International Business Environment Essay

Venturing into new business and market frontiers like Malaysia requires extensive understanding of the environment in terms of the political establishment, business potential, legal and regulatory framework, and availability of resources, socio-cultural aspects and to an extent geographical position and infrastructural development of the country. The research and analysis of these key and crucial factors are important in analysing the potential and business environment of Malaysia. Malaysia possesses unique features and characteristics which are different from any other nation and it’s therefore essential to scan and research the market. Geographically located in Eastern Asia, Malaysia has been one of Asia fastest developing markets in the last half century. Malaysia is among the â€Å"Asian Tigers† a terminology given to the Asian economies which transformed from third world nation status to middle income nations within a short span thanks to sound and effective economic policies. It has a sizeable population of around 28. 3 million with diverse ethnic composition largely comprising the Ethnic Malays, Indians and Chinese population (CIA fact book, 2010). Similarly Malaysia is a developing nation with growing high per capita income making it a potential market for introduction of any business. The nation has well established and developed financial markets and excellent world class infrastructure in transport air and sea and moreover it’s known worldwide for the technology superiority and advancements. It’s highly developed commercial and manufacture sectors makes it a target for many international business. Malaysia has enjoyed a relative stable political stability which has been instrumental in spurring its economy and attracting foreign firms. It’s also a competitive business environment with flexible legal and regulatory framework making it easy to operate business. Therefore it’s very important to explore and understand these aspects and others in detail to ensure conclusion and market analysis of Malaysia is obtained through in depth understanding of the market. This would enable the company to undertake its strategies and plans effectively and efficiently in Malaysia. The paper tries to look some of the aspects mentioned above in more detail. Conclusively, In order to expand business to other countries, many factors should be put into consideration so as to ensure there is professional development of the business. Critical analysis, exploring and report writing is therefore important considering these issue and thus should be undertaken respectively. Introduction In business, the understanding of a given culture in which business is to be done and be based is very critical and thus important. With connection to these some aspects have to be considered so as to know where and which country qualifies better for allocation of such business. These can be well achieved through exploring and analysing the business environment of a prospective country. For instance, Culture and cultural practices are very important and have to be understood in order to make sure all the selling strategies have been able to offer good fruits in the business (Sandra, 2001, p 58). This paper thus comes up with the choosing of Malaysia as an example of a country on which as the Business Development Manager of Australia have chosen with the aim of expanding business. Therefore this paper discusses the critical analysis and the report obtained from exploring and analysing business environment of Malaysia which in return helps in determining where the country fits in the complexity of international business environment. Many factors should be put into consideration so as to decide whether the business will effectively run smoothly (Dunning, 1998, p 98). Country Profile Situated in Eastern Asia Geographically Malaysia covers approximately area of 392,748 square Kms, this is lightly larger than New Mexico in United States and a population of 26 Million people (C.  I. A fact book, 2010) this is a sizeable population which can be viable for any target market and introduction of business ventures. In Malaysia Islam is the pre-dominant and largest religion practised by the ethnic Malays but the nation is a multi-ethnic society and has other religious beliefs like Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Taoism practised by the minority ethnic population of Indians, Chinese and a small proportion of immigrant labour force. Ethnic Composition of Malaysia has around 53. 3% ethnic Malays, Chinese 26%, Indigenous 11. 8%, Indians 7. 7% others 1. % and Islamic religion has 60. 4% followers, Buddhism 9. 2%, Christianity 9. 1%, Hinduism 6. 3% ( CIA fact book ,2010) Its essential to know the ethnic and religious composition in order to understand the fabric of the society properly. Bahasa Melayu is the official language along with Chinese , English and Tamil are the languages used pre-dominantly in Malaysia and it’s a plus to have English as one of the languages as it makes it easy for transactions and communication when the business and corporations aspiring to penetrate Malaysian market are from English speaking nations. The country is contained of two distinct parts which are separated by the South China Sea whereby, the parts, the east and west share similar landscape in that they have coastal plains which rise due to densely forested hill and mountains. Malaysia neighbours Indonesia and thus the two countries share some cultures (Carsrud & Brannback 2007, p, 54). This is due to the Indians ethnic community which is quite well represented in Malaysia and also it borders countries like Singapore and China. The nation is well endowed with natural resources, good infrastructural development in communications technology and transport and a good coast line with proximity to major sea routes. Economy Malaysia transformed from a third world economy to middle income economy within a duration of around three decades and the nation shifted from being a primarily agricultural economic based to an industrial and commercial economic hub. The country actively participates in international trade which has been enhanced by the shipping routes around its coastline and has well established manufacturing sector. Malaysia produces top exporter of manufactured goods, palm oil, rubber, petroleum and liquefied natural gas. Malaysia is considered as a newly industrialized country although not a developed one but on the way to become one and research shows its GPD per capita ( of around $14000) in the year 2008 was recorded high thus ranking the country 48th in the world and 2nd in Southeast Asia (Drucker, 2007, p , 23). The nation has a GDP of $313 billion and an average GDP annual growth rate of 5. 9 %( Ibp USA, 2008, p. 7 ) The GDP growth rate has been consistent over a long period of time and the economy has shown resiliency during the wake of economic crisis like the Asian economic crisis and recent global recession. It’s known for the developed commercial sector producing and exporting electronic products and other advanced technological goods. Export market is $158 billion and its currency Malaysian currency (ringgit) exchanges at $3 (Ibp US, 2008 p. 18) The exchange rate of ringgit against major currencies has been consistent and stable avoiding currency fluctuations. Malaysia has a floating exchange rate although it has pegged its currency to the dollar. Similarly the nation is a member of almost all major trading blocs around the region and Asia, from WTO to regional economic trade blocs making it an open and very competitive market. Political System  Since Malaysia gained independence its economic performance has been high in comparison with other Asian nations due to its stability and has avoided military coups ( Nayland,2001,p. 164) Another critical factor to consider is the political system of the country. Politics and economy are intertwined and interrelated and political stability determines the environment which economy and business operates. The political stability of the democratic nation like Malaysia makes it an attractive place for investment. Malaysia is a federal constitutional elective monarchy having a head of state is referred as the king of the nation who is elected to a five year term and a parliamentary system of government headed by prime minister and has a healthy democratic space with opposition parties Parliamentary elections are held after every five years and thus only registered voters of age 21 and above are allowed to vote for the members of the House of Representatives (Ahmad & Seymour, 2008, p, 76). Legal and Regulatory Framework MIDA (Malaysian Industrial Development Authority) is a body charged with promoting investments activities both local and foreign, and to helped and guided investments in the business environment (Cheang Lo, 1997, p. 57) This is one of the bodies created by the government to eliminate the bureaucracy in obtaining legal documentation in the country by simplifying the licensing and regulatory process of businesses which wish venture in that country. Although any business needs to go through the required government process in obtaining licences the government has created an environment where restrictions and licensing red tape has been reduced significantly. Socio- Cultural Environment The socio-cultural environment in Malaysia is well defined by its ethnic composition and religious diversity. Malaysia is pluralistic society with Malays being the majority and the other significant minority group like the Chinese, Indians and Tamils each with different religion. With such a rich cultural heritage, acquiring the relevant skills and cultural knowledge in order to conduct business in Malaysia is crucial to your success (Communicaid, n. d) the socio-cultural environment settings in Malaysia although comprising different ethnic groups and religious affiliations is a conservative society and thus it’s important for people to understand how to address the people. Each particular ethnic group has its own mode of communication and interaction and it’s critical to ensure you understand the culture and behaviour of each ethnic group in Malaysia. Generalizations of the all Malaysians while conducting business may be costly to the business as it may be viewed negatively by other ethnic groups. For instance â€Å"the Chinese for example expect punctuality, whereas both ethnic Malays and Indian business people have a more relaxed attitude towards time (Communicaid, n. ) In regard to the consumer attitudes towards products and goods there is a general tendencies among Malays of regarding goods produced locally to be somehow inferior to the goods made by the developed nations which are advanced more than them and hence produce quality products. Quality is sensitive to Malays consumers. â€Å" Malaysian local products are regarded with skepticism compared to south Korea products but are believed to be of high quality in comparison with goods fr om India ,china, Mexico and Thailand. (Ghazali et al,2008, p. 7) Resources  The country is well endowed with natural resources and enough raw materials which it has continued to exploit in its quest to develop its economy. During most of the 1970’s and 1980’s Malaysia was the largest producer and exporter of tin, tropical timber, palm oil and natural rubber (Vincent, 2005, p. 10) Although Currently, Malaysia is not a major producer of some of the raw materials like natural rubber it still has abundant supply of tin, timber palm oil and natural rubber which has been used effectively by the government in exploring and developing its economy. Malaysia has transformed itself from primarily agricultural based economy to an industrial, technological and commercial giant due to the availability of human resources in the country. Malaysia has been known to be open in attracting foreign labour in its economy to make it competitive and potent. However there have been slight problems in obtaining and retaining skilled labour from Malaysia. â€Å"In contrast to this 44% of Australians firms reported difficulty in maintaining skilled labour in Malaysia (Nayland, 2001, p. 0) Ethical and Social Responsibility â€Å"More than 60% of managers in Malaysia were supportive of the view that that to improve market share and public image their firms would have to show there are social responsible (Harrison, 2005, p. 208) Malaysian socio-cultural structure is based on conservative setting like Islamic religious dimension on the Malay population which actually sees the aspect of giving back to them community is a responsibility rather than f avour. Corporations and business doing business in Malaysia are therefore obligated to be active in supporting projects in communities to uplift their image of sharing with the community the profits obtained from them. Conclusion and Recommendations Having noted some of the major findings and factors affecting the level of entrepreneurial activities from research that has been done, it will be necessary to agree on the need of making Malaysia one of the key standards of venturing into any fast developing markets. Also, it is necessary to note that, some of the factors that affect the level of business and entrepreneurship in this country tend to have direct impacts on other economic activities and performances and they have been identified as positive and potent. Once all the factors have been keenly identified and outlined, it becomes quite easy to address them respectively so as to attain overall economic performance and development (Datamonitor, 2009, p, 31). From the analysis and research based on political stability, economic performance and availability or resources the general picture can be concluded that Malaysia is a potential and viable environment to conduct any business of any nature. Although it may have some challenges and obstacles, the business environment and its market potential makes it a conducive environment to establish business ventures and has a potential market for growth. The nation is also strategically placed to penetrate other markets in Asia.

Education of the filipino Essay

?According to the article, it seems that foreigners, especially the Americans influence us in a lot of different ways. They influence us in terms of speech, sense of style and clothing, food we eat, the movies we watch and even how we think and decide. And for that, I can say that our minds are somewhat manipulated by the Western culture and thus, we think and act as if we were like them. Where is the modern day Crisostomo Ibarra and Maria Clara who took their stand for the traditional way of living? Where are the people who care enough to preserve our culture and tradition? I agree with Renato Constantino’s statement in which I would quote â€Å"Education is a vital weapon of people striving for economic emancipation, political independence and cultural renascence. † One must be aware of the country’s problems, understand the solution and be caring and courageous enough to work and sacrifice for our country’s salvation. We Filipinos must work hand in hand to achieve one goal. In my opinion, many Pinoys want the Philippines to be an American state because for them, lying in independence could mean poverty. Hopeless and grim as it may seem. For me, it’s not just the government and the system that has problem here, it’s the people and their manners plus attitude. It is also said that the most effective way of subjugating people is to capture their minds. In doing so, we are tricked into doing or being someone we are unlikely to be and some of our beliefs and stand can be swayed by such illusions of freedom to express. As long as feelings of resistance remain in the hearts of the vanquished, no conqueror is secure and as long as we are strong and sure of ourselves, we can avoid being swayed by others. The Filipinos mentality sometimes just escapes me. Many are bias and many are just plain jealous of the fact that Filipinos can be smart too. A lot can’t still accept that fact. On the other hand, there are several weak beings that move beside the â€Å"authorized† person holding the power against them or what we call â€Å"puppets†. The American culture has been a part of the Filipino’s lives. But despite of that I believe that we must preserve our resources and Filipino values to an extent. The fact still remains that these people are in a conquered nation whose national life had to be woven into the pattern of American dominance. The drawback is that we still rely on first world countries such as the United States for support financially and economically. Absurd as it may sound but the truth remains that we are poor and we need them to survive. A classic example would be us students most especially those taking up Nursing. We are struggling hard to finish this course because of its demands abroad. Many are aiming to seek for better job opportunities abroad. I would be lying if I say that I am taking up Nursing because I want to serve my country, but who doesn’t want a brighter future? Now where’s my sense of nationalism? I say I’m just being practical. It’s much better to accept the fact that we, Filipinos are diverse in culture and language as well as our way of thinking because we have been influenced by so many cultures internally and externally. It is true that education will bring emancipation and the right education will broaden our perspective and hopefully, appreciate and capitalize on the diversity to propel us forward.

Crimes against information system analysis

Cyber crime or computer crime is a type of crime that occurs through the internet. This type o f crime has become very common in modern times and many people have been conned money and other valuables. This kind of crime has grown to be high profile to the extent that governments around the world are devising and implementing strategies and policies in a move to curb this kind of crime. Some of the most common types of internet crime include financial theft, fraud, intellectual property theft, industrial espionage, spamming, spread of computer virus, software hacking among others (Grabosky, 2006).This paper will review the Nigerian Money Scams also called Advanced Fees Fraud or 419 Scams. The Nigerian scam is one of the most popular types of internet scam around the globe. It has been described as the widest ranging, cleverly planned and bizarre fraud schemes in the world in the recent years. The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), Interpol and Scotland Yard describe it as prepos terous, amateurish and plainly crude (Lohr, 1992). The scam involves the sending of bogus letters with a promise of big pay offs.The target of this fraud usually receives an Email that claims to be from Nigeria or another West African country. Initially its target was businessmen but these days, the target also includes average citizens due to the low cost associated with email communication and transactions. The content of the email includes an illegal proposal, a money laundering proposal or a legitimate and legal business proposal. It includes offers of help whereby the sender wants some assistance in shipping out oil from Nigeria, romance, some supposedly deposited money in your account, a bequest left a will in your name.Others include claims overpayment of a contract by the Nigeria Government and therefore a need of a front man to get the overpayment out of Nigeria or an invite to transfer a huge amount of money, usually in US Dollars to your personal offshore account (Nigeria n scams, 2000). After the recipient of this message responds positively, the sender then proceeds to advice him what else he requires to do. The purpose of the initial letter is to set the stage and is considered the opening ground to test the waters.Goal of the criminal The main intention of the criminal is to confuse you into thinking that whatever you are being drawn into is a lucrative business opportunity and a highway into instant riches. Even though, the arrangement appears questionable but very few people look at it that way. Therefore the first letter makes sure that the recipient is left with no doubts and that he or she is assured, and confident of the fact that the deal will be very success and that he is not in no way risking himself or herself.The allegations presented by these scammers are in such a way that you will be naturally cautious but deep down you, you will be praying softly and wanting hopefully that the deal is genuine. Another element associated with these emails is a sense of urgency (Gill, 2005). Either that the government is closing in or that the job of the sender is at risk. Therefore, his request is that the deal may be closed as son as possible. Their methodology is that they make sure that the recipient of the mail counts him or herself lucky because he has been singled out from billions of people the world over.And so as much as this deal may look suspicious, the receipt is left with the urge of gaining millions of shillings for doing what? Absolutely nothing. Even to the most skeptical people, they take the next step or sending an email, which will not cost you any risk at all and in return, might make you a multi millionaire. The feeling that being a rich man is only an email away is what makes people respond to this mail. After making that call or sending the email, the sender pleads with you to make this as secret as possible because he or she is taking a great risk in communicating with you.He emphasizes on the secrecy in that any disclosure might lead to the transaction of the transfer of funds being incomplete. As the recipient, you don’t see any harm in maintaining secrecy, confidentiality, utmost sense of purpose and maturity as it is what it will be asked of you by the sender (Lohr, 1992). After this communication, documents actually arrive to you. Official documents from the central bank of Nigeria together with documents from the firm of your newly appointed Nigerian lawyers. This is what convinces most people of the authenticity of the proposal as they contain the Nigerian Government Letter head (Gill, 2005).After you are satisfied of the authenticity of the transaction, you are then asked to pay some money to cater for unexpected taxes or contract fees demanded by the central bank of Nigeria, transfer of funds fees or fees to cater for the attorneys acting on your behalf. The sender assures you that those are things that he is not in control of. For example, he may tell you that th e lawyers want 5% of the whole money or $200,000 in advance in order to continue with the transfer. Being a wise person, you smell a rat and say no way.It is then after sometime that the sender contacts you again and tells you that he has been able to negotiate with the lawyers and they have brought down their fees to say $100,000. He convinces you that it is nothing compared to what you two are going to gain. But since you are a wise person, you say no way (Lohr, 1992). It is then that he calls you again and tells that even though he is a poor guy, he is ready to sell his only house to raise $30,000 if you are in a position of raising the rest. He cannot forget to remind you that it is a loan he has advanced to you and that you will refund it to him once you receive the money.Here, you see the commitment and you ultimately send the money and you wait for your cash. You even start planning for holiday. After two days, you are informed that there have been some few problems and that the inside man is asking for a small bribe. After paying the initial amount, you become the ultimate milk cow. More requests start coming your way for you to send in more money. At this juncture, you are faced with two options: either send more money as demanded or risk loosing the promised millions and the money you have already sent.In this way, you are a prey and tens or even hundreds of dollars may be swindled from you (Gill, 2005). Each amount of money that you send is regarded as the last amount but eventually, there rises some ‘temporary difficulties’, ‘errors’ or ‘complications’ that you are prompted to solve. This may go on for months until you run out of money or until you give up. But these scammers will not stop there. If you show signs of giving up, they remind you of the ultimate prize awaiting you. The asking of these â€Å"advance fees† is the ultimate objective of this scam.That’s why it is referred to as the Adva nce Fees Fraud (Gill, 2005). Once a victim has sent in more and more cash, he gets hooked up to the scam and the more he believes that it is not a scam but that it is a real deal. The denial of most victims that they have been conned is what drives them to make just one more payment and their windfall happens (Nigerian Scams, 2000). There are even instances whereby one is invited to Nigeria and you are taken through real or fake government offices. The fake government offices include many government support staff and you are left with no doubt.In some instances, victims have confessed going to the directory, looking up the number of the alleged government officiate and finding it there. On calling, it is received by the very same person who he has been in contact with. There are some victims who have been invited to go to Nigeria. They are told that a Visa is not necessary and in that case, they bribe an airport official for you to enter Nigeria. On entering you are told that it is illegal to be in Nigeria without a passport (which is true) and this is used to coerce more money from you (Lohr, 1992). Mechanism to discourage these crimesThe federal bureau of investigations has but in some mechanisms in bid to stop these fraudsters. The FBI has warned the public to be wary and not fall into this trick. In this regard, the public has been warned to be skeptical of any email or letter from persons claiming to be Nigerian government officials or any other foreigner asking for help with regard to transfer of large sums of money. The public has also been advised not to believe in the promise of large sums of money once they cooperate (FBI, 2010). Many countries have put in legislations that require citizens to report any form of 419 emails.In general, the governments all over the world are committed to ending this vice. There have also been developments of Internet Technologies which aim at stemming the advancement of the Nigerian Advanced Fee Fraud scams. Through th e use of this technology, law enforcement officers are in a position to cooperate internationally and therefore are able to track these scammers, obtain the necessary evidence and prosecuting them (Lohr, 1992). References FBI. (2010). Internet Fraud. Retrieved August 19, 2010 from http://www. fbi. gov/majcases/fraud/internetschemes. htm. Gill, P. (2005). About. Com. The Top ten internet/ Email Scams.Retrieved August 19, 2010 from http://netforbeginners. about. com/od/scamsandidentitytheft/ss/top10inetscams. htm Grabosky, P. (2006). Electronic Crime, New Jersey: Prentice Hall http://www. nytimes. com/1992/05/21/business/nigerian-scam-lures-companies. html. Lohr, S. (1992). Nigerian Scam' Lures Companies. Nigerian Advanced Fee Fraud Detection, Education, Eradication. The New York Times. Retrieved August 19, 2010 from http://www. nextwebsecurity. com/ Nigerian scams. (2000). Schemes, Scams and frauds. Retrieved August 19, 2010 from http://www. crimes-of-persuasion. com/Crimes/Business/ nigerian. htm.

Entrepreneurship. Validity of Claim in Emerging Markets and Assignment

Entrepreneurship. Validity of Claim in Emerging Markets and Stakeholder contribution in making Claim Realizable - Assignment Example The market itself has also been a focus of discussion to identify key conditions and factors that make businesses succeed on emerging markets. Getting to the later part of the series of lessons, there was focus on the role that various non-governmental agencies play in emerging markets to ensure that businesses operating in these markets experience success. As Dr. Yunu makes this all important claim of how each person is a potential entrepreneur, the various ideas developed over the weeks can be summed up in reasoning with Dr. Yunu. In this integration paper, two major issues are discussed. The first is the potential that the statement of Dr. Yunu has in becoming a reality in emerging markets, and the level to which various stakeholders have played their role in facilitating entrepreneurship and Dr. Yunu’s idea. Validity of Claim in Emerging Markets Generally, there has been a realization that most people who are entrepreneurs in various emerging markets, particularly in N-11 countries are not people who are world acclaimed entrepreneurs with records of setting up blooming and flourishing multinational companies around the globe. Considering various business plans, it would be noticed that most of these entrepreneurs are ordinary degree holders in various subject areas, with some kind of zeal to succeed (Dib, da Rocha and da Silva, 2010). In relation to the statement of Dr. Yunu therefore, it can be said that as far as emerging markets are concerned, there is a huge level of possibility of the claims to be reality. Having said this however, lessons from previous weeks’ discussions on leadership qualities would also bring in a word of caution that as much as all people would want to attempt to be entrepreneurs, it is important that efforts are made on the need to learn and acquaint oneself with key leadership and entrepreneurship skills when operating in an emerging market (Naude and Rossouw, 2010). The fact that most emerging markets are not very developed must not be a reason or a cause for entrepreneurs to overlook the kind of competition they can present their businesses with. Stakeholder contribution in making Claim Realizable The weeks gone have also been very useful in understanding the roles that governments and other stakeholders such as nongovernmental organization have to play and have been playing in various emerging markets. As far as governments are concerned, a lot have been said as criticism against their actions and efforts so far. For example, most governments in emerging markets, particularly the Brazilian government has been criticized for doing virtually nothing to too little in ensuring that the form of support it gives to young entrepreneurs, especially those coming from foreign countries are financial support (Cahn, 2008). Meanwhile, as much as the other forms of support are important and relevant, even Dr. Yunu admits that financial constraints remain the most challenging obstacle to most young entrep reneurs who would have wanted to make the advocacy of his claim a reality by opening businesses in emerging markets. Currently, the commonest forms of support that exist for various entrepreneurs come in the form of political and environmental support as against economic support (Thukral et al, 2008). For the example, the likelihood that an entrepreneur will face opposition in the opening of a new venture in an emerging market such as Brazil is highly unlikely. But except one is an indigenous or local entrepreneur, the possibility of receiving support from the government is almost zero. The reason this is so is that government sees

Ventilation-Perfusion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Ventilation-Perfusion - Assignment Example Several factors affect resting metabolic rate and some include body mass, body composition, age, gender amongst others. For example, men usually demonstrate a higher absolute resting metabolic rate as compared to women (Connolly et al 196-201). When one is active, the body burns more calories than during rest. Various levels of physical activity such as walking, swimming decrease body weight by burning calories. Such activities also increase Basal Metabolic rates by building extra lean tissue (Connolly et al 196-201). On the other hand, maximum level of activity increases the metabolic rate and hence leads to proper maintenance of body weight. During rest, the alveolar change is minimal. However, during active or highly active period such as exercise and other conditions, alveolar pressure changes are high. Such a person is said to be on positive pressure ventilation. This may lead to a situation where alveolar pressure exceeds vascular pressure, and this may be detrimental to the flow of blood (Osborne 2). Usually, pulmonary pressure is high during exercise to avoid any hindrance that may occur to the blood flow (Osborne 3). Alveolar partial pressure of oxygen is a function of the ratio of ventilation to perfusion (Osborne 3). In a normal situation, the blood in the pulmonary capillaries equilibrates with alveolar oxygen pressure and carbon dioxide pressure (Osborne 4). The great ventilation and perfusion at the base of the lung allows greater gas exchange at the base of the lungs (Osborne 4). Therefore, such an arrangement allows adequate gas exchange, unless a disease occurs to disrupt it (Osborne 4). On the other hand , if regional hypoxia occurs that leads to reduced oxygenation of alveolus, local pulmonary vasoconstriction takes precedence (Osborne 4). The supply of blood to less oxygenated alveolus is reduced and directed to areas with an adequate supply of oxygen. These rates are able to maintain sufficient