Old Boy Growing Up With A Parent Of The Air National Guard

Juan is a four-year-old boy growing up with both parents. Silvia, Juan’s mother, is a stay at home mom giving her the ability to be with her son and develop a close relationship. Jessie, Juan’s father, is an airline worker and a member of the Air National Guard. Jessie also has a close relationship with his son because of the daily interactions they have with each other. However, Juan’s world completely changed when his father was deployed to the Middle East and his mother had to begin work again. Juan’s interactions with his parents are minimal to nonexistent causing a physical and mental consequence on Juan. In the framework of psychoanalytic theory, there is a focus on child development. Prior to Jessie’s deployment, Juan was experiencing a normal child development through a sexual and aggressive drive. For example, analyzing Juan’s psychosexual development, at the age of 4, Juan’s demonstrates an attraction to his female parent. His display of affection is within the phallic phase. His desire to â€Å"marry† his mother is common for children between the ages of three and five because they begin to discover their genitals (Berzoff, 2011). Juan’s mother’s occupation as a stay at home mother, allowed Juan to develop these feelings due to the large amount of time they would spend together. Nevertheless, when his father got deployed and his mother began working, it was noticeable that he went through regression. Juan does not have the attention his mother onceShow MoreRelatedEssay7849 Words   |  32 PagesShe jumped up to her feet and went over to kneel down beside the couch. She pulled the curtains slightly back to peep out the window. She didn’t see anyone. The howling sound from the wind blowing against the tree limbs was the noise she heard and the street lights shined in her yard. Then the horrible thoughts of Michael coming back for revenge raced through her mind. 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Mr. Lake Free Essays

Arvo Lake, a retired 71-year-old man, bought an air conditioner in May. The unit was installed and operated according to the manufacturer’s specifications. Unbeknownst to Lake, the unit contained a hole in the refrigeration system that allowed Freon, the coolant, to escape from the unit. We will write a custom essay sample on Mr. Lake or any similar topic only for you Order Now By August, the unit had ceased cooling, and Lake’s residence reached a temperature of at least 96 degrees Fahrenheit. The heat caused Lake to suffer from hyperthermia, which caused circulatory failure and then death. The executor of Lake’s estate sued the manufacturer of the air conditioner for damages resulting from breach of warranty. Is the manufacturer (or anyone else) liable for Lake’s death under either a negligence or a strict liability cause of action? What is the difference between these two claims, and how do they differ from a breach of warranty claim? Try and be as specific as possible, preferably running through the elements using the facts from the Lake case. â€Å"Research from the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission indicates that defective or unsafe products cause 29. 4 million injuries and 21,400 deaths each year. You or your child may be injured by something seemingly harmless or something you use everyday, such as a hair dryer, toaster, baby chair, toy, iron, coffee maker, air conditioner, car, hand tool or even your clothing. Product liability law gives consumers the ability to sue for and recover damages from manufacturers, distributors and vendors for injuries resulting from accidents caused by products. Strict liability is the term used to describe situations in which a person can be held liable for damages caused to another person even without negligence or other fault. Strict liability means â€Å"liability without fault,† therefore a person is liable whether or not they were negligent and whether or not they intended to do any harm. The law imposes strict liability on inherently or abnormally dangerous activities, or activities that are likely to cause particular kinds of harm. Strict liability is also often imposed on manufactured products, under the law of product liability. Strict liability claims do not involve proof of whether or not someone acted reasonably or used appropriate care in manufacturing a certain product. The manufacturer of the air conditioner could be found liable for the death of Mr. Lake if it is found that the air conditioner was defective, regardless of whether the manufacturer or supplier exercised great care when designing and manufacturing it. Mr. Lake’s family does not have to demonstrate that the manufacturer or vendor was negligent or careless, only that a defect in the product caused Mr. Lake’s death. In a negligence claim, Mr. Lake’s family must show that a manufacturer or retailer had a duty to exercise reasonable care in the process of manufacturing or selling a product and failed to fulfill that duty, resulting in his death. Negligence consists of doing something that a person of ordinary prudence would not do under the same or similar circumstances; or failing to do something that a person of ordinary prudence would do under the same or similar circumstances. A breach of warranty claim arises under the law of contracts, where the law imposes certain â€Å"implied warranties† on the sale of goods. Such warranties include the warranty of merchantability (that the goods are in proper condition for use and free of defects), and the warranty of fitness for a particular purpose (e. g. , air conditioner must be able to keep a room or house cool. ) A breach of warranty is often referred to as an implied warranty because the law assumes that they apply even if they are not expressly stated. If a product does not meet these standards, the purchaser may have the right to return it and get back the purchase price, or sometimes to receive monetary damages. The law of contracts covers economic loss caused by the breach of warranties in the sale of goods. The Uniform Commercial Code, Article 2, also deals with the sales of goods and the implied and express warranties of merchantability in the sales of goods  §Ã‚ § 2-314 and 2-315. Question 2 we conclude that the district court correctly decided that it did not have jurisdiction to consider the Reardons’ statutory claims, but we find that the CERCLA lien provisions do violate the fifth amendment due process clause How to cite Mr. Lake, Papers

COPD Case Study Free-Samples for Students-Myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss the Pathophysiology of COPD as it relates to the acute and Chronic Symptoms the Patient is Experiencing. Answer: Path physiology of COPD Chronic obstructive a pulmonary disease is major health care concern worldwide with greater portion of the population is affected. It is often characterized by symptoms like chronic bronchitis and emphysema. COPD is a medical condition which is characterized by inflammation, dysfunction and air way obstruction. It involves chronic inflammation of the air pathways, the lungs and blood vessels due to exposure of irritants such as tobacco smoke. The inflammation of the air way leads to narrowing of air path thus remodeling the airway. Factors which contribute to this include fibrosis, scar tissue build up after damage of the air ways and increased multiplication of epithelial cells beneath the air way, (Sohal,Ward,Danial, Wood Walters, 2013). The destruction of parenchyma is often linked to tissue elasticity capacity due to destruction of the components feeding the alveoli. The impacts of this collapse of during inhalation, disturbed air flow, air retention in the lungs and decreased lung carrying level. In smoking, the mucous glands get enlarged in the lining of the walls , this condition leads cell metaphase which is characterized by the healthy cells being changed over by the mucous secreting ones in the air pathway,(Shen, Wolkowicz, Kotova, Fan Timko, 2016). This leads to excess mucous in the pathways which in the long run they build up and blocks thus hindering airflow, (Eschenbacher, 2014). Patient s of COPD always present with variety of symptoms and signs of chronic bronchitis, destructed airway disease and emphysema. The common symptoms include cough, breathlessness and wheezing, (Hatipoglu Milstein, 2016). The accuracy of the information given in showing mild to moderate COPD is poor. Observations for severe disease state include tachypnea and respiratory disruption, cyanosis, peripheral enlargement and strain on respiratory muscles. Physical examination of the thorax shows elevated inflammation, wheezing, prolongs expiration, decreased breath sounds. There are unique characteristics which identify persistent diseases from and emerging disease such as emphysema. In chronic bronchitis the following features are observable, patients appear obese, common coughs, functioning of accessory muscles is observed and patients can portray signs of right heart failure. In emphysema the clinical signs portrayed include, thin patients with barrel chest, little expectoration, distant heart sounds, breathing assistance by use of lips and overall appearance is observed to be classical COPD signs. COPD diagnosis is formalized when the ratio of forced expiratory volume in a second over forced vital capacity is less than 70 %. Criteria assessment of severe obstruction of airflow is characterized with 4 stages; stage I (mild), stage II (moderate), stage III (severe), stage IV (very severe), (Pavord, Barnes, Dransfield, Locantore Pascoe, 2015). For clear confirmation of COPD, other tests can be done include, hematocrit, serum potassium level, sputum evaluations, electrocardiography, (Choudhury, Davey, Simpson, 2016). Management of acute COPD exacerbations Medical assessment of exacerbation entails medical history, examinations spirometry, blood gas measurement .personal health record should be used. With high impact publicity on dangers of smocking and cigarette abuse, COPD continues to ravage a significant portion of the population currently acute COPD is often characterized by chronic bronchitis, emphysema. Chronic bronchitis is characterized by excessive coughing and sputum increase in the patient, (Deslee et al., 2015) on the other hand emphysema is observed with dyspenia from destruction of lung cells and tissue, (Musso Gubler, 2015). Outpatient management for patients should be geared in increasing quality of life by preventing acute exacerbations and slowing down diseases progress. Providing care to the COPD patients is often a critical work which needs to be taken off with due diligence Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the acute phase is medically managed with oxygen for those patients with low oxygen levels, inhalation of anti cholinergic, administration of strong antibiotics and corticosteroids intake. Therapeutic of methylxanthine can be administered in patients who respond to other bronchodilators. Treatment of exacerbations is always done using treated with broad and stronger antibiotics such samoxcillin, trimethoprim, doxcycycline with more exacerbated patients, (Williams Bourdet, 2012). The management of COPD often includes non smocking therapy for patients like Bill who are chronic smokers. Cessation is of smocking is advised and oxygen support is needed as the case for Bill. Intake of drugs such as anticholinergics and corticosteroids provide short duration benefits to patients with chronic state disease. The corticosteroids taken will assist in decreasing airway activity and minimize health care activity for management of respiratory symptoms. Acu te exacerbations assist in reducing long term oxygen supply treatment. Having long duration of oxygen sessions helps to observe pulmonary function and rehabilitation. In care management influenza and pneumococcal vaccines so as to prevent further infections. Infections associated with exacerbations COPD have shown to be characterized with increased sputum and increased dyspenia. The most common causes of these exacerbations include streptococcus pneumonia, homophiles influenza, viruses, and pseudomonas species. Clinical monitoring of patients with COPD includes the utilization of post bronchodilator, pulse rate and timed walking from specified distances. Pharmacological therapy needs to be employed for patient Billy. Patients with this disease often signify poor respiration status, and infections often hamper the treatment. Antibiotic treatment is highly advised to fight off the infections. The treatment is analyzed on adjusting and addition of medication used during the stabilization phase, (Ross Hansel, 2014). The objective of therapy of prevention is to minimize hospitalization admission and prevention of respiratory failure and eventual death with the aim of recovery to quality health, (Richardson, 2016). Care involves treatment plans and use of corticosteroids, bronchodilators, antibiotics oxygen therapy and ventilator support. The chronic persistence of exacerbations is the most common factor that affects the overall care in COPD management. Prevention of exacerbations can be handled prior with the doctor fro a prevention plan to be developed. In management care, patient education should be focused and aim smoking cessation, influenza and pneumonia vaccinations (Young et al., 2014). Thus with patient Billy, minimizing the frequency and severity of acute exacerbations has been proved to reduce mortality associated with COPD. On discharge management care should be considered. Patient who have acute COPD exacerbations are prone to the following conditions, pneumonia, congestive heart failure, pneumothorax, pleural effusion and cardiac diseases. Treatment regimes are quite slow and close monitoring should be considered for them, (Young et al., 2014). Mortality is often the highest risks for these patients and observation of key clinical features are important in order to predict outcome, (Suzuki et al., 2014). Early prognosis and identification of exacerbation have shown to reduce recovery time. Upon discharge follow up schedule should be effectively planned for close monitoring for those who are at risk of recurrence of associated infections and implementing of a preventive plan. Minimizing frequency of acute exacerbations has shown to improve mortality avoidance associated with COPD. Management of acute exacerbation of COPD, at home, is important. With availability of therapies like oxygen support is key in delivering a home care based approach. Hospital care based approach is encountered with high costs; this means that cost is higher than hospital care. Hospital based is safe and provide effective care, and should be sued as an alternative in caring for the acute COPD phase patients. Home based care increase the patient satisfaction and reduces the overall medical monetary requirements. Home hospital schemes are safe and effective option for patients who prefer it. Benefits associated include patient satisfaction, improved quality of life, improved satisfaction and preference. In acceptance f hospital schemes, there are some components which play a key role in providing health care. Care provided at home should be effective and acceptable to the patient. With the availability of good communication system home based care can be implemented effectively while at h ome. Effective communication enables intervention for acute exacerbation of COPD. Studies that have been conducted have shown that home based interventions improve the functional and cognitive capability of the patient, (Norrie, Dziadekwich, Fernandes 2016 ). Outreach health care plan should be implemented. Home based uncourageous support, self care management. Outreach care program should be initiated to support the patient. The function of outreach program is to maintain health status and reduce hospital admissions of acute COPD patients. Shared care is extremely important in providing and planning of home based care. The objectivity of the program activity should include, improve on lung function, improved health related quality of life, reduced mortality and reduced health care costs, (Sunde et al., 2014). Support system framework The support needed by home based COPD patients include provision of non invasive pressure support ventilation, (Mullaney, Reilly Quinn, 2016). Several organizations shave volunteered in providing care to these patients especially those at home. They function as source of information and support system for patients. In planning care management, exercise is paramount in maintaining a healthy lifestyle to these patients and forms an important path in rehabilitation of COPD patients. Care plan should incorporate exercises as they reduce symptoms and other associated complications. Home based care for COPD has been studied and proven to improve the patients knowledge on the disease and improvement s on some aspects of quality life, (McDowell, McClean, FitzGibbon Fate, 2015). Care provided by adequate visits by community nurses have shown to improved care. Patients knowledge increases when this kind of knowledge is adopted. Intervention based care has shown to improve patients understanding on quality of care and quality of life, (Mullaney, Reilly Quinn, 2016). Home based care approach has shown to be effective on minimizing hospital admissions a providing home based therapy care. A nurse led intervention approach has shown to increase the patients knowledge but dont minimize hospital admission rates, however early interventions have shown to minimize hospital readmission process. Care management aims to focus its approach on chronic pain management, fatigue, exercise tolerance and depression incidences. Home based cares thus have shown to offer the needed help to patients and provide viable alternatives to patient. Effective communication of patients from the medical team in the hospital has shown to improve the quality of life for acute exacerbation of COPD and close monitoring of infection diseases, (Diaz, Salvador, Dan Randall, 2015). Designing of management strategies include immunization and ear ly treatment of infections forms the basis of care for COPD patients. Care plans need to be design along with management strategies, (Mullaney, Reilly Quinn, 2016). Severe state of COPD to patent Bill may cause severe impacts which include depression, anxiety, panic mode and social exclusion and co morbidities experience come into play. Studies have shown that acute COPD have effects on neuropsychological deficits among patients and an association with lower cognitive progress, (Mullaney, Reilly Quinn, 2016). As a support system, patients like Bill should be health care assistant from the family members at home for recovery and management of the diseases. The heath care delivery schedule for Bill should be reoriented in such a way that it provides effective care despite the disease stage. On improving the functional and psychological position of the mind, pulmonary rehabilitation should be initiated at home Support resource and education care plan Health delivery system appropriate should include multi approach team of the health care team for close follow-ups. Self management care like support for patients and families for improved and acquisition of skills and techniques to handle the state of health for patient Billi. Decision support offer should reflect proven based protocol and professional development plan. Clinical information system should form the key path in keeping track of progress record of the patients, (Kaptein, Fischer Scharloo, 2014). Disease management protocol criteria needed should follow the chronic care model. COPD management plans should in-cooperate physical exercise, self care management and structured follow ups for patients. Effective education should be geared towards complete smoking cessation; structured education plan should involve an action plan for self treatment and regular follow ups, (Smith et al., 2012). Education care models for Bill should be planned regularly and assessment of what he is doing should be done to assess effectiveness. Studies have shown that improving education and health care facilitation improves the outcomes and costs for the patient. The discharge care plan for patient Bill is that the immediate caregivers back at home should be involved in the planning process. Caregivers act as health care champion and provide emotional and psychological assistance to the patient. The discharge plan implemented should utilize effective strategies and maintenance of clinician and patient engagement is followed. Hence clinical follows up periodically should be initiated in taking care of the patients ill health References Sohal, S. S., Ward, C., Danial, W., Wood-Baker, R., Walters, E. H. (2013). Recent advances in understanding inflammation and remodeling in the airways in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Expert review of respiratory medicine, 7(3), 275-288. Shen, Y., Wolkowicz, M. J., Kotova, T., Fan, L., Timko, M. P. (2016). Transcriptome sequencing reveals e-cigarette vapor and mainstream-smoke from tobacco cigarettes activate different gene expression profiles in human bronchial epithelial cells. Scientific reports, 6, 23984. Ross, C. L., Hansel, T. T. (2014). New drug therapies for COPD. Clinics in chest medicine, 35(1), 219-239. Richardson, A., Tolley, E., Hartmann, J., Reedus, J., Bowlin, B., Finch, C. Self, T. (2016). Evaluation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and reduced ejection fraction heart failure (HFrEF) discharge medication prescribing: Is drug therapy concordant with national guidelines associated with a reduction in 30-day readmissions?. Respiratory medicine, 119, 135-140. Young, M. S., Craddock, K. M., Brown, P., Avalos, B., Vukovich, C. M., MacMillan, J. F., Louie, S. (2014). COPD Education And Training By Respiratory Care Practitioners Decreases Healthcare Utilization And Improves Patient Outcomes. In D43. Copd: Factors Associated With The Implementation Of Gold And Other Organizations'recommendations (pp. A5943-A5943). American Thoracic Society. Suzuki, M., Makita, H., Ito, Y. M., Nagai, K., Konno, S., Nishimura, M. (2014). Clinical features and determinants of COPD exacerbation in the Hokkaido COPD cohort study. European Respiratory Journal, 43(5), 1289-1297. Norrie, O. S., Dziadekwich, R., Fernandes, R., Metge, C. J. (2016). Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (Copd) Integrated Care Pathway Project: Evaluation of Patient Outcomes and System Efficiencies. Journal of population therapeutics and clinical pharmacology = Journal de la therapeutique des populations ET de la pharmacology Clinique, 23(3), e169. Diaz-Lobato, S., Smyth, D., Curtis, J. R. (2015). Improving palliative care for patients with COPD. European Respiratory Journal, 46(3), 596-598. Kaptein, A. A., Fischer, M. J., Scharloo, M. (2014). Self-management in patients with COPD: theoretical context, content, outcomes, and integration into clinical care. International journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, 9, 907. Deslee, G., Burgel, P. R., Escamilla, R., Chanez, P., Nesme-Meyer, P., Brinchault-Rabin, G., Roche, N. (2015). Cough is an independent contributor to health-related quality of life impairment in COPD. Eschenbacher, W. L. (2014). Airflow limitation and spirometry. In COPD Clinical Perspectives. InTech. Musso, D., Gubler, D. J. (2015). Zika virus: following the path of dengue and chikungunya?. The Lancet, 386(9990), 243-244. Hatipo?lu, U., Milstein, C. F. (2016). Chronic Cough: An Overview for the Bronchoscopist. In Diseases of the Central Airways (pp. 357-372). Springer International Publishing. Pascoe, S., Locantore, N., Dransfield, M. T., Barnes, N. C., Pavord, I. D. (2015). Blood eosinophil counts, exacerbations, and response to the addition of inhaled fluticasone furoate to vilanterol in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a secondary analysis of data from two parallel randomised controlled trials. The lancet Respiratory medicine, 3(6), 435-442. Smith, B., Appleton, S., Adams, R., Southcott, A. M. A. M. S., Ruffin, R. (2012). Home care by outreach nursing for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 3. Tran, T., Schatz, M., Chen, W., Li, Q., Khatry, D., Zeiger, R. (2015). Relationship of blood eosinophil count to exacerbations in asthma patients with a COPD diagnosis. Williams DM, Bourdet SV. (2012). Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In: DiPiro JT, Talbert RL, Yee GC, et al, eds. Pharmacotherapy: A Pathophysiologic Approach. (7th ed). New York, NY: McGraw Hill Co Inc; :chap 29.

Kate Chopins The Story Of An Hour And Gail Godwins A Sorrowful Woman E

Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour and Gail Godwin's A Sorrowful Woman are both similar pieces of literary work in that both stories offers a revealing glimpse of extremely unhappy marriages. Both Mrs. Mallard and the unnamed mistress in A Sorrowful Woman called (the wife) seem to reveal a problem or possibly a disease which is plainly inherited through the institution of there marriages. They are so unhappy with the lives they lead and the person(s) in them they seem to drive themselves to there own death. The Story of an Hour seems to pick up in the middle of an on going battle of Mrs. Mallard's feelings towards that of her husband Brantly Mallard, (which seems to be a decent guy from this short story introduction). This is why you really can not come to grasps with her hatred towards Mr. Mallard and why she feels it. There is little introduction of the husband Brantly Mallard which leaves any thought or opinions of him completely to the imagination, while in A Sorrowful Woman the wife seems to be a very selfish, and self centered person who can care only for herself. Godwin describes mostly all characteristics about the husband and wife in that the wife tells her husband that the sight of himself and the child made her so sick she did not want to see them ever again. The husband being his very understanding self-comments "he understood such things, and asked what would she like him to do" (33). In the begging Mrs. Mallard is so overwhelmingly happy (acting very distraught) to receive the telegram informing her of Mr. Mallard's death but she had to conceal her happiness simply because there were loved ones in her presence including her sister Josephine and Mr. Mallard's great friend Richard. It was he (Richard) who had received intelligence of the death as he was in the newspaper room and heard fist word of the rail road disaster with Brently Mallard's name at the top of the death list. Josephine had delivered this information just before Mrs. Mallard had stormed off to her room for the concealment and solitude that she had needed (12-13). For the wife in A Sorrowful Woman loneliness and solitude was all that she had wanted out of her family member role throughout the story. She was placed to bed the first night and was given a sleeping draught that was guaranteed to put her to rest swiftly after informing her husband that she wanted to be away and out of the sight of him and their little boy. For many days straight the wife remained there alone and to her self only to appear to wonder throughout the house aimlessly a few short times when the house was vacant. For Mrs. Mallard remaining in her room resting in her roomy armchair staring aimlessly out of the open window was to rejoice and unleash her true feelings of Mr. Mallard's death after a few short moments of morning (12). While in A Sorrowful Woman the wife was detained by her own state of misery and loneliness for she wanted to be away from both her husband and her child also (the majority of the time) sitting in her big chair staring out at the snow-ridden branches wearing her slacks and an old sweater (35). While there is no major role playing by Mr. Mallard in The Story of an Hour the husband in A Sorrowful Woman tries to be very caring in every way possible to his wife. The day after everything took place he brought her breakfast in bed and let her lay to rest until it grew dark again, and after taking there son for a walk he brought her up a tray of buttered toast, celery sticks and soup. She says to him "I am the luckiest woman," (crying) he then replies "nonsense, you need a rest from us," referring to there son and himself (34). He would then continue to take over all of the house hold duties such as: fixing her meals/sleeping liquids, doing dishes, making dinner for the himself and there son, taking and picking up there son from school, and holding down his employment at the office as well.

Escape Literature vs Interpretative Literature Essays

Escape Literature vs Interpretative Literature Essays Escape Literature vs Interpretative Literature Paper Escape Literature vs Interpretative Literature Paper Essay Topic: Literature Main purpose is entertainment escape literature emphasizes plot twists, surprises escape literature meant to bring us closer to understanding reality interpretative literature takes readers away from problems escape literature usually states (directly or indirectly) a cliche escape literature contains a sympathetic hero or heroine escape literature usually has a realistic ending that makes the reader consider the implications of the theme interpretative literature usually has a happy and satisfying ending escape literature contains a realistic protagonist (exhibits both positive and negative traits) interpretative literature uses tricks and gimmicks to hold the readers attention escape literature written for pleasure interpretative literature Contains stereotyped characters escape literature may create interest through excitement, but doesnt make it the center of the story interpretative literature emphasizes character motivation and psychological development than plot interpretative literature often distorts reality escape literature includes parables and fables interpretative literature may depend on sentimentality for effect escape literature often uses stereotyped characters escape literature includes short stories (that uses fictitious narrative) that convey a moral lesson interpretative literature provides readers with insights into nature and conditions of his existence interpretative literature confirms prejudices escape literature

High School Seniors Start NOW on your Letters of Recommendation (LORs)!

High School Seniors Start NOW on your Letters of Recommendation (LORs)! What was your favorite class in high school?   What class did you do best in?   Who was your favorite teacher?   How well do you know your guidance counselor?   Who knows you the best (both adults and fellow students)?   Who will write you the best recommendation? These are questions to answer now! Once you have your answers, make a list of the people who would be your best recommenders. After identifying your best recommenders, ask them if they are willing to write you a letter of recommendation.   Ask in particular  if they will write you a strong one.   If they can’t, see if there’s someone on your list who can. Teachers will appreciate having as long as possible to work on your LORs.  Ã‚  Get a leg up by approaching them now! If you remember particular instances where you demonstrated your intelligence, creativity, responsibility, or other great qualities, don’t be shy about reminding your recommenders about those instances.   You can even give them a list of things you think they might want to cover in their letters. The best letters tell stories, and you probably remember those stories better than anyone else! Examples of things you might want to share with the people writing your letters of recommendation: Copies of your best papers in their class Copies of your creative writing Notes about particular contributions you made in class A list of your activities and accomplishments Your transcript Your student resume (yes you should have one!) Any help you can give your recommenders, whether it’s giving them plenty of time or helping them with material to put in the letter, will generally be appreciated and will make for a stellar LOR! The benefit to you, besides great LORs, is that when December rolls around, you won’t be biting your nails worrying whether your letters will be in by deadline. Thats worth a bit of thought and action now, isn’t it? Category:College AdmissionsBy Brenda BernsteinMay 29, 2010

Exercise Health Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Exercise Health - Essay Example Kumar et al in their book Pathologic basis of disease, refer to cardiovascular disease as the single greatest killer of humanity in industrialized nations, accounting for more than 5 million deaths per year. Sedentary living and the associated cardiorespiratory diseases are regarded by Bouchard and Blair as the major factors responsible for premature deaths in this century. Hypertension and obesity are the initial manifestations of disease as the body starts accumulating fats due to the lack of physical activity. Soon the blood vessels become clogged due to the deposition of fibrous plaques, leading to increased blood pressure. Canlas describes hypertension as the silent killer, because it causes extensive damage internally long before the external manifestations of the disease. It is therefore important to realize the importance of exercise and incorporate it in a daily routine to nip the problem in the bud. Fletcher et al in their statement on exercise state the fundamental role of physical activity to counter the cardiovascular accidents. According to them, exercise increases the functional capacity of the heart and reduces the myocardial oxygen demand. Exercise minimizes the chances of adverse cardiac events in normal population and in rehabilitation of patients who have survived a prior attack. Regular routine improves calcium deposition in bones, thereby increasing bone density and reducing the risk of bone break disease, osteoporosis. Siscovick et al highlight the importance of adopting a regular exercise routine in order to maintain the bone strength and flexibility especially after menopause. The effects of exercise on muscular system are evident as an improvement in endurance and power on account of resistance training. Bouchard et al propose a regular exercise routine because it ensures an adequate fat distribution over the body and the normal body mass index as well as counter the metabolic disturbances leading to the development of diabetes and abn ormal lipid profiles. Chesley et al highlight the effects of exercise when accompanied by adequate protein intake, as it helps shed excessive fat and shifts the muscle protein turn over towards the synthesis of new proteins resulting in increased lean muscle mass. As evident, the benefits of exercise are numerous and the risks are minor or limited to some exceptional cases. Care should be taken when designing the exercise plan for hypertensive people or the survivors of congestive cardiac failure as they have limited reserve of cardiac and respiratory functional capacity. Siscovick et al describe the benefits of starting from light aerobics and moving onto resistance training exercises as they prove beneficial in the long run, as manifested by increase in strength and endurance, and a lower level blood pressure. Bouchard et al also advocate this approach as a step to reduce the over all chances of recurrence of adverse cardiac events and support the fact that a carefully designed ex ercise regimen should dismisses the myth about exercise being dangerous for health. When talking about the sedentary life style in developed countries, the referred target population is the one with great jobs and the policy makers who employ masses for the tasks to be performed, while their own job is limited to sitting at the desk behind a screen to make and manage the policies and

Design and analysis (aerodynamics) of the new engine cover for open Lab Report

Design and analysis (aerodynamics) of the new engine cover for open wheel climb race car in by using CFD (computational fluid dynamics). [2500 words] - Lab Report Example At first, the investigation will revolve around the models of turbulence like Shear Stress Transport (SST) and Spalart Allmaras (SA). These models are the best suited for the Computational Fluid Dynamics research. In practice, the Spalart Allmaras (SA) model meritoriously produce good Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations in relation to performance on the cost and stability. The model is suited for meshes without structure. However, Shear Stress Transport (SST) is on the basis of k-epsilon and k-omega baselines. K-epsilon is for the parts of the body that are a bit far from the wall while K-omega model is applicable on the parts near walls. The design model, will have a design of low level engine covers for the new car in a way of cutting down the area at the front of the car. On the basis of the nature science, the new model is created in a way of reducing the coefficient of the drag as one of the aerodynamic forces. This on the assumption that the engine cover is capable of reducing the drag as a result of a decreased area at the front of the car. The small area at the front induced by low height engine cover aids in decreasing the parts of vortices and turbulence near the engine covers and cockpits. This way, the rear wing is capable of developing an excess downward force, on condition the flow is continuous. The vital fact thus is knowledge of the best way to decrease the vortices and turbulence (complex flow). The lab was also effective in perfoming Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation on the helmet. This is the first design established in the process which incorpiorates the engine cover as a way of investigating the regions of flow near the cockpit in each section. The design of the second car is aimed at discovering new ways on basis of high hill engine cover. In accordance to the first simulation result, unstable airflow is developed. A high

Lord of the Flies Essay Example for Free

Lord of the Flies Essay ​Evil is a characteristic that describes a person as being morally wrong or bad, immoral and/or causing suffering for others. Evil in the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding was an inborn trait of mankind. In this book, evil was seen as a main theme throughout the whole story. Golding saw no hope for mankind and believed that evil is always in mankind and sooner or later it will be expressed and no longer be subdued by civilization. The Lord of the Flies is a book about a group of children (some very young), who become stranded on an uninhabited island with no adults. They are on this island due to a plane crash during a war that they were in. From the beginning of this story until the end, one sees a transformation of the children from a well-organized, diplomatic civilized group into an evil group of murderous blood thirsty savages. At the very beginning of this story, the children seemed well mannered and organized. They called a conch they found to gather the survivors. The only event that showed the boys’ inherent â€Å"evil† or jealously was the power struggle between Jack and Ralph for chief. Jack thought he should have been leader because he was chapter chorister. â€Å"I ought to be Chief, said Jack with simple arrogance, because I’m chapter chorister and head boy† (22). The children did the diplomatic thing and decided to put it to a vote. All of the children exspect Jack and the chorister boys elected Ralph. This event builds to Jack resenting Ralph throughout the story. Jack also tried to gain power later on in the story. As the story progresses so do the intensity of the evil acts of the children. One of these acts of â€Å"evil† from the children was their attitude toward Piggy, the over-weight, intelligent boy with asthma and glasses. Piggy became the victim of continuous bullying and neglect. A few example of this was when they called him fatty, piggy and wont let him speak and they won’t listen to him too, â€Å"Shut up, Fatty†¦He’s not fatty, cried Ralph, his real name’s Piggy†¦A storm of laughter arose and even the tiniest child joined in† (21). Another event that showed their rising evil ways is when Ralph, Jack and Simon explored the island, to decide if it is an island and/or it is uninhabited . On this adventure they saw a small, defenseless baby pig caught by â€Å"creepers†. Jack took out his knife and prepared to slaughter the piglet but couldn’t do it and allowed the piglet to go free. Jack had probably never killed anything before so the thought of ending a living thing’s life so to much for him. Afterwords Jack promised that the pig won’t be so lucky next time. Jack said this so he wouldn’t seem weak to the other children. Around the middle of the book Jack kept good on his promise, when his hunters and he slaughtered a piglet and chanted, â€Å"Kill the pig, cut her throat. Spill her blood† (69). There are also symbolisms in this story what expressed mankind’s inherited evil. The beastie in this story symbolized mankind’s inherited evil. Out of all the children, Simon is the only one who truly understood that. At one point in the book they even believed they (Sam and Eric) saw the beastie up on top of the mountain. When Jack and Ralph along with others go see the beastie they too start to believe in it. This leads to an increase in fear of the beastie (themselves). Also Ralph’s and Jack’s power struggle intensifies due to their increasingly differing wants and views. Ralph wants to be rescued but Jack’s only true desire is to hunt, kill, make fun of Piggy and become Chief with total power. Later on the children, all but Piggy, Sam and Eric are corrupted (by food) to join Jack’s tribe of savages. The turning point of their transformation into evil, savages was at Jack’s feast. At this feast the children were chanting, dancing an d reenacting the butchering of a defenseless piglet. When Simon, who represents natural human goodness (Jesus), is â€Å"accidentally† massacred by all of the children (expect Piggy). This event showed the innate human evil disrupting childhood innocence and just how far children are willing to go. ​ The event that showed total loss of civilization and the establishment of savages in this book was when Piggy was killed by Roger and the conch shell which symbolized civilization is broken. The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. (164). When the conch is broken it signifies the total loss of society, order, rule/law and peace among almost all the boys on the island. With the conch gone savagery is completely developed and the evil is shown to its fullest. At this point there is no more thoughts of right and wrong, just fear, pain and evil. Now all the children wanted to â€Å"hunt† and kill Ralph simply because Jack told them to. Especially Roger who has growth to love causing pain to others, and who â€Å"Sharpen a stick at both ends.† All of them even Sam and Eric helped to find Ralph so they could kill him. If it wasn’t for the office, Ralph would have been killed and the children wouldn’t have cared. They probably would have thrown a feast over Ralph’s death and spear hishead as a sign of power. ​In the book, Lord of the Flies the transformation of the children is clearly shown. They started off as proper gentlemen and ended as murderous, malevolent, sick savages, who want and like to exterminate and track innocence living animals including humans. Golding’s feeling towards human’s inherited characteristics is spot on and was seen throughout this whole story.

Advertising :: essays papers

Advertising Nowadays, advertising is a very big business. Very often is the major means of competing among firms. Furthermore, supporters of advertising claim that it brings specific benefits for consumers. First off all, they claim that advertising provide information to consumers about the quality or the availability of several products. This is very important for consumers because they do not waste time for searching (search costs). If we suppose, that consumers want to shop at the lowest price shop but, they do not know which is the store with the lowest prices, then they gather information by reading and watching advertisements and TV commercials respectively or by visiting several stores. This action of consumers makes prices to fall, but only if consumers have the appropriate information. Otherwise the prices may rise. Supporters of advertising also claim that advertising may encourage price competition among the firms, if prices feature significantly in the advertisement. In addition to this, by increasing sales through advertising, firms can gain economies of scale, which means that it will help to keep prices down. As we can understand information is very essential for consumers, not only because it lowers the prices, but also because it improves the quality of several products. The problem here is that it is unlikely for all the consumers to have perfect information. This means that the information is either imperfect or asymmetric. Imperfect information, as well as asymmetric information, lowers quality. Advertising may solve this problem in most cases. Consumers can gather information for several products through advertisements and because of this, producers must improve the quality of their products. But why firms advertise so much? As I noted above advertising increases consumer ¡Ã‚ ¦s information. So we can suppose that a firm which advertise much, has high quality products. A very expensive advertising campaign is something like a signal to potential consumers, that the firm believes that its product has good quality. Furthermore the company believes that because of its good quality products, is going to make repeat sales for a long time in order to  ¡Ã‚ §recoup the fixed costs of initial advertising ¡Ã‚ ¨. On the other hand, firms with poor quality products  ¡Ã‚ §that know that consumers will soon discover they have been misled about quality ¡Ã‚ ¨, do not invest much in advertising.

Iliad Theme Essay

Some people believe that the Iliad is a poem about death. However, some argue that the most important theme is war. Other themes of human experience such as jealousy, honor, or pride are seen in the poem, but I think the main idea of the poem is anger or rage and the results that occur from it. Death is a recurring subject in the Iliad along with graphic descriptions. Every man knows he will die at some point especially when going into battle. For example, Sarpedon says to Glaucus, â€Å"Ah cousin, if only we could quit this war and count on living without age or death, I would not head for the front ranks myself nor would I urge you to do battle there, but we are mortal and death’s faces stalk us in numbers such that no man can escape. So let us go, and take glory or give!† The war and other vengeful acts are included in the poem which cause death and horror, but the fundamental cause is a rage which builds up between the characters. In the war between the Trojans and Achaeans, men were killed and their comrades became enraged and wanted revenge. When Achilles lifelong companion Patroclus went into battle for him, Patroclus killed many Trojans causing Hector to become enraged. Hector killed Patroclus which caused Achilles to become so angry and seek revenge. He kills Hector with his spear and says, â€Å"Fool! Behind Patroclus a fierce avenger was waiting among the hollow ships . . .† Homer begins his poem in the first line, â€Å"Sing, goddess, of the wrath of Peleus’ son, Achilles.† My opinion is that the main idea of the Iliad is anger or rage which allows the author to develop all that follows through the consequences that follow. This is seen through the dissonance, estrangement, and eventual reconciliation between Agamemnon and Achilles.

North American Indian Religions Essay

North American Indian religions rely on icons to give meaning to the immediate environment and the cosmos in general. Icons also symbolize the elemental powers of nature – the spirits, the supernatural world, and the forests. In addition, icons also describes man’s relationship with the so-called ‘Supreme Being. ‘ In many North American Indian religions, the ‘Supreme Being’ occupies an integral role in value formation. The Supreme Being is the foremost source of morality and tribal authority. Indeed, in totems, the Supreme Being occupies the highest position by virtue of power and seniority. Icons can also be analyzed in terms of its social and cultural sense. Icons represent the general values of a community – that is, imprinted images of cherished values. The more revered icons are, the more respected are accepted values in the tribe. Culturally, icons are imprinted beliefs – that is, they symbolize man’s immediate concerns about the environment. These concerns are as follows: survival initiatives, self-esteem and belongingness, and self-admiration. Icons serve to remind man that his natural habits are still active. Objectives: To determine the use of icons or images in North American Indian religions To define the relationship between the use of icons and the immediate environment

How to Prepare for the CCNA Exam

How to Prepare for the CCNA Exam Cited consistently by recruiters and hiring managers as one of the most sought-after certifications in the IT industry, the CCNA is one of the most valuable certifications you can have on your resume. Moreover, it’s required for most higher-level Cisco certifications like the CCNP and CCDP (and, by extension, the CCIE). Earning the CCNA demonstrates that you have the ability to configure and support a range of Cisco network devices, along with a strong general knowledge of networking, network security, and wireless networking- all of which are required to support the modern enterprise network. But before you can become a CCNA, you need to pass Cisco exam 640-802 (or, alternately, exams 640-822 and 640-816 together), which is required in order to earn the certification. The CCNA exam is challenging, and passing it definitely requires a lot of work and effort. But with the right focus and preparation, passing the CCNA exam is an achievable goal. To get you started, here are some tips to use in preparing for your CCNA examination. Set a Course of Study The first order of business should be to set the direction for your individual study. Cisco offers a syllabus for the CCNA certification, with a list of topics that are covered. Review this list, print it out and post it, and use it as your guide in crafting your personal course of study. Remember- if its not on the syllabus, its not on the exam, so limit your studies to the topics that Cisco highlights. Identify Your Weaknesses A good next step is to identify those areas where you’re weakest (hint: try a practice exam to help identify those areas)  and make them the focus of your study and practice. Highlight those areas, and set a specific goal towards gaining a good understanding of each. Don’t necessarily neglect your areas of strength completely (you don’t want to forget what you’ve already learned!), but by turning your weaknesses into strengths you can dramatically increase your chances of passing the CCNA exam. Make Time for Study The CCNA isn’t an easy exam to pass, and it covers a lot of ground. And, like any technical discipline, if you don’t work at it on a consistent basis, your knowledge and skills will fade. Set aside a consistent, regular time for study, and make sure that you keep to it. Granted, it can be hard to keep this time blocked out, especially with all of the daily responsibilities and distractions that we all deal with. But the key to passing the CCNA is frequent and consistent study and practice, so it’s critical that you set this time aside, limit your distractions, and stick to the task at hand. Focus on the Details It’s not enough to know the theory behind the concepts presented in the CCNA curriculum. To successfully pass the CCNA exam, you need to how to complete tasks and understand how things get done in the world of Cisco. That’s an important point  because general networking concepts and the way Cisco does things are not always the same- so it’s important to understand the details and specific methods and procedures for implementing different networking technologies, within the Cisco environment. Get Access to Gear This point cant be stressed enough. A big portion of the CCNA exam consists of completing tasks on simulated routers and switches, just as you’ll do them in real life. That’s why it’s critical that you get practice time (preferably a lot of it) on Cisco equipment  so that you can implement what you study within the actual Cisco IOS environment. You can buy or rent pre-configured sets of actual Cisco routers and switches that contain all of the equipment you’ll need to practice for the exam, and these sets are not as expensive as you might think. Also, there are also some excellent simulators out there, that let you configure virtual routers and switches from your personal computer. Take a look at Packet Tracer, which is an excellent tool available from the Cisco Academy, and Graphical Network Simulator 3 (GNS3), which is a free open-source tool that provides a simulated Cisco IOS environment (you can also use it to simulate the Juniper JunOS platform as well). Practice All of the Topics on the Exam, Firsthand Once your practice environment is up and running, make sure you take full advantage of it and practice implementing every protocol and configuration possible, so that you can see how everything works on the actual gear. Remember, things in real life don’t always work the same as they do on paper, and just because a book or guide tells you that a given configuration will produce a given result, nothing beats seeing it for yourself, especially on those (hopefully rare) occasions when the books get it wrong. The key to passing the CCNA exam is preparation  and lots of it. To pass the test, you’ll need to understand networking theory, facts, and practice, and be able to readily utilize the Cisco IOS interface, including specific commands and syntax. But, if you take the time to truly learn the material and get to know your way around Cisco routers and switches beforehand, you should find the test relatively easy to pass.

An Analysis Of The Sudanese Darfur Conflict Politics Essay

An Analysis Of The Sudanese Darfur Conflict Politics Essay Sudan is the country that spread broad field and has the richest underground sources. Sudan has the different ethnic and religious elements. In Sudan from time to time the conflicts occurred because of the economic and political reasons between these elements. In 80s and 90s South Sudan crisis emerged, but in the 2000s this conflict can solved. But after a short time another conflict, Darfur Conflict, emerged between the government and rebel groups. Darfur conflict can be seen as the ethnic, economic and cultural conflict rather than religious conflict. In this paper I will mention firstly the background of the conflict. Then I will explain the basic reason of the conflict core parties and third parties and their affect in the conflict. Finally I will evaluate the conflict at the state, regional and international level. A-) Background of the Darfur Conflict 1- ) Maps of Area Map of Area- Sudan 1 Map of Area- Darfur 2 2- ) Basic Information about Sudan and Darfur In general perspecti ve, the formal name is Republic of Sudan and it is the largest country in Africa, located in northeastern Africa. Sudan is counted as an undeveloped country but lastly because of the natural gas and petrol reserves its importance increased in the international arena. Sudan’s economy based on mainly agricultural and stockbreeding. Muslims which located in the North are compromised the %70 of whole population. In the South African blacks and Christians are compromised the other part of the population (%30). Also in Sudan there are 570 clans and there are 595 different languages in Sudan. Sudan country separated 57 different ethnic groups. It is neighboring the countries of Egypt, Libya, Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia and Eritrea.   [ 3 ]    Darfur located in the Western Sudan. Its population includes different ethnic groups and clans and its population is 6 million. Its neighboring states are Libya, Chad and Republic of Middle Africa. Darfur separated in 3 regions, west, north and south. Khartoum government appointed a governor to the each region. In general in Darfur there are two ethnic groups, Arabs and black Africans. Because of the marriage between the different ethnic groups borders between regions became undefined.   [ 4 ]    3- ) Outline and Background of the Conflict 26 February 2003 Darfur Liberation Front attacked to highlands which name is Gulu. (The headquarters of Jebel Marra District) 25 March 2003 The rebels usurped the garrison town of Tine along the Chadian border and captured the huge quantities of supplies and arms.   [ 5 ]    25 April 2003 Sudan Liberation Movement (SLA/M) and Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) attacked the region. With this attack 75 soldiers, pilots were killed, also many buildings and helicopters were destroyed.   [ 6 ]    May 2003 Janjaweed entered the conflict.   [ 7 ]    8 April 2004 Negotiation about the cease-fire between JEM and SLA.à ‚   [ 8 ]    May 2004 International Crisis Group declared that over 350,000 people were effectively debarred from the aid. Also in this year United Nations Secretary- General Kofi Annan made an attention the situation of genocide risk in the Darfur. December 2005 Chad- Sudan Conflict. An attack was actualized in Chadian region in the border of Sudan and 300 hundred people were dead. Sudan was blamed for the attack and death of people. Government of Chad declared their hostility to Sudan government.   [ 9 ]

Suggested Central Bank for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Assignment

Suggested Central Bank for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - Assignment Example The similar nature of their economic structure implies that they have common sources of strengths and weakness in their financial systems. They are heavily dependent on their natural resources which are in the process of being depleted. Hence the GCC nations have made diversification of their economic activities as a long-term policy objective. Their financial sector has a central role to play in this strategy of economic diversification. The financial sector is like an intermediary contributing to the economic development of the GCC countries through creation of profits and employment. It also helps in efficient allocation of the financial resources. Hence to tap this potential, the GCC countries have decided to develop a central bank known as Central Bank for Gulf Cooperation Council to help in the domestic regulatory and supervisory framework by participating in the financial institutions and through grants and subsidies. The GCC economies are facing a lot of political turmoil and this can have negative consequences in the financial markets and in the foreign direct investment in these countries. In this report we will analyses the role to be played by the proposed Central Bank for Gulf Cooperation Council towards the economy in these countries. Discussion The real GDP of the economies of GCC grew at a yearly average rate of 4.7% between 2000 and 2010. Compare to this the OECD have only attained an annual growth rate of 1.5%. But it is less than the average growth rate of the BRIC countries which is 8% year-on-year. Figure 1: Real GDP Growth Rate Source: World Bank WDI, IMF projection The Central Bank of GCC has to protect their financial structure form global financial crisis. The Central Bank needs to capitalize their banks so that they can meet the minimum capital adequacy ratio and a comfortable leverage ratio as per the international standard. Still there exists a risk of a possible worsening of the asset quality of the banks due to a worsening of balan ce sheets. Such risk gets increased for economies which have high credit growth rates just prior to any crisis (Strom, Rasmussen and Robinson, 2011). The GCC banks have indicated some weakness in regard with the operational aspects of the GCC banks and hence the Central bank needs to frame policy which removes this weakness. It was seen that a few GCC countries have witnessed a rapid growth in the credit during the oil boom period just prior to the financial crisis. This showed that this rise in the available bank liquidity and increase in the lending rates was associated with higher oil prices (Accenture, 2011). This gave rise to the risk and high liquidity volatility in their banks. It has been seen in the international market that the rapid growth in credit in times of high growth rate results in degrading the asset quality as the situation worsens. Here it was seen that with sharp fall in the oil prices have led to slowdown in the growth rate and also have degraded the asset qua lity of the banks and in turn puts a strain in the liquidity position of the banks. Hence the Central bank of GCC needs to evaluate their policy measures so that the effect of oil prices doesn’t have significant impact on their financial sector. The Central Bank of GCC also needs to take into account the bank’

APA and Scholarly Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

APA and Scholarly Research - Essay Example While there are other research citation styles used for academic research work, not all of these styles are versatile or efficient. MLA, for example, was designed to be mostly used for research work in the Humanities. Turabian style of citation is rather complex to use. The APA style is most versatile because it can be used in any kind of research work and is simple to apply. Since APA is simpler and more efficient to use in citing references for research work, it would then be of good practice for any researcher to develop the habit of doing proper source citation. As long as a researcher makes a good habit of being consistent when it comes to making the proper citation of references to the research work, the less chance there is for the researcher to commit plagiarism. Being consistent in proper source citing would also develop the researcher’s skill in analyzing information in the research

The Purposes of Budgeting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Purposes of Budgeting - Essay Example Resources are scarce and the budgeting is used as a tool to deploy available resources judiciously for improving the organisational performance. The Purposes of Budgeting Budgeting helps in several ways: it helps control expenses and works as a tool to monitor planning processes; it also helps forecast future revenues for businesses; it documents and serves the purpose of a guide giving future directions to the businesses. With the help of budget, the management conveys its aspirations across different divisions of the organisation and it also serves as a vehicle to resolve conflicts between the groups within the organization. Thus, budgeting is helpful to the organisation in myriads of ways. Conventional Budgeting Process in the Global Context Conventional budgeting process employs the incremental approach. The incremental approach, while preparing this year’s budget, essentially takes into account last year’s budgetary numbers and depending upon the aspirations of the management, all numbers on different heads such as revenue, labour charges, utility expenses, overheads are revised suitably. For example, twenty percent increase in revenue generation will provide corresponding rise in raw material consumption, utilities and other necessary charges. If the increase in revenue does not warrant any increase in manpower then there would be no increase in the manpower expense except the salary revision granted to the existing staff. It would be worthwhile to elaborate some of the drawbacks with traditional budgeting in the larger context. The incremental approach in the traditional budgeting process misses out several things that include careful evaluation and audit of the several wasteful processes that warrant improvement in order to increase efficiency in the business. For example, it fails to encourage a scrutiny on improving productivity levels through changed processes or employing means that lead to reducing wastages in the production processes . The production department is considered a cost center in the organization. In the traditional budget approach, the management straight away grants funds for all necessary expenses based on last year's budget and production department continues to follow the same old routine; however, in this process, innovative ideas do not get enough support and motivation that is highly required for an organization operating globally for satisfying changing needs of the customers. The same is equally applicable to other departments of the organisation. The traditional budgeting approach was fine during pre-marketing era when competition was not intense and consumers were not demanding (Better Budgeting (2004). Zero-based Budgeting Zero-based budgeting is a step forward refining conventional budgeting process where things do not start from the previous year's budgeting level. In fact, it all starts afresh and the managers need to justify every single activity to run their departments. The manager carefully studies departmental activities and breaks them into several decision packages. Each decision package is then studied intensely to arrive at its budgetary needs systematically. Each decision package is described with details and its related costs. Carefully choosing each package with its likely impact on the objectives to be achieved automatically justifies whether expense is necessary on the chosen activity or not. Accordingly, some activities are chosen and some are discarded. The budgetary allocations on chosen activities help make a realistic budget for a given department and thus, for entire organization. This is certainly a better approach from the traditional b

Knowledge Innovation And Change Management Essay

Knowledge Innovation And Change Management Essay INTRODUCTION Innovation is conceptualized in different ways in the literature, but the main idea is the introduction of a new idea or behavior. Damanpour (1991) gives a dual definition to innovation, referring to its technical (new products or services) and administrative aspects (new methods, procedures and information flows). An innovation orientation, which is an orientation that enables innovation, can have both positive and negative outcomes for organizations (Simpson et al., 2006). It seems, however, that in some knowledge-based organizations, negative implications of innovation can outweigh the positive ones; although they maintain a good level of innovation, they cannot achieve high efficiency. Why does this happen? Can technology help a knowledge-based organization achieve a good balance between innovation and efficiency? This essay aims to answer the previous questions. The first section focuses on knowledge-based organizations, identifying the key characteristics that enable innovation. The next section analyses the contradictory nature of innovation and efficiency and describes some of the potential challenges that knowledge-based organizations face, when an innovation orientation is adopted. This analysis gives an answer to the first question on why although an organization is highly innovative it may not be as efficient. The last two parts describe how knowledge-based organizations can achieve a balance between innovation and efficiency and the role of information technology in this objective. INNOVATION IN THE KNOWLEDGE-BASED ORGANISATION In the knowledge-based organization, knowledge is the key element that leads to efficiently turning inputs into valuable outputs (Teece et al., 1997). A common perception in literature is that knowledge should be privatized and restricted to the organizations boundaries (Argyres, 1996). Its internalization and protection is the key to efficiency; organizations should prioritize exploiting their existing knowledge over creating knowledge (Grant, 1996). On the other hand, Anand et al. (2007) argue that it is innovative knowledge that can help organizations create value. As a consequence, the real challenge for a manager in a knowledge-based organization is not to protect and exploit current possessed knowledge, but to generate knowledge and capability, that is to innovate (Nickerson and Zenger, 2004). Innovation is feasible in knowledge-based organizations for different reasons. First and foremost, in terms of organization structure, it is often either flat with little hierarchical level (Drucker, 1998), or hierarchical but flexible consisting of three levels; bureaucratic, project team and knowledge layer (Nonaka, 1994). A considerable number of authors also state that autonomy is a factor that assists innovation processes (Feldman, 1989). In addition, managements role is to create and promote a vision of knowledge sharing and creativity both internally and in the external environment of the organization and to orient this flexible and less hierarchical structure toward purposeful knowledge creation, as Nonaka (1991) suggests. According to the literature, innovation also requires knowledge acquisition and sharing within the organization. The acquisition depends both on the organizations existing knowledge base (Salavou and Lioukas, 2003), as well as on knowledge and information coming from the external environments (Chang and Cho, 2008). Many knowledge-based organizations innovate because they have the capacity to absorb new ideas and to adjust new external knowledge to their operations (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990). Knowledge sharing is essential, because it is easier to generate and formulate new ideas based on existing knowledge. Knowledge workers are the owners of knowledge, which is the most vital asset in a knowledge-based organization (Neagu, 2008). Knowledge can be explicit or tacit; the former is codified in systems or embedded in processes, while the latter is in peoples heads, highly personal and not easily expressible (Nonaka, 1991). It is therefore hard to capture tacit knowledge or to communicate it to others. Acquiring and sharing knowledge can be achieved in formal (e.g. meetings) or informal (e.g. chats) ways and it is the key facilitator of organization learning, which is the process of developing new knowledge from insights and experience of people in the organization (Jimenez-Jimenez and Sanz-Valle, 2010). Several knowledge-based organizations encourage social networking to enable information and knowledge flow and sharing of tacit knowledge and, lastly, to promote an environm ent of communication, trust and freedom to innovate (Wiig, 2000). Last but not least, information and communication technologies can be both conditions and assisting tools for innovation in knowledge-based organizations, as managing and communicating information is essential to ensure that knowledge can be acquired and generated by knowledge-workers (Maier, 2002). The above aspects help some knowledge-based organizations innovate. But what happens, in terms of efficiency, when emphasis is put on innovation? This question is discussed in the following section. THE IMPACT OF INNOVATION ON EFFICIENCY In literature there are management theories and practices (e.g Porter, 1980) which imply that when an organization tries to pursue multiple strategies at the same time, it is very likely to get stuck in between them. As a consequence, it is implied that an organization should select one of the two aspects to put emphasis on: either efficiency or innovation. However, selecting one of the two to put emphasis on can harm the other one and create long-term problems, leading to management myopia of organizational inertia (Sarkees and Hulland, 2009). In addition, the characteristics of innovation and efficiency reveal a contradiction: an innovation task is based on prior knowledge and offers a solution to an unfamiliar problem, whereas an efficiency task involves repeatedly applying optimal solutions to a problem, focusing on speed and accuracy (Sears, 2006), standardization and economies of scale (Farrell and Saloner, 1985). Knowledge-based organizations that choose to adopt an innovation orientation have to deal with challenges in the management of innovation (Van De Ven, 1986); these problems are often related to inefficiency. For instance, although Simpson et al. (2006) argue that innovative ideas result in the company adopting new processes and producing better products and services, leading to customer benefits and competitor-related advantages, this is not always the case. Innovation can sometimes be novel, but not meaningful (Im and Workman, 2004). Some organizations seem to emphasize on innovation and take too many risks, without extracting profits (Levinthal and March, 1993). For example, several organizations invested heavily in innovation during the late 1990s Internet boom, without achieving any profits or creating efficiencies that would help them gain the long term competitive advantage (Sarkees and Hulland, 2009) Knowledge-based organization can also be innovative but not efficient as a result of inconsistent performance in different levels or departments. For instance, there might be an important time lag between the introduction of an innovation and its utilization, realization or commercialization by the respective department (Maier and Haustein, 1980). As mentioned in the previous section, innovative knowledge-based organizations are based more on autonomy and flexible structures and, as a result, less on hierarchy and control. Lack of control may result to inefficiency; Jensen (1993) highlights the significance of control systems, which can ensure that capital investments lead to real-value added innovations. Another relevant risk is investing on innovations despite past failures and encouraging fast followers to imitate and copy innovative ideas, processes or products, without taking any actual innovation risks. For example, General Motors was one of the first carmakers that invested heavily in hybrid vehicle technologies research and development from the 1960s. However the first hybrid car is yet to be launched (scheduled, end of 2010) as a result of inconsistent business and marketing decisions (Maynard, 2008). In contrast Toyota, known for its capacity to exploit new ideas and realize them before its competitors, managed to be the first to convert hybrid technology innovations into routines, manufacturing processes and products, launching the successful Prius in 2000. Efficiency depends, to an extent, on knowledge workers performance. Although innovation can have a positive effect on their satisfaction and morale, which leads to improved productivity, Simpson et al. (2006) however identify job stress, dissatisfaction and turnover as a potential outcome of innovation that can directly affect individual and team performance and cause inefficiency. As previously mentioned, knowledge-based organizations are often flexible, open and creative and this could form an ideal environment for most knowledge workers to perform well, however there are people who cannot adopt in innovative environments. Lukas et al. (2002) agree that, inventions and new ideas brought into being can increase organizational stress. Another argument is that some organizations become too enamored with the idea of innovations, creating more innovations for the sake of innovation (Simpson et al., 2006). This applies to some knowledge-based organizations that over-emphasize on knowledge exploration and generation and forget their core competencies, fail to achieve cost-effective operations and ultimately forego efficiency. Laursen and Salter (2006) also argue that extensive and in-depth external knowledge search beyond a limit affects performance negatively. Most significantly, activities related to innovation often demand increased substantial resources (Van den Ven, 1986) and involve high costs, which are rarely recovered. By definition, efficiency is the output/input ratio that an organization can realize within the given economic circumstances (Maier and Haustein, 1980); minimizing use of resources (input) contradicts innovation initiatives that mainly rely on organizational slack, which is the pool of resources in an organization that is in excess of the minimum necessary to produce a given level of organizational output (Nohria Gulati, 1996). The same authors also suggest that slack might cause relaxation of internal controls and support of new ideas and projects with uncertain outcome. In addition, Leibenstein (1969) introduces the term X-inefficiency that involves the discrepancy caused by the organizational slack, between the maximum output and the actual outcome for a certain amount of inputs. Finally, we should not forget that knowledge-based organizations are based on knowledge, and innovation is to a large extent based on prior knowledge, experience and lessons learnt. In some knowledge-based organizations though, culture of low trust, competitive subcultures, as well as knowledge barriers and limitations can lead to innovation inefficiency (De Long, 1997). In an example of an electronic engineering company, the engineering teams subculture was open to exploration, tacit knowledge-sharing and socializing, whereas the MIS subculture was based on rules, standardized processes and explicit knowledge (De Long, 1997). Efficient collaboration was difficult; strong subcultures, lack of knowledge sharing across teams and different definitions of knowledge hindered efficiency. Consequently, organizations that fail to acquire, transform and exploit existing knowledge and share it across are likely to be inefficient, as they will keep re-inventing the wheel and waste valuable reso urces. IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE IT ALL? A global survey by Accenture (2005) revealed that organizations are continuously struggling to achieve a balance between efficiency and innovation, as a means of gaining the competitive advantage. Despite traditional theories suggesting that innovation and efficiency are incompatible, recent literature supports their compatibility or complementarity. Some authors have defined the ambidextrous organization; an emphasis on efficiency ensures that the organization enhances the utilization of its resources, while an emphasis on innovation involves exploration, experimentation and introduction of new products and services, methods, processes and relationships (Sarkees and Hulland, 2009). In knowledge-based organizations, ambidexterity can be defined as balancing knowledge exploitation and exploration at the same time. Other authors argue that the answer in finding a balance lies in punctuated equilibrium, which suggests cycling through periods of experimentation and exploitation (e.g. Bur gelman, 2002). Nucor is an example of a knowledge-based organization that successfully balances both efficiency and innovation (Sarkees and Hulland, 2009). It is the greatest steel recycling company in the United States, with more than 12 billion dollars in 2005 sales. Nucor pursues a strategy that involves optimizing existing products and operations (efficiency) and revolutionizing the market, introducing new technologies (innovation). For Nucor, it is a priority to continuously explore and acquire new knowledge from the external environment as well as internally. This is also facilitated by its decentralized structure, almost flat hierarchy and team-oriented culture. In the final section of this essay we will discuss how information technology can help a knowledge-based organizations find this balance. THE ROLE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Information technology (IT) can help knowledge-based organizations find a balance between innovation and efficiency through systems that effectively support innovation business processes, control and decision-making, as well as knowledge management (KM). According to Malone (1997), as communication costs decrease, control becomes decentralized and decision-making is divided among connected decision-makers. This encourages creativity and flexibility, as well as efficiency thanks to reduced costs. In terms of knowledge management, the extent to which IT can assist in balancing innovation and efficiency in a knowledge-based organization depends on the organizations approach; cognitive or community network (Scarbrough et al., 1999). The former emphasizes on static IT-based networks (IT has a crucial role) and information flows, whereas the latter focuses on communication and socializing (IT has an enabling role). Technology offers tools that organize knowledge and resources, enable social interactions internally and externally, encourage organizational learning and help knowledge-workers become more innovative and efficient. Based on the complementarity of innovation and efficiency, Newell et al. (2003) argue that the concurrent implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Knowledge Management (KM) systems can have a positive effect on both aspects. ERP systems focus on efficiency, integrating business operations and providing a database, in which all transactions are entered, processed, controlled and reported (Umble et al., 2003). On the other hand, KM systems focus on management of knowledge assets, knowledge sharing across the organization and knowledge creating, fostering innovation and flexibility (Von Krogh et al., 2000). Newells et al. (2003) research concludes that implementing ERP and KM technology in tandem can help an organization exploit existing knowledge, increase efficiency, and innovate simultaneously by sharing and creating knowledge. In knowledge-based organizations, this can assist in redressing the innovation-efficiency balance. Lastly, IT should be adopted and shaped by the organization (Barley, 1990) according to its needs and objectives. IT initiatives should deliver business-value and take into account the organizations cultural and socio-political perspectives. Swan et al. (1999) agree that IT-led initiatives aiming in knowledge exploration and exploitation should be combined with the development of a knowledge-sharing culture and social-networking initiatives. CONCLUSION Despite the difficulties involved, knowledge-based organizations can balance the competing nature of innovation and efficiency by addressing problems that an overemphasis on innovation causes: effectively managing knowledge, focusing on meaningful innovations, efficiently utilizing organizational slack and enabling social-networking, as well as culture of collaboration and knowledge-sharing. IT can assist in redressing the innovation-efficiency balance, however IT investments should be targeted and applied appropriately; technology is no panacea for an organizations problems.

Corporate Social Responsibility Essay example -- Business Corporate So

Corporate Social Responsibility Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a very controversial topic. A question that has been debated for the past few decades is; is it corporately viable to introduce social responsibility as a proposed addition to the work ethic of business organisations. As well as, if adopting the framework of corporate social responsibility would yield positive improvements for those organisations. The purpose of this essay is to research the notion of CSR and uncover its true framework and outline what social responsibility truly means to corporate organisations, and whether it should be seriously considered to be a legitimate addition to the corporate framework of an organisation. This will be done by outlining some of the basics through the explanation of some terms underpinning CSR and managerial involvement. An explanation of how CSR is an essential part of business language. This will then be followed by a breakdown of the complex framework that CSR is believed to have. The social expectations that consumers have of business, and ways those businesses can meet these expectations will be addressed. Then an outline of the role management plays in the incorporation of socially responsible attributes to a corporation will be expressed, evidence to suggest that ?if this means that there a social contract that requires business to honour a moral bare minimum, then a business manager is duty-bound to obey it? (Bowie 1991: 56-66). This essay shall also investigate some of the classical theories of CSR and its contribution to profit maximisation. Finally, some specific arguments that state that the introduction of social responsibility is not a good idea and how it has failed to create the ?good society? (Friedman 1970: 122-126) will be discussed. Corporate social responsibility has undergone a definitional evolution over the past half century but has always and will always remain an essential part of business language. Definitions of CSR have became more specific; since the 70?s, with alternative emphases, being placed on issues such as the understanding of corporate citizenship (which is a key concept of CSR), and the stakeholder theory. In early writings CSR was referred to more often as social responsibility (SR) rather than as CSR. Bowen (1953: 6) set forth an initial definition of the social responsibility: "It re... ...974. ?Social responsibilities of business managers?. Academy of Management Journal, vol. 17, pp. 135-143. McWilliams, A. and Siegel, D. 2001, ?Corporate Social Responsibility: A Theory of the Firm Perspective?, Academy of Management Review, vol 26, no. 1, pp 117-128. Mitchell, R., Agle, B., & Wood, D. 1997. ?Toward a theory of stakeholder identification and salience: Defining the principle of who and what really counts?. Academy of Management Review, vol. 22, pp. 853-886. Robbins, S. P., Bergman, R., Stagg, I. and Coulter, M. (2000) ?Management?, French?s Forest: Prentice Hall. Verschoor, C. (2001) ?Corporate Power Must Be Balanced With Good Citizenship?, Strategic Finance, vol. 83, no. 3. Waddock, S., & Graves, S. 1997. ?The corporate social performance--financial performance link?. Strategic Management Journal, vol. 18, pp. 303-319. Weigelt, K., & Camerer, C. 1988. ?Reputation and corporate strategy: A review of recent theory and application?. Strategic Management Journal, vol. 9,pp. 443-454. Wright, P., & Ferris, S. 1997. ?Agency conflict and corporate strategy: The effect of divestment on corporate value?. Strategic management Journal, vol. 18, pp. 77-83.

Discussion on Quantitative Reasoning for Business Course Essay

Discussion on Quantitative Reasoning for Business Course Self Reflection Paper 10/15/08 Discussion on Quantitative Reasoning for Business Course For many years, the quantitative or mathematical approach to business problem solving was the cornerstone of MBA programs worldwide. The traditional approach has been a rational analysis: information is collected, collated, analyzed and interpreted, alternatives are formulated, and a logical choice is consciously arrived at (Bagchi, 2005). In practice this means: â€Å"the more information, the better; ‘cool and calm’ strategic thinking should not be ‘debased’ by feelings; efficient thought and behavior must be called upon to subjugate emotion† (Sadler-Smith, 2004). The Quantitative Reasoning for Business course would provide me with the prerequisites necessary to master the rational analysis. In recent years, however, the usefulness of the quantitative analysis training for future managers has been put into doubt. The requirement for fast decisions and the limits of human beings’ rational information-processing capacities may combine to impose severe demands upon executives’ cognitive capabilities to handle masses of information at the necessary speed (Sadler-Smith, 2004). That is when intuition comes into play. Intuition is difficult to describe but easy to recognize. Many of us will be intimately familiar with our own intuitions and will probably be able to identify, and may even envy or admire, those individuals who confidently display a ‘gut feel’ for complex situations and who appear to have an ‘instinct’ for grasping key issues quickly. This quality can be nurtured through life experience. The optimal solution thus, might be a combination of two approaches depending on circumstances. The relationship between intuition and rationality can work in two ways. For example, proceeding from intuition to rational analysis represents a ‘validation’ sequence in which gut feeling may be checked out by rational analysis by posing questions such as ‘Do the data support my hunch? Proceeding from rational analysis to intuition represents an ‘incubation’ sequence in which intuition provides an expertise-based or feelings-based validation for judgments arrived at through rational analysis (Sadler-Smith, 2004). In summary, quantitative training will probably benefit me by preparing me for the future courses in economics, finance, accounting, operations, and research (Quantitative Reasoning for Business Overview, nd). More importantly though, it will prepare me for the future ‘real world’ w ork, even when its direct usefulness is not as extensive as often believed its proponents.

Nx448 Business Game Report

Contents Part 1 Introduction3 1. 1 Business Objective3 Part 2 Company Performance4 2. 1 Round 14 2. 1. 1 Discrepancy analysis4 2. 2 Round 26 2. 2. 1 Business Strategy6 2. 2. 2 Round 2 Forecast7 2. 2. 3 Discrepancy Analysis7 2. 3 Round 38 2. 3. 1 Business Strategy8 2. 3. 2 Round 3 Forecast9 2. 3. 3 Discrepancy Analysis9 2. 4 Round 49 2. 4. 1 Business Strategy9 2. 4. 2 Round 4 Forecast10 2. 4. 3 Discrepancy Analysis10 2. 5 Key Performance Indicators11 2. 6 Performance Evaluation Comments12 Part 3 Learning14 3. 1 Financial Management14 3. 2 Human Resource Management15 3. 3 Operation Management16 3. Marketing Management17 Part 4 Team Performance18 4. 1 Team18 4. 1. 1 Management Team18 4. 1. 2 Decision-making Process19 4. 1. 3 Leadership19 4. 1. 4 Team Role19 4. 2 Individual20 4. 2. 1 My Contribution20 4. 2. 2 My learning about effective teamwork and decision making20 4. 2. 3 Suggestions for Improving My Performance21 Part 5 Conclusion21 Part 6 Reference22 Part 7 Appendices23 7. 1 Design and Options23 7. 2 Warranty Cost24 7. 3 Other Key Performance Indicators25 Part 1 Introduction This report will give a clear analysis and explanation of the company performance during the business game.Learning about four main business functional areas (Finance, Marketing, Operation and Human Resource) will be discussed in part 3. Team performance and individual assessment will be critically evaluated in part 4. 1. 1 Business Objective Moon Star Motors aims to provide customers with the ability to own a car and lead the customers to experience comfort and quality at an affordable price. We intend to create a distinctive place in the market for our products and build up brand value of quality and reliability in the mind of customers.The initial business objectives set up by management team is: * Increase sales annually * Maximise our profit * Sell out 98% of our cars for every round * Obtain 16% return on investment by the end of round 4 | City Car – TIKI| Large Car – C RUISER| Total| Forecast Production (Units)| 85,000| 35,000| 120,000 | Sales Income (? m)| 850| 833| 1,683| Post Tax Profit (? m)| -| -| 20| Bank Balance before Loan (? m)| -| -| -74| Closing Bank Balance (? m)| -| -| 26| Table 1. 0 Forecast for year 1 Part 2 Company Performance 2. 1 Round 1 2. 1. 1 Discrepancy analysisUnsold stock In round 1, we forecast to sell out both TIKI and CRUISER. However, only 80% of TIKI is sold, with 17,393 units left. We concluded three main reasons as following: * Supply over demand. We are over confident to sell big volumes with low price, but the market actually reached saturation. * Unattractive and inflexible options. In order to maintain low material cost, we only offer two options for customers to select. It might affect the popularity of our TIKI and make it less competitive compared with other car manufacturers. * Not enough promotion.We invested 23 million on market promotion via television and internet, which is about ? 200for every single car . We didn’t invest too much for this round because we want to firstly evaluate the effect of advertisement. Net profit We forecast 20 million net profits and actual figure is minus 116 million. This is mainly due to the large amount of unsold stock and ineffective pricing strategy. The total contribution is unable to recover our fixed cost. In other words, the break-even point is set up too high and our sales volume did not reach BEP.Meanwhile, some overheads such as professional charges and warranty claims are not properly calculated. Gross margin The difference between forecast and result for gross margin of TIKI and CRUISER is 3. 21% and 7. 08% respectively. It is mainly caused by the unexpected extra direct cost. For example, the worker strike increase our labor cost of both models and the option take-up is more than our estimate. Market share Our target market share is 1. 5% for TIKI and 1. 2% for CRUISER. We sold out all our CRUIER and hit the large car sales target. Ho wever, market share for TIKI is around 0. % less than we expected due to our unsold stock. 2. 2 Round 2 2. 2. 1 Business Strategy New Pricing Strategy The management team decided to adapt average pricing strategy in round 2 for two main reasons: * We already access successfully to target market. * Low price high volumes strategy did not make profit. Sales income must be increased in order to recover all overheads in this round and most of the loss in previous round. Based on this, TIKI gross margin increased 2% to 14. 24%, while CRUISER gross margin increased 4. 3% to 25. 25%. ProductionProduction for TIKI in this round has to decrease due to 17,393 units in stock, and we try to sell them out in round 2. Meanwhile, results of round 1 indicated that CRUISER won thepopularity in the market so we intend to increasethe production by 10,000 units. Based on the production adjustment and market predictions, the market share of CRUISER will increase from 1. 2% to 1. 5%, while TIKI maintains 1. 2% market share. Under this situation, our forecast sales will reach ? 2058 million in round 2. Redundancy The harshest decision made by management team is to cut down 574 workers.Even though we understand this have negative effects on industrial relations, it is far beyond our business objective to over produce the cars and keep unsold stock by the end of the year. Therefore, we forecast a 2. 4 million of redundancy cost within total overheads. 2. 2. 2 Round 2 Forecast round 2 forecast| TIKI| CRUISER| Total| production/ units| 51,000 | 45,000 | 96,000 | selling price ? | 11,800 | 27,800 |   | gross margin %| 14. 24%| 25. 25%|   | sales income ? m| 807| 1,251 | 2,058 | total overhead ? m|   |   | 262| post tax profit ? |   |   | 82| closing bank balance ? m|   |   | 12| 2. 2. 3 Discrepancy Analysis There are three main differences between round 2 forecast and results: (1) production (2) Sales (3) pre-tax profits. Production Production (units)| TIKI| CRUISER| tota l| Target| 51,000| 45,000| 96,000| Actual| 49,668| 44,467| 94,135| Difference| | | 1,865| Our target production is 96,000 units but we actually produced 94,135 units, with 1,865 units missing. This is mainly because the redundancy decision initiated serious worker strike, which is recorded as 41 days in our company report. Thus, the actual production did not hit our target.Sales Sales (? m)| Total| forecast| 2,058 2,058 | actual| 2,017 | difference| 41 41 | The discrepancy between forecast sales and actual sales is 40 million. We have 387 units CRUISER in stock which could increase our sales by 11 million if we can sell them out. And we will get 29 million more if we are able to hit the target production of 96,000 unites and sell them up. Pre-tax profit The actual pre-tax profit is less than the forecast due to wrong calculation on current account interest and loans interest. We have closing bank balance of minus 270 million last round.According to overdraft facility, we forecast to pay 11% of 270 million as overdraft interest which is around 30 million, but it actually is 15% of that amount and cost us 40 million. Besides, an extra 8 million is deducted as the interest of 100 million bank loans of round 1 and is ignored when we did financial forecast. 2. 3 Round 3 2. 3. 1 Business Strategy Personnel Decisions Management team decided to maintain the size of workforce and to increase wages by 8% and training investment by 25% in order to improve worker satisfaction and commitment, especially after we suffer a great loss caused by 41 days strike.We hope to effectively control the strike in this round and expect the improvement of productivity. Automation Investment Management team made a decision of doubling the automation investment due to two main reasons. Firstly, it is recognized that automation can effectively increase the productivity and decrease the high wage bill. Secondly, the profit we made in previous round increases our confidence and financial capa city to introduce new equipment. 2. 3. 2 Round 3 Forecast round 3 forecast| TIKI| CRUISER| Total| production/ units| 65,500 | 40,500 | 106,000 | selling price ? 12,270 | 28,600 |   | gross margin %| 15. 25%| 28. 98%|   | sales income ? m| 804| 1,169 | 1,973 | total overhead ? m|   |   | 281| post tax profit ? m|   |   | 118| closing bank balance ? m|   |   | 158| 2. 3. 3 Discrepancy Analysis Gross profit Gross Profit| forecast| actual| difference| Sales (? m)| 1,973| 1,973|    0| cost of sales (? m)| 1,512| 1,577|    65| gross profit (? m)| 461| 396| 65| The actual gross profit is 65 million less than our forecast, even though our sales reach the target. This is mainly caused by exceeded materials costs.It is indicated on company report that design and options cost for CRUISER is ? 7572 per unit, but we only count it as ? 6186 when we forecast. In this situation, we are charged ? 1386 more for producing every CRUISER. It reflects that the options we offer to cust omers are of great popularity and we should enlarge option take-up percentage when doing the material cost forecast for next round. 2. 4 Round 4 2. 4. 1 Business Strategy Sales target Encouraging by the good financial performance of last round, management team decided to increase the sales by 32% in round 4 in order to further satisfy our shareholders.However, we do not plan to increase the gross margin for both models because we guarantee customers of good value for money. Thus, we expect the high volumes sales bring us profit. Design and options To make our cars competitive, we add more options to both models for customers to choose based on the popularity indicators (see appendix). Since the very beginning, both 3/5 door hatch with small engine (city car) and MPV with diesel engine (large car) are most popular designs for our target age group. So, the adjustment is focused on the alternative options. Promotion ExpenditurePromotion expenditure will increase by 34% to ? 40 million. This decision is made by management team with attempt to make our products sold better. Market predictions indicated that city car market and large car market will shrink by 12% and 9% respectively. That is to say, risk of keeping stock is high if we increase our production in round 4. Thus, we hope the promotion and advertisement could help reduce that risk. 2. 4. 2 Round 4 Forecast round 4 forecast| TIKI| CRUISER| Total| production/ units| 70,000 | 44,550 | 114,550 | selling price ? 13,900 | 26,800 |   | gross margin %| 15. 34%| 30. 73%|   | sales income ? m| 973| 1,639 | 2,612 | total overhead ? m|   |   | 308| post tax profit ? m|   |   | 235| closing bank balance ? m|   |   | 412| 2. 4. 3 Discrepancy Analysis Unsold Stock We expect to achieve zero closing stock but actually have 12,853 units unsold which worth ? 246 million. As a result, we are unable to reach target sales, post-tax profit and target market share. Market Share| TIKI| CRUISER| round 3 result| 1. 20%| 1. 51%| round 4 target| 1. 46%| 1. 80%|After evaluation, we conclude two possible reasons which contribute to this result: * We over estimate our capacity and are hurry to expand the market share. As shown on the table, we increase 0. 26% for TIKI and 0. 34% for CRUISER. It seems better if we execute market expansion step by step. * The competitors’ price might have negative impact on our sales. In final round, in order to offer more alternative choices and high quality experience to customers, we added more popular and high cost options for both TIKI and CRUISER, which increase our direct cost per car and make it hard to decrease the selling price. . 5 Key Performance Indicators Performance indicators| round 1| round 2| round 3| round 4| Sales | 1509 | 2017 | 1973 | 2274 | Sales growth (decline) %| -| 34%| -22%| 15%| Cost of sales| 1333 | 1599 | 1577 | 1700 | Cost of sales ratio %| 88%| 79%| 80%| 75%| Profitability| Gross profit margin %| 12%| 21%| 20%| 25%| Operating profit %| -7%| 6%| 6%| 12%| Net profit %| -8%| 3%| 5%| 9%| Return on assets %| -24%| 12%| 14%| 26%| Return on investment %| -23%| 21%| 18%| 36%| Liquidity| Current ratio| 0. 64| 1. 26| 3. 52| 3. 24| Quick ratio| 0. 13| 1. 1| 3. 52| 1. 45| 2. Performance Evaluation Comments In general, sales increased from ? 1509 million in round 1 to ? 2274 million in round 4 – an increase of 51%. Over this period, we did not launch any new model and enlarge the sales volumes too much. The main reason for sales increase is the growth of our selling price. Direct cost of sales decreased yearly from 88% in round 1 to 75% in round 4. Even though inflation raises material costs and we offer a pay rise to our workers, we are still able to handle the cost/sales ratio efficiently by adapting smart and efficient pricing strategy.Profitability: Gross Margin % The gross margin has doubled from 12% (round 1) to 25% (round 4). In real money terms, our gross profit increased from ? 176 million to ? 574 mi llion. This trend indicated that return on sales improved. Although direct cost of sales increased year by year, we adjust our pricing strategy in order to make our business more profitable. Operating Profit % Operating profit margin improved from minus 7% (round 1) to 12% (round 4) indicatingmore efficient operation management. To be specific, stock upkeep cost and redundancy cost are well managed.The R&D investment and warranty costs are effectively controlled. Even though the investment on promotion and training increase yearly, this cost is balanced by the decreasing depreciation cost due to the book value of our fixed assets reduced yearly. Net Profit % Net profit margin shows an increasing trend from minus 8% (round 1) to 9% (round 4). Our company remains profitable since round 2. This indicated that our business is successful in consistency of earning. Return on Assets % The return on assets grows dramatically from minus 24% (round 1) to 26% (round 4).This indicates that mana gement is more and more efficient in using business assets to generate profit. Return on Investment % The return on capital employed shows a similar trend, except a slight decline of 3% in round 3. The ROI is 36% by the end of round 4, which has actually achieved our business objective. Liquidity: From round 1 to round 3, the current ratio increase from 0. 64 to 3. 52 times, and the quick ratio increase from 0. 13 to 3. 52 times. The increasing ratio indicates that we have more cash flow to pay our creditors (quick settlement) and meet our short-term obligations.In round 4, the current ratio drop slights to 3. 24 times and the quick ratio drop greatly to 1. 45 times. This trend looks good because high ratio does not mean a healthy cash position of the business. It indicates that we do not use our capitals properly and efficiently. In conclusion, according to our current liquidity situation, our company is suggested to reduce the stock levels and to invest surplus cash in longer term investments. Market Share From round 1 to round 4, market share of TIKI increased from 1. 21% to 1. 35%, despite a slight decline in round 2.Market share of CRUISER increased sharply in round 2 compared with round 1, then showed a tiny increase trend year by year. It indicated that we are successful in persistently and steadily supplying products to the market. Overall, our company’s performance has been improved in several ways, (e. g. sales, profit, creditors, market share, etc. ) In addition, it would have been more helpful for the further financial performance evaluation if the industrial average figures and key competitors’ information had been made available (Behn 2003). Part 3 Learning 3. 1 Financial ManagementIn the field of financial management, cost-volume-profit analysis is a powerful tool that helps managers identifies the relationships among cost, volume and profit (Banfield, Newcastle Business et al. 2008). It focuses on how profits can be affected by th e following variables: selling price, sales volume, unit variable costs, total fixed costs, etc. (Banfield, Newcastle Business et al. 2008). Break even analysis and margin of safety is the important part of cost-volume-cost analysis. The formula is shown as following: Formula: BEP = Total Fixed Cost = (in Units) Contribution per unitMargin of Safety = Forecast Demand – BEP Forecast Demand In round 1, we forecast our total fixed cost and depreciation charge is 241 million, and the contribution per unit is 2316. By using formula, the forecast BEP is 104,000 units. So we decided to produce 120,000 units after evaluating market demand. Our forecast margin of safety is therefore around 13. 3%. However, we underestimated the total fixed cost and overestimated our sales volumes. Thus, we suffered a loss of 116 million in the first round. In round 2, we re-evaluate the cost, volume and profit, and then set up 32. % of margin of safety. Financial performance is improved in this round so we adapted the similar approach for round 3 and 4, in which our margin of safety is about 39. 1% and 52. 8% respectively. It has been proved that high margin of safety makes profit less vulnerable to demand drops (Jacobs 2002). Even though we have 12,853 units unsold stock, we still make a profit of 198 million in round 4. From the business game, we have practiced how to price products and how much volume of products we must sell in order to make a profit. 3. 2 Human Resource ManagementWhen we practice the Human Resource function in business game, we put emphasis on rewards, in particular worker wage. High wage will not always improve the work performance from long-term perspective, but annual pay increase works (Banfield and Kay 2008). Based on this learning, we decide to pay our worker ? 355 weekly in round 1 and to increase that wage annually. However, we suffered a loss due to bad company performance in round 1, so wage did not increase even though inflation rate is around 3% . In round 2, company performance is improved and we make profit. Thus, wage increase by 9% ahead of 4% inflation rate in round 3.In round 4, wage increase by 5% to ? 404. Overall, from round 1 to round 4, wage increase by 14%, but the strike days only reduced 1 day (8 days in round 1 and 7 days in round 4). It is indicated that a reward cannot help to improve work performance if the pay increase does not meet the employee expectation (Corby 2009). According to data on competition, EMPIRE, our key competitors, pays their worker ? 500 weekly in round 4 and the strike day is controlled as 2 days. From the business stimulation, we realized the importance of monetary rewards and the link between rewards and productivity.On the other hand, poor management of employee relations often end up with strikes (Blyton and Turnbull 1998). With this learning, we could have found another solution to allocate our workers instead of redundancy. There are some limitations of business game in terms of HR management. High wage and training investment seems to be the only way to motivate productivity. And some other important HR functions such as recruitment and selection, promotion and employee engagement are not covered in the game. Learning experience will improve if those issues are made available in the game. 3. 3 Operation ManagementQuality management refers to the management activities involved in determination of quality policy and its implementation through means such as quality planning and quality assurance (Gitlow 2005). High quality puts costs down and revenue up (Banfield, Newcastle Business et al. 2008). Based on this learning, in order to control product quality, we focus on the R&D (Research and Development) and skills training when we practice the operation function during business game. From round 1, we keep investing on projects of fuel efficient engine and low emissions in order to detect and control the quality of engines.Both of them are successful after 3 ye ars of research and development. This help to reduce our warranty cost efficiently (see appendix). Due to safety factor, we started to invest on the project of advanced safety systems. We expect the continuous R&D investment bring us long term financial benefit. Meanwhile, we continuously invest on skills training based on the knowledge that investment in skills training can significantly improve product quality (Gitlow 2005). From the business game, I got better understanding about quality management and how quality influences customers’ buying decision.We also learn how to define the quality characteristics, set quality standard and measure the quality of our products. One of the limitations in stimulation process is that it is unavailable to evaluate and select the suppliers by ourselves. If this is made available, I believe that the operation cost would be controlled autonomously and learning experience of students about supply chain would be improved. 3. 4 Marketing Mana gement Marketing management is the art and science of choosing target markets and getting, keeping, and growing customers through creating, delivering, and communicating superior customer value (Kotler and Keller 2011).In carrying out the marketing functions, the company needs to have a marketing program or strategy. This is known as the marketing mix (Marc 1997). The conventional view of the marketing mix consisted of four components: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. It is indicated that 4Ps constitute the cornerstone of any sound business (Marc 1997). Based on this learning, we tried to use the right marketing mix to reach our target market during the business game. Product: In round 1, 3/5 door hatch and small engine are chosen for city car (24-40 market), while MPV and diesel engine are chosen for large car (41-55 market).Options are selected due to the factors such as safety, comfort and style. From round 2, we detect the popularity index and aim to offer the most appropria te products to our customers (see appendix). Price: We use market penetration in round 1. In the next three round, we adapt average pricing strategy. The economic trend and income status of our target customers are also taken into account as well. Promotion: We keep increasing our promotion investment from 23 million to 40 million via various media. In round 1, we invest ? 200 for every car and it increase to ? 450 in round 4.Through business game, I got better understanding about marketing mix. However, innovation and new product strategy, as another important marketing strategy, is failed to be used in our game. We could have learned more about finding customer value opportunities and creating an innovation culture in our team if we had launched new model. Part 4 Team Performance 4. 1 Team 4. 1. 1 Management Team We distributed our team into four groups in order to cover the four main functional areas of business organization: Finance, Marketing, Operation and Human Resource. Base d on personal interests and experience, I take the charge of Finance.Dorothy and Kira take the responsibility of managing marketing. Operation is taken charged by Michael and Jayson. Adetoro is responsible for HR. It does not mean that we make decisions and take responsibility separately. Actually, those functional areas are linked with and supported by each other. And everybody of the team is required to know exactly the whole process of our business. In reality, the main purpose of functional areas is to ensure that all important business activities are carried out efficiently. This is essential for a company to achieve its business objectives (Marcouse 2010). . 1. 2 Decision-making Process The overall decision-making was a collective process. During the business game, we discussed and evaluated all feasible solutions and make sure every decision is made to help settle the current problems and lead to business objectives. The controversy, however, is sometimes unavoidable. For ins tance, Dorothy, marketing manager, proposed to launch new model in round 3 due to market attractiveness. I cannot agree with that because we are still experiencing financial difficulty. Our net cash position is minus ? 371 million with poor ability to pay our creditors.Adetoro is standing by my side, thinking from a long-term perspective. He suggested our team not to launch new model until we gain a reasonable market share. The further discussion and communication led to unanimous approval of the final decision. The similar situation happened when we discussed whether or not to adept price skimming strategy for our products. The dispute finally is settled properly. 4. 1. 3 Leadership I was nominated as the leader in business game due to my ability to manage market information and provide direction to my team members at the very beginning.Under my leadership, our company is driven to achieve business objectives (execution). I make clear that all my team members are enjoying the game and have learned how to run a business in a real world. 4. 1. 4 Team Role Through my observation, I have identified the strengths/weaknesses and work preference of my team members: * Jayson and Michael prefer to analyze the current situation and raise the issues that we have to face (analysis). Michael is a good team worker who communicates and cooperates effectively with others.Jayson, as a monitor evaluator, has a high critical thinking ability but lacking of expression. * Dorothy and Kira are intuitive about the market information, and they often give the creative ideas (plan). Both of them play as plant. Dorothy prefers change and innovation. She can work more effectively when cooperate with the people who are identified as implementer in Belbin team role framework. * Adetoro used to reflect all our decisions we have made for every round and make everything reasonable and explainable (reflection). He is enthusiastic and logic thinker. 4. 2 Individual . 2. 1 My Contribution I hav e little knowledge about car industry when I take this project, but I quickly realize that I have special interest on costing and budgeting due to my previous work experience. So, I went through the user menu and market research then finish the finance forecast sheet before attending the group meeting. In round 1, I am responsible for both Finance and Marketing. During the group meeting, I proposed my ideas about cost/price, most of which are accepted by my team members and I therefore am nominated as manager of Finance. We suffered a loss in round 1.After analysing the discrepancy between forecast and results, I suggest to adapt new pricing strategy and set a higher gross margin. The strategy is adapted by management team and makes profit for our company by the end of round 2. I am nominated as team leader due to my hard-working, efficiency and reliability. And I actively build up team relation and motivate our team members. I play the role of implementer successfully. I monitor ev ery process of the game and every detail of our decisions, and put emphasis on improving efficiency of every group meeting, and record the minutes. 4. 2. My learning about effective teamwork and decision making Through business game, along with the knowledge I learn from Developing Self module and the experience of residential weekend, I have better understanding about: * An effective teamwork involves in a group of people with common objectives and being able to build up trust and cooperate relationship with each other. * An effective teamwork involves in a group of people who have complementary strengths/weaknesses with each other. * An effective team should have a leader who is able to provide direction, open mind to different opinions, ake right decision and take risks. * An effective decision should create the competitive advantage for organization and bring short term profit along with long term development. * An effective decision builds up the core competency of organization and turn competitive advantage into sustainable competitive advantage. 4. 2. 3 Suggestions for Improving My Performance * If the game could be played again, I would like to think twice before adapting market penetration strategy in round 1 and try to avoid that loss as much as possible. I would like to pay more attention on developing my leadership capability and making better use of the abilities of my team members in order to build up a powerful and effective team. Part 5 Conclusion Overall, our company is successful in the achievement of business objectives. By the end of round 4, our sales have increased by 50%, and our profit is showing a trend of growth. Even though the unsold stock percentage is larger than what we expect, we are still able to control the inventory and keep profitable. Return on investment in round 4 is 36% which is much more than our target.Part 6 Reference Banfield, P. and R. Kay (2008). Introduction to human resource management. New York, Oxford Universit y Press. Banfield, P. , S. Newcastle Business, et al. (2008). Managing for competitive advantage, McGraw-Hill custom publishing. Behn, R. D. (2003). â€Å"Why Measure Performance? Different Purposes Require Different Measures. † Public Administration Review 63(5): 586-606. Blyton, P. and P. Turnbull (1998). The dynamics of employee relations. Basingstoke, Macmillan. Corby, S. (2009). Rethinking reward. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan. Gitlow, H. S. (2005). Quality management. New YorkLondon, McGraw-Hill. Jacobs, T. (2002). â€Å"The margin of safety. † NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY 20(12): 1191-1191. Kotler, P. and K. L. Keller (2011). Marketing management. Harlow, Pearson Education. Marc, L. (1997). â€Å"Marketing mix customization and customizability. † Business Horizons 40(6): 39. Marcouse, I. (2010). â€Å"BTEC First Business. † 1. 4 The main functional areas within business organisations Ed. Retrieved 06/01, 2012, from http://www. teachmebusiness. co. uk/pag e29/page16/page18/assets/Functionalareas. pdf. Part 7 Appendices 7. 1 Design and Options TIKI (City Car)  | | round 1| round 2| round 3| round 4| /5 Door Hatch| Y| Y| Y| Y| Small Engine (4 Cylinder)| Y| Y| Y| Y| Multi Location Airbags|   |   |   | Y| Alloy Wheels|   | Y| Y| Y| Parking Sensors| Y| Y|   | Y| Air Conditioning| Y| Y| Y| Y| Superior Sound System/iPod|   | Y| Y| Y| Security Package|   |   |   | Y| Safety Package|   | Y| Y| Y| CRUISER (Large Car)  | | round 1| round 2| round 3| round 4| SUV| Y| Y| Y| Y| Diesel Engine| Y| Y| Y| Y| Multi Location Airbags|   |   | Y| Y| Alloy Wheels|   |   | Y| Y| Security Tracker|   |   |   | Y| Cruise Control| Y| Y|   |   | Automatic Transmission| Y| Y|   |   | Parking Sensors| Y| Y| Y| Y| Electronic Stability Control| Y| Y|   |   |Panoramic Sunroof| Y| Y|   |   | Heated Elec Wing Mirrors|   |   |   | Y| Electric Adjustable Seats|   |   |   | Y| Air Conditioning| Y| Y| Y| Y| Superior Sound System/iPod| Y| Y| Y| Y| Bluetooth Phone Preparation|   |   |   | Y| TV/DVD Player| Y| Y|   |   | Metallic Paint|   |   | Y| Y| Security Package|   |   | Y| Y| Safety Package| Y| Y| Y| Y| Luxury Package|   |   |   | Y| 7. 2 Warranty Cost Warranty Cost| round 1| round 2| round 3| round 4| TIKI per car ? | 173| 170| 140| 155| CRUISER per car ? | 400| 353| 295| 348| Total Warranty Claims ? m| 26| 27| 21| 23| 7. 3 Other Key Performance Indicators