The Impact of an Exercise Tax on Demand, Supply, Price, and Quantity Essay

The Impact of an Exercise Tax on Demand, Supply, Price, and Quantity - Essay Example There are several factors that affect the price elasticity of demands. One of these factors is the level of prices. Expensive goods such as cars have a high elasticity of demand as a result of the sensitivity to price changes. On the other hand, the price elasticity of demand for inexpensive good such as matchboxes rarely changes the demand by a significant amount. Another factor that affects the price elasticity of demand is the income level. The elasticity of demand for any product is less in groups with higher income levels as compared to the low-income levels. This is as a result of the fact that the impact of prices changes is bigger to the poor people than the rich (Varian 320). The availability of a close substitute is another factor that affects the elasticity of demand. Demand for a product with many substitutes, for example, Pepsi is more elastic as compared to that with a few or no close substitutes such as salt. Lastly, the nature of a commodity is another factor that affects the price elasticity of demand. Necessity goods such as vegetables have inelastic demand while comfort goods such as refrigerators have elastic demand. Luxurious commodities such as cars have more elastic demand than comfort goods (Varian 323). For a consumer to maximize utility he must be at the consumer equilibrium condition. Economists express this condition by equating all of the marginal utilities per dollar that the consumer spends in buying a certain commodity. As seen from the above calculation, there is no single equation where the marginal utility per dollar is at equilibrium hence there is no combination where the consumer has the option of maximizing the utility.  

Currency and Thai Baht Essay Example for Free

Currency and Thai Baht Essay Assessing Future Exchange Rate Movements 1. How are percentage changes in a currency’s value measured? Illustrate your answer numerically by assuming a change in the Thai baht’s value from a value of $0.022 to $0.026. ANSWER: The percentage change in a currency’s value is measured as follows: where S denotes the spot rate, and St −1 denotes the spot rate as of the earlier date. A positive percentage change represents appreciation of the foreign currency, while a negative percentage change represents depreciation. In the example provided, the percentage change in the Thai baht would be: That is, the baht would be expected to appreciate by 18.18%. 2. What are the basic factors that determine the value of a currency? In equilibrium, what is the relationship between these factors? ANSWER: The basic factors that determine the value of a currency are the supply of the currency for sale and the demand for the currency. A high level of supply of a currency generally decreases the currency’s value, while a high level of demand for a currency increases its value. In equilibrium, the supply of the currency equals the demand for the currency. 3. How might the relatively high levels of inflation and interest rates have affected the baht’s value? (Assume a constant level of U.S. inflation and interest rates.) ANSWER: The baht would be affected both by inflation levels and interest rates in Thailand relative to levels of these variables in the U.S. A high level of inflation tends to result in currency depreciation, as it would increase the Thai demand for U.S. goods , causing an increase in the Thai demand for dollars. Furthermore, a relatively high level of Thai inflation would reduce the U.S. demand for Thai goods, causing an increase in the supply of baht for sale. Conversely, the high level of interest rates in Thailand may cause appreciation of the baht relative to the dollar. A relatively high level of interest rates in Thailand would have rendered investments there more attractive for U.S. investors, causing an increase in the demand for baht. Furthermore, U.S. securities would have been less attractive to Thai investors, causing an increase in the supply of dollars for sale. However, investors might be unwilling to invest in baht-denominated securities if they are concerned about the potential depreciation of the baht that could result from Thailand’s inflation. 4. How do you think the loss of confidence in the Thai baht, evidenced by the withdrawal of funds from Thailand, affected the baht’s value? Would Blades be affected by the change in value, given the primary Thai customer’s commitment? ANSWER: In general, a depreciation in the foreign currency results when investors liquidate their investments in the foreign currency, increasing the supply of its currency for sale. Blades would probably be affected by the change in value even though its Thai customer’s commitment, as the sales are denominated in baht. Thus, the depreciation in the baht would have caused a conversion of the baht revenue into fewer U.S. dollars. 5. Assume that Thailand’s central bank wishes to prevent a withdrawal of funds from its country in order to prevent further changes in the currency’s value. How could it accomplish this objective using interest rates? ANSWER: If Thailand’s central bank wishes to prevent further depreciation in the baht’s value, it would attempt to increase the level of interest rates in Thailand. In turn, this would increase the demand for Thai baht by U.S. investors, as Thai securities would now seem more attractive. This would place upward pressure on the currency’s value. However, the high interest rates could reduce local borrowing and spending. 6. Construct a spreadsheet illustrating the steps Blades’ treasurer would need to follow in order to speculate on expected movements in the baht’s value over the next 30 days. Also show the speculative profit (in dollars) resulting from each scenario. Use both of Ben Holt’s examples to illustrate possible speculation. Assume that Blades can borrow either $10 million or the baht equivalent of this amount. Furthermore, assume that the following short-term interest rates (annualized) are available to Blades: Currency Dollars Thai baht Lending Rate 8.10% 14.80% Borrowing Rate 8.20% 15.40% ANSWER: Depreciation of the Baht from $0.022 to $0.020 1. Borrow Thai baht ($10,000,000/0.022) 2. Convert the Thai baht to dollars ($454,545,454.50 million Ãâ€" $0.022). 3. Lend the dollars at 8.10% annualized, which represents a 0.68% return over the 30-day period [computed as 8.10% Ãâ€"(30/360)]. After 30 days, Blades would receive ($10,000,000 Ãâ€" (1 + .0068)) 4. Use the proceeds of the dollar loan repayment (on Day 30) to repay the baht borrowed. The annual interest on the baht borrowed is 15.40%, or 1.28% over the 30-day period [computed as 15.40% Ãâ€"(30/360)]. The total baht amount necessary to repay the loan is therefore (454,545,454.50 Ãâ€"(1 + .0128)) 454,545,454.50 10,000,000.00 10,068,000.00 460,363,636.40 5. Number of dollars necessary to repay baht loan ($THB460,363,636.40 Ãâ€" $0.02) 6. Speculative profit ($10,068,000 – $9,207,272.73) 9,207,272.73 860,727.27 Appreciation of the Baht from $0.022 to $0.025 1. Borrow dollars. 2. Convert the dollars to Thai baht ($10 million/$0.022). 3. Lend the baht at 14.80% annualized, which represents a 1.23% return over the 30-day period [computed as 14.80% Ãâ€"(30/360)]. After 30 days, Blades would receive (THB454,545,454.50 Ãâ€" (1 + .0123)) 4. Use the proceeds of the baht loan repayment (on Day 30) to repay the dollars borrowed. The annual interest on the dollars borrowed is 8.20%, or 0.68% over the 30-day period [computed as 8.20% Ãâ€" (30/360)]. The total dollar amount necessary to repay the loan is therefore ($10,000,000 Ãâ€"(1 + .0068)) 5. Number of baht necessary to repay dollar loan ($10,068,000.00/$0.025) 6. Speculative profit (THB460,136,363.60 – THB402,720,000.00) 7. Dollar equivalent of speculative profit (THB57,416,363.60 Ãâ€"$0.025) 10,000,000.00 454,545,454.50 460,136,363.60 10,068,000.00 402,720,000.00 57,416,363.60 1,435,409.09

The Concept Of Cultural Heritage

The Concept Of Cultural Heritage To understand cultural heritage and interpretation, it is essential to understand the various definitions and theories in relation to the concept of cultural heritage. The term cultural heritage refers to the things, places and practices that define who we are as individuals, as communities, as nations or civilizations and as a species (Wedenoja, 2010). In other words, it is the cultural legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or society that are inherited from past generations, preserved in the present and bestowed for the benefit of future generations. It is a legacy which we often want to recognize and reserve because it strengthens our cultural identity of sense of who we are as people. However, what is considered cultural heritage by one generation may be rejected by the next generation, only to be revived by a succeeding generation. Cultural heritage is not limited to material manifestations. It also includes living expressions and the traditions that groups and communities around the world have inherited from their ancestors and transmitted to their descendants. Thus, cultural heritage can be grouped into broad categories: tangible and intangible. Tangible cultural heritage can refer to moveable objects and immoveable sites. These include archaeological sites, artifacts, buildings, historic sites, monuments, graves, and culturally significant landscapes like sacred places. Landscapes are considered heritage when they have natural features that may have cultural attributes including flora and fauna. Heritage sites like these often serve as an important component in a countrys tourist industry, attracting many visitors from abroad as well as locally. UNESCO  [1]  defines intangible cultural heritage as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the non-physical characteristics, practices, representations, expressions as well as knowledg e and skills that identify and define a group or civilization (UNESCO, 2010). These include language, oral histories, beliefs, practices, rituals, ceremonies, customs, traditions, music, dance, crafts, and other arts. Heritage that survives from the past is often unique and irreplaceable. This places the responsibility of preservation on the current generation. Safeguarding cultural heritage has become one of the priorities of international cooperation since 1972 when the General Conference of UNESCO adopted the Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage. There are 878 World Heritage Sites as of 2008. They are located in 145 countries and 678 cultural, 174 natural, and 26 mixed sites (UNESCO World Heritage Sites, 2010). The preservation of living heritage has only become significant in 2003 when UNESCO adopted the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. (This is the short version > still have a lot of detail to add because the term cultural heritage is very detailed and has meant different things in the past decades. Unless the professor thinks this is enough.) Cultural Heritage and the Challenges of Tourism In recent years, key heritage sites have seen a remarkable increase poorly guided or unguided tourists. Tremendous pressure has been forced upon areas like Angkor Wat, Luang Prabang or Halong Bay the growing number of visitors and the general growth in Tourism. International agencies such as the World Tourism Organization have predicted that tourism numbers will continue to rise over the next 10 years, predominantly so for the continent of Asia. Such growths in visitor numbers worsens existing problems at World Heritage sites which include vandalism, lack of awareness of cultural and heritage significance of sites, congestion and destination and cultural commodification. As global tourism increasingly interface with heritage sites, the pressures of meeting challenges will be more pronounced. In addition to the negative effects of unguided mass tourism at heritage sites, a rise in niche cultural tourism also prompts the need for the training of cultural heritage specialist guides for World Heritage sites. The development of such niche groups of culturally-sensitive and learning-seeking tourists is constituted within the broader developments of what has been termed by tourism academics as special interest tourism and the diversification of the tourism market. However, the development of niche cultural tourism is hampered by the widespread lack of cultural heritage specialist guides in Asia-Pacific. In the APETIT meeting in 2002, the training of professional guides was highlighted by UNESCAP and UNESCO as key to improvements in the tourism system and industry. What is Digitization? We use the term digitization to refer to the process of converting physical resources or information into a digital format (Digitization, 2007). In other words, digitizing means simply capturing an analog signal in digital form. Photos taken with a digital camera, or data collected by an electronic measuring device are automatically converted into digital form. However, text and images that are in a tangible form can be digitized with a scanner (Ibid). When scanning texts or images, an optical character recognition program, also known as OCR, analyzes a text image for light and dark areas in order to identify each alphabetic letter or numeric digit, and converts each character into an ASCII code (Ibid). Audio and videos can also be digitized by a process in which an analog signal is changed, without changing its essential content, into a digital signal (Ibid). The process of sampling measures the amplitude, or signal strength, of an analog waveform at evenly spaced time markers (Ibid ). It also signifies the samples as numerical values for input as digital data (Digitization, 2007). Objects and sites on the other hand require a more complicated process. A 3D scanner is utilized to analyze an object or environment. The 3D scanner creates a point of cloud of geometric samples on the surface of the object or site and these points can then be used to digitally reconstruct the object or site (3D Scanner, 2010). Digitized resources can be easily shared through digital devices, equipment, and networks. Despite its many advantages, digital resources still need special care and preservation as they can become obsolete. Therefore, everything must be digitized at the highest quality and migrated to the latest storage and formats. Digitization of an object using a 3D Scanner (Scribe It, n.d.) Why Should We Digitize Cultural Heritage? Cultural Heritage should be digitized for the following reasons: Preservation of Tangible Cultural Heritage Digitization can help preserve tangible cultural heritage including objects and buildings. All objects and the valuable information they contain will be available without jeopardizing their integrity by handling or by exposure to the elements. For instance, the Stonehenge in Great Britain is using technological interpretation to conserve the heritage site. Brian Bath states in his publication The Use of New Technology in the Interpretation of Historic Landscapes (2006) that a massive number of visitors wanted to see every angle of the Stonehenge and if the same number of visitors came to the site constantly it would à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a threat exposed surface archaeology and to the protected lichens on the stone surfaces at ground level. Bath (2006) also added that it was hard interpreting the site without explaining the conservation process as well. People wanted to see everything but what they didnt understand was the effect they would have on the site. The solution for this matter was technology. Various forms of Medias like CDs with 3 models and web-based virtual museums were developed in response to assist tourists understand about the conservation and interpretation of the site. 3D/ Virtual Reconstruction of Stonehenge Broadened Access A lot of people cant travel to museums or actual sites whenever they want and even if they could, space constraints imposed on museums would only allow them to see a little percentage of available collections. Therefore, digitizing cultural heritage greatly increases public access. Furthermore, it also advances the work of scholars and researchers worldwide, and opens new opportunities to educators in every setting. Often, objects reside in multiple places even if they are related. Thus, digitizing entire collections allows museums to assimilate their resources, making it possible for scholars working externally to see at a glance their complexity and extent of holdings in a given area. Moreover, digitization also allows museums to share their resources more broadly by integrating collections that have been separated by location across many cultural heritage institutions and research centers. And lastly, digitized materials also help museums reach underserved audiences, as well as th ose not motivated to see museums as a source of information. For instance, twenty years ago, students had to travel to Washington, D.C. to research in the Library of Congress and it was an expensive matter. Now, high school students from around the world have instant access. In 2003, the Library of Congress reported that approximately 15 million people visited American Memory. That is more than the number of people who have worked in the librarys reading rooms over the past 200 years and 1,500 times the number who annually use the manuscript reading room (Cohen Rosenzweig, 2006). New Access Digitization allows access to historical resources that are inaccessible because of their fragility (Cohen Rosenzweig, 2006). As an example, the original 1791 plan for the city Washington is so deteriorated and brittle the Library of Congress does not allow researchers to examine it (Cohen Rosenzweig, 2006). But now anyone can view the digital copy on the librarys website. Not all Library of Congress documents are quite this fragile, but like many other sources, they cant be browsed easily in analog form. LEnfants Original City Plan of Washington 1791 LEnfants Revised City Plan of Washington 1792 Support Education Another benefit of digitizing cultural heritage is that it supports education. Digitization impacts learning in classrooms and everywhere learning takes place. Studies of cultural heritage can come alive with instant access to images, sound files and text extracts. People will be able to experience things not normally possible in a museum, e.g. exploring the inside of a space shuttle in 3D. Furthermore, educators working with cultural heritage can interact virtually with audiences and cultivate forums for exploring topics in more depth and from varying perspectives. Lifelong learners will be able to guide their own learning with help from museums digitized collections. Overall, digitization will give public access to a much greater percentage of museums immense resources, providing better tools with which to spark learning. Brian Bath (2006) stated that the Museum of London set-up a web-based virtual museum and 40 percent of the people who visited the site including students actually came to the museum. As you can see, some people who may have never had interest in going were appealed. Enhances Museums Competitiveness Digitization can enhance museums competitiveness by enhancing visitors experience. A study was carried out by the SITI Research Center of the Queen Margaret University College (Reino, S., Mitsche, N. Frew, A., 2007) in the UK by comparing live interpretation and traditional interpretation at 2 sites, which were Beamish and the Bowes. The result was that ICT improved competitiveness of heritage sites by enhancing learning, entertainment and visitors experience. Beamish which used technology for interpretation had an average of 4% better outcomes in each category. Ease of Access for Researchers In the past, researchers and scholars had to endure the thorough process of ordering up boxes of items in order to find what they were looking for. Sometimes researchers or scholars could not study the archival documents (e.g., glass plate and film negatives) without the prior conversions into readable or viewable media like prints. On the other hand digitization allows quick and easy browsing of large collections of material. Enrich Context Digitization will help enrich context of cultural heritage because everything relevant to an object including details, records, and other interpretative data can be shared. This will enable a richer interaction and enhance users understanding of an object or sites context and meaning. In addition, digitization will enable allows experts to compare artifacts and specimens against those of the digitized museum, substantially increasing information about these holdings at a greater rate remotely. Equally important, it allows people around the world to add additional impressions, associations, and stories to the permanent record. (Will add an example) Infinite Reach Digitization allows infinite reach. It helps people draw multi-media resources from science centers, programs, and museums. Drawn resources could be combined in a way that it could transport an audience back in time. An audience could potentially see how Thai people were living 300 years ago, or witness battles. On the other hand, digitization could also let people experience the present as scientists do. For instance, an audience could be accessing data from Bangkok and could be in the Arctic the next minute learning about ice. And last but not least, people could perhaps travel virtually through space, with a view so clear, making them feel as though they could touch the stars from their armchair. As aforementioned, with digital assets, people would truly have infinite reach. What is Heritage Interpretation? The Basic Principles of Heritage Interpretation The Evolution of Heritage Interpretation and New Media Museums and Their Functions What are Virtual Museums? Still missing but will be added: How can cultural heritage material be digitized? Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Digitizing audio video Cultural Heritage in Thailand Heritage Interpretation in Thailand Examples of Heritage Interpretation and New Media in Other Countries What is the possibility for Thailand? Is it worth it? Assesing Cost and Timelines. Problems with Digitizing Cultural Heritage (Has to be explained in more detail and more examples) Three major problems impede the use of digital technology from being a major tool in preserving cultural heritage. The first one is the enormous amount of financial resources needed for the scanning process, the second one is the quick obsolescence of hardware and software, and the third is the need for standardization of tools and interfaces. As a result, the work done in this area is mostly on a pilot basis, where researchers study the various aspects of certain subjects, build and experiment with modest projects, debate on standards and establish coordinating bodies. Forms of Digitization and Their Advantages and Disadvantages Virtual Museums 3d Technology The origins of heritage interpretation date back to the aftermath of the creation of the first natural parks at the end of the 19th century in the United States. However, it was not until 1957, with publication by Freeman Tildens Interpreting our Heritage that the foundation of the discipline were established. Although in the early days this interpretation was essentially

Cry Freedom :: essays research papers

Cry Freedom Cry freedom is a real life drama recorded as a movie. The movies main character is steve biko (played by the actor Denzel Washington), a man in his early thirties who has the ability to lead his people; the blacks againt the South African injustices. He’s most recognised point or view was „we don’t want to be forced into your society...I’m not going to be what you want me to be.'; Biko was able to show what apartheid has done when he meets a white journalist by the name of Donald Woods. He was a white who was strongly againts ‘supremacy’ as he beleived that it built a wall of hatred which infact apartheid was causing. Woods slowly gives awarness of the apartheid’s violent side through the submission of photographs of a ghetto being attack by South African police into the newspaper he is the editor of. At a sad note Biko is arrested on his way to a rally and is beaten to death in custody; the governmen announces he’s death as a ‘hunger strike’. Donald Woods is deeply outraged and shocked. He goes to see the body and takes photographs of the beaten body and plans to smuggle the photo’s out of the country which includes a plan of him diskized as a preast and the escape of his family. Before that he was placed on house arrest as Biko was through with his revolutionary era of speaches. My personal response to the apartheid issue is that im simply tottally against that because it cause discrimination and stronger racism. But I guess that strong racism within a certain community caused apartheid. The incidnts that were occuring in South Africa were absolutly discracfull to how a country was behaving in the eyes of the world. I believe that preventing South africa from participating from olympic and sporting events as well as trade relations was a very good initiative taken by world commitee’s. „Black deaths in custody'; ‘Black deaths in custody’ was a story presented by ABC’s four courners. The story is mainly about Aboriginal deaths in Western Australia during a period of 1980 to the 1990’s. As a reporter states at the beginning of the report a 17 year old aboriginal boy was killed by police officers as said but the case was seen as a sort of an accident. The local out rage by the aboriginal community was devastating; the pub was attacked with steel rods used for the local railway, then looted and futher more distroyed.

A Comparison of The Rape of Lock and The Eve of St. Agnes :: comparison compare contrast essays

A Comparison of The Rape of Lock and The Eve of St. Agnes    The differences between eighteenth-century literature and romantic poems, with respect to history is seen through the works of John Keats and Alexander Pope.   Two important works are, "The Rape of Lock" and "The Eve of St. Agnes."   Alexander Pope takes his readers on a hatred filled epic.   A robust piece of literature and love induced psychoses in, "The Rape of Lock."   On the other hand, "The Eve of St. Agnes" told a tale of life, love, death, and eternal fate in heaven.   These two brilliant writers have given two magnificent poems.   Pope exhibits many characteristics of a narcissistic human being.   His independence in life shows through his writings in fiction.   Which inevitably portray his deeper feelings of life.   Popes' efforts here are of outstanding quality.   However, his poem did fail to convince Arabella to rà ©sumà © her engagement to Lord Petre.   Most of Pope's efforts here were written with time.   Now, Keats has romantically serenaded his reader with descriptive lust and desire, which can be compared with popes' efforts by the difference in eighteenth century literature and romantic poems, their descriptive natures and ideas they portray to the reader through their writing.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Pope has written an eighteenth-century poem which he calls, "An Hero- Comical Poem."   This poem has exalted an over all sense of worthlessness for common rules.   The mentioning of Achilles and the ever-popular Aeneas, are symbols of Pope's Gothic style.   Pope speaks (almost) G-D like throughout, "The Rape of Lock."   Contrary to Keats, who is more down-to-earth with his sense of realism in his writings.   In the beginning of Keats romantic premise to life in St. Agnes, all is cold.   The opening sequence brings a sense of realism to this bitter cold scene.   Cold owls, rabbit's, and numb fingers on a holy, "Beads man."   The Beads man symbolizes the sense of age and spirit.   Much of this poem is a test of Keats inner soul or spirit.   He has lead himself to St. Agnes for his own personal account of life in a time long gone.   Keats' romantic style has brought visionary raw emotion to the aching hearts of all his readers.   Then,

The Shy Girl Essay -- Personal Narrative Writing

The Shy Girl Ever since I can remember, I was naturally quiet and shy. I constantly repeated myself because people could not hear me the first time. Even then, I seldom made eye contact with others. When I entered high school, nothing changed. Soon afterward, I disliked the way my classmates thought of me. If someone had to make an announcement in class, I was not chosen; my classmates believed I was not vocal enough. If someone threw a party, I was not invited because they thought "Shy girls" would not want to come. Most of my classmates attracted a great deal of attention. No one willingly associated with me. Not only did my classmates see me as quiet and shy, but they made me start believing it, too. Ashamed, I wanted some way out. I wanted my words to stick with people. I wanted them to think, "Louisa said†¦." I tried participating in class more and sharing my opinions, but that did not help. Whenever I made a comment, one of two things happened: I did not get the credit for my comment, or no one took me seriously. I felt helpless. The ninth grade production of The Tempest changed my life. My teacher, Mrs. Massand, gave me a part in the play and I no longer appeared quiet and shy. Although Mrs. Massand assigned the whole class a part in the play, she appointed me as, Stephano, the drunk, a major role. Her choice surprised me and my classmates. Stephano's character seemed so unlike mine; he was loud and silly. My first thought was, "How is a quiet girl like me going to play the part of a boisterous drunk?" Until now my classmates convinced me that I was simply quiet and shy. Now the play required me to show another side of myself. We began the play by reading the text out loud and becoming comfortable with t... ...t scene, I was marching around in a circle shouting, "Ban, ban, Ca-Caliban!" At the end of the performance, the audience was bursting with cheer. Then Mrs. Massand had us individually take a bow. When it was my turn to bow, the audience gave me the standing ovation. I was never more excited. As I exited the stage, almost every classmate stopped me to say, "Wow Louisa, you were the best!" At that moment I realized I could be loud, silly, and talented. My ninth grade performance in The Tempest made my last years in high school a success; acting and reciting the words of Stephano made my growth in confidence possible. What I once thought was an everlasting label of shyness proved removable after all. My classmates saw another side to me, and I was glad that I was not labeled as a quiet and shy girl anymore. That year I came in like a lamb and went out like a lion.

Student Satisfaction in Jose Rizal University

Introduction Students’ opinions about all aspects of academic life are now sought by educational institutions worldwide, generally, in the form of a satisfaction feedback questionnaire. It is this student satisfaction survey, within the context of student satisfaction in JRU Jose Rizal University. In the Philippines, Higher Education (HE) students were considered to be the â€Å"primary customers† of a University ,even before they were liable for the payment of â€Å"up-front† tuition fees. Students are the direct recipients of the service provided.As if to confirm this status of the â€Å"student as customer†, the Commision on Higher Education (CHED) has introduced a National Student Survey. This survey is aimed at first year students to seek their views on a number of aspects of teaching, assessment and support provided by their university and its courses. The results will ultimately be used by the school to produce league tables of university performanc e. The position of a university in any league tables will impact ultimately on its image.Image has a strong impact on the retention of current students and the attraction of potential students. Indeed recruitment and retention of students has been moved to the top of most universities’ agendas by CHED due to their desire to increase the JRU student population in line with Government targets. Poor retention rates may have adverse funding consequences for University . This paper takes the view that student satisfaction, retention and recruitment are closely linked.Thus student satisfaction has become an extremely important issue for universities and their management. The aim is to try to maximise student satisfaction, minimise dissatisfaction and therefore retain students and so improve the institutions performance across a number of league tables. Taking these criticisms into consideration the questionnaire used in the satisfaction survey asked only for perceptions of performa nce of a range of service aspects (as well as importance) but did not aim to collect data associated with expectations.Indeed, the survey questionnaire was designed around the concept of the service-product bundle. This concept is discussed in the next section. The service-product bundle The outcome of service delivery is a tangible product, and a â€Å"bundle† of goods and services as the product offering . The service-product bundle refers to the inseparable offering of many goods and services including what Jose Rizal University has to offer its students. This bundle consists of three elements: (1) the physical or facilitating goods; 2) the sensual service provided – the explicit service; and (3) the psychological service – the implicit service. For a university the facilitating goods include the lectures and tutorials, presentation slides, supplementary handout documents/materials and the recommended module text. It also includes the physical facilities such as the lecture theatres and tutorial rooms and their level of furnishing, decoration, lighting and layout as well as ancillary services such as catering and recreational amenities.The explicit service includes the knowledge levels of staff, staff teaching ability, the consistency of teaching quality irrespective of personnel, ease of making appointments with staff, the level of difficulty of the subject content and the workload. The implicit service includes the treatment of students by staff, including friendliness and approachability, concern shown if the student has a problem, respect for feelings and opinions, availability of staff, capability and competence of staff.It also includes the ability of the university’s environment to make the student feel comfortable, the sense of competence, confidence and professionalism conveyed by the ambience in lectures and tutorials, feeling that the student’s best interest is being served and a feeling that rewards are consist ent with the effort put into course works /examinations. All of the above are based on students’ perceptions of the various parts of the service and the data is usually collected via some form of feedback questionnaire.Why collect student feedback? (1) to provide auditable evidence that students have had the opportunity to pass comment on their courses and that such information is used to bring about improvements; (2) to encourage student reflection on their learning; (3) to allow institutions to benchmark and to provide indicators that will contribute to the reputation of the university in the marketplace; and (4) to provide students with an opportunity to express their level of satisfaction with their academic experience.The last bullet point as the rationale behind the survey undertaken for the particular research project described in this paper. Keeping customers satisfied is what leads to customer loyalty. Research conducted by Jones and Sasser Jr (1995) into thirty orga nisations from five different markets found that where customers have choices the link between satisfaction and loyalty is linear; as satisfaction rises, so too does loyalty. However, in markets where competition was intense they found a difference between the loyalty of satisfied and completely satisfied customers.Put simply, if satisfaction is ranked on a 1-5 scale from completely dissatisfied to completely satisfied, the 4’s – though satisfied – were six times more likely to defect than the 5’s. Customer loyalty manifests itself in many forms of customer behavior. Jones and Sasser Jr (1995) grouped ways of measuring loyalty into three main categories: (1) intent to re-purchase; (2) primary behaviour – organisations have access to information on various transactions at the customer level and can track five categories that show actual customer re-purchasing behaviour; viz, recency, frequency, amount, retention, and longevity; and 3) secondary beha viour – e. g. customer referrals, endorsements and spreading the word are all extremely important forms of consumer behaviour for an organisation. Translating this into university services, this covers intent to study at a higher level within the same institution, how frequently and recently a student used ancillary services, such as the library, catering and IT services, and lastly the willingness to recommend the institution to friends, neighbours and fellow employees. Issues impacting on student satisfaction Price et al. 2003) recently reported on the impact of facilities on undergraduate student choice of university. They surveyed a number of universities over two years in order to determine students’ reasons for selecting a particular university. The average results for the two years were fairly similar – the top eight reasons being; it had the right course, availability of computers, quality of library facilities, good teaching reputation, availability of â€Å"quiet† areas, availability of areas for self-study, quality of public transport in the town/city and a friendly attitude towards students.Clearly, students’ perceptions of a university’s facilities are one of the main influences on their decision to enrol. Coles (2002) found that student satisfaction is decreased when class sizes are larger in earlier cohorts, and when students are taking compulsory core modules rather than optional modules. The quality of any of the service encounters, or â€Å"moments of truth† (Carlzon, 1989) experienced by customers forms part of their overall impression of the whole service provided, (Dale, 2003) and by implication, their impression of the organisation itself.As Deming (1982) commented, most people form their opinions based on the people that they see, and they are either dissatisfied or delighted, or some other point on the continuum in between. In order to deliver high quality services to students, universiti es must manage every aspect of the student’s interaction with all of their service offerings and in particular those involving its people. Services are delivered to people by people, and the moments of truth can make or break a university’s image (Banwet and Datta, 2003).In order to deliver total student satisfaction, all employees of a university should Ad here to the principles of quality customer service, whether they be front-line contact staff involved in teaching or administration, or non-contact staff in management or administrative roles (Gold, 2001; Low, 2000, cited in Banwet and Datta, 2003). In a recent survey conducted with 310 all male Saudi Arabian students attending the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Sohail and Shaikh (2004) found that â€Å"contact personnel† was the most influencing factor in student’s evaluation of service quality.However, physical environment, layout, lighting, classrooms, appearance of buildings and gr ounds and the overall cleanliness also significantly contributed to students’ concepts of service quality. Galloway (1998) studied the role of the faculty administration office in one UK University on student perceptions of service quality. He found that it impacted directly on students and influenced their perceptions of the quality of the whole institution. The office performance also had a direct impact on academic and technical staff within the faculty.These front-line staff in their turn had a direct impact on students, potential students and other clients. The main predictors of quality for students were found to be: . office has a professional appearance; . staff dress smartly; . never too busy to help; and . opening hours are personally convenient. Banwet and Datta (2003) believed that satisfied customers are loyal, and that satisfied students were likely to attend another lecture delivered by the same lecturer or opt for another module or course taught by her/him.In their survey of 168 students who attended four lectures delivered by the same lecturer, covering perceived service quality, importance and post-visit intentions, they found that students placed more importance on the outcome of the lecture (knowledge and skills gained, availability of class notes and reading material, coverage and depth of the lecture and teacher’s feedback on assessed work) than any other dimension.This supports the findings of Schneider and Bowen (1995) who deduced that the quality of the core service influences the overall quality of the service perception. For universities the core service delivery method is still the lecture. Overall Banwet and Datta (2003) found that students’ intentions to re-attend or recommend lectures was dependent on their perceptions of quality and the satisfaction they got from attending previous lectures. This is supported by the research of Hill et al. (2003) who utilised focus groups to determine what quality education meant to students.The most important theme was the quality of the lecturer including classroom delivery, feedback to students during the session and on assignments, and the relationship with students in the classroom. Research by Tam (2002) to measure the impact of Higher Education (HE) on student’s academic, social and personal growth at a Hong Kong university found that as a result of their university experience students had changed intellectually, socially, emotionally and culturally. This growth was evidenced as students progressed from one year to another as their university career developed.Is this also the case with student’ perceptions of service quality and satisfaction? A number of researchers have suggested that this might indeed be the case (Hill, 1995; O’Neil, 2003) although obtaining valid and reliable data to support such a stance is difficult. This study aims to determine if there are differences in those aspects of a university service that stud ents consider important, as well as their satisfaction levels, associated with their year/level of study, i. e. first, second and third. MethodologyA quantitative survey was designed to elicit student satisfaction levels across the University’s service offerings. The questionnaire consisted of __ questions informed by previous research studies and subdivided into the various categories of the service product bundle including, lecture and tutorial facilities, ancillary facilities, the facilitating goods, the explicit service and the implicit service. At the end students were asked for their overall satisfaction rating and whether they would recommend the University to a prospective student.The satisfaction questions were preceded by a series of demographic questions that would allow the sample population to be segmented. These included, interalia, questions regarding gender, age, level of study, mode of study and country of origin. Participation in the survey was entirely volu ntary and anonymous. The length and complexity of the questionnaire was influenced, in part, by the balance between the quest for data and getting students to complete the survey. The questionnaire was piloted among 100 undergraduate volunteers.The length of time it took them to complete the survey was noted and at the end they were asked for any comments regarding the validity and reliability of individual questions. They were also asked if there was anything â€Å"missing† from the questionnaire. Based on the feedback received a number of questions were amended and the design of the questionnaire altered slightly. It took on average 12 minutes to complete the questionnaire. In order to get as large and representative a sample as possible, we conduct survey question in first year student in all courses in were targeted.Staff teaching these modules were approached and permission sought to utilise for a few minuetes of their lecture time in order to explain the rationale behin d the survey and to persuade students to complete the survey in class. Generally this â€Å"personal touch† was successful in eliciting a good response. Over the course of the two weeks the survey was undertaken, only one person refused to complete the questionnaire. Researchers are divided as to whether or not determinants of satisfaction should be weighted by their importance because different attributes may be of unequal importance to different people.In this study both satisfaction and importance were measured. There is no such thing as the perfect rating scale. However, some produce more reliable and valid results than others. Devlin et al. (1993) determined that a good rating scale should have, inter alia, the following characteristics: . minimal response bias; . discriminating power; . ease of administration; and . ease of use by respondents. In order to accommodate these characteristics, the rating scale contained five points with well-spaced anchor points representin g the possible range of opinions about the service.The scale contained a neutral category and the negative categories were presented first (to the left). Thus, undergraduates were required to respond utilising a 5-point Likert scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is very unsatisfactory, 2 is unsatisfactory, 3 is neutral (neither satisfactory or unsatisfactory), 4 is satisfactory and 5 is very satisfactory. This type of scale provides a common basis for responses to items concerned with different aspects of the University experience.The importance that students place on each criteria was measured utilising a 5-point Likert scale, where 1 is very unimportant, 2 is unimportant, 3 is neutral (neither important or unimportant) 4 is important and 5 is very important. Respondents were asked to tick the box next to the number that represented their opinion on each item. A sample of 865 students from a total within the Faculty of 3800 was surveyed. The questionnaires were analysed using SPSS v. 11 and Q uadrant Analysis conducted in order to determine those areas perceived as being the least satisfactory with the greatest importance rating.Finally, respondent focus groups were assembled to discuss some of the issues that required more in-depth analysis and which, due to constraints of space and time, were not explicitly asked about in the original survey. Results A total of — questionnaires were returned, although not all had complete data sets. Table I details the demographic mix of the respondents. Based on all student responses, the most important (i. e. list of the top ten starting from the highest value) and least important (i. e. ist of the bottom ten starting from the lowest value) aspects of the University service are shown in Table II. As can be seen from Table II the most important areas of the University services are those associated with learning and teaching. Interestingly, given the recommendations of a Government White Paper (HEFCE et al. , 2003) that from 200 6 all newly recruited university teaching staff should obtain a teaching qualification that incorporates agreed professional standards, the most important aspect of the service is the teaching ability of staff, closely followed by their subject expertise.The consistency of teaching quality irrespective of the teacher is also considered by the respondents as important, recognising that teaching quality can be variable. The students also recognise the importance of the lecture and tutorial, which is not surprising given that for most universities that is still the core service offering and is very much linked to the teaching ability and subject knowledge of staff. Teaching and learning support materials were Table 1. 1 Demographic mix of respondents GenderMale Female46 54 NationalityHome(Filipino)International89 4 Mode of StudyFull-time Part-time sandwich Level of studyLevel1 Level2 Level3 Note: Sandwich students are those whose program of study includes a year in industry Table 2. 2 Most important and least important aspects of service RatingMost ImportantLeast important 1Teaching ability of staffDecoration in lecture facilities 2Subject expertise of staffVending machines 3IT facilitiesDecoration in tutorial rooms 4LecturesFurnishings in lecture facilities 5Supplementary lecture materialsRecreational facilities TutorialsAvailability of parking 7Consistency of teaching quality irrespective of teacherThe layout of tutorial/seminar rooms 8White boardThe layout of lecture facilities 9The Learning Resources CentreThe on-campus catering facilities 10The approachability of teaching staffThe quality of pastoral support Note: Blackboard is a virtual learning environment that students can access off and on campus also ranked highly, particularly supplementary handout materials and the use of Blackboard for enhancing student learning.These are mostly associated with the explicit service delivered to the students and the facilitating goods. With regard to facilities, stude nts have ranked the importance of IT facilities very highly, reflecting the usefulness of connection to the Internet for research purposes and software packages for producing high quality word-processed documentation for coursework assignments and dissertations. This links well with the high ranking of the Learning Resource Centre where IT facilities can be accessed and books and journals ourced in â€Å"hard† copy or electronic copy. Table II also shows those areas of the service that students find relatively unimportant. These are mostly associated with the lecture and tutorial facilities and the ancillary services, for example, layout and decoration of lecture and tutorial facilities, catering facilities and vending machines. A further analysis was undertaken to determine whether different segments of the respondent population had similar or different rankings of the University services’ attributes with regard to importance and unimportance.With regard to mode of st udy, Table III shows the rankings for students studying full-time with the University. Whilst acknowledging the fact that 80 per cent of the sample population is full time students, the rankings of those service aspects considered most important are very similar to those for the sample population as a whole, the only difference being that â€Å"supplementary tutorial materials† replaces â€Å"approachability of staff†.Once again the majority of aspects considered least important are associated with the facilities and ancillary services When the views of Part-time students are considered, a number of interesting differences in their priorities are worthy of discussion. Table IV shows the rankings of service aspects for part time students. The IT facilities drops from third to tenth in their importance rankings, perhaps indicative of the fact that they have access to IT facilities at work and/or at home, thus rendering it less important relative to other aspects of servi ce.Blackboard (a virtual learning environment that allows teaching staff to make learning and other material available via the internet), on the other hand rises from 10th to 7th in importance indicating its usefulness as a teaching aid for students who do not attend the University on a daily basis and who may miss classes due to work or family commitments. Interestingly, the â€Å"helpfulness of technical staff† is considered unimportant, again reflecting their access to such help at work or a greater level of expertise on their part through working with IT on a daily basis. RankingMost importantLeast important Teaching ability of staffDecoration in lecture facilities 2Subject expertise of staffDecoration in tutorial rooms 3IT facilitiesVending machines 4LecturesFurnishing in tutorials 5TutorialsFurnishing in lectures 6Supplementary lecture materialsAvailability of parking 7Consistency of teaching quality irrespective of teacherRecreational facilities 8The Learning Resources CentreThe layout of tutorial/seminar rooms 9Supplementary tutorial materialsThe on-campus catering facilities 10BlackboardThe layout of lecture facilities Table III. Most important and least important service aspects for full-time students RatingMost importantLeast important Teaching ability of staffRecreational facilities 2Subject expertise of staffVending machines 3Consistency of teaching quality irrespective of teacherDecoration in lecture facilities 4Teaching and learning equipment in lecturesFurnishings in lecture facilities 5The Learning Resources CentreDecoration in tutorial rooms 6LecturesQuality of pastoral support 7BlackboardThe on-campus catering facilities 8Supplementary lecture materialsThe layout of tutorial/seminar rooms 9Supplementary tutorial materialsHelpfulness of technical staff 10IT facilitiesThe lecture facilities overall