Global Crisis, Recession & Uneven Recovery

Global Crisis, Recession and Uneven Recovery by Y. V. Reddy Book Review by Nidhi Choudhari There is enough on this earth to meet the needs of all, but not the greed of all. Mahatma Gandhi Why I picked up Y. V. Reddy’s Book There have been a large number of books published on current global financial crisis therefore; selection of this particular book on the subject requires some reasoning. First, there are not many books written by central bankers on the topic.Central banks have been central in the management of the crisis and therefore, Dr Reddy’s book provides a central banker’s assessment of the crisis and its impact. Second, on personal level, I have worked in RBI between September 2006 and December 2011 and was witness to the measures taken by Reserve Bank before and during the crisis under the able leadership of Dr Y. V. Reddy, the Governor, Reserve Bank of India (2003-2008). Having worked under his visionary leadership, I opted to take his book, â€Å"Glo bal Crisis, Recession and Uneven Recovery† for review.Third, Dr Reddy led the course of financial pragmatism in times of relentless deregulation and ensured that Indian financial system does not fall into the blind race to bottom in regulation. Finally, having read Dr Reddy’s previous book on the topic viz. â€Å"India and the Global Financial Crisis: Managing Money and Finance†, I was very keen on reading its sequel viz. â€Å"Global Crisis, Recession and Uneven Recovery†. For all these reasons, I selected this book and am thankful to Madam Nidhi Sharma for approving this book for review.The reviewed book is a collection of 27 speeches (given in the form of 27 chapters in 5 parts), Dr Reddy delivered at different points of time during and after the crisis. These chapters give a deeper insight into the actions taken by the RBI to mitigate the impact of the crisis in India and how India remained largely unaffected due to adequate regulatory mechanisms. Dr R eddy has also been a member of the Commission of Experts of The President of the UN General Assembly on Reforms of The International Monetary and Financial System popularly known as Stiglitz Commission after its chairman Joseph Stiglitz.He has given several references about the recommendations of this UN Commission in the book. The 19th Chapter in the book is about the UN Commission recommendations about global crisis. Hence, the reader of the book gets an understanding of the global thinking on the crisis and its after effects. What’s there in the Book Economists have compared the current global financial crisis to that of the Great Recession of 1930s. The current crisis has in fact, affected all countries across the world in different degrees and that way, it was truly a global recession.Today, the crisis is over however the recovery has started at different paces in different places. Dr Reddy is of the view that the recovery from the global crisis is going to be prolonged and uneven. The book â€Å"Global Crisis, Recession and Uneven Recovery† provides an experienced policymaker’s understanding of the genesis, progression and impact of the financial crisis, and of the lessons it offered. It is written at a time when Indian economy is facing several challenges in terms of slowdown in growth rate, inflation, ballooning fiscal and current account deficit etc.The book contains Dr Reddy’s perspective and analysis of the crisis, recession and recovery in a simple, lucid and non-technical manner which appeals the reader. There are five sections in the book containing 27 chapters in all. The five sections relate to the global financial crisis and its aftermath, financial sector: retrospect and prospects, public policy: challenges and responses, global financial architecture: the debates and India: performance and prospects respectively. The first section of the book gives a lucid account of the financial crisis and its consequences in si x chapters.In the first chapter, Dr Reddy talks about the role played by central banks before, during and after the crisis. He writes that the accountability in regard to management of the crisis of the crisis will have to be shared between the central bank, the Ministry of Finance and, to some extent, the government as a whole. The author writes about the consequences of the crisis viz. rebalancing of power between the regulator and the regulated, shift in balance of in favour of Asia, rise of G-20 on the global platform and a cautious approach towards self-correcting efficiency of markets etc.Explanations with regard to the causes of the global financial crisis and an overview of the prolonged extensive excesses that acted synchronically to cause the global crisis are discussed in detail. The second section of the book focuses on the future of the financial sector with some cautious remarks about uncertain recovery and prospects for the futures. The author highlights the role of f inancial regulation in developing countries. Dr Reddy writes that â€Å"the causes and crossborder transmission of the crisis may differ significantly between the advanced as well as between the developing economies. There is a detailed chapter on countercyclical policies adopted by the RBI in the financial sector and also on the proposals for financial sector regulatory reforms from the perspective of developing countries. He discusses the future of globalisation of finance and the global regulation of the financial sector. The last chapter of this section provides a broad framework for global financial regulation. The third section deals with the public policy challenges and responses that emerged during the current global crisis.He has discussed the feasibility of Tobin Tax and Financial Sector Taxation in light of current crisis. Dr Reddy has also thrown light on the developmental dimension of the financial sector, fiscal implications of the global crisis and macroeconomic fram eworks that are emerging for ensuring overall global financial stability. The forth section raises a very important concern of modern times i. e. reform of global financial architecture comprising of the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO. In this section, Dr Reddy has discussed the recommendations of the UN Commission on the global crisis.He has also analysed the G-20 framework and its future prospects. Finally the book focuses on India's performance and prospects; India's experience in regulating the financial sector; and the need for reform in India's financial sector. The author also compares Indian situation with that of Asia and the global economy in terms of resilience and recovery after the crisis. The last chapter in concluding section draws attention to the exit strategies being considered at the global as well as national level by the authorities to revert back to normality.Take Away from the Book As the book is entitled â€Å"Global Crisis, Recession and Uneven Recoveryâ⠂¬ , the biggest take away after reading of the book would be a clear and better understanding of these three terms viz. (1) Global Crisis, (2) Recession and (3) Uneven Recovery. I personally would like to share my understanding of these three aspects in greater detail with the help of excerpts from the book in the following points: Global Crisis: Reasons, Consequences and Lessons Learnt Several reasons have been cited for the recent crisis viz. ailure of state, market, governance, intellect and morality. Dr Reddy writes, â€Å"The current global crisis originated in multiple causes that reinforced each other. Extensive excesses on several fronts, which occurred in a synchronised fashion, precipitated the crisis. These excesses were observed in liquidity, macroeconomic imbalances, focus on inflation, inequalities, financialisation, leverage, risk-taking, deregulation, financial innovation, networking, greed, globalisation and concentration. 1 While discussing the moral aspect of g lobal crisis, Dr Reddy writes, â€Å"†¦ the large sections of society favoured individualism, narrowly emphasising value for money as consumers and returns on money as investors over other aspects of social behaviour, such as being good citizen or extending corporate loyalty to the institution. †2 Dr Reddy discusses the race to bottom in regulation of financial sector as one of the most crucial reason for the global financial crisis.He writes, â€Å"†¦the excesses in financial sector occurred under a benign public policy that believed the costs of regulation to be greater than its benefits†¦ Even the existing regulation was stymied by excessive innovations in finance that aimed to avoid the prescribed regulatory capital, and injected complexity to undermine the rules of transparency prescribed by regulators. †3 As far as consequences of the crisis are concerned, Dr Reddy is of the view that the current crisis will result in rebalancing of ideological, in stitutional and operational functioning of states and 1 2Page 46, Chapter 3 Page 43, Chapter 2 3 Page 59, Chapter 4 markets. He writes, â€Å"â€Å"In recent years, there has been an almost irrefutable presumption in favour of markets and this may be replaced with a refutable presumption in favour of the markets. †4 As a result of the crisis, the irrefutable support for unfettered markets stands discredited and so also the belief that the growth of the financial sector leads to economic development. Also, the crisis has added to the objectives of central banks an additional responsibility i. e. inancial stability. The RBI has also taken it to its objectives alongwith growth and price stability. The author calls for redefining the core banking and recommends treatment of commercial banking as a public utility. He writes, â€Å"†¦universal banking will be de-emphasised and narrow banking, in the sense of banks concentrating on core commercial banking or deposits and lend ing will be emphasised†¦ In brief, commercial banking is likely to be closer to a public utility than before, and hence subject to regulations akin to public utilities. 5 He further stresses, â€Å"It should be recognised that there will be no banks if there are no depositors. †6 As regards lessons from the crisis, Dr Reddy suggests that â€Å"†¦improving transparency and regulatory oversight of hedge funds, credit rating agencies and over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives should become a priority in the light of the experience from the crisis. †7 Interestingly, the author suggests in the light of observations of the Warwick Commission Report that the scope for and desirability of an ‘unlevelled’ playing field as an instrument of financial sector regulation ought to be explored. As a thinker and an oracle who sees the future of financial sector with great precision, he writes, â€Å"†¦the crisis is global; actions are national; benefits could b e selective or universal; but burdens in the future may have to be largely borne by the masses who bear no responsibility for the crisis, and those who did not benefit materially from the events that led the crisis. †9 Recession In Chapter 6, the author discusses the Great Recession of 2009 in detail and thereafter as per the demand of the subject.He clarifies the concepts of depression, recession and slowdown. A slowdown is a clear fall in the growth of an economy. It is usually a short-term phenomenon lasting say a quarter or a year. The author defines slowdown as a drop in the growth rate by one percentage point. To him, recession refers to a sustained decline in the overall economic activity for a period of more than one year. Depression lasts longer than recession and refers to a longer and larger decline in business activity, mainly reflected in huge drop in output and unemployment. 4 5Page 28, Chapter 1 Page 78, Chapter 5 6 Page 217, Chapter 14 7 Page 172, Chapter 12 8 Page 157, Chapter 10 9 Page 63, Chapter 4 Uneven Recovery If the Great Recession was uneven, so is the recovery. 10 Dr Reddy discusses several responses to the crisis at different points in several chapters. He writes in Chapter 4, â€Å"Initially, the response of monetary authorities, followed by fiscal measures, was confined to the US, UK, Switzerland, other European countries, and Japan, but it was soon realised that it was necessary to involve other countries as well in globally coordinated actions. The author has discussed five possible patterns that could be followed by the countries in their course of recovery. The highly resilient economies may observe rapid recovery from the crisis while less resilient economies would require a longer time to adjust to the new realities and ensure real recovery. Some economies may suffer from double dip recession before complete recovery while some other countries may prefer taking structural measures over a prolonged period thereby opting for a slow but positive recovery after recession.Some countries may register a low level of economic activity for a prolonged period and therefore suffer from recession for a much longer period than the rest of the world. Critique of the Book I consider myself too small to write a critique of the book written by Y. V. Reddy; however, as a reader of global crisis literature I have observed a few points which I will share with the readers of this book review.This book being written by a Central Banker is largely concerned with central bank’s role in dealing with such crisis and redefining of the role of central banks in the wake of need for financial stability. In this pursuit, the role of government in dealing with such crisis has been ignored to some extent. Similarly, the book was published in the year 2011 when a number of countries in Europe were facing sovereign debt crisis however, only a passing reference is made to such an important global event which has pushed many countries in double dip recession.Apart from this, the book is worth reading by all economics lovers and also all policy makers as it gives a deeper insight into the global crisis, recession and recovery. To sum up, I would prefer to quote Sir Howard Davies, Director London School of Economics who applauds the book in the following words, â€Å"Dr Reddy’s (book) fills an important gap†¦ He has lived at the heart of financial system and understands its strengths and weaknesses†¦ His analysis of the problems of the global financial architecture is particularly acute. † 10 Page 93, Chapter 6

High Noon Essay

This is a case of a company, which is operating in Malaysia by the name of Alpha Plantations Sdn Bhd. The company has its origin in Britain and has been operational for over forty years now. This subsidiary located in Malaysia consists of one palm oil mill and one oil palm estate. According to the owners of the company, the main purpose of opening this subsidiary is to supply the mother company with crude palm oil. The mother company is involved in production of detergents. The subsidiary in Malaysia operates in three shifts and each shift has about 25 people manned by one supervisor.  In addition, majority of the top management persons working at the Malaysian subsidiary come from the United Kingdom where the mother company is. Issues This organization has been in operation for decades and it has perfectly performed. With the changes that are taking place within the company because of the new manager, workers will also experience some new changes in the way they will execute their duties. Issues arise from the fact that this new management wants to change even the structure of the organization. These changes bring conflict in the way the workers used to perform and in the process affect their team performance and rapport. (McShane, S. et al, 2006) This frustrates Mr. Ang who has worked with the company for over four decades. The results are his firing after a confrontation. The reason for his firing stated as misconduct. However, this misconduct resulted from the mixed up duties and responsibilities that he experiences on his line of duty. As McShane, S. et al, (2006), says it is necessary to have a clearly spelled out duties and responsibilities. This is the only way that the workers will be able to avoid conflict and confrontation. This does not happen in this company. In addition, the managerial team executes these changes so quickly such that the workers do not have time to adjust thereby resulting to frustrations. Analysis Over the years, the company has faced many problems. However, the recent one was the massive loss that the company was undergoing. The main cause of this loss is the current low prices of gases that were experience at that time, then in 1999. During this time, Captain Chubb was the manager of the company. He claimed that he had done all that he could but the prices were the one which pulled the company down. The top management of the company sort to hire a new manager the following year by the name of Ian Davison. They thought that the previous manager failed to perform. Even though he did not have any experience in management of an agricultural company, he had worked and succeeded in the detergent company and therefore the management expected much from him. To achieve this, he had to lower the cost of production and the only way was to make some recommendation. He therefore made recommendations some of which were beyond the company’s control. For instance, he claimed that the company allowed too much machine breakdown. It is advisable to note that wear and tear is normal processes and we can do absolutely nothing to prevent it. However, he offered a practical solution of reducing the workforce and introducing new machines. This is the point where issues cropped up. With the introduction of new machines and reduction of the number of workers per shift, the workers first adapted to the process but later moved back to their old habits. However, this time, the problem was bigger in that there were fewer workers. They no longer worked in a team and this created a big problem, as the workload was now bigger. In addition, with the new introduced structure in the organization, workers were now able to have a direct access to the manager. This reduced the powers that Mr. Ang had who has always been the supervisor for the company. He was not in a position to control the works anymore and this frustrated him. Furthermore, the workers would not fully respect his directions, as they knew they could still get directions directly from the manager. As McShane, S. et al, (2006) in their book says, poor communication will always affect our behavior towards each other at our places of work. They go ahead and say that leaders will tend to vent their frustration to their subordinate. This communication breakdown affected the relationship between Mr. Ang and the workers and at the end resulted to dictatorship type of ruling where Mr. Ang would make all the decision for the workers. The worst is that Mr. Ang was to blame for all this. The result is that Mr. Ang was devastated and become silent, unproductive to the company and the company fires him. Drive theory explains the reason why Mr. Ang feels frustrated by the actions of the manager. He was highly valued by the workers and after he goes home, the company somehow collapses. Solutions The current problems that are experienced are a serious loss and this is not due to local company structure but global factors that are beyond the company control. We can therefore argue that the methods that used to deal with this problem are way out of track. It is a good idea though to look for machines that are using new technology and to downsize the number of workers in the company. However, it is not a good idea to change the company structure, as this has nothing to do with the workers’ performance. (McShane, S. et al, 2006) The best solution for this problem therefore would have been the purchase of the machines using new technology, downsizing the firm and then leaving the workers to report to the supervisor who they have reported to all these years. This would have prevented the confrontation that Mr. Ang had with the top officials at the head office and the other confrontation that he had with the manager and therefore prevent the company from collapsing. Recommendation However, now that Mr.  Ang has already gone home and things are not working well at all at the company, it is a clear indication that even though during the last days, Mr. Ang seemed quiet, he was important and his presence was recognized by all the workers. In addition, Mr. Ang was never given time to explain what was happening. It would be recommendable to try to summon Mr. Ang, give him a chance to explain his point of view and give him back his job. He is the only one who can mobilize the team and make them work. Drive theory explains the reason why the company collapses because the workers are not motivated. They have nothing to drive them to work harder.

Summary of a research paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Summary of a research paper - Essay Example It would be therefore be interesting to review findings of such study which presents contradicting results and concludes from the perspective of investors that there are substantial variances in annualized stock returns in the long run. The journal article refers to previous studies including Siegel (2008) and Campbell and Viceira (2002, 2005) that have concluded that both unconditional and conditional variances in stock returns are greater in the shorter time frame as compared to the longer investment horizon. The study by Pastor & Stambaugh is carried out from investors’ perspective and suggests that stock returns have greater volatility in the long run mainly due to two conditions which investors face. These include inability of investors to know the drivers of conditional expected return from stocks and also investors are of the view that even observable factors influencing stock returns forecasts do not sufficiently predict changes in conditional expected return. ... The study adopted vector autoregression (VAR) model with assumptions that predictors are imperfect, which is a different approach as compared to previous studies by Stambaugh (1999), Barberis (2000), Hoevenaars et al. (2007). The study reflects that on the basis of imperfect predictors there are significant direct and indirect values in the long run. The study considered five components of variances observed in the long run including the uncertainty pertaining to independent and identical distribution of returns over the term of analysis i.e. true variance, mean reversion, uncertainty of future and current expected stock return, and estimation risk. The study reveals that there is a positive relationship between long term variances and these components of variances except mean reversion. This implies that higher values of these components result in higher volatility of stock returns Mean reversion, which is an assumption that current negative shocks in the stock return are offset by positive return shocks in the future, has a negative impact on variances. This does apply in the long run but its relevance is offset by other four components of long term variance. It is suggested in the research article that investors are not able to observe the variances and instead they rely on historical data of returns to predict future returns. Therefore, in the presence of imperfect predictors of returns there is a high degree of predictability which leads to greater volatility in the long term stock returns. The analysis of data in the report is divided into nine sections. Expressions for five components of long term variations are developed using VAR and then using a predictive system conditional expected returns

Implementation of International Legal Standards in The Investment Assignment

Implementation of International Legal Standards in The Investment Legislation of Uzbekistan - Assignment Example Uzbekistan has freedom and independence in development of industry in line with national goals. In addition, there is also an opportunity for Uzbekistan becomes the main investment location preferred by both regional and foreign investors. There is also an opportunity for Uzbekistan to become a base for production in the regional market. Its central location provides a large market especially the home market. The country has freedom in the utilization of new resources as a result of the development of new export markets and advanced technological progress. Law for in foreign investment Uzbekistan allows investors (foreign) to engage in wide range business opportunities that are not legislatively prohibited. Foreign investors investment in Uzbekistan through legal means that include branch establishment, real property acquisition and buying of shares. There are no legal preconditions stipulating nationals to have interests of ownership in foreign investments except in banking sector. The government encourages joint ventures of local partners and foreign investors. Foreign investors have to register with Justice Ministry to get legal rights as persons. These imply that foreign investment laws in Uzbek have opened the door to all forms of business investors in the available business opportunities. Entry requirements for foreign investors are therefore straight with minimal performance requirements. In Uzbekistan, the right for investors to exit and repatriation of funds are guaranteed. However, in practice, entry requirements for investors especially individual investors are controlled by the government. The investors will have to negotiate with Uzbek government on key issues that relate to joint agreements of a joint venture, acquisition of government-controlled assets, application for tax incentives and raw material importation rights.  

Trace the role of the presidency from about 1865 to about 1940. Did it Essay

Trace the role of the presidency from about 1865 to about 1940. Did it serve the purpose that the framers of the Constitution expected it to serve - Essay Example The Constitution sets forth the president’s roles as the following: After careful consideration of the president’s roles and functions set forth in the Constitution and the history record during 1865 to 1940 I conclude yes. I believe the role of the presidency was fulfilled as the forefathers of the Constitution intended for the following reasons encompassed in the discussion. Scarcely had Washington been inaugurated when an extra constitutional attribute of the presidency became apparent. (Ayers, Gould, Oshinsky and Soderlund. 2004) Essentially, the presidency is dual in character and that must be taken into consideration when considering the time periods of the presidency that are being discussed. is another important point that needs to be considered. The reason is that it sets the background and establishes the attitudes of the framers of the Constitution. This significant point is that through centuries of constitutional turmoil and struggle between the crown and Parliament, England had divided the two offices. When they did this they separated the power as well. They gave the prime minister the role of running the government and leaving the formal and ceremonial responsibilities of leadership to the monarch. This is significant to the discussion for several reasons. After this took place in history the mindset of Americans was one where they admired and even worshipped Washington as a president. This is important because this attitude towards Washington, although during a time prior to that encompassed in our discussion, set the standard for future attitudes and conceptions of the presidency. Washington performed his role cleverly. He fulfilled his role as president striking a balance between â€Å"too free an intercourse and too much familiarity,† which would reduce the dignity of the office, and â€Å"an ostentatious show† of

Lap report Lab Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Lap - Lab Report Example Directly facing Polaris, the sky chart led to the location of the Big Dipper. The two locations were charted. By pointing one finger at Polaris and one at the middle of the â€Å"cup† of the Big Dipper, the relative angle to the earth position was estimated. Each 45 minutes thereafter, the same observations occurred and those findings charted. Conclusions and Analysis: Since the earth rotates toward the east, the Big Dipper appears to rise in relationship to the more westward star, Polaris. Lifelong observations of the sun and moon bear out this rising and setting phenomenon; however, viewing the path relative to another fixed point in space adds a layer of comprehension to the process. Interestingly, the Big Dipper, at first observation, seemed to be moving slightly east because the tail moved east relative to earth’s horizon. By measuring to the middle of the â€Å"cup†, the land visual cues were eliminated, and the Dipper then appeared to simply rise straight up. The results are as expected. Polaris does not move east or west noticeably, but does appear to rise then fall. The Big Dipper rises, but stays in a steady horizontal position from Polaris, but rises as Polaris falls during the observed

Parts 3,4 and 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 1

Parts 3,4 and 5 - Essay Example The organizational structure should be adjusted in order to facilitate the easier and freer flow of information within the different employees in each level. The top management should also take an effort to print out the company’s strategies, objectives, and goals and distribute them to every individual in the organization. One of the major changes which will also be implemented is the role of the human resource department within the business organization. Currently, Acico’s the human resource department is concerned only about the operational aspect of management specifically administrative issues but will be also be involved in the strategic aspect of management. This will be started through the appointment of new VP for Human Resource. Recognizing that the business organization’s human resources are strategic partners of Acico, it will only be logical to give the department a significant portion in the shaping the company’s vision, mission, goals, and strategies. The human resource department will be taking on an active role in shaping the strategic direction of the business organization. In the operational aspect, staffing and recruiting will be taken more seriously by setting a set of more stringent standards. Prospective employees will not only be admitted to the organization based on their credentials but most especially on their knowledge, skill, and personality type. This will ensure that the company hires competent individual to man the different positions. In order to keep up with the requirements, intensive training will also be conducted specifically on the management team. A comprehensive training program will be conducted regularly which will equip managers with the knowledge and skills for their positions. Acico will also be intensifying its effort in motivating its workforce through the installation of a reward system comprised

Fitness does not mean losing weight Research Paper

Fitness does not mean losing weight - Research Paper Example that the advertisements have now turned into deceiving the people that when people lose weight, they have now become physically fit but this is not necessarily the case. The sports-oriented companies such as Nike and Addidas have released research about how people are now purchasing sporting apparel like sports shoes and workout clothes not for the purpose of exercising but purely for aesthetical purposes. Sporting apparel has now become a fashionable trend but for some â€Å"strange† reason, people are not using the clothes and shoes to exercise but rather to just appear to be physically fit through exercising. This has therefore led to these companies not focusing on making sporting shoes that are fit for athletes but rather just make sports shoes that are appealing to the customer (Warner, 2005). They are just regular shoes made in the liking of sports shoes and hence have no special features that can assist in any athletics prowess. The advertisements of the sporting companies have therefore stopped focusing much on athletes like it used to in the past with numerous endorsements of different caliber of athletes from runner to basket ballers as a way to encourage people to purchase the correct type of shoes to engage in physical activities of these celebrity athletes. Nowadays, their advertisements are moving with the trend and hence show people in sporting gear that are not athletic in any way but who are slimmer and hence appear to have lost weight through engaging in different forms of physical exercises. The most common form of physical exercise that can be seen in advertisements of how people are gaining the body image desired which is being slimmer is by doing yoga. Much of these â€Å"getting fit† advertisements are also focusing on dieting. They sell different diets to people that involve eating small helpings of food, taking in lots of water and eating basically salad and nothing else. The end result is of these individuals that were considered to be

A Memo regarding Information and Intelligence Sharing Research Proposal

A Memo regarding Information and Intelligence Sharing - Research Proposal Example The danger is that these recruiters may succeed as before and produce a security breach on the scale of September 11 or something even larger1 such as the use of nuclear armaments in urban areas. The need of the hour is to innovate the security apparatus by delivering them with information and intelligence that makes a difference. Information regarding the September 11 attacks was available but ineffective information sharing and collaboration led to the tragedy. The key to avert such a disaster is to strengthen the existing information and intelligence sharing mechanisms. This is obviously far easier said than done as the challenge is multifaceted and requires simultaneous efforts by myriad governmental and private agencies as well as the general population. It would be pertinent to attend this challenge logically with regards to the flow of information and intelligence that is used to initiate security actions. Information is first gathered by ground intelligence officials around t he world and is then processed at various levels to see what information requires immediate action. The information deemed high priority is delivered to security agencies to initiate appropriate defense mechanisms. A look into the information gathering mechanisms will reveal that the current information gathering mechanisms are robust. ... It must also be related here that information gathering has been strengthened inside the United States by involving the average citizen. Initiatives such as the Wal-Mart manager intelligence gathering are aimed to involve the average American citizen since the danger to the United States is more from within that from the outside. The multicultural composition of the United States and the underlying democratic principles mean that it is not practicable to create a police state to gather intelligence. Instead, the only real method to gather the right kind of intelligence is to have the average citizen on board. If information regarding any suspicious activity is reported from the grass roots level, there is a great chance that the information would be credible3. The next step to taking any real action would be to process and disseminate this information to the subject security agency. This can only be guaranteed if the intelligence sharing and information distribution network is robust enough4. For example, if a suspicious person was noticed walking down a street again and again, the local police could deal with him. However, if ground intelligence reported a group of men displaying suspicious activities in a neighborhood then the services of SWAT would be required to deal with the situation. In a similar manner, the services of other defense and security mechanisms such as the FBI and the CIA may be required depending on the circumstances. However, once again this would be subject to the processing and dissemination of information which would determine which information goes to which agencies. These inputs of information and intelligence are critical to initiating the required law enforcement processes that can guarantee the safety and well being of

Research Paper on Capillaria hepatica lifecycle and effects on human

On Capillaria hepatica lifecycle and effects on human health - Research Paper Example It will also discuss the diagnosis, treatment and preventive measures of disease. Capillaria hepatica is a nematode that causes hepatic capillariasis in several mammals. Rodents were the first host to be described with the infection. Later on, it was discovered that the parasite can infect various mammals including humans (Calle, 1991). Rodents are highly infectious explaining for the global spread of the infection. It has been reported in various countries with China having the highest prevalence of the disease. Until 2000, about 37 cases of human infections have been reported worldwide (Li & Hui-Lin, 2010). The symptoms are nonspecific thus, majority of the cases are misdiagnosed. The parasite causes hepatica capillariasis which is a serious infection of the liver. This occurs both in humans and animals. The adult parasite takes the typical shape of a nematode. The anterior part of the body is narrow while the posterior is broad. The adult female measures about 60 mm long by about 0.20 mm wide and the male is about half as long (Bancroft, 1893). The esophagus occupies about half the body length the females and males a third. The eggs are tapered at the poles. They measure about 0.51- 0.68 mm by 0.30-0.35 mm; resembling those of Trichuris trichura. The dorsal part of the parasite has a copulatory sheath and spicule (Attah &Â  Nagarajan, 1983). Humans get infected following the ingestion of food and water contaminated with the embryonated eggs. The parasite requires only one host to mature from the eggs to the adult. The adult parasite lives in the liver of the host where they lay eggs in the parenchyma. The eggs are not excreted in stool rather they remain dormant until the host dies or the liver is eaten by a predator. These eggs are unembryonated thus are not infectious. They are passed through feces where they are embryonated in the environment (Cox, 1993). Cannibalism plays a vital role in the

Why Soft Drink Industry Is Profitable Essay Example for Free

Why Soft Drink Industry Is Profitable Essay 1. Why was the soft drink industry so profitable? Soft drink industry observed growth rate from its inception 1886 to 1990, the consumption of soft drinks saw remarkable growth, below data shows the growth in United State’s consumption. Year| 1899| 1970| 1980| 1990| Consumption| 0. 6| 22. 7| 34. 5| 47. 4| #Consumption: Gallons per person per year Financial figures also back the growth story of the Soft Drink market. ROE %| 1972| 1975| 1980| 1981| 1982| 1983| 1984| 1985| 1986| 1987| 1988| 1989| 1990| Coke| 22| 21| 20| 21| 18| 19| 23| 24| 27| 29| 31| 49| 36| Pepsi| 16| 18| 20| 20| 14| 17| 12| 30| 22| 24| 24| 23| 22|. ROE is even higher across years and it increased to 36% for Coke and 22% for Pepsi in 1990 from 22% and 16% in 1972 respectively. The main reason for being profitable is that the United States market took the soft drinks overwhelmingly and gradually it became a part of their life style also the manufacturing process for concentrate was simple and required small investment, significant cost were to advertise, promotion, market research etc, while bottling process was extremely capital-intensive and involved specialized, high speed lines, but there was no considerable investments required on Advertisements, promotions and market research etc. This way Concentrate Manufacturers and Bottlers complemented each other for higher profit margins by sharing cost on in procurement, production, marketing and distribution. Many of their functions overlap; for instance, Concentrate Manufacturers do some bottling, and bottlers conduct many promotional activities. Balance Sheet data for year 1986 shows that pretax profit as % of assets was $. 40 per case for Concentrate Producers and $. 37 for Bottlers. The Cola war between Coke and Pepsi played significant role to increase the consumer base as both came up with new strategies and ideas to grab the market share from others that resulted to new markets and new consumers.

The real success factors on projects

The real success factors on projects INTRODUCTION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this paper, I will discuss Terry Cooke-Davies article on ‘The â€Å"real† success factors on projects'(Cooke-Davies,2002). In his article, Cooke-Davies identifies 12 factors critical in ensuring the successful projects. Cooke-Davies starts by differentiating between successful projects, successful project management, and consistently successful projects. In addition, he argued on the existence of a relationship between project management and operations management and then proposed how successful projects aligns with corporate success. Furthermore, he concludes by asserting the role people have to play in successfully delivering projects. After summarizing Cooke-Davies article, I will agree with the results of his research in identifying the 12 factors critical for project success and on the linkage between project management and operations management; but I will disagree with the research methodology especially with respect to the small sample size , and the extrapolation of this data to apply to worldwide projects. I will also argue that the writer did not expatiate on the critical role people in delivering projects. I will conclude by reappraising the role of this article in bridging our current gap in knowledge on factors relevant for project success. MAIN REVIEW   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  According to Terry Cooke-Davies in Sections 1 and 2 of this article, the reasons for project failure can be adduced to be the inadequate knowledge on the critical factors that lead to successful projects. Cooke-Davies argument is that prior to this research, the information available on the factors that lead to project success answered one question only which is â€Å"what factors determine a successful project?†. He asserted that in order to manage projects successfully, we need to answer three questions i.e. â€Å"what factors are critical to project management success?†, â€Å"what factors are critical to individual project success?†, â€Å"what factors lead to consistently successful projects?†. I will argue a similar view to that of Terry-Cooke here. It has been acknowledged that for projects to succeed, certain specific critical factors must be met. Researchers have acknowledged the critical role of specific factors to a projects success or failure and they also proposed that the reasons projects fail is as a result of an inability to thoroughly identify those specific factors critical to project success. The question then is What is a successful project?, What factors define a successful project?; I would suggest that the definition of a successful project will vary due to the fact that the different project stakeholders have individual interpretations of what makes project success. Along the lines of Cooke-Davies, I am arguing for a structured approach to identifying factors relevant to project success by grouping this factors into categories based on those critical for project management success, individual successful projects and consistently successful projects.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Section 3 focuses on the factors critical for project management success and the research methodology used in deriving the identified factors. Cooke-Davies starts by analyzing the cost and schedule performance data of 136 projects executed in Europe in the mid to late 1990s by 23 companies. From Cooke-Davies point of view, there is a correlation between the projects that where not completed on schedule and their budget overrun. The upshot of Cooke-Davies argument is that there are eight specific factors that contribute to the ability/ inability of a project to meet schedule and budget targets. He suggested that of these eight factors, six factors pertain specifically to improvement in schedule performance while two factors pertain specifically to improvement in budget performance. Cooke-Davies data leads him to the conclusion in this section that the overall strength of implementation of these identified eight factors on a project leads to an overall improvement i n the cost and schedule fundamentals of the project. I agree with Cooke-Davies in so far as the data analysis and results are concerned. The expert use of statistical tools e.g. Confidence Interval(CI), and a P value of 0.0005 helps to highlight the overwhelming statistical significance between budget and schedule fundamentals. The important and valid point Cooke-Davies suggests in this section is the relationship between budget overrun and schedule delay for a project. My disagreement with Cooke-Davies pertains to the extrapolation of this data to projects worldwide. Cooke-Davies depends on the assumption that the data derived from the sample size of 136 projects executed mainly in Europe can be extended to apply to projects worldwide. He fails to acknowledge the key role environmental factors in certain regions of the world e.g. Africa play in determining project management success. I also wish to highlight the non-inclusion of any projects been managed in Africa as a part of the resource pool of this research. This vital omission raises a pertinent question which is; Can we really extrapolate the findings of this research to apply worldwide when we have ignored data from a one continent?; the argument I am proposing for this section is that this data only pertains to projects been managed in the regions of the world where the data is derived from and cannot be extended to include those regions that are not a part of the resource pool.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cooke-Davies starts section 4 by asserting the existence of a gap between the traditional goals of project success(cost, quality, time) and the non-traditional goals such as the relevance of the project deliverable to the stakeholders. In a bid to bridge this identified gap, he argues for the use of a technique such as benefits management to help the stakeholders derive the full value from the project deliverable. Furthermore, he clarifies the distinction between the role of the project management team in delivering the project deliverable and the role of the functional management team in using the project deliverable to bring the stakeholder expectations to reality; he then proposes that the latter step is much more difficult than the former. He concludes this section by arguing that a good working relationship between the project management team and the functional management team is a critical factor in ensuring project success. The argument I wish to put forwar d here is completely in agreement with Cooke-Davies on the key concept of benefits delivery. In the past, project managers have focussed solely on delivering projects on time, budget, and at the right quality without an equal emphasis on how the project deliverable will meet the expectations of the stakeholders. In this light, I share the view of Cooke-Davies which is that a project cannot be successful unless the expectations of the stakeholders are met. Hence it is essential for the benefits management methodology to be used in translating the project deliverables to stakeholder reality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In section 5, Cooke-Davies proposes how to achieve consistently successful projects. He argues on how consistently successful projects aligns with corporate success and he proposes three factors that are critical in ensuring consistently successful projects in an organization. Cooke-Daviess main argument in this section is the existence of a viscous cycle between projects that are consistently successful and improved corporate performance; his conclusion seems to be that organizations that deploy project management processes as part of their corporate culture tend to have a much more improved corporate performance. Along the lines of Cooke-Davies, I am arguing that the use of management techniques such as management by projects(MBP) in which all organizational goals are defined as projects greatly helps in ensuring consistently successful projects, and if these projects are managed in a coordinated way in line with organizational goals, it will invariably lead to improved organizational performance. My point of view is that the inculcation of a projectized organizational structure helps in the achievement of consistently successful projects. The corporate strategy of a projectized organizational structure is a focus towards ensuring that all organizational goals are managed like projects.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In section six, Cooke-Davies uses different project industries to argue on the existence of a relationship between successful projects and corporate success. He argues on how a successful/unsuccessful project can impact directly or indirectly on a corporate bottom-line. He concludes by proposing that the sustainability of a corporate organization depends largely on its bottom-line. Following from Cooke-Davies valid point, I am proposing a synergy between project management and value management in order to ensure long-term corporate success. This view has long been corroborated by researchers on the translation of project success to corporate success. The bottom-line is that effectively defining what the contribution of a project is to an organization is critical in the translation of the project deliverable to organizational benefits. This whole cycle of project and value management is iterative throughout the lifecycle of the project.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Section 7 of Cooke-Daviess work focuses on the people aspect of project management. He acknowledges the role people have to play in project success, and then he argues that the human factors of project management cannot be singled out as a single factor of its own but is embedded in each of the identified twelve success factors. Furthermore, he concludes that the goals of the research is on how project teams achieve results and not on what motivates the project team to achieve results. Inasmuch as I agree with Cooke-Davies valid point on the critical role of the people in successful projects, it is indeed a â€Å"strange omission† that he left out the human aspects of projects till the end of his article. I would like to espouse the fact that in order to achieve project success, specific human resources strategies need to be in place. Cooke-Davies view is based on the assumption that the people are somehow integrated into the process of attaining project su ccess; but he did not explicitly define the critical role people play in attainment of project success. In contrast to Cooke-Davies view, I wish to propose that the human factor in project success is so important that it has to be singled out as an independent factor of its own. I argue that it cannot be embedded into the twelve identified success factors because of a tendency for it to be overlooked by an independent reviewer. The relegation of the human aspects of projects to the last section of this article seems to reveal a bias of the writer for the process aspects of project success with little emphasis on the critical role of people in ensuring the success of the process. CONCLUSION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cooke-Davies article helps greatly in shedding more light on the factors relevant for project success by highlighting three perspectives of what makes a successful project. He identified eight factors relevant for project management success, one factor relevant for project success, and three factors relevant to achieving consistently successful projects. Furthermore, he argued on the relationship between project success and corporate success; and then he shows how successful projects directly or indirectly impact on different project industries. He then concluded by proposing that the role people play in projects is embedded into each of the identified twelve factors. Inasmuch as I share Cooke-Davies view on the factors relevant to project success as well as the relationship between projects and corporate bottom-line; I wish to differ on the extrapolation of this research findings to regions of the world that are not represented in the research pool of data. I wis h to also highlight the fact that even when viewed from the perspective of the regions where the research samples where derived from, the sample size is so small for it to be fully indicative of the factors that could affect project success in those regions. I would also like to argue that people are so critical in projects that the human factor of project success should occur as an independent factor. Inasmuch as the article represents an excellent effort by Cooke-Davies to fill possible gaps in our understanding of what makes a successful project; more work still needs to be done using a larger sample size which should be a true representative of all the regions of the world. ASSIGNMENT APPENDIX CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR PROJECTS ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES Cooke-Davies, T(2002) ‘The â€Å"real† success factors on projects. International journal of project management, Vol.20, pp.185-190. In this article, the author drawing extensively from his PhD dissertation and statistical data obtained from a survey of 136 European projects argued that there are 12 factors essential for project success. The author starts by asserting that the reason why this factors have not been properly identified before now is because of the inability to accurately define what project success means; furthermore, the author proposed a three pronged definition of project success. In subsequent sections, the author highlights the specific factors responsible for the success of each of the three different perspectives of project success. The author concludes by acknowledging ‘albeit belatedly that the people aspects of project success is embedded within each of the aforementioned factors. This work is a commendable attempt to compartmentalize the factors responsible for project success into three different perspectives. My point of difference from this work is in terms of the small sample fr om which the authors data is derived from. In addition, I argue that leaving the people aspects of project success to the last section may seem to reveal a bias by the author for process-focused project management rather than people-focused project management. Dvir, D. Lipovetsky, S. Shenhar, A. Tishler, A.(1998) ‘In search of project classification: a non-universal approach to project success factors. Research policy, Vol.27, pp.915-935. In this article, the authors draw their data from Israeli defence projects completed in the 1980s to propose an objective classification of project types and also the specific factors that may affect the success of projects. The authors proposed the use of the multivariate analytical technique to compare the impact of specific variables derived from a particular data set on other variables in other to arrive at the possible effects of identified potential factors on the success of projects. The authors argument is that the use of the multivariate technique produced results that shows how a wide range of factors affect project success. Furthermore, the authors argued that there is no universality in the factors that affect project success hence project managers must define the factors that relate to their particular projects. The authors assert in their conclusion that the use of the multivariate analytical technique allows for the results of this research to be extrapolated to other projects. My argument is that the authors in their conclusion seem to contradict themselves because they initially argued that success factors are project specific but then conclude by proposing the usefulness of their work for all projects. Inasmuch as I agree with the objectiveness of the multivariate technique used here, I wish to disagree with the assumption of the authors in extrapolating their findings to other projects. Soja, P(2006) ‘Success factors in ERP systems implementations: Lessons from practise. Journal of Enterprise information management, Vol.19, Nos.4, pp.418-433 In this article, the author drawing extensively from data derived from respondents involved in ERP systems and his own experience in the business world argues that there are certain factors that determine the success of ERP systems. The authors methodology involved the initial identification of potential factors that could affect the outcome of ERP projects. Furthermore, the aforementioned factors where then subjected to a survey among practitioners of ERP systems to determine the relative importance of each factor and the role of each factor in determining project outcome. The results was then statistically analyzed to determine the most important factors that could determine the success of ERP projects. The authors conclusion seems to be that the importance of the identified success factors vary depending on the type of project and its duration. Sojas argument has merit and the conclusion sheds more light on the ‘foggy area of the factors that could lead to successful project outcomes. My argument against Soja is with respect to the subjective technique deployed to identify the initial potential factors. I propose that a much more objective potential factors can be arrived at from a survey of the respondents themselves rather than relying purely on the literature review. Furthermore, based on the small sample size used for this research, it will be hasty for us to extrapolate the conclusion arrived at to all ERP projects. Segalla, M(1998) ‘Factors for the success or failure of international teams: The special case of international research projects. Journal of Managerial psychology, Vol.13, Nos.3/4, pp.133-136. The author of this article proposes that inability to identify specific project requirements determines the success or failure of international research projects. In addition, the author argues that the presence or absence of certain success factors play a role in defining how successful an international research project will be. The author identifies three requirements and four factors that need to be met before an international research project can be deemed to be successful. In his conclusion, the author asserts the vital role teams play in achieving project success with an emphasis on international research projects and recommends that the success bottom line for researchers is to â€Å"Go find a team†. Along the lines of Segalla, I am also suggesting that just like any other project, certain factors need to be in place to ensure the success of international research projects. Furthermore, identification and definition of the requirements of a project plays a key role in p roject success. I also agree with the authors assertion on the vital role teams play in achieving international research project success as compared to individual work by researchers. Trent, J.R(2003) ‘Planning to use work teams effectively. Team performance management: An international journal. Vol.9, Nos.3/4, pp.50-58. In this article, the author, an associate professor of management, evaluates data derived from literature review, practical evidence derived from sampling, and his own personal experience, to argue that certain factors are essential for ensuring the success of teams. The author compartmentalizes the different stages of the team planning process and identifies various factors that are essential for the success of each stage. In his conclusion, the author seems to acknowledge that there is no factor that can be said to guarantee the success of a team; he proposes that the presence of these identified factors will only help in promoting the ability of a team to achieve success. This article reflects another attempt by an academic to identify the factors that could lead to successful teams and invariably successful projects. The pursuit of these success factors has been likened to that of the ‘Holy Grail, and this work represents an addition to the plethora of research done on â₠¬Ëœwhat makes project teams work?. My main point of disagreement with this work rests on the conclusion of the author in which he seems to contradict himself by acknowledging that these factors do not guarantee successful teams. The question then is, what is the relevance of this work if its application does not guarantee successful teams? That answer to that question is ultimately left for the readers to decide.

The Nature Of Strategic Management Journal Commerce Essay

The Nature Of Strategic Management Journal Commerce Essay Strategic management is ideas and injunctions that enable the organization achieve its objective or long-term target to perform a better performance. The purpose of strategic management is to seek the opportunities for better future of the organization. Generally, good strategic management practices can improve the organization performance and achieve the organization target objectives. The strategies on an organization are made by the management itself to ensure the successful of the organization. The strategic management process consists of three stages which are strategy formulation, strategy implementation and strategy evaluation. 1. INTRODUCTION Today, there are many definitions of strategic defined by various authors and by refer to Mintzberg et al. (1998), the definition of strategic is universal and there is no single. The others author, Chandler (1962) as the American business historian is the first person that defined strategic as determination of the basic long-term goals and objectives of an enterprise, and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out those goals. In the context of construction, Channon (1978) defined strategy in term of the extent of diversification, international activity and acquisition policy. Mintzberg (1994) portrays strategy as a plan a direction, a guide or Strategic Management Practices in Malaysian Construction Industry 142 course of action into the future and as a pattern, that is, consistent in behavior over time. Strategic management has evolved into a more sophisticated and potentially more powerful tool (Stoney, 2001). The strategic management stages need a person who is competent to handle this process more effectively and to make sure that its success (Stahl and Grigsby, 1992). To ensure firm success and can overcome any barriers that occur during strategic management process, the top management of an organization must play their roles through involvement in the process, through dialogue and participation. The aim purpose of the process is to achieve the understanding and commitment from top management and employees. 2. Strategic Management in General STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT IN GENERAL There are many definitions that are defined by various authors. According to David (1997) strategic management is the art and science of formulating, implementing, evaluating cross functional decision that enable organization to achieve its objectives. Wheelen and Hunger (1984) say that strategic management is a set of managerial decisions and actions that determines the long-run performance of an organization. It includes environmental scanning (both external and internal), strategy formulation (strategic or long-range planning), strategy implementation and evaluation and control. Wheelen and Hunger (2003) noted that people at all levels, not just top management, need to be involve in strategic management; scanning the environment for critical information, suggesting changes to strategies and programs to take advantage of environment shifts, and working with others to continuously improve work methods, procedures, and evaluation techniques by working with other people in the organiz ation. 3. FINDINGS Stages in Strategic Management Strategy Formulation The first phase is strategy formulation. Certo and Peter (1991) stated that strategy formulation want to ensure that the organization achieve the objectives that they have been made. David (1997) said that strategy formulation includes the decision on what business to conduct, how to allocate the resources, and whether want the business join or enter to international market. Besides, David also stated that strategy formulation phase includes developing a vision and mission, identifying an organization external opportunities and threats, determining internal strength and weaknesses, establishing long-term objectives, generating alternative strategies, and choosing the best alternative strategy to be pursue. He also said that issues in strategic management includes deciding what new business to enter, what business to abandon, how to allocate resources without hostile takeovers, whether to expand operations or diversity, whether to merge or form a joint venture, whether to enter intern ational markets and how to avoid a hostile takeover. ROLES OF INTELLIGENCE IN STRATEGY FORMULATION Good intelligence is not necessarily going to make a great strategy while successful strategies are derived from good intelligence concerning a companys total business environment including the competition. There is some intelligence role in strategy formulation. Among them are: Describing the Competitive Environment. Intelligence analysis must to carry out their responsibilities, so that the company can compete with the challenging environment over time. Besides that, intelligence should also determine the causes of the companys competitive environment, including competitors, customers, products, the structure of the industry in which they all perform, and the type of competition, such as price performance, and technology. Forecasting the Future Competitive Environment Intelligence department can provide predictions of future business for the company, especially in the competitive environment in which the company is likely to find itself. Business intelligence estimate is the most appropriate intelligence products to reflect the competitive environment in the future, as being one entirely different from the business environment that it competes in today. Identifying and Compensating for Exposed Weaknesses. Companys own weaknesses and vulnerabilities can be identify and assess by using intelligence department. Usually when a company is about to launch a new strategy or enter a market or business that it has never participated in before, this ability is particularly valuable because the competition is likely to have assessed the newcomers strengths and weaknesses and will exploit those weaknesses that are truly vulnerabilities. Before entering the new business arena, companies must be aware of his own weaknesses before the occurrence of a competition. This is to ensure that the company is always ready to take corrective action or formulate new strategies so that the company is not affected. Using Intelligence to Implement and Adjust Strategy to the Changing Competitive Environment. After the new strategy have been designed and tested, then it goes through two distinct phases of implementation. Initial implementation of the first phase is when competitors began to detect and respond to the strategys salient features. While the second phase is developing a more complete and appropriate set of actions to counter your strategy. The intelligence that you gather during both distinct phases of implementation are critical to the long-term viability of your new strategy because comprehensiveness, timeliness, objectivity and analysis are required in these two phase. Few US companies are capable of managing such effective business intelligence operations and thus formulating the appropriate ongoing business plans necessary to continually adjust their strategy to the changing competitive environment. DESIGNING A STRATEGY FORMULATION PROCESS FOR NEW, TECHNOLOGY-BASED FIRMS: A KNOWLEDGE-BASED APPROACH When open innovation models are being introduced in the industry, innovative firms must taking more and more open forms, so that a firm can create the innovation process in a knowledge-based society. In addition, the firm also can   build porous borders to incorporate their own knowledge and competencies with others. The first step is to identify useful knowledge among employees and stakeholders of the NTBF (new technology based firm), so that they do not require further discussion. However, in the external environment, identify useful knowledge is not as easy as I thought. There are several questions that must be answered to proceed from knowledge identification to transfer knowledge :- Who has the requested knowledge? This question is more relevant when searching among the members of the NTBF but also a who knows the whereabouts of the requested knowledge? which is more relevant when the requested knowledge lies outside the firm. What are our relations with the actor holding the requested knowledge? Question like this is to identify ways to strengthen ties in the relation with the actor/partner holding the requested knowledge. What drives this relationship? Is it based on friendship, a strategic alliance, a mutually-beneficial business relationship, or a potential partnership etc.? What is the nature of the requested knowledge? The third question is related to the knowledge complexity that determines the ability to accomplish the knowledge transfer because it is has to be regarded within the framework of a specific knowledge transaction, between specific persons in a specific context. How can we transfer this knowledge and what is the compensation requested for this transfer? The fourth question related to the readiness of the owner knowledge to share knowledge because knowledge transfer process cannot be determined in advance, and this depends on the complexity of knowledge and the absorptive capacity of the recipient to make the transfer. Apart from compensation, are there additional costs associated with the transfer? The fifth question tries to examine the non-monetary cost associated with the transfer of knowledge. As mentioned earlier, a NTBFs resources are limited and valuable and the cost to absorb a knowledge transfer might prove costly in terms of man days of key members of the NTBF. Does this knowledge transaction contribute to the formation of a collaborative competitive advantage? The final question concerns the examination of the probability that this knowledge transaction is part of the formation of a knowledge-based strategic alliance forming a sustainable competitive advantage that is difficult to imitate. Strategy Implementation The second phase is strategy implementation. In this phase, Sharplin (1995) said that all the organization activities or business strategies must be based on the strategic plan made. Organization must establish the objectives and policies of the company so that all the employees know what they should do to achieve the company objectives. Besides, the company also needs to do something to ensure that all the employees are motivated to do the job, and resources need to be allocating to execute formulated strategies. Effective strategy implementation is really important to the organization. Based to Certo and Peter (1991), effective strategy implementation is really important to get the benefits of performing an analysis of organizational, establishment of organizational direction and formulating. APPRAISING THE ROLE OF STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION IN EXPORT PERFORMANCE: A CASE FROM MIDDLE EAST They are various point of views to define and describe the strategy implementation. Strategy implementation may be define as a process inducing various forms of organizational learning, because both environmental threats and strategic responses can make something happen for organizational learning processes (Lehner, 2004). Strategy implementation is a combination process of implementing strategies, policies, programs and action plans that helps a firm to take the benefits of opportunities in the competitive environment by using wisely and usefully its resources (Harrington, 2006). Strategy implementation is also can be described that the companies can identify the future opportunities as a lively process (Schaap, 2006). On the field of studies in strategy implementation, it must be done with the international perspective. In Hrebiniak conceptual framework there are some suggestion about the key factor for strategy implementation which include of leadership, facilitating global learni ng, developing global managers, having a matrix structure and working with external companies for international environment. Besides that, there are other framework introduced by Yip, that involved organizational structure, culture, people and managerial process (Okumus, 2003). There are two groups of variables which is operational (budgeting, structure) and managerial (culture, leadership) that had been identify in this study of measuring the strategy implementation. STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION AND CONTROL During an action, strategy implementation is a managing forces and focuses on efficiency. It is primarily an operational process, requires special motivation and leadership skills and requires the combination among many individual. There are some several of issues that involve in strategy implementation which is : Strategies are not lead to action and have to be activated through implementation. Plan should be lead in strategies. Result of plan in different kind of programmes. Formulation of projects must lead to programmes. Separate allocation of fund is requires and it must be completed within a time given. The needed infrastructure for the day-to-day operations create of Projects create within an organization. Strategies implementation is not limited to formulation of plans, programmes, and projects. Resources would require in projects. After it has been provided, it would be essential to see a proper organizational structure is designed, systems have been installed, devised the functional policies, and various behavioural inputs are provided to make sure the plans may work. Below is the issues in strategy implementation that are to be considered : Project implementation Procedural implementation Resource allocation Structural implementation Functional implementation Behavioural implementation THE ROLE OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP IN EFFECTIVESTRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION: PERCEPTIONS OF SOUTH AFRICAN STRATEGIC LEADERS The effectiveness and importance of strategy implementation In some of organizations from South African, it was found that the strategy implementation is more important than strategy formulation and can be see that the ability to implement a strategy in an organisation is more likely important than the ability to formulate a strategy in an organisation. Strategy implementation can be more difficult than the strategy formulation. This study was founded that the effectiveness of strategy implementation in South African organizations can help the organisation to gain the effectiveness of organisation. It can show that, the strategy implementation more effectiveness to be used it within the organisation. Barriers to effective strategy implementation There are some barriers to achieve the effectiveness of strategy implementation : The workforce are poorly to understanding of the strategy and the most of important barriers to effective strategy implementation is there are an ineffective communication of the strategy among the workforce Another major barrier to an effective strategy implementation is strategic leadership is not perceived. Drivers of strategy implementation The importance of the drivers of strategy implementation : The most important driver of strategy implementation is strategic leadership. Strategic leadership contributes positively to the effective implementation of a strategy within an organization Many all of authors stated that the key of strategy implementation is strategic leadership (Hrebiniak 2005; Collins 2001; Useem 1998, 2001; Locke Kirkpatrick 1991; Freedman Tregoe 2003; Hitt et al. 2007; Hsieh Yik 2005; Bossidy Charan 2002; Thompson Strickland 2003; Hussey 1998; Kaplan Norton 2004). In fact, the effectiveness of strategy implementation is based on the strategic leaders of the organisation and to get the effectiveness to implementing strategy within the organisation, it is only through effective strategic leadership. (Hitt et al. 2007). The role of strategic leadership actions in strategy implementation The most important role in effective strategy implementation is the strategic leadership. The other of the important roles in strategy implementation is development of human capital, the exploitation and maintenance of core competencies. The development of social capital is the strategic leadership action is to play the least important role in effective strategy implementation. Strategy Evaluation The last phase of this management process is evaluation. Weiss (1972) define the purpose of evaluation as measuring the effects on given task whether it is according to the goals and objective of the organization. Thus, an improvement or corrective action should be taken after the evaluation has been made. It is really important to use a SWOT analysis to figure out the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for both external and internal factors. This may require taking certain precautionary measures to change the entire strategy. Research methodologies need to be used to quantify the outcome from the evaluation against the goals that has been made to create a success. Weiss agree that goals are really important in an evaluation to improve the performance. Evaluation done by reviewing current strategies, measure the performance and take the corrective actions. The need of an evaluation is to know the success of the organization. Certo and Peter (1991) stated that the evalua tion needs information about strategic performance to compare it with existing standards. Balanced scorecard (BSC) is an example of one of the popular approaches to evaluate the organization performance. It was first introduced by Kaplan and Norton (1992. 1996a). The BSC typically is a method that allows an organization to indicate its vision, develop and communicate a strategy to achieve the established vision and convert the developed strategy into action. 4. Conclusion In general, strategic management can be used to determine mission, vision, values, goals, objectives, roles and responsibilities. Strategic management is important in the organization to know the objectives and the aim of the organizations. The nature of strategic management also involve about the process or stages. This study was focused on the strategic management process. Strategic management process has three stages which is strategy formulation, strategy implementation and strategy evaluation. The strategic management process is becoming more widely used by small firms, large companies, nonprofit institutions, governmental organizations, and multinational conglomerates alike. It represents a logical, systematic, and objective approach for determining an organizations future direction. All the three stages of the process were important for all the organization. This is because those process are more likely as a guideline to the organization to manage their organization. Without a proper strategy the successful and the effectiveness cannot be occur. A good strategist plans and controls his or her plans, whereas a bad strategist never plans and then tries to control people. We can conclude that the strategy is important within the organization which as a direction for organization to manage their management. Without a strategy, an organization is like a ship without a rudder, going around in circles. Its like a tramp; it has no place to go. Joel Ross and Michael Kami

A Normal Way of Life Essay example -- Family Normality Culture Essays

A Normal Way of Life What is "normal" in American culture? I believe my family is "normal" and my friends believe that of their families, too. Yet, our families are so different. How can that be? Everyone has an ideal image of a "normal" family according to the way they live. I believe "normal" to be a mother, a father, and kids living in the same house with three cars and a pool to be normal. My family has a strong set of beliefs, traditions, and artifacts that compile into my ideal image of "normal". I am of French, German, and Polish decent. My parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents lived in Michigan their entire lives. My mother's side was from Warren and my father's from Pontiac. Growing up my parents went to a Catholic school and became high school sweethearts. My mother and father were not very well off growing up and it seemed to stay that way early into their marriage. My father became a builder at the young age of twenty-three. My mother once told me that after they moved into their first home, they couldn't even afford a dishwasher. My mother was a medical assistant up until I was three and she hasn't worked since. I was fortunate enough to have my mother home with me when I was younger. A lot of children I went to elementary school with weren't as lucky. Growing up my brother, parents, and I all lived in a small, ranch-style home in Sterling Heights. We had a nice yard, two cars, and a basketball hoop. This was typical if you looked down our street. Once I hit f ifth grade our house went up for sale and we moved to Washington Township. Our home was bigger now and the people in the neighborhood were fairly different also. They thought that we lived on Rodeo Drive. We moved again when I was in ninth grade... ...her siblings, and my grandparents grew up living in. I love that house. It reminds me of my grandma. After she died my grandfather moved out, but my uncle moved in. He and his family now live in it, so it is still part of our family. My "normal" has been declared as a loving mother and father with kids and a nice home in American culture. Still there are many extremes in American families today which others believe to be "normal". One-day kids will believe having parents of the same sex is "normal". Our America is ever changing as is our ideas of American normalcy. So, compared to children who don't have two parents and a car to drive or food in their cupboards my family is "normal". Works Cited Alvarez, Louis and Andrew Kolker, directors. People Like Us: Social Class in America. PBS.WDET, Detroit. 23 September 2001. 26 October 2001. Online Transcript.

Why a Resistant strand of Group A Streptococcus is Causing Problems in

Why a Resistant strand of Group A Streptococcus is Causing Problems in Children and Becoming Resistant to Antibiotics Abstract: Streptococcus is a bacteria that has been evolving through the recent centuries. A new form of these bacteria from group A streptococcus is becoming resistant and creating a whole new kind of this disease. The new form of this disease is twenty seven percent resistant to the antibiotic and is causing pneumonia meningitis in children. The new cures being created to fight against these bacteria are great except for that the new vaccine has no effect on children. Researches have finally found a vaccine that is effective on children because of a protein that is attached to the vaccine. Within a period of three years a study was done that followed eight hospitals in the United States. Within these eight hospitals researchers followed cases of children who received the resistant strand of S pyogenes. From the S pyogenes the children received the disease pneumonia meningitis. As they followed these children the researchers monitored the antibiotics given to them. For millions of years bacteria have been ruling the earth and are becoming more dominant with each day. Bacteria are some of the strongest species to have inhabited the earth; they survived and lived long after the dinosaurs. Even after all species including humans are gone, these species will be present. In the late 19th century streptococcus was discovered, but with no cure for it. Scientist has developed vaccines and antibiotics, but within the past centuries a new strand of streptococcus has emerged. This new strand is S. pyogenes. S. pyogenes have become resistant to these treatments that have been discovered, the problem that occurs is the... ...ibiotics and so if people start to misuse these antibiotics this strand will continue to become more resistant. If this strain of streptococcus continues to become resistant there will be nothing left that can stop this bacteria. Within a few centuries these bacteria will become uncontrollable and a deadly bacteria. Streptococcus Group A 5 References Cedars- Sinai Medical Center (1999, January). Sightings Bacteria Becoming Increasingly Resistant to Antibiotics. July 18, 2005: www.sciencedaily.com Sharma Sat MD. (2004, November).Streptococcus Group A Infections. July 16, 2005. American Academy of Otolaryngology(AAO). Sore Throats. July 25, 2005. www.entnet.org/healthinfo/throat/sore_throat.cfm Carauana Louis B., Ph.D. (2003, July). Group A Streptococcus-Streptococcus pyogenes Flesh Eating Streptococcus. July 28, 2005. Members.tripod.com/LouCaru/index- 7.html.

Essay --

The current effects of immigration throughout the United States has had a negative impact on its economy. Whether foreigners are legal permanent immigrants or illegal occupants, nations must diligently keep track of all individuals. This is a brief analysis on how immigrants impact the U.S and strategies to minimize their effects on this nation. In addition, the U.S must implement and monitor plans of action to lessen unemployment of citizens and reduce the excessive use of benefits and resources by immigrants. The negative impact immigration has on the U.S Economy Immigration has a significant negative impact on the U.S economy. Consequently, amplifying the work demand between the early 80's thru the end of the 90's, immigration diminished the median, yearly net income of a native born citizen of the United States roughly $1,700. Among those born on U.S. soil,who didn't possess a high school diploma, approximately the most indigent ten percent of all workers, the assessed consequence was even greater, causing a reduction in pay by nearly 8 percent. The disadvantageous effects on United States endemic African-American and Latin laborers are somewhat greater than on Caucasians, due to the fact that a much bigger percentage of non-majority ethnic groups are in point-blank rivalry with non-citizens. The lower rate of pay happens irrespective of whether they are documented or undocumented aliens. It's the existence of extra employees that brings about a reduction in pay, not their legitimacy (Davidson, 2006). Many United States citizens are unemployed and should not have to compete with immigrants in order to support themselves or their families. For example, Pedro Chan, a foreigner from Guatemala, illegally came to the U.S in 2... ...legal, including minors. Foreign juveniles, particularly asylum-seeking persons, have been delayed in immigration detainment facilities between 2 to 12 months (Line & Poon, 2013). The Ends Justifies the Means The United States is a wonderful place for opportunities, but it should be first and foremost available and accountable to it's citizens. U.S. benefits and services should be allocated only to American-born citizens with the exception of life or death emergencies. Educational benefits/subsidies should be exclusively for our American-born children and college-seeking citizens. Furthermore, there must be a cohesive strategy in place to minimize the amount of legal permanent residents as well as stopping illegal immigration. Lastly, the United States must learn from their past mistakes and acquire knowledge from other nations on how best to deal with immigrants!

A Woman’s Place and a Man’s Duty Essay

The writer Maria Del Carmen Triana explains the huge difference between the pay income spread over the old ages between work forces and adult females. and how it plays an of import function in today’s competitory society. Gender income spreads have become a hot argument subject for many. Gender income spreads can impact a matrimony and household every bit good as cause clash in the work topographic point. Sexual favoritism besides plays an of import function in Gender income spreads every bit good. In most Corporate and White Collar occupations. stereotypes and pay earner position have an consequence on work forces and adult females. Triana explains what she calls â€Å"home related spillover discrimination† which is. adult females being primary pay earners in families. Triana besides goes on to explicate that a major pay difference between work forces and adult females could be a new signifier of sexual favoritism. Because this is one of the first surveies demoing pigeonholing functions. it can merely be an premise. Harmonizing to Triana. research in the work topographic point are being penalized thru pay gaining for gender function playing. ( Dipboye 1985 ; Heilman 1983 ) . Triana Proposes that the thought of what feminine and masculine behaviour in the work topographic point should be can really work against the female primary pay earner. She feels that this gender behaviour could act upon people to â€Å"under- award† the female to maintain them from wining excessively far in front of their hubbies. Gender Deviance and Household Work In this article about Gender Roles. Daniel Schneider studies that twosomes passing a significant sum on housekeeping such as fixs around the house. shopping. cookery and cleansing could be defined as â€Å"Gender Work. † Housework was one time referred to as a â€Å"Woman’s occupation. † Studies show that work forces are stepping into the place to assist in the place and watch the kids while the female parent fulfills her occupation demands in Corporate America. The writer claims that â€Å"predictions† have been concentrating on married womans that earn more than their hubbies. which stereotype the staff of life victor as normalcy. The writer refers to this as â€Å"Gender Deviance. † Harmonizing to his research. married twosomes have been known to neutralize the gender aberrance by spliting the work burden at place. An illustration of this would be: work forces rinsing dishes. turn uping cloths cookery and cleansing. while supplying less income and adult females working long hours at work to supply the bulk of the income for the household. Schneider besides argues that what work forces and adult females do in the occupation market may really good impact family work and hours. Schneider goes on to province that work forces who work in businesss stereotyped to be feminine could be seen as a signifier of gender aberrance every bit good. Schneider uses informations gathered from the National Survey of Families and Households ( NSFH2 ) to carry on his research. He goes on to explicate that gender aberrance is the† merchandise of societal behaviors of some kind. † and that if adult females did non gender themselves some actions would non do any sense. Over a period of clip adult females have reduced the sum of clip spent on housekeeping and increased societal activities with the childs to assist balance of a parent being absent from school events. Surveies besides show an addition in the work forces actively take parting in parent/teacher conferences and after school patterns while the adult females are in the work force. MentionsSchneider D. Gender aberrance and family work: the function of business. American Journal of Sociology. January 2012 ; 117 ( 4 ) ( p. 1029-1072. )Triana C. del M. ( 2011 ) . A woman’s topographic point and a man’s responsibility: how gender function incongruence in one’s household life can ensue in home-related spillover favoritism at work. Journal of Business and Psychology. 26 ( 1 ) . ( p. 71-86. )

A comparison of the magazine articles by John Pilger Essay

A comparison of the magazine articles by John Pilger and Tony Parsons, analysing the way they appeal to different audiences and the effect of the language on behaviour and opinion. John Pilgeri s article ‘The Man With No Namei appeared in the ‘New Statesmeni in June 1991. The magazine is left wing, and aimed at the middle and upper classes of society. I believe that Pilgeri s article is suited for reader of a higher intellect, and is perfect for the ‘New Statesmeni. The magazine promotes its ideas in such a way that one tends to think that it is reliable source of information. Tony Parsonsi article ‘Beggars Of Britaini appeared in ‘Arenai in October 1991. The magazine is aimed at young people probably in their teens or twenties. I believe that Parsonsi article is suitable for my own age group, which is of the age fifteen to twenty years old. The magazine itself is glossy and full of text and pictures that blend in. It would have been helpful if the articles provided were in there original form. Graphics are generally very useful for promoting a idea, in addition to the written language. ‘Arenai may well provide graphics but since I have not seen a original copy and nor is there one in my local newsagents I am unable to discuss the articlei s fully. The ‘New Statesmeni does not have the style of graphics that is present in ‘Arenai. It is considered as a more formal magazine and depends much less on sensation compared with ‘Arenai. Text for some is difficult to analyse whereas if it is accompanies with illustrations, it sets the tone of the article. Language with gimmicks is fine for all but new statesmen generally promote more depth in thought without the â€Å"extras†. One could compare arena and the new statesman with a story that one might either see on television or hear on the radio. The television and pictures and illustrations set the scene the scene for the mind to analyse. The radio and the new statesmen just use text. The mind has to provide its own imagery and in some ways I believe this is better and fairer. The examiner has provided the two articles in exact same font and style. I am not convinced that this makes a fair comparison between the two magazines. We can judge language and readability but possibly not impact on the reader. The tone of both articles is rather personal because in ‘Beggars Of Britaini Tony Parsons uses much offensive personal writing, while John Pilger writes about his personal story. Both articles are emotional in more ways then one. Pilger is emotional in the way he talks about his friendship with the homeless man. Parsons on the other hand hurls abuse at the way beggars get their money and how they appeal to most peoples sympathetic side. â€Å"†¦ And gypsy beggars who try to stuff a ratty flower into your buttonhole with some sentimental line – ‘for the children coos some obese hag† Pilger talks about making a friendship with this homeless man. Parsons shows his personal view on the matter of beggars. Parsonsi article is colloquial because he seems to be talking directly to you with streetwise language. â€Å"†¦. hey-you-guys-letis-catch-crabs† Pilger is somewhat more formal in his approach. † I have seen him nodding as if he is in silent discussion with himself† Both articles are written in first person. Both articles are addressed directly to the reader. This creates an individual effect, as if the writer is writing directly to you. This makes you be more involved in the article, rather the normal news, report the facts and doni t report emotionally. Parsoni s article is written from the writeri s point of view you either agree, or disagree. While Pilger talks about his friendship with a homeless man. Parsonsiarticle was published in ‘Arenai , a magazine aimed at a younger audience and it shows the whole structure and language is different. Most young people have short attention spans but in Parsonsi his article brings up the subject of beggars straight away, with strong obscene language making people read the article. â€Å"†¦ been happier for us to sleep in a shoebox full of shit†This is effective for young people with short attention spans. As I said earlier in the essay ‘Arenai is aimed at the younger generation. Pilgeri s article was published in ‘New Statesmeni a magazine aimed at middle and upper classes. Pilger writes a touching story of a build up of a relationship with a homeless man, ‘The Man With No Namei. Pilger builds up his article with a story and telling the reader the facts. The reader learns about the plight of the homeless people while telling the story of a typical homeless man. â€Å"My friend is typical in that he bears the familiar scars of the homelessness† The article is aimed at the more mature reader, who would be touched by Pilgeri s generous nature, and the predicament of the homeless man. So this is perfectly in place in the ‘New Statesmeni mature readers to read a mature article. Both articles use Standard English. I regard â€Å"Beggars of Britain† use of English really standard. While â€Å"The Man With No Name† is high Standard English. With but a few complicating words for a teenage reader. â€Å"such as a furtiveness† â€Å"sporadic, shallow joviality† Some of these words are considerably complex for an immature reader. The target audience for both publications is perfectly suited in their respective magazines. Parsons writes for a younger audience and writes just how the younger audiences like it. While Pilger writes for a matured audience and the audience like the way it is written. Both article style and structure are catered for different audiences. Pilgeri s article oozes aged style for â€Å"New Statesmen† audience. His story was a touching emotional parable, a parable which makes the reader think differently about the subject of homelessness. Parsonsi article has a different type of style a more risqui style; the younger audience may start to show malevolence towards beggars the same type that Parsonsi shares. â€Å"These people disgusted me† Both journalists are highly literate, but I think Parsonsi article does not do him justice. I imagine that Parsonsi article was not written for it high literacy level, but written by Parsonsi passion. His hatred of beggars dictated this article. Pilgeri s article was delicately written and written excellently. The story was written with the right balance of everything fifty- percent story and fifty- percent facts. â€Å"He had his usual tweed jacket and was leaning against the hedge† This extract from Pilgeri s article is a story paragraph. â€Å"With maximum publicity, the government allocated three hundred million for ‘rough sleepersi † This extract from Pilgeri s article is a fact paragraph. Parsonsi article is mostly abuse towards beggars, although he does feel genuine sympathy towards the real beggars. â€Å"In Africa you see beggars with deformed legs crawling, literally crawling† â€Å"Begging defaces the city, degrades the spirit† Parsonsi article is mostly just his private opinion on beggars rather then a serious article. Both articles were written in ninety ninety-one. Both and articles were respectively published in ‘Arenai and ‘New Statesmani. The conservative government was in power at the time, and Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister. Both writers were against the conservative government, and blamed the government for homelessness and begging. â€Å"Thatcher government stopped council spending on housing more then ten years ago. † â€Å"Liberals blame the fall of the begging taboo on the let-the-bloody-orphans-take-care-of-themselves ethics of Thatcherism† These articles are still relevant to the year two thousand because both problems are still around. Begging has made a lot of headlines quite recently because there has been quite a few people who have been falsely begging, when they can easily live a prosperous life and have been accused of preying on the British peoplei s generosity.