Others vs. leaders Essay Example for Free

Others vs. leaders Essay To further test why there was a difference in the above results, t-test was further conducted between the two groups to identify the items where there are possible differences between the two groups under study. B. 1. Leadership, Item 1: There was no significant difference between the Leadership mean scores of the Others Group and the Leaders Group. This means that as far as the Leadership indicators were concerned the two groups could be considered as belonging to the same population, Table 4. Table 4. T-Test Results of Leadership Mean Scores of the Others Group and the Leaders Group Variables Others Leaders t-test Significance. Leadership 3. 805 4. 186 -1. 68 p=0. 10n. s. n. s. = not significant (accept hypothesis: mean scores of others = leaders) * significant at 1% level (reject null hypothesis) This implied that although the respondents belonged to different echelons in the organization studied, as far as the Leadership, Item 1, measures are concerned; the Junior Officers and the Senior Officers perform at the same level. B. 2. Strategic Planning, Item 2: The t-test showed there was no significant difference between mean scores of the two groups suggesting uniformity in perception as far as the indicators of strategic planning were concerned, Table 5. Table 5. T-Test Results of Strategic Planning Mean Scores of the Others Group and the Leaders Group Variables Others Leaders t-test Significance Strategic Planning 3. 852 4. 19 -1. 13 p=0. 265n. s. n. s. = not significant (accept hypothesis: mean scores of others = leaders) * significant at 1% level (reject null hypothesis) B. 3. Customer and Market Focus, Item 3: The t-test on comparing the mean scores of the Others Group and the Leaders Group showed a significant difference between the two groups with the Leaders Group considerably had higher mean score, Table 6. Table 6. T-Test Results of Customer and Market Focus Mean Scores of the Others Group and the Leaders Group Variables Others Leaders t-test Significance Customer and Market Focus 2. 708 3. 143 -2. 09 p=0. 043 * n. s. = not significant (accept hypothesis: mean scores of others = leaders) * significant at 1% level (reject null hypothesis) B. 4. Measurement, Analyses and Knowledge Management, Item 4: There is no significant difference between the Measurement, Analyses, and Knowledge Management mean scores of the Others Group and the Leaders Group, Table 7. Table 7. T-Test Results of Measurement, Analyses, and Knowledge Management Mean Scores of the Others Group and the Leaders Group Variables Others Leaders t-test Significance Measurement, Analyses, and Knowledge Management 3. 795 3. 531 0. 64 p=0. 527n. s. n. s. = not significant (accept hypothesis: mean scores of others = leaders) * significant at 1% level (reject null hypothesis) B. 5. Human Resource Focus, Item 5: There is no significant difference between the Human Resource Focus mean scores of the Others Group and the Leaders Group, Table 8. Table 8. T-Test Results of Human Resource Focus Mean Scores of the Others Group and the Leaders Group Variables Others Leaders t-test Significance Human Resource Focus 3. 217 3. 35 -0. 55 p=0. 587n. s. n. s. = not significant (accept hypothesis: mean scores of others = leaders) * significant at 1% level (reject null hypothesis) B. 6. Process Management, Item 6: There is no significant difference between the Process Management mean scores of the Others Group and the Leaders Group. Table 9. T-Test Results of Process Management Mean Scores of the Others Group and the Leaders Group Variables Others Leaders t-test Significance. Process Management 3. 772 3. 819 -0. 24 p=0. 813n. s. n. s. = not significant (accept hypothesis: mean scores of others = leaders) * significant at 1% level (reject null hypothesis) B. 7. Business Results, Item 7: There is significant difference between the Business Results mean scores of the Others Group and the Leaders Group. The Others and the Leaders Group differed in their responses for Business Results. The Leaders Group had higher responses for these types of questions, Table 10. Table 10. T-Test Results of Business Results Mean Scores of the Others Group and the Leaders Group. Variables Others Leaders t-test Significance Business Results 2. 245 2. 926 -2. 23 p=0. 031* n. s. = not significant (accept hypothesis: mean scores of others = leaders) * significant at 1% level (reject null hypothesis) B. 8. Implications of the t-test Results The t-test conducted revealed significant difference between the two groups on two items, namely Customer and Market Focus, Item 3 and Business Results, Item 7. According to the Baldrige Criteria, the Customer and Market Focus Category, Item 3, â€Å"examines how the organization determines requirements, needs, expectations, and preferences of customers and markets. Also examined is how the organization builds relationships with customers and determines the Key Factors that lead to customer acquisition and satisfaction, loyalty and retention, and to business expansion and sustainability. † We take note that this concern is a concern essentially external to the organization but defines the rationale or importance of the organization to the bigger society through which the organization was dedicated in serving. In the military service, the â€Å"customer and market† are presumably not only the men and women in the service but the public at large and all its agencies. It could be expected that the top echelon of the military leadership surveyed in the study were concerned not only with how the organization works but whether the expectations of its function to serve the public at large were being met. Another item which showed significant difference with the Leaders Group scoring higher than the Others Groups is Business Results, Item 7. Based from the Baldrige indicators, this item is customer-oriented and measures performance geared at satisfying the â€Å"customer† as well as performance in the â€Å"marketplace†. In other words, this item is concerned with results which would accomplish the mandate or mission of the organization. Again, we take note that this item is external to the organization which leads us to a possible explanation for such a result. The differences between the two groups suggested that there was a sort of a transformation in perception of officers as they go up in the hierarchy. This support the earlier observation that positions in the organization may have its own requirements given its functions which shape the perception or point of view of those occupying such positions. C. Excerpt from the Correlation Matrix for the Leaders Group To further probe into the nature of the difference of point of views or priorities between the two groups, cross-correlation between the items were conducted on the Leader Group. The results revealed a negative or inverse correlation between Strategic Planning, Item 2, and Customer Market Focus, Item 3; whereas, a positive correlation between Strategic Planning, Item 2 and Process Management, Item 6, Table 11. Table 11. Excerpt from the Correlation Matrix for Leaders Strategic Planning Item 2. Customer and Market Focus, Item 3 -0. 811 0. 027 Process Management, Item 6 0. 955 0. 001 Cell Contents: Pearson correlation p-Value These results further showed us some trends which were not shown in the cross correlation test conducted for the Others Group. That is, for leaders in key positions, the concern is satisfying the goals and achieving the results and the details like strategy become a lesser concern. Arguably, the top echelon of the military leadership has the whole organization working under its wings which would deliver and perform. Specifics, then have to be largely delegated to the Junior Officers. The positive correlation between strategy and process management suggested that top leadership in the case of the respondents surveyed in this study, likewise did not bother much with the details of certain processes possibly as in the case of strategy relegating the meticulous tasks to Junior Officers. Again, this supported the previous trend of position based perspectives suggesting opposing point views may be due to position occupied.

Media Violence Essay -- essays research papers fc

Machine gun fire, explosions, and screams for help are only a few of the sounds that can be heard emanating from a child’s bedroom today, while his parents listen nervously just outside his door. Horrified, these parents shake their heads ruefully, wondering at the power of entertainment available for kids nowadays. Sometimes they even argue whether it is right for their child to have access to this sort of violence: the kind found in most video games, television shows, and movies all over the world. But honestly, does it make a difference in the child’s development as a productive member of society, and if so, can a parent really do anything about it? These are the questions that researchers of the subject hope to answer conclusively In order to understand how media violence has an effect on children, different variables must first be examined. To begin with, children of various ages understand what they are watching very differently. Most of it depends on the length of their attention spans, the way they go about processing their information, the amount of mental effort that they put in, and their own life experiences. These stages are broken up into five parts. The first part is the effects on infants. Infants or children up to 18 months old can â€Å"Pay attention to an operating television set for short periods of time, but the attention demands a great effort and infants are more interested in their own activities.†1 Even when it seems that they are focusing on the television, infants will usually not be able to comprehend what is going on. They take it as a bunch of â€Å"Fragmented displays of light and sound†, which they can only recognize and put together certain pieces and characters. Although there is no evidence yet as to the effect of media violence on infants, there is still evidence that infants may imitate some behavior that they have seen on television. The toddler period begins at roughly two-and-a-half to three years old. It is at this point that they begin to pay more attention to the television when it is on. They also begin to develop a minute capability to take some meaning out of what they watch. They are also more likely to copy what they see on television. Children, who are at preschool age, three to five years old, start watching television with the intent of understanding the content. They are drawn to fast-pacing images, which tend to b... ...t of violent games will grow up to be violent. But just as every cigarette increases the chance that someday you will get lung cancer, every exposure to violence increases the chances that someday a child will behave more violently than they otherwise would.†3   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   . Bibliography 1)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wendy L. Josephson, Ph.D. (1995). Television Violence: A Review of the Effects on Children of Different Ages. Retrieved Nov.17, 2004. Media Awareness Network. http://stauffer.queensu.ca/inforef/instruct/tv1.htm 2)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dr. Michael Craig Miller, (2000). Does Violence In The Media Cause Violent Behavior? Nov.18, 2004. Harvard Mental Health Letter. http://www.health.harvard.edu/medline/Mental/M901c.html 3)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Senator Orrin G. Hatch, (1999). Children, Violence, And The Media. Nov.18, 2004. Senate Judiciary Committee Media Violence Report. http://www.senate.gov/~judiciary/mediavio.htm 4)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Saul Kassin, (2004), Psychology. Retrieved Nov.19, 2004 New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc. THE EFFECTS OF MEDIA VIOLENCE ON CHILDREN NOVEMBER 23, 2004

Assignment Psycholgical approaches

On a moral practical everyday life modeling is an excellent way of helping patient overcome with anxiety. For example a nurse found out that children in hospital suffer from reduce stress and they recover quickly from surgery if the treatment that they are about to have are modeled for example using films and video tapes. The psychotic Approach – understanding challenging behavior by a basic tenant of this perspective is that the most of the behavior is driven by unconscious forces.It is therefore very important to recognize the way we might not be able to understand behavior if we were using questions and answering techniques as the individual may not know what is troubling them and it is nesters to delve a deeper and try to interpret the behavior on the assumption that the behavior is in some way a symptom of what is going on in the unconscious mind. The Social Learning Theory – promotion of anti- discriminatory behavior and practices has been discussed earlier that t he way people can learn new behavior by observing others.First they note down the model that is influenced whether we like to imitate the behavior or not. For example of a model who is a very famous celebrity called the late princess Diana and when she came to the hospital to visit a patient who had HIVE and AIDS at the hospital in 1987 she shaded that patients hand who had AIDS and not only broke a tattoo on the subject but she also helped to remove a great deal of prejudice and misunderstanding about the illness. The use of positive role model in health and social care is education campaign and this explains the role model that can be played with powerful part of behavior.For example Jamie Oliver he has an image impact in terms of getting local authorities to introduce cooked school meals which were much less healthy. The Humanistic Approach – empathy is a very crucial feature of this approach to helping others to develop empathy. It is very common like sympathy where we fe el sorry for someone and we require to really listen to the emotions and respect them for who they are. This is not always very easy as we don't understand why someone feels so bad about an issue that we could easily dismiss.True empathy requires us to put aside the problem about another person and all we could do is put ourselves in their shoes. Rather like empathy understanding importance when applying this perspective to health and social care practice. Rogers often refers to more than just understanding an intellectual level. This is a major barrier to understanding and it will help the client or the patient instead we need to listen carefully to what is being said and ask questions to the problem.The Cognitive Approach – supporting individuals with learning difficulties who can experience enormous frustration in their daily lives as they feel to make sense to what we can experience. The cognitive approach can be used to help people who do not understand the situation. Th is could be by identifying irritation thoughts as an individual and can be guided to change them with consequent benefit for their emotion and behavior.Cognitive word of this type can be improved by self esteem and increase Outbursts which may be affected by a lack Of understanding Of the equipment of a given situation for example having to wait for a meal. Supporting individuals with emotional problems is widely used with individuals with a variety of emotional problems. This perspective begins by examining how the negative thought influenced feelings which then lead to changing in behavior. Supporting individuals with depression is a psychologist called Aaron Beck who has a formulated a helpful approach to understanding depression known as a cognitive behavior therapy.The pattern of the behavior is common to suffering from depression and is described as a cognitive triad. This then generates to a conviction that the world contains problems and difficulties that the individual is p owerless to overcome. The goal of the cognitive therapy is to challenge these negatives Houghton and to encourage the patient to develop alternative and more positive ways of seeing the world. Supporting individuals with post traumatic stress disorder -? This disorder consists of a group of symptoms as outlined below.This is commonly experienced by soldiers but are also experienced by others who have undergone a traumatic experience such as rape which is too much for them to bear. Traumatic events: Nightmares, flashbacks, recall of the event and fireworks. Avoidance events: The person tries to avoid thinking about the trauma and brings it back to the mind so the person may not be blew to remember anything. Increased arousal: difficulties falling or staying asleep, concentrating, hyperactive and exaggerated response.The Biological Approach -? Understanding developmental norms and they are developed by Arnold Sell for an assessment scale to enable judgment to be made about a child's b ehavior and understanding the matter Of their age and this is composed to the child's goal against their scores at an earlier age to determine the development. These are the three overlapping stages at which development can be measured. Between two and a half years of age Between four and six years old Between six and nine years old. Understanding the effects of shift work on individuals When we are working shifts especially at night we tend to find that there are certain times when we are feeling overwhelmed and urging to sleep while we should be working. Those unpleasant physical effects occur because of disruptions to circadian biological rhythms. Cardiac rhythms have given a cycle of physiological bodily process which laps force between 24 and 25 hours. For example our core body temperature which follows the level of alertness. For most people the lowest core temperature is 36. Degree Celsius and the very highest is 37. 2 degrees Celsius. The core body temperature falls over the course of the day. This is why we feel sleepy. Shift workers on an evening shift have to be awake and function at night with a high level when their body temperature is dropping the lowest telling us that they want to go to sleep. Therefore they need to sleep on time and return home on time when their body clock is telling them to be alert. The brain is also involved in leap and this is called the pineal gland and this is responsible for production of the hormone melatonin.As it gets darker the light levels increases between 8 and 10 these levels increase within 2 hours beginning to fall from 2. References Circadian rhythms www'. Guardian. Co. UK/science/2004/DCE/04/locators. Health Cognitive behavioral therapy www. Respects. AC. UK Sell assessment scale vim. Guiltlessness. Org MI Role model can be used within the new therapy and counseling centre in my locality is for example a nurse is expected to be on a high level standard of aroma and competent so where as we might aspect a su rgeon to be similarly level headed competent who would be expecting to a particular warmth.The people that would benefit from it is a group of individuals who have a particular culture or society who will get influenced by others and this will work by helping the therapy and counseling for leading us to adopt certain roles and try to live up to that role to the expectation that goes with the role. The humanistic approach can be used within the new therapy and counseling centre in my locality by for example by looking at human experiences from their viewpoint of my individuals of groups by focuses on their ideas of free will and believing that my group of individuals can make their own choices.This can work by their hierarchy of needs to progress through each level before making SSL_Jeer they meet all their individual needs. Advantages of my two perspectives are that one of my perspective is about influencing on people's role model by observing and changing behavior to the role model according to their jobs and expectations in the health and social; care setting and adopting it later it later in life and my other respective looks at my individuals needs like the importance in their diet and making sure they meet it and to understand why they need to meet their humanistic needs.

Literature Review Of Managing Risk In Farming Concepts Finance Essay - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 2061 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Research paper Did you like this example? Joy Harwood, Richard Heifner, Keith Coble, Janet Perry, and Agapi Somwaru (1999), Managing Risk in Farming: Concepts, Research, and Analysis, Agricultural Economic Report No. 774. Washington DC, Economic Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. Risk and Risk Management Risk is the possibility of adversity or loss (Bodie and Merton) and refers to uncertainty that matters. Consequently, risk management involves choosing among alternatives to reduce the effects of risk. Risk management typically requires the evaluation of tradeoffs between changes in risk, expected returns, entrepreneurial freedom, and other variables. Understanding risk is a starting point to help producers make good management choices in situations where adversity and loss are possibilities. Some risk management strategies (such as diversification) reduce risk with-in the farms operation, others(such as production contracting) transfer risk outside the farm, and still others (such as maintaining liquid assets) build the farms capacity to bear risk. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Literature Review Of Managing Risk In Farming Concepts Finance Essay" essay for you Create order Sources of Risk in Farming Some risks are unique to agriculture, such as the risk of bad weather significantly reducing yields within a given year. Other risks, such as the price or institutional risks discussed below, while common to all businesses, reflect an added economic cost to the producer. If the farmers benefit-cost tradeoff favors mitigation, then he will attempt to lower the possibility of adverse effects. These risks include the following: (Hardaker, Huirne, and Anderson; Boehlje and Trede;Baquet, Hambleton, and Jose; Fleisher) Production or yield risk Yield risk occurs because agriculture is affected by many uncontrollable events that are often related to weather, including excessive or insufficient rainfall, extreme temperatures, hail, insects, and diseases. Technology plays a key role in production risk in farming. The rapid introduction of new crop varieties and production techniques often offers the potential for improved efficiency, but may at times yield poor results, particularly in the short term. In contrast, the threat of obsolescence exists with certain practices (for example, using machinery for which parts are no longer available), which creates another kind of risk. Price or market risk Price or market risk reflects risks associated with changes in the price of output or of inputs that may occur after the commitment to production has begun. In agriculture, production generally is a lengthy process. Livestock production, for example, typically requires ongoing investments in feed and equipment that may not produce returns for several months or years. Because markets are generally complex and involve both domestic and international considerations, producer returns may be dramatically affected by events in far-removed regions of the world. Institutional risk Institutional risk results from changes in policies and regulations that affect agriculture. This type of risk is generally manifested as unanticipated production constraints or price changes for inputs or for output. For example, changes in government rules regarding the use of pesticides (for crops) or drugs (for livestock) may alter the cost of production or a foreign countrys decision to limit imports of a certain crop may reduce that crops price. Other institutional risks may arise from changes in policies affecting the disposal of animal manure, restrictions in conservation practices or land use, or changes in income tax policy or credit policy. Human or Personal Risks Farmers are also subject to the human or personal risks that are common to all business operators. Disruptive changes may result from such events as death, divorce, injury, or the poor health of a principal in the firm. In addition, the changing objectives of individuals involved in the farming enterprise may have significant effects on the long run performance of the operation. Asset risk is also common to all businesses and involves theft, fire, or other loss or damage to equipment, buildings, and livestock. A type of risk that appears to be of growing importance is contracting risk, which involves opportunistic behavior and the reliability of contracting partners. Financial risks Financial risk differs from the business risks previously described in that it results from the way the firms capital is obtained and financed. A farmer may be subject to fluctuations in interest rates on borrowed capital, or face cash flow difficulties if there are insufficient funds to repay creditors. The use of borrowed funds means that a share of the returns from the business must be allocated to meeting debt payments. Even when a farm is 100-percent owner financed, the opera-tors capital is still exposed to the probability of losing equity or net worth. How Farmers Can Manage Risk Farmers have many options in managing agricultural risks. They can adjust the enterprise mix (diversify) or the financial structure of the farm (the mix of debt and equity capital). In addition, farmers have access to various tools-such as insurance and hedging-that can help reduce their farm-level risks. Indeed, most producers combine the use of many different strategies and tools. Producers must decide on the scale of the operation, the degree of control over resources (including how much to borrow and the number of hours, if any, worked off the farm), the allocation of resources among enterprises, and how much to insure and price forward. Enterprise Diversification Diversification is a frequently used risk management strategy that involves participating in more than one activity. The motivation for diversifying is based on the idea that returns from various enterprises do not move up and down in lockstep, so that when one activity has low returns, other activities likely would have higher returns. A crop farm, for example, may have several productive enterprises (several different crops or both crops and livestock), or may operate disjoint parcels so that localized weather disasters are less likely to yields risk for all crops simultaneously. Vertical Integration Vertical integration includes all of the ways that output from one stage of production and distribution is transferred to another stage. Farming has traditionally operated in an open production system, where a commodity is purchased from a producer at a market price determined at the time of purchase. The use of open production has declined and vertical coordination has increased as consumers have become increasingly sophisticated and improvements in technology have allowed greater product differentiation (Martinez and Reed). In practice, vertical integration in agriculture often involves owner-ship of both farm production and processing activities; like sorting, assembling, and packaging products for retail sales. While the above examples relate to individual operations, farmers may join together in a cooperative organization that is vertically integrated across functions. Production contracts Production contracts typically give the contractor (the buyer of the commodity) considerable control over the production process (Perry, 1997). These contracts usually specify in detail the production inputs supplied by the contractor, the quality and quantity of a particular commodity that is to be delivered, and the compensation that is to be paid to the grower. Firms commonly enter into production contracts with farmers to ensure timeliness and quality of commodity deliveries, and to gain control over the methods used in the production process. Production contracting is particularly favored when specialized inputs and complex production technologies are used, and the end product must meet rigid quality levels and possess uniform characteristics. Production contracting is also favored when oversupply and undersupply have been problems, the risk-return tradeoffs are advantageous to both the producer and the contracting firm, production technologies are specific, uniform, and knowled ge-based, centralized management is feasible, and the commodity is highly perishable (Kliebenstein and Lawrence; Harris). Evidence suggests that farmers enter production contracts to guarantee market access, improve efficiency, and ensure access to capital. Most production contracts lower farmers price risks when compared with risks on the open market. This suggests that farmers are well aware of the risk-shifting capacity (Perry, 1997). Marketing contracts Marketing contracts are either verbal or written agreements between a buyer and a producer that set a price and/or an outlet for a commodity before harvest or before the commodity is ready to be marketed (Perry, 1997). The contract terms vary across contracts, but typically establish a price (or contain provisions for setting a price at a later date) and provide for delivery of a given quality (or grade) within a specified time period at a flat price (or fixed price). In contrast, minimum-price contracts guarantee the producer a minimum price for harvest delivery, based on futures price quotes at the time the contract is established, with the incorporation of a pricing formula that gives farmers the opportunity to sell at a higher price if futures prices increase before the contract expires. Most types of contracts do not completely eliminate price risk except the flat-price contracts, which establish an exact price to be paid to the grower upon delivery and thus completely eliminate price risk. Liquidity Another aspect of financial risk management is liquidity, which involves the farmers ability to generate cash quickly and efficiently in order to meet his financial obligations (Barry and Baker). The liquidity issue relates to cash flow and addresses the question: When adverse events occur, does a farmer have assets (or other monetary sources) that can easily be converted to cash to meet his financial demands? Examples of liquid assets include grain in storage, cash, and company stock holdings, while illiquid assets include land, machinery, and other fixed assets. Leasing Inputs and Hiring Custom Work Producers can also manage their farming risks by either leasing inputs (including land) or hiring workers during harvest or other peak months. Leasing refers to a capital transfer agreement that provides the renter (the actual operator) with control over assets owned by someone else for a given period, using a mutually agreed-upon rental arrangement (Perry, 1997). Farmers can lease land, machinery, equipment, or livestock. Leasing reduces the long-term fixed payments on borrowed capital that may strain liquidity in years of reduced output, and can reduce both financial and production risk for the renter (Sommer and others, 1998). Crop Insurance Insurance is often used by crop producers to mitigate yield (and hence, revenue) risk, and is obviously prevalent outside of agriculture. Property, health, automobile, and liability insurance are all forms of insurance regularly purchased by individuals to mitigate risk. For an individual, the use of insurance involves the exchange of a fixed, relatively small payment (the premium) for protection from uncertain, but potentially large, losses (Ray). The Government should also reinsures private companies that sell policies (that is, the Government shares in the risk of loss) to help reduce financial losses in years of widespread disasters. Risk protection is greatest when crop-yield insurance (which provides yield risk protection) is combined with forward pricing or hedging (which provide price risk protection). Off-farm Employment and Off-farm Income Earning off-farm income is another strategy that farmers may use to mitigate the effects of agricultural risk on farm family household income. Farm household income can be categorized as earned off-farm income (wages and salaries), unearned off-farm income (social security, pensions, and investments), and farm net cash income. Off-farm income not only can supplement household income, it may also provide a more reliable stream of income than farm returns. In essence, off-farm income can offer a form of diversification to counter negative fluctuations in farm income. Farm household total income has been found significantly less variable if producers and their spouses worked off the farm (Mishra and Goodwin, 1997). Other Ways of Managing Risk Many other diverse strategies for farm risk management are commonly used by producers on their operations. Some of these additional strategies include the following: Adjusting inputs and outputs (Improve Technical and Allocative Efficiency) Producers can respond to risk by altering output levels, input use, or some combination of the two. Research indicates that greater output price risk results in lower levels of both input use and final output. Given that preferences toward risk and circumstances can vary greatly across producers, the final input and output levels chosen by producers can, accordingly, vary considerably for individuals in similar situations. Cultural Practices or Indigenous Knowledge Cultural practices can be used to enhance yield and, hence, reduce income risk. One such practice involves planting short-season varieties that mature earlier in the season, protecting against the risk of early frost and yield loss. Supplemental irrigation due to abnormal weather is another means to protect against yield loss. Excess Machine Capacity A farmer may have enough machine capacity so that planting and harvesting crops can occur more rapidly than needed under normal weather conditions. By having such resources, the farmer can avoid delays at either planting or harvest that may reduce yield losses.