Thursday, October 31, 2019

Astronomy Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Astronomy - Research Paper Example According to various reports, the Atlantic Ocean is getting is bigger at the rate of five to ten centimeters per year. Since the size of the earth does not increase, the increase experienced by the Atlantic Ocean means that some plates must be shrinking. Since the seafloor is also expanding, the expansion is believed to continue (NASA). There are various members of the solar system. Earth and Venus are among the members of the solar system. Earth is the third closest planet to the sun whereas Venus is the second closest to the sun. Therefore, being relatively closer to the sun compared to the Earth, Venus is considered to be a lot hotter. The planet Venus is believed to have average temperatures of over 460 degrees centigrade. On the other hand, the planet Earth has an average temperature of 14 degrees centigrade. Nevertheless, both planets share similar composition, similar size, and more importantly, they have an atmosphere that has a complex weather system. Venus is believed to have a smooth surface like that of the earth although there is a variation of what it is and what it is expected to be. There is sizeable evidence showing the same geographical features that are available on planet earth. For instance, volcanoes, Canyons, lava flows, rift valleys, craters, mountains plains among others are also present in Venus (NASA). Just like planet Earth, Venus has a considerable number of mountains. As a matter of fact, Venus is believed to have mountains that are higher than those of Earth. Maxwell Montes, one of the highest mountains on Venus has an elevation of 11 kilometers. The elevation of Maxwell Montes is believed to be 2 kilometers higher than the highest mountain Mount Everest, which is highest mountain in Planet Earth. Substantial evidence shows that volcanoes and lava flows are also present in Venus. This is shown due to the change in

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

You Are An Investment Analyst Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

You Are An Investment Analyst - Essay Example alysis of their financial statements will enable potential investors and creditors to familiarize themselves with the growth and potential growth of the companies. The beverage market is very broad and diverse. It can range from water, soda, juice or even milk. They can be hot or cold drinks or even alcoholic substances. However, not all products in the beverage world compete in the market as aggressively as carbonated soft drinks brands. These include Coca-cola and Pepsi. Coca-cola is a drink that requires no introduction. It is enjoyed by most countries all over the world with the exception of a few. It is almost the most available and unique brand all over the world currently. Coca-cola has more than one billion consumers per day. Nearly half of all soft drinks sold in the world are a product of Coca-cola. It’s most important soft drinks brands include Fanta, Coke, Sprite, Lilt, and Diet coke. Dr. John Styth Pemberton, a pharmacist in Atlanta, Georgia conceived Coca-cola in the year 1886. He produced the syrup used in the carbonated drink in a brass pot in his backyard. Superintendent Alex Samuelson, born in Sweden collected design ideas revolving around the contents of the drink. He researched and created designs which he then passed on to The Root Glass Company’s supervisor, Earl Dean who approved the shape of the bottle in 1916. The design was exclusive and thus an icon was created. The design was distinctive and thus could not be imitated as it was a copyright. Pepsi-Cola was founded in the summer of 1898 in New Bern, North Carolina by a youthful pharmacist named Caleb Bradham. Caleb drew customers to his drugstore by providing them with this refreshing drink that he created himself. He made major sales which led him to forming a company and to market the product globally. In 1902, Caleb launched Pepsi-Cola Company and received a government grant in the US on June 16, 1903. Two years later, he contracted two people to bottle the product to

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Garlic as a Natural Pesticide | Experiment

Garlic as a Natural Pesticide | Experiment This experiment was designed to investigate and compare the effectiveness of garlic as the natural larvicide and Abate as the chemical larvicide against mosquito larvae. The effectiveness of the larvicides was determined by the time taken for all the mosquito larvae to be killed. The mosquito larvae were placed in separate plastic cups containing garlic extract and Abate respectively. They were monitored at fixed time intervals and the time taken for all the mosquito larvae to die was recorded. The experiment was repeated with different concentrations of garlic extract and Abate. A two-way ANOVA statistical test showed that Abate is more effective against mosquito larvae at 5% significance level compared to garlic, corresponding to the experimental hypothesis. Research and Rationale Mosquitoes originate from the family Culicidae.13 Like many other insects, they go through a life cycle from egg to larva, pupa and finally adult. They are generally well-known as blood-sucking insects to human and they are responsible for many fatal diseases such as dengue, malaria and yellow fever. Some commonly known genera are Aedes, Culex and Anopheles. Usually, mosquitoes breed in stagnant water like ponds, marshes and swamps and they thrive in warm climates.9 In order to control mosquitoes, chemical larvicides are used. One commonly used larvicide, Abate is applied to stagnant water to kill larvae of a wide range of pathogen-carrying vectors (mosquitoes) to hinder their development into adult mosquitoes.2 Consequently, this prevents disease-carrying mosquitoes from hatching and transmitting the pathogens to human via bites. Although the active ingredient of Abate, temephos is said to be effective against mosquito larvae (affects the nervous system by inhibiting cholinesterase enzyme), it has its downsides. Research has shown that certain mosquito species (Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti) have developed resistance for Abate.4 In addition, rats exposed to temephus showed organic phosphorus poisoning while some fish are vulnerable to temephus. Temephus also harm inverterbates such as shrimps and crabs. Accumulation of temephus may also cause drastic impacts on cholinesterase activity involved in nerve signal transmission.6 Plant extracts such as those of garlic are potential alternatives to Abate. Crushing garlic releases thiosulfinates which convert into diallyl disulfide and diallyl trisulfide if mixed with water.10 These two products formed are effective against mosquito larvae. Trials conducted in Bombay have shown that several species of mosquito larvae are susceptible to garlic extracts. Allicin helps to curb malaria by preventing the formation of circumsporozoite protein (CSP) of Plasmodium sporozoites to infect host cells.10 They are effective, safe, environmental-friendly and economical. The objective of this experiment was to investigate and compare the effectiveness of garlic as the natural larvicide and Abate as the chemical larvicide against mosquito larvae. The results from this experiment indicate that the spread of pathogen-causing diseases by mosquitoes can be curbed by using natural substances such as garlic as well as chemical larvicide like Abate. Garlic is a potential alternative to Abate as it is effective, easily available and eco-friendly. Although it might not be as fast-acting as chemical larvicides, garlic has none of the downsides of Abate such as accumulating in the environment and killing other invertebrates. Thus, more research is being conducted to investigate the efficiency of garlic as a larvicide. Statistical Analysis Two-way ANOVA test was used to analyse the data to show whether there is a significant difference between the two larvicides. The Columns P-Value (8.58E-24) is less than the significance level (ÃŽ ± = 0.05). There is a significance difference between the larvicidal properties of Abate and garlic. Abate is a stronger larvicide than garlic. Therefore, the experimental hypothesis is accepted and the null hypothesis is rejected. From the analysis also, the calculated Sample P-value (3.62E-22) is less than the significance level tested as well (ÃŽ ± = 0.05). This shows that there are statistically significant differences between different concentrations of garlic and Abate. The Interaction P-Value (3.01E-19) indicates that there was a statistical significant interaction between the larvicides and the concentrations used. Higher concentrations of both larvicides are more effective against the mosquito larvae compared to lower concentrations. The two-way ANOVA test revealed that Abate is a stronger larvicide than garlic. The Columns P-value is less than the significance value (ÃŽ ± = 0.05), which indicated that Abate and garlic are significantly different in terms of larvicidal properties. This supports the experimental hypothesis that the effectiveness of Abate is greater than that of garlic. Table 4 shows that for all Abate concentrations, the mean time taken for all the mosquito larvae to die are shorter compared to that of garlic. For both larvicides, as their concentrations increased, the mean time decreased. From the data in Table 4, it can be evaluated that there is a bigger percentage difference in the mean time taken between garlic and Abate for the first two concentrations (about 75%). For 3%, 4% and 5% concentrations, the percentage differences in mean time range from 54% to 58%. This is illustrated in Figure 1. It clearly suggested that Abate is much more effective than garlic. Abate is a chemical larvicide while garlic is a natural larvicide. Both contain the active substances which are capable to kill mosquito larvae. Within 24 hours, all mosquito larvae would have died in Abate as well as garlic solutions. It was therefore not practical to calculate the number of live mosquito larvae after 24 hours. Hence, the time taken for the mosquito larvae to die was used as a measure of the substances effectiveness. The shorter the time taken, the more effective the compound is. Dead larvae can be identified by touching them with the tip of a rod or dropper. They cannot be induced to move. Abate contains temephos which is an organophosphate compound.11 It is able to inhibit acetylcholinesterase enzyme which is required to stop a nerve impulse after it has crossed the synapse. As a result, there is a continuous stimulation of the nerve, resulting in tremors and uncoordinated movement.11 Garlic, when crushed and mixed with water, will convert thiosulfinates to diallyl disulfide and diallyl trisulfide,10 both which are organosulfur compounds. They are effective against mosquito larvae. The experiment showed that Abate is a more effective larvicide compared to garlic. Both organophosphorus and organosulfur compounds worked against mosquito larvae. This explains that during the trial experiment, after allowing both solutions to sit for 24 hours, all mosquito larvae died. Nevertheless, the experimental results showed that Abate which contains organophosphorus compounds took a shorter time to kill all the mosquito larvae compared to garlic (organosulfur compound), implying that organophosphorus compounds are more effective against mosquito larvae. However, this may also be due to the purity of the active substances. The industrially-produced Abate contain pure temephos, whereas allicin found in garlic is impure. For an active ingredient to work effectively, it has to be extracted and processed to give optimum results. Although results showed that Abate is a more effective larvicide, it should be noted that Abate is harmful to certain animals such as mice and fish, as well as to some invertebrates. Abate is also liable to accumulate within the natural environment, posing risks to human health. Garlic is an option to replace Abate as it is easily obtainable, cheap and does not pose harm to the environment. Nevertheless, garlic takes a longer time to kill mosquito larvae compared to Abate. Time is a crucial factor when dealing with disease-carrying mosquitoes such as Aedes aegypti. Therefore, although garlic might be effective against mosquito larvae, it may not be practical to use such a time-consuming substance to alleviate the problem with mosquito larvae. Evaluation To increase the accuracy, the base of the garlic, together with its skin was removed before the garlic cloves were weighed using an electronic balance. The garlic cloves were pounded lightly using a mortar and pestle to prevent heat from destroying the chemical contents of garlic, which might decrease the effectiveness of garlic. Disposable droppers were used to avoid contamination of substances being tested and in the container used to collect mosquito larvae. Besides, plastic cups were used instead of laboratory glassware in order to prevent contamination as well. Each cup was closed with a perforated cover to ensure that air flows into the cup. The cup was covered as a precaution to prevent the introduction of any mosquito into the environment in case any larvae managed to complete its life cycle. Results from the trials showed that all mosquito larvae were killed by the larvicides within 24 hours. Therefore, if the number of live mosquito larvae were noted after 24 hours, there would not be any significant differences. As an alternative, the time taken for the mosquito larvae to be killed was measured. It was also impossible to run a stopwatch to measure the time as it would be difficult to estimate when to stop it. Instead, the mosquito larvae were observed every five minutes and any dead larva was noted. Hence, the time measured was estimation as it would be hard to check on the larvae every minute for hours. To increase the precision of results, the experiment was repeated twice to obtain an average time. It was also impossible to differentiate the types of mosquito larvae. Different larvae species might have different response towards larvicide. However, in this experiment, they were assumed to be of the same species. The larvae were also of different days old. Larvicides might have different effects on larvae of different days old. Besides, the solutions might not contain the exact concentration which was supposed to be tested. This is because garlic juice might not be able to be extracted and dissolve in distilled water completely. Abate granules also did not dissolve completely in distilled water. An ethical issue that may be questioned is the accidental introduction of mosquitoes into the environment. In this experiment, mosquito larvae are collected from ponds, which are mosquito breeding grounds. These mosquito larvae are actually prevented from turning into adult mosquitoes, which may transmit certain diseases. Larvae collected are placed in a covered container and are monitored to prevent accidental introduction of mosquitoes in case any larva managed to complete its life cycle. This investigation could be modified by grinding the garlic cloves and dissolve it in ethanol to form garlic solution of a particular concentration. This would increase the reliability of the results. Besides, mosquito larvae of the same species could be used to ensure that the effects of larvicides on that particular type of mosquito larvae only are determined. This reduces the probability of results occurring by chance. Mosquito larvae of a specific species could be cultured rather than collecting them from a pond. The number of mosquito larvae could also have been increased to obtain a more reliable result. Conclusion Chemical larvicide, Abate is significantly more effective than garlic in killing mosquito larvae. This was determined by the notably shorter time taken by Abate to kill all the mosquito larvae than shown by garlic. Source Evaluation Source 2 contains information on agricultural products such as vector control by BASF, the worlds leading chemical company and a corporate group. Hence, it is trustable and reliable. Source 4 is a journal, so contains sound scientific information. It contains a research note written by authors from several research universities. Therefore, it should be trustable and reliable. Source 6 is a data sheet on temephos, the active ingredient in Abate. The data sheet is provided by IPCS INCHEM, cooperation between International Programme on Chemical Safety (IPCS) and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCHOS). IPCS INCHEM compiles information regarding management of chemicals and their risks based on data from World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Therefore, this source is reliable and not biased. Sources 8 and 13 are published books. Therefore, they are credible sources with reliable contents written by notable experts in the respective fields. Source 10 is a trustable review as it is written by credible experts in the particular area. Source 12 is a reliable and credible governmental website by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in regulating pesticides; therefore, all facts and information provided are updated. Source 14 is guidelines for laboratory and field testing of mosquito larvicides by World Health Organization, so should contain sound scientific information.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Different Learning Styles Essay -- Teaching Education Research papers

Different Learning Styles Introduction What is learning? According to the thesaurus in the Eric database, learning is the â€Å"process of acquiring knowledge, attitudes, or skills from study, instruction, or experience† (Eric/Thesaurus database, 2001). A learning style is described as â€Å"a set of factors, behaviors and attitudes that facilitate learning for and individual in a given situation† (Reiff, 1992, p.7). There are many different ways that children learn. The purpose of this paper is to explain the different learning styles that students may possess and to discuss the importance of planning a lesson that includes different techniques to meet the needs of individual learners. These different learning styles may include the show and tellers, seer and feelers, leader of the packs, verbal gymnasts, wandering wonderers, and movers and groovers (WEAC, 2001). The different learning styles possessed by the student can be affected by the theory of multiple intelligences. According to this theory there are 8 different ways to learn including learning through techniques like logical/mathematical, verbal/linguistic, bodily/kinesthetic, interpersonal, musical, intrapersonal, special, and naturalist (Silver, 2000). Show and Tellers I searched through many books and articles about different learning styles and found one that really got my attention. On the WEAC web site I found a page called â€Å"A symphony of learning styles.† On this page I found six learning styles. The first is the â€Å"Show and tellers† These are learners that like to read and write. They love to make up stories just to share with their friends. These learners love to recall stories that happened to them in the past. They love to share their thoughts with... ...detail. It showed every aspect and how to apply them to your classroom. Silver, H., Strong, R., Perini, M. (2000) So each may learn: Integrating learning styles and multiple intelligences. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. I found this book very helpful because it gives you tons of examples of how to put the theories into action in your classroom. Wood, F., Ford, N., Miller, D., Sobczyk, G., & Duffin, R. (1996). Information skills, searching behavior and cognitive styles for student-centered learning: a computer-assisted learning approach. Journal of information science,22. (2), 79-92. This journal was about a study done on students with different learning styles to see if it would affect their approach to research. http://www.schoolicons.com/eng/web/icons/icon2_e.html This is where I retrieved all of my graphics.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Relationship Between Men and Women in the Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Diego Ampuero Gac English 102 M, W, & F Dr. Williams March 17, 2010 The relationship between men and women in ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ In this research paper, I am going to analyze the relationship between men and women in the short story ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ by James Thurber. In this essay I am going to discuss how he shows the conflicts between the man that want to be adventurous, perverted, and that lives in several fantasies, but behind that man there is a woman that holds him back.Many source materials analyze and describe Thurber’s unique humoristic personality and explain how it might affect his work of literature throughout his many short stories. Thurber’s humoristic and satiric style of literature that he uses about the relationship between men and women in ‘The secret Life of Walter Mitty’ attracts the reader’s attention because of that spark of knowledge he gives to his humoristic and intell ectual literature. In Thurber’s book, ‘The Thurber Carnival’, he uses many of his short stories including ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ in order to focus on the relationship between men and women.The conflicts that Thurber writes about typically start out small but then with the time it expands into major conflicts which leads us readers into finding the main problem of the story, in which in this case is about a man that wants to be adventurous and the women who holds him back. In fact, in many of Thurber’s short stories the male characters are shown to be dependent of a strong woman, in which she is the dominant head of the relationship.In the relationships that Thurber’s men are in, they are constant lead into frustrated experiences with their wives, in which they have been bullied by wives who consider that they know everything. This is exactly what happens in the short story ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ with W alter being treated by his wife more like a mentally retarded child than a husband. This is shown throughout the first paragraphs of the story in which the couple is driving around running errands, but not together as a couple, instead, Walter has to stop in front of the hair salon where his wife is having her hair done, and e is told to â€Å"remember to get those overshoes while I’m having my hair done†, and in which Walter replies â€Å"I don’t need overshoes† but the wife replies back saying â€Å"you’re not a young man any longer† (47). These last quotes show how strong and harsh her character is and how dominant she can be in their relationship. These quotes also foreshadow the coming events of Walter’s several daydreaming throughout the story and in which they end up being the main conflict between the relationship between men (Mitty) and woman (wife).The wife in ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’ is the perfect mod el for Thurber’s unique style of literature. In the book ‘The Art of James Thurber’, Richard Tobias states â€Å"The comedy exists in the tension created by the wife's world view. The wife is the threat against Mitty's free and desirable heroism†(85)†¦ â€Å"Then with a smile on his lips, he faces the firing squad, erect motionless, and proud. Walter Mitty the Undefeated, inscrutable to the last†(51). This precise analyzing quotes by Tobias, reflects how Thurber used Mrs.Mitty as the leader of his humoristic and ironic literature to show her superiority above Walter, in which in Thurber’s time, the head of the family was predestined to be the man and not the woman. Tobias also points out the ending of the story with Walter dreaming once again acting like a little kid dreaming about being a hero. Tobias probably points it out because the ending shows how Walter revealed his secrets of being the head of something, the â€Å"hero of the wa r† throughout his paranoiac daydreaming. Several sources have focused on the topic about the relationship between Walter’s prominent daydreams and his marital situation.One of those sources that analyzes this topic is â€Å"Coitus Interruptis: Sexual Symbolism in ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty’†, a book in which a few criticizers analyze Walter’s fantasies and their effect on the relationship. One of the many criticizers, Ann Mann, argues that for a permanent daydreamer like Walter Mitty, his wife has to be the â€Å"ideal wife† for she has to go through all of his daydreaming fantasies and childlike personality, in which it brings the conclusion that she pretty much plays the role of a scapegoat in the relationship.Keeping the eyes on the importance of a women in a relationship as Ann Mann stated, in another aspect, Thomas Fensch appears with his book ‘Conversations with James Thurber’ in which Fensch has plenty of conve rsations with Thurber’s comedian self about different kind of topics that eventually ends up in a topic that shows Thurber’s point of view of the American Women. The man itself has a style of expressing his thoughts with humor and irony but the beauty of it is that at the same time the reader can interpret his sayings as serious thoughts that are in fact very true and intellectual.This magnificent style helps the typical American reader to understand his advice towards American Women by stating that â€Å"Too much attention is given to attracting the males and making other women envious†¦Ã¢â‚¬ , reflecting that Thurber’s point of view of women is that they should go ahead and live life to the fullest and while they can â€Å"†¦woman should be a real helpmate to her husband†(84).As I come to the end of this analysis about the great author James Thurber and the topic about the relationship between men and women in ‘The Secret Life of Walte r Mitty’, I can conclude that Thurber is one of the great American humorist ever of this century and that his genuine literature really helps the reader to understand the relationship between Walter and Mrs.Mitty, and in which they also reflect Thurber’s real life situations between men and women throughout his life. At last, I can affirm that many of his works are so similar to the present day relationship between men and women that it reflects why his literature works are continuing to be popular in today’s world.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Banco de Compartamos

Any company that decides to go into the stock exchange must exude extra caution before making the bold step to go public. Initial public Offer (IPO) of a company mostly can tell how that company is going to do in the stock markets depending on the number of subscriptions received. It is worthy to note that stock prices keep fluctuating and that the price of a company’s share represents the financial position of the company. Companies with a higher share price in the stock exchange are taken by the public and other stake holders to be doing well.In addition to that, the company's affairs become public as they are now prone to analyst reports and public shareholders criticism. In this study, Banco de Compartamos, a micro finance bank offers its shares in the Mexico Stock Exchange which arouses a lot of controversies among major shareholders. Can Compartamos still perform their duties to the poor? Is it possible for them to combine these two without deviating from the purpose for which the bank was originally established? Can they handle the pressures presenting themselves to it as a public company?This is a thorough review and analysis of Compartamos' decision to make the bank a public entity and how it has affected their performance. Banco Compartamos IPO Going public for a micro finance company and in particular Compartamos may prove to be a good thing as well as a bad thing. In the eyes of the public, it may seem like Compartamos is getting too business oriented and that it may lose its focus on helping the low income group that it has been serving. Going public is also a risky endevour because it exposes the business to a lot of external forces.The bank's performance must now be published and analyst's comments go far into exposing the company's weak points which the competitors may take advantage of. Every quarter shareholders, analysts, fund managers and competitors will be waiting to see the financial outcome of the period. This means that the compa ny must work extra hard to maintain positive image or otherwise cause their own downfall. Another note is that Compartamos was doing quite well financially with return on equity (ROE) increasing from 47. 7% to 56. 1% between 2004 and 2006 as compared to others who were averaging at 21.2% in 2006. In fact, Daniel confirmed that from the operational point of view there was no need to sell the shares. They were only doing it as a secondary offering. Compartamos IPO on the other hand proves to be a good venture from the look of its performance in the stock exchange. As a matter of fact, interest by investors was so high that there had to be several revisions of the share price up to P$40 per share. Compartamos market capitalization was $1. 56 billion dollars which is so much to go for hence my agreement that it was the right choice for them to go public.Most impressive was the high interest investors had in the bank which saw them register thirteen times over subscription. From my point of view, a private sale would have been even worse in terms of catering to the customers' needs. This is because the buyers may not have the welfare of the low income group at heart which was the largest target for the bank. The choice was also better than taking debts being offered to them by non-financial debtor which were being offered at the investor's rates.The other thing is that activities of the bank are not going to change as it will continue providing services to the Popular Financial Sector (PFS) which was the main purpose of its introduction back in 1990. Serving the poor and the capital markets demand. It seems like Banco Compartamos has deviated from its objective of serving the poor by getting into the stock exchange. This is according to several stakeholders and analysts such as Richardson of World Council of Credit unions and Chuck Waterfield who thinks the decision is untimely.The question however lies on Compartamos. Can they manage both serving the poor and meet ing the capital market demands? So far, Compartamos has been doing very well in the stock market with its the book value of shares rising to $126 million in 2006 from $6 million at the time of the IPO and an internal rate of return of over 100% in only eight years! Most analysts recommended it because of its prospects for growth and high profitability. The co-CEO of Compartamos seems concerned about the clients.They discuss how they can offer better services and hence improve their lives. Apart from GDI (Generadora de Ingresos) or ‘the income generator loan', they are considering coming up with new products for the people. This means that Compartamos is still committed in its duties improve the lives of the poor. According to ACCION international, Compartamos IPO sent a message that service to the poor can go hand in hand with profits. â€Å"The two Carlos† Strategic options for the future The future of Compartamos looks bright but challenges are never ending in the wor ld of business.The strategies put forth by the â€Å"two Carlos† will have to be met by the end of the year. Client base must be increased to one million, they have to preserve the social mission and at the same time cope with the daily pressures of becoming a public company. The Charlies surely have a great role ahead of them. In order to attain new markets to increase their client base and defend their leading position in the sector coordinated planning is essential. First of all they should lay a good strategy and make plans on how they are going to accomplish their goals.I particularly like that they have set a time limit. This acts as a goal by itself and a motivating factor. With the high rise in competition due to many entrants in the micro finance sector, their strategy should include expanding by coming up with new products that are unique to compliment GDI. A new product will always appeal to customers especially if it comes with an attractive package. Maybe they sh ould consider lowering their interest rates so as to attract new clients and keep the current ones.This would also mean they are helping the poor socially because now they can take cheaper loans hence develop themselves. Compartamos has no market penetration in Mexico as much as it has wide branch coverage. New products will definitely help it in overcoming this challenge. As long as you are a public company, there will always be politics and attacks mostly aimed at breaking the company by presenting a bad name about it. The Charlies know that their bank has not deviated from their original mission. What remains as the challenge is proving it to the public.This can be done by constantly reminding people that they are still committed to serving them while at the same time showing it through action. The best thing for the Charlies is to increase their efforts of serving the poor so that the bad image portrayed by the attackers can be dissolved in the face of the good work that they ar e doing. It’s about playing with the psychology of the shareholders and its clients to avoid the negative effect that would otherwise result. Before deciding to set up new branches, it should consider the viability of the area and whether the market is promising.Areas outside the country especially if micro finance is not well established in the market are a good opportunity though care should be taken to properly establish expected risks and returns. This can be done through conducting researches before investing there. Mergers and acquisitions should also be performed with extra caution to maintain the quality of services offered. The advantage of mergers is that they add to a company's competitiveness. If not well calculated though it may lead to the downfall of an otherwise good businesses.The future of micro finance industry. The IPO will undoubtedly attract more players into the micro finance sector and probably other market-led approaches to poverty. For now, Compartam os remains the lead among them all. There is a possibility of new models coming up that may pose a challenge to Compartamos. Compartamos should be the future of the micro finance sector. This is because most junior micro finance organizations will want to emulate its success and in doing so they may consider copying some of its policies.In the past, most micro finance organizations in Mexico have only concentrated on giving soft loans to regular customers as their only business. Compartamos is more advanced giving insurance policies and also engaging in normal bank business activities. The structure of the market however is that it is always dynamic and one can never tell what tomorrow may bring. Mergers may be forged leading to bigger organizations that would overtake Compartamos. Conclusion and Recommendations Banco de Compartamos has led by example.In the hands of Carlos Labarthe and Carlos Danel, it is bound to spring even higher in the micro finance sector after going public. D uring the IPO shareholders presented the organization with a cheap source of finance that is barely available to other companies of its nature therefore placing them at an absolute advantage. It becomes one of the largest companies in the Mexican Stock Exchange with over $2 billion in market capitalization. I do believe that their bold step into going public has a lot in the benefit package which if used well could see the bank grow outside its boundaries.On the side of helping the poor, they have not failed in that area yet. As a matter of fact, it is a case of logic to see that by they use the obtained finance to expand their business activities and to offer more loans. It is like giving the financially stable a chance to be owners of the bank an in return making them bring their billions to the poor. Furthermore, if more loans are given out, development of the poor is enhanced. Now that Compartamos have entered the league of companies listed in the stock exchange, a lot is expect ed to change which calls for extra caution.We have already seen them suffering their first challenge with attacks from various shareholders about their decision to enter the stock exchange. However, should their shares in the stock exchange do well; the good public image will work to ensure they always do well financially. It is worthwhile to note that the visibility of the IPO will showcase the superior financial performance of the micro finance sector. This is bound to cause an increase in competition in Mexico. Challenges are more forthcoming now but they should not treat them as problems but as stepping stones to higher grounds.Since Compartamos is confident that it can serve both their clients and the financial sector as well, they should come up with well defined policies to make sure that they do not deviate from their course. It is quite normal for businesses to concentrate more on what is bringing in the most cash but they should always remember the sole objective for which they were set up; to help the poor grow financially. Word Count (1887) References Cuellar, R. G. & Chu, M. (2008) Banco Compartamos: Life after the IPO. Harvard: Harvard Business School