The Plight of the Businesswoman

Contents: I. Introduction II. General facts about women in the labor force. III. Are women qualified for management positions? IV. Discrimination of women in business. V. Measures to overcome discrimination. VI. Summary

Organizing for Conservation of Energy and Fuels in Large Manufacturing Companies

The importance of energy conservation by industry and the need for a special organization of the effort in a large manufacturing company are explained. The forms of organization for energy conservation used by eight companies reported to be successful in this effort are described and analyzed, and the best features of each are pointed out. Certain of these features are recommended for adoption by Uniroyal, Inc

Service Portfolios of the Commercial Banks of the State of Connecticut, 1974

(Introduction) The purpose of this paper is to explore the degree to which the commercial banks of Connecticut utilize the secondary mortgage market. That is, are commercial banks active in the business of selling mortgage loans rather than retaining them for their own investment? Can any bank, regardless of size, participate in this type of activity? Why or why not? Does participation in this activity enhance or detract from the profitability of the mortgage department? An attempt has been made to answer these questions, and others. The initial chapter deals with the definition of a servicing portfolio and an explanation of the servicing relationship between the customer, the bank and the investor. The discussion includes an explanation of the economic forces and business considerations at work that may lead a bank to consider the use of the secondary mortgage market and the establishment of a service portfolio. The intent of Chapter II is to orient the reader and to acquaint him with the terms to be used in the ensuing analysis. The research method is described in Chapter III. The data for this an?.lysis was obtained by means of a survey of the commercial banks of Connecticut in November of 1974. Each bank was mailed a questionnaire.^ While absolute statistical validity cannot be claimed due to the lack of randomness in the selection of the responses, it is felt that the data is representative. It is felt perhaps, that tae extremes in the range of activity may be missing from the sample. That is, banks which have absolutely no interest in the servicing of mortgage loans, and banks that are heavily involved and, therefore, feel that little could be gained from participating in the study, may be under-represented in the data. The reader should, therefore, take this possible bias into account while reviewing the data. Despite very real limitations in the data, information concerning the ability of banks of various sizes to participate in the mortgage servicing activity, the staffing requirements of various levels of activity and the relationship of automated data processing to activity levels is considered significant. The question of the effect on profitability, however, remains largely unanswered. It may not even be possible to limit the inquiry to the narrow area of a bank’s mortgage area when discussing the profitability question. Overall bank profitability may be a more relevant index to use rather than portfolio yield. The ability of a bank to offer a complete range of services to its customers, including mortgage financing, may help the bank to attract and retain profitable customers. Further study is necessary to obtain a definite answer

Commodity Futures Market: Its Mechanics and Uses

(Introduction, pp. 1-2) Many people today are familiar with the world stock exchanges and how common stocks and bonds are traded. Fewer persons have a working knowledge of commodity futures. The commodity exchanges trade such things as metals, grain, livestock,and other foods for future delivery. Commodity futures trading offers a unique price risk protection to commercial businessmen who use futures as part of their regular business operation. The purpose of this thesis is to show the business use of commodity futures, using copper as an example. When a businessman buys a fire insurance policy he is hedging against the risk of a fire. If his building burns down, the insurance company will pay a large part, if not all, of the rebuilding costs. For this protection against the risk of fire, the businessman pays the insurance company an annual premium that is very low relative to the cost of the building. Hedging in a commodity future is a way for the businessman to protect himself from the risk of large price fluctuations. The hedger uses the futures market as a price-protection mechanism for establishing the price at which he will buy or sell his inventory of a commodity at a future time. The hedger is someone who is involved in the physical production, processing, handling or marketing of the actual commodity. He uses the futures market as an integral part of his commercial business. Commodity futures also provide one of the last areas where vast profits can be made by persons inclined to speculate. The speculator provides the market with risk capital in hope of making a large profit. He assumes the risk of price fluctuation that the hedger does not want. The speculator is only interested in price changes. He buys in anticipation of a price rise and sells when he thinks that prices will decline. He is risking his own money on his ability to predict these price movements. The speculator does not own or produce or process the actual commodity product. He may not even know what the commodity looks like. It is essential that both hedgers and speculators participate in the commodity market. If the market did not provide an economic function for the hedger, there would be little need for the market to exist. If the speculator was not willing to assume the hedger\u27s risk, there would be no market. Together they make orderly markets in grain, livestock, metals, and other commodities including cocoa, cotton, orange juice, potatoes, sugar, and lumber

Longitudinal Study of Motivation-Oriented Personality Assessments of U.S. Coast Guard Academy Cadets with Implications for Training and Counseling

In the non-academic training of cadets, the Coast Guard Academy has utilized techniques through the years which have been somewhat dependent upon the cadets\u27 perception of the elements above, Le., if a cadet becomes less likely to respond to the basic appeal of maintaining an impeccable personal appearance as a norm of behavior, this effects, or should effect, the technique of training him. The question here is not whether these techniques have changed, however the important point is that in order to get a similar result from a different set of initial conditions, allowances must be made in the transformation process,, whatever it may be. The suspected different condition in this case is the personality profile of the entering class; the transformation process is the training program over four years; the hoped-for result is a class of motivated ensigns assuming their place in the Coast Guard. It would be worthwhile to determine if the raw material is indeed changing or has changed, in what ways it has, and possible manners in which to deal with it. The purpose of the study is to (1) determine if the entrants to the Coast Guard Academy have changed significantly over the years, and (2) suggest ways to alter the training program at the academy in order to improve the level of motivation and subsequent performance of cadets

A Computer Model for Use in Evaluating Various Electric Utility Capital Expansion Plans

The planning of generation and transmission capacity for the growing requirements of electric utilities has become an extremely complex undertaking. The magnitude of the alternative costs, the length of time which must be considered and the number of influential variables bearing on the decision have created a task for the planning engineer which no longer can be solved with short cut approximations. The modern planning engineer requires more complete information on which to base his decisions. The computer model presented here was developed to provide the engineer with the information he requires to select the best alternative. In writing the programs the historical manual approximations were discarded in an attempt to fully utilize the potential of modern computers. The resulting model allows the user complete flexibility in defining the set of alternatives in question and provides detailed output for a decision base. All variables that could be identified as well as the various accounting methods currently in practice have been included to insure user confidence