Tag: Dissertation and Thesis Services

Cyber Security for Managers
You are board members of Finnmark, a leading international financial services company based out of London in the UK but with global offices. Over the last few days it has become clear that Finnmark has suffered a significant cybersecurity breach across a number of client systems. As a group, you must decide what appropriate level of detail of the attack should be published in the form of a written statement to company shareholders and regulators (and write the statement). However, it is likely that this statement will ultimately become public.
Your statement should include:
1. A summary of the attack containing an appropriate level of detail of the nature of the attack and the information stolen by the attackers.
2. Any immediate actions that the board has taken in response to the attack and the internal handling of the attack.
3. Reassurance to clients and shareholders.
4. A summary of what you know about the lost data at this point, primarily aimed at regulators.
Cyber Security Scenario:
An internal review of the systems is still underway however it is clear that hackers have gained illegal access to the company’s IT systems and a significant amount of confidential information has been accessed and stolen. The company provides services to private individuals, companies, and government organisations.
General Information
The hackers contacted the company 12 hours ago and demanded money to prevent a leak, $5,000,000 in BitCoin to be paid within the next 36hrs. The board must decide whether or not to pay the attackers to perhaps avoid the data being released. The existence of the breach was only made known to the senior management team at the point at which the ransom was demanded. Law enforcement in both the US (Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI) and UK (National Crime Agency, NCA) have now been notified that the attack has taken place, and the company is cooperating with what will likely develop into criminal investigations. Both the FBI and NCA have indicated that recovery of the data is highly unlikely. Senior company partners will need to be informed prior to the statement being made, and the company lawyers, Hogan Lovells, have been retained to provide assistance.
Nature of Stolen Information
It is not clear exactly what information has been stolen however it is thought to include the personal client details, including financial information, of probably upwards of hundreds of thousands of customers. It is also possible that a significant amount of confidential client correspondence has also been stolen from the internal email system. Some of these pieces of correspondence might include sensitive client plans, as these accounts are often used for correspondence concerning future financial requirements of client companies. A small
Attachments:
2969049_1_Cyber-Security-Management–Strategy-and-Policy.docx
2969049_2_Management-of-Multinational-Enterprises–MNE–and-Phenomenon.docx
2969049_3_Multiple-stakeholder-perspectives-in-sustainable-business-development-student-version-FINAL-2.pptx
2969049_4_Management-and-Organizations–Knowledge-logics-discourse-.docx
2969049_5_7149856E-D4F3-4DDD-9B60-F89D8086CAAF.jpeg

Note
This is a guideline and is not meant to show you exactly step-by-step how to do the project (although it comes close to doing that). In the “real world”, your boss is not going to show you how to do everything. She is going to ask you to do something and you are going to have to do it to the best of your ability.
Objective
The assignment is to estimate the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) for an actual corporation as of the current time. Actual managers would need to know their company’s WACC as a starting point to estimate the discount rate to use in the net present value analysis of new projects.
The project also develops student skills in using elementary financial management models, in dealing with situations where there are too much or too little data, in employing publicly available data sources with little guidance, and in applying sound judgment when encountering naturally occurring measurement errors.
Attachments:
3060067_1_Project.docx
3060067_2_Final-Project-Instructions.docx
3060067_3_Brady-WACC-Example.docx

ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS:
• Your assignment should be presented as a structured report with an introduction, a main body and a conclusion, but without inclusion of any calculations in the main body.
• The main body of the report may include headings addressing the specific questions asked by TMR’s management.
• The final part of your assignment (Point 8 above) should include a general recommendation to management regarding the best course of action in the intended project. If you believe that further information is required before making a firm recommendation, you need to specify what information would be required.
• Any assumption that you may rely upon for your analysis and recommendation should be clearly stated in the main body of your report.
• All calculations should be presented in appendices to the report. Calculations may be prepared in an excel document, however your submission must be in the form of a single word document including the report itself and the appendices.
• All external sources used to support your argument should be appropriately acknowledged in the main body of your report using the Harvard style (Author-date) of referencing. This includes textbook sources but not the case study itself. A list of the full citation should be included at the end of the main body of your report.
Description: Your assignment involves preparing a written report where you will present an analysis of financial information relating to a capital investment project described in the attached case study and provide recommendations that will assist the firm in its decision making.
Length: 1,500 words maximum – this requirement is a “maximum”. Students will not be penalised for using fewer words and making their report more succinct. If you submit over-length work, there will be an automatic 10% penalty of the total possible marks for this assessment. Title pages, calculations section, reference lists and appendices are included in the word count.
CASE STUDY
Tasmanian Motor Rental (TMR) is set up as a proprietary company in car rental industry and is considering whether to enter the discount rental car market in Tasmania. This project would involve the purchase of 100 used late model, mid-sized cars at the average price of $15,000. In order to reduce their insurance costs, TMR will have a LoJack Stolen Vehicle Recovery System installed in each car at a cost of $1,500 per vehicle. The rental car operation projected by TMR will have two locations: one near Hobart airport and the other near Launceston airport. At each location, TMR owns an abandoned lot and building where it could sotre its vehicles. If TMR does not undertake the project, the lots can be leased to an auto-repair company for $90,000 per year (Total amount for both lots). The $25,000 annual maintenance cost (total for both lots) will be paid by TMR whether the lots are leased or used for this project. This discount rental car business is expected to result in a fall in its regular car rental business by $20,000 per year.
For taxation purposes, the useful life of the cars is determined to be five years and they will be depreciated using the straight-line depreciation method over 5 years with no residual values at the end. It is assumed that the cars will first be used at the beginning of the next financial year: 1 July 2019.
Before starting this new operation, TMR will need to redevelop and renovate the buildings at each airport locations. This is expected to cost $215,000 for both locations. Assume that TMR is not able to claim any annual tax deduction for the capital expenditure to the renovation of the building until the business is sold. TMR has also budgeted marketing costs which will be spent at the initiation of the project and also during the first two years of operation. The estimated costs are $30,000 per year. These costs are fully tax deductible in the year they are incurred. In addition, if the project is undertaken, a total new injection of $150,000 in net working capital will be required. There will be no additional working capital required from the commencement of the operation until the end of the project. The initial networking capital will be recovered in full by the end of year 5.
Revenue projections from the car rental for the next five years are as follows:
Operating variable costs associated with the new business represent 10% of revenue. Annual operating fixed costs (excluding depreciation) are $1,800 per vehicle. Existing administrative costs are $550,000 per annum. As a result of the new operation, these administrative costs will increase by 20%. The company is subject to a tax rate of 27.5% on its profits.
Catherine, the company CFO would like you to help her examine the viability of the project for the next five years, taking into account the projections of sales and operations costs prepared by company’s accountants. Given the risk associated with the project, she believes it is reasonable to use a cost of capital of 12% for the evaluation of this project.
Your tasks:
Based on the information in the case study, Catherine has asked you to write a report to TMR’s management advising them as to the best course of action regarding this project. Your report should address the following specific questions asked by TMR’s management:
1. Discuss which costs are relevant for the evaluation of this project and which costs are not. Your discussion should be justified by a valid argument and supported by references to appropriate sources
2. How are possible cannibalization and opportunity costs considered in this analysis?
3. Determine the initial investment cash flow.
4. Estimate all cash flows associated with the project over 5 years. It is assumed that where relevant, capital expenditures and marketing costs are expended throughout the year, while cash flows relating to revenue and operating costs occur at the end of the year. You will need to broadly describe the method used for determining those cash flows.
5. Calculate the project’s payback period. Assuming the business could be sold at the end of the five years for $1 million. This figure includes the value of the car fleet, premises and capital gain from the business. Ignore any possible tax consequences of selling the business and also ignore the time value of money for this particular calculation. Briefly comment on your results
6. Estimate the Net present value (NPV) of the project, assuming that the initial investment could be sold at the end of the five years for $1 million. This figure includes the value of the car fleet, premises and capital gain from the business. Ignore any possible tax consequences of selling the business. Briefly comment on your results and make appropriate remarks on the assumptions made for these calculations if necessary.
7. Using sensitivity analysis, recalculate NPV using the scenario of a decrease in project sales by 10% annually. Briefly comment on your results.
8. In view of your answer to Point 5 to point 7 above, advise TMR’s management as to whether they should go ahead with the investment project. In your recommendations, you may wish to suggest possible refinements in the method used for evaluating this project.
Attachments:
3082042_1_ASSIGNMENT-INSTRUCTIONS.docx

For this week’s Key Concept Exercise, using the two published papers provided in your field, you will review the motivation behind framing research topics and choosing specific sets of research questions, evaluate methodologies used within the context of the main objectives of the research and the wider literature on the topics, and finally discuss the potential contributions that the two articles make.
In approximately 500 words, critically evaluate
ONE
of the sample research articles provided from your degree field, addressing its strengths and weaknesses
In formulating your Key Concept Exercise, consider the following questions:
What motivated the research?
What research questions were explored?
What was the methodology followed by the researcher(s)?
How did the findings contribute to academia?

Calculate the realized returns for a hypothetical portfolio invested equally in the three stocks. Calculate the realized return (mean return), and Standard deviation for each stock and one relevant Index as well. Compare and contrast these calculations and identify the noticeable differences (10 Marks)
If you are asked to choose two out of above three stocks, which combination of two stocks would you be suggesting to your hypothetical investors? (10 Marks)
How does your answer change if you add the index as an allowable investment?

It is January 1, 2018. You are a Senior Analyst at Canada Hardware Inc. (CHI), one of the top hardware, sports, and apparel providers in Canada with hundreds of stores across Canada. The CEO of Canada Hardware, Tony Stark, has reached out to you to draft a report.
Purpose
You will review and analyze the mission statement, case information, and financial statements of Canada Hardware Inc. You will use the information from your review to develop a SWOT analysis with the purpose of seeking support for proposed investment projects. You will also prepare a notional UCC asset tax values continuity schedule to analyze the impact of capital equipment disposals.
How to Proceed
Prepare your preliminary business case report by analyzing financial and non-financial data from the case information provided below. You will need to undertake and include the following:
Create a title page with your author identification (Full Name, Student ID).
Review the information and financial statements included below to gain an understanding of potential investment initiatives that would be supportable by management. Describe the intent of the mission statement from the annual report, and prepare a SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats). Based on you SWOT analysis, assess and explain in detail if Canada Hardware is currently delivering on its mission statement.
Conduct financial statement analysis using liquidity ratios, debt ratios, profitability, and asset utilization ratios (at least three for each type of ratio). Comment on each of the ratios and what they say about the company’s performance over the last 5 years.
Prepare an assessment for each of the investment proposals included below, with rationale that is aligned with the SWOT analysis and financial statement ratio analysis. Recommend if CHI should go forward with any of the proposed investments based on this analysis.
Prepare a basic income statement forecast for the subsequent fiscal year, using a percentage of sales approach and using information included in the materials below to support assumptions that correspond for each revenue and expense. Each line item (e.g., marketing expenses) should have a note and an explanation on how it was calculated.
The CEO also needs help understanding the tax consequences of the disposal for an old piece of equipment. Prepare a CCA schedule for tax depreciation of a set of equipment purchased three years ago on January 1, 2015 for $270,000 (assume Class 46 with CCA rate of 30% and half-year rule applying). Calculate the tax consequence if all the equipment were to be sold at the beginning of this year (i.e., end of 2017) for either $90,000 or $120,000. The equipment is the only asset in the class. Utilize the average tax rate that Canada Hardware Inc. had in the last five years in your analysis of the tax impact.
Format for Submission
Your report narratives may be done in Word or Excel, but calculations and tables of values must be prepared in Excel with the amounts derived from actual formulas that use your variables, rounded to four (4) decimals or lower.
The Excel tab worksheet must be print and presentation ready, formatted to print in 2 to 3 pages without page fragmentation of equations or tables between pages.
It is permissible to break your report down using the questions listed above as headings.
Submit your report file(s) into the Assignment 1: Case Study dropbox on UM Learn.
Your assignment must be submitted by the deadline date found in the course schedule provided in the Course Outline.
Grading
You will be assessed in accordance with the following rubric:
Q1
Title Page, Readability, Format, Spelling and Grammar
Marks
Student
Title Page, Readability, Format, Spelling & Grammar
12
Q2
SWOT Analysis
Marks
Student
At least three reasonable strengths
3
At least three reasonable weaknesses
3
At least three reasonable threats
3
At least three reasonable opportunities
3
Mission Statement Intent
2
Mission Statement alignment
2
Q3
Financial Statement Analysis
Marks
Student
Three solvency (debt) ratios calculated correctly
3
Three liquidity ratios calculated correctly
3
Three activity ratios calculated correctly
3
Three profitability ratios calculated correctly
3
Interpretation for each ratio (1 mark for each)
12
Q4
Investment Proposal
Marks
Student
Evaluation of Distribution Proposal
4
Evaluation of Restaurant Acquisition
4
Recommendation Reasoning
4
Q5
Financial Forecast
Marks
Student
Hardware Segment Revenue
1
Apparel Segment Revenue
1
Sporting Goods Revenue
1
Total Revenue
1
Gross Profit
1
Advertising & Marketing
1
General & Administrative
1
Research, IT, & Development
1
Depreciation & Amortization
1
Gain from Asset Sale
1
Interest Expense
1
Tax
1
Inflation
1
Explanations of Calculations
11
Q6
Equipment Disposal
Marks
Student
CCA Schedule
5
Calculation of Terminal Loss Sold
1
Calculation of Tax Savings
1
Interpretation of terminal loss
1
Calculation of Recaptured CCA
1
Calculation of Tax Savings
1
Interpretation of recapture
1
Correct Tax Rate
1
Total
100
0
Canada Hardware Case Study
Company Background
Canada Hardware Incorporated (CHI) has been operating in Canada for over 40 years, with hundreds of stores located in every province and territory in Canada. The company has focused almost exclusively in Canada, figuring that its national reputation and knowledge of regional consumer preferences are one of the company’s key strengths.
Acquisitions have been a key part of the company’s success, with CHI purchasing the Sports company Sports Geniuses 15 years ago and the apparel company Mike’s Warehouse over 20 years ago. With these acquisitions, the company has continued to be able to diversify its revenue stream and grow its operations despite limiting itself geographically to Canada. CHI was able to keep most of the management from companies it acquired, as CHI focuses on the acquisition of strong companies with experienced management who are passionate about their roles but require the financial power of CHI to truly achieve their executive vision.
CHI organizes itself into three segments: hardware, apparel, and sporting goods. Hardware stores (under the banner Canada Hardware) offer auto, hardware goods, home, and other supplies. Apparel stores (under the Mike’s Warehouse banner) predominantly offer clothes for men over the age of 30. The sporting goods stores operate under the banner Sports Geniuses and sell sports equipment, apparel, and accessories.
The company’s mission statement, extracted from the company’s annual report, is included below:
“Our mission is to provide customers with quality goods and services, operate efficient and profitable stores that generate the expected return to shareholders, and innovate with new technology and ideas to provide our customer with competitive prices, superior service, and novel experiences.”
The company had its initial public offering (IPO) seven years ago and has paid a steady dividend since then. It trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker CHI.TO.
Discussion with Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Tony Stark, CEO of CHI, has been concerned with the future of CHI, particularly for the next fiscal year (2018). He has asked you to help in preparing a financial forecast for the next year.
Tony does not expect there to be much change in the hardware segment, with revenue growing in line with Real GDP which has been forecasted to grow between 1.5% and 2.3% for 2018. Inflation is expected to remain low at 1%, with the influence on prices ultimately being passed on to the consumer.
The Sporting Goods segment is expected to be 20% of total CHI revenue (including inflation), as CHI has partnered with the NHL to sell more NHL jerseys and equipment in Sports Genius stores. CHI has just started experimenting with these strategic partnerships, and feels that there are more opportunities available in the Canadian market. CHI has also started expanding its sports offerings to offer more hiking, weightlifting, and nutritional products to take advantage of Canadians growing health and active conscious preferences. This has been built into the 20% of revenue assumption.
Total CHI revenue is expected to grow 10% (includes inflation).
Gross margin is expected to decrease from 2017, due to higher promotional activity to boost sales volume. “We have been very successful in developing our own products internally,” boasted Mr. Stark. “This has allowed us to continue to drive down product costs and develop high brand reputations for some of our brands including our Fathercraft drills and Katcheno kitchen appliances.” Mr. Stark does not believe that gross profit margin will reach 2017’s high, but also does not believe it will go below 2016’s gross profit margin.
CHI had increased its marketing expenses significantly in 2015, hiring more staff and running more advertising campaigns. “We have done well with our core customers in maintaining their loyalty, especially through our rewards program,” explained Tony Stark. “However, we have had issues with attracting new customers from the millennial and Gen Z segment, especially with our focus on more traditional advertising on television, radio, and print. This year, we want to increase our marketing breadth with several digital campaigns including social media. We have also partnered with Canadian celebrities in our attempt to attract more youth to our stores, so we expect marketing costs to be at 12% of our sales for the year.”
CHI invested heavily in online and digital operations in 2017, include new proprietary technology developed internally by CHI’s research department.
“This year, we had to focus more on the digital game and experience,” informed Tony. “The retail landscape has changed. People are shopping more and more online, but they still want to come into the store if they get an experience there! We spent an enormous amount of money in 2017 developing new technology to improve the store experience and also be able to understand our 12 million customers in our loyalty program. We now leverage that data from our customers that we get from every purchase they make while collecting loyalty points, allowing us to better serve them. No other retailer in Canada has the loyalty or frequency of customers that we do, with our loyalty customers spending twice as much on the average purchase as non-loyalty members. This investment cost us on the bottom line, but I expect R&D expenses to return to historical norms in 2018.”
Employee turnover has also been a significant issue in the last few years at CHI, especially in the apparel segment. CHI has lost some key employees at the retail store level who have left for international competitors that have more perks and better pay. The minimum wage hikes in several Provinces are expected to significantly impact employee costs, but Tony Stark already had plans brewing for better employee compensation before the government regulations set in.
“The minimum wage hikes provide us an opportunity to emphasize the importance of our front-line employees,” lectured Tony Stark. “Now, all the retailers are on a level playing field, as the new wages are higher than what most retailers were paying their employees. We can afford to pay employees this amount or more without cutting front-line jobs, which is what our competitors have been doing. I hope better wages will help solve some of our customer service issues, as the number of customer complaints per product sold has risen over the last few years.”
“However, we will have to make our corporate structure a little bit leaner due to the wage hikes and the weakening economy out West and in the East. I anticipate there to be some restructuring at the corporate office as we look for more efficiency. My estimate is that general & administrative costs will be 14% of 2018 revenue.”
Depreciation & amortization costs are expected to increase 50% in 2018 due to higher capital expenditures on software, in-store development, and new equipment purchases. In order to support some of these costs, CHI will take on another $1.5B in debt at the same interest rate as its current long-term debt holdings that mature in 2022. CHI is also selling several properties to a real estate developer as it rationalizes its store fleet, and expects to record a one-time gain of $250M from the sale in 2018.
Mr. Stark suggests that you take the average tax rate over the past five years for the forecast when calculating the taxes owed to get to net income.
Investment Proposals
Tony Stark also wants you to assess two potential investment proposals the CHI investment team is considering.
“We know that customers like our products,” said Mr. Stark. “But due to the sheer size of our network and amount of products that we carry, there are several issues that we keep encountering including misplaced inventory items, overstocking or understocking of items, lost shipments, misplaced orders, and so on! This has led to lost sales and lower customer service ratings by our loyalty members. With the expansion of our omni-channel initiatives, we need to ensure we have state-of-the art capabilities in our inventory optimization and tracking processes, as well as enough capacity to handle our inventory demands.”
The CHI investment team is considering purchasing a distribution company that includes several trucks and warehouses. CHI has been mostly reliant on third-party distributors for its product, but now feels that bringing distribution in-house will help cut costs in the long-run, especially as the competitive landscape has increased, particularly with apparel as more international retailers enter into Canada. Suppliers have also been raising their prices as consumer demand for more environmental products and sustainable supply chains has led to increasing material prices. US suppliers are also worried about the impact of NAFTA negotiations, as is CHI which relies heavily on US manufacturers for special materials available in some of its premium products including its RX Racer bikes, the leading bicycle brand sold in Canada.
CHI is also considering expanding into the restaurant/food business. “Many retailers have been pursuing food offerings as a traffic driver to get customers off their computers and into the store,” exclaimed Mr. Stark. “You see that with Urban Outfitters and its purchase of the Vetri pizza chain, with anchors expanding their food offerings like Bar Verde in Nordstrom, and generally in most malls which are reducing their apparel percentage and increasing their food share. I think if we can develop or acquire a restaurant to be placed within or beside our stores, that could be a profitable operation, although I have yet to make a proper strategic assessment on how it fits with our company’s mission.”
Qualitative & Quantitative Analysis
To help with your assessment of CHI’s current state and the investment proposals, Mr. Stark recommends that you develop a SWOT analysis as well as perform financial statement analysis.
“SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats,” explained Mr. Stark. “It is a standard tool used in internal and external assessment, with a focus on qualitative factors. Strengths are anything that a company does well, while weaknesses are areas of improvement. Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the firm, meaning that CHI can have substantial control over them. Opportunities and threats are external to CHI, meaning that these are environmental changes that are outside of our control but could be working for or against our favour. Government regulation is an example of an externality that could be an opportunity or a threat, depending on your business or point of view.”
“Financial statement analysis involves the use of ratios to evaluate the performance, financial health, and efficiency of a company among other things,” carried on Mr. Stark. “I would like you to analyze the liquidity, profitability, efficiency (asset utilization), and solvency (debt ratios) of CHI, and to fully explain what the trend in these ratios are indicating about my company’s historical performance. Ratios can be used to tell a story – what story are they telling you?”
Tax Assessment
Finally, Mr. Stark has one last request – he needs help understanding the tax consequences of disposal for an old piece of equipment. Prepare a CCA schedule for tax depreciation of a set of equipment purchased three years ago on January 1, 2015 for $270,000 (assume Class 46 with CCA rate of 30% and half-year rule applying). Calculate the tax consequence if all the equipment were to be sold at the beginning of this year (i.e., end of 2017) for either $90,000 or $120,000. The equipment is the only asset in the class. Utilize the average tax rate that Canada Hardware had in the last five years in your analysis of the tax impact.
Financial Statements

Prepare a report of approximately 1,500 words in which you:
Present/discuss your chosen research topic from your degree field Discuss the key arguments and findings from pertinent literature and draft your critical review keeping in mind its purpose
Formulate the main research question(s)
Describe your interest in the topic and questions, demonstrating the motivation for your research, plus the link between your topic/questions and existing research literature
Discuss the feasibility of the study and explain how you can gain access to the data that you need to collect

Intimate Partner Violence
Intimate Partner Violence
University Class name
Student Name
Intimate Partner Violence Introduction
In 1979, the U.S. Surgeon General identified violent behavior as a key public health priority (CDC, 2018). Violence has played a significant role as a key public health behavior. Violence can happen to anyone from infants to the elderlies. In 2016, more than 19,000 people were victims of homicide and nearly 45,000 people took their own life (CDC, 2018).
Intimate Partner Violence
According to CDC (2018), “Intimate partner violence (IPV) is violence or aggression that occurs in a close relationship.” Intimate partner includes any of the current and/or former spouses and any dating partners. Intimate partner violence varies based on the frequency and severity of violence in which that can lead to years of violence. IPV occurs to more than millions of people in the US each year. Intimate partner violence has four types of behavior. These four types of behavior are the following:
Physical violence
Sexual violence
Stalking
Psychological aggression
Physical violence is when a person hurts or tries to hurt a partner by hitting, kicking, or using another type of physical force (CDC, 2018). According to CDC (2018), “Nearly 1 in 4 adult women and approximately 1 in 7 adult men report having experienced severe physical violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime.” Sexual violence is forcing or attempting to force a partner to take part in a sex act, sexual touching, or a non-physical sexual event (e.g., sexting) when the partner does not or cannot consent (CDC, 2018). About 16% of women and 7% of men have experienced contact sexual violence from an intimate partner (this includes rape, being made to penetrate someone else, sexual coercion, and/or unwanted sexual contact) (CDC, 2018). Stalking is a pattern of repeated, unwanted attention and contact by a partner that causes fear or concern for one’s own safety or the safety of someone close to the victim (CDC, 2018). About 10% of women and 2% of men report having been stalked by an intimate partner (CDC, 2018). Psychological aggression is the use of verbal and non-verbal communication with the intent to harm another person mentally or emotionally and/or exert control over another person (CDC, 2018). In addition to these four types of violence behaviors, these behaviors can occur simultaneously and can cause serious health and economic consequences.
Risk factors
Intimate partner violence falls into four levels of risk factors. The four levels of risk factors are the following:
Individual
Relationship
Community
Societal
With individual factors, “some of the most consistent factors associated with a man’s increased likelihood of committing violence against his partner(s) are the following: Young age, low level of education, witnessing or experiencing violence as a child, harmful use of alcohol and drugs, personality disorders, acceptance of violence (e.g. feeling it is acceptable for a man to beat his partner) and past history of abusing partners” (WHO, 2012). Factors consistently associated with a woman’s increased likelihood of experiencing violence by her partner(s) across different settings include the following: low level of education, exposure to violence between parents, sexual abuse during childhood, acceptance of violence, and exposure to other forms of prior abuse (WHO, 2012). Relationship factors are associated with the risk of both victimization of women and perpetration by men. These factors include the following: Conflict or dissatisfaction in the relationship, male dominance in the family, economic stress, man having multiple partners, and disparity in educational attainment (WHO, 2012). Community and societal factors include the following: Gender-inequitable social norms, poverty, low social and economic status of women, weak legal sanctions against IPV within marriage, lack of women’s civil rights, including restrictive or inequitable divorce and marriage laws, weak community sanctions against IPV, broad social acceptance of violence as a way to resolve conflict and armed conflict and high levels of general violence in society (WHO, 2012).
Consequences
With intimate partner violence, there are also consequences that occur after the violence that has been done. According to CDC (2018), “Approximately 41% of female IPV survivors and 14% of male IPV survivors experience some form of physical injury related to their experience of relationship violence.” Women are more prone to injury than men after an intimate partner violence. Physical infliction can include the following:
Bruises and welts
Lacerations and abrasions
Abdominal or thoracic injuries
Fractures and broken bones or teeth
Sight and hearing damage
Head injury
Attempted strangulation
Back and neck injury
Depending on the severity of the violence, death can also occur too. Data from U.S. crime reports suggest that 16% (about 1 in 6) of murder victims are killed by an intimate partner, and that over 40% of female homicide victims in the U.S. are killed by an intimate partner (CDC, 2018). IPV does not only have physical harm but also internally and mentally, too. IPV also causes environmental consequences such as medical services, mental health services, losing a job, and child welfare costs.
Interventions
In the first intervention, Dating Matters, it is an evidence-based teen dating violence prevention model that includes prevention strategies for individuals, peers, families, schools, and neighborhoods (CDC, 2018). This intervention focuses on teaching young teens about healthy relationships and to develop skills before they start dating. In addition, this intervention is to help young teens reduce behaviors that will most likely increase the risk of violence. Dating Matters includes seven primary components that work together to reinforce protective factors and reduce risk factors for teen dating violence across the social ecology— at the individual, relationship, and community levels (CDC, 2018). Another intervention would be for the perpetrators. According to Eckhardt et al., (2014), “Brief motivational interviewing—a supportive and highly empathic counseling style designed to resolve ambivalence about change—has been shown to enhance positive treatment engagement and compliance with behavior change recommendations.” Brief interview or counseling will hopefully help the perpetrators change their violent behaviors. Group discussions will also help the perpetrators move step by step to change their behaviors. Group approaches designed to help clients move through the stages of intentional behavior change have increased treatment adherence for highly resistant IPV offenders in one study and produced lower posttreatment violence relative to standard BIP services in another (Eckhardt et al., 2014). Life-skills and school-based intervention should be considered because early prevention will most likely decrease violent behaviors later on when dating. WHO (2012) stated, “Many initiatives have aimed to influence knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of young people through life-skills programs in low-income countries or classroom-based dating violence prevention programs in the USA, such as Safe Dates, which demonstrated effectiveness in reducing perpetration.” Among students who reported dating, 12% of girls and 7% of boys had experienced physical dating violence and 16% of girls and 5% of boys had experienced sexual dating violence in the past 12 months (CDC, 2012). Building the knowledge base and raising awareness about IPV will help get a basic knowledge and awareness about IPV. Expanding the knowledge base and disseminating existing and new information will lead to better programs and strategies (WHO, 2012). Early intervention services for at-risk families would also help with dealing violence. There is growing evidence that programs aimed at parents, including home visits and education, can reduce or prevent child abuse and maltreatment and thus help reduce child conduct problems and later violent behavior, which has been associated with IPV perpetrated by men (CDC, 2012). Another intervention that should be mentioned is to increase access to comprehensive service response to survivors and their children. As described by Heise and colleagues (1999), women who experience IPV have complex needs and may need services from many different sectors, including health care, social services, legal entities and law enforcement, and therefore, multi-sectoral collaboration is essential for ensuring survivors’ access to comprehensive services (WHO, 2012). Having more access to comprehensive services will help the survivors cope better with their experiences. Using community mobilization and behavior change communication can be another intervention to help with IPV. Mass media ‘edutainment’ strategies (e.g. programs that use multimedia such as television, radio and print) to change social norms and mobilize communitywide changes have been shown to influence gender norms, community responses and individual attitudes to IPV (WHO, 2012). There are also promising initiatives to engage men and boys in violence prevention, as well as other community-based programs that aim to reduce IPV along with HIV transmission, such as Stepping Stones, a program that has been replicated in settings all over the world. Interventions and programs like the Stepping Stones will help reduce IPV because men are more likely to be the perpetrators. Reforming legal frameworks may include strengthening women’s civil rights (WHO, 2012). Improving existing laws and implementing new laws can help reduce violence. Also, reforming legal frameworks may help the victims get support by the bystanders. Some steps in this direction include the following:
Strengthening and expanding laws defining rape and sexual assault within marriage
Sensitizing and training police and judges about partner violence
Improving the application of existing laws
Lastly, Hamberger et al. believes that a System Levels intervention will help reduce intimate partner violence. Hamberger et al., (2015) stated, “Ambuel et al. have provided a six-point model for creating sustainable system change to improve IPV screening and intervention in the clinic or ED setting.” The six-point model are the following:
Development of internal, on-site IPV expertise
Saturation training
Development of unit-based policies and procedures
Collaboration with local advocacy agencies
Incorporating continuous quality improvement strategies
Primary prevention
Conclusion
Violence has various forms and can develop negative health impacts and various. Violence has affected many people’s life and health. In order to reduce violence, especially intimate partner violence, it would take a system level intervention to help because each risk factor plays and supports a factor in each level. Overall, one cannot stop violence but can only reduce it.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). Preventing Intimate Partner Violence.
https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/ipv-factsheet.pdf
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). Violence Prevention.
https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/datingmatters/science.html
Hamberger, L. K., Rhodes, K., & Brown, J. (2015).
Attachments:
3156352_1_Assignment-Sample1.pdf

In approximately 500 words, present the paradigms and methodologies used in the
TWO
articles
In formulating your Key Concept Exercise, consider the following questions:
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the methodologies implemented in these studies?
Which of these could (or could not) be used for your research and why?
What could be your feasibility concerns in any case?

The data collection process is always a fundamental element in empirical research.
For this week’s Key Concept Exercise you will shape your research idea within the context of a quantitative research framework, analyse the optimal data collection process that could align to your research idea, explore the strengths and weaknesses of the chosen technique, and finally critically discuss the potential validity and reliability of the data that you plan to collect.
In approximately 500 words, explain how your research ideas could take the shape of a quantitative research project.
In formulating your Key Concept Exercise, consider the following questions:
What specific methods would you implement for data collection and analysis?
What type of data would you need to tackle the research question(s)?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research design?
Can you recommend ways to maximise the validity and reliability of the data to be collected?