AWS Analysis Essay

I am providing you with an analysis and recommendations for the AWS unit of Amazon.com which will benefit your unit. The information present on which of Porter’s four competitive strategies your unit should follow, gives a list of information systems for Sales/Marketing and Customer Service chains. I will also tell you how â€Å"the cloud† can be utilized and why your unit should use a server farm for providing services. It is essential to focus on industry-wide and differentiation of the Porter’s Four Competitive Strategies. That strategy will advise you to offer better products and services across the industry. The reason why I picked this section of Porter’s Four Competitive Strategies is that Amazon.com in 2010 on average sold 158 items per second in 178 countries. You are a unit which is a part of a global industry, we have to make sure that your services are better than competitors and are known worldwide. This focus will impact the unit’s business processes and information systems in those fields: †¢Importance of volume to supplier †¢Relative price performance of substitutes †¢Supplier concentration †¢Brand identity †¢Buyers incentives Those are important sections in your unit that you have to change or focus to be successful worldwide. I recommend that sales and marketing chain use Purchasing information system. The Purchasing system will help employees to determine customers’ needs and wants based on their shopping. In this process a system will identify the type of products that customer is searching or purchasing and create a special section of recommendation with the deals that will fit customer’s interest. This type system will collect data with customers’ interest which  will help in their product selection and suppliers advertisement. This system will lock in customers and buyers. In customer service chain I recommend Product information system. The Product information system will allow employees to evaluate customers’ satisfaction with our web services. It will be a system that collect customers’ notes about satisfaction with services and products they wish to see on our website. The system will automatically send those to suppliers which will help them in their product selection. It will help to lock in suppliers and create new products and services. A server farm is a collection of computer servers. It is mainly used for web hosting. The server farm contributes to high financial and environmental costs. It will be good to use by AWS unit because their services allow customers to use their servers for their personal use of software. Which require a lot of space to store all of that data. The cloud service is providing easy on demand access to applications, resources and services through internet. The cloud is in advantage for customers because they can access it from any source for so long there is an internet connection. It saves the customer’s space on his personal computer and they are run by fast and stable servers. The AWS unit leases their computer resources on flexible terms for customer’s needs. If you will combine the Porter’s strategies with information system recommendations your unit will increase it sales of services. These are essential information that you should focus on.

Corporate Governance in Malaysia

Corporate Governance is a concept in which it has been existence for decades; although not in the exact form that it has come to be understood today (Anandarajah, 2001). The term corporate governance was introduced in Malaysia in 1997 during the Asian Financial Crisis. It also drew the public’s attention on the weaknesses of the Malaysian corporate governance practice (Nor Azizah Zainal Abidin, 2007).Besides that, the downfall of Sime Bank, the Bumiputera Malaysian Finance (BMF) scandal, the irregularities in Renong Berhad, the Perwaja fiasco and the internal management problem faced by Malaysian Airline System (MAS) forced government to enhance corporate governance regulations (Norwani, Mohamad, & Chek, 2011).The High Level Finance Committee Report 1999 on Corporate Governance in Malaysia defined corporate governance as the â€Å"process and structure used to direct and manage the business and affairs of the company towards enhancing business prosperity and corporate account ability with the ultimate objective of realizing long term shareholder value, whilst taking into account the interest of other stakeholders. † (Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance, 2012). The code that governs the corporate governance in Malaysia is called the Malaysia Code of Corporate Governance (MCCG).This code was recently revised in March 2012 and it is known as the MCCG2012. Besides providing relevant information to investors, this code also aims to encourage transparency management of companies, to enable investors to guide the direction of the company (Nor Azizah Zainal Abidin, 2007). The MCCG 2007 was revised with the aim to enhance the directors’ duty to the companies. With the revised MCCG 2012, there are still many issues arising from corporate governance. However, to some extent there are improvements in some area of the corporate governance.The revised MCCG 2012 contained a few improvements in the recommendation. This Code now establishes clear roles an d responsibilities where ethical standard should be formalized through the code of conduct by the board to ensure its compliance. Through the company’s code of conduct, it mandates the board to formulate system of compliance and ethical standards. Besides, it also includes ensuring that the company’s strategies promote sustainability. There are many improvements made under reinforcement of independence. 3. 1 mandate boards to undertake an annual independent director assessment.For an individual to serve as an independent director, 3. 2 mandate a cumulative term to nine years. Under 3. 3, justification and shareholder’s approval is needed if the board retains as an independent director. And lastly MCCG 2012 recommends that a majority of independent directors must be in the board and the board chairman is not an independent director. These were not in the MCCG 2007. The most important improvement under the MCCG 2012 is to ensure timely and high quality disclosure. Under this the board should make certain the appropriate disclosure procedure and policies of the company.Also, for effective dissemination of information, board should encourage the company to leverage on information technology. This is to promote better use of technology. Furthermore, with the existing recommendation, MCCG 2012 also state that the board should also encourage pool voting in order for strengthening the relationship f the company and shareholder. This imposes duty to inform the shareholders of their right to demand a poll vote by the general meeting chairman. The concern here is whether the revised MCCG have enhanced the corporate governance of the companies in Malaysia.This code calls for voluntary compliance, coupled with the requirement in the listing rules of KLSE which make mandates disclosure of the extent of compliance with the best practice sets out in the Code, while allowing for some flexibility in its implementation by companies. The aim here is to provid e necessary information and encourage disclosure to investors who entrusted their funds to companies, so that they can monitor the way it is being run (Finance Committee on Corporate Governance, 1999). This Code has somehow reduced the number of financial scandal but definitely not completely clear it off.There are many scenarios that company collapsing due to financial scandal as what was initiated by the BMF (Bank Bumiputera Finance) scandal. The law governing director’s duty consist of various forms of law. These duties have been observed also contain a plurality of legal fields such as company law and employment law (Hee, 2003). Section 132(1) of the Companies Act 1965 requires a director to use reasonable diligence and to act honestly in the discharge of his duties. The duty to act in the best interest of the company as a whole also from common law covers the collective interest of both existing and prospective shareholders.It is suggested that the common law fiduciary d uty to avoid conflicts of interest should be codified to allow directors to be clear about their obligations in conflict situations. KLSE listing Requirements stipulates that public listed companies must got at least two independent directors. Individuals who are expressly excluded from being eligible to act as independent directors include major shareholders, professional advisers or relatives of an executive director or major shareholder of the listed company (Hee, 2003). This provides a better equilibrium of powers between directors and independent directors.The auditor actually provides a check on the information aspect of the governance system rather than having a direct corporate governance responsibility. As widely recognized, the duties of the audit committees have been related to internal audit financial reporting and external auditor. The importance of an audit committee in the framework of corporate accountability is where audit committees are expected to act as the guard ian of investors’ interests and corporate accountability suggested by the wide adoption of audit committee (Saidin, 2007).The main duties are to inspect and form an opinion as to whether the financial statements have been drawn up in accordance with the financial reporting standards of Malaysia and the Companies Act 1965; to obtain reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatements; and to examine and form an opinion whether the financial statements give a true and fair view of the financial position of the Company as of the financial year end and of its financial performance and cash flows of the year end (Yycadvisors, 2012).The pertinent issue in corporate governance is due to mismanagement, director’s duty not well performed, abusing the minority projection / shareholders and not having meetings often to update what is going on. Management or board should practice the commonly accepted principles of corporate governance such as i ndependence, accountability, roles and responsibilities, integrity and ethical behavior, and transparency. A company’s board should have a number of independent directors. They should be individual with no connection with the company other than a seat in the board.Also, selected independent directors should meet the â€Å"independence† test under the regulatory rules and also to serve with independence of minds. This process of selecting independent directors is likely to maintain their independent mindedness (Rahman & Salim, 2010). To create a system that holds decision makers accountable while according proper respect to their authority over corporation is a challenging thing for corporate governance. The market, shareholder voting, and civil and criminal liability is the regular accountability mechanism.In theory, to create incentives for deterring self-dealing and other forms of misconduct and for responsible decision making these mechanisms work together. However, in reality, these contain flaws that allow individuals to occasionally exercise an irrational discretion when making decisions that will affect many others. The impact can be distressing for investors, employees, and the economy when the governance system fails (Jones, 2010). Given the control of publicly held companies, management should be accountable to its board of directors.The board, in turn, should be accountable to the shareholders and other stakeholders. The principle of accountability can be enhanced by many ways, such as enforcing rules and laws, protecting shareholders’ rights, imposing duties on officers and ensuring the scrutiny of the company’s financial statements by independent auditors (Rahman & Salim, 2010). To provide creditors, depositors and shareholders creditable assurance that they will abstain from fraud activities, financial transparency would be an important mechanism.Timely and accurate disclosure should be made regarding all materials mat ter concerning the corporation is one way to ensure excellent corporate governance. The voluntary items disclosed in the annual reports, the time of the information to be released and quantity of information influenced by the board of directors. In disclosing all the relevant information in the financial reporting, the BOD will be transparent when they are independent and examine their responsibility to be accountable to the shareholders.To ensure the quality of the financial reporting process is one of the main functions corporate governance play. Financial reporting should be prepared with integrity which relies on corporate governance. Dependency of the integrity of financial reporting is highly on the performance and conduct of individual involved. What lead the company to reporting failure is when the corporate governance fails where most of them manipulated their financial statement to meet the performance expectation.Research also has found that there is a connection between weaknesses in corporate governance with bad financial quality, fraudulent financial statement weak internal control and earnings manipulations (Norwani, Mohamad, & Chek, 2011). Problems that arise in companies in Malaysia regarding corporate governance have to do with the political interference to certain extent. State/government can be said as the â€Å"real† company controller compared to law/policy regulated under corporate governance. For example, the famous corporate governance failure in Malaysia – the scandal of Perwaja Steel Sdn.Bhd.. Perwaja, a company owned by the government in collaboration with a Japanese company, Nippon Steel Corporation that was established by HICOM Bhd. in 1982, to fulfill the government’s mission in implementing the heavy industrial policy (Nor Azizah Zainal Abidin, 2007). This can be seen as an example where the state, as a shareholder in the company, has direct interest to it. Fraud and corruption can easily happen with the exi stence of this relationship. Due to the misconduct of directorship the corporate governance of Perwaja collapsed.Perwaja faced with corruption and mismanagement in tender and contract awarding. Furthermore, doubtful trading transactions and payments were carried out to non existing companies (Netto, 2004). There are one sided contracts between Perwaja and both local and foreign companies plus with erroneous records and many of millions ringgit were unauthorized (Norwani, Mohamad, & Chek, 2011). This shows the failure of corporate governance in Perwaja Steel Sdn. Bhd.. However, with fresh funds being injected by the government today, Perwaja is still in business (Netto, 2004).In other case, like the Malaysian Airlines System Bhd. (MAS) faced with internal management problems. Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli, the largest shareholder in MAS who held both Chief Executive Officer plus with chairman position, entered into unprofitable business activities whereby he had over expansion the flight de stination, has caused the occurrence of governance failure (Norwani, Mohamad, & Chek, 2011). The new management under Tajuddin Ramli had already cause MAS to suffered huge debts, prior to the Asian Financial Crisis.This had put MAS at risk during the crisis as all their transaction were done is UD dollars (Nor Azizah Zainal Abidin, 2007). Due to the veto power of the government in MAS’s management the decision on airlines destinations were subjected to government’s decision and approval. To comply with Malaysian foreign policy, MAS had to oblige and extend its services, where at that time, not popular destinations or less concentrated areas were decided by the government. This decision contributed lower return to MAS.From this point of view, we can see that the government/political involvement in business have a huge influence in the management of the company. Besides another reason of governance failure of MAS was due to increased in capital expenditure caused by many orders on planes from 1998 to 2001. It was simply a mismatch between earnings and expenditure in the financial reporting, whereby earnings were is ringgit while the latter was in US dollar. MAS ended up paying a higher cost than what was originally ordered for. MAS was then repurchased for more than double of the market price.The question here was before the government’s buyback, why an audit was not conducted which would have a very important bearing on the proper price of the government buyout. An international case study example would be the Satyam Linggam scandal, the biggest corporate scam in India has come to the most respected businessman. Satyam founder resigned as its chairman after admitting to cooking up the account book. The CEO was responsible for the board accounting improprieties that reported a large amount of cash holding that does not exist and overstating the company’s profit and revenue.With a successful effort on the part of investor’s in o rder to prevent an effort by the minority shareholding promoters to use the firm’s cash reserves to buy two companies owned by them, the scandal all came to know. Consequently, this failed the attempt of expansion on Satyam’s part, which in turn led to a collapse in company’s stock prices, followed by a shocking confession from Raju. History has played a part in the development of corporate governance in India. The first code for corporate governance was published in 1988, but by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) entitled desirable Corporate Governance.Unlike codes in some other countries, the CII code did not make statements of principle but addressed specific business issues in India. The code called for â€Å"professionally competent, independent non-executive directors† to make up the board. None should hold more than ten listed company. The code also called for audit committees. A year later 1999 a government committee released India’ s National Code on Corporate Governance (Ticker, 2009). Reflecting international standards, the code had the approval by the SEBI and incorporated into stock exchange rules.The government issued guidelines on corporate governance in central public sector enterprises in 2007, covering the composition of the boards, audit committees, accounting standards and risk management (Ticker, 2009). However, corruption remains entrenched in India, not at least in the government administration. The Ministry of Company Affairs and the Securities and Exchange Board need more competent staff experience in corporate governance matters. But rapid economic growth and potential in India suggest that the next few years will see significant changes in both attitude and practice (Ticker, 2009).The failure in corporate governance forced rules and regulations to be enacted (Norwani, Mohamad, & Chek, 2011). Recent corporate scandals and the near-collapse of the global ? nancial system all demonstrate the imp ortance of maintaining an effective corporate governance regime (Jones, 2010). With the revised MCCG 2012, duties of all the board of directors are clearly stated, and this will serve as guidance and should improve the corporate governance of the company.

Critical analysis of Yemen's current Military Capabilities Research Paper

Critical analysis of Yemen's current Military Capabilities - Research Paper Example The armed forces personnel’s in the military of Yemen in somewhat very large. In the Arab countries the second largest army force is of Yemen next to Saudia. The military of Yemen is comprised of a military fleet, heavy naval equipments and a strong and well equipped air strength. In the year 2007 the total military capabilities were expected to be: territorial armed forces, 65,000; fleet, 7000-8000; and the air power, 4,000. The Yemen;s military force   include the   Republican Guard force in the army, Naval forces and marines and the air power defense and offence capabilities with the cutting edge equipments and the jet planes who have the capability to defend the country. Economically Yemen is one of the least developed nations amongst the United Arab countries. The employment rate is just 65%1. Even being below poverty line the Yemen’s government invests the largest portion of its GDP in the development of its armed forces. The security costs are really high as they account for the good amount of Yemen’s GDP i.e. 40 to 50 percent. In the year 2002, Yemen spent US$731 million on its military, and this amount has been increasing every year. For instance, the country the military expenditures of 700 million US Dollar were in year 2002 and they have increased to to almost 900 million dollars in the year 2004 2.Yemen entails a total of 11,700 troops divided among the army, air force and the navy; it also consists of total 40,000 reserves3. The  Yemen’s armed forces industry  is the state-run security firm of  Yemen. It is accountable for the production of a broad range of security equipment, such as light efficacy vehicle, medium load trucks, ammunition and the electronics. The overseas military suppliers include China, Russia and North Korea4. Yemen Ground Warfare Proficiency Yemen’s army forms the largest part of its military, it has several sectors. â€Å"The army is systematized into eight protected taskforces, s ixteen infantry taskforces, six automated taskforces, two aerial commando taskforces, one surface-to-surface missile brigade, three weaponry taskforces, one central guard force, one Special Forces team, and six air defense taskforces, which entails four antiaircraft weaponry battalions and one surface-to-air warhead battalion†5. The army is very large and constitutes supportive tangible equipment such as up to eight hundred battle tanks, three hundred multiple rocket launchers. â€Å"Yemen’s army is also stated to be fortified with 140 search systems, 220 confined army combating programmes, 700 shatterproof workers transporters, an estimated 502 grouts, likely 30 armaments and 20 land weaponry, 20 to 30 auto controlled arms, 3-3 shoot up launchers and 540 space protection weapons6. Due to the wide spread of Al-Qaeda, Yemen has taken serious and strict measures in order to avoid any security issues. Since the last few years, US has been funding Yemen military in order t o rectify the problem of Al-Qaeda in Yemen and surrounding areas7. Yemen Army is playing a major role in order to ensure complete security for its country. Yemen has just imported eighty SS-21 systems. The SS-21 is a combat zone projectile planned for tactical operation. It was planned as a substitute for the Free Rocket above Ground (FROG) missile sequences8. It is supposed to be able of being launched in either a ballistic or a cruise missile manner. The

Forest Laboratories. Pharmaceutical Business Ethics Research Paper

Forest Laboratories. Pharmaceutical Business Ethics - Research Paper Example Food and Drug Administration. They even presented imprecise information and obstructed an FDA inspection regarding the presented data. Forest Lab also unethically encouraged the use of Celexa and Lexapro for pediatric use through off-label promotion, although the medicines were approved for adults only. Discussion The business ethics concerned with the Pharmaceutical Industry is based on the organizational ethics. Business ethics includes the ideology, principles and values that direct and conduct actions and manners in the business world. Every company should build up its own corporate values, implement code of ethics which it will always stand by and endeavor to prevent delinquency both in the individual as well as organizational level (Ferrell, O.C. â€Å"Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases†) The pharmaceutical industry deals with the health and welfare of human beings and hence is a much regulated industry. Every organization in the industry should abide by the standards of business practices and ethics. The functioning of a business should be honest and fair, should maintain quality and safety of the products, and be responsible towards surroundings, health and wellbeing. It should be compliant towards regulatory regulations and make certain that high ethical standards are endorsed, and infringement of law is avoided. It is expected to preserve the utmost level of professionalism and ethical conduct in terms of the communications and transactions with others. Organizations should comply austerely with all measures concerning the handling and stocking up of forbidden and restricted substances (Ferrell, O.C. â€Å"Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases†; Salek.S & Edgar.A. â€Å"Pharmaceutical Ethics†). Clearly, an organization should put up with the legislative obligations existing within the countries where it operates its business. The deeds and conduct of both individual employees and the organization as a whole should always be consistent with the regulations existing in the country within which it operates, and be ethical at all times. There have been considerable pains to offer ethical regulation for pharmaceutical industry but there is no collectively established principle for daily resolutions in pharmaceuticals industry practices. There is a requirement for such a worldwide principle which focuses on an organization’s personal ethics versus that of compliance (Vandenbroucke, P. â€Å"Ethics in Pharmaceutical Business Practice.†). Forest Laboratories paid $313 million as a penalty for the three charges imposed against them. Last year, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department's Office of Inspector General were evaluating if they should bar Forest Lab’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Howard Solomon, from taking part in central healthcare plans (Krauskopf, L. â€Å"Analysis: After 34 years, Forest's CEO takes stand†). The U.S. agency brought into play an administrative policy under the Social Security Act; which permits the agency officials to exclude corporate managers from health-industry organizations performing trade with the government, if the pharmaceutical organization was found accountable of illegal delinquency (Jones. A. â€Å"Does Forest Labs Case Signal New Era in White-Collar Prosecution?†). The management of Forest Lab stood firmly beside their CEO, claiming that barring him from the industry would be unfair as there were no allegations against him. The government had not succeeded to establish a straight legal or authoritarian infringement against Howard Solomon other than his association with Forest Lab (Forest Laboratories, â€Å"

Perception Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Perception - Essay Example Step 4: Save a copy for yourself in an easily accessible place, and post a copy of your summary to the Drop box. And Step 5: Read other students’ posts. Sensation and Perception Functions and Role Sensation is the basic process of detecting that a stimulus is in the world. Perception is the process involved in identifying and interpreting the stimulus that is detected in sensation. (Krantz, 1.6). Three of the main organs for sensation are eyes, ears, and skin. Eye is the organ of sight. The eyes enable us to explore the world with precision, balance, and sense of wonder. Its role in human behavior is very important as it plays a vital role in survival, reproduction, and building/maintaining social and role relationships. The ear is the hearing organ. Our ears provide a rich and complex experience of the world, complementing the visual functions. Ears influence human behavior by means of communication/language. Our ears’ perception affects mental health and our relations hip to others. The skin is the organ of touch and it is the body’s outer covering. Its function includes insulation, temperature regulation, sensation, and protection. It also gives appearance and shape. Our skin helps us withdraw from danger and reacts to environmental stimulation. Its role in behavior involves human interactions and reproduction.

East and West Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

East and West - Essay Example It is then that Jesus named Simon his chief disciple, giving him the name Peter meaning â€Å"rock†. At the point of the naming, Jesus blessed Simon and made his promise of building an everlasting and Holy Church upon the â€Å"rock† that was Simon Peter. Upon the death of Jesus Christ, Simon Peter became the Chief priest and head of the other disciples to spearhead the apostolic era spread of the Gospel. It then happened that Simon Peter became the first person among the disciples to establish the very first church in Rome (Dowley 195). As believed by many Catholics, the murder of Peter took place in Rome, where he also served as the head of Christians in the region and across the world. Guettee notes that many Christian believers and particularly Catholics believe that the Roman bishop received Peter’s mantle to lead the Christian flock across the world. Catholics also believe that before Peter died, he entrusted the bishop of Rome with the responsibilities of building and caring for established Church. With the existing belief and honor granted to the bishop of Rome as the leader and head of largest section of the Christian Church, and as an attribute to Peter, Adrian I declared himself as the Pope, a trend matured by Nicholas I and upheld further by King Gregory VII. Episcopacy is a form of government organization developed to rule the church (Dowley 196.). The rise of episcopacy in Christianity in the early Church attaches to the presbyter. Presbyter was a priest and overseer in the various churches and believed to develop from the Apostles of Jesus Christ during the spread of the Gospel. Papandrea explains that the concurrent growth and increase in population of Christians facilitated the formation of higher position of bishop of Rome, also considered as father bearing the great responsibility of exercising control of the Catholics in Rome and beyond (23). As the churches grew with characterization of multitude of followers, it became hard for the bishop to manage the churches single handedly, thus, the need to develop some other positions and offices to help manage the churches. The newly formed positions comprised the priests who were still presbyters and deacons, all of whom had the responsibilities of serving various divisions of Christians. Both the priest and the deacons were answerable to the bishop. It is worth noting that the deacons were assistants of the priests and, therefore, every church or congregation had the two dignitaries. Bishop of Rome enjoyed exclusive rights to appoint, dismiss the priests and deacons, approve church members and even baptize church members. Bishop of Rome also exercised absolute control over the finances of the various churches under his control and settled disputes among the church members. The Bishop of Rome also headed other bishops serving in other cities and countries. The entire system was what entailed the episcopacy. The bishop of Rome, otherwise known as the Pope, played various functions, center of which was the unification of the Christian religion (Dowley 200). Bishop of Rome mediated between Christians upon emergence of any conflicts and differences. For instance, Leo the Great met with the barbarians of Hun in 452 and the barbarians of Vandal in 455 to negotiate the modalities of restoring peace in Rome through withdrawal of the threats posed by the barbarians. Pope Gregory 1 also led negotiation with the Lombard barbarians in 592 to ensure withdrawal of the

HCM427-0801A-01 Human Resource Management in Health Care - Phase 3 Essay

HCM427-0801A-01 Human Resource Management in Health Care - Phase 3 Discussion Board - Essay Example secretary, we have been told that she is no longer interested with her job since she strongly feels that all of her improvement suggestions are not taken seriously by the doctors. Based on the medical secretary’s explanation, it is very clear that she is a leader in her own way because of her desire to develop improvement suggestions for the betterment of the health care organization. In line with this matter, self-management serves as an effective intrinsic motivation on her part. (Graham & Unruh, 1990) It means that simple one-on-one rewards such as a sincere acknoweldgement for her effort and determination to develop improvement suggestions is all she is asking for. Basically, there are two types of rewards that could improve the job performance and satisfaction of the employees. These are the company rewards which are offered by the organization management and the one-on-one rewards which are being extended by the employees’ bosses. Traditional reward system such as compensation and promotions are slowly becoming ineffective in terms of motivating the generation X and Y employees. (Craig, March-April 1989) Material rewards such as cash incentives could also result in demotivating the employees. (Anthony, Dearden, & Bedford, 1989; Cecil Hill, Spring 1989) Basically, the main reason why ‘pay-for-performance’ concept fails to work is because in exchange with the money, the pride and job satisfaction of employees suffer. Eventhough extrinsic rewards such as increase in pay or bonus given to employees could still be effective in some cases, a more recent study shows that intrinsic rewards / motivation such as congratulating the employees for a job well done either verbally, written on a personal note, through public recognition, or implementing a celebration for success in work performance is more effective in motivating employees to increase their work performance. (Graham & Unruh, 1990) The best way to retain and regain the job satisfaction of

Political Discussion Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Political Discussion - Coursework Example President Nixon’s Watergate Scandal was considerably destructive because it earned him the lowest ratings in the second term as compared to other presidents. The current president, President Obama threatens to break this trend because he enjoys a conspicuous upward trend in his approval ratings since the 2012 election. Even so, the second term, riddled by the "second-term curse", is considerably rough because of the over expectations of the public. Special interest groups are good for the nation because they exert influence on the political and legal systems. They encourage democracy and ensure that decision makers settle on decisions that serve the common good. A healthy democracy is possible because of the efforts of interest groups, who neutralize bad policies, and represent minority groups. Although they have too much influence on policy, the existence of several interest groups ensures that their negotiations results in the best policies. Even so, the presence of too many special interest groups is bad because the government may fail to achieve anything substantial. They have other advantages too, such as misrepresentation of cultures, but the advantages of special interest groups make them good. From www.opensecrets.org, I learned about the influence of money on U.S. public policy and elections. Some politicians often finance most interest groups, and they use them to push their own agenda and political

Teen Pregnancy Essay Example for Free

Teen Pregnancy Essay Today in this society so many teenagers are having sex and not realizing the outcome of what is going too happened after they have done it? Not all parents are in their kids business enough when they should be. Wondering where your kids are at all times when they are in their early teenage years are one of the good ways you can keep track of what they do on daily basics. Most of the time kids don’t do the right thing and they are most likely to not return from school on time either and that’s why parents need to understand their kids and for the kids to try to understand the parents and know that their parents are not putting them down they just care. see more:short informative speech examples Teenage pregnancy is increasing rapidly in our country. In fact, Manila has the highest teen birth rate in the Philippines. There are factors that contribute to this increasing problem. Teen pregnancy comes with effects that can cause serious problems. Teenage pregnancy is a growing problem that can be prevented by using contraceptives. Teenage pregnancy is a growing problem. It can cause many emotional effects. Being pregnant can cause a teenage mother to wonder how and why she got pregnant in the first place. A teenage mom is also affected emotionally by realizing that she has to carry the child for nine months, and the father does not. He gets to go out and do whatever he wants to do. Finances are more problems for the teenage parents to have to face. They have to have a job to support the child. Most teen families end up on welfare. According to Kristie A. Klusaw, states that â€Å"Pre Marital Sex is a huge problem in the society today.† Klusaw also states that â€Å"teenagers are not waiting to get married to have sex.† And by doing that, this is clearly a cause of teen pregnancy. Meenakshi Madhur also added that â€Å"Sex is a very strong biological need. However sex after marriage has a purpose of not only evolution but also amedium of expressing love between couples.† Inside the â€Å"The Unplanned Pregnancy Book† written by Dorrie Williams-Wheeler it says in there that â€Å"There are reasons of teen pregnancy, the first one is Psychological Factors, the immature and irresponsible behavior arising due to complex teenage psychology is another important cause of teenage pregnancies. â€Å"Teenagers often go through a number of emotions because of their own transition from childhood and peer pressure.† Williams-Wheeler added. In addition to that, Williams-Wheeler also said that that thee second cause of teen pregnancy is â€Å"Lack of Discipline and Control, factors like alcohol and substance abuse accompanied by unrestricted interaction with the opposite sex can ignite the sparks of lust and passion in youngsters very easily ultimately leading to teenage pregnancy.†

Challenges Social Work In Scotland Today Social Work Essay

Challenges Social Work In Scotland Today Social Work Essay Doing more of the same wont work (Changing Lives: 21st Century Review of Social Work, Scottish Executive 2006) Why is this? Discuss with reference to some of the challenges that face social work in Scotland today. The role of a social worker has become a grey area and subsequently undergone necessary scrutiny to establish what needs to be done to improve the use of a social workers time, the relationships built between the service users and providers, and how to adapt to and cater to the service users complex and challenging needs. It became particularly relevant in 2004, when Scottish Ministers registered the need for change, and put together a challenging brief asking William Roe to chair the 21st Century Social Work Review. This review asked those involved to question all aspects of social work, and to examine what could be done to fundamentally change, and improve the work of the social worker, and the successive result that had on the service users. It became apparent that as we are living in an ever changing society, social work itself needs to change so that it can match our countrys expectations for high quality, accessible, responsive and personalised services. There were many factors that instigated the need for change, and reasons why this review came to fruition. The demands for change are now so important partly due to the media coverage that has show major gaps and careless work from social workers. In some cases, social workers have stood by, acting only when an incident occurs, instead of preventing it from happening. This becomes clear in the case of Miss X, as it highlights that Caseloads for social workers in community care in the two offices concerned with the Ms X case were all over 70, while one had a caseload of over 100, and another had more than 120 cases. It also states that A study by the Scottish Executive last year had revealed that Scottish Borders Council social workers had the highest caseloads of any authority in Scotland. The case of Baby P, know known to be Peter Connelly, is another example of what some might call neglect by the social services. Interestingly Peter had lived in an area of London that was under the same child care authorities as Victoria Climbie, another child of a failed case. The services involved with these cases have been widely criticised, and enquiries have been made. It has been said in an article in the guardian Social workers believed Baby Ps mother was a caring but inadequate parent who just needed support. This quote highlights the lack of attention given to the case from the social worker, due to rigour and lack of time given. Although excellent work was being carried out in other areas of social work, just these few examples are enough to show that there was much need for change in the social services, and the 21st Century Social Work Review discusses what these changes are. It became clear when putting together Changing Lives: 21st Century Review of Social Work, that doing more of the same wouldnt work. The problems within the social care sector were deeper and in need of more attention than simply doing more of the same work. It has been stated by the Users and Carers panel that this is an unsustainable direction for social work services and that simply pouring ever more public resources into a service based on welfare models rather than the promotion of individual wellbeing will not, in itself, achieve a sustainable future Needless to say, there have been numerous examples of success with service users, where the social worker has provided an excellent service and transformed the lives of people in need, but the evidence for the need for improvement has outweighed the evidence for the somewhat limited outstanding work. Therefore the Review looks at the challenges to tackle, as well as the strengths that can be built upon and improved further. Looking at the major issues and challenges that faced social workers, we can see a trend emerging that suggests a huge lack of confidence, and this is due to the lack of clarity within their field of work. Unreasonable expectations of what, and how much a social worker can do also provides problems, as these expectations clearly cannot be met, and then a sense of failure kicks in, that subsequently has an effect on other work that is being carried out, creating a negative cycle. Risk is another factor that social workers need to carefully consider. This again has a negative cycle effect; the social worker takes fewer risks, as they feel the need to protect themselves from media and political criticism, but this then leads to a less focused and in depth relationship with the service user. It must also be noted, that previously social workers that are fully qualified and skilled had been doing work that didnt in fact require that level of knowledge and expertise. This is partly due to lack of staff in the service care sector, but also with bad organisation, and not using these skilled workers to the best of their abilities. These social workers are not being put to the best of their ability. Finance is an issue within social work, as without the funds, the service cannot be provided. A social worker has posted their concerns on a discussion group on the internet, and this reads as follows; Lack of funding is by far the biggest challenge in social work today. Many social service agencies are currently experiencing hiring freezes. This leads to larger case loads and less time being given to each client. This is true regardless of the population that is being served. Unfortunately, due to our poor economy, more and more people need the assistance of social workers. Financial hardship causes homelessness, child abuse, and a multitude of other issues, but there is no funding available to assist existing clients, much less new clients that are being affected by the rec ession. This really highlights the urgency for funding, and is further emphasised within the Review by the User and Carer Panel, there are fewer taxpayers and more people needing services, so there is not enough money to fund these services. Another problem that has faced social work is the discrepancy between care and control. This leads to an ambiguous relationship between the provider and the user, which needs to be addressed in order for the user to feel comfortable enough to make the most of the service. The Users and Carers Panel have stated, Services should meet the needs of people. People shouldnt have to fit services. Social workers should be allowed the time to get to know their clients really well, so that they really understand the different needs of each individual. Changes in context and society are other reasons that the role of a social worker needed to be examined, demographic, socio-economic and political trends have driven significant change in social work services since landmark legislation that underpins social work today. There are a number of major trends that are expected to affect how the social care services are delivered in the future. Some of these include; an ageing population, this is particularly important as the number of people over 75 years of age has risen an enormous amount and it is thought to have increased by 60% by 2028, therefore 25% of the U.K population will be over 60. The increase being due to advances in science and medicine actually puts forward a huge challenge for social services, as these 25% of people, 60% of which are predicted to have long term conditions, will be handed over to the care of the social services. Children in need remain a significant proportion of those requiring the care of the social servi ces, especially as they become older and leave care. It is stated in the review that 60% leave school with no qualification and a similar proportion dont enter employment, education or training and as many as 20% become homeless within a year. As this is know a known and accepted problem, it can be addressed and concentrated on by social workers in the child sector. As well as Children, those suffering from disabilities, stress, anxiety and depression are in need of care and support from social workers, and the demand is only increasing as medical advances allow for disabled individuals to live longer than they may have been able to in the past. Other society related problems that demand a change in the social sector are fractured relationships, social polarisation and shrinking workforce. All the issues touched upon here are inextricably linked to the latter, shrinking workforce, and if this is to continue, the ideas and hopes for the future will be unable to take affect. The most important factors when considering the new direction for the future of social work are capacity and effective use of resources. In all areas capacity needs to be built upon to achieve the required results. If the capacity is increased, the social worker can deliver personalised services and sustainable change. Both of the latter are extremely important for the future of social work, as said in chapter 5 of the review, personalising the delivery of public services is an explicit goal of Scottish policy, and this is even more relevant today as we live in a time of great choice and opportunity. Increasingly this means that we want and expect personalised services. It is so important to encourage the strengths of the individual and to work with them through the use of a therapeutic approach to make changes and regain their independence. This then links to the very important factor, giving service users a sense of independence and self assurance. This is made clear in Kieron Hatt ons book New Directions in Social work Practice, as he refers to the discussion of the common third. This is essentially a practice in which neither (the service user or provider) is the expert and in which each makes an equal contribution the purpose is to develop the self-esteem and self-confidence of the person using the service so that they can take that new self belief forward into other areas of their lives and become fully empowered citizens. This shows a vibrant new idea that will help social workers deal with their service users in hand, rather than maintaining them. This idea is further highlighted by the Users and Carers panel from the Changing Lives, 21st Century Social Work Review stating there needs to be a power shift away from the people who commission and provide services to service users and carers When considering all of the factors mentioned, it becomes clear that Social Work demanded a change or a new outlook. However, it could be argued that if there was an increase in workforce, who then released the extraordinary work loads of under pressure social workers more service users would be helped, and more successful outcomes would come about. Yet, it cannot be denied that even if this was a possibility, which unfortunately it is not due to a lack of new workers, the 21st Century demands more interaction, hence forming better relationships, more funding, and a bigger workforce, all of which contribute to the fact that doing more of the same wont work, and the challenges and changes put forward by the Changing Lives review are positive suggestions for new directions that will change peoples life and make a difference. Word count; 1,995

Controlling Illegal Street Racing :: essays research papers

The automobile was invented around 1890, ever since then people have been trying to push the limits of the automobile. With the desire to push the limits of automobiles competition was created, and spawned racing. Racing comes in many forms, from circle track racing to drag racings. Many of these racing events are held in controlled areas and are sanctioned by governing bodies with rules and regulations to make the sport safe. The downside to this notion of competition has created amateurs who try to duplicate racing in uncontrolled environments causing death and carnage. This brings us to the idea of street racing, it is a derivative of drag racing, but as the name implies it is done on the street. Since street racing takes place on public roads it is hard to control every variable that may occur resulting in crashes that involve innocent bystanders. There are ways however, to combat street racing and to help amateurs participate in drag racing in controlled and safe environments in stead of public roads. Out of these many ways to combat street racing are two ways to help stop this problem. One of these ways is the sectioning of new drag strips, and racing events that are taken off the road and into areas that can become controlled environments. The other way is to implement stricter enforcement and more severe punishments for those caught street racing. Street racing can be controlled if done correctly. Opening racetracks and getting existing tracks to stay open longer and later for the people that normally race illegally is a step in the right direction. By opening tracks in and around large cities you make it easier for people who might other wise partake in street racing and endanger the lives of others. Often times in large metropolitan areas you would have to travel one, two, three, maybe even four hours away to find a legal drag strip. This makes it less convenient to people that are interested in racing and ultimately leads them to just race where and whenever they can in the local area. Another way is for organizations to help sponsor these types of events. They do not have to build a racetrack on every corner, but it is the idea, that you can make a large parking lot or old airport runway a legal and safe place for people to race. Some programs have had great success with this, for instance Race Legal holds events in southern California to help get the young kids that parti cipate in dangerous street racing off of the streets and give them a safe and legal place to race.

Scouting the World Essay -- Personal Narrative Essay Example

Scouting the World It was July 2000, when it started. Colorful flags of 14 nations gently flapped under a blue Canadian sky. In a field, 1500 young people from around the world assembled in uniform for the opening ceremonies of the sixth worldwide jamboree of the Polish Scouting Organization. I was among the scouts proudly representing the USA. It was only my first "international" experience, but one that was the start of an unforgettable multicultural adventure. And standing there in that field, I felt it starting. I had not traveled far from home, but it seemed I was visiting lands from afar - France, Argentina, Australia, Poland. Talking to the scouts, being in the presence of youth from all around the globe put me in their world. Even though we were hosted by Canadians, Polish was the indispensable language of communication at this jamboree. Yes, among our friends we used our own language, but when we spoke to the other scouts, the Polish Austalians, Polish Danes, Polish Germans, there was only one language to use, one we all shared - Polish. For two weeks we bonded through both the scouting experience and our Polish heritage. We discovered that in many ways, we were the same and yet there was a distinct flavor to each nation's group, revealing its cultural individuality - be it in song, verbal expressions, or in just the way they interacted with each other. I was amazed at how comfortable I felt in this setting and it sparked my desire - I wanted to experience it more. In two weeks, I formed lifetime friendships that crossed many countries' borders and since then, we have been exchanging letters. Later that summer, I was lucky to travel to Rome for the World Youth Day 2000 whe... ...chool students from across the world came together to share ideas and interact socially. I was thrilled when my project won awards in this distinguished fair, but especially touched because it was for a subject close to my heart. It is hard to believe that my yearlong multicultural odyssey, which started on that sunny Canadian field, ended at an international science fair. Meeting so many young people from around the globe made me gain a fresh perspective of my own cultural experience, as well as that of others. It opened my eyes, and I learned that we each have our own unique cultural identity, which is constantly being shaped and hopefully, enriched. Such cross-cultural encounters inspire an appreciation of diversity, strengthening a real human connection we all share, and how significant a lesson that is for me, at only 17 years of age, to have learned.

Human Control Over Nature: The Computer Revolution and Medical Research :: Essays Papers

Human Control Over Nature: The Computer Revolution and Medical Research Throughout history, human beings have struggled to achieve control over nature. Now, in the twentieth century, with all of the scientific advances in computers and medicine, humans have come closer than ever to reaching this ultimate goal. However, along with the benefits of these new and rapidly increasing scientific advancements come moral, ethical and social issues that need to be given consideration. The Computer Revolution has not only vastly improved communication and produced amazing amounts of information, but has raised questions of human rights, privacy and social implications. While medical research has achieved medical benefits not even conceivable in the past, it has also raised major ethical and moral issues. Humans must consider all of these things when making decisions or judgments about human control over nature. Computer technology is advancing at rapid rates. More and more information is found and processed every day. According to Linowes, à ¬More information has been produced in the last thirty years than in the previous five thousand.à ®1 This information that is rapidly becoming available has produced many benefits to the human race. It has given humans more and more control over nature. It has been stated that à ¬the computer has opened up new dimensions in communication, architectural design, engineering, medical analysis, and even artistic expression.à ®2 People thousands of miles away can do more than simply talk over the phone, but see each other while talking on their computer screens. Architectural structures are planned three dimensionally on the computer. This is much faster and easier than using blueprints. Humans are even considering education through computers. Students would not have to leave the comfort of their own home to go to school. Linowes sta tes that à ¬instead of confining formal learning to the classroom, students would be taught wherever they might beÃâ€"by giving them access to centralized information networks.à ®3 This would open up new doors for schooling and revolutionize the education system. Tasks for almost every profession and area of interest are done faster, more efficiently, and with less effort on computers. New advancements make it possible to not only program computers to do what people tell them to, but to think for themselves.

It Is Difficult to Remain a Bystander in the Face of Conflict. Discuss. Essay

It is difficult to remain a bystander in the face of conflict. discuss. In any discussion of conflict it is important to consider the many types of conflict that can be experienced and the likelihood of remaining aloof from the ideological, emotional, physical, moral and spiritual dimensions of conflict. Conflict in general can be found in all of human history and in its reflection in art, poetry, literature and in the everyday experience of humanity. Moral dilemmas, property and border disputes, lovers’ spats, sibling rivalry, broken hearts, jealousy, envy and lust for power. The list is long, many people have sought to find a way to remain neutral but are inevitably drawn into conflict compelled by conscience, desire or belief, or are swept up in conflict as just collateral damage. By definition a bystander is a person present at an event or incident but does not take part. Conflict can show its face in many forms. But it’s not the nature of the conflict that can draw people from the sidelines; it can be the situation the person is faced with and completely reliant on the belief they hold and their moral constitution. A common real life example is when you pass a mugging in progress. You’re faced with a dilemma, to either help the stranger and risk physical harm to yourself or leave the stranger to his fate and remain safe yourself. It is not the situation of conflict that pulls onlookers into the fray, but the strength of an individuals will that plays the main role in whether one becomes a martyr for a cause or cowers. Galileo is faced with a similar situation where he is troubled by a spiritual and strong moral conflict where he must choose between science or faith. It was difficult for Galileo to remain a bystander, the inquisitive nature and the constant drive to seek the truth of how the celestial satellites behave given to him by Bertolt Brecht. Brecht used Galileo as a tool to illustrate that a man with passion can find it difficult to remain a bystander in the face of conflict â€Å"unhappy is the land where heroes are needed† Galileo saw himself as that hero, plagued with the task of educating Italy and the world. This task he bestowed upon himself resulted in much dispute between the church’s teachings and Europe. Galileo is also shown as ‘only human’ a man of flesh and bloo d that â€Å"enjoys the pleasures of life† but when faced with the threat of physical torture he quails. He It may be true that a person with passion may be easily stirred to rise to the  challenge of a spiritual or moral debate but conflicts of a physical nature, such as open conflict or a battle between ideological beliefs allows little choice to the surrounding bystanders to remain uninvolved â€Å"sooner or later†¦one must take sides. If one is to remain human† in Vietnam war many people took sides but just as many were ignorant and unwilling to partake in the violence and ideological conflict that was raging throughout South-East Asia. As the red wave of communism swept south-west endangering the old colonial powers. It was as if a hornet’s nest was struck. War pulls people, unwillingly towards it, to feed itself and to grow. The peasants were hit the hardest in the Vietnam war. â€Å"You and your like are trying to make a war with the help of people who just aren’t interested.† â€Å"They don’t want communism.† â€Å"They want enough rice,† â€Å"They don’t want to be shot at. They want one day to be much the same as another.† The peasants were used as pawns, seen as cheap human shields and laborers. The communists used villages to hide â€Å"it’s no use†¦After every attack the Vietcong hide their weapon and disguise themselves as farmers† using them for their own protection and gain. Equally the French and the communist used them to harvest the rice fields. ‘For in war, food is more valuable than gold’. For the peasants they h ad little understanding of the battles that raged around them but their ignorance did not protect them from stray bullets or mortar explosions. The quiet American explores a wide range of conflicts from the physical realm of open conflict to the ideological. Graham Greene through the polar opposite characters of Pile and Fowler illustrates that remaining uninvolved and untouched by these two forms of conflict is impossible. Through the large difference between the two characters we can see that there is no specific type of person that becomes â€Å"engage† when conflict arises but it is human nature to become involved. Fowler with age and experience, made bitter by the world and human nature and proudly unbiased in his views towards the conflict around him and Pile with youth, inexperience and a gentle simplicity of human nature. The stark contrast is a metaphor of how anyone can be drawn into conflict, even without noticing in Fowlers case. Fowler was shocked into action by Piles simple mined motives of the bombing and the simplicity in which he saw it. â€Å"Innocence is a kind of insanity† and Piles insanity caused many to become involved. The matter in which one stays detached from internal conflict such as matters of love is much more complicated. History and literature is ripe with stories of, kingdoms falling, Machiavellian politicians and heroes prevailing in the name of ‘love’. The human race is obsessed with the idea of love, whether it be love for one’s country, for one’s friends or one’s wife or husband. It is difficult to remain aloof from the desire and the calling we all secretly crave. Phuong is an interesting case. She managed to remain relatively independent from the two men who were fighting for her hand. This might be due to the cultural differences in the belief of love and duty of a woman, â€Å"she doesn’t love like you or I† compared to the mindset of a western woman. Greene uses Phuong as a metaphor for Vietnam. A silent, fragile thing with Fowler representing the old Colonial powers such as France and England While Pile representing the new age of America. Both fighting for supremacy over her. It may be true that remaining a bys tander when one is confronted with conflict is challenging but it is not the conflict itself that is to blame. It is difficult to remain a bystander in the face of conflict, but not for every situation. Each situation of conflict has a host of factors at play such as the type of conflict as well at the person affronted. Whether it is by choice or involuntarily our world and society is based upon conflict and how we deal with it. It may be safe to remain a bystander when faced with conflict.

Macroeconomic Analysis: Russia

Since the financial crisis in 1998, Russia has been experiencing impressive economic growth due to the collaboration of monetary and fiscal policies that stabilized the performance of major economic indicators up to this day. Many economists regard the impressive performance of Russia as part increase of the volume of investment in the said country. On the other hand, some says that the notable growth of Russia should be attributed to the increase of oil prices in the international market (Traveldocs.com 2008: 1). Despite of the various claims on what really was the foundation of Russia’s economic stability for the past nine years, it would be better to examine first what are the performances of some major economic indicators like GDP Growth, Balance of Trade, Inflation Rate, Unemployment Rate and Interest Rate of the said country for the past four years. GDP Growth Rate In 2004, Russia experienced 7.76 percent growth on their GDP from 1.4 billion USD of 2003 to approximately 1.5 billion USD of 2004 (Alcarastore.com 2008: 1). This increase in the GDP growth rate was triggered by the improvement of consumer demand from 2003 to 2004. On the other hand, by the end of 2005, Russia experienced sluggish improvement on the growth of GDP from 7.76 to 6.93 percent primarily due to the instability happened on the investment component of the economy caused by unclear limit and conditions non foreign investment, obsolete infrastructure as well as delayed economic reforms of the government. But in general sense, the GDP of Russia still increased by around 150 million USD. By 2006, Russia once again performed robust increase on their GDP growth rate from 6.93 to 7.8 percent as the economy starts to recover from the adverse effects of unstable investment climate caused by delayed fiscal policies. Last 2007, the Russian GDP already reached its 2 billion USD level which caused their GDP growth rate to achieved 8.3 percent growth level as the investors and consumption continues to improve in the domestic market of Russia. Trade Balance Another major economic indicator of Russia’s economic performance would be the Trade Balance. For the past four years, the trade balance of Russia has been performing remarkable as this economic indicator continues to increase from 2004 to 2007 due to the strong consumer demand and fixed capital formation growth of the Russian economy. In 2004, the trade balance of Russia reached around 85.8 billion USD as the consequence of the increase of their non-oil exports by the end of 2003. The improvement of non-oil exports of Russia continued to positively influence the trade balance of the said country for the succeeding years like in 2005, the trade balance increased by 23 billion USD while it increased by 22 billion in 2006 (The Federal State Statistics Office Service 2007: 1). Though there was a slight growth in the trade balance of Russia during 2007 due to the significant excess of growth rates of import above the growth rates of exports. Nonetheless, the Russian economists is still optimistic regarding the performance of the trade balance of the Russian economy this year as their monetary and fiscal policies starts to combat the said issue on trade balance. Inflation Rate Prices of goods in Russia has been experiencing sluggish growth rate since 2003 as the result of the fiscal policies of the Russian government despite of the fact that they also have to lower down their unemployment rate. Theoretically, if unemployment rate decreases, inflation is being expected to increase based from the Philips Curve, but with the fiscal policies of the Russian government such as the bilateral market access agreement with the United States as a prelude to their possible entry to WTO, prices of domestic goods starts to decrease thereby creating a force for the inflation rate to decline since 2003 (Indexmundi.com 2007a: 1). In 2004, the inflation rate was equivalent to 13.7 percent while it reached 11.5 percent in 2005 (Indexmundi.com 2007c: 1). Though it increased again to 12.7 percent in 2006, inflation rate still managed to continue its good performance in 2007 by reaching 9.8 percent as the policies on regional monopolies and trade regulation of the Russian government starts to work on their economic system to stabilize the domestic prices of goods and services (Russiatoday.ru 2007: 1). Unemployment Rate As the number of job opportunities in Russia continues to increase for the past years plus the effort of the Russian government to attract more foreign investors to their economy, unemployment rate starts to decline since 2004 with 8.5 percent unemployment rate. By the start of 2005, the Russian government already felt the positive impact of their rigorous action to provide more job opportunities to the Russian labor pool which resulted to the further deterioration of unemployment rate from 8.5 percent of 2004 to 8.3 percent of 2005 and then from 7.6 percent in 2006 to 6.6 percent of 2007 (Indexmundi.com 2007b: 1). This only means that the Russian government has been successful for the past four years in combating the unemployment rate of their country which could further contribute to their impressive economic growth in the next coming years. Interest Rates One of the most concerns of foreign investors, interest rate on borrowing in Russia exhibits good investment condition as it continues to decreases annually due to the stable financial sector of Russia for the past years after the financial crisis in 1998. The loan rate or the interest rate on borrowing on Russia in 2004 was equal to 11.4 percent and decreased to 10.7 percent by 2005 as the Russian government started to implement economic reforms on their financial institutions in order to make their economy more attractive to foreign investors. As a result, with the stable financial sector and fiscal policies to attract more foreign investors, interest rate on borrowing continues to decline from 10.4 percent in 2006 to 10 percent in 2007 with accordance to Ordinance No. 1660 dated in February 17, 2006 (The Central Bank of the Russian Federation 2005: 1). Economic Strengths and Weaknesses Based from the given performance of Russia’s major economic indicators, it is clear that the business environment in Russia is very much attractive and provides a better outlook in the next couple of years. Like for instance, the impressive growth of their GDP, it only signifies how active is the domestic consumption and investment level in the Russian economy and gives the investors a bird’s eye view of the possible return to investment that the Russian economy could give to them. Moreover, despite of the fact that there were some periods wherein the Russian economy performs badly, but the point is, with the proper action of the Russian government, almost all of the economic problems was resolved and put the market back into its equilibrium condition. Another example of the strengths of the Russian economy would be the cheap borrowing in Russia as their interest rate on borrowing continues to declines for the past years in order to attract more foreign investors to their economy. This would provide further improvements on the investment sector of the Russian economy plus the possibility of increase in the number of job opportunities for the Russian labor pool. As a result, economic activity in Russia is expected to boost alongside with the improvement in the investment and labor sector of the economy. Most of the time, investors prefer countries that can offer cheaper loans in order to finance their business expansion especially those multinational companies that aggressively finds more countries which could give them competitive advantage either in a form of cheaper labor, loans, technologies, favorable government subsidies and other factors of production to name a few. Furthermore, the effort of the Russian government to become less dependent on their oil exports in order to attain impressive economic growth by increasing the volume of their non-oil exports goods and services. This would provide an avenue towards the attainment of sustainable growth on their trade balance. The fact that the Russian oil exports already provides large chunk on the total GDP of the country plus the improvement on the volume of their non-oil exports reflects the increasing trend of their trade balance for the past years. Maybe this is one of the results of attracting more foreign investors in Russia which establishes manufacturing plants in Russia and then export the finished products to the international markets. The last but not the least strength of the Russian economy would be the increase in the number of job opportunities for their labor sector. This provides enough room for the Russian consumers to have more disposable income which reflects to the increasing domestic consumption of their consumers in the recent years. As a result of the increase in disposable income of the consumers, domestic investment becomes more profitable thereby attracting domestic investors to establish or expand their business. At the end of the day, both the foreign and domestic investors in Russia works hand in hand in order to utilize the Russian labor sector; while on the other hand, it also provides an avenue towards the improvement per capita income of the Russians. One of the major weaknesses of the Russian economy would be the dependence on the foreign direct investments which could cause major damages on their economic stability once the financial sector in Russia becomes unsuitable to foreign investment. What the Russian government should do is to intensify their domestic investments in order to provide enough room for their domestic investors to utilize the improvement made the foreign investors on the economic environment in Russia through rapid expansion and regulation of regional monopolies in order for other domestic investors to enter various industries. Evaluation of the Government Policy The Ordinance No. 1660 which provides the further decrease of the interest rate on borrowing since 2006 serves to be one of the effective policies of the Russian government in order to make the Russian economy more attractive to foreign investors. Furthermore, this policy only provides an impression to the foreign market how stable the Russian financial sector is since they manage to offer lower interest rates on borrowing to foreign investors. The Russian government is very much confident that they can sustain such policy since they possesses large amount of foreign reserves that can easily be liquidated in case of money shortages in the economy (Ignatiev 2007: 1-2). The bilateral market access agreement with the United States as a prelude to their possible entry to WTO of Russia is also a good policy in further improving the stability of the Russian economy since this provides an avenue towards the attainment of lower inflation rate in the domestic market as cheaper goods from other country starts to enter Russia. At the end of the day, the domestic prices of goods and services in Russian domestic market, especially those from the regional monopolies, would be forced to lower down their prices in order to compete to imported products coming from other countries thereby creating enough room for the inflation rate of Russia to depreciate for the past year. Works Cited Alcarastore.com (2008). Russia GDP PPP and GDP Growth Rates 2003-2007 [online]. Available: http://www.alacrastore.com/country-snapshot/Russia. [Accessed 2 April 2008]. Ignatiev, Sergey (2007). The Macroeconomic Situation and Monetary Policy in Russia [online]. Available: http://www.bis.org/review/r070608d.pdf [Accessed 2 April 2008]. Indexmundi.com (2007a). Russian Economy Profile 2007 [online]. Available: http://www.indexmundi.com/russia/economy_profile.html [Accessed 2 April 2008]. Indexmundi.com (2007b). Russia Unemployment Rate [online]. Available: http://www.indexmundi.com/russia/unemployment_rate.html [Accessed 2 April 2008]. Indexmundi.com (2007c). Russia Inflation Rate (Consumer Prices) [online]. Available: http://www.indexmundi.com/russia/inflation_rate_(consumer_prices).html [Accessed 2 April 2008]. Russiatoday.ru (2007). Russia to miss 2007 inflation target: Economic Minister [online]. Available: http://www.russiatoday.ru/business/news/15319 [Accessed 2 April 2008]. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation (2005). Interest Rates in 2004 [online]. Available: http://www.cbr.ru/eng/statistics/credit_statistics/print.asp?file=interest_rates_04_e.htm [Accessed 2 April 2008]. The Federal State Statistics Office Service (2007). Foreign Trade of the Russian Federation [online]. Available: http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/2007/b07_12/25-02.htm [Accessed 2 April 2008]. Traveldocs.com (2008). Russian Federation: Economy [online]. Available: http://www.traveldocs.com/ru/economy.htm [Accessed 2 April 2008]. Â  

Coca Cola Company Industry and Competitive Analysis

Jan Bernadette Balingit’s Autobiography Hi! My name is Jan Bernadette Tolentino Balingit,I was born on December 08 1999. My favorite color is violet and my favorite cartoon character is Hello Kitty. I am the only one girl between my two brothers. And I live in Sisiman, Mariveles, Bataan. And I’m taking schooling at Bepz Multinational School. And I want to play all day but not always because I want to first my study. I’m 13 yrs. old now. When I grow up I want to be an Optometrist like my mother, because I want to be like her.To be an Optometrist, I will finish first my study because when I will not finish my study I will not be an Optometrist. I’m nearer and nearer to that stage because I’m Grade 6 now. And I will introduce to you my FAMILY members: Maria Victoria T. Balingit-Mother, Benny Balingit – Father, John Benedict T. Balingit – Older brother, John Vincent T. Balingit – Younger brother. My very memorable experience is when we go to Enchanted Kingdom with my family especially me.And after we eat there we make â€Å"Gala† then we decided to take a ride in the rides named â€Å"Space Shuttle† we fall in line there in about 25 minutes. Then when it’s our turn we sits at the middle seats. And when the rides start moving we all get nervous and when we go down from the rides we all get dizzy. And my dad searching for a nurse to get our blood pressure we need to take a rest first. And when the nurse is there to get our blood pressure my mother’s blood pressure is the highest blood pressure at all. Project In English Submitted To: Fatima Acuna Submitted By: Jan Bernadette T. Balingit

Man Is Known by the Company He Keeps Essay

Man is a social creature. None can live alone, away from the society of his fellow being, like shipwrecked Alexandra Selkirk who aspired for company in the lonely island. It is always very natural for him to seek the company of others. Even when all his immediate physical needs are met, he must have someone to talk to enjoy himself with. At home he has his near and dear ones by his side. But that is not enough. He must have other companions— friends to whom he can unburden his heart and with whom he can exchange his ideas and share his enthusiasm. Hence, we must intimately associate with others; we must do so that our friends may come to exert a great deal of influence over us, on our character and conduct. Man is by nature imitative, and he will often be led to imitate others. For good or for evil, others very often lead and guide us. They may mould our tastes and interest, and shape our character. We become good or bad as our friends are. For instance, if a man is virtuous and honest, he will by his speech and conduct inspire his friends with goodness and honesty. Similarly, if our friends are wicked, we may follow them do as they do and become wicked ourselves. Naturally, we cannot blame people if they judge us by the company we keep. The same boy shapes differently if placed in different companies. Furthermore, no companionship, at least no lasting companion ­ship is possible unless the parties have similar tastes and interests, likes and dislikes. It is like the magnetic affinity. A man who is bad in instinctively drawn to those who are similarly bad. It has been most truly said that birds of the same feather flock together. Here also the character of our companions is an index of our own character. If he does not show his dislike nor try to avoid uncongenial company, having found undeserving, he will surely, in course of time, become quite as bad as his friend. It is quite axiomatic that one who is virtuous will shun the company of those who are given to the ways of vice. He will try to make friends with those that are good and on the right path. Companionship thus is a positive factor not only in the formation of character but in the estimation of man’s true worth. It is at once an influence on character and a measure of one’s real worth. A man is often judged by the collective quality and identity of his group. Nobody will believe that a particular robber of the gang is honest. As we are drawn to men who feel and act like ourselves and we are influenced by them. An estimate of the moral character of an individual can easily by made in reference to that of his companions. He cannot be different from his friends. So we conclude that he is what his friends are. Just as one rotten mango spoils the rest in the basket, similarly one wicked man corrupts a lot of friends. In the choice of our companions, we must be cautious and careful because on this choice depends so much. Before we make friends with others, we must watch their conduct and know what kind of men they actually are. But as children do not know what is right and wrong, parents must see that boys and girls do not fall into evil company. This task should begin at school, — in the formative years of a boy or girl.

The effect of a new drug on blood pressure. Testing Research Paper

The effect of a new drug on blood pressure. Testing - Research Paper Example Another reason for using the t-test is because a t-test is normally used when the standard deviation of the population is unknown. In this case we do not know our population. The t-test is also used when the purpose of the study is determining whether there is statistically significant difference between two independent sample groups. In this case the drug and the blood pressure are two independent variables. The z-test is not applicable in this case because it is normally used when the null and alternative hypothesis are stated (Tanner, 2016). In our case the two are not stated. The ANOVA on the other hand is normally used when carrying out a test using three or more variables (Tanner, 2016). In our case, we only have two variables. What would your choice of test depend on? For the test you select, explain your design and your comparison groups. Choosing the type of test to use in a particular study depends on: the type of the variables used either continuous or categorical, the number of variables to use in the particular study either one variables, two variables or three or more variables, the normality, how the variables are normally distributed and the nature of the variables, are they dependent or independent variables. The design in this case will be the number of patients to use in the study. Small number of patients will result in an inaccurate result and using a large number of patients will be risky to their health and lead to waste of resources. One should therefore use not so small neither not so large number of patients.

Isalm, the West, and Democracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Isalm, the West, and Democracy - Essay Example hammed, the Prophet of Islam, started his preachings of true and one God, ALLAH, almost 1400 years ago on a very small scale when he was called upon on the duty to be a Prophet by God. However, the subsequent battles, the increase in the strength of Muslims, the so called followers of Islam being called, provided enough manpower to start a spree of conquests and establish one of the largest empires of the world. However, due to its uniqueness, it failed to find a match with the governance styles prevalent in the world at that time. Based on Khilafa, which is the system of governance where few good and pious men choose the Khalifa or King, does not match in its entirety with the democratic systems of government where collective self governance is done through a popular election. This compatibility of democracy and Islam is one of the most debated topics in academic as well as non-academic circles especially in the aftermath of 9/11 and the subsequent re-defining of world order and the war on terror. The history of Islam suggest that the concept of election was present but to a very limited level. As discussed above that the Kalifa was chosen with the consent of the pious men of the society does indicate a certain level of crude electoral school present in the primitive Islamic society. It must also be noted that the earliest Islamic society was very limited and Medina, where the Islamic empire begun comprised only few thousands inhabitants. Islamic therefore necessarily do not advocate any particular form of governance therefore to argue that democracy and Islam are two incompatible issues is basically a flawed argument. All the earliest evidence of Islamic society and its teachings do not point towards a single system of governance in the country. Caliphate does not mean an Islamic system of governance as it was not the chosen method of governance. The issue of democracy and Islam need to be traced back to its origin. As Feldman has started to trace the

The Legal Environment of Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Legal Environment of Business - Assignment Example Two parties are involved; the one providing an offer (offeror) and the one accepting or agreeing to the offer (offeree). As a first step, legal contracts require both parties to agree on the subject of the contract (Goldman and Sigismond 2010). After that, the parties agree for appropriate way the contract can be made. The process now enters into negotiation process where the offeror make an offer (promise) to the offeree (promisee). It is always required that when this takes place, the offer in the context should be seriously intended, be definite and well communicated to the promisee. Serious intention is the key to make the contract legally recognized, since without serious intention, the contract is regarded as a less binding agreement (Goldman and Sigismond 2010). An offer becomes legally accepted when it is devoid of subjective intentions such as secret inner feelings by the offeror. In most cases, the court to legally recognize offer and acceptance contract, the parties are re quired to have intentions that are clear and objective in nature. Moreover, the terms expressed in the agreement should be definite in nature, where specific aspects such as price, time, quantity, and quality should not be vaguely expressed. In addition, the offer must be communicated clearly between the parties involved especially the promisee who has to understand the contents of the agreement before accepting. Lastly, the process should reflect a regally recognized invitation process among the parties and not done through coercion (Goldman and Sigismond 2010). The difference between warranties and conditions Contract whichever type or nature is generally perceived to be either a warranty or condition. In most cases, understanding whether a contract is warranty or condition may be problematic but the courts usually establish the rules of construction of contracts that in most cases are used to resolve ambiguities. Therefore, are certain specifics, which can be looked upon, and hel p in differentiating warranty from condition. First difference between the two arises from the purpose, which they serve. Condition usually constitutes stipulation aspects that are necessary to the primary purpose of contract of sale (Geet and Deshpande 2008). On the other hand, warranty constitutes stipulations that are collateral in nature (subsidiary) to the main purpose of contract of sale (). Another difference is brought about by the issue of breach. When a condition is breached, the party that is aggrieved has the right to sue for damages and also enjoy the right to repudiate the contract (Geet and Deshpande 2008). On the other hand, when warranty is breached, the part that is aggrieved only enjoys the right to sue for damages and not right for repudiate. Further, when a condition is breached, it is sometimes treated as breach of warranty and the same cannot be applied to warranty when it is breached. Lastly, condition goes direct to the root or core of the contract, while wa rranty does not go direct to the root of the contract (Geet and Deshpande 2008). How mistake may affect a contract Contracts may be appealing at first instance they are created and may be viewed to be fine without mistakes. However, unlike the common and general mistakes, contract mistakes exhibit unique feature in that it has to do largely with mistaken assumptions that are related to contract formation

Public relation strategy of AUstralia Federal Election Essay

Public relation strategy of AUstralia Federal Election - Essay Example has made use of considerable public relations tools, including new media forums such as Twitter and Facebook, offering both candidates more exposure in a large variety of different voter markets. This paper describes the key messages from both candidates, from Gillard’s focus on improving progressivism and touting feminist values as well as Abbott’s more conservative policies on health care, environmentalism, and immigration. Both Gillard and Abbott have their own, unique perspectives on how best to move Australia forward should they be elected the new Prime Minister. Julia Gillard is often portrayed by Australian society and multiple media outlets as being far too dedicated to the interests of the Labor party, proposing upcoming policies centred around monetary needs over that of the tangible needs of the Australian people. This is interesting criticism considering the socialistic values traditionally found in those characterized as centre-left. Gillard’s top priorities as Prime Minister include first economic growth, the improvement of education, and building national pride and confidence in the 21st century (Kearney, 2010). In fact, said Gillard in a recent interview, â€Å"Keeping the economy strong so that people can get the benefits of work† was her main goal (Kearney, 2010, p.1). Gillard has also been criticized significantly for her lack of religious conviction, this being a self-proclaimed atheist, which has created concern with the country’s Church leaders and faithful citizens with strong religious principles. Despite this criticism for her values related to religion, Gillard attempts to reinforce her stern respect for these institutions when stating, â€Å"My history has been to be a big supporter. In terms of the work that the Catholic church does, that other churches†¦do in our society, I am a big respecter† (theage.com.au, 2010, p.2). This is a public relations effort to reinforce her values about the value of diversity and religious faith

Assignment NOTE ) do not type the cites address Essay

Assignment NOTE ) do not type the cites address - Essay Example Human relation training will enable john as a manager to understand people and effectively work with them (Whetten & Cameron 67). The Conceptual training will enable him to think and have the ability to relate and organize the various departments of the organization. Contingency plans ensure continuity and sustainability of the organization’s operation. They help organizations plan in advance for the risks that are likely to occur. It helps organization prevent and mitigate risks that are likely to face the organization. It enables the organization to be future oriented and hence make the right decisions (Whetten & Cameron132). From my experience when the computer system crashed down in the organization because of fire, all the data would have been lost were in not for the company’s contingency plan of backing up the data in the internet. If the company is supplied with good quality raw materials then it definitely produces quality-finished goods. If the suppliers give poor quality materials then the final products will be of poor quality. To enhance productivity of high quality products and ensuring maximization of profits the company has to have good

Bit Coin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Bit Coin - Essay Example Bit Coins can also be sent and received by the users after paying an optional transaction fees by using their mobile device, web application or wallet software of their computers. This payment system is used by businesses as well as customers for carrying out transactions. It is one of the most secure payment systems and therefore it has succeeded to grab the attention of many merchants (The Bitcoin Foundation ). Through Bit Coin it is easy to send and receive payment instantly from any part of the world, without any limitations. Bit Coins give the users the full access to their money. Another advantage of bit coin is that the payment is processed with small or no transaction fees. A transaction fee is optional if the users want their payment confirmation to be processed faster by the network. The merchant processor present in the system guides the merchant in payment transaction. Bit coin transaction is irreversible, secure and does not require the personal and sensitive information of the customers. This protects the users from losses occurred as the result of fraud and also there is no such need for PCI compliance. Bit Coin helps the merchants to expand in a market where credit cards are not available and where the rate of fraud is unacceptably high. Bit Coin system gives the users the full control of a transaction and therefore the merchant may not impose unnoticed or unwanted charges on the customer, the way it happens in other payment systems. Bit coin payments do not require the personal information of the users, which provides the customers protections against identity theft. The Bit Coins users may also protect their money with backup and encryption. Many people are still not aware about the concept of Bit Coin. With every passing day more and more businesses are adopting the Bit Coin payment system but still there is a need for the list to grow more, so that they may benefit from the network affect. The value of Bit Coin circulation and the

Is corporate social responsibility 'hypocritical window Essay

Is corporate social responsibility 'hypocritical window dressing' - Essay Example rity, many businesses have been spending a lot of resources on this area and the number of activities done in the name of corporate responsibility have increased tremendously. These activities range from simple philanthropic activities to costly scientific activities, which involve heavy spending of the respective firms’ resources. Companies do not engage in these activities to just improve the living conditions of the people since the goals of majority of these organizations is profit maximizations. They can therefore not channel many resources on ventures that are not promising positive effects on their revenue collections and just as Milton Friedman said corporate social responsibility is merely hypocritical window dressing (Muhr, Sorensen & Vallentin 2010, p.87). CSR is hypocritical since it does not seek to solve real problems, which affect people rather it is geared towards solving the problems that are either directly or indirectly connected to. A company can only be sa id to be sincere in its involvement in offering social responsibility if it seeks to provide remedy for all the harm it causes to all the people regardless of their location in the course of its operations. One of the reasons that justify the claim that CSR is hypocritical window dressing is its main aim of involvement in the community’s activities, which is to improve the firm’s reputation in the market it operates in. A good reputation adds value to the worth of a business organization, which is evidenced in such activities as increased shareholders value, and increased sales since majority of consumers prefer organizations that seem to be involved in improving the living conditions of the people (Doorley & Helio 2015, p.5). Organizations have understood this and they therefore design all their corporate social involvement in such a way that will result to creation of a good name in the market. They for example report their social involvements and their efforts to improve the

Alternative education Essay Example for Free

Alternative education Essay E-learning is an excellent option in education, particularly when there are hindrances to traditional learning situations. For example, some people wish to continue their educations but do not live within driving distance of a college or university and dont find it feasible to relocate. E-learning is a viable alternative for these students. Another hindrance to traditional learning, especially in grades K through 12, is the one size fits all mentality it embraces. Many students just do not learn well in a traditional learning environment, but thrive in a more flexible setting. To address this issue, parents are turning to e-learning opportunities for their children. Some choose full-time enrollment in a virtual school, while others use e-learning to supplement a home school curriculum. In the business world, e-learning provides a way for companies to train and instruct employees without requiring them to travel to a central location. Convenience is one of the major advantages of e-learning. It allows students to work and learn at their own pace without the unyielding time restrictions of traditional learning. Because e-learning provides access to learning materials at any time, students have the flexibility to schedule around families, jobs and other activities. Another major benefit of e-learning is the accessibility it provides. Students can learn from anywhere in the world. This is an especially important consideration for students who wish to study in a different country. In addition, because e-learning can be done from home, students have less clothing and driving expenses than with traditional learning. A major disadvantage to e-learning is the self-discipline it requires. While being able to work at your own pace can be an advantage, it can also be a disadvantage. This is especially true for students who have difficulty with time management and procrastination. These students tend to be more successful with the structure of traditional learning. Another disadvantage to e-learning is the technology involved. Some people do not have ready access to a computer and Internet connection. And some who do have the required equipment feel ill-equipped to use it. Lack of interaction between teacher and student is another drawback to e-learning. Some students need the immediate feedback that interaction provides. E-learning greatly increases the availability of educational opportunities. Unfortunately, it also increases the number of scams related to online education. Persons considering e-learning possibilities should be alert to such scams and thoroughly investigate any program before making a commitment.

Communication - Pizza Essay Example for Free

Communication Pizza Essay Introduction Pizza Hut is based in Wichita, Kansas USA 19581. A woman and her two sons created pizza recipes. From here, a family friend advised the sons to open their own Pizza Parlor. 2. Pizza Hut is one of the flagship brands of Yum! Brands, Inc. , which also has KFC, Taco Bell, AW and Long John Silver’s under its umbrella. Pizza Hut is the world’s largest pizza chain with over 12,500 restaurants across 91 countries 3. In India, Pizza Hut has 133 restaurants across 34 cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Pune, and Chandigarh amongst others. Yum!is in the process of opening Pizza Hut restaurants at many more locations to service a larger customer base across the country 4. Borrowing $600 from their mother, the two brothers purchased second-hand equipment and rented a small building on a busy intersection in Wichita, Kansas. The result of their efforts was the first Pizza Hut and the foundation for what would become the largest and the most successful pizza restaurant in the world 5. Pizza Hut franchisees exemplify the entrepreneurial spirit, which launched their system back in 1958. Through interest and initiative, the Pizza Hut system was able to develop new territories in the United States and overseas. Today, franchisees and joint-venture partnerships account for more than half of the Pizza Hut systems total units. Their development on the international front is a good indication of the growth that has characterized their system. Following the opening of the first international restaurant in Canada in 1968, the Pizza Hut restaurants quickly appeared in Mexico, South America, Australia, Europe, the Far East and Africa. Today, Pizza Hut operates in more than 100 countries and territories throughout the world 6. When Pizza Hut opened its outlet in Baroda, Gujarat they firstly thought that they should make a new pizza to the recipe of the local style in order to attract the local population. g They decided to provide the pizza according to the customer’s taste of choice7. This essay aims to answering the following question: â€Å"Should Pizza Hut open a new outlet in Baroda? † 1. http://www. pizzahut. com/OurStory. aspx 2. http://www. pizzahut. com/OurStory. aspx 3. http://220. 226. 195. 78/pizzahut. co. in/about_us. php 4. http://220. 226. 195. 78/pizzahut. co. in/about_us.php 5. http://www. pizzahut. com/OurStory. aspx 6. http://www. pizzahut. com/OurStory. aspx 7. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview RESEARCH QUESTION Pizza Hut is an established brand all over India. To increase the growth of the new outlet, Pizza Hut recently set up a new market research on the outskirts of Baroda with the investment of __ Basically, Pizza Hut firms in India send Managers to spread proper awareness about their new outlet among the customers through different types of advertising and keep the customers informed about their advancements in current outlets 10. Commercially, I expect that the opening of the new branch will lead to an increase in sales in Baroda, Gujarat, and could increase the market share of Pizza Hut. For this reason, they want to be able to successfully market their new firm when it is commercially launched. As previously mentioned, to increase its growth and successfully market their upcoming outlet, Pizza Hut has been reviewing various promotion strategies like price reduction, to increase the price in their marketing budget and increase in number of staffs 11. So increasing the production by opening the new outlet and to increase the number of staff to work in both of the outlets is a strategy that Pizza Hut is strongly considering in order to increase their growth in the domestic market 12. 8. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 9. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 10. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 11. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview THEORETICAL FRAME WORK The Growth of a business can be measured in many different ways such as assets, sales revenue, operating profit, market share, value added, and number of employees 13. As information of pizzas is involved, Pizza Hut believes that what they bring new in the market is not compared with any of the products of any another firm which is selling pizza’s14. I commercially expect that the opening of the new firm will lead to increase in sales in Baroda, Gujarat, and could increase the market share of Pizza Hut. Due to this, they want to be able to successfully market their new firm when it is commercially launched. Pizza Hut aims to convince the customers to set down their new business, (target market) 15. The other promotional method used by Pizza Hut and to spread the awareness about their new outlet is to do market research. I did the market research for Pizza Hut so that they can locate their new outlet where there are more potential consumers. High income group was also asked about the opening of a new outlet, before it is brought up in the market. Pizza Hut believes that the methods used to research on opening a new outlet take hold of the attention of the customers for long time, so that they can visit the outlet frequently16. For reasons mentioned above, growth is widely regarded as the most favorable method to increase the profit level. 12. http://www. tutor2u.net/business/presentations/strategy/businessgrowth/default. html 13. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 14. _________ 15. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 16. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview METHODOLOGY To reach a suitable conclusion, an in-depth qualitative and quantitative analysis shall be conducted by using different business tools to the primary data as well as the secondary data collected. The primary data contains the interview of the Manager of the Pizza Hut outlet which already exists, the opinion of the customers who visit the exiting outlet and a few other people. Market research: This will contain the content of the market research and what it entails. This was conducted by me. Analysis of market research: This will contain the graph and an explanation about how many people will visit the new outlet (assumption) from the old outlets daily earning. Swot analysis: This will contain the strength, weakness, opportunity, and threats of the business for opening the new outlet. Ansoff’s matrix: A model which identifies growth strategies for a business and it is based on an analysis of their products and their market. Pest-g: This will identify the political, economical, social and technological, as well as the environmental problem of the firm. Cost analysis: Cost analysis will be conducted to find out the quantifiable and unquantifiable cost involved in increasing the personal selling. MARKET RESEARCH Market research is the collection, collation and analysis of the data relating to the marketing and consumption of the goods and the services18. Market research helps in opening the new outlet, tells us were we stand in the market and how we can improve. How many times does the customer visit Pizza Hut? Group of people |More than once a week |Once a week |Fortnight |Monthly or less | |Family |04 |20 |45 |25 | |College students |35 |50 |36 |19 | |Above 50 |00 |05 |36 |30 | |Teenagers |40 |45 |26 |17 | (18) Here the market research data is organized according to age group. |Market research done of the location |Yes |No | | |(%) |(%) | |Sayajigunj |66 |34 | |Karelibaug |68 |32 | [pic] Here I have conducted the market research for the two different areas and I have come to a conclusion that in Karelibaug there are 90% of people saying yes to open the new outlet 20. This is due to one outlet of Pizza Hut not providing delivery services to distant areas21. So if it is in that area then many people can visit the outlet and this will give more profit to Pizza Hut. As people from Fathegunj, Sayajigunj, city area and Karelibaug can visit as it will be nearer to them 22. 17. market research done by interviewing different people 18. business studies book by Dave hall pg 147 19. interviewing different age group of people 20. People gave reason that why in these two areas. 21. Told by the people staying in that area. ANALYSIS OF THE PRIMARY DATA The finding of the market research which I have done for Pizza Hut will be analyzed to identify specific market attributes such as the manner in which the customer will respond more. In addition to this, it will identify important information such as the effectiveness of the market research results given by the customers will be discovered. From this data, it will be possible to judge the weaknesses of Pizza Hut. Recommendations will then be made by me on methods which Pizza Hut can adopt to overcome these weaknesses. Once Pizza Hut overcomes these weaknesses, it will have a better chance to successfully market their new outlet, and at the same time increase the sales from their current outlet. The graph below compares the frequency of teenagers who visit Pizza Hut as opposed to college students. [pic] 22 The ratio of college student is more than teenagers23. This means that on an average, college students visit Pizza Hut more compared to the teenagers. This graph tells us how many families and those above 50 wish to go to Pizza Hut. [pic]24 22. market research done by interviewing different people 23. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 24. market research done by interviewing different people SWOT ANALYSIS Swot analysis: swot analysis is an analysis of the internal strength and weaknesses and the external threats and opportunities that Pizza Hut faces. The swot analyses will illustrates how the external opportunities and the threats can be matched with the Pizza Hut’s internal strength and weaknesses to result in a set of possible strategic alternative. This would identify Pizza Hut’s distinctive competencies and the opportunities that the Pizza Hut is not currently taking a due to lack of appropriate resources swot means : S-strength W-weaknesses O- Opportunities T-threats Strength(S): these are the things which I observed, Pizza Hut and their staff do and which is the strength for them: They are well known for their pizzas 26. They provide good quality, taste and quick service 27. Their good service; grooming, cleanliness, and good interaction with the customers make customers want to visit them again 28. Due to their good taste and grooming, the other domestic pizza outlets try to compete and learn from Pizza Hut 29. Reputed brand, market excepted very easily, Due to the above, Pizza Hut makes good profit30. Pizza Hut has the ability to provide it’s customers with deals, offers and specials so that they can save money and get more value. This is a strength for the organization as it makes customers purchase more while receiving more value for their money. Customers use these vouchers and specials when ordering in bulk or for everyday orders. Weaknesses (W): these are the things which I observed and Pizza Hut does poorly and in which they can be affected are: During the weekends, Pizza Hut is full of customers, during that time the service is poor 31. There is little to no place for the people to sit who are waiting to be seated32. Availability of other multinational outlets like Mac Donald and Dominos will be the competitors of Pizza Hut too. 33 Opportunities (O): the directions which the business could take in future like: By opening a new outlet there will be an opportunity for growth of the business and development for employees34. If a person was previously employed by Pizza Hut and has passed the Pizza Hut course with the appropriate certificate, then they are able to receive double their salary35. Pizza Hut is a branded and a multi-national chain, therefore it allows staff salaries to be double that which is offered to other staff in other company’s36. Threats (T): the threats to a business arise from the activity of the competitors and failing to take opportunities like: Pizza Inn is the domestic pizza outlet in Baroda; both of them are doing very good profit-wise therefore Pizza Inn is a threat for Pizza Hut37. Pizza Inn is a well-known organization to the Baroda community as it also provides good quality and taste and this is a threat to Pizza Hut as this is one of Pizza Hut’s strengths. 25. business studies book by Dave hall pg 38 26. http://www. tutor2u. net/business/strategy/SWOT_analysis. htm 27. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 28. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 29. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 30. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 31. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 32. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 33. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 34. interview taken while doing market research 35. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 36. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 37. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 38. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview THE ANSOFFS MATRIX The ansoff matrix: The Ansoff Growth matrix is a tool that helps businesses decide their product and market growth strategy38. Ansoff’s matrix will allow the firm to consider the alternatives open to it for entering a new market or entering new product into the market39. Product | |Existing |New | |Existing |Market penetration |Product development | |New |Market development |diversification | Market Market penetration: market penetration is used to achieve the growth in the existing market with the existing product40. Market penetration uses the marketing mix to push the product which is gaining as much as market share and as quickly as possible41. Market penetration seeks to achieve four main objectives: Increase usage by existing customers, maintain or increase the market share of current products42. Pizza Hut is the branded outlet so that people use the substitute outlet less (Pizza Inn, u s pizza, Uncle Sam’s Pizza, and Dominos). Pizza Hut encourages customers to use their outlet more regularly by providing new taste to the customers43. Product development: this is concerned with marketing new or modified products in the market for the customers 44 like: Normal pizzas intend to act as a replacement for the new product which will be introduced45. Market development: this involves the marketing of the existing product in the new market such as: As Pizza Hut has one outlet already in the market, they will open a new outlet in Baroda but in a different area. They will introduce some new products when they open their new outlet. However, they will need to continue the marketing of their old and classic products along with the new products46. Diversification: this will occur when the product is developed for the new market. Diversification allows a business to move away from the trust upon the present market and product47. 38http://www. tutor2u. net/business/strategy/ansoff_matrix.htm 39oxford study course book by jo toy pg 32 39. http://www. tutor2u. net/business/strategy/ansoff_matrix. htm 40. business studies book by Dave hall pg 239 41. oxford study course book by jo toy pg 32 42. http://www. tutor2u. net/business/strategy/ansoff_matrix. htm 43. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 44. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 45. Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 46. business studies book by Dave hall pg 239 PEST –G ANALYSIS Pest g: this will look at the external environment and the global factors that may or will affect a business. It can provide a quick and visual representation. It is usually divided into five external influences on a business-political, economic, social, and technological and green46. Political: this is concerned with how political developments, regionally, nationally and internationally might affect a business’s strategy47. Political development is not so relevant in this instance as Pizza Hut has an existing established branch which is not affected by this external factor, the political issues are not so important because they do have the outlet in India and Baroda. For opening the new outlet government factors are not important as it already has opened one outlet48. Economic: this might include the analysis of a variety of economic factors and their effect on business they include: consumer activity, economic variable, government policy, the effect of change in product and labor markets49. Pizza Hut’s outlet which is Baroda, Gujarat has competitors in Baroda, Gujarat50 however, these are not Pizza Hut branches – they are other competitors such as Dominos and Pizza Inn. These have an economic external influence as it affects the consumer activity as customers may prefer to go to Dominos if there is better service, quality and price offered. The new place suggested trough market research, there mainly the people with their families and above 30 will visit. It is not that the youth’s wont visit but there are less youth’s in that area compare to the area where the current Pizza Hut is located. Social: how is Pizza Hut affected socially? It is not likely that Pizza Hut will be affected socially as each age group visit’s Pizza Hut51. Due to the location of the old Pizza Hut site (located near commercial places) it attracts a lot variety of consumers. The new site will be located in a suburb where there are families therefore the market will be families. When a whole family eats a meal at Pizza Hut, they tend to splurge on extras such as drinks and sides. This is positive for the organization in terms of profit. However, in Karelibaug, families won’t come daily or once a week to have pizza’s so it can be affected socially. Generally in the new outlet older segment people will visite. Technological: Businesses operate in a world of rapid technological change. The organization needs to regularly review the impact of new technologies upon their activities. The product can become old-fashioned quickly. The production method can become out of date52. Pizza Hut looks that how they are different from other firms such as Pizza Inn, Domino’s pizza, us pizza and many other domestic outlets for pizza’s. Even Mac Donald’s is a competitor. One technological factor which could effect the environment is how Pizza Hut creates its products such as the production line in which a pizza is made. 47. business studies book by Dave hall pg 38 48. business studies book by Dave hall pg 38 49. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 50. business studies book by Dave hall pg 38 51. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 52. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview. 53. business studies book by Dave hall pg 38 COST ANALYSIS Cost analysis is currently a some what controversial set of methods in program of evaluation one reason for the controversy is that these terms cover a wide range of method, but are often used interchangeably. There are two types of cost associated with hiring new place. They are fixed cost and variable cost. Both these cot will be identified to check the financial growth of the undergoing new outlet. Both are classified as below: Fixed cost Hiring charges foe the new place Salary of the staff Minimum hiring charges of telephone. Variable cost Production cost Office usage Approximately amount of profit for the new outlet May by through which you will be able to fine out pbit (profit before interest and tax), pbt (profit before tax), pat (profit after tax). | | |Per month |Per annum | |Sales | |1350 |16200 | |- variable | |60 |720 | | |contribution |1290 |15480 | |- fixed cost | |45 |540 | | |PBIT |1245 |14940 | |- interest | |78 |940 | | |PBT |1167 |14000 | |- tax | |350 |4200 | | |PAT |817 |9800 | 55 From the above assumption we can conclude that profit on pbit is approximately equals to 65. 60% |1260 |720 | |100 |? | |= 57. 14 | This is the variable cost |1260 |540 | |100 |? | |= 42. 58 | And this is the fixed cost. Variable cost of new outlet is higher than its fixed cost about 14. 12. Contribution of new outlet is about 96% which can be calculated by following formula: |Sales |contribution | |16200 |15480 | |100 |? | |= 96 | 56 Variable cost depends upon number of units of new outlet but the fixed cost is fixed. Cost may also be defined in different class For example: production cost office cost selling and distribution cost We can include raw material cost for the pizza’s and service cost for the pizzas. In production cost all the administration expense and legal and professional charges in office expense. We can bifurcate the transportation of the delivery man and advertisement expenses as selling and distribution charges. Selling and distribution charges can depend on number of unit sold and cost up till cost of goods sold always depends on goods sold57. 55. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 56. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview 57. (Manager of Pizza Hut). Personal interview INVESTMENT APPRAISAL Investment appraisal is the evaluation of an investment project to determine whether or not it is likely to be worthwhile. It is essential to appraise the investment Pizza Hut will undertake and to establish weather it is going to be beneficial. Below are the techniques, which will assist appraising the investment: †¢ Pay back period and †¢ Net present value Pay back period This technique assesses the number of years it will take foe the Pizza Hut to recover all their initial costs. This is a very simple tool as it ignores most of the costs the firm would incur due to opening a new outlet. The cash flow is also an approximate estimate when there are too many variable then Pizza Hut cannot control. They assume that they have more customers and 10% more profit throughout the year than what they had the previous year. There were a few assumptions made for the cash flow. These were that the machine they used to make pizza’s worked at 100% capacity and all products were sold. |Pay back period for the new outlet | |Year |Net cash flow | |0 |-10,00,000 | |1 |2,00,000 | |2 |6,00,000 | |3 |3,00,000 | |3,00,000 |12 months | |2,00,000 |? | |= 8 months | You can get 2,00,000 in 8 months so our net pay back period for investing RS 10,00,000 in new outlet is 2 years and 8 months. Analysis of pay back period. The pay back technique has shown us that it takes 2 years and 8 months to pay back for the new outlet. However, we learn form the market research and swot analysis that there are mainly people above 35 hence it would be smarter from them to do some thing which might attract the youth from other areas and influence them to visit that outlet too. Net present value Net present value incorporates the principle of time value of money by converting payments at different times to the equivalent values at the common reference time. The discount factor used is 4% as the interest they could have got from the bank currently is 4%. I then did NVP. |Year |Net cash flow |Discount factor 4$ |Present value | |0 |-10,00,000 |1 |10,00,000 | |1 |2,00,000 |0. 9615 |1,92,300 | |2 |6,00,000 |0. 9246 |5,54,760 | |3 |3,00,000 |0. 8890 |2,66,700 | Analysis of net present value The new outlet will generate ____ amount after 5 years. ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES To effectively deal with the increase in the growth by expansion, it is necessary for there to be some internal changes. It is very necessary that the staff’s grooming should be done properly, so that they can serve the customers in a professional manner. When they open their second outlet from a single, Pizza Hut will have to keep some one on whom they can trust and can rely on and they have to shift a few staff from the present one to the opening one. As they opening a new outlet, they are turning from one into two outlets. Due to this the position of many of the staff’s have been will be changed. This change does not affect their work, they have an effective communication channels among the employees. This could be in the form of giving the staff a proper atmosphere in which they can settle easily, the changes in the outlet and the goals that the Pizza Hut wants to attain. RECOMMENDATION Starting up the new outlet, initially it will not give them that much profit but it will definitely give some. For this: 1. Pizza Hut should shift few of their staff and of course one of the leader to supervise from the existing outlet to the one which will open in the near future. 2. They should appoint few new staff for the existing outlet and also foe the future’s outlet so that the one who are new in the new outlet can get t know more from their seniors who are shifted from the existing business. 3. For marketing about their new outlet they should restructure they method in which the do the marketing. 4. The market research was done on few people in Baroda, Gujarat, and not in the whole of Baroda. So the extensive market research needs to be conducted across the whole Baroda, Gujarat to get the proper kind of information about the location. CONCULSION The report shows that Pizza Hut should pen the new outlet in Baroda, Gujarat, India. If Pizza Hut increases their staff, then it would be in a better position to serve the customers and if they shift few of their trained staff and give training to the new staff to whom they are going to appoint then they would also be in the better position. They should also shift one of the managers to the new outlet so that in case if any problem occurs then they will be able to handle it. The financial aspects of the undertaking are not the problem for the Pizza Hut as it is in a strong financial stage. But the recruitment of the new staff cold affects the staffs. The environment and the working portfolio of the staffs will be changed as Pizza Hut will reconstruct the marketing set-up. So before employing the new staff Pizza Hut should let the old staff settle into their working environment. As previously said, the personal interview were only conducted in Gujarat, and the result of this only represented he view of customers from Gujarat. Hence, the further market research needs to be done to get a broader perspective on this study. The indirect costs associated with the undertaking the project will have to ascertain. As previously mentioned, one indirect cost is that a large recruitment could lead to a decrease in the motivation of the existing staffs. Other indirect cost could be in the form of the training program for the new recruits to a specialist company, so that it is done efficiently. If the new recruits do their job well, serve the customers in the proper way, follow the training properly, are groomed very well and give the best service then this would motivate the customers to visit them again. `Graph showing the frequency of visits to Pizza Hut by college students and teenagers 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 More than once a week Once a week Fortnight Monthly or less time period College students Teenagers graph showing the frequency of visit to Pizza Hut by families and people above 50 0 10 20 30 40 50 More than once a week Once a week Fortnight Monthly or less time period Family Above 50.