However, both these models ignore one crucial aspect of change management which plays a vital role in the success of any change event, people management. Without effective people management, it is impossible to implement change in any organisation successfully. 2.3 Change Management Models There are various models which can be used to diagnose the success of a change event or the need for a change event. These models reduce the overall change process into a few key factors which need to be taken into consideration while implementing the change process in any organisation. They allow the management to determine the key aspects from both the process and the people perspective which need to be looked into. This in-turn increases the ability of change managers firstly to implement the change process successfully and secondly to evaluate its success and take necessary actions (Hayes, 2007). One of these models is the McKinsey 7S model. This model divides the change process diagnosis into seven elements which can be used to determine the existing internal environment status in a firm. These seven elements are strategy, structure, systems, staff, style, shared values and skills. The internal organisational efficiency of an organisation is determined successfully using this model and its results can be used to develop the internal strategy of the organisation (Saunders, 2007). This model can be used to develop change initiative programmes in organisations and develop a strategy which will achieve the overall internal fit in the firm however, it cannot be used to determine a fit between the internal capabilities of the organisation and the external environment in which it operates leading to a necessity for another model which takes this into consideration (Burke Litwin, 1992). The model which takes this into consideration is The Burke-Litwin causal model of organisational performance and change. This model is used for many purposes such as to identify the type of change implemented, whether it is incremental step-by-step change or a radical change or to determine the overall effect of using change management procedures in organisations while determining the performance of these management initiatives. This model constitutes of various elements which are crucial for a change process. The input element is the organisational performance and the output element is the individual and organisational performance. The other factors in the model are the through-put of the model. The models elements are further divided into two types of factors. The five factors of external environment, leadership, mission and strategy, organisational culture and the individual and organisational performance are the transformational factors while the remaining factors are the increme ntal factors. They are distinguished so based on the ability of the factors to influence the type of change. One of the successful applications of this model was to determine the success and performance on the change processes implemented in British Airways in the year 1983 (Burke Litwin, 1992). (Burke Litwin, 1992). This model will again be used in this study to determine the performance and effectiveness of the change management strategies used in British Airways in the past year. 2.4 Communication in Change Management: One of the key aspects of any change process in terms of people management is communication. If the communication is ineffective or missing, then the employee resistance to embrace the change only increases further. The communication strategies used by various organisations are different and this determines the amount of information shared by them with their employee workforce. Another factor which affects this amount of information shared with the employees is the managements personal views and understanding on the subject of change management and importance of communication. The Spray and Pray strategy used by management is where the information provided to employees is not considered or evaluated by the management to determine if it is actually relevant to them or not. This sort of communication can allow the vital and relevant information to be buried under irrelevant and not so vital information and reduce the overall necessary impact of communication on the employees. The manag ement which chooses to share the relevant information with their employees and also provides them with the various benefits of the change implemented to these employees use the communication strategy of Tell and Sell. In this scenario, the communication effectiveness is higher than the previous strategy and the amount of the information shared is lower. One of the most effective communication strategies which can be adopted by management in any change organisation is the Underscore and explore strategy where the information is provided to employee workforce in exact reference to the change situation and the various inputs provided by the management are considered at the same time. This ensures that the employees feel to be a part of the change being implemented and reduce their overall employee resistance. In the other two communication strategies of Identify and reply and withhold and uphold, the information shared with the employees is not adequate and the management withholds som e crucial elements of information which can increase the employee resistance to accept change. The below diagram represents the various communication strategies in accordance with the communication effectiveness and the amount of information shared by the management (Clampitt, DeKoch and Cashman, 2000). Figure-2 : Communication Strategy Continuum   (Clampitt, DeKoch and Cashman, 2000) 2.5 SWOT Analysis To determine the inner fit of an organisation with an external environment, one of the techniques which have proven successful on numerous occasions is the SWOT analysis. This SWOT analysis is divided into two segments, the internal factors segment which constitutes of the strengths and the weaknesses of the organisation and the external factors segment which constitutes of the opportunities and threats presented by the external environment in reference to the organisation. The role of strengths and opportunities is to determine the internal capabilities and inefficiencies of the business processes and the employee talent of the organisation. The role of opportunities and threats is to determine the external environment that the organisation is functioning in and find ways in which it can either support or act as a danger to the organisations functions. Once these are determined, it is then determined how the internal strengths of the organisation can be used to benefit from the exte rnal opportunities of the industry environment. The weaknesses are also looked into to determine if there is a possibility to change into a threat and how this movement can be avoided. The threats are looked at from the perspective of changing them into opportunities or reducing their possible impact on the organisation. The weaknesses are also worked upon in a similar way, to reduce their impacts and risks to the organisation or to remove them altogether by changing them into opportunities (Briggs, 2001). 2.6 Change Management in Organisations in the Aviation Industry: Some of the change initiatives which have been experienced by organisations in the Aviation industry are the privatisation of companies such as Qantas airlines. This happened at the same time as most industries in various nations were moving towards privatisation and de-regulation while moving away from the shadows of the public sector. The change process was rapid and radical in nature. Another change in the aviation industry which was not just restricted to one organisation was the agreement of global alliances among the various international and domestic airlines in the global market. This changed the structure and process of operations in the Aviation industry while also bringing in harmony the use of labour and the strategies adopted by management across various airlines in the industry (Fairbrother, 2002). Another change initiative which was related across airline companies was the use of part time and casual employees so that they can benefit from using them when required and paying them only for the number of hours employed. This has allowed them to reduce the overall labour costs however, in most airline companies; most of the part time employees did work overtime just as much as full time employees leading to no change in the overall labour costs (Dawson, 2003). The privatisation of the airlines is not just limited to Qantas airlines but has increased further to British Airways, Lufthansa, Air France, KLM etc (Delfmann, 2005). An additional change management initiative is the collaborative effects among most airline companies to ensure a reduction in the carbon footprint overall and thus support the climate change initiatives along with the various other industries and governments (Bishop Grayling, 2003). Steve this is the other introduction to the research study I written, but Im unsure if this is perhaps too current as it relates to the current global economic recession. Could you advise if it is maybe best to delete the information I have highlighted in bold and continue with the original introduction I have written on page 3. Introduction to the research study There is a famous saying stated by an unknown author The only think that is constant is change (Berman, 2007). With the current changing customer requirements and external environment necessities, organisations which behave as the closed systems that do not constantly change themselves to fit the market requirements and customer demands will fail in the longer terms (Harigopal, 2006). The punctuated paradigms irregularities frequency has increased over the past decade implying that the change in organisations is not as fast or as paced as the change in external environments which in-turn is increasing the gaps between the customer requirements and products/services provided by organisations (Hayes, 2007). This has made it crucial to study the significance of change management internally in organisations so that this building gap can be reduced and organisations can benefit from these constant changes through adapting their culture. The recent economic recession and credit crunch with a decreasing GDP rate across the United Kingdom in 2008-09 (Statistics, 2009) has forced organisations to find new ways to reduce costs for the products and services generated by them so that they can survive in this difficult climate. Organisations responses to these necessary changes being forced upon them is being tackled using various techniques such as economies of scale (Grant, 2005), internal re-structuring and creating new operational processes which will reduce their operational and maintenance costs. This in-turn has led to need for effective change management in such organisations so that the changes implemented are widely accepted by the workforce which in-turn ensures that success from the implemented change techniques are achieved (Cameron Green, 2008). One such organisation which has implemented various change methodologies in the past few years in response to the changing industry environment is British Airways. The organisation like many others has undergone some changes in their strategy, technology, structure and cultural aspects in order to survive in the changing environment and maintain the organisations core competency. British Airways will be used as a case study in this research study in order to achieve the aims and objectives of the research study. Many literatures focus on change management in organisations enforced due to various reasons and either at the beginning or at the end of the change management procedures being implemented. However, most of these researches have not taken into consideration the change management forced by external environments due to an economic recession especially since this scenario is not very common or recurring constantly. This research will contribute to the existing literature by using economic recession as one of the external factors leading to implementing changes in the airline industry. This research study will attempt to act as a guide to further researches who wish to identify the necessity for effective change management in the airline industry organisation especially when the external contributing factor is the economic recession. Sharon, This is a very well written first draft of your dissertation. I think there are some very good elements but there are also quite long passages where there are no references cited. I think if you do a little more reading and address these gaps then you will have the basis of a very good literature review. Steve

Cis11 Assessment 1

Safety Styles Pty Ltd Financial Information Ratios and Financial Data Profitability201020112012 Return on assets30. 2%31. 46%31. 48% Return on equity32. 62%34. 02%34. 07% Gross profit margin57. 55%57. 51%57. 93% Net profit margin16. 04%13. 90%14. 35% Efficiency Asset turnover (times)1. 882. 262. 19 Inventory turnover (days)95. 6290. 5595. 10 Accounts receivable turnover (days)50. 3742. 6645. 16 Liquidity Current ratio4. 124. 13. 91 Quick asset ratio2. 462. 452. 21 Capital Structure Gearing ratio2. 372. 62. 54 Safety Styles Pty Ltd Application Decision It would be my recommendation to grant Safety Styles their application for additional finance. Profitability: Safety Styles Pty Ltd has demonstrated in is able to generate and increase its profits as demonstrated through the healthy Gross and Net Profit Margins. It should be noted during this three year period Safety Styles Pty Ltd has maintained and increased the Gross Profit margin, Safety Styles Pty Ltd has also maintained a healthy Net Profit Margin.Although dropping slightly the second year they have managed to improve this in their third year increasing their overall profitability Safety Styles has also increased both its Return on Assets and Return on Equity, this demonstrates the ability of the company to efficiently make use of its assets and equity which ultimately reduces requirements for more funding and reduces cost making better use of what they currently have. Efficiency: Safety Styles Pty Ltd appears on average over the last three years to be improving its efficiency to make better use of their assets and turning over their inventory.Safety should also focus on this area and strive to improve their efficiency. Whilst the values may seem quiet higher their total sales amount has raised which may not be taken into account with averages. Safety Styles may need to revisit their inventory strategy as their turn over period is quite high; this would be a benefit for them in the long term by having quicke r access to cash for investment in other assets. They should also pay attention to their Accounts Receivable Turnover and aim to reduce this. Liquidity:Whilst Safety Styles Current ratio and Quick asset ratio is declined they are both still very healthy numbers. Safety Styles non-current assets have been increasing annually. They may want to pay attention to reducing their inventory levels and accounts receivable to give them more cash and the opportunity to invest into non-current assets or reduce their liabilities as they currently has a low level of cash compared to inventory and accounts receivable. This will make the company more â€Å"liquid† in the short term.Safety Styles also has a very healthy quick asset ratio compared to the industry standard of 2. It should be noted that Safety Styles currently do not have a high level of liabilities and seem to be maintaining their levels of dent in relation to their assets Capital Structure: Safety Styles currently have a very low gearing ratio and are using retained earnings for most of their financing. External sources of financing will be a benefit to Safety Styles to help them grow and invest in additional non-current assets. Executive SummarySafety Styles appear to be utilizing their assets and equity very well currently to help produce their profit and maintain both healthy gross and net profit. If this is maintained they should be able to repay their long term liabilities and possibly improve their current asset liquidity. ? Appendix Formulas †¢Return on Assets = (Net profit before interest and taxation / Average total assets) x 100 †¢Return on Equity = (Net profit after tax and preference dividends / average ordinary shareholder’s funds) x 100 †¢Gross Profit Margin = (Gross profit / sales) x 100 Net Profit Margin = (Net profit before interest and taxation / sales) x 100 †¢Asset Turnover Ratio = ( Sales / Average Total Assets) †¢Inventory Turnover = (Average inventor y / cost of sales) x 365 †¢Accounts Receivable Turnover = (Average accounts receivable / credit sales) x 365 †¢Current Ratio = (Current assets / current liabilities) †¢Quick Asset Ratio = (Current assets (excluding Inventory and prepayments) / current liabilities) †¢Gearing Ratio = (Long-term liabilities / share capital + reserves + long-term liabilities) x 100 Ratio definitions †¢Return on Assets The Return on Assets (ROA) demonstrates how effectively a company is using its assets to generate profit. The higher the ROA the better as the company is earning more off less investment †¢Return on Equity oThe Return on Equity (ROE) demonstrates the amount of net profit generated as a percentage of the shareholders equity. A higher ROE is better as it displays how much profit is generated based on shareholder investment. †¢Gross Profit Margin oThe Gross Profit Margin (GPM) is used to display the percentage difference between sales and the cost of sales b efore any other costs are factored in.A higher GPM is better as the company is making a higher profit off its sales †¢Net Profit Margin oThe Net Profit Margin (NPM) is used to display the net profit as a percentage of the revenue generated. A higher NPM is better as it indicates a more profitable company and how effective a company is at controlling its costs †¢Asset Turnover Ratio oThe Asset turnover Ratio (ATR) displays how well a business can use its assets in generating sales or revenue. A higher ATR is better as it demonstrates the amount of dollars generated by one dollar of the company's assets †¢Inventory Turnover The Inventory Turnover formula display how often the company sells and replaces its inventory. A low Inventory turnover is preferred as this means cash is not being held in inventory, is producing more revenue and has access to an ongoing source of cash †¢Accounts Receivable Turnover oThe Accounts Receivable turnover displays the average settlem ent period (days) credit purchased are settled by the customer. A shorter average settlement period is preferred as this means funds are not tied up and can be †¢Current Ratio This ratio is compares a company’s current assets and current liabilities to measure the liquidity. A higher ratio is preferred as it generally means the business can meet their commitments †¢Quick Asset Ratio oThe Quick Asset Ratio (QAR) also known as the â€Å"Acid Test Ratio† measures if a company can meet its short term liabilities with its current assets less its inventory as you can’t always rely on inventory to be converted into cash quickly. A higher ratio means the company is in a better position †¢Gearing Ratio The Gearing Ratio (GR) measures how much capital is financed by long term finance. A high gearing ratio means a company will depend of long term loans, a low gearing ratio displays higher reliance on financing through equity investment. Typically a high leve l of gearing means a higher level of risk for the company. Ratio Calculations †¢Return on Assets o2010 – (647 / ((2122 + 2163) /2)) x 100 o2011 – (685 / ((2233 + 2122) /2)) x 100 o2012 – (712 / ((2291 + 2233) /2)) x 100 †¢Return on Equity o2010 – (585 / ((1774 + 1813) /2)) x 100 2011 – (619 / ((1865 + 1774) /2)) x 100 o2012 – (644 / ((1916 + 1865) /2)) x 100 †¢Gross Profit Margin o2010 – (2321 / 4033) x 100 o2011 – (2834 / 4928) x 100 o2012 – (2875 / 4963) x 100 †¢Net Profit Margin o2010 – (647 / 4033) x 100 o2011 – (685 / 4928) x 100 o2012 – (712 / 4963) x 100 †¢Asset Turnover Ratio o2010 – (4033 / ((2122 + 2163) / 2)) o2011 – (4928 / ((2233 + 2122) / 2)) o2012 – (4963 / ((2291 + 2233) / 2)) †¢Inventory Turnover o2010 – (((((216 + 175) + (223 + 283)) / 2) / 1712) x 365) o2011 – (((((235 + 298) + (223 + 283)) / 2) / 2094) X 365) 2012 â €“ (((((235 + 298) + (230 + 325)) / 2) / 2088) X 365) †¢Accounts Receivable Turnover o2010 – ((((561 + 552) / 2) / 4033) x 365) o2011 – ((((561 + 591) / 2) / 4928) x 365) o2012 – ((((637 + 591) / 2) / 4963) x 365) †¢Current Ratio o2010 – (1257 / 305) o2011 – (1324 / 323) o2012 – (1272 / 325) †¢Quick Asset Ratio o2010 – (((1257 – (223 + 283)) / 305) o2011 – (((1324 – (235 + 298)) / 323) o2012 – (((1272 – (230 + 325)) / 325) †¢Gearing Ratio o2010 – (((43 / (70 + 1704 + 43)) x 100) o2011 – (((45 / (70 + 1795 + 45)) x 100) o2012 – (((50 / (70 + 1846+ 50)) x 100)

Management in Libraries Essay

Economic threat to the libraries by escalation of books and journals, fewer resources, constant growth changes in technology and user high expectation have shown that management is the critical factor that determines efficiency and effectiveness of all types of libraries. Thus managers are expected to play different functions in order to be effective and efficient. In this assignment different functions and roles played by managers in different libraries are discussed showing how they improve efficiency and effectiveness and different laws of library management are discussed. DEFINITION OF TERMS Management Effectiveness defined by Bateman, T is â€Å"doing things right†. This means that the manager has the responsibility for selecting the right goals and appropriate means to achieving it. Efficiency is measuring the cost of attaining a given goal, concerned about how resources such as money, time, equipment, personnel obtain given goals. Thus a manager needs to be effective and efficient in order to achieve the goals of the library. MAIN DISCUSSION Library management comprise more than just making changes, it involves managing ongoing operations in the optimal fashion for your institution in the context of its goals, other department’s activities and patrons needs. Thus we realize that different libraries may require managerial different managerial skills in order to perform their duties effectively. Managers help in giving direction to the library showing where it is going. Library management involves planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Planning is about systematical making decisions about the library goals. In planning the manager defines the objectives the objectives of the library, stating the purpose of its existence, defining the user community and their information needs. This is important as it facilitates efficiency. It helps in understanding the library stakeholders. A public library is an omnibus organization. It carters for everyone in the community thus the need for every user must be known and fulfilled. A public library serves a diverse community of adults, children and teens thus a manager has to plan on resources to be acquired. A manager can plan on different resources that can be acquired ranging from entertainment, fiction, nonfiction for general research, children story books because there are no specific users, the resources must benefit everyone in the society. A manager also organize and coordinate human, financial , physical, informational and other resources needed to achieve library goals. The manager establishes the activity authority relationship of the library. The activities necessary to achieve the objectives are then grouped into working divisions, departments and grouped together. In an academic library a manager can group together activities like accession and cataloguing The manager has to establish standards for performance; this will make sure that the library is performing in such a way as to arrive at its destination. According to Griffin â€Å"controlling helps to ensure effective and efficiency needed for successful management† As a leader the manager is responsible for staffing which is concerned with allocating prospective employees to fulfill the jobs created by organizing process. It involves the process of reviewing the credentials of the candidates of the jobs and trying to match the job demand with the application s abilities keeping each employee qualified. It also involves the development and implementation of a system for appraising performance and providing feedback for performance improvement. In a special library where the main target is a specific audience, for example ZIMRA library its serves the ZIMRA staff and mainly the manager have to recruit someone who posses research skills because mainly it deals with research for its company. The manager is responsible for choosing the right candidate, who knows how to research, even on the internet where there is information overload the candidate must be able to extract relevant information using the right search engine, mainly in a special library every one depend on the information provided by the librarian. The manager is also responsible for keeping the librarian qualified for the job by providing ongoing training since the librarianship profession is dynamic thus this will improve effectiveness and efficiency of libraries. A manager also gives s direction that will help the library in achieving its goals. Directing builds a climate, provides leadership and arranges the opportunity for motivation this is further explained by Rachel’s laws of library management, it says save time of your staff. This means that the staff must be given support they need for them to achieve goals effectively and efficiently this include providing training for them where it is needed. Each boss must plan and oversee the wok of each of his or her subordinates. In an academic library there are different services offered for example cataloguing and accession section can be directed by one manager then the E- resource section can be under another manager e- journals purchased, subscriptions etc. This will ease the load as one manager is focusing on a specific service thus he spend more time trying to improve the services and working with his subordinates and improves efficiency in the library. As a manager attempts to perform the managerial job effectively and efficiently there is a need to ‘wear different hats’ in interaction with employees. Managers interacts with others besides subordinates they work with other peer level managers in some other departments and outside contacts (suppliers and clients). Thus a manager is building contacts through which to gather information. Rachel agrees with this in the laws of management which says library resources are for use. A library manager is expected to connect resources with the user achieving the library goals. Through the liaison role a manager is able to network with other libraries. Academic libraries can practice resource sharing if there are shortages of material in specific departments the two libraries can share the available resources to both libraries and this will give the patrons a wide variety of information thus fulfilling their needs, this will improve efficiency. The manager is exposed to new ideas or methods that may improve the work unit operations. The manager initiates activities that will allow and encourage the work unit to use the idea most advantageously. Rachel’s law of management says that a library is a growing organism. A manager needs to open to change and help the library evolve to meet the needs of patrons. We can look at public library, the introduction of automation the staff may resist change having fear of losing their jobs thus a manager is responsible for encouraging and motivating the staff showing them the advantages of automating the library services and how it can reduce their workload, providing training for them thus the duties are performed effectively and efficiently satisfying the needs of different patrons. An effective manager is an active leader who creates a positive work environment in which the organization and its employees have the opportunity and incentive to achieve high performance (†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. ) In order to perform duties effectively and efficiently Rachel says that â€Å"every task its doer†. The manager encourages ownership and responsibility to each staff member. Every staff member his/ her work, the manager must know people’s skills and strength and staff can then be deployed according to their abilities then the duties can be done perfectly improving effectiveness and efficiency in a library. Even though the staff is divided according to their abilities it is the duty of a manager to create a spirit oneness and togetherness amongst the subordinates. They should work as a team to achieve the library goals; Bavakuty M (2000) agrees that libraries can become effective and efficient by â€Å"strong top management support, a system approach and strategic planning, a customer focus, an emphasis on employee team work, empowerment training, the use of measurement and analysis technique and commitment to continuous improvement†. The manager seeks and receives wide variety of special information to develop through the understanding of the library and the environment, emerges as the nerve centre about the library. The manager monitors internal and external events, ideas, trends and analysis. The manager then uses the information to detect changes, problems and opportunities and to construct decision making scenario. The manager as the disseminator transmits information from other employees to other members of the library. The manager can bring external information received into the organization and facilitate internal flow of information. Thus we realize that management is the heart of any type of library and facilitate efficiency and effectiveness. BIBLIOGRAPHY Bavakutty, M (2000). Management of libraries In the 21st Century. Ess Ess Publication. India. Griffin, R. (1987). Management 2nd editition. Maffin Co Mohant, T. C. (2008). Research Methodology in Library Science. alpha Publishers India. Plunket, R. (1983). Introduction to Management. Kent Publication. United States of Amenrica.

The Prevention Of Natural Disasters - 1742 Words

â€Å"The prevention of natural disasters and reducing their impact is a one of the twenty issues considered the most important and urgent global issues in the 21 century. This issue increases and causes great suffer to the level that the global procedures to reduce disasters must to be done†¦ the repetition of the disasters has forced it to be a responsibility of international community† J.F. Richard (2002) High Noon: Twenty Global Issues, Twenty Years to Solve Them. People’s well-being is influenced greatly by the larger freedoms within which they live and by their ability to respond to and recover from adverse events—natural or human-made. Resilience underpins any approach to securing and sustaining human development (human development report. ) This paper discusses the background and significance of the community based risk reduction program developed by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) society in 2006. It also describes the first pilot project implemented by SARC in 2007. 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The Data and Methodology used in the Hang Seng Index - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2665 Downloads: 10 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? In this chapter, there is description of data used in this study, which are The Hang Seng Index (HSI), The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Holding plc (HSBC Hldgs) and Oriental Press Group Limited. After that, methodologies of predictions based on past volatilities and GARCH class conditional volatility models are presented. Finally, I will talk about how to evaluate the forecasting performances in according to select the best models. Now, let me introduce the data analyzed in my study. 3.1 Data description 3.1.1 The Hang Seng Index (HSI) Global investors treat the Hang Seng Index (HSI) as an indicator of the performance of the stock market in Hong Kong. The HSI was publicly launched on 24 November 1969 and is one of the earliest stock market indexes in Hong Kong. It is now maintained by Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited, which is a subsidiary of Hang Seng Bank, one of the constituent companies. The HSI is a freefloat-adjusted market capitalization weighted stock market index. : The current price at Day t : The closing price at Day t-1 IS : The number of issued shares FAF : Freefloat-adjusted Factor, which is between 0 and 1 CF: Cap factor, which is between 0 and 1 It consists of 43 constituent companies which represent around 60% of the total market capitalization of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX). In order to show the price movements of the major sectors of the market clearer, the HSI constituent stocks are grouped into four sub-indexes: Properties, Utilities, Commerce and Industry, and Fina nce. Normally, qualified potential constituents are companies with a primary listing on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX). In recent years, more and more mainland China companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), they can also be one of the qualified potential constituents if they meet several conditions. The companys total ordinary share capital must be in the form of H shares, the shares of the company incorporated in mainland China that are traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. And also, the company needs to complete the process of Share Reform first. As a result, the company has no unlisted share capital. As the market capitalization, the turnover ranking and the financial performances of the companies may change in different periods, the list of constituent stocks is reviewed quarterly. In this paper, the daily closing Hang Seng Index and the weekly Hang Seng Index are used. The data set ranging from 1 July 1997 to 30 June 2008 is retrie ved from Datastream, a U.K. incorporated data service company. The data set is partitioned into the in-sample estimation periods 1997 2007, the out-of-sample forecast periods 2007 2008. This separation provides 2467 and 522 in-sample observations for the daily series and weekly series respectively. For out-of-sample observations, there are 246 for daily series and 52 for weekly series. In order to obtain more accurate results, public holidays and special incidents leading the public announcement of non-trading, such as the black signal of the Rainstorm Warning System and no. 8 storm force wind signal of Hong Kongs Tropical Cyclone Warning Signals. During this period, there were quite a lot of economic events affecting the stock market in Hong Kong. Hong Kong is one of the victims of 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. After the HSI peaked at 16820, it was attacked by international speculators, leading to a 50% plunge. In 1998, the Hong Kong government intervention on stock market to p urchase component shares supported the market and the HSI rebounded to 18000. The rise in both the interest rate and the crude oil price burst the dot-com bubble in 2000. The HSI dropped to 14000 and then fluctuated between 14000 and 16000. 911 Incident occurred in 2001. The HSI kept falling and the minimum was 8894. The stock market started to recover after Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) was signed on 29 June 2003. In August 2007, mainland China declared the plan to allow part of citizens to invest on Hong Kong market directly. In October, stimulated by the news of AH stock hedging program, the HSI break through 30000. Unfortunately, the HSI was affected by the fallen chain of major stock markets in the world and dropped 2061.23 on 22 January 2008. During this period, the average point of the HSI is 14313.39 and the stand deviation is 4563.68. The lowest point in these eleven years was 6660.42 which occurred on 13 August 1998. 31638.22 was the highest point and occurred on 30 October 2007. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "The Data and Methodology used in the Hang Seng Index" essay for you Create order 3.1.2 HSBC hldgs Besides the HSI, one of the constituent stocks is randomly selected. At the beginning of the selection process, each constituent stock is assigned a number, 1 43. Then, a number, between 1 43, is randomly generated by Excel. If the assigned number of the company matches the generated number, that company will be selected and studied in this paper. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Holding plc (HSBC Hldgs) is the selected constituent company and belongs to the Finance Sub-indexes. HSBC hldgs is one of the most favourite stocks in Hong Kong. In 1865, it was founded in Hong Kong in March and in Shanghai one month later. The banks headquarter was in Hong Kong until 1992. Then it moved to London as a condition of the acquisition of Midland Bank in UK, and also due to the handover of Hong Kongs sovereignty. Currently, HSBC hldgs is both the worlds largest banking and financial services group and the 5th largest stock in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX) by market capit alization. HSBC hldgs is also listed on the Bermuda, New York, London and Paris Stock Exchanges. It is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index and the largest company listed on the FTSE. In 2010, CEO Michael Geoghegan moved to Hong Kong since HSBC hldgs focuses on Asia more now. Similarly, both daily and weekly closing prices of HSBC hldgs ranging from 1 July 1997 to 30 June 2008 are retrieved from Datastream. The data set is also divided into the in-sample estimation periods 1997 2007 and the out-of-sample forecast periods 2007 2008. The number of in-sample observations and out-of-sample observations for both daily and weekly series are also the same as the HSI series and the non-trading days are excluded. For in-sample observations, there are 2467 for daily series and 522 for weekly series. For out-of-sample observations, there are 246 for daily series and 52 for weekly series. During this period, the average closing price of HSBC hldgs is 96.92 and the stand deviation is 23.2 6. The lowest closing price in these eleven years was 40.48 which occurred on 21 September 1998. 140.586 was the highest closing price and occurred on 15 October 2007. 3.1.3 Oriental Press Group Limited In this paper, another stock which is not the constituent stock is also studied. The stock is selected randomly like the chosen constituent stock. Oriental Press Group Limited is selected and is incorporated in Hong Kong. The group takes part in the publication of daily newspapers, Oriental Daily News and The Sun, and The Sun Racing Journal. Oriental Daily News was first published in 1969. Today, the paper is at the top in the daily circulation and has a record readership of around 3,100,000. Unlike Oriental Daily News, The Sun targets at a younger and fresher reader groups. The Sun was published since 1999, and can also be found outside Hong Kong. By considering a lot of Hong Kong people living in North America and in order to develop the market of The Sun, there is a North America version in New York and Toronto. The Sun Racing Journal was established in 1991. It is one of the major horse racing magazines in Hong Kong. Like the HSI and HSBC Hldgs, both daily and weekly clos ing prices of Oriental Press Group Limited ranging from 1 July 1997 to 30 June 2008 are retrieved from Datastream. The data set is also divided into the in-sample and the out-of-sample with the same period as the above two series. The number of in-sample observations and out-of-sample observations for both daily and weekly series are also equal to as that of the HSI series and HSBC hldgs series. During this period, the average closing price of Oriental Press Group Limited is 1.499 and the stand deviation is 0.657. The lowest closing price in these eleven years was 0.533 which occurred on 23 June 1998. 3.175 was the highest closing price and occurred on 14 January 2004. 3.1.4 Transformation of Data As this paper is studying the volatility, I focus on the returns of the HSI and the stocks rather than the index and closing prices. Therefore, a transformation of data is needed before modeling. Data are transformed into daily returns by taking the first difference of the natural logarithm of the daily index and closing prices. : The daily return : The current price at Day t : The closing price at Day t-1 Mean equals to 0.00138 and stand deviation is 0.0176. Mean equals to 0.00163 and stand deviation is 0.0169. Mean equals to -0.00032 and stand deviation is 0.0315. 3.2 Methodology Stationarity If a time series can be estimated using time series models, it must be a stationary process, as non-stationary process cannot be studied directly. If the joint probability distribution of time series data keeps constant when time is moving, this data set can be said to be stationary and the mean and variance do not change over time. On the contrary, a non-stationary process whose joint probability keep changing in the period. The mean and variance vary at different time points. However, usually after a non-stationary series has been transformed, such as differencing or log-difference, the series become stationary. Accordingly, it is necessary to test whether the data set is under a stationary process before any further analyzing. The Augmented Dickey and Fuller (ADF) test is employed in this paper. The ADF test is an improved version of the Dickey and Fuller (DF) test. Both tests null hypotheses are the series with a unit root, which means the series is non-stationary. The DF te st is only based on a simple regression. where the residuals are followed the Dickey-Fuller Distribution. The hypothesis testing is The test statistic is After that, comparing the test statistic with the relevant critical value for the Dickey-Fuller test, if the value is larger than the critical value, the null hypothesis can be rejected, and the model is stationary; vice verse. The ADF test is based on a more complicated more. where is a constant, is the coefficient of a deterministic trend and is the summation of the lag orders of the autoregressive process. Historical mean Probably, the historical mean provides the easiest way to forecast the volatility. All the in-sample observations are used and equally weighted to forecast. where is the number of out-of-sample observations Moving average Under moving average method, the forecast of the volatility is given by an unweighted average of the in-sample observations. Unlike the historical mean method, not all the in-sample observations are used. The average is based on the in-sample observations over a particular time interval of fixed length. where T is called the moving average period or rolling window. Three different lengths are considered for each frequency. For daily data, three months, six months and one year are chosen. For monthly data, six months, one year and two years are chosen. Random walk Both historical mean and moving average methods assume that the volatility will be in stable or change slowing with a trend. But, if the volatility fluctuates unpredictably, the best forecast of the volatility of next period is the current real volatility. Exponential smoothing Under exponential smoothing method, the forecast of the volatility is a weighted average of the previous actual observation and the previous forecast. where is the smoothing factor, and must be between 0 and 1. If is equal to zero, the forecast exactly equals the prior actual observation and the exponential smoothing method becomes random walk. When approaches one, the preceding forecast is the majority. The value of smoothing factor is determined by minimizing the in-sample sum of squared errors. The estimated smoothing factors for daily data are between 0.64 and 0.95. For weekly data, the values lie in the range 0.88 to 0.92. Exponentially weighted moving average (EWMA) The exponential weighted moving average (EWMA) method is similar to the exponential smoothing method. The only difference is that the prior actual volatility is replaced by a moving average method. where is a smoothing factor lying between 0 and 1. Like the exponential smoothing method, the EWMA method becomes random walk if the smoothing factor is equal to zero. When the factor is getting closer and closer one, the moving average will be weighted heavier and heavier. For daily data, the estimated values of factors are in the range 0.001 to 0.53. The smoothing factors lie between 0.001 and 0.4 for weekly data. Generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) If the variance of the data is constant, the process is called homoscedastic. However, a lot of time series data in the real world have time-varying variance. In 1982, Engle proposed the autoregressive conditional heteroscedasiticity (ARCH) model to deal with time series data. Four years later, Bollerslev suggested the GARCH model. A GARCH (p , q) model is where , , and . There are joint estimations of both the conditional mean and the conditional variance process in the GARCH model. The error term, , follows a normal distribution with zero mean and the variance which varies with time. indicates the persistence of shocks to volatility. If the sum is equal to one, the GARCH model becomes the integrated-GARCH (IGARCH) model. Threshold-GARCH (TGARCH) In the GARCH model, it assumes that shocks with equal magnitude have the same impacts on the volatility no matter which sign shocks are, positive or negative. However, the different sign of the shock may have a different impact on the volatility. In order to parameterize this idea, the TGARCH model is one of a number of ways. The TGARCH model was proposed by Glosten, Jagannathan and Runkle in 1993. The model is express as where if , and if . Consequently, a positive shock has an impact of on the volatility, and a negative shock has an impact of on the volatility. If is greater than zero, the negative shock has an larger impact on the volatility and vice versa. quantifies the persistence of shocks. Asymmetric-GARCH (AGARCH) The AGARCH model is another way to parameterize the idea that different sign of shock with equal magnitude has a different impact on the volatility. The AGARCH model looks quite similar to the TGARCH model and is expressed as If is a positive number, the positive shock has a smaller impact on the volatility and vice versa. Exponential-GARCH (EGARCH) The EGARCH model (Nelson, 1991) does not have the non-negativity constraint on the parameter, and , in the above three GARCH models. And also, the EGARCH model is the third asymmetric kind of GARCH models in this paper. The model is expressed as where The positive value of indicates that the positive shock has an larger impact on the volatility and vice versa. 3.3 Forecast evaluation After the volatility has been forecasted, the forecasters need to be evaluated to see how small the forecast errors are. There are several loss functions for the forecast error. The choice of loss functions totally depends on investors preferences. Symmetric loss function The mean error (ME), mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean squared error (RMSE) are the easiest and commonest ways to measure the forecasting performance. The result of the ME can be an indicator showing the direction of overprediction or underprediction on average. As the errors by overprediction and underprediction offset each other, it is not surprising that the ME statistic usually is the lowest one among the others. Unlike the ME, the MAE does not have the problem of the offsetting effect. The RMSE provides a measurement if the investor prefers to impose a more heavily penalty upon the larger forecast errors. Asymmetric loss function As mentioned before, all investors have their individual preference for the loss functions. It is likely that investors have asymmetric loss functions rather than symmetric loss functions. Referring the past research (Pagan and Schwert, 1990; Brailsford and Faff, 1996), the mean mixed error is employed in this paper. Firstly, the mean mixed error with a more heavily penalty on the forecast errors by underpredicting is Secondly, the mean mixed error penalizing the overpredicted forecast errors move heavily is where O is the number of overpredictions and U is the number of underpredication in the out-of-sample forecasts.

Class Action Lab Report Essay examples - 1100 Words

Joseph Sulaiman Alya Abourezk 4/13/12-4/14/12 Class Action Lab Report Purpose: To determine, through observations, the identity of substances produced in a chemical reaction. Materials: Safety Goggles Stirring rod Magnesium ribbon Solid CuSO4†¢H2O Matches Test tubes Copper metal 3M HCl Red and blue litmus strips 0.1M AgNO3 Zinc metal 0.1M Pb(NO3)2 Test tube holder 0.1M KI Bunsen burner 0.1M Na2NO3 Crucible tongs 1.0M NaOH Water (H2O) 0.1M Ca(NO3)2 50mL beaker 1.0 CuSO4 Procedure: Using the crucible tongs, take a magnesium strip and hold it in hot spot (just above the inner cone of fire) on the bunsen burner. Use peripheral vision as not to damage your eyes and hold the tongs well so the†¦show more content†¦Dispose in the waste beaker. In a clean test tube place 1mL of Na2CO3. Add 1mL of Ca(NO3)2 to the sodium carbonate solution. In a clean test tube place 1mL of NaOH. add 1mL of CuSO4 to the sodium hydroxide solution. Observations: Chemical Equation Initial Observation Final Observation Type of Reaction 2Mg+O2 -- 2MgO shiny, metallic, grey strip white, powdery, chalky substance synthesis, combustion MgO+H2O -- Mg(OH)2 chalky Mg and clear, colorless water create milky white, but clear solution Red litmus: turned slightly blue Blue litmus: no obvious change synthesis CuSO4†¢H2O -- CuSO4+5H2O cobalt blue crystal blue substance turned white, rocky, opaque-yellowish deposit, water vapor decomposition CuSO4+5H2O -- CuSO4†¢H2O clear, colorless water, white, rocky copper substance crackling, white dissolved, created a blues clear substance decomposition, synthesis 2HCl+2Zn -- H2+2ZnCl Zinc is silver, lustrous; HCl clear and colorless Zn bubbled in the HCl solution single displacement, synthesis 2ZnCl+H2 -- 2HCl+2Zn Zinc was bubbling when exposed to fire, the H gas made a popping noise single displacement 2AgNO3+Cu -- Cu(NO3)2+Ag2 clear, colorless AgNO3; bronze lustrous copper balls Cu gave off bubbles and were coated in a black, near mold like, substance single displacement Pb(NO3)2+2KI -- PbI2+2KNO3 2 clear, colorless substances bright, sunshine yellow substance (residue, solid powder) double displacement Na2CO3+Ca(NO3)2 -- 2NaNO3+CaCO3Show MoreRelatedLaboratory Management- General Functions of a Laboratory Manager1249 Words   |  5 Pagesassignment the general functions of a laboratory manager is being discussed. 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Economics and Quantitative Analysis Economy

Question: (a) Provide a descriptive analysis of the two variables (e.g., mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum). (b) Develop a scatter diagram with retention rate as the independent variable. What does the scatter diagram indicate about the relationship between the two variables? (c) Develop and estimate a regression equation that can be used to predict the graduation rate (%) given the retention rate (%). (d) State the estimated regression equation and interpret the meaning of the slope coefficient. (e) Is there a statistically significant association between graduation rate (%) and retention rate (%). What is your conclusion? (f) Did the regression equation provide a good fit? Explain. (g) Suppose you were the president of South University. After reviewing the results, would you have any concerns about the performance of your university compared to other online universities? (h) Suppose you were the president of the University of Phoenix. After reviewing the results, would you have any concerns about the performance of your university compared to other online universities? Answer: Introduction The two variables that are used within this report for the performance of several universities are named as the graduation rate and a retention rate. The graduation rate is dependent on the retention rate where the retention rate means the rate at which the students continue their education from the same university. Through it, the graduation rate will likely increase because the retention rate is higher. This would mean that the increase in the retention rate will have a positive increasing effect on the graduation rate which needs to be assessed through scatter plot and regression equation (Beldona, 2010). Other statistical tools will also be used like min and max method, mean and standard deviation. The min method provides us with the most minimum retention rate among the universities and the most minimum graduation rate among the universities. The max method will provide us with the most maximum retention and graduation rate. The mean will provide the analyst with the most common percentage among the universities signifying the retention rate and graduation rate. The standard deviation will provide us the variability from the mean. The scatter plot will facilitate in identifying the relationship between the two variables and the regression equation will help in illustrating the relationship in an equation. Purpose The 29 online universities are to be analyzed in accordance with their performance using statistical tools to statistically analyze the data for it. Those statistical measures would include the min-max method, scatter plot, mean, standard deviation and regression equation. All of the terms are already explained in the previous section. The purpose would notify as to how the two variables are interrelated with each other. Background The statisticians use these measures to understand the dataset provided within the study. The statistical tools will help us in understanding the statistical relationship between the two variables and hence, it would be quite effective to apply the statistical tools to determine the exact relationship between the two variables. (Armstrong, 2013) In accordance with the regression equation, this is the most significant statistical tool because the relationship between the two variables is described in to an equation where the relationship provides us with a good analysis of the independent and dependent variable. This is done through an equation below: Y = m X +c The retention rates and graduation rates have been a in significant relation between each other which has resulted the retention rate to officially think of it that all such retention rates were increasing and the graduation rates are decreased. Method Firstly, mean is determined which would let us know the most common rate among the 29 online universities. The mean would identify the most common rate in accordance with the retention rate and graduation rate. In the same way, then standard deviation method will let the statisticians know as to how much variability is there from the determination of mean. Some other methods like min and max method. The min means the least possible value for the retention rate or graduation rate. However, the scatter plot will also be used which represents the illustration of the graph through which the type of relationship will be evident. There are three types of relationship which can be illustrated through a scatter plot (Kahng, 20010). The first one is known as a positive relationship between the two variables. That means that when X increases, Y also increases. Then there exists a negative relationship. That means that when X increases, Y decreases or when X decreases, Y increases. Therefore, t he two variables are then negatively correlated. After that, the third type of relationship is the no relationship (Omran, 2010). This means that there is no resultant increase in Y with an increase in X. Both the variables remain unchanged. Then the regression method is also used to describe the relationship between the two variables in an equation form. Results The results for the given data are shown below: Astatisticaltechnique used to explain or predict the behaviour of adependent variable. Generally, aregressionequationtakestheformof Y= m X + c , where Y is the dependent variable that the equationtriesto predict, X is theindependent variablethat is being used to predict Y, a is the Y-intercept of the line, and c is avaluecalled the Y intercept (Kahng, 2013). It can be seen that the mean retention rate is 57.4% while the mean graduation rate is 42%. The standard deviation for the retention rate is 23% while the standard deviation for the graduation rate is 9.8%. The max retention rate is 100% while the max graduation rate is 61%. The minimum retention rate is 4% while the minimum graduation rate is 25%. The most common retention rate among the universities is 57.4% emulated by the graduation rate of 42%. Scatter Plot The scatter plot for this data set is shown as under: The m slope is calculated as the graduation rate = M x retention rate + 25.4%. Hence According to the author, the scatter diagram shows a positive relationship between the two variables. However, at certain instances, the retention rates are lower and the graduation rates are substantially higher (Murnance, 2013). This is a great concern for the statistical analyst from this point of view. However, to sum up as a whole, the retention rate increases due to which the graduation rate also increases. Regression equation The regression equation can be described as the relationship between the two variables being studied or researched. It also makes sense for the dependent of any influence on the subject through these two variables (Abernathy, 2011). The regression equation is as under: The above regression equation is Y = 0.284 X + 25.423. Y is the graduation rate, X is the retention and 25.423 is the Y intercept. Hence, the positive relationship is quite significant from the above universities. And, this can be proved in this manner: Y = 0.2845 x 35 + 25.423 = 35% Y = 0.2845 x 40 + 25.43 = 36% Therefore, the increase in any positive aspects will prove to be a great source of influence on the graduation rate. Discussion and Recommendations The University of South has a favorable graduation rate along with a retention rate. The graduation rate increases because the retention rate increases as it has been discussed above already. But the first and foremost concern is that some of the universities have lower retention rates but their graduation rates increase and that might be due to the fact that the retention rate is decreasing. Apart from this, the Universities of Phoenix has a lower retention rate and the most surprising fact is that the graduation rates also increase (Karafiath, 2014). The graduation rates are solely dependent on the retention rate. With such a lower retention rate, the graduation rates are increasing. 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