Company Study British Petroleum - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 8 Words: 2537 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Marketing Essay Type Analytical essay Level High school Did you like this example? Company Study: British Petroleum The study examines BPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s global operating environment through a detailed PESTEL analysis. It then goes on to analyze its competitive environment with the help of Porterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s five forces. A detailed SWOT analysis is then performed to assess BPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s internal strengths and weaknesses, the threats it has to face and the opportunities that lay in front. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Company Study: British Petroleum" essay for you Create order Finally, it summarizes the analysis in the form of conclusions. Introduction Company Overview British Petroleum (BP) is one of the largest vertically integrated oil and gas companies in the world. Headquartered in London, its operations expand over six continents in about 100 countries. Its principal operations include Refining and Marketing, Gas, Power and renewable, exploration and production of gas and crude oil, construction, manufacturing and transportation. Key focus of refining and mining is on oil supply and trading, as well as, refining and petrochemicals manufacturing and marketing. BP also has a network of subsidiaries engaged in the chemicals, power and renewable energy sectors. The Group operates in the United Kingdom, the Bahamas, Australia, the British Virgin Islands, Canada, the United States of America, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Spain. (British Petroleum, 2007) Financial Performance The company recorded revenues of $265, 906 million during the fiscal year ended December 2005, as compared to $252,168 in 2005. The companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s replacement cost profit was $22,253 million during fiscal year 2006, an increase of 15% over 2005. Net profit rose from $32,682 in 2005 to $35,158 in 2006. Return on average capital employed on a replacement cost basis was 22%, compared with 20% in 2006. (BP Company Reports, 2006) Q1. PESTEL Political Political turmoil in Middle East, extremist threats in countries like Saudi Arabia and strikes in Nigeria and recurring geopolitical tensions (Eg. Iranà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s dismissal of suggestions that Tehran might suspend uranium enrichment as a way of easing the deadlock with the west over its nuclear ambitions) have made the operational and investment climate very uncertain. Governments in countries like UK, Alaska, US and Venezuela (where BP has major operations) have increased tax rates to take advantage of the high price environment. (Jason, 2007) This may lead to higher costs. Oil and gas play a major role in the dynamics of economies worldwide which has made governments increased their presence through regulations, observations and support. Environmental regulations are enforced at potentially great cost to companies. (Joanne, 2007) Economic BPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s major economic concern is the rise in finance costs and increase in corporate tax expense. Finance costs increased by $102 in 2006 million as compared to 2005. The increase primarily reflects higher interest costs, offset by higher capitalized interest. The increase in corporate tax reflects the impact of the increase in the North Sea tax rate enacted by the UK government in July 2006. (BP, 2006) BPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s high exposure to gas prices could affect it adversely as traditionally gas prices have lagged the sector. While prices of crude oil have been very strong, gas prices have remained slightly weaker which could reflect on BPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s share price as well. Although world economy is slowing, but prospects for the oil and gas sector as a whole are good. Demand for oil is forecasted to remain firm which gives BP a chance to capitalize on the demand. Although rising demand in some countries may open up new avenues for BP, but BPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s recent new ventures such as the giant Thunderhorse field in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico have had slower than expected start-ups. (BP, 2006) The advent of sustained high oil prices presents new and different demands for the development of BPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s business over the long term. High prices also mean that it will be advantageous for BP to sell more rather than purchase. Technological With competitors looking to expand and increase their capital investment across the industry, BP is lagging behind for resources. It has limited number of skilled contractors and equipment available. BP has the reserves in place; it just cant round up the people, rigs, steel, and the rest to develop them as fast as it might like. (Reed, 2007) With capital investment up across the industry, its now jockeying with its competitors for the limited numbers of skilled contractors and equipment available. (Reed, 2007) In the wake of dwindling oil reserves, technological developments can help BP increase efficiency in existing fields. This provides an opportunity to BP to tackle the issue of low reserves to an extent. Social Social spotlight is on oil companies and there is a clamor for oil companies to behave in a socially responsible manner. Corporate Social responsibility groups have campaigned against activities like exploring and digging places by oil companies. Eg. Shellà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s oil exploration and production operations in Nigeria was brought to publicà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s attention for not only violating environmental laws but also tribal peopleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s land rights. (National Petroleum News, 2007) BP has been accused of violating safety and compliance issues in the explosion at the Texas City refinery in the US (the explosion killed 15 people). It has been accused of having an à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‹Å"unsafe cultureà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ and not being socially responsible. Besides the Texas debacle, BP has had other operational and security issues such as leaks and shutdowns in Alaska due to which it has suffered a loss in reputation in terms of safety. Environmental Increasing concerns about global warming has led to more stringent environmental regulations. The introduction of Kyoto Protocol in 2005 for reduction of greenhouse gases and a à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢clean air interstate ruleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢ (CAIR), issued by US environmental protection agency (EPA) in 2005 has added to BPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s cost and concerns. (Bruce, 2006) Traditionally, BP has had a weak record in environmental matters and a further introduction of these stringent regulations may impose new liabilities or increase operating expenses, either of which could result in a material decline in profitability. Other external environmental factors which have added to BPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s woes are Asian Tsunami and hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico. Both turned out to be major disasters for all oil majors. They buffeted BPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s offshore and onshore facilities, impairing production and distribution. (Cliff, 2006) Its production is still recovering from storm damage at the end of last year. Legal Strict corporate governance regulations in response to high profile corporate scandals and failures had made BP adopt IFRS fair value accounting system which analysts believe could batter the revenues of BP the tune of more than $400m. (Jetuah, 2007) Porterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s Five forces (Analysis of the competitive environment) Competitive Rivalry Competitive rivalry is very intense in all the regions. BP competes with ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron Texaco, Total and ConocoPhillips in the global market. Mergers and acquisitions in the oil and gas sector will add to competition. Energy companies are trying to strengthen their global presence by industrial and financial consolidations. Fierce competition means nature of modern production requires access to markets and raw materials throughout the world and possession of enormous amounts of capital. (Jones, 1998) Barriers to entry Threat of new entrants is very low There are high barriers to entry in the oil and gas market with low number of new entrants. This makes the oil and gas market relatively consolidated. Declining reserves, reliance on outside sources, political instability, high competitive rivalry and environmental regulations deter new entrants to a large extent. Entering oil and gas sector is very capital intensive, requires specialization and a deep understanding of the industry and its requirements. It requires the ability to manage both the local and global environment in which extraction take place and the ability to keep pace with the change and volatility of markets.(AMEC Annual Report, 2005) Threat of substitutes Threat of substitutes looms large over BP and oil and gas industry in general. Substitutes such as nuclear energy and renewals are gaining ground which coupled with rising energy costs have the potential to reduce demand. Eg. France relies on nuclear sources for much of its energy supply. Canada recently recognized that it no longer had the large natural gas resources once thought, so oil sands producers are considering building coal or nuclear plants as substitute energy sources to replace natural gas. (Hirsch et al., 2005) Focus on green marketing, global warming and corporate social responsibility has led to much research on bio-fuels as another substitute. Biofuels are supposed to be significantly less carbon neutral than other forms of renewable energy and it is widely believed that they can help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. There are active developments and research done to try to produce bio-fuels to replace oil and natural gas. ( Zwirn, 2006) Buyer Power Buyer power is very low in the oil and gas and associated industries. With the volatile price of oil and gas, most oil companies are not hedged against these price rises. This means that they are finding themselves exposed to spot prices for immediate supply and as a result are facing hefty gas bills. (Chris, 2006) BP takes out a fixed price electricity and gas purchase contract when an existing one ends. This helps it to mitigate the immediate risk to an extent but leaves it vulnerable to price risk in subsequent years. As a result, the buyers are at the mercy of external sources. (Chris, 2006) Supplier Power Supplier power is relatively high. With oil resources in Europe and US not able to meet global demand, BP and other oil companies have to rely on supplies from Middle-East countries and countries like Algeria and Russia in order to meet existing demand. Political instability in some regions mean more reliance on other outside oil producing regions which raises the supplier power even higher. Q2. SWOT Analysis Strengths BPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s vertical integration with both upstream and downstream oil operations gives it operational efficiency related advantages. It helps BP have control over the entire value chain giving it significant competitive advantage in the global oil market. BPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s revenue is spread across 100 different regions. Diversified revenue helps in lowering the risk as it is not dependent on any one market. Dominant market position and good brand image gives BP a significant bargaining power in the global oil market. Weaknesses Declining Crude oil and gas reserves may have an adverse impact on BPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s operating margins. Both crude oil and gas reserves declined by 2.7% and 6.4% respectively between 2003 to 2005. (BP, 2006) Competition in downstream operations has made BP lose out on financial performance and capital efficiency. The companyà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s net income per marketed barrel basis is the lowest as compared to its competitors, reflecting the relatively small refining component within its downstream business. (Data monitor Report, 2006) Opportunities Demand for natural gas driven by demand for LNG and high fuel prices is expected to grow significantly. Global consumption of natural gas is projected to increase by nearly 70% between 2002 and 2025. (Data monitor Report, 2006) Rising demand for refined products and petrochemicals in China and increasing demand for aviation fuel are good market expansion opportunities for BP. By 2010, the European oil and gas market if forecasted to grow by 5.7% by market value and 8% by market volume. (Datamonitor Report, 2006) Threats Political risks and instability in major oil producing regions such as Middle-East, and Nigeria may pose BP with significant concerns. Renewed emphasis on Global warming may affect BPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s operations leading to new government regulations and subsequent cost increases. Market Reports have predicted fall in oil prices from later half of 2007 which may have an impact on BPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s top line growth. There a strong and growing demand for oil and gas in Europe but very few reserves to cater to that demand. The results were arrived by doing an in depth study from secondary sources. Qualitative secondary information from a variety of sources were gathered like BP Case Studies, BP Web page , Reference books , Journals , Online journals, Newspaper and Magazine Articles , Taped interviews , Business news channel views , Research Agency (e.g Mintel) databases . Quantitative data from BP Company Reports and other oil majors are collected and analyzed to compare and contrast the effect the competitive and external have had on their performance. Conclusions were only reached after case studies of other oil majors like Exxon-Mobil, Chevron-Texaco were analyzed. BPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s performance and internal strengths were analyzed in both absolute and relative terms. Objectives After analyzing BPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s micro and macro environment, a set of objectives for BP can be formulated. BP has to make sure that it is fully protected against price rises as the near future can some volatility in oil prices. The objective should be to guard itself against price volatility. Although, strong demand and escalating prices have resulted in the growth of oil and gas market, political instability in regions with large reserves and damage to production by natural disasters were largely responsible for rise in prices. Price are expected to stabilize moving forward leading to a slowdown in the pace of market expansion which might present a challenge to BP. With the renewed focus on global warming and energy efficient fuel, BPà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s key objective should be to explore other energy efficient fuel and show some corporate responsibility as an organization. In relation to pricing, Porterà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s analysis highlighted the importance of effective risk management practices for BP. In order to reduce exposure, BP needs effective management of underlying energy price risk. Appropriate measures can ensure avoidance of much of the pain caused by increasingly volatile markets. In the wake of rising terrorist activity in some of the major areas where BP has its operations, one of the objectives should be to have a Disaster management plan. One of the other objectives should be to concentrate on its downstream business where it is losing out to competitors. References AMEC Annual Report (2005) https://www.amec.com/annualreport2005/natural_resources.html Date accessed 09/08/2007 BP (2006) Annual Reports, https://bp.com, Date accessed 12/05/2007 BP to Invest $500 Million in Energy Research Center. (2007) Government Procurement, Apr2007, Vol. 15 Issue 2, p12-12, 1/3p Bruce, P (2006) Getting Easier to be Green., Waste Age, Vol. 37 Issue 9, p74-75, 2p; Chris, B (2006) Why risk it?, Utility Week, 13565532, 1/13/2006, Vol. 24, Issue 19 Cliff, S (2006) BPs revamped emergency plan. By: Saran, Cliff. Computer Weekly, 10/31/2006, p60-60, 1/2p, 1c Hirsch et al. (2005) Peaking of world oil production: impacts, mitigation risk management, https://www.powerswitch.org.uk/portal/images/stories/papers/thehirschreport.pdf, Date accessed 10/08/2007 Jason, B (2007)The Kremlins Big Squeeze., Business Week Online, 4/20/2007, p14-14, 1p Jones, S (1998) British Petroleum acquiring US oil producer Amoco, https://www.wsw s.org/news/1998/aug1998/bpam-a13.shtml, Date accessed 10/08/2007 Jetuah, D (2007) IFRS fair value demands batter oil giant BP, https://www.accountancyage.com/accountancyage/news/2172167/ifrs-fair-value-demands-batter Date accessed 12/05/2007 Date accessed 10/08/2007 Joanna, F (2007)BP Considers Building Hydrocracker Unit for Nerefco Refinery. Global Refining Fuels Report, 4/25/2007, Vol. 11 Issue 9, p23-23, 1p; National Petroleum News (2007) Major Oil takes a slight dip. National Petroleum News, Vol. 99 Issue 3, p6-7 Mandil, C (2003) 4th International Oil Summit, The Oil Market: Competition between oil and other energy sources Oil and Gas in Europe: Industry Profile (2006) DataMonitor Report https://web.ebscohost.com/bsi/pdf?vid=5hid=21sid=a1e2de9c-20b6-479a-ad65-93ee0c7d1bcf%40sessionmgr8 Date accessed 10/08/2007 Reed, S (2007) BP takes it slow and steady; Business Week https://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/feb2007/gb20070206_166806.htm Date accessed Date accessed 10/08/2007 Zwirn, E (2006) DuPont and BP drive future fuels. (cover story) Chemical Market Reporter, 6/26/2006, Vol. 269 Issue 25, p5-5, 1/2p;

Psychedelic Music, Its Origins, and Its Effects on Music...

Psychedelic Music, Its Origins and Its Effects on Music Today Psychedelia in music has been around for a long time and has changed much of the popular music of today. The dictionary definition of psychedelic is, â€Å"of or noting a mental state characterized by a profound sense of intensified sensory perception, sometimes accompanied by severe perceptual distortion and hallucinations and by extreme feelings of either euphoria or despair.† It started in the 1960’s with the discovery of LSD and use of other psychedelic drugs. Psychedelia did not only affect music, it affected people, cities, and the way people think. LSD, which was the catalyst for psychedelic music, was discovered on April 16, 1943, by Albert Hofmann. For months he†¦show more content†¦Many other bands wrote music inspired by LSD in 1966, such as The Rolling Stones, The 13th Floor Elevators, and The Byrds. The influence of Psychedelia and LSD was everywhere. At the end of 1966, the United States started outlawing LSD use, but it was too late. The drug was increasing in popularity, and peaked in the summer of 1967. Although it was now illegal, LSD was still getting more and more popular (DeRogatis 6, 9, 10). Many psychedelic bands came from San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. The Grateful Dead was one of the most popular psychedelic rock bands ever. Although they did not sell many records, they were very well known for their live performances, and their music was often used as a soundtrack for LSD parties. While the Bay area, and especially the Haight-Ashbury, was good for producing great bands, there was a downside as well. Other than the many people dying LSD related deaths, many of the early bands were exploited by the record companies. The record companies wanted to profit from the hippy movement, but they did not like their music. 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Value Education free essay sample

What is Education? Education in the largest sense is any act or experience that has a formative effect on the mind, character or physical ability of an individual. The word education is derived from a Latin word educare which means to bring up, which is related to educere bring out, and ducere, to lead. Therefore education means to bring out potential to lead. Education is the transmission of civilization. Sculpture is to a block of marble as education is to the human soul. Instruction ends in the school-room, but education ends only with life. Practice is the best of all instructors. The fruit of liberal education is not learning, but the capacity and desire to learn, not knowledge, but power. Systems of formal education Education is a concept, referring to the process in which students can learn something: †¢Instruction refers to the facilitating of learning toward identified objectives, delivered either by an instructor or other forms. †¢Teaching refers to the actions of a real live instructor designed to impart learning to the student. Learning refers to learning with a view toward preparing learners with specific knowledge, skills, or abilities that can be applied immediately upon completion †¢Systems of formal education o1. 1 Preschool Education o1. 2 Primary Education o1. 3 Secondary education o1. 4 Higher education o1. 5 Adult education o1. 6 Alternative education o1. 7 Indigenous education Process o2. 1 Curriculum o2. 2 Learning modalities o2. 3 Teaching o2. 4 Technology Education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills and values from one generation to another. Importance of education: Education is as important as the air we breathe because it is our weapon to conquer the world. It is the most important possession a person must have. Education is beneficial in many aspect of life especially, personal and social it is the only possession that cannot be taken away from you. Education is important because it will open up the windows of opportunities. The importance of learning in enabling the individual to put his potentials to optimal use is self-evident. Without education, the training of the human minds is incomplete. No individual is a human being in the working world until he has been educated in the proper sense. The mind was made to be trained and without education, a person is incomplete in that sense. Education makes man a right thinker and a correct decision-maker. It achieves this by bringing him knowledge from the external world, teaching him to reason, and acquainting him with past history, so that he may be a better judge of the present. Without education, man, as it were, is shut up in a windowless room. With education, he finds himself in a room with all its windows open to the outside world. In other words, people who are not educated have less opportunity to do what they want to do. A person that gets a good education will become a more dependable worker, a better citizen, and a stronger consumer. Difference b/n literacy and education: †¢Every educated person is a literate but every literate is not an educated person. Literacy is a part of education. Education has a broader meaning whereas literacy is narrower in concept. The goal of literacy is to make a person to read and write. The aim of education is to make one a complete person. It makes the person not only to read and write but to think comprehensively and reason scientifically. When a person is civilized in behaviour, lives with philosophic fervour leading others to choose him/her as a role model. Many saints and philosophers, though illiterate they were, guided the coming generations better than the most of the so-called educated ones. Definitely illiteracy is a curse but the power of the mind can overthrow the ills of illiteracy if the person is well trained in the intricacies of life. †¢EDUCATION is that which discloses to the wise and disguises from the foolish their lack of understanding. EDUCATION is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten, while LITERACY is ust ability to read and write. †¢To make one to literate is to educate him to learn in reading and understating the script. Hence literacy is a part of education. Education at school and all round development- Education at school: Teachers in educational institutions direct the education of students and might draw on many subjects, including reading, writing, mathemat ics, science and history. This process is sometimes called schooling when referring to the education of teaching only a certain subject, usually as professors at institutions of higher learning. There is also education in fields for those who want specific vocational skills, such as those required to be a pilot. In addition there is an array of education possible at the informal level, such as in museums and libraries, with the Internet and in life experience. Many non-traditional education options are now available and continue to evolve. Education in the Developing World: In developing countries, the number and seriousness of the problems faced are naturally greater. People in more remote or agrarian areas are sometimes unaware of the importance of education. However, many countries have an active Ministry of Education, and in many subjects, such as foreign language learning, the degree of education is actually much higher than in industrialized countries; for example, it is not at all uncommon for students in many developing countries to be reasonably fluent in multiple foreign languages, whereas this is much more of a rarity in the supposedly more educated countries where much of the population is in fact monolingual. Also often there are issues regarding administering educational institution, which are more often then not administered by people who have a feudal mind set. Universal primary education is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals and great improvements have been achieved in the past decade, yet a great deal remains to be done. [37] Researchers at the Overseas Development Institute indicate the main obstacles to greater funding from donors include: donor priorities, aid architecture, and the lack of evidence and advocacy. [37] Additionally, Transparency International has identified corruption in the education sector as a major stumbling block to achieving Universal primary education in Africa. 38] Furthermore, demand in the developing world for improved educational access is not as high as one would expect as governments avoid the recurrent costs involved and there is economic pressure on those parents who prefer their children making money in the short term over any long-term benefits of education. Recent studies on child labor and poverty have suggested that when poor families reach a certain economic threshold where families are ab le to provide for their basic needs, parents return their children to school. This has been found to be true, once the threshold has been breached, even if the potential economic value of the childrens work has increased since their return to school. Education from family, society and nature Education from Family: A family teaches a child how to behave with others and about discipline along with good values. It also teaches how to do chores like cooking, keeping the surroundings neat, etc. A family also develops the child’s self esteem. Values that are taught in schools, by way of education, is distinct from those that are taught at home. It is, without doubt, the responsibility of parents to rear their children in an environment that is conducive to their development, mentally and morally. The first requirement is teaching children to be well-behaved. But children may not be able to acquire good behavior unless their parents demonstrate desirable traits that children tend to observe and emulate at an early age when they are mentally flexible enough to adjust to values that they learn and routinely practice. It is a well known fact that education begins at home, in an environment where their parents are loving, while espousing morals that are necessary, not only in their own interest, but more so, in the interest of their children. Education from Nature: The animals and plants in a forest all have a purpose – a niche. In a balanced ecosystem they work together in harmony. When the balance is lost the system falls apart. Food chains are destroyed, animals become extinct and land degradation sets in. Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. Nature does not make mistakes; it follows certain laws and never deviates from it. If nature decided to go rogue, we would no longer be here. What can we learn from this? Nature only uses habits that serve the greater good. A tree does not grow for the benefit of just the tree; it grows for the benefit of the world. Nature teaches us that we should share our things. It also teaches us that abusing the natural resources of the earth and upsetting her delicate balance we will have to suffer her wrath. Nature is the greatest teacher. It teaches you about the world around you and how to respect it. Education from Society: Generally, at the start of a very young age, children learn to develop and use their mental, moral and physical powers, which they acquire through various types of education. Education is commonly referred to as the process of learning and obtaining knowledge at school, in a form of formal education. However, the process of education does not only start when a child first attends school. Education begins at home. One does not only acquire knowledge from a teacher; one can learn and receive knowledge from a parent, family member and even an acquaintance. In almost all societies, attending school and receiving an education is extremely vital and necessary if one wants to achieve success. Historically, Indian education has been elitist. Traditional Hindu education was tailored to the needs of Brahman (see Glossary) boys who were taught to read and write by a Brahman teacher. Education and Society provides a forum, where teachers and scholars throughout the world, are able to evaluate current issues and problems in education and society from a balanced and comparative social, cultural and economic perspective. Education and Society, a fully refereed journal, is used by teachers, academics, research scholars, educational administrators and graduate students. What do your parents expect from your education? Everybody’s parents will have very high hopes that their children should come to a good position in the future and that they should live a comfortable life. That is why parents expect us to concentrate on studies for a few years so that after education we will get a good life. {Dad if you get some more points pl. add them to this para. } have a positive attitude toward their childrens development. The main effect of nations on such factors as individual development, close attention to diet, willpower training, moral judgment, and emotional exchange with adults is significant, while the two-way interaction between nations and child gender, nations and child age, and the three-way interaction between nations, child gender, and child age are not significant Parental expectations are vital to a students success. Oftentimes when parents have high expectations for students, students rise to the occasion and meet those expectations accelerating, pushing themselves, and working hard to meet that goal. However, on the opposite side, when expectations are not set very high and sometimes even set very low, students do not challenge themselves and oftentimes do not work to their fullest potential. Some of the paths influencing both academic achievement in high school and post-secondary attainment involve parent expectations and include the following: Parent Expectations Achievement The further in school parents believed their adolescents would go, the higher the adolescents academic achievement. Parent Expectations Perception of Parent Expectations Student Expectations Achievement The further in school parents believed their adolescents would go, the clearer the adolescents perception of such expectations, the higher their own academic expectations, the higher their academic achievement. Parent Expectations Perception of Parent Expectations Time Spent on Homework Achievement The further in school parents believed their adolescents would go, the clearer the adolescents perception of such expectations, the more time they spent on homework, the higher their academic achievement. In agreement with findings from other studies (Catsambis, 2001), high educational expectations constitute a powerful way through which parents can encourage continuously the educational attainments of their adolescents in high school and beyond. Value Education Value education is education in values and education towards the inculcation of values. Implicit in this definition is the conviction that value education is a universal phenomenon intrinsic to all learning and education, whether at home or in an institution. It is not. Neither teaches us to be ritical thinkers or to regard ourselves as proactive beings in relation to ourselves, our community and humanity at large. Education is a systematic attempt towards human learning. All learning is subjective and self-related. Educational activity starts with the individual Knowledge should not be made remote from individual reality and irrelevant to the individual. Knowledge can never be learned. Knowledge is the fruit of experience and experience is the sensation of the individual. Individual experience is an internal happening and is the function of awareness. And one of the processes of knowing ourselves, of raising our awareness, is to be able to identify and clarify our values. Education in values is essential in helping each one of us directly encounter the values that we hold, understand them completely, so that we may order our relationships to the environment that lies outside us. Once we are clear about values we shall be better able to sift and control information of the natural world, make wise choices and be creative in our mental processes. Education is a methodical effort towards learning basic facts about humanity. And the core idea behind value education is to cultivate essential values in the students so that the civilization that teaches us to manage complexities can be sustained and further developed. It begins at home and it is continued in schools. Everyone accepts certain things in his/her life through various mediums like society or government. Value education is important to help everyone in improving the value system that he/she holds and put them to use. Once, everyone has understood their values in life they can examine and control the various choices they make in their life. One has to frequently uphold the various types of values in his life such as cultural values, universal values, personal values and social values. Thus, value education is always essential to shape ones life and to give him an opportunity of performing himself on the global stage. The family system in India has a long tradition of imparting value education. But with the progress of modernity and fast changing role of the parents it has not been very easy for the parents to impart relevant values in their wards. Therefore many institutes today conduct various value education programs that are addressed to rising problems of the modern society. These programs concentrate on the development of the children, young adults etc. focusing on areas like happiness, humility, cooperation, honesty, simplicity, love, unity, peace etc. The family system in India has a long tradition of imparting value education. But with the progress of modernity and fast changing role of the parents it has not been very easy for the parents to impart relevant values in their wards. Therefore many institutes today conduct various value education programs that are addressed to rising problems of the modern society. These programs concentrate on the development of the children, young adults etc. focusing on areas like happiness, humility, cooperation, honesty, simplicity, love, unity, peace etc. Very often value education and moral education are considered synonymous. In many cases, it has been observed, moral education serves as a gateway to religious instruction and reinforcement of caste models. education is the vehicle of knowledge, self-preservation and success. Education not only gives us a platform to succeed, but also the knowledge of social conduct, strength, character and self respect. The greatest gift education gives us is the knowledge of unconditional love and a set of values. Value based education is a three fold development of any individual of any gender and age, but most importantly of a child. Education tries to develop three aspects: physique, mentality and character. Even though physique and mentality are important, they are menaces without the third because character is the greatest of these. Education plays a huge role in precisely this area. Value based education is a tool which not only provides us a profession which we can pursue but also a purpose in life. The purpose of our life is undoubtedly to know oneself and be ourselves. We cannot do it unless we learn to identify ourselves with all that lives. Moral Values: Dharma may be defined as the eternal law governing, upholding, and supporting the creation and the world order. It also means duty, righteousness, ideal conduct, moral principles, and truth. Adharma is an antonym to Dharma. Moral values are the standards of good and evil, which govern an individual’s behavior and choices. Individual’s morals may derive from society and government, religion, or self. Value theory encompasses a range of approaches to understanding how, why, and to what degree humans should or do value things, whether the thing is a person, idea, object, or anything else. This investigation began in ancient philosophy, where it is called axiology or ethics. Early philosophical investigations sought to understand good and evil, and the concept of the good. There is still respect to the value system in the society one should not dishearten and blame everyone in the society. Lord Krishna said to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita: Whenever there is a decline of Dharma(good) and the rise of Adharma(bad), O Arjuna, then I manifest (or incarnate) Myself. I incarnate from time to time for protecting the good, for transforming the wicked, and for establishing Dharma, the world order. Moral values are the standards of good and evil, which govern an individual’s behavior and choices. Individual’s morals may derive from society and government, religion, or self. When moral values derive from society and government they, of necessity, may change as the laws and morals of the society change. An example of the impact of changing laws on moral values may be seen in the case of marriage vs. â€Å"living together. † Education and Discipline: Education is a multipurpose process, which not only inculcation of social, economic and cultural awareness in humanity but is also an important medium for grasping, and promoting life enhancing values among human being . It awakens the latest potential among people so that they are able to recognize truth, beauty and goodness. Value education propels mind and soul towards achieving equilibrium which enhancing the personality and promoter mental and spiritual strength as well as clarity and resolution in ones aims. Actually, education is an ever continuing and open ended process and its true objective is to civilize humankind. Discipline is a step more important than education because if a person is very good at studies but doesn’t have discipline than he will not be respected in the society. Education and Hygiene: Hygiene education, or hygiene promotion, encourages people to replace their unsafe hygiene practices with simple, safe alternatives. Most people are only too happy to use clean water for drinking, cooking and bathing once it is readily available. But other hygiene practices are also crucial in preventing water and sanitation related diseases like cholera, dysentery and typhoid that result in two million deaths a year. These practices include the safe disposal of children’s faeces and safe drinking water storage. In many parts of the developing world these are not traditionally associated with disease prevention and therefore require active promotion within water and sanitation projects. Education and Environmental awareness: Hygiene education, or hygiene promotion, encourages people to replace their unsafe hygiene practices with simple, safe alternatives. Most people are only too happy to use clean water for drinking, cooking and bathing once it is readily available. But other hygiene practices are also crucial in preventing water and sanitation related diseases like cholera, dysentery and typhoid that result in two million deaths a year. These practices include the safe disposal of children’s faeces and safe drinking water storage. In many parts of the developing world these are not traditionally associated with disease prevention and therefore require active promotion within water and sanitation projects. Environmental education needs to be improved on all levels of public education. Programmes raising the level of environmental awareness need to be extended to include people involved in vocational training. Environmental sciences must be taught in all fields of higher education as an indispensable part of general education. Requirements for teaching qualifications should include curriculum components related to environmental education. The value system and the requirements of society with respect to the environment need to be monitored, and the methods and tools for measuring environmental awareness need to be improved. With a view to increasing responsible public participation, environmental and consumer protection advisory and information services need to be further expanded. The pros and cons of educating the child in a foreign country: Study abroad is the act of a student pursuing educational opportunities in a foreign country. At present, many young people choose to continue their education at colleges or universities in broad such as Britain, Australia or America. And, many middle or high-income families have sent their children overseas to study. The idea of going overseas for the education is an exciting prospect for many people. But while the overseas education may offer some advantages, it is probably easy to bring some disadvantages because of the difficulties a student inevitably encounters living and studying in a different culture. Then, what are the pros and cons of overseas education? The main advantage of overseas education is academic ones. Overseas education offers many good foreign universities to international students. These universities often have advanced teaching facilities and other resources. In addition, teachers also have higher professional standards they fully understand the latest developments in their academic fields. For example, according to The Times, we can get a list of global ranking reported on November 4, 2004. â€Å"OXFORD and Cambridge are among the worlds top ten universities, according to a new global ranking published today. They were fifth and sixth respectively in the league table of the worlds 200 best universities. Harvard, which boasts an endowment of nearly $23billion (? 12. 7billion), was first in the list produced by The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES). American institutions occupied seven of the top ten places, with Oxbridge the highest-ranked outside the United States. †(Tony Halpin, 2004). Finally, thanks to the high educational quality, the qualification obtained by international students are valid usually anywhere in the world. In addition to the important academic benefits, students also are able to improve their foreign language when they accept the overseas education. While a person can study a foreign language in his or her own country, it cannot compare with constant use of the language in academic and everyday life Pros: Typically, classes taken while studying abroad award credits transferable to higher education institutions in the home country; we can learn a different language from the natives of that country. People study abroad due to the desire to gain an understanding of the world around them. Some students want to learn foreign languages, others to know new culture and people, or to get life experience. Teaching abroad is an opportunity to expand your horizons and enhance your resume with the view to advancing up the career ladder. Studying abroad is a wonderful way to make contacts in other countries and to understand how foreign economies and politics are different from your own. The best way to experience and understand a foreign culture is to live in it.