Pfizer company Analysis Essay

Introduction Pfizer is a pharmaceutical company that is here to help us have a better health. It was founded in (1849) by two cousins Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart. It was made to discover and developing new ways to prevent and treat disease and also to improve health in the world. The company focuses on meeting the world help needs. Pfizer specializes in many medicines. They have medicines to help all health needs in the world. Throughout this report, I will be discussing all different kinds of medicines this company prescribes, the health and wellness of this company, the leadership and structure and many more important key points about Pfizer. I will also discuss the time line of this company on when events took place. Exploring the History of Pfizer Two cousins, Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart from Germany open a small company with some money that was borrowed from Charles Pfizer father in (1849). Their first company was open in Brooklyn, New York in a section of Williamsburg. This small red brick building serves as everything, the office, warehouse, laboratory and the factory. Charles Pfizer was a chemist and Erhart was a confectioner and together they made their first product which was a palatable form of santonin. This product was an antiparasitic used to treat intestinal worms. The santonin was blend with almond-toffee flavoring and shape into a candy cone. It was a wonderful success and the company launch. (Pfizer 2009) In 1862, Pfizer launched its first domestic production of tartaric acid and cream of tartar. â€Å"Tartaric acid was used as a laxative and a skin coolant during the Civil War. The cream of tartar was a diuretic and a cleaning agent and also a vital drug to help meet the needs of the Union Army. Among these are iodine, morpahine, cholorform, camphor, and maercurials which are also used in the emerging field of photography.† (Pfizer 2009) By the (1968), the company doubles its side. It have increase it product line and also add 150 new employees. With the company growth, they buy a new building in Manhattan and moves it headquarters there. In (1880), the company started imported concentrates of lemon and lime which Pfizer begins manufacturing citric acid. They became the top producer of citric acid. Once the new drinks gain popularity; like Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper and Pepsi-Cola, the demand for citric acid climbs the charts.  (Pfizer 2009) As the company double over the year, Pfizer opens an offices and warehouse in Chicago, Illinois, the first location outside the city limit of New York in (1882). On December 27, 1891, Charles Erhart dies and leaves a partnership worth over $250,000 to his son William. But in an agreement among Pfizer and Erhart, Pfizer could buy Erhart’s share at half inventory value. Pfizer became consolidating ownership of the company. (Pfizer 2009) â€Å"Pfizer files an official certificate of incorporation in the state of New Jersey, with authorized capital of $2 million divided into 20,000 shares of $100 each. Pfizer would remain a privately held company until June 22, 1942, when 240, 000 shares of new common stock were offered to the public. Charles Pfizer appointed his youngest son President at a special board meeting. Emile serves as President from (1906) to (1941) and briefly as Chairman in (1941). He was the last member of the family to be an activity member of the company. Charles Pfizer dies at the age of 82 while vacationing at his Newport, Rhode Island estate in 1906. The company has exceeded its sales to 3 million dollars by this time of Pfizer death. Once Pfizer dead, the board of director meets and name John Anderson as chairman of the company. Anderson first started working at Pfizer Inc as an office boy in (1873) and remained chairman until (1929) when he stepped down. (Pfizer 2009) A fermentation-free method of ascorbic acid was developed which was vitamin C. Pfizer was one of the biggest producers of vitamin C. Next came vitamin B-2, or riboflavin, and eventually develops a vitamin mix that includes riboflavin, thiamin, niacin, and iron. Pfizer had a miracle drug called penicillin. This drug was use for soldiers in the war. Pfizer receive an award on April 17, 1943 from the Army for it company’s contribution to the war. (Pfizer 2009) By the 1951, Pfizer have expanded its company in Belgium, Vrazil, Canada, Cuba, England, Mexico, Panama, and Puerto Rico. In (1952), Pfizer introduce an Agricultural Division of the company to offer anim al health problems in Terre Haute, Indiana. Pfizer also open another plant in England in (1955). This plant was a fermentation plant for research and development operations in Great Britain. The company was doing so well, they open another Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in Mexico, Italy, and Turkey. The company workers increase from 4,300 to over 7,000 workers in just one year. (Pfizer 2009) (In 1967), the company introduced its first one a day antibiotic called  Vibramycin (dozycycline hyclate). As the year over taken, Pfizer had a drug called Feldence that became one of the largest-selling prescription anti-inflammatory medications in the world. From 1984-1989, Pfizer had introduce four new drugs. The first drug was Glucotrol which is for diabetes. The next drug was Unasyn (ampicillin sulbasctam). It was an injectable antibiotic. They produced a medication for angina and hypertension which was Procardia XL that is a medication that you take once-a-day. (Pfizer 2009) In June (2001), Hank Mckinnell announces that Pfizer to become the world’s most valued company to patients, customers and the communities we live in everyday. He announced a commitment to fund the building of a regional treatment and training center on the campus of Makerere University in Kampala as part of the Academic Alliance for AIDS Care. As the years passed by, Pfizer announces the launch of a three-year initiative to provide grants to support training and capacity building for HIV/AIDS in developing countries in (2002). (Pfizer 2009) In 2003 research and development received over $7.1 billion of investment from Pfizer. They start on a new medication to treat migraines called Relpax. The US Food and Drug Administration approved the first treatment drug called Lyrica to treat neuropathic pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy in two forms. This drug also helps treat adults with epilepsy with partial onset seizures. On October 15, 2009, Pfizer wanted to help the lives of the patients and consumers by creating a company with on training products and therapies. (Pfizer 2009) Pfizer Pfizer have three different section of within their company. Pfizer is a incorporation which is a public company that was established in 1849. It is there to discover, develops, manufactures and market human and animal pharmaceuticals drugs. The Pfizer Inc. Corporate Giving Program is a complement of its foundation. Its corporate makes charitable contributions to nonprofit organizations directly. But last not least, The Pfizer foundation supports programs designed to promote access to quality health care and support the involvement of Pfizer community colleagues. (National Directory of Corporate Giving) The foundation have special emphasis in four strategies. The first strategy is to improve health care for people in need. The second strategy is to teach individuals about health care and a  way to prevent things from happening to health care workers and individuals as a whole. Third strategy is to increasing the faculty of health organizations to provide care to people in need. But last, to measure the impact by serving partnership with experts to be able to share the best practice offer. (National Directory of Corporate Giving) Pfizer leadership and Structure This company is made up of the best senior level executive personnel and the best decision-making board member there is offer. This board was brought together to focus on the major decisions of the company. Pfizer had several kinds of health care businesses. Pfizer had businesses such as Capsugel, Oncoogy, Nutrition, and Animal Health. Each company was run by a top executive who had very good knowledge of the company and products. (Pfizer 2009) The Board of Directors is elected annually by shareholders. They are the decision-making body of the company with the help of the shareholders. The Board selects the senior management team, which is charged with the conduct of the Company’s business. The board currently has 16 directors. (Pfizer 2009) Corporate Governance Pfizer was the first company to establish a corporate governance department. Pfizer understand to be trusted by public, they must have a good corporate governance and transparency. Pfizer stated â€Å"In order to create and sustain value for our stakeholders, and for society as a whole, we must first practice responsible business principles.† â€Å"And, we must take into account our stakeholders’ interests and be held accountable to them.† As reading the quote above from Pfizer Company, it clearly states that public opinion matter the most to them. The company want to make sure everyone have some kind of involves with their business. (Pfizer 2009) Public Policy Pfizer has a public policy select in its company. That’s a way the company communicate to people who have a part in their company. The public will be able to have discussing about the company and its product. The public policy is made so that the public can response to item to help improve the company to have better product and also to introduce new product into the company. (Pfizer 2009) Phrases of Development Pfizer Company has four different phrases of clinical development which new drugs are developed through a series of trails. Phrase 1, the company have healthy individual to volunteer for an experiential medicine which is called investigational new drug. This medicine is design to cure a disease which the volunteer currently have. A low dose of this medication is administered to the individual with highly supervision. The volunteer is watch very closed to record it responds to the medication to measure the doses that is best for that individual. (Pfizer 2009) In the second phrase, the drug is watched much closer to see what method is best for the individual. The method can be ever an oral or injection method. These patients for this stage are highly recommended by doctors or is a patient that has the disease that the drug is believed to treat. Phrase 3 is basically checking the results of the experiment to make sure the drug is working properly. The last phrase gather all the result form the trail period to make sure everything when as occurring as plan. They gather all the information on the drug about any risk that could occur while testing this drug on individuals. (Pfizer 2009) Programs Pfizer have many grants that they give out to university, foundation and other organizations. Pfizer also have many programs within it company. I will list and discuss some of the programs:  ConnectHIV: The foundation supports programs designed to serve communicates that are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS through grants to 20 mid-sized AIDS service organizations in the 10 states of the US with the highest number of new AIDS cases. The program is designed to prevent new infections to high-risk populations and delay disease progression for those already infected by supporting ASOs that take a comprehensive approach to presentation, access to care, and treatment. (National Directory of Corporate Giving) Science in Schools: The foundation supports programs designed to improve education in communities around the world. Special emphasis is directed toward programs designed to build fully-equipped science labs and math classrooms to train local science teachers and develop initiatives to  encourage corporations and individuals to partner with local schools. It also helps teachers to study science in order to bring innovative knowledge and technology into the classroom. (National Directory of Corporate Giving) Volunteer Programs (PVP): The foundation awards grants up to $1,500 to performing arts groups, museums, agencies serving the elderly, schools, libraries, hospitals, and community health organizations which employees and retirees of Pfizer volunteer. (National Directory of Corporate Giving) Matching Gift: The foundation matches contributions made by employees and retirees of Pfizer to nonprofits organizations on a one for one basis. (National Directory of Corporate Giving)  Global Health Partnerships: Advancing Caner and Tobacco Control: The foundation support the partnership of public health in the areas of tobacco independence and oncology. It important is directed toward programs with impact serving as global models in improving cancer-related health outcomes, supporting cancer control and encouraging tobacco independence. Pfizer Animal Health Pfizer is one of the world leaders in Veterinary-prescription medicines. Pfizer supports the veterinarians and animal food producer in making sure food is healthy for animals. Making sure the food is healthy for the animal ensures they will live a longer live. Pfizer also help support the veterinary to prevent animal illness. Articles The next half of my research will be discussing articles that I have researched on about Pfizer found in different magazines. I will be at the best of my knowledge summary the article to assure your understanding. I will also attached copies of the article at the end of the paper. â€Å"Will Pfizer’s giveaway drugs polish its public image?† The first article I will summarize is â€Å"Will Pfizer’s giveaway drugs polish its public image? This article was much unexpected. Pfizer decided to have a giveaway on drugs to reconstruct their company in August 2009. They made this service available for people who have lost their jobs. Pfizer have helped people out before financial but not a giveaway drugs day. Other pharmaceutical  industry wants to do the same thing to help other out also. Pfizer believer this was a good way of letting the public now that curing the disease is the main thing that is important to their company. I believe this article surprise a lot of people all over the world. It was a good thing that Pfizer decide to giveaway drugs to help the people in needed. I think all pharmaceutical company should at least try this once a year to improve their rating of their company. If other company participates in these events, their sells will increase over time. It’s also important that other people are concern about your health as well as yourself. This giveaway made a lot of people happy expressly the one that could afford to buy these drugs on their own.

Forrest Gump Review Essay

The third movie we watched was, â€Å"Forrest Gump†. Tom Hanks plays the main character, a simple man called Forrest Gump. The story is told through his innocent eyes, and we see just how crazy the world really is. His best friend, Jenny, is played by Robin Wright and Forrest’s mother is played by Sally Field. There are a few themes to be found in this movie, the main ones being, love, death and war. You can find love in the movie between Forrest and Jenny being best friends, and how Forrest took care and looked after Jenny in her time of need. Also there is a strong love between Forrest and his mother, and how she took care of him when he was younger and how later he took care of her when she was sick. Finally you can find love between Forrest and his new friend, Bubba that he meets along his journey, and how close they are and the plans they make. Death can be found in a few places in the movie, being it his mother, his wife, or his best friend; we see how Forrest overcomes these deaths and how innocent he is when it comes to death itself. The third theme, war, is found when Forrest finds himself working for the army in Vietnam. We see here that he sees the world as a crazy place and even though he is seen as simple, he sees that fighting isn’t the only way to solve things. This movie shows that no matter how simple people see you to be, you still know the difference between right and wrong. Forrest sees the world in a more innocent and sweet way, and as the movie goes on people start to see the world the way he does and start to understand him a little bit more.

Glow Sticks

Wh Mia Foust Mr. Dunlap Honor Chemistry, Per 7 December 21, 2010 Glow Sticks Since glow sticks have been invented, consumers have wondered how scientists are able to create these magical sticks of light. They work without producing heat. They don’t need a battery or a bulb, Magic? This â€Å"cool† light is called luminescence. Unlike incandescence, which is light from heat energy, luminescence can be emitted at normal or lower temperatures.There are several types of luminescence, bioluminescence, is what happens in fireflies: as the â€Å"bio† prefix indicates, it’s caused by a chemical reaction in living things, cathodoluminescence, is caused by electron beams. And Chemiluminescence. Chemilumiescence is the magic behind the glow stick. Chemiluminescence is what happens in glow sticks. The energy that is needed is supplied by chemical reactions. The chemical reaction of chemiluminescence releases energy that is absorbed by electrons in molecules. Electrons in the atoms make a quantum leap once they absorb the energy from the reaction.The electrons must either jump to or fall back from one quantum level to another quantum level this is the quantum leap. (1) The electron jumps to a higher level; at this point the electron is in what is called the excited state, or a higher quantum. As the electron returns to the lower state, it releases the energy as a photon of light; the photon is the light that we see. To make this easier to understand, think of a rock being picked up. When a person picks up a heavy rock, it takes energy, just as it takes energy for an electron to jump to a higher energy level.When the person drops the rock and it falls to the ground, the energy is released as sound energy. And in the case of the electron, the energy that is released is light energy instead of sound energy. Planck’s equation, E = hv was created by Max Planck and Albert Einstein. The equation relates the energy of a Quantum leap â€Å"E† to the frequency, or color of the light that is given off â€Å"v†. Chemists have been fascinated with â€Å"cold light† for as long as there have been fireflies flying around the night skies. In the first steps to making their very own â€Å"cold light,† they knew what was equired: a molecule that radiates light when it is excited and an energy source to excite that molecule. In the early 1960s, a young chemist by the name of Edwin A. Chandross was looking for a way to describe chemiluminescence. Chandross knew that peroxides had a large amount of potential energy. He concluded that they were likely to be participants in the future of chemiluminescence. In his work, Chandross was able to produce a reaction that produced a â€Å"cold light†. However, it wasn’t very efficient. Although Chandross’s work wasn’t efficient, it was a major step in the right direction for chemiluminescence. Edwin A.Chandross didn’t realize that his discovery had great potential. Sadly he never patented it. Around the same time, another chemist by the name of Michael M. Rauhut began studying some of Chandross’s work. Rauhut and his team began searching for a reaction that would be powerful enough to be practical to use. Eventually they designed a phenyl oxalate ester that, when mixed with hydrogen peroxide and a fluorescent dye, produced a reaction not quite as efficient as a firefly. The group called it Cyalume, which became its name when Rauhut’s company, American Cyanamid, began selling it as one of their chemical light products.The basic structure of a glow stick is particularly simple. It contains the somewhat bendable plastic outer shell and the easily broken inner glass vial. When the glow stick is ready to be used, an individual will grip each end of the glow stick and bend it. As the flexible external plastic casing of the glow stick begins to bow, it comes in contact with the internal glass vial, and beg ins to apply pressure to it. Because the inner glass vial is less flexible than the plastic, it will fracture sooner than the outer plastic. The outcome is that the glass vial breaks and spills its contents into the larger compartment of the glow stick.It is the breaking of the glass vial that gives glow sticks their distinctive snapping noise when activated. When the glass vial is broke. The contents are able to mingle and react with the liquids in the main compartment. The chemical reaction begins and the glow stick lights up. (2) Refer to Figure 1. The outer compartment contains fluorescent dye and phenyl oxalate ester. Floating inside that solution is the small glass vial that contains hydrogen peroxide. When the phenyl oxalate ester and the hydrogen peroxide are mixed, it creates a reaction that produces peroxyacid ester. The Peroxyacid ester then decomposes to create carbon dioxide.This releases energy that excites the electrons in the florescent dye and causes them to jump to a higher energy level. Then as the dye becomes less excited, it releases energy, and the electrons produce light as they drop back down to a lower energy level. (3) Examine figure 2. Glow stick products usually last anywhere from 4 – 10 hours at normal temperatures. A change in temperature will cause the stick to glow brighter or longer. Normally the particles travel at a slow speed; however an increase in temp will increase the heat/energy and cause the particles to travel faster and collide with greater force.Chemical reactions cause chemical bonds to be broken and then reformed between different atoms, creating new substances. (4) Companies often tell consumers to pop their glow sticks into the freezer to keep it glowing longer. This is because the lower temperatures slow down the reaction rate. Particles move slower and collide less, making the reaction slower at lower temperatures. The amount of time the glow stick lasts also depends of the color of the dye. Reds and gr eens last the longest, while blues through pinks last a shorter amount of time. See figure 3. Glow sticks have many practical and recreational uses.People are thinking of new uses for glow sticks and glow light products every day. Along with being used for entertainment and fun, glow sticks can be used for safety purposes. For instance glow sticks have contributed to helping many through natural disasters, search and rescue, and they are even used a great deal by military members. Glow sticks have been used in the military since 1962. The military has found a variety of uses for glow sticks including non-tactical military ops, safety, and night operations. The military uses glow sticks for night missions, and safety, to keep track of others.The military uses glow sticks also for non-tactical military ops, by marking others movements, and the trails that are to be traveled. Now glow sticks are put into all standard issue military safety kits. They have found they are very useful and are a lightweight, low hazard, and easy to store. The military issues about 15 million glow stick units a year. (5) Civilians use glow sticks for recreation and fun. Consumers use them for activities such as camping, fishing, hunting, fans wear them at concerts, and children wear them to be cool at fairs and carnivals.Because of their size, convenience, price, and safe to use anywhere source of light, glow sticks are a product nearly everyone enjoys. Many boaters use glow sticks for nighttime cruses to keep track of one another on the water. The most popular type of glow stick is the standard six-inch stick, and the most popular color is green because it last the longest. There are many stories where glow sticks have contributed to saving peoples lives in search and rescue missions. When people are lost and being searched for and they have a glow stick they can be found more easily in the dark. Glow sticks are truly magic in their own way.They have helped many in different ways. Sci entist like Chandross and Rauhut, who have helped pave the way for increased safety measures for men and women in uniform, and who help adoring fans create ambiance at concerts should be thanked. Figure 1 (6) Figure 2 (7) [pic] Figure 3 (8) [pic] Work Cited Cool Blue Light Experiment Kit. 1996, 16-17 (1) How Chemical Glow sticks work. http://glowgranny. com/articles/ chemical_glow_sticks_working. htm. 11/25/10 (2) Huang, Jason. Customer Service Rep, Happy Glow. jason. [email  protected] com 11/25/10. â€Å"interview† (3) Using heat to speed up reactions in the kitchen http://www. ynami cscience. com. au/tester/solutions/chemistry/juniorsciencefoodchem/homechemistry1. htm. 12/1/10 (4) History of glow sticks in the military www. militaryglowsticks. com/pages/history-of-glow-sticks-in-the-military. html 11/25/10 (5) User and Applications. http://jeanbont. pbworks. com/w/page/23323157/Applications 12/19/10 (6) Reactions. http://www. engin. umich. edu/~cre/web_mod/new/glowsticks /reactions. htm 11/25/10 (7) Extreme glow http://www. extremeglow. com/Merchant4/ merchant. mvc? Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=Helpful_Photo. 11/23/10 (8) ———————– 08 Fall Mia Foust Glow Sticks

AirJet Best Parts Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

AirJet Best Parts - Coursework Example The interest payments would be lower with National First. Hence, the loan should be taken from them. 3. The interest payment that AirJet Best Parts Inc. has to make is: Yes, I agree with the decision as the effective annual interest rate is lower than National First. The interest payment till the end of the term would be lower in comparison to the deal offered by National First. Task 2: Evaluating Competitor’s Stock 1. Rate of return is calculated for Raytheon Boeing and dividend stated is annualized. Price of Raytheon Boeing’s share is $65.38 and Dividend annualized is $1.68 which is given out quarterly as $0.42/share. 2. g=1% r=7.7% D=$1.5 3. Common stock will have a higher price than preferred stock because preferred stock pays a fixed dividend and tend to fluctuate in price far less than common shares. This means that preferred stock is comparatively less risky than common share therefore; the return offered on it will automatically be lower as compared to common sh ares. Common stock on the other hand, is entitled to high variance in price which means that it carries higher risk than preferred shares. Therefore, a common stock holder will demand a higher return to accept the given risk in the stock. Another reason of higher price for a common stock is the dividend growth. We know that the price of a share is the sum of all future cash flows associated with the stock. Therefore, if the company has high dividend growth then ultimately the cash flows of that stock will augment with each year and the sum of cash flows would inevitably increase. This would eventually lead to higher prices as compared to fixed dividend yielding preferred stock. 4. Price of a share is the sum of all future cash flows discounted to present value. Therefore, if there is any anticipated increase in the future cash flow then a subsequent effect in the price of the stock is expected. Therefore, if AirJet Best Parts, Inc. announces that dividends at the end of the year wil l increase then the price of the stock will also increase. Required rate of return is the return, expressed as a percentage, which an investor demands on an investment to take up the risk associated with the stock. It has a negative co-relation to the price of the stock. If the required rate of return for an investor increases then he would not be willing to pay the same price for the stock with the given dividend that he paid earlier. He would want the price to come down with other things held constant. Therefore, if the required rate of return for an investor of AirJet Best Parts Inc. increases then the price of the stock would have to decrease. Dividends are the future cash flows of the stock and there discounted values are accumulated to get the maximum price an investor should pay for the stock. If the dividend increases than the price of the stock will subsequently increase as well. Vice versa, if the dividends decrease then the price of the stock will also reduce. Task 3: Bon d Evaluation 1. If the coupon rate is changed to 7.06% semiannual then the bond will sell at par. 2. Coupon rate is the rate at which your interest value is calculated which an investor will receive on the bond. This will differ from yield to maturity because YTM is the return; an investor gets to purchase a bond at the current prevailing price which usually differs from the price it was issued at. 3. Bond prices involve returns for various risks which include interest rate

Publi Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Publi Law - Essay Example The Prime Minister of the UK is the leader of the Majority Party in the House of Commons. In the UK the legal system is founded on the concept of rule of law and endeavours to provide justice, equality and procedural fairness to all. (MSI Legal and Accounting Network Worldwide, n.d.). In the British Constitution, Supremacy of the Rule of Law is the main guiding principle. In order to achieve and ensure this Supremacy, it is essential to have independent judiciary who are not a part of the legislature. To surmount the trap laid by tyranny and despotism, the UK constitution has evolved in such a manner that there is separation of powers and this in turn provides protection against oppression. The rule of law was introduced to exclude the arbitrary authority of the government and to provide legal safeguards for the protection of the individuals and their rights. This concept was developed by Professor A.V. Dicey, a well known authority on the English Law, and published in the year 1885 in his magnum opus Law of the Constitution. The rule of law comprises of three principles, namely supremacy of the law, equality before the law and the predominance of the legal spirit. Dicey emphasized the role of the courts of law as guarantors of liberty and suggested that these ri ghts would be secured more effectively if they were enforceable in the courts of law rather than being merely declared in a document. In the case of Entick V. Carrington (1765), government officials raided the plaintiff's printing press and damaged his property. This was done without any reasonable grounds whatsoever, except for the reason that this had been ordered by the secretary of state. The House of Lords in their decision condemned the government's actions and awarded 300 to the petitioner as compensation. This illustrates the absolute supremacy of the law. In the case Padfield V. The Ministry of Agriculture (1968), milk producers in South - East England petitioned the Minister to appoint a committee of investigators to look into their complaints regarding the levels of subsidy to be granted to milk producers according to the England Agriculture Marketing Act, 1958. The Minister rejected this request. The House of Lords found fault with this rejection and ordered the Minister to appoint a committee of investigators. This case demonstrates the concept of equality before the law alongwith the concept of absolute supremacy of the law as described by Dicey in his Rule of Law. The enforcement of the law is, by a process of devolution, placed within the ambit of the people and this process is known as Trial by Jury. In this exemplary procedure enforcement and legislation are separated. Such separation constitutes the strongest safeguard as it subjects the enforcement of the statute of the law to a test of acceptance by the common law in the hands of the people. The Sovereign power of the nation is vested with the constitutionally limited monarch in the United Kingdom. The House of Lords and the House of Commons determine the context and contents of the bill that are enacted by the granting of royal assent. Royal assent is the prerogatory power of the monarch who is sworn contractually to abide by the coronation oath, the bill of rights, etc,. The monarch is bound by oath to govern the people according to the laws and customs of the nation (Bingley, 2005). The essential features of democratic constitutions which exist in one form or another, in virtually all

In what ways and how effectively can governments facilitate the Essay

In what ways and how effectively can governments facilitate the development of major industries and contribute to national competitiveness - Essay Example These are preferential trade agreement that allows free market access to the member countries. Increase in integration agreements demonstrates motivation of the national governments (Dennis, 2002). This is a strategy to gain advantage of size in market a creating a large market for the major industries and protecting them from outside competition (Hitt Ireland & Hoskisson,  1999). Removal of trade barriers may lead the firms to realign their organizational structures to focus on a regional market. These integrations will continue to be building blocks in the global economy. The formation international integration like European Union liberalized public procurement (Stanley Hoffman, 2002). It also reduced the cost of uncertainty of different currencies. Tesco is the UK’s leading food retailer, benefits from European Union fewer regulation. Therefore, it has been able to penetrate in several countries within the region. United States also entered into a trade agreement with Canada and Mexico, NAFTA to eliminate trade restrictions (UN, 2001). NAFTA also encourages improvement of infrastructures within member states. Wal-Mart was able to enter Mexico market in 1990, and by 2004 it became the largest retail store. This has enabled the Mexico retail sector to grow after the trade liberalization under NAFTA. Moreover, NAFTA has necessitated foreign direct investments in Mexico (Paprzycki & Fukao,  2008). The Agreement in the Southeast Asia (ASEAN) was formed to promote multilateral economic cooperation within the Pacific region (Rondinelli, Heffron & Pacific Basin Research Center, 2007). The leaders committed themselves to achieving free and open trade in the region. BYD also has benefited from zero tariffs under the free trade liberalization between China and ASEAN. The market systems are the drivers on the national economic growth and ways through which private enterprise

Bell South Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Bell South - Essay Example This is necessary if companies choose to offer various broadband packages and dial up services. In order to prepare for the new service offerings, Bell South laid off 1,500 managers in 2005. Early in 2006 it merged with AT&T and began realignment of its corporate structure. Positions included in the layoff were in staff support functions. Typically this might include human resource, technical and other ‘behind the scenes’ positions. The company states that the layoff was necessary for it to compete in the broadband market, claiming â€Å"the workforce reductions to save the company $175 million annually† (Duffy, 2005). With roughly 2.5% fewer employees, managers might have been required to reassign those tasks to other employees. Options might be to add one or two additional tasks to full time employees or to increase part time employee hours a bit. An entirely different approach would be to require employees to perform tasks for themselves that support personnel previously performed. Performing support tasks for oneself could require special training. It might also require current services to be streamlined. Bell South has reorganized its corporate structure by separating Residential Markets and Business Markets. Residential markets include small business and residential customers. Customer service, marketing, sales and product development within each unit now work together to provide customer oriented service more quickly. Bell South maintains that such restructuring should â€Å"streamline the process for delivering customer solutions† (PR Newswire, 2006).

Strategic finance essay with word counts no less than 1500

Strategic finance with word counts no less than 1500 - Essay Example Like any other capital budgeting model, CAPM has its own weaknesses and strengths. In order to improve its usefulness, the standard capital asset pricing model has undergone various developments and modifications in the recent past. Since its conception about four decades ago, the Capital Asset Pricing Model has been used widely in applications to estimate cost of capital of firms and evaluate the performance of asset portfolios in companies. This report argues that CAPM has received such a wide support and use in the industry despite its strong assumptions because it provides powerful and reliable predictions about risk measurements and the relationship between risk and expected return. CAPM has several problems which are considered by many as the results of theoretical failures emanating from the strong assumptions of the model (Rubinstein 2006). However, they could also be caused by the difficulties of its empirical implementation. Although these problems are common, it is also understood that other models have their problems too. Therefore, the best model is the one which has proved to be successful in its application. Capital Asset Pricing Model is the model with such wide and successful application becaus e it provides powerful and reliable predictions about risk and returns of a given portfolio of assets. The Capital Assets Pricing Model (CAPM) suggests that the equilibrium rates of return of risky assets in the market have a linear relationship with the market portfolio. CAPM is used to establish a theoretical value of required rate of return of an asset in a diversified portfolio. This takes into consideration the systematic and market risks which are non-diversifiable risks (Rubinstein 2006). The model also considers the markets expected return and the theoretical risk-free assets expected return. CAPM draws from the portfolio theory developed by Harry Markowitz (1959). The formula of calculating expected return of an asset portfolio

Business research-Second cup Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Business research-Second cup - Essay Example Every employee is trained by baristas (coffee experts) on the various aspects of coffee making, including selection of beans, crushing, roasting and other technical aspects connected with the processing of the beans. Hence, all the employees receive training in all aspects of coffee making, including knowledge about growing of coffee etc. (Starbucks Corporation: Competing in a global market, 2003). Starbucks lays special emphasis on building a unique culture with its people – it believes that its true strength are its employees and therefore, they are given good benefits and remuneration and also given stock options, or ownerships in the Company. (Starbucks Corporation: Competing in a global market, 2003). Starbucks does not offer franchises to anybody nor does it envisage doing franchisee business in the foreseeable future. In the North of America, majority of shops are bought, owned and operated by Starbucks itself; however, in exceptional cases, where real estate ownership may not be forthcoming, such as airport locations, grocery chains and major foodstuff establishments, the Company enters into licentiate agreements with Companies who provide access to these places. However, the shops are manned by Starbucks personnel themselves. (Business opportunities. 2007). The reasons why Starbucks do not franchise is because the franchisees may not be able to maintain the highest standards of quality and service which forms the bulwark of Starbucks’ reputation. However, their competitor, First Cup operates through a chain of franchisees. The main problem with franchisees is that consistency of franchises performance over all the territories have to be maintained, and a greater degree of control has to be established. Franchisee reporting also has to be delineated. The degree of autonomy and chain of command which is available to own staff cannot be extended for the

Public policy making Essay Example for Free

Public policy making Essay This section sets the context for testing the hypotheses. Historically, church-state relationships have been a recurring and significant source of political controversy in European states. The outcomes of these controversies may be viewed in terms of the following taxonomy: the Erastian model, in which the state has assumed responsibility for the direction of the church; the liberal model, in which the state is secular and neutral in its relationships with the church(es) found in its society; the theocratic model, in which the church has achieved supremacy in religious and secular affairs; the spheres model, in which the church prevails in some spheres and the state in other spheres of society; and the anti-church model, in which the state stands in opposition to the church and seeks to curtail or eliminate religion. The Erastian model. On this model, the state seeks to organize the church as a department of the state. This model is commonly associated with the Protestant German states of the Reformation. The Erastian model confronts the problem of internal religious change, perhaps expressed in controversies over liturgy or doctrinal controversies. From the regulatory perspective, two broad responses to internal change may be taken by the Erastian state. First, the state may simply tolerate a good deal of doctrinal variation within the church viewed as a common religious house. Second, the state may seek to play the role of arbiter or imprimatur in determining the correctness of certain positions in theological disputes. Both positions run the risk of reduced credibility for both the church and the state. The liberal model. The liberal model argues for neutrality of the state in the affairs of churches. It conceives the state as one in which there is no privileged relationship between the state and any particular church. Although the liberal model has its origins in European thought, it may be argued that it has rarely been found in European countries. Few European regimes have adopted neutrality as the basis for church-state regulation. The United States is often judged to be a better example than European nations of the application of the liberal tradition to church-state relations. [14] The United States also is a nation with one of the highest rates of church attendance on either side of the North Atlantic. Does the fact that the American state constructs church-state relations as a wall of separation contribute to the apparently greater American public willingness to attend church and to attach importance to religion? Roger Finke has argued that the deregulation of churches in the United States has promoted religious individualism; that is, for an American church to survive it must attract communicants in the open market by responding to the individuals understanding of religion as one of personal conversion. [15] The theocratic model. Here the church assumes or is given a sphere of influence that embraces both religious and secular spheres. As with the state in the Erastian model, the church is supreme and so the question of the states defining boundaries does not arise. The churchs autonomy in determining public policy is not confined to its membership but embraces the broader community in which the church is located. This model may exist in regions within a state but certainly is not characteristic of nations in Europe today. The best example of a European theocracy in the last century was the Papal states in what is now modern Italy. The spheres model. This model can best be described by saying what it is not. It is not the liberal tradition or the Erastian or the theocratic. Rather, it may be described as the situation in which the society is understood as made up of competing or perhaps complementary spheres. Conflicts between the Holy Roman Emperors and religious hierarchies often reflected this battle over spheres of autonomy. Variations of this model are found in a remarkably wide range of European nations today. These range from nations that profess to be of a certain church, to others that are critical of a specific church. Samuel Krislov argues that the determination of boundaries between church and state is enormously difficult in any system that seeks to recognize separate spheres of responsibility between a church and a state. [16] It is probably useful to conceptualize the spheres model as a continuum. At one end are the Roman Catholic Churches in Ireland and in todays Poland, where the sphere of church influence is quite large and embraces many areas of public policy making. At the other end of the continuum are Scandinavian churches which have narrowly-defined spheres of influence in public policy making. The anti-church model. This final model is one in which the state is deeply critical if not in outright opposition to the church. The former regimes of Eastern Europe reflected an oppositional tradition as historically did the nineteenth and early twentieth century regimes in Mexico and in France which often sought to disestablish or to curtail church life severely. Examples of opposition include expulsion of religious orders, seizure of church resources, and prohibition of many church-sponsored activities.

Literature Review On Material Management Construction Essay

Literature Review On Material Management Construction Essay Nowadays, many contractors are doing investment to construction project to earn their profits. Unfortunately, there are not all contractors able to earn the profit of the investment in construction projects. This is because some of the contractor does not proper management the materials. For examples, a contractor over order the material such as cements, bricks and reinforcement, the cost will increase and the profits will become low or deficit of the money. Therefore, a systematic material management is very importance in construction site to avoid over ordering and receive low quality materials at the same time can minimizing the cost and maximum the profits Construction materials can be consisting as a major cost for any construction project. This is because 50% or more of the total cost of the project is for purchasing the materials or even storage the materials costs. Thus, efficiently material management is very importance because it will cost a lot of money. Therefore, the contractor should consider the time to order the material when they needs and the time delivery to the site. This is because if the material does not come at the schedule time will cause delay of the projects. In additions, a proper site plan to put the material is very importance for construction site. For example, if the materials such as concrete batch plant putting too far from the build places, it will cause a lot of time for labours to bring the concrete to sites. This will delay the time to complete. Therefore, difference material should locate at the suitable location. This will help to increase the productivity of the construction projects. Now, Almatad Sdn. Bhd is carrying out a housing project which is semi-detached houses and double storey terrace in Johor. The construction site layout has been prepared which illustrates the layout equipment, building materials and access roads for the erection of the building. As a new site manager of the project, I noticed that many problems are carrying out by the plans and those problems will cause the projects to be delay or increase the cost of the projects. Thus, I need to re-organize the layout of the site and improve the site accordingly. 2.0 Literature review on material management According to Arnold, J. R. and Chapman (2004), materials management can define as an organizing function responsible for planning and controlling the materials flow. This means that the materials management is a planned procedure that involves from the initial purchasing, delivery, handling and minimisation of waste of the material with the purpose to ensuring the quality, quantity and time of the requirement should meet accordingly. Material management are the activities involved to plan, control, purchase, expedite, transport, store, and issue in order to achieve an efficient flow of materials and that the required materials are bought in the required quantities, time, quality and at an acceptable price. (Stukhart ,1995) 2.1 Importance of material for a project. Most of the organization are having the same problem which is related to the managing the flow of the materials. Therefore, the efficient management of materials is the main keys issue to determine the success of a completion of a project. In addition, the control to the materials is subject to the difference company and should be handled effectively to complete the project. Building materials cost is the major cost for the project. The cost represented by materials changed and may include between 20 % and above of the total of the project. According to the Stukhart (1995) and Bernold and Treseler(1991) studies, the materials cost can be around of 50% to 60% of the total of project cost. Materials are very important in the operations of the construction site since unavailability of materials can stop the construction work. In addition, unavailability of materials will affect the productivity and cause to the completion of the project. Other that unavailability of materials, the excessive quantities of materials could also create the serious problems to managers in the construction site. This is because storage of materials can increase the costs of the project. In addition, when there are limited spaces in the construction site, the managers have to find other storage from other people to store the materials until they are needed. So it will require the re-handling of materials and the costs of the project. Some of the requirements must take to handle and store the materials properly when they are received. Thus, special attention should be given to materials after they purchased from the supplier. According to Damodara (1999), there is obvious that materials can provide saving when it obtained at the lowest price to the company. In early construction industry, many construction companies experienced that the increase in costs and a decrease in productivity which due to inflation and economic problems. From the research of Stukhart(1995) we can concluded that early construction industry were not using their resources efficiently and that the decrease in productivity is due to poor management in the construction site and materials.(Stukhart, 1995). Material management has been the main issue of concern in the construction industry. By the research of Baldwin t. al (1994) that is more that 40% of the time lost due to bad management in construction site, poor documentation of materials, lack of materials on site when needed and inadequate storage. Therefore, the need for a proper material management system becomes mandatory. Many companies increased their efficiency of materials management to remain the competitive and protected for their future project. They try to reduced their overheads cost and improved their productivity strategies. The saving cost and improvement can run accordingly by materials management. The material available on site and management system is the main point to success a construction project. Better materials management will help to increase the efficiency in the operation in construction site and reduce the overall cost from the total cost of the project. Top management such as project manager, site manager or architect should pay more effort to materials management. This is because available of the materials will affect the successful from their project. When the material is shortages, the high interest rates should pay, rising prices of the materials and competition with other companies. There is a developing attentiveness in the construction industry that material management needs to be solved as an overall integrated administration activity. 2.2 Benefit of material management An effective material management system can bring many benefits for a company in construction industry. From the study of Construction Industry Institute (CII) we can concluded that labor productivity could be improved more than 6% and can produce 4-6% additional savings from the total cost (Bernold and Treseler, 1991). Among these benefits are: Reducing the overall costs of materials Better handling of materials Reduction in duplicated orders Materials will be on site when needed and in the quantities required Improvements in labor productivity Improvements in project schedule Quality control Better field material control Better relations with suppliers Reduce of materials surplus Reduce storage of materials on site Labor savings Stock reduction Purchase savings Better cash flow management 2.3 On-site Material Management Functions Chandler (1987) stated that, the function of site control of materials is to control their transports to the site in order to control the waste and ensure the material available on site in the right time. He also added that, materials control responsibilities can be separated into two areas of actions which is: Action Prior to Site Delivery This may include the following actions: Continuous check on order pending delivery or call for division dates Managing the change in the rate of work movement and evaluate its impact or materials Deliveries schedule to adjust delivery dates accordingly. Inform the supplier about delivery adjustments Discuss and settle with the supplier to adapt to the agreed schedule. Follow up the quantities and specification changes of the materials Chasing a major project in a reasonable period of time before supply assurance. Action after Site Delivery Concerned for materials receiving, checking and payment. These activities and actions provide an important means for controlling the waste of material, and make the right supplier to eliminating the addition cost paid. However, whatever the actions of materials management is running, they need a cooperative involvement of both parties such as head office and the site functions that are primary controlled under the action of site management: Materials Planning and expediting Materials receiving and inspection. Materials handling and distribution. Inventory and inventory control Materials handling and distribution Quality Assurance and Quality control Material Surplus disposal 2.4 Process of the material management There are few steps which can implement the material management to construction site which is planning, purchasing, logistics, handling, stock and waste control. Each process was state out its characteristic as important role for an effective materials management. Planning Materials planning include measuring, ordering and scheduling. It is emphasized that planning is a very important process to increase the productivity, profit, and assisting the time to complete the construction projects. The productivity of the construction project will be hanged if the material planning process is not implemented properly. Purchasing Purchase the materials and have the services from supplier to get the support of operations as the construction project from production to marketing, sales and logistics. For examples, a detailed material list and co-ordination of the purchasing and order of material are significant to assuring the material will available on construction site. Logistics Logistics is a concept that stresses movement of the materials and it involve planning, implementing, and controlling the movement and storage of all things from raw materials to the finished of the product to meet client requirements. During construction project, routing of the materials will affect the cost and time to complete the construction projects. Handling Handling of materials is the flow of the materials to the component that provides for their movement and location. Due to the rate of handling materials, there are some quality needs to be in considerations when designing a materials handling system. The selection of the materials handling equipment is important to enhance the production process, provide the effective operation of manpower, increase production and advance the system to be more flexible. Stock and Waste Control Stock control can categorize as a technique planned to be the cover and to ensure all materials or equipment are available when needed. Stock control include raw materials, processed materials, assembly components, consumable stores, general stores, maintenance materials and spares, work in progress and finished products. It is very important as the construction materials were delivery as requested and with the progression by the proper management of stock control. At the same time, construction activities will generate big amount of the waste and it will cause difficulty to the construction industry. However, with the planning of the material management which is effective will help to reduce the waste of material and increase the profit of the companies. 2.5 Challenging of Materials Management There are few categories that selected in Materials management: The specification and measurement of the materials; Where to locate and thus procurements progression when the instruction of stock is done dealings by the supplier; Transaction to site and inspection of the order as off-loading, and storing onsite; The executive and monetary process of payment; The usage of materials in production on the job site and waste remove production. Process of purchasing and supply of materials, the challenges often occurs when the materials is not equivalent as the ordering purchase, the skipped list out ordering materials, timing of materials arriving, quantities of materials, lack of training and adequate management, lack of Just In Time strategy, lack of communication and relation between contractor and supply chain companies are the main impediments. In construction site the challenging are obvious which are specifically as: Miscarriage to order stock on time which postponements the projects; Mistaken time delivering which interrupts the work schedule; The amount ordering more than the needs; Wrong materials or fault in track of materials leads double work; Scamp on materials from delivery into production; Double handling of materials because of inadequate material. The key to success of a construction management process is to be effective in construction. The main problems lead to ineffective are fault timing of materials received by the site or inadequate quality, improper information for materials arrival to the site stock, missing materials, unavailability of storage space, and waste of labour for materials searching on site. 3.0 Comment and evaluate the existing site layout relation to the positioning of the material on the construction site Timber Concrete batching plant Access Double Storey Terrace Semi-detached houses Temporary Road Materials Scaffold store Temporary building Waste materials Store Reinforcement Materials Store Figure 1: Existing Site Layout 3.1 Evaluation of Existing Site Layout (Figure 1) From the existing site layout plan, many material or place are located wrongly as below. Concrete batching plant is putting too far with the material which is cement and aggregate. It normally must put near to the build place because concrete batching plant is for mix the cement and aggregate to form the concrete. Therefore, if store it at a distance from site, it will take time to transfer the mix concrete to the building places. Waste material should not located at behind of the temporary building. This is because the temporary building used for project manager and others consultant to have meeting or discussion session and to make decision. If the waste materials located behind of it, the sound or odour will disturb the individual which is inside the temporary building. Store should have a check point to have record through the transferable of the materials and instrument of the store. Without the check point, the instrument will easy to be lost and hard to search for the needed. With the check point, it will be easier for the employee to have checking record of the material or instrument. Therefore, the contractor could save up some portable cost as when the needs to rebuy the new instrument or materials which are lost founded through the record in the statement. Entrance to the site or offices was too long as when the truck originates during working hours it will disturbs the labour performance as in their works. Security of the site does not be consider in the site plan, this mean the stolen easy to be happen without any security at the site Each store does not name it accordingly. So when the worker need find some instrument will take times. 4.0 Identify possible problem that may face by site manager relating the materials management on the site There are many problem faces by site manager relating to the materials management on the site which is: Limited space and cost There are limited spaces allowed on construction site for the location of the materials or store. In addition, budget for build the store and materials places is limited. Therefore, Site manager need to solve the problem according their experiences. Late or early delivery the material on site Materials does not delivery in right time will cause problem to site manager. If the materials delivery early, site manager need to arrange a place for put the materials. In another way, if late delivery materials to site, it will cause delay of the work as plan by site manager. Delivery wrong materials, wrong quality and wrong quantity If the materials delivery on site without any checked by site manager, when the materials is needs to be used only satisfy that the materials in the situation of wrong materials wrong quality and also wrong quantity, it will cause delay of the work and increase the cost of the projects. Theft or spoil when the material is needed. When the materials does not put or keep accordingly, it will cause theft or materials spoils happen. Therefore, the site manager needs to take extra cost to purchase the new materials or instruments. Waste material increase When the materials does not keeping in the safety place, the materials will be spoils then increase the waste materials. As example when the cement just located at site without any cover, when rain the cement will spoils. Poor site layout When the site layout does not plan accordingly, it will cause many trouble to the site manager and workers. For examples, the concrete batching plant located far from the site, it will take time for worker transfer the concrete to the site so it may cause delay of work as time table. 5.0 Proposed new site layout to improve the existing site layout Waste materials Reinforcement Timber Joint shop Temporary Road Aggregate Store Concrete batching plant Double Storey Terrace Semi-detached houses Security Check Access Car Park Temporary building Check Point Materials Materials Scaffold store Instrument Store Safety Equipment Store Figure 2: New Site Layout 5.1 Suggested Improved Layout (Figure 2) As a site manager, I will suggest the new site layout as shows in Figure 2 which is have some changes of the position from existing site layout plan and addition new locations, which is Concrete batching plant moves to the site and will have a temporary aggregate storage to put cement and aggregate. This will help to increase the work daily because the labour no need to move the concrete from far to the site. At the same time, when have the rain, the cement can just located at the aggregate stored without scared the cement will be damage. All storage should name according to the type of thing they put, therefore it wonà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢t be mixed up with other materials and easy to find out the equipment or instrument when needs. The storage from new site layout all already named accordingly such as aggregate storage, instrument storage and safety equipment storage. Aggregate storage is just for temporary for putting the cement, piles and aggregate. Instrument storage is for putting machine and instrument. Safety equipment storage is for putting some safety equipment such as signboard, helmet, safe boots and others. Reinforcement and timber can be located together besides of the joint shop. Therefore, the labour can easy take out timber and reinforcement to do the joint without carry from far places. It helps to save time and increase the daily work. Addition a car park for parking. Therefore, the labour can park their car in safety places without any extra fee and will perform will when work because no need scare the summons when parking outside. Addition a security check in the main entrance. It is necessary to have a proper guard in the entrance to keep track of all visitors to the project. Therefore, the safety of the internal site and the materials will be protected. Addition a check point as the guard for material, instrument, safety equipment and scaffold. The main duty of the check point is received and checks the materials according to quality and quantity which order by the site managers. In addition, it also helps to record and distribute the materials or instrument according to the needs of the site. 6.0 Suggestion/recommendation that will give strong impact on the material management process in the future based on the case study The suggestion that will give strong impact on the material management process is the top management of contracting companies should encourage their development using materials management systems in their construction project. They can make some reward for their employee to attend training courses of construction materials management. So they can save more effort and time to achieve more exact results. Besides, the site manager should arrange the waste materials accordingly by recycles and without recycles. For examples, some waste materials from reinforcement can recycle. Therefore the site manager should correct it at a place and sell the recycle factory. This method can help site manager to cover back some cost even is less but at the same time will decrease the waste materials from construction. In additions, concept of Just In Time (JIT) should apply in materials management. The JIT idea originates from the manufacturing sector. It helps to smoother the manufacture process through the efficient management of materials such as providing the right materials with right quantities and quality, just in time for production in manufacturing sector. By applying the concept of JIT, it can help to improve the movement of materials from the suppliers to the construction site. With the JIT management system, the materials maybe delivered to site according schedule or just the day before. Health and safety should be provides according to the health and safety handbook. Even it is costly to provide that safety equipment but it is very importance to the worker determined their safety. So that when they are working, the accident can be secured accordingly. In addition a successful construction project is having the zero accident in construction site. So the health and safety is very important in construction site. The temporary facilities should provide accordingly to the project. The project manager should select the temporary facilities some as offices, canteen, and rest room for worker and other. It should estimate the size according to the site space and the needed of the people. In addition, a proper management of temporary facilities will increase the productivity in construction site. 7.0 Conclusion In conclusion, material management is the main key for success a construction project. This is because the cost of materials is represented more than 60% or above cost from the total cost of project. Therefore, with the effective management of the materials, the company can save more than 6% or above of the cost from a project. Therefore, the materials management method must apply in construction site to guide the materials. With the proper arrangement of the materials will help contractor minimum the cost and maximum their profits. Besides, the proper site plan is very important to the construction site. The location of the materials, storage and other temporary facilities should located according the efficient of the construction work. This will help the employee complete their work as schedule by the site manager without any addition of unnecessary work. When the productivity is high, the project cans completion of the time given by the client or early from the completion date. In addition, the top management should give their employee attending the course regarding materials management. This will helps them arrange the materials accordingly to increase their future project and arrange the site layout according to the needs of construction project. Health and safety also is a part of importance in construction site to provide zero accident. It should follow according to hand book of health and safety. This is because the construction site is the risky site, when the health and safety can be determined on site; the worker will feel secured and confident to perform their work as well as possible. Successful management of construction resources has to be based on updated information and processed utilizing a well-designed construction resources management system.

Causes and Effects of Child Poverty in Britain

Causes and Effects of Child Poverty in Britain TAQ 1: TOPIC: CHILD POVERTY IN BRITAIN: THE CAUSES AND THE EFFECTS. TAQ 2: TOPIC: CHILD POVERTY IN BRITAIN: AN ANALYSIS OF THE CAUSES AND THE EFFECTS. The aim of this essay is to discuss and analyse the causes and effects of child poverty in Britain. It will start by giving a definition of child poverty, explaining and analysing the causes and effects of child poverty distinguishing between fact and opinion, looking into the severity of the effects of child poverty and lastly, suggesting ways with which this menace can be dealt with. According to According to the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF 2006) children living in poverty are those who experience deprivation of the material, spiritual and emotional resources needed to survive, develop and thrive, leaving them unable to enjoy their rights, achieve their full potential or participate as full and equal members of society. The Christian Children Fund (CCF) definition is based on Deprivation (lack of essential conditions and services needed for the development of a child’s full potential), exclusion (denial of rights, dignity and voice as a result of prejudiced processes) and vulnerability (incapability of society to handle deal with threats to children in their environment). Children living in poverty are as a result of being born to poor parent(s) who are poor as a result of various reasons such as unemployment or low paid jobs, lack of education, government policies, disabilities and discrimination. When a parent lacks the required resources such as a regular disposable income to bring up a child, that child’s well-being is restricted. Other causes of child poverty includes teen pregnancy, unplanned pregnancy, increase in number of single parents (a child raised by a single parent is more likely to live in poverty than that raised by a couple) and insufficient benefits (CPAG 2015). In United Kingdom, the benefits system is in place to act as a safety barrier for people who are out of work or earn insufficient amount of money. The reality is that these benefits are hardly ever enough to cater for the needs of these people thereby affecting their families, leaving them to live below the poverty line (CPAG 2015). The effects of child poverty are not far fetching. This menace damages a child in all aspects- physically, socially, emotionally. A child living in poverty is prone to ill-health, low attainment in life, low morale and a feeling of rejection. These can give rise to anti-social behaviours which will in turn affect the society. According to Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG 2015), it was reported that child poverty costs the United Kingdom at least  £29 billion pounds each year,  £20. 5 billion of which is a direct cost to the government due to the additional demands for services and benefits. To effectively curb this issue, there has to be a collective effort from both the government and her people. The government has to provide profitable jobs with excellent incentives to motivate people to work; better benefits structure, where benefits received is not too much to discourage work and at the same time not too low in which case they are found living below the poverty line. REFERENCES AND BIBLOGRAPHY Child Poverty Action Group. 2015. Child poverty facts and figures. [Online] Child Poverty Action Group. Available at: < http://www.cpag.org.uk/child-poverty-facts-and-figures> [Assessed 16 February 2015]. Enrique, et al. 2006. Children living in poverty: Overview of definitions, measurements and policy. [Pdf] New York: United Nations Children’s Fund. Available at: < http://www.unicef.org/Children_Living_In_Poverty.pdf> [Assessed 16 February 2015]. TAQ 3: CHILD POVERTY IN BRITAIN: WHY YOU SHOULD ACT. Child poverty in Britain is a phenomenon that should be addressed by everyone whether an individual is being classed as middle class citizen or not as it affects the whole society in the long run. Having read through a few articles on child poverty, interesting facts and figures has made me both curious and emotional. According to the Child Poverty Action Group’s write up (CPAG 2015) which I read online, there are currently 3.5 million children living in poverty in the United Kingdom, that’s a ratio of more than one in four. These kids live in deplorable conditions, often left cold and hungry, unable to play and have fun with friends or even go on school trips. All these situations affect them in the long term. The CPAG blog also reported that by the age of sixteen, children receiving free meals at school achieve 1.7 grades lower at GCSE than their wealthier peers; they leave school with lower qualifications which in turn lead to lower earnings over the course of a work ing life time and it has also been projected that 4.7 million children will be living in poverty by 2020. I personally find these figures appalling and saddening and I believe that while the government has a responsibility to her people, companies and individual members of the society all have a role to play if we are to tackle this issue effectively. Increases in the number of single mothers or parent, unplanned pregnancies, teenage pregnancies are some of the underlying causes of child poverty. Teenagers (kids who think they are adults and matured enough to make major decisions, feel it is their God- given right to be rebellious and can hardly take care of themselves) should not be having children. These teenagers need to be sexually educated, encouraged to get involved in profitable activities that will open their minds and expand their horizons so they can tap into their full potential. This is not to say that sometimes these kids would not derail from the right path. This is where having a strong family unit comes into play. If and when they do, they need to be supported emotionally, physically, financially especially by family. Companies (minor, major, multi- national) should also be involved. These companies should have a social responsibility to the community in which they are operating. Having support groups, organising campaigns, making regular donations in cash and in kind and creating awareness will suffice. The government should not be less concerned. She has a duty to provide basic amenities, profitable jobs and benefits structure that will motivate and inspire her people. Children are gifts that should be cherished. They should not be born to suffer and live in poverty. They need to be nurtured in love because they are after all- OUR future.

Scientific Method Essay -- Science Experiments Essays

Scientific Method Thales of Miletus (624-546 B.C.) was the first to suggest a single material substratum for the universe--namely water or moisture. His cosmology proposes that all objects in the universe are composed of water. His choice of water as the component building block of all matter may have been due to the apparent motion of bodies of water and the conversion of water to vapor and back. Anaximander of Miletus (610-545 B.C.) was the foremost student of Thales. He denied Thales claim that water was the basic matter of the universe, stating instead that the world was derived from apeiron (meaning "unlimited"). The state of apeiron preceeded the separation into other qualities, such as hot and cold or wet and dry , and thus represents the primitive unity of all things. Anaximenes of Miletus was a student of Thales and Anaximander. He, however, proposed "aer" as the component matter of the universe. He believed that when aer was evenly distributed it was the air of the atmosphere, and as it condensed it became mist, water, and eventually other solid matter. If aer was rarefied it became fire. The progression of ideas from Thales to Anaximenes, held by Aristotle to be the fathers of philosophy, shows a sequence of refinements in the beliefs regarding the nature of the universe. Though no modern scientists would suscribe to their theories regarding the nature of the basic constituents of matter, they illustrate the process of refining previous theories in l...

Gender and Power Relations in Browning’s Porphria’s Lover and My Last D

Gender and Power Relations in Browning’s Porphria’s Lover and My Last Duchess Robert Browning provides a critical view of gender and power relations in his dramatic monologues â€Å"Porphyria’s Lover† and â€Å"My Last Duchess.† The dramatic monologue, as S.S. Curry has written, "reveals the struggle in the depths of the soul† (11). Browning delves into the minds of characters to show their conceptions of women and ideas of power. He explores the mental processes of the characters, and invites readers to question societal ideas of power and gender. The mental pathologies of the speakers is emphasized, which forces readers to examine the sanity of their own notions of gender dynamics. In the Victorian age, the idea of separate spheres was an integral part of society. Men’s roles involved participation in the marketplace of the industrial society. Women, on the other hand, were expected to remain in the domestic sphere. They were assigned subordinate, and often passive roles, whereas men played direct roles in an industrial society, therefore being active agents. William Greg’s review-essay â€Å"Prostitution† (1851) provides insight into societal conceptions of men and women and their respective roles. Although Greg believes prostitutes are treated unfairly by society, he nonetheless views prostitution as â€Å"the darkest, the knottiest, and the saddest† social problem â€Å"which philosophy has to deal with† (448). A critical reason prostitution is ostracized is because it violates traditional ideas of gender relations. Prostitutes are women who participate in the marketplace. They, therefore, venture outside the realm of their expected sphere, the home. This is dissonant with Greg’s view – which is a reflection of society’s view ... ...nventional gender relationships. They were assumed to be the active agents and women were expected to be passive. Browning draws attention to the madness of the narrators by delving into their minds. In doing so, Browning forces readers to question their own conceptions of gender and power relations, since the men’s views are but an exaggeration of societal ideas concerning gender dynamics. Works Cited Browning, Robert. The Complete Works of Robert Browning, Volume III. Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1971. Curry, S.S. Browning and the Dramatic Monologue. Boston: Expression Company, 1908. DeVane, William Clyde. A Browning Handbook. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1955. Foucault, Michel. The History of Sexuality, Volume I. New York: Vintage Books, 1990. Greg, W.R. "Prostitution." The Westminster Review 53 (July 1850): 448-506.

Managing Financial Resources Essay

SUMMARY RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The proposed refrigerator manufacturing and sales project for Tesca Works, Inc. is a financially complicated project which on the surface, given the increase in energy costs and customer demand may seem like a winning proposition. However, when we delve further into the details of the financial projections along with projections of the future of the refrigerator market we are able to make a confident recommendation to Mr. Burton and the executive staff at Tesca Works, Inc. Using the information provided by the Tesca team we were able to create a comprehensive capital budget and cash flow analysis for the proposed refrigerator project. Through our analysis we found that the cost of capital of the project to be 13.487% and a Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) to be at a value of 9.70%. Factoring in the WACC into our projections we found that if the demand maintains at an average rate the project will be at a positive Net  Present Value of $5,997,505.31 with an IRR of 13.21%, a profitability index of 8.84, and an approximate payback period of 6.84 years. Please see Exhibits below for a snapshot of the capital budget and NPV values. This information seemed to be very promising for the project in general. However, our continued analysis showed the project to be very sensitive to the sales price per unit of the refrigerator. We used the average demand scenario to produce a sensitivity analysis and found that with just a 5% decrease in the sales price of the refrigerator the NPV quickly dipped into a negative value thus showing the project to be extremely sensitive to the sales price of the refrigerator. Our scenario analysis also exposed a strong probability of the project giving a negative Net Present Value and giving a probable low Internal Rate of Return of only 4.01%. This is mainly due to the projects sensitivity to the sales price of the refrigerator and the potentially lower sales in the event of weak demand for the product. Because of the high probability for a very low IRR and negative NPV we are recommending that the project be rejected. The information we have uncovered through detailed financial analysis showed that the project is far too sensitive to lower demand and lower sales prices per unit. This is especially true for a lower sales price for the refrigerator. We found that even a small decrease in the sales price of just over 1% would cause the project’s NPV to become negative, even with an average unit sales demand. There may be potential for an average or strong demand in the marketplace, however there is too much risk to recommend project acceptance. A decision to move forward with the project would be mainly based on a ‘gut-feeling’ rather than on sound financial reasoning. Thus it is our official recommendation that Tesca Works, Inc. reject the project. 1) IMPORTANCE OF ENERGY COST SITUATION The question of energy cost being a factor of the decision to move forward with this project is of critical importance. This is because whether or not consumers are inspired to purchase a new appliance may be spurred by  increases in energy costs as well as possible tax benefits or rebates from power generating companies. Some consumers may be aware of the benefits of energy efficient appliances which may cause an increase in the normal demand for refrigerators. Tesca is in a unique position to be able to offer high efficiency refrigerators to the United States public at a time when the public is looking to reduce their use of electricity and other utility costs. When we look at the graph above it can be seen that the cost of electricity has steadily increased over the last 10 years. The price per kilowatt hour has increased almost 50% in 10 years (EIA, 2014). Thus to the consumer the price of energy is a big concern and the costs will most likely continue into the future. There is potential for an increased demand to replace aging inefficient appliances that are causing increased electrical bills for consumers. The energy cost and potential benefits to the consumer are of importance when determining the future of this project. The project is forecast to be of a positive value if the demand for refrigerators is at an average or strong demand from consumers. However, the realization of a high or average demand is mainly based on ‘gut-feeling’ rather than on sound financial information. There are too many variables in the marketplace that could cause demand to be weaker than projected. Such variables as a weak economy or recession could cause sales to drop which in turn would cause the project to lose its value quickly. 2) What is the project’s cost of equity? What is the appropriate discount factor to use for evaluating the refrigerator project? As seen in Exhibit I below, the project’s cost of equity (COE) is calculated to be 13.487%. We found this value by using the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) formula by adding the treasury note yield with the beta value, then taking the market return rate and subtracting the treasury note yield. We then multiply those values together to attain the cost of equity value of 13.487%. This means there is a rate of return on investment of 13.487%. The Beta for Tesca Works, Inc. is fairly consistent with their competition. Tesca’s beta value is at 1.3 which means that Tesca’s value has been more volatile than the market. While this means there is more risk when investing in Tesca there is also a greater possibility for higher rates of  return. Exhibit I also shows the table used to calculate the Weighted Average Cost of Capital (WACC) or discount factor which we used to evaluate this particular project. We used the following formula to calculate the WACC for this project. We know that the higher the weighted average cost of capital the less likely it is that Tesca will be creating value for its investors. The WACC helps us to determine if a company is creating value and presents the minimum return to satisfy investors and creditors. 3) Which of the two compressors should be used in the refrigerator if you decide to go ahead with the project and why? As seen in Exhibit II we determined that the CM-004 compressor should be used for this particular project. We came to this conclusion by finding the present value of the five year compressor warranty and adding that to the cost of the compressor. We used the weighted average cost of capital as the rate in our present value calculations. While the TS-L12 has a less expensive purchase price it has a more expensive warranty cost for the five year warranty period thus making it a more expensive overall compressor. When we use the present value calculations on both compressors, factoring in the warranty, we found that the present value of the CM-004 is $18.21 less expensive than the TS-L12 compressor. This makes the CM-004 compressor 4% less expensive to purchase for the warranty life of the compressor. It was important to take calculate the present values of both compressors to get an accurate comparison of the costs of the two compressors for the five year warranty costs of each compressor. While on the surface the TS-L12 may have seemed less expensive the overall cost in present dollars was higher when we factored in the value of the five year warranty on both compressors. 4) Forecast the project’s cash flows for the next twenty years. What assumptions did you use? Once we selected the appropriate compressor to use we were able to plug in  certain input values into our equations to create a cash flow projection for the entire project lifetime. We used the weighted average cost of capital value found in our earlier calculations as one of our input values. We also found the present value of the refrigerator, see Exhibit IV, by using the input values given in the financial information from Tesca such as the labor, parts, and compressor costs. We found the cost of the refrigerator to be $1,269.36, see Exhibit III. ASSUMPTIONS MADE: Certain assumptions were made when calculating the projected cash flows for the refrigerator project. We assumed inflation would remain at 2.5% and used that value to increase the sales price, variable cost, and administrative fixed costs each year. Please see Exhibit IV for a breakdown of the inputs used for the cash flow projections. This allowed us to gain a more a more realistic forecast of the project’s potential cash flows for the entire project. We also used the average demand as our base projections for the project. This is because the average demand scenario has the highest probability of 45%. We used straight-line depreciation with regard to depreciating the investment in the project over time. We detailed the first three years of the project, years zero through two with the appropriate investment amounts during each of those years. Since production and sales did not begin until year three we were able to make an assumption of potential tax returns on the invested dollars for years one and two. We used the tax rate of 25% to calculate the tax returns along with the taxable amounts for all years. See the attached spreadsheet for the detailed cash flow projections. We also assumed that since the refrigerators could be produced for a total of 20 years the entire life of the project would span from year zero through year 22. This is because the production of the refrigerators could not begin until year three, thus making the projects timeline from year zero through year 22. With this information and assumptions we found that when the units are in production and being sold the project will yield a positive annual cash flow. The working capital was found by taking the 11% and carrying it over  for each year. We used the initial Net Operating Working Capital (NOWC) found in year two then calculated the difference using 11% of the difference of the sales each year and calculated that for the entire life of the production. 5) Use the appropriate capital budgeting techniques to evaluate the project. As seen in Exhibit V we used the appropriate capital budgeting and performance measures to evaluate the life of the project. Exhibit VI displays the results of the capital budgeting analysis. We found the NPV for the average demand scenario to be $5,997,505.31 which is a positive value for the project given the average demand inputs. The Internal Rate of Return was calculated as 13.21% which, again, is a positive value and could provide for a nice rate of return on the project since it is higher than the weighted average cost of capital and the market return rate. The profitability index was found to be at a value of 8.84. Because the profitability index is higher than 1.0 that shows that the project present value is greater than the initial investments in the project. We then calculated the number of years for a payback on the initial investments in the project. We found that the simple payback of the initial investments would take 6.48 years for the average demand scenario. In simple terms, and if we only used the average demand assumptions, this project would seem to provide positive net results for Tesca. Using the average demand inputs the NPV, IRR, Profitability Index, and Payback Years are at an acceptable level. However, as we will cover in later sections, when we include probability analysis of the other demand scenarios we find that the project is less than desirable. 6) Use the average demand scenario to evaluate the sensitivity of the project’s NPV with respect to sale price of the refrigerator and the cost of the compressor.  We used the average demand scenario to produce a comprehensive sensitivity analysis of the project. We utilized three variables when conducting our sensitivity analysis, the sale price of the refrigerator, the cost of the compressor, and the project’s weighted average cost of capital. We included the weighted average cost of capital as an extra variable to get further details on the sensitivity of the project. We used a scale of 5% increments from -25% to 25% which allowed us to produce a sensitivity analysis with adequate details. Please see Exhibits VIII and IX for the numerical details and sensitivity graph for the project. The sensitivity analysis uncovered the following critical information with respect to how sensitive the NPV of the project was to the given variables. Sales Price Sensitivity We found that even a small decrease in the sales price of the refrigerator of just over 1% caused the project’s NPV to become negative. The graph in Exhibit IX shows the steep sensitivity line with respect to the change in the sales price per unit. Even with an average sales demand, if the price dropped to 15% which is approximately the same sale price of our weak demand scenario the NPV was substantially below zero at a negative value of $-57,667,920. With each 5% increment the NPV values sometimes increased or decreased at a rate that doubled or more because of the projects extreme sensitivity to the sales price of the refrigerator. The profit margin on the refrigerator of 19.41% and markup of only 24% does not leave much room for a price reduction in the sales price of the refrigerator. The data also points to a wide range in NPV with respect to the sales price of the units. There was a total range of over $212 million for the sensitivity of the sales price per unit. This d ata leads to the discovery that the project is extremely sensitive to the sales price of the refrigerator. Compressor Cost Sensitivity The project was not as sensitive to the cost of the compressor, however, it did not take a large percentage increase in the cost of the compressor to throw the NPV of the project into a negative value, just over 5%. Exhibit IX’s graph shows the sensitivity lines for the project. The compressor sensitivity is not nearly as steep as the price sensitivity per unit. Because the cost of the compressor affects the profit margin on each refrigerator the lower the cost of the compressor the better the NPV because  of the increased profit margin per unit. 7) Based on the scenario and sensitivity analysis you performed above, comment on the overall riskiness of the project. Based on the scenario and sensitivity analysis we were able to determine that the project is of a high risk nature. There are several factors that make this project such a high risk which include the narrow profit margin per unit, the uncertainty of the future market, the high cost per unit, and the high administrative costs. Through a scenario analysis we analyzed the three potential demand scenarios for this project. We used the weak, strong, and average demand scenario variables to formulate the probabilities for the project. We found that the probability of the NPV is a significant negative value of $-6,300,213, see Exhibit VII for details of the scenario analysis. We also found that the probable IRR of the project was very low at 4.01%. Given the low IRR probability of 4.01% that means it is significantly lower than the S&P 500 market return of 11% and barely a point higher than the 10-year treasury note yield of 2.71%. The low probable internal rate of return is another red flag for the riskiness and viability of the refrigerator project for Tesca Works, Inc. The weak demand scenario produced significant negative values for the NPV and the internal rate of return (IRR). The weak scenario also produced a non-existent payback period within the 20 year production lifecycle of the project. With each scenario the selling price and unit sales were changed, however, the high cost of each unit and administrative costs remained the same, thus adding to the risk of the project since it is highly reliant on an average or strong demand and higher sales prices per unit. While the project has the potential of a very high NPV, IRR, and payback period with a strong demand, the projects sensitivity to price and market demand make this a very risky project to undertake at this time. If there were ways to increase the profit margin or decrease the fixed costs of the project that may help decrease the risky nature of this particular project. 8) Would you recommend that Tesca Works accept or reject the project? What is the basis for your recommendation? We would not recommend this project for Tesca Works, Inc. Our recommendation is for Tesca management to reject the project. Our analysis has shown this project to be too sensitive to market shift and too risky to undertake at this time. While there is excitement across the country for more energy efficient appliances, we feel that the project poses some significant risks for Tesca. The successful outcome of the project truly relies on the demand from consumers. Their demand will determine the selling price and sales volume of the refrigerator units. If this demand is barely below the average demand we will see a negative NPV for the project and thus a negative result for Tesca Works, Inc. Recent economic history in the United States has shown the economy to be unstable and may not provide an average or strong demand for the product. While we feel the energy costs across the country could be of significant importance for a project of this nature we do not feel that there is enough lee way in the profit margin of the project to be economically feasible should demand be lower than anticipated. Our analysis showed the project to be very sensitive to the sales price per unit value of the refrigerator. We used the average demand scenario to produce a sensitivity analysis and found that with just a 5% decrease in the sales price of the refrigerator the NPV quickly dipped into a negative value thus showing the project to be extremely sensitive to the sales price of the refrigerator. Our scenario analysis also exposed a strong probability of the project giving a negative Net Present Value and giving a probable low Internal Rate of Return of only 4.01%. This is mainly due to the projects sensitivity to the sales price of the refrigerator and the potentially lower sales in the event of weak demand for the product. The project’s profit margin is too close to allow for market demand fluctuations which would cause the project to have a negative net present  value. If Tesca were to offer the refrigerator at a higher sales price this would yield a stronger profit margin and may alter the recommended rejection of this project. As we discussed the project is far too sensitive to changes in the sales price of the refrigerators. Even with an average demand of sales volume, if we reduce the sales price we begin to see a negative NPV for the project. Thus, the project is too sensitive to minor changes in the profit margin of the refrigerators. Which is why we are recommending a rejection of this project for Tesca Works, Inc.