Urban planing and policy law Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Urban planing and policy law - Coursework Example Most cities across the world carry almost more than half of the total population, hence the decisions made by governments, business community and individuals have fundamental impacts on cities consequently on the populace. This requires policies to moderate such decisions and subsequent policies. Secondly, critical challenges need to be solved to secure lasting production and sustainability. Te complexity of these urban issues calls for a national approach, which is articulate and well understood to guide city development and expansion for the sole purpose of improving urban lives. For continued prosperity and wellbeing of the city population, the governments should ensure that, the cities meet the needs of the present and future cohorts and sustaining economic expansion without compromising the natural resources. For these reasons, the National City policy becomes a fundamental element of having a healthy city population. Transportation Policy Pressure of the continued growth of pol lution adds pressure on the existing resources and facilities. In the past, high population in cities has congested roads and this led to expansion to fit the ever-growing population. However, this option is proving to be unsustainable due to the growing cost of building roads. In addition, there is less appropriate land for new roads. According to the vision 2030, most nations across the globe have resolved that urban transport policy and development should not be a one-body orientated, but instead distributed to diverse organizations to help come up with viable policies, which can solve the current trends in transport (INTERNATIONAL ITF/OECD SYMPOSIUM ON TRANSPORT ECONOMICS AND POLICY, 2010). These efforts might not provide the same service to every person but each urban resident will enjoy access to a reasonable standard of service. It is imperative to note that, incorporation of regional and local transport systems promotes competent modes of the transport. For instance, the pas senger reform policy is fundamental in planning transport services at the municipal borders and across other regional. This uniformity across municipals and other regions help in improving the universal level of transport systems and thus adding the value of attractiveness of public transport services to users. Urban polices on transport systems are significant both in the main cities and around the suburbs. Majority of the populace lives in the city suburbs, which are far from the services and jobs. This implies the as day counts, journeys to work, schools, supermarkets, social places among others are increasingly becoming distant. Hence, policy development on transport systems should be concentrated on solving challenges such as a reduction of dependency on the car and stopping urban fragmentation (INTERNATIONAL ITF/OECD SYMPOSIUM ON TRANSPORT ECONOMICS AND POLICY, 2010). The overall essence, of the transport policy should be focused on land use planning, which will provide consid eration on the impacts on traffic and divide between diverse modes of travel. Some of the fundamental aspects of urban transport policy include Vehicle efficiency and emission

The project life cycle Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The project life cycle - Assignment Example These phases form essential elements for understanding a project’s life cycle. Each phase includes a combination of similar activities. Phases are sequential where one has to complete before the next one begins and some activities into the early phase of a project will continue until project completion Project life cycle is of great interest because it is a current issue applied in businesses to achieve their goals and objectives especially achieving growth by launching new products/services. Companies that desire to compete in international markets understand the importance of increasing project life cycle management invention and quality of their products/services (Burke, 2013). Project management is an emergent field that gives companies leverage to create new products and gain a competitive advantage. On a personal level, I am interested in this topic because it offers an exciting career path and a way to use my creativity to solve organizational problems. Academic curiosity also influenced my interest because I like researching on new areas of study to increase my knowledge. The research conducted for this paper shows similarities with project life cycle key concepts learnt in in the module. For example, the definition of key concepts such as phases and project life cycle processes are similar. Issues discussed in the research articles used to develop this paper were very similar to those discussed in the module. As I did my research, I felt like I was revising the concepts that I learn t in class. For example, all articles explain the four phases of project life cycle precisely as they were explained in the module learning materials. According to Burke (2013), the importance of project management life cycle is to create seamless flow of work in ensuring the success of a firm (Burke, 2013). Another importance is that the process eliminates delays and wastage of resources. It also facilitates quality

Demand of Derivatives Investment in Malaysia

Demand of Derivatives Investment in Malaysia ABSTRACT This research investigates the demand of derivatives investment by Malaysia. On the whole the main purpose of this dissertation is to study, analyse and discuss about the usage of derivatives by Malaysian company or individual resident. The research paper is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 introduces derivatives and identification of the research problems. Research objectives and questions are given briefly. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the literature reviewed throughout the research. A detailed description by past researchers is presented. The further detail of each derivative contract are summarised. Chapter 3 deals with the work flow of this study. The research methodologies includes research design and procedure, data collection method, and statistical data analyses method. Data collection from secondary data is analysed to form a theoretical framework. Chapter 4 present the analysis and result of research topic. Tables, diagrams, charts are use to illustrates the findings. Finally, Chapter 5 concludes the dissertation with summary all of the chapters. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Introduction A derivative is a financial instrument that is derived from assets, indexes, events, value or condition (known as the underlying asset). Rather than trading or exchanging the underlying asset itself, derivative traders enter into an agreement to exchange cash or assets over time based on the underlying asset. (David, 2003) From definition taken from International Accounting Standards 39 (IAS39) Financial Instruments Recognition and Measurement, a derivative is a financial instrument whose value changes in response to the change in a specified interest rate, security price, commodity price, foreign exchange rate, index of prices or rate, a credit rating or credit index or similar variable. (IAS, 2009) Forward contracts, futures contracts, options and swaps are the most common types of derivatives. Derivatives are often leveraged, such that a small movement in the underlying value can cause a large difference in the value of the derivative. (Khanna, 2010) Research Problem The research problem of this study is to uncover the derivative investment as a financial instrument for business and gaining capital. The usage of derivatives is getting larger nowadays. However, there is some criticism regarding the derivative in negative aspect as well. Research Objectives The following are the specific objective to achieve under this research To study the factor influence Malaysian to invest in the derivatives investment. To identify the method of reduction in risk under the usage of derivatives. Research Questions Questions that are bound to be answered throughout the research are: Why do investors select derivative investment? How can derivatives instrument be use? What is the types of derivative that are highly demanded in Malaysia? How does reduction in risk achieve by using derivatives instrument? How do traders speculate in order to make profit via derivatives? Scope of Study The scope of study for this research focuses on the derivative instruments. Significance of Study The significance of this study is to give the investors an idea as how the derivative instruments work in the business world. It also a study that helps businessman to reduce their risk and speculator to gain short-term money through derivatives. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction of Derivatives The first derivatives contract was listed in the year 1865 by the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) in USA. Those exchange traded derivatives contracts were called futures contracts. In April 1973, the Chicago Board of Options Exchange (CBOE) was set up for the purpose of options trading. The Standard Poors 500 Index in USA currently is the most popular stock index futures contract in the world. (HSBC Invest Direct, 2010) There are two distinct groups of derivative contracts, which tell apart the way they traded in the market. Over-the-counter (OTC) derivative is a type of financial derivative that negotiated directly between two parties rather than through an exchange centre. The OTC derivative market is the largest market for derivatives, and is unregulated with respect to disclosure of information between the parties. (Essaddam, et al., 2008) Exchange-traded derivative (ETD) is a type of financial derivative that has its transaction traded via specialised derivatives exchanges or other exchanges, such as Bursa, CBOE, Eurex etc. Derivatives exchange act as an intermediary to all related transactions, ETD is usually traded in standardised derivative contracts. (ISDA, 2009) There are few major derivative contracts which consist of forward, future, option and swap contract. Forward Contract A forward contract is a contract negotiated at present that gives the contract holder both the right and full legal obligation to conduct a certain asset transaction at a specific future time, amount, price and other terms. (Schweser, 2002) The party to the forward contract that agrees to buy the financial or physical asset has a long forward position and is called the long. The party to the forward contract that agrees to sell or deliver the asset has a short forward position and is called the short. (David, 2003) For instance, Lam Soon Company signed a contract under which they agree to buy a tonne of crude palm oil (CPO) from their supplier 30 days from now at a price of RM2,500. Lam Soon Company is the long and the supplier is the short. Both parties have removed uncertainty about the price they will pay or receive for the CPO in the future date. If 30 days from now CPO are trading at RM2,580 per tonne, the short (supplier) must deliver the CPO to the long (Lam Soon) in exchange for a RM2,500 payment. If CPO are trading at RM2,420 on the future date, the long must purchase the CPO from the short for RM2,500, the contract price. Forward contract is usually negotiated directly between the two parties, therefore it is an OTC market forward contract. The forward contracts have the advantage of being flexible (the parties design the contract to meet their specific needs). However, Stalla (2000) had concluded that forward contracts have three major disadvantages: They are illiquid. Because the terms of a forward contract are usually designed to meet the specific needs of the contracting parties, it is difficult for either one of them to close out its side of the contract, either by selling it to a third party or by getting the counterparty to cancel the agreement without demanding an excessive buyout price. They have credit risk. Forward contracts usually require neither party to the agreement to post collateral, make any mark-to-market transfers of funds over the life of the contract, or make any margin deposits to give assurance that it will be able fulfil its obligations under the terms of the agreement (although such clauses could be inserted into a forward contract by mutual consent of the parties). Consequently, a typical forward agreement is based on trust, each party to the agreement must trust that its counterparty will perform in the agreed-upon manner. This exposes both contracting parties to the risk that the counterparty might default on its obligation. They are unregulated. No formal body has the responsibility of setting down rules and procedures designed to protect market participants. Generally, the only protection given to parties involved in the OTC forward market is that of contract law. Future Contract A futures contract is a forward contract that has been highly standardised and closely specified. As with a forward contract, a futures contract calls for the exchange of some goods at a future date for cash, with the payment for the goods to occur at the future delivery date. The purchaser of the contract is to receive delivery of the good and pay for it, while the seller of the contract promises to deliver the goods and receive payment. The payment price is determined at the initial time of the contract. (Adhar, 2006) Futures contracts are usually traded on futures exchanges (ETD), rather than in an OTC environment. Hence, futures contracts are unique forms of forward contracts that designed to reduce the disadvantages of forward contracts. The future contracts terms have been standardised so that can be traded in a public marketplace. Due to standardisation, futures contracts are lesser flexible than forward agreements, hut it also makes them more liquid. (Copeland, et al., 2004) According to Schweser (2006) points, in order to safeguard the clearinghouse, which act as the buyer to every seller and the seller to every buyer, the exchange requires traders to post margin and settle their accounts on a daily basis. Before trading, the trader must deposit funds, called margin with their broker (who, in return, will post margin with the clearinghouse). The purpose of margin is to ensure that traders will perform their contractual obligations. There are three types of margin. The first deposit is called the initial margin which had been explained above. Any losses for the day are removed from the traders account and any gains are added to the traders account. If the margin balance in the traders account falls below a certain level (called the maintenance margin), the trader will get a margin call and have to deposit more money (called the variation margin) into the account to bring the account back up to the initial margin level. (Stalla, 2000) For instance, Lam Soon buys a 30 days future contract of CPO at RM2,500 per tonne. The initial margin was RM2,500. The next day the price of CPO plummetsRM50. Therefore Lam Soon has just lost RM50. At the end of the day, the daily settlement process marks Lam Soons margin account to market by taking RM50 out of the account leaving a balance of RM2,450. Now, assume the maintenance margin level is at 70%. If Lam Soons margin balance falls to or below RM1,750, Lam Soon gets a margin call and has to bring their account back up to the initial RM2,500 level. There are several advantages to using forward or futures contracts as a substitute for trading in the spot markets of commodities: (Sorid, n.d) Transaction costs are much lower and liquidity is better in the futures markets than in the spot markets. There is no need to store or insure physical assets if forward or futures contracts are used. Forward and futures contracts may be sold short, as well as bought long. This may not always be possible if one were trading the actual underlying assets themselves. There is a great deal of leverage in forward and futures contracts. A trader can control on a large position with only a small initial deposit. If the futures contract with a value of RM100,000 has an initial margin of RM10,000 then one percent change in the futures price which is RM1,000, would result in a 10 percent change relative to the traders initial costs. Since there is no margin is required with a forward contract, control can be obtained with no money down. There is flexibility, especially with forward contracts, that can be used to create specialized risk/return patterns. Price risk can be accepted or eliminated by using forward or futures contracts without compromising any holdings of an underlying asset. Thus, a jeweller can sell the price risk associated with holding an inventory of gold without actually disturbing the physical inventory itself. This makes it easy to adjust ones financial exposure to commodity markets, even if ones physical exposure must be maintained for business purposes. The primary disadvantage of using futures contracts for speculative trading would involve a great deal of leverage, so that large losses can occur. In effect, holding a futures position with only the margin requirement on deposit in a brokerage account is the same thing as having purchased the underlying asset on margin. Another closely related disadvantage is that futures (but not forward) contracts subject the trader to margin calls to meet daily settlement obligations. This requires participants to have a cash reserve that can be drawn upon to meet these demands for additional cash. (Sorid, n.d) Option Contract According to the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) 2008, an option is a contract gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset at a specific price on or before a certain date. The owner of a call option has the right, but not the obligation to purchase the underlying good at a specific price for a specified time period. While the owner of a put option has the right, but not the obligation to sell the underlying good at a specific price for a specified time period. To qualify these rights, the options owner has to pay a premium to the seller of the option for buying the option. (CBOE, 2008) The seller of the option is called an option writer. Options have four possible positions: (CBOE, 2008) Call option buyer Call option writer or seller Put option buyer Put option writer or seller In these contracts, the rights are with the owner of the option. The buyer that pays the premium receives the right to buy or sell the underlying asset on specific time and price. The writer or seller of the option receives payment and obligates to sell or purchase the underlying asset as agreed in the contract of the option owner. (Akmeemana, n.d.) For instance, BAT share is selling at RM50 while its call option is at RM10. The call option can be exercised for RM45 with a life span of 5 months. The exercise price of RM45 is called the options strike price. The RM10 price of the option is called the option s premium. If the option is purchased for RM10, the buyer can purchase the stock from the option seller over the next 5 months for RM45. The seller, or writer of the option gets to keep the RM10 premium no matter what the stock does during this time period. If the option buyer exercises the option, the seller will receive the RM45 strike price and must deliver to the buyer a share of BAT stock. If the price of BAT stock falls to RM45 or below, the buyer are not obliged to exercise the option. Note that the option holders can only exercise their right to act if it is profitable to do so. The option writer, however, has an obligation to act at the request of the option holder. A put option is the same as a call option except the buyer of the put has the right to sell the put writer a share of BAT at any time during the next five months in return for RM45. The owner of the option is the one who decides whether to exercise the option or not. If the option has value, the buyer may either exercise the Option or sell the option to another buyer in the secondary options market. (Tatum, 2010) For short-term investment horizons, options trading can produce lower transaction costs than the outright purchase and sale of the underlying assets themselves. Besides, options can he used to execute some tax strategies. (Skousen, 2006) Swap Contract A swap is an agreement between two or more parties to exchange sets of cash flows over a period in the future. The parties that agree to the swap are known as counterparties. The cash flows that the counterparties make are generally tied to the value of debt instruments or the value of foreign currencies. Therefore, the two basic kinds of swaps are interest rate swaps and currency swaps. (Schweser, 2006) Unlike the highly structured futures and options contracts, swaps are custom tailored to fit the specific needs of the counterparties. The counterparties may select the specific currency amounts that they wish to swap, whereas exchange traded instruments have set values. Similarly, the swap counterparties choose the exact maturity that they need, rather than maturity dates set by the exchange. This flexibility is very important in the swap market, because it allows the counterparties to deal with much longer horizons than can be addressed through exchange-traded instruments. Also, since swaps are not exchange traded, it gives the participants greater privacy, and they escape a great deal of regulation. (Hodgson, 2006) According to Hodgson (2996), the advantages of swap agreements over conventional traded derivatives can be summarised as below: Swaps are highly flexible and can be custom made to fit the requirements of the parties entering into them. The swap market is virtually unregulated, in contrast to the highly regulated futures market. This could change, however, since regulators usually abhor a regulation vacuum and probably will, eventually, seek to bring the market under their protection. The cost of transacting in the swap market is low. Swaps are private transactions between two parties. Often, swaps are off-balance sheet transactions that can be used, for example, to enable a firm to reposition its balance sheet quickly without alerting competitors. The disadvantages of swaps include: Because swaps are agreements, a party who wants to enter into a particular swap must find a counterparty that is willing to take the other side of the swap. Swaps can be illiquid; once entered into, a swap cannot easily be terminated without the consent of the counterparty. Because there are no margin deposits or a clearinghouse that help ensure, or will guarantee, that the agreements will be honoured, the integrity of swaps depends solely upon the financial and moral integrity of the parties that have entered into them. In other words, the swaps have more credit risk than futures contracts. The Demand of Derivatives Based on the statistics of the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Berhad, the total exchange of derivatives during the year 2009 was up to 6,137,827 contracts. The crude palm oil futures (ETD) is the most liquid future in Malaysia, total of 4,008,882 contracts with average of 334,074 contracts traded monthly during year 2009. (Bursa Malaysia, 2010) Figure 2.1 shows the monthly price traded and the monthly volume of crude palm oil futures (FCPO) traded in Bursa Malaysia from year 1985 until March 2010. The green colour bar represents the price close on the month end was above the open price open on the beginning of the month, while red colour bar indicates the closing price is below the open price. Figure 2.1 indicates that there was less transaction traded during the eighth decade of the 20th century until 2002. The number of FCPO contract traded keep on increasing especially start from year 2002, and is quite popular in recent year, the volume of transaction exceeded 150,000 contracts each month. FCPO is extremely high volume in 2008 because the global oil price is at its peak at USD145 per barrel. FCPO traded at its pinnacle in November 2006 which recorded 360,650 contracts in a month. This showing that the FCPO is high in demand in Malaysia as compare to previous years. Figure 2.2 shows the history chart of FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index Futures (FKLI) traded in Bursa Malaysia from December 1995 until March 2010. There was a high trading volume during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis due to the high fluctuate of the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI). 148,318 future contracts were traded in September 1998. There were at least 40,000 future contracts traded in the following years of 1998. The volume traded increasing rapidly in 2007 as Malaysian economy recovers. KLCI went as high as 1400 points during the last 3 years. 302,321 future contracts were trade in August 2007, which is the highest volume recorded in history. Based on Figure 2.2 trading volume trend, it can be concluded that speculators were heavily involve in trading FKLI in 1997, where the Asian Financial Crisis tragedy occurred and in its peak in 2007 . KLCI fluctuation was elevated during these two event (circled in the chart). For the global market, the market for options developed rapidly in early 80s. The number of option contract sold each day exceeded the daily volume of shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange. According to the Bank for International Settlements, the total OTC derivative outstanding notional amounted to USD605 trillion as of June 2009. Factors That Influence Derivatives Trading Mike Singh (2010) said that trading derivatives will have lesser risk than other trades because investor are not buying into the company or buying the underlying product. Instead, the risk is placed on performance. Due to its low risk factor, investment and commercial banks, end users such as floor traders, corporations, and mutual and hedge funds, are major types of firms that utilize derivatives. A much lower initial investment start up in derivatives trading, derivatives give an edge to those who decline or do not want to invest as much as is required to purchase stock. Derivatives can be a good way to balance ones total portfolio by spreading the risk throughout a variety of investments, rather than putting all eggs into a basket. Besides that, trading derivatives can be a good short term investment. Compared to some stocks and bond, derivatives is an financial instrument that can pay off in a shorter time frame such as days, weeks, or a few months. Stock and bonds are long-term investments and may over the course of many years. As the shorter turnaround time, derivatives can be a good way break into the market and mix short and long-term investments. (Siems, 1997) Numerous resources are available for learning about derivatives trading and many options are available. Hence derivatives are variety and flexibility, this point of view was supported by Mike Singh, 2010. Derivatives can derive profit from changes in equity markets, currency exchange rate, interest rates around the world. It also include the commodities changes in global supply and demand such as precious and industrial metals, agricultural products, and energy products such as petroleum and natural gas. This show that derivatives trading are available on a global scale. Getting involved in the global economy opens international options that may not be available through the traditional stock market. From the points given above, he concluded that there are three reasons for derivatives trading. First, trading derivatives are lesser risk than other trades. Second, trading derivatives are a good short term investment. Third, trading derivatives are variety and flexibility. Hence, derivatives trading may be a good trading option if someone are looking outside of trading traditional stocks and bonds. The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) announced the results of a survey done on the derivatives usage by the worlds 500 largest companies. According to the survey, 94% of these companies use derivative instruments to hedge and manage their financial risks in business. The foreign exchange derivatives are the most widely used instruments with total 88% of the sample, followed by interest rate derivatives which is 83% and commodity derivatives. There are two benefits which are most widely recognised attributed to derivative instruments, risk management and price discovery. Risk management could be the most vital purpose of the derivatives market. Derivatives also used to mitigate the risk of economic loss arising from changes in the value of the underlying. This activity is known as hedging. Alternatively, derivatives can be used by investors to increase the profit arising if the value of the underlying moves in the direction they expect, bearing extra risk by speculations. (Kuhlman, 2009) Price discovery is the prediction of information about future cash market prices through the futures market. There is a relationship between an assets current (spot) price, its futures contract price, and the price that people expect to prevail on the delivery date. By using the information contained in futures prices today, market observers can form estimates of what the price of a given commodity will be at a certain time in the future. Futures markets serve a social purpose by helping people make better estimates of future prices, so that they can make consumption and investment decisions more wisely. (Sorid, n.d) The derivatives market are broadly classified into three uses: Hedging Speculation Arbitrage Hedging Hedging is a way to enter into transactions that expose the entity to risk and uncertainty that fully or partially offsets one or more of the entitys other risks and uncertainties. (Elliot Elliot, 2005) One reason why companies attempt to hedge these price changes is because they are risks that are peripheral to the central business in which they operate. Hedging also refers to managing risk to an extent that makes it bearable. (Kameel, 2008) Equity Hedging Traders can use derivatives to hedge or mitigate risk in the stock market. Entering into a derivative contract can cover part or all of the losses if the value of their underlying position moves in the opposite direction. For equity forward contracts, where the underlying asset is a single stock, a portfolio of stocks, or a stock index, work in much the same manner as other forward contracts. An investor who wishes to sell 100 shares of BAT stock 90 days from now and wishes to avoid the uncertainty about the stock price on that date, could do so by caking a short position in a forward contract covering 100 BAT shares. A dealer might quote a price of RM48 per share, agreeing to pay RM4,800 for the 100 shares 90 days from now. The contract may be deliverable or settled in cash as described above. The stock seller has locked in the selling price of the shares and will get no more if the price (in 90 days) is actually higher, and will get no less it the price actually lower. (Sharma, 2009) For equity future example, an individual stock trader can minimise the stock trading risk by hedging using futures market (Exchange-traded derivatives). A stock trader is extremely aware of economy downturn. If the trader expected an economy downturn is coming which will cause the share price to drop, the trader can protect against down fall of stocks equity by opening a short position of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Futures (FKLI) to hedge against his stock portfolio. So if the economy downturn does happen, the trader will gain profit from the FKLI. However, there will be a loss if the trader close the position of the stock during the economy downturn, but the gain from the FKLI will cover some or over the losses from the stock market. Thus, this can reduce the risk by FKLI futures hedging. (Copeland, et al., 2004) For stock option contracts, one call priced at RM6 with a strike price of RM30 gives the holder the right to purchase 100 shares of the stock at RM30 per share until the exercise date. The contract has a money value of RM600 (RM6 x 100 shares). For put options. the concepts are the same, except that the option gives the holder the right to sell 100 shares of the stated stock at RM30 per share through the exercise date. Commodity Hedging Commodity is a physical substance which there is demand, such as basic resources and agricultural. The most popular commodities in Malaysia include CPO, gold, tin, rubber and latex. (Amadeo, 2003) For instance, an airline company which the fuel is the biggest cost item for an airline taken care of, might want to get protection against the fuel price crisis. The airline company might enter into a future contract to hedge the fuel price. They will sign up a future contract with the fuel supplier (OTC derivative), promising that they will buy a certain amount of fuel at a certain price for the next certain months. The contract will definite the price that the airline company to pay for buying the fuel in future. In case the fuel price go higher than the contract price, then the fuel will have a cheaper price. If the fuel price gone down without the airline company expectation, which mean the contract price is higher than the market price, in that incident, the airline company might not want to exercise the contract price. In return, the airline company need to pay certain of fund to the fuel supplier as the contract fee. (Larry, 2005) Malaysian Airline System Berhad (MAS) announced a RM1.34 billion fuel hedge gain in the second quarter ended 30 June 2009. (Francis, 2009) Idris Jala (2009), the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Airlines said that he had decided not to unwind the fuel hedges so that the company can remain protected against the volatile fuel prices. MAS had hedged 47% of its fuel requirement at USD103/ bbl WTI for the year ended 2009 from 31 March 2009. Further highlighting the volatility of fuel prices, the fuel price increased 47% since April 2009, those airlines that did not hedge will be affected by the fuel price increasing, said Idris Jala, 2009. While MAS fuel bill increasing in tandem with the fuel price, MAS total fuel bill will be lower as the gains from the fuel hedges will partly offset the higher fuel cost. Foreign exchange (Forex) Hedging In international trading, dealings with forex play a significant role. There will be a significant impact on business decisions and outcomes if got any fluctuations in the forex rate. Many international trade and business dealings are shelved or become unworthy due to significant exchange rate risk embedded in them. Therefore, companies will use forex hedging with forwards, future, option. (Joseph Nathan, 1999) Forex hedging with forwards Forex forward rate is an agreement between two parties (OTC derivatives) to fix the exchange rate for a future transaction. In Malaysia, there are some banks do provide Forward Rate Agreements (FRA) service such as Bank Islam Malaysia, Maybank, EON Bank Group, CIMB Bank Group, HSBC Bank Malaysia, etc. A company simply transfer the risk to the bank when they entering into a FRA with a bank. Of course the bank internally will do some kind of arrangement to manage the risk. (Currencies Direct, 2010) For instance, a Malaysian construction company, Ban Lee Hin Engineering Construction Sdn Bhd just won a contract to build a bridge road in Philippines. The contract is signed for 10,000,000 Peso and would be paid for after the completion of the work. This amount is consistent with Ban Lee Hin minimum revenue of RM750,000 at the exchange rate of RM7.50 per 100 Peso. However, since the exchange rate could fluctuate and end with a possible depreciation of Peso, Ban Lee Hin enters into a forward agreement with Philtrust Bank in Philippines to fix the exchange rate at RM7.50 per 100 Peso. The forward contract is a legal agreement, and therefore constitutes an obligation on both parties. The Philtrust Bank may have to find a counter party for such transaction, either a party who wants to hedge against the appreciation of 10,000,000 Peso expiring at the same time, or a party that wishes to speculate on an increasing the value of Peso. If the Philtrust Bank itself plays the counter party, t hen the risk would be borne by the bank itself. By entering into a forward contract, Ban Lee Hin is guaranteed of an e Demand of Derivatives Investment in Malaysia Demand of Derivatives Investment in Malaysia ABSTRACT This research investigates the demand of derivatives investment by Malaysia. On the whole the main purpose of this dissertation is to study, analyse and discuss about the usage of derivatives by Malaysian company or individual resident. The research paper is divided into five chapters. Chapter 1 introduces derivatives and identification of the research problems. Research objectives and questions are given briefly. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the literature reviewed throughout the research. A detailed description by past researchers is presented. The further detail of each derivative contract are summarised. Chapter 3 deals with the work flow of this study. The research methodologies includes research design and procedure, data collection method, and statistical data analyses method. Data collection from secondary data is analysed to form a theoretical framework. Chapter 4 present the analysis and result of research topic. Tables, diagrams, charts are use to illustrates the findings. Finally, Chapter 5 concludes the dissertation with summary all of the chapters. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Introduction A derivative is a financial instrument that is derived from assets, indexes, events, value or condition (known as the underlying asset). Rather than trading or exchanging the underlying asset itself, derivative traders enter into an agreement to exchange cash or assets over time based on the underlying asset. (David, 2003) From definition taken from International Accounting Standards 39 (IAS39) Financial Instruments Recognition and Measurement, a derivative is a financial instrument whose value changes in response to the change in a specified interest rate, security price, commodity price, foreign exchange rate, index of prices or rate, a credit rating or credit index or similar variable. (IAS, 2009) Forward contracts, futures contracts, options and swaps are the most common types of derivatives. Derivatives are often leveraged, such that a small movement in the underlying value can cause a large difference in the value of the derivative. (Khanna, 2010) Research Problem The research problem of this study is to uncover the derivative investment as a financial instrument for business and gaining capital. The usage of derivatives is getting larger nowadays. However, there is some criticism regarding the derivative in negative aspect as well. Research Objectives The following are the specific objective to achieve under this research To study the factor influence Malaysian to invest in the derivatives investment. To identify the method of reduction in risk under the usage of derivatives. Research Questions Questions that are bound to be answered throughout the research are: Why do investors select derivative investment? How can derivatives instrument be use? What is the types of derivative that are highly demanded in Malaysia? How does reduction in risk achieve by using derivatives instrument? How do traders speculate in order to make profit via derivatives? Scope of Study The scope of study for this research focuses on the derivative instruments. Significance of Study The significance of this study is to give the investors an idea as how the derivative instruments work in the business world. It also a study that helps businessman to reduce their risk and speculator to gain short-term money through derivatives. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction of Derivatives The first derivatives contract was listed in the year 1865 by the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) in USA. Those exchange traded derivatives contracts were called futures contracts. In April 1973, the Chicago Board of Options Exchange (CBOE) was set up for the purpose of options trading. The Standard Poors 500 Index in USA currently is the most popular stock index futures contract in the world. (HSBC Invest Direct, 2010) There are two distinct groups of derivative contracts, which tell apart the way they traded in the market. Over-the-counter (OTC) derivative is a type of financial derivative that negotiated directly between two parties rather than through an exchange centre. The OTC derivative market is the largest market for derivatives, and is unregulated with respect to disclosure of information between the parties. (Essaddam, et al., 2008) Exchange-traded derivative (ETD) is a type of financial derivative that has its transaction traded via specialised derivatives exchanges or other exchanges, such as Bursa, CBOE, Eurex etc. Derivatives exchange act as an intermediary to all related transactions, ETD is usually traded in standardised derivative contracts. (ISDA, 2009) There are few major derivative contracts which consist of forward, future, option and swap contract. Forward Contract A forward contract is a contract negotiated at present that gives the contract holder both the right and full legal obligation to conduct a certain asset transaction at a specific future time, amount, price and other terms. (Schweser, 2002) The party to the forward contract that agrees to buy the financial or physical asset has a long forward position and is called the long. The party to the forward contract that agrees to sell or deliver the asset has a short forward position and is called the short. (David, 2003) For instance, Lam Soon Company signed a contract under which they agree to buy a tonne of crude palm oil (CPO) from their supplier 30 days from now at a price of RM2,500. Lam Soon Company is the long and the supplier is the short. Both parties have removed uncertainty about the price they will pay or receive for the CPO in the future date. If 30 days from now CPO are trading at RM2,580 per tonne, the short (supplier) must deliver the CPO to the long (Lam Soon) in exchange for a RM2,500 payment. If CPO are trading at RM2,420 on the future date, the long must purchase the CPO from the short for RM2,500, the contract price. Forward contract is usually negotiated directly between the two parties, therefore it is an OTC market forward contract. The forward contracts have the advantage of being flexible (the parties design the contract to meet their specific needs). However, Stalla (2000) had concluded that forward contracts have three major disadvantages: They are illiquid. Because the terms of a forward contract are usually designed to meet the specific needs of the contracting parties, it is difficult for either one of them to close out its side of the contract, either by selling it to a third party or by getting the counterparty to cancel the agreement without demanding an excessive buyout price. They have credit risk. Forward contracts usually require neither party to the agreement to post collateral, make any mark-to-market transfers of funds over the life of the contract, or make any margin deposits to give assurance that it will be able fulfil its obligations under the terms of the agreement (although such clauses could be inserted into a forward contract by mutual consent of the parties). Consequently, a typical forward agreement is based on trust, each party to the agreement must trust that its counterparty will perform in the agreed-upon manner. This exposes both contracting parties to the risk that the counterparty might default on its obligation. They are unregulated. No formal body has the responsibility of setting down rules and procedures designed to protect market participants. Generally, the only protection given to parties involved in the OTC forward market is that of contract law. Future Contract A futures contract is a forward contract that has been highly standardised and closely specified. As with a forward contract, a futures contract calls for the exchange of some goods at a future date for cash, with the payment for the goods to occur at the future delivery date. The purchaser of the contract is to receive delivery of the good and pay for it, while the seller of the contract promises to deliver the goods and receive payment. The payment price is determined at the initial time of the contract. (Adhar, 2006) Futures contracts are usually traded on futures exchanges (ETD), rather than in an OTC environment. Hence, futures contracts are unique forms of forward contracts that designed to reduce the disadvantages of forward contracts. The future contracts terms have been standardised so that can be traded in a public marketplace. Due to standardisation, futures contracts are lesser flexible than forward agreements, hut it also makes them more liquid. (Copeland, et al., 2004) According to Schweser (2006) points, in order to safeguard the clearinghouse, which act as the buyer to every seller and the seller to every buyer, the exchange requires traders to post margin and settle their accounts on a daily basis. Before trading, the trader must deposit funds, called margin with their broker (who, in return, will post margin with the clearinghouse). The purpose of margin is to ensure that traders will perform their contractual obligations. There are three types of margin. The first deposit is called the initial margin which had been explained above. Any losses for the day are removed from the traders account and any gains are added to the traders account. If the margin balance in the traders account falls below a certain level (called the maintenance margin), the trader will get a margin call and have to deposit more money (called the variation margin) into the account to bring the account back up to the initial margin level. (Stalla, 2000) For instance, Lam Soon buys a 30 days future contract of CPO at RM2,500 per tonne. The initial margin was RM2,500. The next day the price of CPO plummetsRM50. Therefore Lam Soon has just lost RM50. At the end of the day, the daily settlement process marks Lam Soons margin account to market by taking RM50 out of the account leaving a balance of RM2,450. Now, assume the maintenance margin level is at 70%. If Lam Soons margin balance falls to or below RM1,750, Lam Soon gets a margin call and has to bring their account back up to the initial RM2,500 level. There are several advantages to using forward or futures contracts as a substitute for trading in the spot markets of commodities: (Sorid, n.d) Transaction costs are much lower and liquidity is better in the futures markets than in the spot markets. There is no need to store or insure physical assets if forward or futures contracts are used. Forward and futures contracts may be sold short, as well as bought long. This may not always be possible if one were trading the actual underlying assets themselves. There is a great deal of leverage in forward and futures contracts. A trader can control on a large position with only a small initial deposit. If the futures contract with a value of RM100,000 has an initial margin of RM10,000 then one percent change in the futures price which is RM1,000, would result in a 10 percent change relative to the traders initial costs. Since there is no margin is required with a forward contract, control can be obtained with no money down. There is flexibility, especially with forward contracts, that can be used to create specialized risk/return patterns. Price risk can be accepted or eliminated by using forward or futures contracts without compromising any holdings of an underlying asset. Thus, a jeweller can sell the price risk associated with holding an inventory of gold without actually disturbing the physical inventory itself. This makes it easy to adjust ones financial exposure to commodity markets, even if ones physical exposure must be maintained for business purposes. The primary disadvantage of using futures contracts for speculative trading would involve a great deal of leverage, so that large losses can occur. In effect, holding a futures position with only the margin requirement on deposit in a brokerage account is the same thing as having purchased the underlying asset on margin. Another closely related disadvantage is that futures (but not forward) contracts subject the trader to margin calls to meet daily settlement obligations. This requires participants to have a cash reserve that can be drawn upon to meet these demands for additional cash. (Sorid, n.d) Option Contract According to the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) 2008, an option is a contract gives the buyer the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell an underlying asset at a specific price on or before a certain date. The owner of a call option has the right, but not the obligation to purchase the underlying good at a specific price for a specified time period. While the owner of a put option has the right, but not the obligation to sell the underlying good at a specific price for a specified time period. To qualify these rights, the options owner has to pay a premium to the seller of the option for buying the option. (CBOE, 2008) The seller of the option is called an option writer. Options have four possible positions: (CBOE, 2008) Call option buyer Call option writer or seller Put option buyer Put option writer or seller In these contracts, the rights are with the owner of the option. The buyer that pays the premium receives the right to buy or sell the underlying asset on specific time and price. The writer or seller of the option receives payment and obligates to sell or purchase the underlying asset as agreed in the contract of the option owner. (Akmeemana, n.d.) For instance, BAT share is selling at RM50 while its call option is at RM10. The call option can be exercised for RM45 with a life span of 5 months. The exercise price of RM45 is called the options strike price. The RM10 price of the option is called the option s premium. If the option is purchased for RM10, the buyer can purchase the stock from the option seller over the next 5 months for RM45. The seller, or writer of the option gets to keep the RM10 premium no matter what the stock does during this time period. If the option buyer exercises the option, the seller will receive the RM45 strike price and must deliver to the buyer a share of BAT stock. If the price of BAT stock falls to RM45 or below, the buyer are not obliged to exercise the option. Note that the option holders can only exercise their right to act if it is profitable to do so. The option writer, however, has an obligation to act at the request of the option holder. A put option is the same as a call option except the buyer of the put has the right to sell the put writer a share of BAT at any time during the next five months in return for RM45. The owner of the option is the one who decides whether to exercise the option or not. If the option has value, the buyer may either exercise the Option or sell the option to another buyer in the secondary options market. (Tatum, 2010) For short-term investment horizons, options trading can produce lower transaction costs than the outright purchase and sale of the underlying assets themselves. Besides, options can he used to execute some tax strategies. (Skousen, 2006) Swap Contract A swap is an agreement between two or more parties to exchange sets of cash flows over a period in the future. The parties that agree to the swap are known as counterparties. The cash flows that the counterparties make are generally tied to the value of debt instruments or the value of foreign currencies. Therefore, the two basic kinds of swaps are interest rate swaps and currency swaps. (Schweser, 2006) Unlike the highly structured futures and options contracts, swaps are custom tailored to fit the specific needs of the counterparties. The counterparties may select the specific currency amounts that they wish to swap, whereas exchange traded instruments have set values. Similarly, the swap counterparties choose the exact maturity that they need, rather than maturity dates set by the exchange. This flexibility is very important in the swap market, because it allows the counterparties to deal with much longer horizons than can be addressed through exchange-traded instruments. Also, since swaps are not exchange traded, it gives the participants greater privacy, and they escape a great deal of regulation. (Hodgson, 2006) According to Hodgson (2996), the advantages of swap agreements over conventional traded derivatives can be summarised as below: Swaps are highly flexible and can be custom made to fit the requirements of the parties entering into them. The swap market is virtually unregulated, in contrast to the highly regulated futures market. This could change, however, since regulators usually abhor a regulation vacuum and probably will, eventually, seek to bring the market under their protection. The cost of transacting in the swap market is low. Swaps are private transactions between two parties. Often, swaps are off-balance sheet transactions that can be used, for example, to enable a firm to reposition its balance sheet quickly without alerting competitors. The disadvantages of swaps include: Because swaps are agreements, a party who wants to enter into a particular swap must find a counterparty that is willing to take the other side of the swap. Swaps can be illiquid; once entered into, a swap cannot easily be terminated without the consent of the counterparty. Because there are no margin deposits or a clearinghouse that help ensure, or will guarantee, that the agreements will be honoured, the integrity of swaps depends solely upon the financial and moral integrity of the parties that have entered into them. In other words, the swaps have more credit risk than futures contracts. The Demand of Derivatives Based on the statistics of the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Berhad, the total exchange of derivatives during the year 2009 was up to 6,137,827 contracts. The crude palm oil futures (ETD) is the most liquid future in Malaysia, total of 4,008,882 contracts with average of 334,074 contracts traded monthly during year 2009. (Bursa Malaysia, 2010) Figure 2.1 shows the monthly price traded and the monthly volume of crude palm oil futures (FCPO) traded in Bursa Malaysia from year 1985 until March 2010. The green colour bar represents the price close on the month end was above the open price open on the beginning of the month, while red colour bar indicates the closing price is below the open price. Figure 2.1 indicates that there was less transaction traded during the eighth decade of the 20th century until 2002. The number of FCPO contract traded keep on increasing especially start from year 2002, and is quite popular in recent year, the volume of transaction exceeded 150,000 contracts each month. FCPO is extremely high volume in 2008 because the global oil price is at its peak at USD145 per barrel. FCPO traded at its pinnacle in November 2006 which recorded 360,650 contracts in a month. This showing that the FCPO is high in demand in Malaysia as compare to previous years. Figure 2.2 shows the history chart of FTSE Bursa Malaysia Kuala Lumpur Composite Index Futures (FKLI) traded in Bursa Malaysia from December 1995 until March 2010. There was a high trading volume during the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis due to the high fluctuate of the Kuala Lumpur Composite Index (KLCI). 148,318 future contracts were traded in September 1998. There were at least 40,000 future contracts traded in the following years of 1998. The volume traded increasing rapidly in 2007 as Malaysian economy recovers. KLCI went as high as 1400 points during the last 3 years. 302,321 future contracts were trade in August 2007, which is the highest volume recorded in history. Based on Figure 2.2 trading volume trend, it can be concluded that speculators were heavily involve in trading FKLI in 1997, where the Asian Financial Crisis tragedy occurred and in its peak in 2007 . KLCI fluctuation was elevated during these two event (circled in the chart). For the global market, the market for options developed rapidly in early 80s. The number of option contract sold each day exceeded the daily volume of shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange. According to the Bank for International Settlements, the total OTC derivative outstanding notional amounted to USD605 trillion as of June 2009. Factors That Influence Derivatives Trading Mike Singh (2010) said that trading derivatives will have lesser risk than other trades because investor are not buying into the company or buying the underlying product. Instead, the risk is placed on performance. Due to its low risk factor, investment and commercial banks, end users such as floor traders, corporations, and mutual and hedge funds, are major types of firms that utilize derivatives. A much lower initial investment start up in derivatives trading, derivatives give an edge to those who decline or do not want to invest as much as is required to purchase stock. Derivatives can be a good way to balance ones total portfolio by spreading the risk throughout a variety of investments, rather than putting all eggs into a basket. Besides that, trading derivatives can be a good short term investment. Compared to some stocks and bond, derivatives is an financial instrument that can pay off in a shorter time frame such as days, weeks, or a few months. Stock and bonds are long-term investments and may over the course of many years. As the shorter turnaround time, derivatives can be a good way break into the market and mix short and long-term investments. (Siems, 1997) Numerous resources are available for learning about derivatives trading and many options are available. Hence derivatives are variety and flexibility, this point of view was supported by Mike Singh, 2010. Derivatives can derive profit from changes in equity markets, currency exchange rate, interest rates around the world. It also include the commodities changes in global supply and demand such as precious and industrial metals, agricultural products, and energy products such as petroleum and natural gas. This show that derivatives trading are available on a global scale. Getting involved in the global economy opens international options that may not be available through the traditional stock market. From the points given above, he concluded that there are three reasons for derivatives trading. First, trading derivatives are lesser risk than other trades. Second, trading derivatives are a good short term investment. Third, trading derivatives are variety and flexibility. Hence, derivatives trading may be a good trading option if someone are looking outside of trading traditional stocks and bonds. The International Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. (ISDA) announced the results of a survey done on the derivatives usage by the worlds 500 largest companies. According to the survey, 94% of these companies use derivative instruments to hedge and manage their financial risks in business. The foreign exchange derivatives are the most widely used instruments with total 88% of the sample, followed by interest rate derivatives which is 83% and commodity derivatives. There are two benefits which are most widely recognised attributed to derivative instruments, risk management and price discovery. Risk management could be the most vital purpose of the derivatives market. Derivatives also used to mitigate the risk of economic loss arising from changes in the value of the underlying. This activity is known as hedging. Alternatively, derivatives can be used by investors to increase the profit arising if the value of the underlying moves in the direction they expect, bearing extra risk by speculations. (Kuhlman, 2009) Price discovery is the prediction of information about future cash market prices through the futures market. There is a relationship between an assets current (spot) price, its futures contract price, and the price that people expect to prevail on the delivery date. By using the information contained in futures prices today, market observers can form estimates of what the price of a given commodity will be at a certain time in the future. Futures markets serve a social purpose by helping people make better estimates of future prices, so that they can make consumption and investment decisions more wisely. (Sorid, n.d) The derivatives market are broadly classified into three uses: Hedging Speculation Arbitrage Hedging Hedging is a way to enter into transactions that expose the entity to risk and uncertainty that fully or partially offsets one or more of the entitys other risks and uncertainties. (Elliot Elliot, 2005) One reason why companies attempt to hedge these price changes is because they are risks that are peripheral to the central business in which they operate. Hedging also refers to managing risk to an extent that makes it bearable. (Kameel, 2008) Equity Hedging Traders can use derivatives to hedge or mitigate risk in the stock market. Entering into a derivative contract can cover part or all of the losses if the value of their underlying position moves in the opposite direction. For equity forward contracts, where the underlying asset is a single stock, a portfolio of stocks, or a stock index, work in much the same manner as other forward contracts. An investor who wishes to sell 100 shares of BAT stock 90 days from now and wishes to avoid the uncertainty about the stock price on that date, could do so by caking a short position in a forward contract covering 100 BAT shares. A dealer might quote a price of RM48 per share, agreeing to pay RM4,800 for the 100 shares 90 days from now. The contract may be deliverable or settled in cash as described above. The stock seller has locked in the selling price of the shares and will get no more if the price (in 90 days) is actually higher, and will get no less it the price actually lower. (Sharma, 2009) For equity future example, an individual stock trader can minimise the stock trading risk by hedging using futures market (Exchange-traded derivatives). A stock trader is extremely aware of economy downturn. If the trader expected an economy downturn is coming which will cause the share price to drop, the trader can protect against down fall of stocks equity by opening a short position of the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Futures (FKLI) to hedge against his stock portfolio. So if the economy downturn does happen, the trader will gain profit from the FKLI. However, there will be a loss if the trader close the position of the stock during the economy downturn, but the gain from the FKLI will cover some or over the losses from the stock market. Thus, this can reduce the risk by FKLI futures hedging. (Copeland, et al., 2004) For stock option contracts, one call priced at RM6 with a strike price of RM30 gives the holder the right to purchase 100 shares of the stock at RM30 per share until the exercise date. The contract has a money value of RM600 (RM6 x 100 shares). For put options. the concepts are the same, except that the option gives the holder the right to sell 100 shares of the stated stock at RM30 per share through the exercise date. Commodity Hedging Commodity is a physical substance which there is demand, such as basic resources and agricultural. The most popular commodities in Malaysia include CPO, gold, tin, rubber and latex. (Amadeo, 2003) For instance, an airline company which the fuel is the biggest cost item for an airline taken care of, might want to get protection against the fuel price crisis. The airline company might enter into a future contract to hedge the fuel price. They will sign up a future contract with the fuel supplier (OTC derivative), promising that they will buy a certain amount of fuel at a certain price for the next certain months. The contract will definite the price that the airline company to pay for buying the fuel in future. In case the fuel price go higher than the contract price, then the fuel will have a cheaper price. If the fuel price gone down without the airline company expectation, which mean the contract price is higher than the market price, in that incident, the airline company might not want to exercise the contract price. In return, the airline company need to pay certain of fund to the fuel supplier as the contract fee. (Larry, 2005) Malaysian Airline System Berhad (MAS) announced a RM1.34 billion fuel hedge gain in the second quarter ended 30 June 2009. (Francis, 2009) Idris Jala (2009), the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Airlines said that he had decided not to unwind the fuel hedges so that the company can remain protected against the volatile fuel prices. MAS had hedged 47% of its fuel requirement at USD103/ bbl WTI for the year ended 2009 from 31 March 2009. Further highlighting the volatility of fuel prices, the fuel price increased 47% since April 2009, those airlines that did not hedge will be affected by the fuel price increasing, said Idris Jala, 2009. While MAS fuel bill increasing in tandem with the fuel price, MAS total fuel bill will be lower as the gains from the fuel hedges will partly offset the higher fuel cost. Foreign exchange (Forex) Hedging In international trading, dealings with forex play a significant role. There will be a significant impact on business decisions and outcomes if got any fluctuations in the forex rate. Many international trade and business dealings are shelved or become unworthy due to significant exchange rate risk embedded in them. Therefore, companies will use forex hedging with forwards, future, option. (Joseph Nathan, 1999) Forex hedging with forwards Forex forward rate is an agreement between two parties (OTC derivatives) to fix the exchange rate for a future transaction. In Malaysia, there are some banks do provide Forward Rate Agreements (FRA) service such as Bank Islam Malaysia, Maybank, EON Bank Group, CIMB Bank Group, HSBC Bank Malaysia, etc. A company simply transfer the risk to the bank when they entering into a FRA with a bank. Of course the bank internally will do some kind of arrangement to manage the risk. (Currencies Direct, 2010) For instance, a Malaysian construction company, Ban Lee Hin Engineering Construction Sdn Bhd just won a contract to build a bridge road in Philippines. The contract is signed for 10,000,000 Peso and would be paid for after the completion of the work. This amount is consistent with Ban Lee Hin minimum revenue of RM750,000 at the exchange rate of RM7.50 per 100 Peso. However, since the exchange rate could fluctuate and end with a possible depreciation of Peso, Ban Lee Hin enters into a forward agreement with Philtrust Bank in Philippines to fix the exchange rate at RM7.50 per 100 Peso. The forward contract is a legal agreement, and therefore constitutes an obligation on both parties. The Philtrust Bank may have to find a counter party for such transaction, either a party who wants to hedge against the appreciation of 10,000,000 Peso expiring at the same time, or a party that wishes to speculate on an increasing the value of Peso. If the Philtrust Bank itself plays the counter party, t hen the risk would be borne by the bank itself. By entering into a forward contract, Ban Lee Hin is guaranteed of an e

Nixon: A Presidential Unraveling Essay -- Government

Corruption in politics has never been more notably observable by the American people than that of the Watergate Crisis. Though Nixon’s involvement of the actual break-in has never been proven, his cover-up of the event and his misuse of Presidential power were clearly established. Over the course of several years, America would bear witness to scandalous events, the first resignation of a President, conviction and imprisonment of twenty-five officials within the Nixon administration, and undoubtedly the most severe constitutional crisis in recent history. In November of 1968, Richard Nixon claims the presidency for the Republicans in one of the closest elections in U.S. history. His election to office was bolstered by the middle-class population who were fed up with the liberal politics practiced by the Democrats. Ironically, Nixon choice of appointments to the cabinet and White House staff were to ensure restoration of â€Å"conservative values and carry out his orders with blind obedience.† (Tindall 1364). Many of the members appointed would be the same brought up on charges during the Watergate hearings. There had been many questionable judgments made by President Nixon during his time in office. One had been on July 23, 1970 when he notified the FBI, CIA, National Security Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency that he had approved a new plan for expanding domestic intelligence gathering that included breaking and entering, opening personal mail and interception of communications between U.S. residents and foreign locations. He claims to have later rescinded the order due to protests by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. There has been no clear indication that any of the illegal acts suggested by the president were ever carried ou... ...ity meant to bolster Nixon’s standing for reelection. It is also without question that Nixon knew of the activities and blatantly lied to both the Senate Watergate Committee in addition to the American people. His clear misuse of power prompted a cry for his impeachment as head of our country and an end to the constitutional crisis he incited. Works Cited Tindall, George Brown. "Watergate." America: A Narrative History. 8th ed. Vol. 2. New York: Norton, 2010. 1375-1379. Print. "Watergate I: The Evidence To Date." Time 102.8 (1973): 18. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Apr. 2012. "The President Gambles On Going Public." Time 103.19 (1974): 22. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Apr. 2012. Hufbauer, Benjamin. "â€Å"Watergate.† The Nixon Presidential Library And Museum." Journal Of American History 98.3 (2011): 790-796. Academic Search Premier. Web. 23 Apr. 2012.

Use of “n” Word in Huck Finn

Others debate that it makes people uncomfortable and prevents them from reading this great piece of American literature. The people who believe that the original text should be edited, focus their discontent on the racial tone of the language. The fact that the racial insult makes many people feel uncomfortable, is one of the main reasons they feel that way. In the article by Philip Rails, the scholar Alan Cribber says, â€Å"It's a shame that one word should be a barrier between a marvelous reading experience and a lot of readers†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ(Rails 1).That Is exactly what people feel the word â€Å"Niger is In Huckleberry Finn. It acts as a barrier for people who find It uncomfortable to read, and prevents them from comprehending the writing. In the article â€Å"Houck Finn goes clean In new publication† by Analyzer, an English teacher expresses why she doesn't think Its k to use the word. When you're using slurs – racial slurs, gender slurs, homosexuality slurs â⠂¬â€œ I think you're victimizing people† (Layer 3). It is very true that blacks in America could get offended if you say the word in a classroom or they read it in the novel.It probably reminds them of the hard times their ancestors went through or puts them into stereotype that they don't think they belong in. It is very easy for people to become uncomfortable with an insult like the word in Houck Finn. The English teacher in Layer's article also says, remember when I first read it in 1986 and I was thinking, ‘Oh, wow. The racial slur Is problematic† (Layer 2). Like many people, she feels as though â€Å"slave† would be more acceptable. It would make people feel more at ease and able to actually read the book without a distracting word.Teachers definitely do not want their students to be Immature about the n-word, especially if there are blacks in the classroom. If the students wouldn't be mature about it, it would be nice to have another choice. Readers, s tudents and teachers also should have a choice in what they want to read. If they have the book with in it and don't want it, they should be able to choose what they want. As long as they are comfortable and do not distract or offend the reader than the point of the book is shown. While the reasons for replacing the slur are reasonable, people are still tryingly against censoring Houck Finn.They feel as though removing the insult would compensate what had happened in the past. The way we treated the slaves was extremely harsh and this Is a way America can remember as well as refrain from making a mistake Like that In the future. Another reason readers don't want to censor the novel Is the fact that they are censoring a major novel. In the article â€Å"Why a new edition of Houck Finn Is†¦ † By Alexandra Petri, Petri discusses her displeasure with the censorship of the novel. She says, â€Å"This is like turning Death of a Salesman into room Heart of Darkness – or all the darkness† (Petri).Even Mark Twain himself said about the difference between â€Å"slave† and â€Å"Niger† is â€Å"the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning† (Controversy as new edition†¦ ). If they censor American literature, what will be next? Many argue that they don't know where the removing of all things bad will stop. Great deals of readers think that the racial slur is crucial to how the readers interpret the whole story. In the article, â€Å"Houck Finn goes clean†¦ † An English professor explains how important it is to be shaken and feel uncomfortable with the word â€Å"Niger† (Layer).It depicts the time period in which it happened accurately, and though it wasn't, and still isn't, something that is acceptable, it still brings out the point of the novel. Mark Twain put the word in there for a purpose, not Just to do it. He uses it to bring out some of the satire. Petri says in her article that reg ardless of the fact that slavery was in full throttle, â€Å"Mark Twain was still able to use satire to show how wrong it was† (Petri). Granted, the usage of the word â€Å"Niger† was normal in that time period, but now the satire Twain uses seems al the more relevant.His satire is still shown to this very day. Also, the characters would not have said â€Å"slave†, it is more realistic if Houck was to say â€Å"Niger† because, to him, that's what a slave was. It was completely normal, whether we think it was or not. All in all, the choice is up to the readers. If the reader feels that the â€Å"n† word is too offensive to read, the option to read a different word should be open to them. We can't distract people from the meaning of the story if they get disgruntled and embarrassed.No one has the right to deny someone fondness when reading a book. The novel is partially about striving for freedom. While freedom comes with a price, shouldn't everyone have the freedom to choose which way they want to read something? However, it is also important to know that the word was there in the first place. It is true that the story could lose its meaning by taking out what makes the satire so uncomfortable. The word is an important part of the story, but if people understand it than why are they not allowed to enjoy the piece that people admire so much?

Art In Society Essay

Art is an influential means of presenting the true meaning of beauty in humankind which cannot be expressed by any other ways. It bonds people from all forms of society in such a way they respond to ideas that is universally pleasing to them. Art has the magic in shaping a harmonious society as long as it is being expressed to entertain in a positive and beneficial way. To be able to know the impact of art in a society, it is only required to classify any forms of art in their true and artificial meaning. Although people have different significance to art, the objective in making a true piece of it usually involves human kindness, pride and responsibility. Since art is always influenced by the society it also has a connection with different societies. An egalitarian society in general uses the principle that all men regardless of any race are equal under the law. In industrial society the form of society is in societal structure which means that the society itself is bound by its own rules and structure and separated from other society. Beyond the societies are the doctrines and values. Utilitarianism is the principled policy that an act must have a benefit in order to be morally good. In western principle, this emphasizes that the greatest thing must happen to the most number of people to prove its worth as a utilitarian act (Commitment, 2007). Spirituality pertains to the soul or its love for God or its affections as inspired by the divine Spirit. To classify, the association of spirituality and utilitarianism in art can have different manifestations. Believers of utilitarianism can portray art in any angle, depiction, style, forwardness and with few limitations. Spiritual art however, may emit from the personal spiritual experiences of the artist although the art form is not really related with religion (Sumartono, 2001). Work Cited: Commitment, G. O. (2007). A Wisdom Archive on Utilitarianism [Electronic Version]. Retrieved August 14, 2007 from http://www. experiencefestival. com/utilitarianism. Sumartono. (2001). SPIRITUAL ART AMONG SPIRITUALITIES [Electronic Version]. Retrieved August 14, 2007 from http://asianchristianart. org/exhibitions/asae2001/pages/spiritual-art. html.

Project on Microbiology, Bacteria Essay Example

Project on Microbiology, Bacteria Essay Example Project on Microbiology, Bacteria Paper Project on Microbiology, Bacteria Paper Microbiology Project The purpose to this lab was to isolate and identify two unknown bacteria from a mixed culture provided to us. This study was done by applying all of the methods that have been instructed on thus far in microbiology laboratory class. Each test performed, provided us with some key information about the unknown microbes in question . The identification of unknown bacteria is a time honored part of microbiology courses. It will challenge knowledge and skill in performing laboratory techniques, ability to critically evaluate the information obtained from these techniques, and ability to effectively communicate the information. There are many reasons for knowing the identity of microorganisms. The reasons range from the knowing the causative agent of a disease in a patient, so as to know how it can be treated, to knowing the correct microorganism to be used for making certain antibiotics. This study was done by applying all of the methods that have been learned so far in the microbiology laboratory class for the identification of an unknown bacterium. II. Results Unknown A a. The unknown is a gram negative bacilli Upon performing a gram stain on a colony from a streak of the unknown bacteria, at 100x, the bacteria stains negative for the gram stain. In addition, the structure of the bacteria is bacilli. b. The unknown is a facultative anaerobe A small amount of bacteria was added to a tube of fluid thioglygollate media, which permits the of a wide variety of bacteria and also allows the determination of the oxygen requirements of an organism. c. The unknown is nonmotile The media was inoculated with a single stab to the center of the tube and incubated. After incubation, the growth was restricted to the stab line, the bacteria is nonmotile. d. The unknown is no capsule formed The bacteria was removed from a single loopful of broth from the tube and streak it into blood agar plate using streak plate method. Incubated for about 24 hours in 37 degrees Celsius. The colony did not show a mucoid appearance and was not sticky. The colony is no capsule formed. e. The unknown is mannitol positive The bacteria was inoculated into a broth that containing the test sugar and incubated. A bright yellow color indicates the production of acid is positive. Production of a gas was determined with Durham tube, which is trapped at the top of the Durham tube and appeared as a bubble. * Acid ( + ) and gas ( + ) f. The unknown is lactose positive The bacteria was inoculated into a broth that containing sugar. Acid was produced as evidenced by the yellow color, and gas was made. Acid ( + ) and gas ( ) III. Conclusion After several differential tests, it was concluded that unknown A was Shigella sonnei. After performing gram stain to determine that the unknown was a gram negative bacilli, the organism was grown on a TSA slant for use in inoculating the rest of the biochemical test. All of the biochemical tests worked well except for the lactose and sucrose, its produced acid and gas. In Shigella sonnei, there is no gas production from lactose and sucrose. The wrong interpretation of data especially from carbohydrate fermentation was challenging. The color that been produced was hard to distinguish because the yellow orange and red was look similar. III. Results A. The unknown is a Gram negative coccobacillus Upon performing a gram stain on a colony from a streak of the unknown bacteria, at 100X, the bacteria stains negative for the Gram stain. In ddition, the structure of the bacteria is coccobacillus. B. The unknown is catalase positive A smear of bacterial culture was placed on a slide, and upon addition of a 3% solution of Hydrogen Peroxide, produced white bubbles. This is indicative of catalase activity and thus the unknown is catalase positive. C. The unknown is not able to ferment lactose A small amount of bacteria was added to a tube of Phenol Red Lactose, where the Phenol Red pH indicator will change upon the fermentation of lactose. After culturing, the tube did not change to yellow, and stayed red, indicating the inability to ferment lactose.

Personal Narrative Essay

Personal Narrative Essay Free Online Research Papers Higher and higher we rose up this seemingly endless track of the â€Å"SheiKra† with the car making a squeaking and clanking noise as we ascend up the glaring red track, until we reached the top of the steel giant. With the sun shining in my eyes, I didn’t know how high we were until the coaster reached the top of the peak and I saw everything in a ten mile perimeter. My jaw dropped to see how high we were. The car made a slow eerie right turn and approached the first drop of the roller coaster. The drop is a heart-pounding dive that takes you ninety degrees straight down two hundred feet on red steel track. It is a fall of death for some but a thrill of a life time that formed a special memory for my brother, sister and me. Inching closer and closer to the drop, I began to regret my decision of getting on this ride. Seeing my sister’s eyes widen as the red and yellow car met the tip of the fall, I felt the ride suspending us hanging on the end of the drop for a few seconds to add thrill. My heart rate increased and then in a blink of an eye we went soaring down the track. The screams of the people on the ride made my ears ring as we dove farther down the red track. Air was blowing my hair back and drying my eyes as if someone was holding a hair dryer to them. Then the roller coaster made a hurling upside-down loop into a swift sharp left turn causing my stomach to churn and making my head spin. As the coaster started to straighten out and slow down, my stomach settled down and I thought the ride was coming to an end but it was far from it. There was another straight ninety degree drop leading into a dark cave. With the air once again slamming against my face with my head shaking like a raddle th at nauseous feeling in my stomach reappeared inside me. Pulling up from the steep drop, the coaster emerged from the darkness of the cave and swerved into a sharp right turn, skimming across a pool of water. Sprinkles of the cool water splashed against my face. Rising out of the pool of water, the coaster made a smooth right turn and before we knew it we were back at the starting platform. Getting off the roller coaster, my legs trembled from the breath taking ride. My sister’s hair was wild and frizzy from the ride and the color on my brother’s face looked like he just saw a ghost as he exited the coaster. Since the line was not that long, I begged my brother and sister to ride the roller coaster with once more. After several minutes of pleading with them, they agreed to join me on the â€Å"SheiKra† once more. My family and I have been going to Florida for as long as I can remember. We have a condo on Treasure Island right on the Gulf of Mexico. Since my dad works at Anheuser Busch we receive free tickets to their theme park, Busch Gardens. Busch Gardens is our family’s favorite theme park. It is filled with a variety of different rides, food, and entertainment that come together to make a day with our family worth remembering. My brother, sister and I usually don’t get along too good with each other, most likely because we are all the complete opposite of each other and are very busy with activities the we don’t often bond together to create memories, but riding the â€Å"SheiKra† during our vacation to Florida with them has created a very special one. We had the time of our lives on the ride and will share the memory created on it with each other forever. Research Papers on Personal Narrative EssayThe Hockey GameTrailblazing by Eric AndersonBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XThe Spring and AutumnThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsPersonal Experience with Teen PregnancyAppeasement Policy Towards the Outbreak of World War 2PETSTEL analysis of IndiaThree Concepts of PsychodynamicQuebec and Canada

Case Study Of Alpaca Clothing Private Limited †Free Samples

The most important factor that decides the fate of the international expansion is the cross cultural communication. Intercultural communication can be defined as the concept of communication styles and approaches that enhances the connection among people across different culture and societal groups. It can be considered as a construct that explores and analyses the effect of culture on communication and interaction. Common variables of intercultural communication includes social attributes, thought patterns, traditional values, principles, and cultural norms associated with different groups of people belonging to different ethnic or cultural backgrounds. It includes interconnected school of thoughts and theories that define intercultural communication and along with different attributes of communication (Chaney and Martin 2013). The concept of intercultural communication also explores the communication barriers that exist between two or more cultural backgrounds and how to overcome t hem. This assignment will utilize multiple domains of intercultural communication in order to explore, analyze, and overcome the communication barrier that exist in between two cultural backgrounds when it comes to a business scenario taking the help of a case study. The case study represents the scenario where clothing company by the name alpaca clothing Private Limited that has entertained a satisfactory sales in retail outlets in Australia This small scale company had had the first opportunity to expand to the Asian territory by the virtue of signing a contract for fibre processing service in China. However the company representative in the Chinese location chosen by the company is an Australian born marketing professional by the name of Jonathan Jones. However despite the expertise and professional competence of Jonathan, he had no basic idea of Chinese culture and has never lived abroad, hence his intercultural understanding was very limited. It has been already mentioned above that in case of cross-cultural business dealings the role of optimal intercultural communication is profound. It has to be mentioned in this context that Jonathan had no better understanding of the Chinese culture and had failed to facilitate effective and successful intercultural communication between the Chinese company site and his Australian counterpart and as a result, a few misunderstanding and negotiation flaws have had already occurred. For reviving the situation well planned and strategic intercultural communication and intervention is required taking help from cultural analysis and intercultural communication theories and core competencies. There are many theories that can be associated with the concept of intercultural communication. And each of the theories has a profound impact on the development of the intercultural communication competencies which are extremely required for any crosscultural representative to do his work properly. In the case study the most important flaw in Jonathan had been the fact that he had never lived outside his own country and had no understanding of how to blend in different cultural backgrounds (Jandt 2017). In order for him to succeed in his position and the present it is very important for him to understand different intercultural theories and develop the core competencies of intercultural communication. According to the theory of intercultural adaptation, the most effective method of intercultural communication is through learned communicative competencies. This theory directs the individual towards understanding the foreign culture and then adapting the communication pattern to blend in.   The next theory is co cultural theory, which defines communication with our interactions among underrepresented individuals (Samovar et al. 2014). This theory directs individuals to be accepting and open minded about the differences between two cultures and exercise equal position between the groups to facilitate optimal and culturally competent interaction. The theory of communication acculturation represents the cross cultural adaptation to be a task that can be accomplished with only collaborative effort between the parties involved. And on the other hand the communication accommodation theory relies on different linguistic strategies to decrease the communicative distance between two cultural backgrounds. Linking the main Idea behind the theories it can be mentioned that intercultural communication competencies can be developed with better understanding of the cultural differences, compassionate acceptance of the cultural differences, honest and strategic adaptation tec hniques, and most importantly collaborative effort between the parties involved (Carbaugh 2013). Now coming to the modern core competencies of intercultural communication the most important factors has to be proficient knowledge about the host cultural background and linguistic characteristics. Along with that communication can never be effective without emphasis on the nonverbal characteristics of the communication. For example traits like tone of voice, posture, communication approach, eye contact, time and space, and gestures account for the most important influencing factors of effective communication (Neuliep 2013).   Core competencies of intercultural communication can never be complete without mentioning key personality traits like flexibility, open-mindedness, empathy, equality, and adaptability in the individual. Hence, Jonathan as a company representative has to develop all these competencies in order to facilitate effective interaction between the both of the countries. In order to entertain effective intercultural interaction between both the countries, Jonathan will also need to have a thorough analysis of the cultural differences between the two countries.   Australia can be considered a very open minded, westernized, and modern society with an individualistic and progressive take to the lifestyle. China on the other hand is very traditional Confucian cultural societies where traditional values and principles are given the most importance over any modernized are progressive change. In order to better understand the cultural dimension differences between both the countries the help of hofstede cultural dimensions analysis can be taken.   Each of the cultural dimension looks at different aspect of culture and its importance effect on the society. On elaboration of the very first dimension, power distance in which Australia scores much lower than China at 36 indicating that the business culture of Australia is not dependent on unequal distributi on of power. Accessible, collaborative, and shared decision making is the main structural components of industrial culture of Australia and communication is informal direct and participative. China on the other hand is a Confucian society is a very high at the score of 80. It's very clearly indicates that the clear stratification of power among the organizational hierarchy and a very formal and respectful. The next dimension is individualism in which China ranks very low at score of 20 indicating a very collectivist culture in the society showcasing a Cooperative and collaborative lifestyle. Whereas Australia at the score of 90 shows a very individualistic and person based society. In the component of uncertainty avoidance Australia has a very intermediate score with no clear indication on whether the societal culture is appreciative of uncertainty or not, and on the other hand China had a much lower score of 30 indicating no acceptance towards uncertainty of change. In case of long term orientation, China has a score of 87 showcasing a very responsible and pragmatic social culture, and in contrast, Australia at 21 shows a normative culture. Indulgence is the next dimension where China scores very low at 21 showing a very restrained and disciplined society and Australia at 71 is an indulgent country with least importance to discipline and restrain (Hofstede Insights 2018). Hence it is clear that there are vast cultural differences between the both countries and inevitably in there are profound impact of the cultural difference on the business dealings and etiquettes of both the countries. For instance China is a Confucian society and the business etiquettes of this country is based on a strong power distance, discipline, and punctuality. Here the business dealings are very formal and everyone is expected to maintain a certain composure during the business interactions (Kleinman and Lin 2012). Formal courtesy and justice is also very important to the business etiquette of China and maintaining the respectful relationship is very important to the business etiquettes of the country. Communication is very formal, pleasantries and greetings are exchanged in a formal yet warm manner and conflict is avoided at all costs. Coming to nonverbal communication, in China, body language and posture is always expected to be formal and attentive that exhibit self contr ol and respectfulness that the country thrives on (Law 2012). Australia on the other hand is a much more organized and open minded country with a straight forward and innovative business mentality. The business hierarchy is open, accessible, and decision making is shared among the different organizational sectors with a warm participative communication statistics. There are not traditional restrictions to nonverbal communication, body language and appearance and the business etiquette is very similar to European cultural characteristics. Organizational hierarchy interacts warmly and regularly with the lower employees and their significant power distance in the Australian business etiquette and is very appreciative of change and innovation (Lantis and Charlton 2011). With such a vast difference between the business culture and societal norm among the both of the countries, defective communication is inevitable. However in order for the company representative to effectively counteract the barriers, identification and analysis of the barriers is very important. The very first barrier among the both of the countries and effective communication among them is the linguistic barrier. Australia is a mainly English language operated country and in China English is not the dominating operational language. Along with that another very common barrier to intercultural communication is the non verbal communication components. It has to be mentioned that China is a very formal and traditional country and Australia is a loud and open country (Casmir 2013). Hence factors that tone of voice, gesture, eye contact, body language, and vocal characteristics have a huge impact on the communication between both countries. Another key issue can be the stereotypic prejud ices among both of the cultures. Cultural competence and knowledge is acquired which is only developed through direct experience which Jonathan lacked terribly. Hence the differences between both cultures might have acted as prejudice refraining him from blending in with the cultural norms of China (Mindess 2014). Informal understanding and personality traits can also serve as communication barriers and cross cultural settings. It has to be understood that Jonathan had a very European and open minded are bringing and while, understanding of societal pleasantries might be very different from what is appreciated and accepted in China. Hence the lack of adaptivity to Chinese culture and basic knowledge about their lifestyle is a great hurdle that affected the communication significantly (Neuliep 2013). According to most of the authors, cultural competence is an acquired quality, and it can only be enhanced through effort and experience. The communication on misconduct among Australia and China in this case study has been facilitated by the lack of knowledge and intercultural competence in the chosen representative. However the culture intercultural communication analysis and cultural difference analysis done about can provide useful Framework based on which recommendation strategies can be devised for Jonathan to follow in order to improve his intercultural communication capabilities and aid to this position better. On a concluding note, it has to be mentioned that International expansion can only be effective when the cross-cultural factors are respected and addressed in an efficient and strategic manner. This case study is a excellent example of the impact lack of strategic planning and actions towards better intercultural interaction between two internationally cooperating business entities can have on the overall productivity and profitability of the business operation. Hence, for any international business dealings a thorough cultural analysis and comparison adjustment is needed before attempting the cross cultural business. Jonathan in this case had been chosen to represent the company in the Chinese society where has he had no idea about the cultural norms of the country or any core competencies of intercultural interaction. However with cultural comparison analysis and strategic action to improve the cultural competence and understanding of foreign culture corporate companies can easily succeed in international expansions. Asante, M.K., Miike, Y. and Yin, J. eds., 2013.  The global intercultural communication reader. Routledge. 2, pp123-150 Carbaugh, D. ed., 2013.  Cultural communication and intercultural contact. Routledge. Pp 185-193 Casmir, F.L. ed., 2013.  Ethics in intercultural and international communication. Routledge. Pp 150-165 Chaney, L. and Martin, J., 2013.  Intercultural business communication. Pearson Higher Ed. Hofstede Insights. (2018).  Country Comparison - Hofstede Insights. [online] Available at: https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/australia,china [Accessed 14 Feb. 2018]. Jandt, F.E., 2017.  An introduction to intercultural communication: Identities in a global community. Sage Publications. Pp250-280 Kleinman, A. and Lin, T.Y. eds., 2013.  Normal and abnormal behavior in Chinese culture  (Vol. 2). Springer Science & Business Media.pp123-135 Lantis, J.S. and Charlton, A.A., 2011. Continuity or change? The strategic culture of Australia.  Comparative strategy,  30(4), pp.291-315. Law, W.W., 2012. Educational leadership and culture in China: Dichotomies between Chinese and Anglo-American leadership traditions?.  International Journal of Educational Development,  32(2), pp.273-282. Martin, J.N., 2015. Revisiting intercultural communication competence: Where to go from here.  International Journal of Intercultural Relations,  48, pp.6-8. Mindess, A., 2014.  Reading between the signs: Intercultural communication for sign language interpreters. Nicholas Brealey Publishing. 3, pp. 125-145 Neuliep, J.W., 2017.  Intercultural communication: A contextual approach. Sage Publications. 7. Pp 46-55 Ren, H., 2010.  Neoliberalism and culture in China and Hong Kong: The countdown of time. Routledge. , 3, pp 120-130 Renzaho, A., Green, J., Mellor, D. and Swinburn, B., 2011. Parenting, family functioning and lifestyle in a new culture: the case of African migrants in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.  Child & family social work,  16(2), pp.228-240. Samovar, L.A., Porter, R.E., McDaniel, E.R. and Roy, C.S., 2014.  Intercultural communication: A reader. Cengage Learning.1, Pp 141-153 vom Brocke, J. and Sinnl, T., 2011. Culture in business process management : a literature review.   Business Process Management Journal,  17(2), pp.357-378.