Exponential Decay and Percent Change

When an original amount is reduced by a consistent rate over a period of time, exponential decay is occurring. This example shows how to work a consistent rate problem or calculate the decay factor. The key to understanding the decay factor is learning about percent change. Following is an exponential decay function:    y a(1–b)x where: y is the final amount remaining after the decay over a period of timea is the original amountx represents timeThe decay factor is (1–b).The variable, b, is the percent change in decimal form. Because this is an exponential decay factor, this article focuses on percent decrease. Ways to Find Percent Decrease Three examples help illustrate ways to find percent decrease: Percent Decrease Is Mentioned in the Story Greece is experiencing tremendous financial strain because it owes more money than it can repay. As a result, the Greek government is trying to reduce how much it spends. Imagine that an expert has told Greek leaders that they must cut spending by 20 percent. What is the percent decrease, b, of Greece’s spending?  20 percentWhat is the decay factor of Greece’s spending? Decay factor: (1 – b)   (1 – .20) (.80) Percent Decrease Is Expressed in a Function As Greece reduces its government spending, experts predict that the country’s debt will decline. Imagine if the country’s annual debt could be modeled by this function:   y 500(1 – .30)x where y means billions of dollars, and x represents the number of years since 2009. What is the percent decrease, b, of Greece’s annual debt? 30 percentWhat is the decay factor of Greece’s annual debt? Decay factor: (1 – b) (1 – .30) .70 Percent Decrease Is Hidden in a Set of Data After Greece reduces government services and salaries, imagine that this data details Greece’s projected annual debt. 2009: $500 billion2010: $475 billion2011:  $451.25 billion2012: $428.69 billion How to Calculate Percent Decrease A. Pick two consecutive years to compare: 2009:  $500 billion; 2010:  $475 billion B. Use this formula: Percent decrease   (older– newer) / older: (500 billion – 475 billion) / 500 billion .05 or 5 percent C. Check for consistency. Pick two other consecutive years: 2011: $451.25 billion; 2012: $428.69 billion (451.25 – 428.69) / 451.25 is approximately .05 or 5 percent Percent Decrease in Real Life Salt is the glitter of American  spice racks. Glitter transforms construction paper and crude drawings into cherished Mother’s Day cards; salt transforms otherwise bland foods into national favorites. The abundance of salt in potato chips, popcorn, and pot pie mesmerizes the taste buds. Unfortunately, too much flavor can ruin a good thing. In the hands of heavy-handed adults, excess salt can lead to high blood pressure, heart attacks, and strokes. Recently, a lawmaker announced legislation that would force U.S. citizens and residents to cut back on the salt they consume. What if the salt-reduction law passed, and Americans began to consume less of the mineral? Suppose that each year, restaurants were mandated to decrease sodium levels by 2.5 percent annually, beginning in 2017. The predicted decline in heart attacks can be described by the following function:   y 10,000,000(1 – .10)x where y represents the annual number of heart attacks after x years. Apparently, the legislation would be worth its salt. Americans would be afflicted with fewer strokes. Here are fictional projections for annual strokes in America: 2016: 7,000,000 strokes2017: 6,650,000 strokes2018: 6,317,500 strokes2019: 6,001,625 strokes Sample Questions What is the mandated percent decrease in salt consumption in restaurants? Answer: 2.5 percent Explanation:  Three different things—sodium levels, heart attacks, and strokes—are predicted to decrease. Each year, restaurants were mandated to decrease sodium levels by 2.5 percent annually, beginning in 2017. What is the mandated decay factor for salt consumption in restaurants? Answer: .975 Explanation: Decay factor: (1 –  b) (1 – .025) .975 Based on predictions, what would be the percent decrease for annual heart attacks? Answer:  10 percent Explanation:  The predicted decline in heart attacks can be described by the following function:   y   10,000,000(1 – .10)x where  y  represents the annual number of heart attacks after  x  years. Based on predictions, what will be the decay factor for annual heart attacks? Answer: .90 Explanation: Decay factor: (1 -  b) (1 - .10) .90 Based on these fictional projections, what will be the percent decrease for strokes in America? Answer:  5 percent Explanation: A. Choose data for two consecutive years:  2016: 7,000,000 strokes; 2017: 6,650,000 strokes B. Use this formula:  Percent decrease (older – newer)  / older (7,000,000 – 6,650,000)/7,000,000 .05 or 5 percent C. Check for consistency and choose data for another set of consecutive years: 2018: 6,317,500 strokes; 2019: 6,001,625 strokes Percent decrease   (older – newer)  / older (6,317,500 – 6,001,625) / 6,001,625 approximately .05 or 5 percent Based on these fictional projections, what will be the decay factor for strokes in America? Answer: .95 Explanation: Decay factor: (1 –  b) (1  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ .05) .95 Edited by Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D.

Definition and Examples of Broken-Record Responses

Compare and Contrast the Current Era of Globalization with...

Assignment one Student name: Hyde Zhu Student number: 220089143 Course code: MM202 Assignment question: topic 1 Compare and contrast the current era of globalization with the first age of globalization (1850s-1920s). What are the advantages and disadvantages of globalization in its current context? Word count: 1530 Unit Coordinator: Dr Tony Ramsay I am going to contrast the current era of globalization with the first age of globalization in many different aspects, in the mean time analysis the merits and demerits of globalization in its current context. John and Kenneth (2012, p. 28) find that the concept of globalization means the trend toward greater economic, cultural, political, and technological interdependence. With the†¦show more content†¦According to John and Kenneth (2012, p. 31), political leaders of over 20 nations decided to made the organization named General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to promote free trade by reducing both tariffs and nontariff barriers to international trade. Besides, the World Trade Organization is also aim to deal with the trade issues. The three main goals of the WTO are to help the free flow of trade, help negotiate further opening of markets, and settle trade disputes among its members ( World Trade Organization [WTO], para. 2). Over all, the trade in the first age of g lobalization was much freely than it today. At the same time, the trade today is well organized and reasonable. Technology could change the world. The first industrial revolution led the world to the age of steam. The transportation around the world increased rapidly. During the first age of globalization, steam machines like steamship and trains did promote the process of globalization. By contrast, the current key technology term would be the internet. The net work did enhance the connection of the world, the people from anywhere of the world could communicate through the internet. Due to the new technology, the world trade could be much easier. Moreover, with the development of the high technology the speed of the transportations were increased obviously. Globalization brings vast benefits to the world. It helps backward countriesShow MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 Pagesunit. The beginnings and ends of what we choose to call centuries are almost invariably years of little significance. But there is little agreement over when the twentieth century c.e. arrived, and there were several points both before the year 2000 (the collapse of the Soviet Union, the reunification of Germany, the surge of globalization from the mid-1990s) and afterward (9/11, or the global recession of 2008) when one could quite plausibly argue that a new era had begun. A compelling case canRead MoreContemporary Issues in Management Accounting211377 Words   |  846 PagesPress in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York ß Oxford University Press 2006 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) First published 2006 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted

Quantitative Approaches Pearson Education -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Questions: What Are The Nature And Extent Of The Problems Faced By The Managers? How Frequently They Face These Issues. What Are The Steps Taken By The Managers To Combat Such Situations? Answers: Introduction Over the last few decades, the global commercial framework has undergone considerable dynamics and modifications, which have contributed massively in shaping up the modern day methods of doing business. With time, the global business scenario has become more integrated and inclusive, by reducing the geographical and cultural barriers existing in these aspects. Phenomena like that of Globalization and Liberalization across different countries have also contributed in making inter-country trade and commerce much convenient. This in turn has encouraged more and more companies to increase their domain of operations and production across different geographical location, to explore and take advantages of geographically diversified economies and markets (Mendenhall et al. 2017). With the penetration in the global markets, the workforces within these companies are also changing significantly, with the companies having employees not only of different expertise and experiences but also of different cultural, geographical and ethnological origins. These companies, for the purpose of better and wider commercial prospects and for expanding their domain of operations, are becoming increasing dependent on this geographically and culturally varied workforce, which is contributing positively in terms of implementing strategic diversities (Erez et al. 2013). However, the presence of a global and diverse workforce often leads to problems within the teams, in terms of misunderstandings, lack of coordination and confusions, thereby making it a challenge for the managers to manage the global workforce in an efficient manner, such that their productivity and success are optimized. Keeping this into consideration, the paper proposes to discuss and highlight the primary challenges which are faced by the contemporary global business teams in their operational framework, which in turn becomes challenges to the corresponding managements, emphasizing on the problems which crop up while managing cross border business teams. Project Objective Keeping the above discussion in consideration, the primary objective of the concerned project is to analyze and interpret the different challenges and problems, which are faced by the managers of especially those multinational commercial institutions, which operate in different geographical domains and have geographically and culturally diversified cross-border teams of employees. For understanding the same, it is of utmost importance to study the characteristic features of such cross-border business teams, the problems which crop up in such a framework and the root causes behind such problems, which are also proposed to be studied by the concerned research project. Apart from highlighting the different challenges which the managers face, which in turn create hurdles in the path of achievement of the organizational goals, the paper also proposes to analyze the different styles of management which are usually undertaken in this aspect and how they can be improved to combat these hurdl es efficiently. Project Scope It can be seen from the above discussion that the contemporary global business scenario is becoming increasingly integrated and diverse, with companies hiring employees from different geographical locations, cultural backgrounds and professional expertise and the work teams becoming geographically varied within the companies themselves. In such a scenario, it becomes important for the managements to design their operational frameworks in such a way that maximum advantage can be obtained from such work set ups. This can however, only be done once the problems and challenges in the management of such global teams are identified and tackled with. Therefore, to maximize the profits and welfare of the contemporary global commercial framework, the challenges which are faced by the managers of the multi-national companies in this aspect has to be studies with immense importance, which in turn indicates towards the wide scope of the proposed research in the contemporary periods. Global Work Teams With global and geographical diverse workforce and global teams increasingly becoming a part of the modern business frameworks, many literary works have been done on the aspects of the profitability, nature, characteristics of such work teams and the challenges which can arise in the process of efficient management of such diversely located work teams. There exists various definitions and interpretations of the term global teams in the commercial scenario. As stated by Moran, Abramson and Moran (2014), in their working paper, the term can be assigned to the increasingly popular practice of the business organizations to form work teams across different time zones and geographical and cultural boundaries, which in spite of their linguistic and cultural differences work for the same organizational goals. In general, one individual or a group of managers, who, with his base in one country, is assigned the role of managing the geographically diverse teams, manages these varied teams. Benefits of such diverse work teams Different scholars put forward, several crucial advantages of the presence of geographically diverse teams, most of which talks about the prospects it adds to the company and in terms of increased profitability and sustainability. According to Pieterse, Van Knippenberg and Van Dierendonck (2013), the presence of culturally and geographically diverse teams in a commercial institution can help in tapping the regional talents as well as comparative advantages which may have positive implications on the organizations profitability, sustainability as well as global competitiveness. Klitmller and Lauring (2013), who add that the presence of such teams helps the companies in expanding their operational framework in different countries, thereby helping them to exploit the opportunities present in the previously unexplored markets, support their assertions. Daim et al. (2012) puts forward the aspect of the continuously technological innovations and improvisations, which makes it much convenient as well as cost effective for the commercial institutions to manage their global teams virtually with the help of the different electronic mediums, which make communication between these culturally and geographically diverse workforces fast and easy. All these assertions together, point towards the benefit as well as the need for incorporation of diverse work teams in the contemporary commercial scenario. Problems and challenges in maintaining global teams In spite of the presence of considerable prospects and benefits of the presence of global and diversified workforce within a company, there remains several issues of concern in the working of the same, which, as put forward by different scholars, if not addressed can be immensely detrimental to the commercial profitability and viability of these organizations. The primary issues of concern, as highlighted in the different literary works, are discussed as follows: Communication Breakdown- One of the primary challenges faced by the global teams and their managers, as argues by Daim et al. (2012) is the problem of communication breakdown, which often happens within the diversified teams within a company, mostly due to the absence of proper and effective channel of communications between the geographically diverse work teams. Other factors contributing to this problem are lack of trust, inter-personal issues and improper or shortsighted leaderships in the company, which hampers the carrying out multi-national projects of the companies Shaffer et al. (2012). Lack of team developing activities- Dyer and Dyer (2013) asserts that often the global teams are formed within the companies in ad hoc basis as per the needs of the situations. These teams, being temporary in nature, start with the assigned works soon after team formation, which gives them little or no time to build a proper plan for carrying out the task. The absence of the feeling of a proper team mentality hampers the commitment of the members, thereby affecting the goals of the organization. Confusions in decision-making activities- As rightly argues by Liu and Woywode (2013), one of the most crucial issues or challenges which the global teams face in their operational framework, is that of the confusions and problems in decision making regarding planning and executions of different strategies and operations. The geographical difference, different time zones and variations in the work cultures in different geographical locations make it a huge challenge for the cross-border teams to take operational decisions effectively and unanimously. The presence of very little common office hours also contributes to the lack of communication which hampers these activities substantially. Differences in work culture- The presence of different and often conflicting corporate cultures among the cross border teams of a company, is seen as one of the primary challenges in the aspect of efficient team management, by Mowday, Porter and Steers (2013). According to the authors, these varied corporate cultures make it difficult for the managers to make the employees understand their job roles and the common target of maximization of profit of organization, towards which they are supposed to be committed. Coordination failure- Another problem of operation of global teams, which is related to the previous challenges, is the highly relevant problem of coordination issues in the day to day activities in the team. As Alvesson and Sveningsson (2015), suggest often the problem arises with the employees operating in one country and their bosses operating in other. In such scenarios the support from the supervisors or managers often come in an untimely manner, thereby leading to coordination failure, which hampers the projects of the company, especially in which prompt decisions are needed to be taken. Evaluation of team performance- Cappelli and Keller (2013) rightly puts forward in their article, the problem of proper evaluation of the performance of the global teams by the managers as one of the most concerning issues in this aspect. According to the authors, the remote working locations and virtual communication channels contribute in creating barriers for the managers in the aspect of evaluation of the teams performance. Often these evaluations are erroneous and it almost becomes impossible for the managers to keep track of the regular operations of the team. This in turn hampers in the target setting and goal-achieving framework of the employees, thereby affecting the companies adversely. Lack of vision- The assertions of the previous authors are augmented by Crisp and Jarvenpaa (2013), who argues that the lack of coordination and evaluation often prevents the managers and the leaders to implant the vision of the company among the team members, which makes them feel de-motivated. This clubbed with improper information flow contributes in the problems, which the managers face while managing such teams. From the above review of the existing literatures in this aspect, it can be seen that the problems and challenges, which the managers of multi-national companies and diverse global teams can face, have been extensively discussed and interpreted by scholars from all parts of the world. However, empirical and real life evidences rarely support these assertions. Also very little has been said or done for designing wholesome strategies to rule out such problems or to at least address such issues. For this purpose the point of views of the managers and other people involved in the operation of the global teams need to be emphasized on and incorporated in the problem solving process. Research Methodology To make the research robust and informative, the paper proposes to adopt a mixed method research, incorporating both quantitative as well as qualitative aspects: Quantitative Research The project proposes to carry out interviews with at least 30 managers of such globally diversified teams, who have the base in the country itself. For the collection of the primary data, it proposes to design quantitative questionnaires emphasizing on the following points: Number of teams and team mates the managers handle Geographical locations of the teams Types of diversity in the teams Types of problems faced by the managers Frequency of occurrence of such problems Cost of managing such problems The data collected are proposed to be interpreted and analyzed using statistical software SPSS (Neuman 2013). Qualitative Research Quantitative research methods only focus on the cardinal details of a problem, thereby missing out the ordinal and abstract specific information, which might be extremely relevant (Liamputtong 2013). Considering this aspect, the project proposes to perform in depth interviews with at least five managers of reputed companies handling such teams. It also proposes to conduct focused group discussion with such global teams, emphasizing on extensive discussion about the challenges as well as the ways in which these problems can be solved. Research Limitations The primary limitation of the concerned research is that, though it tries to incorporate the views of all the types of players involved in operation of global teams, it cannot take into account the same for multiple geographical locations, due to time and cost constraints. The research thereby loses the chances to study the differences in corporate cultures and work behaviors and the scope to study how the same affects the working of the different global teams thereby creating challenges for the managers. Time Schedule Research Milestones Particulars Duration Starting Finish Research Ideation 3 Days 18-01-2018 20-01-2018 Review of Literature 3 Days 21-01-2018 23-01-2018 Research Design 5 Days 23-01-2018 27-01-2018 Data Collection 5 Days 29-01-2018 02-02-2018 Data Interpretation 3 Days 03-02-2018 06-02-2018 Publication of the Data 3 Days 07-02-2018 09-02-2018 Conclusion In the contemporary business world, the implications of the global and geographically diverse work teams are becoming increasingly prominent, with more and more companies going global and exploring different geographical markets as well as newer domains of operations. In such situations, the presence of global teams not only become beneficial for the companies but has become a necessity to prosper and stay ahead of the competitors. However, managing such teams are not easy as the managers need to face different problems and challenges which create hurdles in the path of smooth operational framework of the companies and in attaining their long term goals. The proposed research tries to shed light on the major challenges, which the managers of global work teams face, and also tries to discuss the strategies which can be taken to properly address and reduce such problems. References Alvesson, M. and Sveningsson, S., 2015.Changing organizational culture: Cultural change work in progress. Routledge. Cappelli, P. and Keller, J.R., 2013. Classifying work in the new economy.Academy of Management Review,38(4), pp.575-596. Crisp, C.B. and Jarvenpaa, S.L., 2013. Swift trust in global virtual teams.Journal of Personnel Psychology. Daim, T.U., Ha, A., Reutiman, S., Hughes, B., Pathak, U., Bynum, W. and Bhatla, A., 2012. Exploring the communication breakdown in global virtual teams.International Journal of Project Management,30(2), pp.199-212. Erez, M., Lisak, A., Harush, R., Glikson, E., Nouri, R. and Shokef, E., 2013. Going global: Developing management students' cultural intelligence and global identity in culturally diverse virtual teams.Academy of Management Learning Education,12(3), pp.330-355. Klitmller, A. and Lauring, J., 2013. When global virtual teams share knowledge: Media richness, cultural difference and language commonality.Journal of World Business,48(3), pp.398-406. Liamputtong, P., 2013.Qualitative research methods. Liu, Y. and Woywode, M., 2013. Light?Touch Integration of Chinese Cross?Border MA: The In?uences of Culture and Absorptive Capacity.Thunderbird International Business Review,55(4), pp.469-483. Mendenhall, M.E., Osland, J., Bird, A., Oddou, G.R., Stevens, M.J., Maznevski, M.L. and Stahl, G.K. eds., 2017.Global leadership: Research, practice, and development. Routledge. Moran, R.T., Abramson, N.R. and Moran, S.V., 2014.Managing cultural differences. Routledge. Mowday, R.T., Porter, L.W. and Steers, R.M., 2013.Employeeorganization linkages: The psychology of commitment, absenteeism, and turnover. Academic press. Neuman, W.L., 2013.Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Pearson education. Pieterse, A.N., Van Knippenberg, D. and Van Dierendonck, D., 2013. Cultural diversity and team performance: The role of team member goal orientation.Academy of Management Journal,56(3), pp.782-804. Shaffer, M.A., Kraimer, M.L., Chen, Y.P. and Bolino, M.C., 2012. Choices, challenges, and career consequences of global work experiences: A review and future agenda.Journal of Management,38(4), pp.1282-1327.