Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Management Process Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management Process Analysis - Essay Example Change management is best defined as the process of continuous reviewing and renewing of the direction, structure and capabilities of the organization in order to meet the ever-changing needs and demands of internal and external customers (Todnem, 2005). Organizational change is a very important element of the organizational strategy. It is very important for an organization to have the ability to identify where it needs to be in the future and then manage the change management process in order to get there. The business environment is constantly changing with increased globalization, technological innovation, deregulation, dynamic workforce, shift in demographic and social trends, etc (Todnem, 2005). This makes the change management process even more important. For any organization, to sustain growth and remain successful it is very important that it effectively manages its change management process. One of the best examples of effective change management in modern day businesses is Apple. Apple Inc. Founded in 1976, Apple has become the most valuable company on the planet today. Started as a computer company, Apple has revolutionised the personal computer industry. Apple started with a personal computer, but today its products range from music (iPod) to phones (iPhones). Chief Architect of Apple’s success story is Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple (Royston, 2009). Apple’s journey to the top has not been a smooth one. It has had failures along the way and at one stage was on the verge of being shut down. Apple has adapted to changing environment and the industry needs and demands to become the most successful and valuable company on the planet. Apple’s products include iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad and iTunes (Apple, 2011). Apple is also developing cloud computing products and services which are not commercially available at. Apple – Change Management Apple is one of the best examples for effective organizational change management. It can be said that Apple has mastered the art of change management. Apple has been successful in understanding the changing needs and demands, and at same time adapt to those changes and needs. It has been able to build a loyal customer base, build new technologies, products and services. Leadership The most important element of Apple’s change management is Steve Jobs, i.e. his leadership. Apple’s nightmarish run started with the exit of Steve Jobs in 1985 and ended with his return in 1996. With the return of Steve Jobs in 1996, there was a major change in the organization’s leadership. The bureaucratic management style that had replaced the creative and entrepreneurial culture (organizational culture that Steve Jobs had infused into Apple in the beginning) had to undergo a major change. Steve Jobs along with him brought back the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants entrepreneurial culture back to Apple (Anderson & Anderson, 2010). He redefined the organization’s DNA and ensured its effective implementation. The original culture and the mindset were welcomed by the workforce and they responded with creativity and innovation. With the change in leadership, the management structure was now redefined with only very few management layers. This was vital in order to accommodate the change in the leadership and organizational cul

Monday, October 28, 2019

Dream Vacation Essay Example for Free

Dream Vacation Essay While some people may be quite content to lounge around the city of Karnak all summer as the mosquitoes suck away at their skin, a more perfect spot than this does exist. Pack every suitcase in the house because for the perfect summer time getaway for one who has limited time to head out of Pulaski County, Austin, Texas is the place to be. (64) A traveler on a short schedule will appreciate the time conscious travel plans that can be to arrive in Austin. Flying out of St. Louis on June 7 you can find yourself on Texas soil in just three hours. An added advantage to choosing to stay in the mid-west is the avoidance of high travel costs. With advance planning a round trip ticket to Austin will cost as little as $198.00. (68) Upon landing in Austin, you may rent a car from Avis. They maintain an office on the grounds of Austin Bergstrom International Airport so their facilities are extremely convenient. Their rates are comparable to other car rental agencies. The rate for your state, June 7 through June 10, is just $73.14 a day and that includes the standard rental rate, all surcharges, and local taxes. You will be able to travel in Austin comfortable in a Grand Am or similar style vehicle. (82) Read more: Dream vacation essay At the heart of Austin you will find many hotel accommodations. A highly recommended choice is The Driskell Hotel because of its antique treasures, stunning rooms and soaring ceilings. Adding to the charm of the hotel is a legend that tells of the top floor of the Driskill Hotel being haunted by a playful ghost. As posted on the Internet by an anonymous guest of the hotel, The Driskill Hotel is a must see when coming to the Austin area. From the grandest of suites, to the astonishing lobby, to the ever-so-tasteful Driskill Grill and Bar, The Driskill Hotel is a well rounded hotel and ranks with some of the best in the world! Staying in elegance comes with a cost. The beautiful suites that place you high above the streets of Austin where you can nearly reach out and touch the clouds from the balcony will empty your wallets at a rate of $250.00 a night. The numerous amenities that accompany the room make the price reasonable. Not only will you have a balcony from which you can look out over the city of Austin to see the  bright night lights, you will sleep cozily in a queen size bed, enjoy the open-air feeling with the 19 foot ceilings, and be able to stay in touch through email with the T1 connection. (223) To relieve the stress that has built up during the school year, a visit to the Aziz Salon and Day Spa would be the high point of one of your days. At Aziz you will receive a one-hour therapeutic massage or 30 minute body scrub and 30 minute massage, deep pore cleansing facial, a light lunch, a full manicure and pedicure followed by a warm paraffin treatment, hair and scalp stress relieving oil treatment, shampoo and blow dry, and a personal consultation and makeover with make-up artist. Your skin will feel as soft as a fuzzy peach and will radiate like a gold medallion. The cost, $300, is small in comparison to all of the wonderful treatments you will experience. (120) Taking in some of the country atmosphere of Texas wont be hard to do even after a day of elegance at Aziz and a luxurious night sleep at The Driskell Hotel. On Friday, June 8 you can catch a great performance by the BR5-49. The name of the band doesnt give away any hints as to their style of performing, but a quick background search on the Internet reveals all a listener needs to know. As stated by Craig Shelburne, These guys are hugely entertaining, and their most enthusiastic fans arent afraid of the hillbilly factor. Listening to their music will make you feel as though you are on the range herding cattle abroad a beautiful appaloosa. As the notes from their guitars leave the strings and tickle your ears, you will feel gratification for having spent the $35.00 to purchase a ticket to this event. (146) Many people would think of Tex-Mex when selecting restaurants, but one restaurant that deserves to be considered is the Chinese restaurant Tien Hong. This restaurant has more than just the sweet and sour pork that is stereotyped as the main Chinese dish. A fantastic mouth watering treat is the dim sum they serve. The taste will leave you wanting more even after you find out you are eating chicken feet. The price is quite inexpensive for a fest of Chinese food. Most meals can be purchased for under $15.00. (89) Any further attractions and time fillers are left up to the imagination. If the hotel pool doesnt do the trick for a quick swim, theres Barton Springs Pool. The downtown streets are lined with quaint shops such as Elegante, which specializes in Latin American imports, and Cantus Mexican Hierberia Imports, which sells herbs and healing ointments of all varieties and for all occasions. The locals are friendly and can point you in the right direction if something specific comes to mind during your stay. (84) Austin, Texas may not hit the list of many vacation planners as the ideal dream vacation, but for a short, relaxing get-a-way from the daily grind of teaching, Austin can be a pleasurable vacation that wont break your bank account while rewarding you with the enjoyments of life that often get placed on the back burner during the school year. (60)

Saturday, October 26, 2019

supreme court desicion of hypothetical case :: essays research papers

The appellant, Salim abdul Aziz Rahman, the founder of the group called the Global Islamic Jihad, was convicted under the USA Patriot Act of 2003 for â€Å"furthering the aims of known terrorism organizations by advocating the violence of the United States government that is called for by those organizations.† He was tried and convicted by the Federal District Court, and has challenged the constitutionality of this Act on the grounds that it violates his First Amendment right of Freedom of Speech as protected by the United States Constitution. The United States Patriot Act of 2003 makes it a crime to â€Å"further the aims of known terrorist organizations by advocating the violence against the United States government that is called for by those organizations.† This act was formulated and put into effect after the acts of terrorism in September of 2001.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The record shows that a man identified as the appellant, distributed to the inhabitants of his predominantly Middle-Eastern New York City neighborhood, pamphlets stating â€Å"the American government is controlled by Zionist agents and is using it’s arrogant power to murder believers around the world.† These pamphlets also contained the sentence â€Å"The penalty for murder is death.† These pamphlets were printed and distributed by his organization, Global Islamic Jihad.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  At a rally of his organization in April of 2002, Mr. Rahman burned a flag (though protected by Texas v Johnson, 491 US 397, ‘O’Brien 626’), and presented a speech where he called for â€Å"death to any country that supports Zionist aggression against true believers† as well as cataloging â€Å"American crimes against humanity.† In a speech on the day of his arrest in this same Middle-Eastern neighborhood, the appellant catalogued â€Å"America’s crimes against humanity and the believers,† as well as declaring â€Å"We must not sit by idle. We must stand up with all of our strength with our brothers and sisters who struggle against the Zionists and against those who help them with money and weapons. The treacherous Jews and Crusaders must go down. Jihad knows no boundaries and no limitations on its means.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Through legal FBI wiretaps, it was found that Mr. Rahman was in direct contact with representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood, a political group both in the United States and abroad. Previously an Egyptian terrorist group whom publicly renounced violence, this group now claims to advocate a â€Å"peaceful transition to a worldwide Islamic state.† However, this group often conveys ideas by known terrorist organizations that it calls â€Å"brothers in the great cause.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Doping in Sports is a Problem Essay

Doing steroids, which is known as doping, is a problem in sports that needs to be stopped and needs to be stopped fast. Ask anyone with a decent knowledge of sports and current events, and they will tell you: nearly every week, another high-profile doping story makes its way to the headlines of newspapers around the world. A quick Google News search for â€Å"doping† revealed over 7,500 results from the past week alone. The stories ranged from the lesser known 2 Youth Olympic Games Wrestlers who were recently suspended to the more famous 2010 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador’s positive test. This month, Brent Musburger (an ABC/ESPN sports commentator) told a group of students at University of Montana that steroids work. Musburger blamed â€Å"journalism youngsters† who â€Å"got too deeply involved in something they didn’t know too much about† for the negative image steroids and doping now have. He went on to say that steroids had no place in high school, but â€Å"under the proper care and doctor’s advice, they could be used at the professional level.† (Quotes take from the Missoulian article.) If you know me (or have been in a class with me), you know how I feel about doping in sports. In fact, anti-doping was one of the reasons I came to law school, and more specifically to Marquette. My view is that doping has no place in sport. The story of how I came to become so staunchly against doping is for another day (and perhaps a different venue), but basically involves my love for the sport of cycling and the systematic doping that plagues that sport. Suffice it to say that I take a firm stance against doping in all sports in all forms. It probably goes without saying that I could not disagree with Musburger more. Doping, least of all in the form of anabolic steroids, has no place in sports – amateur or professional. I think all anti-doping arguments come down to two basic principles, only one of which Musburger addresses in his blanket approval of steroid use in professional athletes. First, doping threatens the health of athletes. Musburger argues that with proper medical supervision, steroids can be healthy. While this might be true in some (and I would suggest limited) cases, it would certainly not be true in all cases. The use of steroids can have serious health repercussions, including affected liver, endocrine, and reproductive function, tumors of the liver and kidneys, heart conditions, and psychiatric symptoms. Additionally, the article just linked goes on to mention the increased probability of side effects when 1) steroids are used more than the recommended dose, 2) steroids are used in conjunction with other performance enhancing substances, and 3) counterfeit or tainted steroids are used. Legalizing steroid use would not solve these problems. The side effects listed in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (a part of the National Institute of Health) article are not restricted to improper use of steroids. I will not detail out the side effects of not only steroids, but also the use of hGH and EPO (often used in cycling), the NCBI does a nice job of listing those and providing citations to studies. Furthermore, the drive to win will always encourage athletes to take â€Å"just one more.† Sure, proper medical supervision would ensure that an athlete receives the proper dose from that doctor, but when that athlete fails to win the next race, game, or match, he or she is more likely to increase the dose or combine other methods of doping. Second, and unaddressed by Musburger, doping affects the integrity of sport. Sport is not about simply winning. The saying â€Å"It’s not about whether you win or lose, it’s how you played the game,† although clichà ©, is absolutely correct. The Olympic Movement identifies the Olympic spirit – mutual understanding, spirit of friendship, solidarity, and fair play – as fundamental to sport. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was founded on the principle that integrity of sport is fundamental to the spirit of sport, and that integrity is threatened by doping. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) division on anti-doping believes that â€Å"doping jeopardizes the moral and ethical basis of sport and the health of those involved in it.† The National Football League itself created its own steroid policy because steroid use threatens â€Å"the fairness and integrity of athletic competitionâ€Å" and †Å"sends the wrong message to young people who may be tempted to use them.† Sports are about competition on equal footing, with respect for the opponent, and with respect for the rules of the game. Permitting the use of steroids under proper medical supervision would threaten the fairness and integrity of the game. First, athletes who choose not to use steroids are at an unfair advantage – most will be unable to compete at the same level as athletes who are using steroids. Second, the integrity of the game is compromised because it is no longer about which athlete has the best skills or talent, it’s instead about which athlete has the best steroid cocktail or the money to buy the best steroids. Thus, steroid use is contrary to the spirit of sport – fairness, respect, and solidarity. The concept of mutual respect between competitors is thwarted when one (or both) athletes would rather use steroids to improve his or her performance than compete based on individual strength, skill, or talent. However, if health and integrity concerns aren’t enough to convince you, consider this final point. Law students, and indeed lawyers, are fond of the slippery slope argument. I think it finds a comfortable place in this debate. It’s a slippery slope between allowing steroid use with proper medical supervision and eliminating anti-doping regulations. Where is the line to be drawn? Will it now be illegal to use steroids only if taken without proper medical supervision? How can proper medical supervision be proven? How does an athlete prove that the steroids in his or her body were as a result of proper medical supervision and not other means? What about athletes who use more than the recommended dose? What about other forms of doping (hGh or EPO)? Are those next to be permitted under proper medical supervision? It’s difficult to see how regulating the use of steroids in sport is workable. The only way to preserve integrity in sport and protect the health of athletes is through a serious anti-doping approach. Anti-doping efforts are most successful when the â€Å"law† (anti-doping policy) sets forth clear, bright-line rules about when and what substances are prohibited. Although a long way from perfect, WADA has created the most comprehensive anti-doping program in the world (indeed the only anti-doping program most of the world outside of the US models and implements). American professional sports leagues should be looking at ways to model the WADA code in its own anti-doping policies (like the United States Anti-Doping Agency is doing), not seeking ways to excuse steroid use or compromise anti-doping efforts. Steroids have no place in sports.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Corwin Corporation Analysis Essay

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this of document is to analyze the factors that led to the Corwin’s project failure. Corwin Corporation’s relationship with a good customer, Peters Company was strained because of Corwin’s failure to follow their management policies. A fixed-price contract was signed without proper risk analysis, the was no evidence of a project plan and the situation was made worse by the lack of support from management. This report discusses the failures in project selection, lack of executive support and communication breakdown, all of which lead to the project being terminated by the client. INTRODUCTION Corwin Corporation accepted a project which was outside their scope of work from Peters Company to develop a specialty product. They accepted the assignment based on a rough draft and without analyzing the risks and thus  leading to the project being later terminated by Peters Company and jeopardizing their long-standing good relationship with the client. The project started before the contract was signed. Corwin’s failure could be attributed to a number of errors that were made on accepting this assignment. A number of important factors like the management policy, were completely ignored. Corwin agreed on a fixed-price 5-year contract based on a rough draft, no proper analysis was done and the scope was unclear. This meant that Corwin would be responsible for any cost overruns incurred. It is never advisable to accept a fixed-price contract without determining the client’s needs and whether or not they are achievable. Corwin failed to assign the right person to manag e the project. An inexperienced Project Manager was tasked to lead the project and although one of the senior managers had doubts about the project manager’s capabilities to lead such a project, his concerns were ignored. Effort Corwin allowed an in-house representative direct access to the lab which ultimately left the employees unhappy and disgruntled. The lack of management support also played a major role in the project’s failure. Management was dealing with the issues raised by the project manager passively and hoped the â€Å"situation would correct itself†. The requirements were poor and the schedule was unrealistic. Poor project selection, lack of support from top management, non-existent change management control and communication issues were identified as areas of concern within the Corwin Corporation. For the purpose of the case study, the researcher will be discussing how these project management principles/concepts, if followed properly could have prevented Corwin from accepting this project. CASE ANALYSIS 1. Project Selection Project Selection should not be perceived to be a tedious and unnecessary exercise but as an important exercise that would be beneficial for the customer and the contractor. A number of factors such as production consideration, marketing consideration, financial consideration, personnel consideration and administration consideration, need to be taken into  consideration to ensure that the project is in line with the organisation’s strategic objectives. 1.1 Poor Project Selection Corwin established a management policy that governed the project selection process for the evaluation of specialty product requests. (Burke: 67) states that â€Å"The selection of the right project for future investment is a crucial decision for the long-term survival of a company†. Frimel’s failure to follow the management put the company’s reputation at risk. Following the project selection process assists companies in deciding which projects to pursue and which to let go. Most of the executives were away on vacation which means that the project was not evaluated using the company’s selection method and without the executives’ consultation. It is important to note that during the evaluation process, individuals with different with backgrounds and subject-matter expects should been involved to make an informed decision whether or not to take on Peters Company offer. In this case, the major decision-makers were away on holiday. Peters Company came across as bullying and threatening in their requests thus this might have led to Corwin accepting the project to save their business relationship. This project was outside Corwin’s scope and should have never been accepted. It answered â€Å"NO† on the first criteria of the management policy therefore it wasn’t viable. 1.2 Proposal Preparation A proposal is a response document to the RFP (Request for Proposal), it includes a plan of action, states why the action is necessary and persuades the customer to approve the implementation of the recommended action. The proposal should also include a plausible management plan and technical approach. To create winning proposals, it is important to have resources with relevant skills and expertise e.g. subject matter expects, to help prepare a quality proposal. Royce used inappropriate and unskilled resources to prepare the proposal. He had reservations about selecting West; despite his lack of experience in dealing with external projects, as the Project  Manager without Dr. Reddy’s (R&D Manager) input but he ignored his instincts. The proposal preparation was conducted by contracts man who was not familiar with fixed-price contracts. Royce was overly optimistic in estimating the cost and didn’t include contingency to cover unexpected situations that may arise during the project. (Clements & Gido, 5th Edition: 69) states that â€Å"if the estimated costs are overly optimistic and some unexpected expenditures arise, the contractor is likely to either lose money (on a fixed-price contract) or hate to suffer the embarrassment of going back to the customer to request additional funds to cover cost overruns†. Corwin’s final proposal to Peters was a technical document as it contained engineering intent and cost summaries which were also not properly done. This later in the project resulted in scope creeps which saw Corwin’s profit on the project diminish. 1.3 Contract Negotiation Fixed-price contracts are beneficial to the customer but not the contractor. Before signing this type of contract, the customer should have a detailed scope work from the customer. There are risks associated with this type of contract for contractors, i.e. the customer is liable for any cost overruns should the project run beyond schedule, budget and time. Agreeing to a fixed-price contract was also one of the contributing factors that led to the project’s failure. Although the profit margins sounded appealing on the phone during Delia and Frimel’s conversation, they looked different on paper. The disadvantages of such a contract for Corwin far outweighed the advantages for Peters Company. (Clements & Gido, 5th Edition: 76) states that â€Å"Fixed-price contracts are most appropriate for projects that are well defined and entail little risk†. It is good practice to start working on a project after the contract has been signed. Corwin worked first and signed later . 1.4 Risk Management Ignored Royce made a commitment to assess the risks once he got hold of the specification sheets. Looking at the Cost Summary in the proposal, one can  conclude that he never kept to his commitment since it didn’t even include the contingency amount. â€Å"Some level of risk planning should be done during the initiation phase of the project life cycle to make sure, for example, that the contractor understands the risks involved with bidding on a proposed project† (Clements & Gido, 5th Edition: 270). Risk assessment therefore is an important aspect of project initiation because it helps the contractors make better decisions, negotiate fair contracts and create risk mitigation methods. A good risk assessment takes into consideration anything that could go wrong with the project and determines what it would cost. Accepting a project outside Corwin’s scope area of expertise was a risk, appointing an inexperienced scientist from the R&D department was a risk, agreeing to a fixed-price contract was a risk and procurement of all materials was a risk. Corwin resorted to risk aversion. 1.5 Project Kickoff Meeting West solicited support from other groups after sending the proposal to the customer. This left his colleagues unhappy because of the lack of communication about the project objective. It is the project manager’s duty to involve the project team at the early stages of the project to clearly define the project objective, gather support from the departments affected by and involved in the project and define each member’s role and responsibility. †The project manager spearheads development of a plan to achieve the project objective. By involving the project team (Clements & Gido, 5th Edition: 303) in developing this plan, the project manager ensures a more comprehensive plan than he or she could develop alone†. Project kickoff meetings provide a good platform for the project manager to deliver a presentation about the meeting and its importance to the organization. Clear roles and responsibilities of each project team member must be discussed. An understanding of each member’s role in a team reduces communication issues and late deliverables. This will not only help him gain commitment from the team but it will also assist in accomplishing the project objective on time, within budget and of the right quality. 1.6 Change Management At the start of the project, a change control system needs to be established to define how changes will be documented, approved and communicated† (Clements & Gido, 5th Edition: 320). The project manager did not have proper change control procedure in place. The in-house representative made changes to the scope, which resulted in scope creep. His changes were not documented and communicated and were not within the budget. When he requested an additional five tests beyond the agreed scope, the project manager should have evaluated the request and provided Peters Company with a proposal outlining the costs to add the tests to the scope. Uncontrolled change exposed Corwin to unnecessary risk. A change control process is significant to the successful delivery of a project and ensures that each change introduced to the project environment is appropriately defined, evaluated and approved. The project manager in this case struggled to control changes in the project because he didn†™t have proper process in place and that he lacked project management experience. 1 Lack of Management Support Top management support is the most important critical success factor for project success. Many projects fail because they have only passive senior management support. In mature organisations, executives act as project sponsors. In this case, Royce (VP of Engineering) should have been the project sponsor. The role of a sponsor is to â€Å"ensure that the correct information from the contractor’s organisation is reaching executives in the customer’s organisation, that there is no filtering of information from the contractor to the customer, and that someone at the executive level is making sure that the customer’s money is being spent wisely† (Kerzner, 7th Edition: 475). The project failed to achieve an enthusiastic approval from the president, there was little hope of it being successful. Projects need some involvement by executive management to allocate needed resources appropriately to the projects. The executives set strategic goal for organization and uses projects to meet those goals. They need to provide guidance to project managers that is in line with the organisation’s strategic objectives and track the alignment of those objectives to the  project objectives. Frimel, after initiating the project, distanced himself when he handed full responsibility over to Royce and went on vacation. Frimel had experience in these types of projects because his department was the decision maker for the specialty products. He should have acted as project sponsor and supported Royce but instead, left him to fail. During the first meeting in which the project was discussed, Dr. Reddy (R&D Manager) expressed his dissatisfaction about the choice of project manager Royce had made. 2.7 Organisational Structure and Culture â€Å"The organizational culture, style, and structure influence how projects are performed† (PMBOK, 4th Edition: 27). Corwin has maintained a functional organisational structure for more than 15 years. In functional structures, project managers do not full control over the project teams. One of the disadvantages with this type of structure is the competition among functional departments. Corwin’s Marketing department made almost all the decisions, project managers for specialty products came out of marketing. The Engineering department as stated in the case study, â€Å"was considered merely as a support group†. The Vice President for engineering mentioned at some point that his vote never appeared to carry any wait. The morale was very low in some departments as they felt that they were not as valued as the other departments. Reddy did not give much support to the project manager and later contradicted himself that the project manager â€Å"kept him in the dar k†. His unbecoming behaviour can be attributed to the fact that the Vice President failed to heed his call about his reservations towards the choice of the PM thus, he became so reluctant to assist the PM. A healthy organizational culture encourages accountability and personal responsibility. Denial, blame and excuses harden relationships and intensify conflicts. 2 Poor Communication The president’s reluctant authorization was interpreted as â€Å"the boss gave his blessing†. â€Å"†¦ phone conversations allow the listener to hear the tone,  inflection, speed, volume and emotion of the voice† (Clements & Gido, 5th Edition: 371). A reluctant voice sounds differently from an enthusiastic voice on the phone. The project manager failed to communicate timely to the executives about the representative’s interfering behaviour, he thought he could handle it. The situation spiraled out of control when the representatives started giving orders to the project manager about removing functional employees on the team. Providing the customer with progress reports frequently, keeps the customer in the loop and informed about the status of the project. Communication skills are one of the most important skills every project manager should possess, it very important that the project manager communicates with the stakeholders and project team. The project manager should have escalated problems as they occurred and scheduled meetings to resolve them. He should know what needs to be communicated to who and when. CONCLUSIONS Corwin Corporation failed to follow its own management policy, took on a project, and neglected to apply the proper management principles. The executives were not part of the contract acquisition and failed to develop and nurture the project manager. The organizational culture was such that all departments were equal but some were equal more than the others were. This resulted in people wanting to prove themselves worthy by taking on big projects even though they lacked experience. The project manager was set deliberately set to fail, the manager knew his strength and weaknesses but was unavailable to assist until the last minute. Corwin did not have a house rules in place with regards to in-house representatives. Corwin didn’t work the plan and therefore couldn’t plan the work. RECOMMENDATIONS * Top management need to educate employees on the management policy regarding new projects. Functional managers need to lead this drive. * The Engineering department plays as much a role in decision making as the Marketing and Manufacturing department. The R&D bring innovation of the products in the organization and thus should not be seen as a support group. * The project manager’s mistakes were attributed to his lack of  experience. The PM should continue to lead small projects and the organization must provide Project Management training for aspiring project managers within the company. * The staff’s morale is low at this point, management needs to organize team-building to boost confidence and foster and repair relationships * Create cross functional teams to function as self-directed respond to specific directives REFERENCES James P. Clements & Jack Gido. 2007. Effective Project Management. 5th Edition. South-Western: Cengage Learning. Harold Kerzner, PHD. Project Management: A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling, and Controlling. Seventh Edition. USA: John Wiley & Sons Inc. PMBOK ® Guide . 2008. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge. Fourth Edition. USA: Project Management Institute.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

The Environment of Electronic Commerce Essay Example

The Environment of Electronic Commerce Essay Example The Environment of Electronic Commerce Paper The Environment of Electronic Commerce Paper These elements have helped governments create the legal concept of jurisdiction in the physical world. Because the four elements exist in somewhat different forms on the Internet, he jurisdiction rules that work so well in the physical world do not always work well in the online world. 2. In about 300 words, describe the differences between subject-matter jurisdiction and personal jurisdiction. * Subject-matter jurisdiction is a courts authority to decide a particular type of dispute. For example, in the IS. S, federal courts have subject-matter jurisdiction over issues governed by federal law (such as bankruptcy, copyright, patent and federal tax matters) and state courts have subject-matter jurisdiction over issues governed by state laws (such as professional licensing and state tax matters). If the parties to a contract are both located in the same state, a state court has subject- matter jurisdiction over disputes that arise from the terms of that contract. The rules for determining whether a court has subject-matter jurisdiction are clear and easy to apply. Few disputes arise over subject-matter jurisdiction. * Personal jurisdiction is, in general, determined by the residence of the parties. A court has personal jurisdiction over a case if the defendant is a resident of the state in which the court is located. In such cases, the determination of personal jurisdiction is straightforward. However, an out-of- state person or corporation can also voluntarily submit to the jurisdiction of a particular state court by agreeing to do so in writing or by taking certain actions in the state. 3. The advantages and disadvantages of issuing business process patents have been hotly debated by legal scholars and business people. One compromise proposal advanced by Jeff Bozos, founder of Amazon. Com, is to allow the issuance of business patents, but only allow them to be effective for a short time, perhaps two or three years. In about 300 words, present logical ND factual arguments that support the issuance of such limited-term business process patents. * The business process patent, which protects a specific set Of procedures for conducting a particular business activity, is quite controversial. Many legal experts and business researchers believe that the issuance of business process patents grants the recipients unfair monopoly power and is an inappropriate extension of patent law. In 1999, Amazon. Com sued Barnes and Noble for using a process on its Web site that was similar to the I-click method. The case was settled out of court in 2002, but the terms f the settlement were not disclosed. In 2007, a federal judge entered a final judgment of $30 million against eBay in a business process patent case. A company that makes a business of buying patents and attempting to enforcing them, Merchantmen, had sue eBay for its use of a fixed price sales option that eBay calls Buy It Now. Merchantmen believed that one of its patents covered the mechanism of offering a fixed price option in an online auction. Merchantmen is continuing to press for an injunction (in addition to the monetary damages already awarded) that would prevent eBay from using he feature at all. 4. Define product disparagement. In two or three paragraphs, present an example of product disparagement. A defamatory statement is a statement that is false and that injures the reputation of another person or company. Product disparagement is defined as: if a defamatory Statement injures the reputation off product or service instead of a person. * In some countries, even a true and honest comparison of products may give rise to product disparagement. Because the difference justifiable criticism and defamation can be hard to de termine, commercial Web sites should consider he specific laws in their jurisdiction (and consider consulting a lawyer) before making negative, evaluative statements about other persons or products. . In about 300 words, explain the idea of nexus. Why is it an important concept in state and international taxation? In what ways is it similar to jurisdiction? * A government acquires the power to tax a business when that business establishes a connection with the area controlled by the government. For example, a business that is located in Kansas has a connection with the state of Kansas and is subject to Kansas taxes. If that many opens a branch in Arizona, it forms a connection with Arizona and becomes subject to Arizona taxes on the portion of its business that occurs in Arizona. This connection between a tax-paying entity and a government is called a nexus. The concept of nexus is similar in many ways to the concept of personal jurisdiction. The activities that create nexus in the U. S. Are determined by state law and thus vary from state to state. Its issues have been frequently litigated and the resulting common law is fairly complex. Determining nexus can be difficult when a company conducts only a few activities in or has minimal contact with the state. In such cases, its advisable for the company to obtain the services of a professional tax advisor. Companies that do business in more than one country face national nexus issues. If a company undertakes sufficient activities in a particular country, it establishes nexus with that country and becomes liable for filling tax returns for that country. The laws and regulations that determine national nexus are different in each country. Companies will find the services of a professional tax lawyer or accountant who has experience in international taxation to be valuable.

Monday, October 21, 2019

30 Religious Terms You Should Know

30 Religious Terms You Should Know 30 Religious Terms You Should Know 30 Religious Terms You Should Know By Maeve Maddox When I was growing up in small town America, stories about religion were generally confined to the Saturday church pages in the local newspaper. Catholics and Jews were the most exotic religious practitioners in town, and â€Å"atheist† was a strong term of disapprobation. These days religion is front page news. People are killed or driven into hiding because someone somewhere has labeled their work â€Å"blasphemy.† School children with attitude get away with refusing to do their homework because they know that school officials are easily spooked by anything relating to religion. Journalists and school officials shouldn’t have to tiptoe around religious topics. The topic of religion, like that of ecology, is one that concerns all human beings. Although the three Abrahamic religions get most of the news copy, the number of religions that matter to people number in the double digits. Whether we care about it or not, we ought to be able to read and write about religion with some understanding of the terminology. NOTE: The definitions given here are not intended to be exhaustive. For one thing, some of the terms are defined differently by different religious groups. For permutations of meaning, see the OED or some other authoritative dictionary. Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. All three faiths trace their origins to the patriarch Abraham who rejected the polytheism of ancient Sumer to embrace a belief in one, invisible, deity. Sometimes referred to as â€Å"the desert religions.† agnosticism: the philosophical position that the existence or non-existence of God or a First Cause is unknowable. Anglican: relating to the Church of England. An ancient name for the English people was â€Å"Angles.† The Church of England traces its beginning to 597, the year in which Pope Gregory I sent St. Augustine to Canterbury. The Church of England remained under papal authority until 1534 when Henry VIII declared himself the Supreme Head of the Church because of conflicts with Pope Clement VII. animism: the belief that every material form of reality (plants, animals, stones, thunderstorms, earthquakes) have an indwelling spirit; often includes belief in the continued existence of individual disembodied human spirits capable of helping or harming the living. asceticism: a mode of life that excludes physical pleasures and self-indulgence. Many religions regard asceticism (fasting, abstaining from sexual activity, wearing inadequate clothing) as a means of reaching a higher spiritual state. atheism: disbelief in any deity or supernatural power. blasphemy: indignity offered to God, from Greek blasphemia, â€Å"a speaking ill, impious speech, slander.† Religions define blasphemy in terms of their own beliefs, often designating prophets and holy objects along with God as subjects not to be profaned. Many countries have anti-blasphemy laws. Buddhism: the teaching that suffering is inherent to life and that the way to escape suffering and repeated existence is to limit one’s desires and expectations. There are various sects with varying beliefs. Confucianism: a system of teachings characterized by central emphasis on the practice and cultivation of the cardinal virtues of filial piety, kindness, righteousness, propriety, intelligence, and faithfulness. ecclesiastic: relating to a church. Greek ekklesiastikos referred to the ancient Athenian political assembly. First century Christians writers adopted the word to mean â€Å"assembly of believers,† or â€Å"church.† episcopal: having to do with a bishop. Like â€Å"ecclesiastic,† the English word bishop derives from a Greek word, episkopos, â€Å"watcher, overseer. The Greeks used their word to refer to government officials. First century Christian writers used bishop or episkopos to refer to church elders. In time bishop came to mean the chief administrator of a diocese (administrative district governed by a bishop) with the power to ordain. Episcopal is the adjective for bishop. evangelical: having to do with the Christian gospel/New Testament writings. The word is also used to describe a type of Christian belief that emphasizes the inerrancy of scripture and salvation through personal conversion. Eucharist: the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, a rite in which bread and wine are consecrated and consumed in symbolic union with Christ. The word comes from a Greek word meaning â€Å"grateful.† ecumenical: worldwide. As applied to religion, the word’s current use to mean cooperation among religious groups began with a 20th century movement promoting the idea of an inter-confessional Christian unity. Now an â€Å"ecumenical† group cooperating on some matter of general social benefit might include representatives from non-Christian religions. eschatology: the study of matters relating to the ultimate destiny of mankind and the world. Gnosticism: the belief that salvation is to be obtained by means of secret knowledge and that the material world is evil. Gnostic mystery religions abounded in the Roman Empire. The early Christian church was fragmented into various sects, many of which taught a Gnostic version of the new religion. gospel: the story of Christ’s life and teachings as told in the first four books of the Christian New Testament. The literal meaning of the word is â€Å"good news.† heresy: a religious opinion, or adherence to such an opinion, that is contrary to an established religious teaching. The word comes from Greek hairesis, â€Å"action of taking, choice, sect.† Originally a heresy was simply a difference of opinion. It became a religious crime, often punished by death. Hinduism: a body of social, cultural, and religious beliefs and practices found chiefly in India. It includes a belief in reincarnation and transmigration of souls. indulgence: in Roman Catholicism, a remission of punishment, especially punishment in Purgatory (in Catholic belief, Purgatory is an intermediate place of purification for souls that departed stained with minor sins not deserving of eternal punishment in Hell). Immaculate Conception: the Roman Catholic doctrine that the Virgin Mary was conceived without Original Sin (the sin of Adam and Eve conveyed to all human beings). This is not the same thing as the Virgin Birth, â€Å"the belief that Jesus was divinely begotten and miraculously born of a virgin mother.† jihad: a holy war on behalf of Islam. The Christian equivalent word is crusade, â€Å"a campaign or war sanctioned by the Church against unbelievers or heretics.† Literal crusades were common in the Middle Ages and were directed against Christian heretics as well as non-Christians. Now the term is used figuratively to mean â€Å"any remedial activity pursued with zeal and enthusiasm.† The same meaning is becoming attached to jihad. lay: not in holy orders. In a monastery there are monks who pray and do intellectual work, and those who do manual work and attend to secular affairs. The latter are called lay brothers. The term has spread to non-religious professions. Someone who lacks professional knowledge of a particular profession is called a layman. In a church setting one may speak of the clergy and the laity (non-clerical members of the church). monotheism: the doctrine or belief that there is only one God. nihilism: the viewpoint that all traditional beliefs are unfounded and that human life has no meaning. orthodox: in agreement with the official doctrine of a given religion. The word is from Greek orthodoxein, â€Å"to have the right opinion.† The noun is orthodoxy. Departure from orthodoxy is called heterodoxy. pagan This is a term difficult to define in even such a superficial treatment as this. For the early Christians, a pagan was a believer in polytheistic religion. The word originally meant â€Å"country dweller.† The rural population was slower to adopt Christianity than the city dwellers, probably because their religion was closely bound to agricultural cycles. Nowadays there are religious groups that identify themselves as Pagans. Modern paganism is earth-centered and can include polytheistic beliefs. The word heathen is used pejoratively to mean a person without religion. Like pagan, heathen also points to the fact that non-city dwellers tended to reject religious change. Heath comes from a word meaning â€Å"field.† Heathen was originally an adjective meaning â€Å"of the heath.† polytheism: belief in more than one god. profane: not holy. Anything not related to religion and spirituality is profane. The word can also be used as a verb meaning â€Å"to treat something sacred with irreverence.† secular: worldly, not sacred. Similar to profane, secular refers to anything that is not specifically religious. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Possessive of Proper Names Ending in SFor Sale vs. On SaleThe Difference Between e.g. and i.e.?

Sunday, October 20, 2019

You Earn What You Ask For

You Earn What You Ask For I was chatting with a reader not long ago, and she brought up the age-old complaint about entities asking writers (or any sort of artist) to present for freefor the exposure. Her words were these: our culture places little or no value on volunteer work, despite the lip-service given it. So, the covert message is that if you the performer, artist, service provider, etc. do not value your services enough to put a price on them, the client wont either. The lesser the value you place on yourself, the greater the disrespect you receive from your client. Ive written entire editorials on that subject, but she hit the nail on the head. People not only get what they pay for, but earn what they ask for. A few people will get their feathers ruffled. Not me or I know a lot of exceptions to that, but the grand majority of people see free as something of lesser value; otherwise, it wouldnt be cheap. And if something costs more, there usually has to be a reason. Ive turned down conferences and appearances for not compensating well enough. The initial gut reaction is to worry that youve declined an opportunity. We tend to be a group of creators that jumps at the chance to be read/seen anywhere, but that small feeling of panic about In the long run, you deem what you are worth, and the more you give it away, the lower your stock value.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Review paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Review paper - Essay Example However, poverty has driven these people towards survival of the fittest. Mothers become increasingly detached with infants who are perceived to be weak to survive the extremely poor conditions and a presumed to be a burden on the family. This aspect has been discussed in the paper. The researcher analyzed the reproductive backgrounds of seventy two women of the small town and tried to discover linkages between the economic and maternal disparity with material and emotional scarcity. The purpose behind this study is to find out the effect of materialism and economic disparity on the social and cultural norms of motherhood, attachment, parting and eventual loss by death. The researcher wants to prove that these sentiments are a production of the environment or the society a person belongs to rather than an innate psychological feeling of attachment that comes natural to a mother. His curiosity for this study developed because if two incidents in his life one of a girl from a rural area who murdered her infant son and one year old daughter. When he asked her for the reason behind her action she replied, ‘They wouldn’t stop asking for milk and that little ones had no feelings.’ And the second incident which formed the basis of his studies was in a town where there were was shortage of food, no access to clean drinking water, lack of sanitation and infectious diseases. The writer was involved with helping a woman give birth to her second child. However, her first child was not cared for, thrown in the dumps, living in very worse conditions, taken by compassion the writer took the child to the care center and with a lot of effort nurtured him back to health. The women there however paid no heed to weak children as mentioned above and shunned the writer for making an effort on the girls first born. The second born however was fair and healthy and was the center of attention. The culture there conformed to the natural term of

Friday, October 18, 2019

Justice in Greek Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Justice in Greek Philosophy - Essay Example Plato, one of the Greek's ancient philosophers, ideally believed that sense-gained knowledge remains impure and confused, and that only the soul that contemplates and turns away from thinking carnally can receive true knowledge. He also believed that only the soul can know real essences of things, acquire knowledge of forms since the world as seen by the eye is nothing short of an imperfect copy (Bakalis, 2005). The immense dialogue in the Republic is opened by questioning the nature of justice. Several definitions of justice are proposed which are found to be inadequate except that at least more emphasis is put on Sophist, Thrasymachus' definition. According to this young man, justice is anything the strongest man decides that it is. Further, he states that whatever is in the strong man's interest is just. This argument is dismissed by Socrates after proving that strong personalities rarely get to know whatever is in their best interest; this cannot be just since justice in itself is a virtuous (Griffin, Boardman & Murray, 2001). Plato had quite a different view of justice; he believed that an answer exists that derives basically from reality's nature. In his republic, justice is defined as wisdom, courage and self-control; something close to righteousness and morality. In Greek, the Republic refers to the character or order of a political society; its regime type or constitution. The republic also refers to the city-state governance in a Socratic dialogue written in 380 BC by Plato. The republic is a most influential work of political theory and philosophy, and is Plato's best work. In fictional dialogues with foreigners, Athenians and Socrates, Plato discusses the meaning of true justice (Griffin et al., 2001). He seeks to establish whether man is happier when just or unjust by imagining a society that is governed by the guardians and philosopher-kings. The dialogue also goes further to discuss the role of philosophers, the place of poetry, the Theory of Forms and the soul's immortality. Plato's Republic is to-date considered in respect of western philosophy to be one of the most influential works. The Republic essentially deals with the subject of how one can live well. This inquiry into how one can live a good life was shaped into two parallel questions: (1) what does an ideal state look like, or what is state justice (2) What makes a just person These questions naturally encompass others such as: how should the state citizen be educated, what arts need to be encouraged, what kind of government should state adopt, who should govern and what rewards should the governor receive, what is the soul's nature and what afterlife and divine sanctions exist (Griffin et al., 2001). The dialogue proceeds to cover almost all aspects of Plato's thought. Platonic thought as described by several central aspects that exist in the dialogue can be summed up into three main points; the nature of justice, the ideal republic and the allegory of the divided line and the cave (which attempt to explain the theory of forms as perceived by Plato). THE IDEAL REPUBLIC According to Socrates, if a person can define what a just state looks like then the person can apply that analogously to the just man. Plato on his part exposes in detail how a state can have wisdom, courage, justice and temperament - four great virtues. In his utopia, Plato divides men

Recycling of biological waste for local production of vegetables in Research Paper

Recycling of biological waste for local production of vegetables in Nairobi, Kenya - Research Paper Example These foci include: identifying locally relevant options; optimization of composting processes; organization of any waste handling that occurs; the homogeneity and safety of the generated products; and acceptance of the generated products by end users. Here it will be analyzed what roles soil, plants, and oxygen play in composting in rural communities such as the one described here. Usually, what happens with soil is that the moisture in composting tends to have various gases that are eliminated into the air due to organic elements having been introduced into the soil. â€Å"The moisture content of casts is an important driving force controlling the direction of nitrification–denitrification process, thus in dry– wet cycles, increases and decreases in ammonium and nitrate contents, respectively, may occur. Therefore, the decreases in water content of casts over time may favour the predomination of nitrification processes† (Aira, Monroy, & Dominguez, 2005, pp. 470 ). Additionally, plant life is especially important to composting organic elements within the soil. â€Å"The root basis of plants with an age of more than three years are places of ‘retreat’ for earthworms during the dry season when the soil completely dries out up to a depth of 1 meter and more†¦Within this rotting material, small numbers of epigeic living earthworms can be found† (Bierwirth, 2001, pp. 3). Oxygen is also a very important element in the composting process. â€Å"The results [of this study] are relevant to the supply of oxygen†¦to sediments for the phytopurification of waste waters, to the efflux of methane and carbon dioxide from wetlands, and to rice cultivation† (Armstrong & Armstrong, 2001, Abstract). II. Objectives (100 words) The main focus of the research proposal is much in the direction of safe handling of urban wastes, the processing and the quality of the end product as a soil amendment. As mentioned, the work is plann ed to take place in Nairobi. Some of the recent work on urban agriculture and waste recycling will be analyzed. This includes knowing what steps are necessary to take in composting, and how current research has helped inform the approach that will be taken. It is hoped that, with this research, third-world composting in rural Africa will become more widely-accepted and widely-adopted all over. III. Research Questions (1,250 words) Research Questions (50 words) Research questions include the following: a) What are locally relevant options? B) How can composting processes be optimized? c) How is waste handling organized? How homogenous and safe are the generated products? and d) What is the acceptance of the end products by the public? a. Locally Relevant Options for Vegetable Production in Nairobi (300 words) Locally relevant options include trying to control pests. Pests can affect crops, which can then make the problem of yield losses worse, when trying to produce cash crops. †Å"[P]ests may affect yield loss independently in natural farming, but in conventional paddies, multiple pest injury may interact synergistically, compounding yield loss† (Andow & Hidaka, 1998, Abstract). Another locally relevant option for vegetable production in Nairobi might be testing the soil. It is important to know what type of soil is being used for which

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Brand plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Brand plan - Essay Example ark of international quality, a brand that can be used as a yard-stick in daily jargon to compare excellence in product through flawless craftsmanship. Every Rolex watch tells the tale of an instrument that passes through a series of stringent tests in the manufacturing units supplemented by individual care in making sure it truly represents this undisputed royal watch brand. â€Å"Rolex watches are popularly regarded as status symbols† (Khurana, 2010) There are many reasons why Rolex is positioned in the market the way it is. It was a pioneer in the invention of wrist watches through the skill of its co-founder Wildorf in innovating Oyster waterproof case and screw crown. Rolex has many â€Å"first† which account for its â€Å"father-figure†, aristocratic and near-Godly stature. Rolex manufactured watches were the first to come with Kew â€Å"A† test, a prestigious achievement in the early 1900s that deemed it to be perfect in time keeping. Again, Rolex watches were the first to have â€Å"perpetual self winding rotor mechanism† that kept the watch at optimal tension and wound on its own at the slightest movement of the wrist. (Rolex.com, 2012) The watch and jewellery market is huge at the global level with international brands like Rado, Tag Heuger, Citizen, Gucci, Jaeger-LeCoulture, Schwarzkopf, Breitling, Victorinox (Swiss Army), Cartlier, Omega, Tissot, Movado, ESQ, Edward Mirell, marahlago, David Vurman, John Hardy, Roberto Coin, Ammolite, Llardo, Marco Bicego, Honora, Yvel, Tudor etc. Even though these watches make up for them mid-range watch and jewellery market they compete to a certain extent with Rolex to get a share of the larger customer base who are not Rolex loyalists. Rolex has numerous competitors in the 43.6 billion USD watch and jewellery industry. Rolex has released its Tudor in 1946 to eliminate stiff competition faced from mid-range wrist-watch brand like Tag Heuger and Rado. Its model categories: Prince, Princess, Monarch and Sport entered

Disability Definitions Analysis Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Disability Definitions Analysis - Research Paper Example IDEA defines what these disabilities are, and who is eligible to receive education based on their unique needs. This paper will look into some of the descriptions of the disabilities under the IDEA, and what characteristics and features are in place to identify these individual needs. Learning disability: Under the IDEA, this is a disorder where normal psychological processes involved in the using of language, or understanding are able to manifest in a manner that fosters an imperfect inability to either think or listen. In the IDEA definition, there is the inclusion of conditions that count as learning disabilities. These include: brain injury the student may have, brain dysfunction, dyslexia (reading disability), and/or perceptual disabilities (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2001). However, learning difficulties, for example, emotional disturbance and economic disadvantages, do not fall under this definition. Mental retardation: Under IDEA, this is the lack of cognitive abilities. This means that these individuals face limitations when it comes to social skills, taking care of themselves, and issues with communication. Students with mental retardation are typically slower than the rest of the students. These cognitive disabilities render the student much slower when it comes to speech. They also have problems taking care of their personal needs while in school (Burns, 2006). Emotional behavioural disturbance: Under the IDEA’s definition, it is a condition that renders a child with sub average intellectual functioning. This is a disability that cannot be explained by health or intellectual factors. The presence of some factors over a long period might indicate that a student is incapable of maintaining a steady educational environment. Deficits in adaptive behaviour, according to the act, affect the child, hence affecting their educational environment (Mastropieri & Scruggs, 2007). In learning disabilities, there are no factors that affect the student from the

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Brand plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Brand plan - Essay Example ark of international quality, a brand that can be used as a yard-stick in daily jargon to compare excellence in product through flawless craftsmanship. Every Rolex watch tells the tale of an instrument that passes through a series of stringent tests in the manufacturing units supplemented by individual care in making sure it truly represents this undisputed royal watch brand. â€Å"Rolex watches are popularly regarded as status symbols† (Khurana, 2010) There are many reasons why Rolex is positioned in the market the way it is. It was a pioneer in the invention of wrist watches through the skill of its co-founder Wildorf in innovating Oyster waterproof case and screw crown. Rolex has many â€Å"first† which account for its â€Å"father-figure†, aristocratic and near-Godly stature. Rolex manufactured watches were the first to come with Kew â€Å"A† test, a prestigious achievement in the early 1900s that deemed it to be perfect in time keeping. Again, Rolex watches were the first to have â€Å"perpetual self winding rotor mechanism† that kept the watch at optimal tension and wound on its own at the slightest movement of the wrist. (Rolex.com, 2012) The watch and jewellery market is huge at the global level with international brands like Rado, Tag Heuger, Citizen, Gucci, Jaeger-LeCoulture, Schwarzkopf, Breitling, Victorinox (Swiss Army), Cartlier, Omega, Tissot, Movado, ESQ, Edward Mirell, marahlago, David Vurman, John Hardy, Roberto Coin, Ammolite, Llardo, Marco Bicego, Honora, Yvel, Tudor etc. Even though these watches make up for them mid-range watch and jewellery market they compete to a certain extent with Rolex to get a share of the larger customer base who are not Rolex loyalists. Rolex has numerous competitors in the 43.6 billion USD watch and jewellery industry. Rolex has released its Tudor in 1946 to eliminate stiff competition faced from mid-range wrist-watch brand like Tag Heuger and Rado. Its model categories: Prince, Princess, Monarch and Sport entered

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Why poverty was re-discovered in Britain in the late 1950s and early Essay

Why poverty was re-discovered in Britain in the late 1950s and early 1960 - Essay Example Britain’s share of world trade fell from 13.9% to 10.8% during this time. Taxation increased from 32% of GDP to 43% of GDP. Economic planning had failed and this failure precluded major social planning despite the fact that some social reforms such as the launch of comprehensive education, reorganization of public transport, development in health and local government. Abel-Smith and Townsend are credited with the "rediscovery of poverty" in the 1960’s: noticed that certain categories such as, families with children on low incomes and retired couples often lived in difficult circumstances. The definition of poverty adopted by Abel-Smith and Peter Townsend in their 1965 study, was the concept of â€Å"The Poor and the Poorest†. They concluded that "poverty was entirely a relative concept," and defined households to be in, or at the margins of, poverty if their income was less than "140 percent of the then current National Assistance scale plus rent". In 1960, 17.9% of households lived below this relative poverty standard. An unknown, but significantly smaller, share of the population had incomes below the "physical efficiency" or "human needs" poverty lines. (Ian Gazeley, Poverty in Britain 1900-1965) There was a strong case for saying that socially deprived families are frequently found in confined geographical areas identifiable by certain physical and social characteristics. Examples of these characteristics: geographical location, "twilight zones" near a city’s business area; areas populated by immigrants; overcrowded and poor amenities, Victorian housing stock; areas with a high percentage of unskilled and semi-skilled workers; higher than average proportions of families on State benefits; higher than normal percentage of large families; large number of fatherless families; areas with little play space and recreational facilities; areas with poorer health; high percentage of child deprivation and delinquency.

Monday, October 14, 2019

Electronic Signatures Essay Example for Free

Electronic Signatures Essay As compared to paper based signatures there is an increased dependability on electronic signatures for an increased protection of documents and patient records in healthcare facilities. Thereby this paper will discuss an importance of electronic signatures in addition to the advantages that they have in order to be implemented in healthcare, business and e-commerce. Introduction Signature is more known as a script that has been designed by an individual and is associated with that very individual. Signatures in some cases have been associated with seals used for protection. In general, signatures are an evidence of the fact that all intentions made in a certain document have been approved by the individual signing it. Purposes of signatures are the same as that of normal and usual signatures as all intentions made in an electronic document are approved by an individual who undersigns a document with an electronic signature (Brazell, 2004, p. 23). Many definitions have been given in relation to the electronic signature. All in all these definitions highlight the fact that as compared to hand written signatures, electronic signatures are more protective and sealed thereby there is an increased reliability associated with electronic signatures. Defining Electronic Signatures First definition that needs a mention here is given by US Code. It defines an electronic signature as an electronic sound, or a symbol that represents documents in a unique way as these symbols are associated with these documents in a legal manner. According to this definition symbols are adopted and chosen by an individual who wishes to sign, seal and protect a document thereby making sure that all intentions are accepted by that very individual. The US code argues that the signatures can be embedded in transmissions of electronic documents observed during transmission of facsimiles. The electronic signature can also take the form of Morse code in case of electronic message transmission as the signs are embedded inside the message. Realizing an importance of the protective and sealing protection offered by electronic signatures, there is an increased use of encrypted electronic messages in fields that are more sensitive about integrity of documents thereby e-commerce, healthcare, government office are observed to frequently adopt the technology of electronic signatures (Schellekens, 2004, p. 56). Legal standing of these electronic signatures has been well established thereby the laws of EU and US recognize electronic signatures holding the same legal importance as ordinary signatures on documents. Legal issues and consequences that are associated with electronic signatures are same as normal and usual signatures. Historical Perspective of Electronic Signatures Electronic signatures have been known to exist since before the American Civil War. Electronic signatures date back to 1860s when electronically encrypted messages were being used by the help of Morse codes in telegraphy. Telegraphy in those days was used to send messages that were more secret and in agreements to terms that were presented in certain kinds of enforceable contracts. Legal standing of these electronic messages dates back to 1869 when an importance of these telegraphically encrypted documents was enforced by the New Hampshire Supreme Court (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, 2002, p. 78). In order to ensure protection, and time sensitive delivery of protected documents to safer places, in 1980s, many organizations started working on electronic signatures in order to encrypt documents. For encrypting highly sensitive documents, fax machines were used. Nevertheless in this case it has been seen that although original signatures used to be on the paper, but images of signatures and transmission used to be in an electronic format thereby ensuring increased protection. Recently it has been seen that various legal interventions have been made in order to enhance protection offered by electronic signatures. It has been added by the US courts that documents that can be protected and sealed by electronic signatures can include emails, PIN codes that are used for ATM transactions in banks, credit or debit sllip that needs to be protected by signing it with a digital pen pad device, installing kinds of software that comes with a clickwrap software license agreement along with documents that are often signed online that need enhanced protection. It has been recorded that the first document signed in an electronic way was between two sovereign nations, United States and Ireland in a communique that jointly recognized an importance of electronic signatures in trading and e-commerce (Katsikas, Lopez, and Pernul, 2005, p. 78). Enforcing Electronic Signatures United States has defined electronic signatures in legal ways and a set of requirements have been set that help in qualifying an electronic signatures as authentic. These requirements and qualifications of electronic signatures were designed by National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) in 1999 when this US based government organization released Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA). UETA has defined electronic signatures as electronic symbols that are associated with a certain document in relation to which all intention have been accepted by the individual who owns and signs the particular document. There are many laws that echo core concepts of electronic signatures and these are also observed to be the same in U. S. ESign Act that was presented and implemented in the year of 2000. Many states in United States have been working on the laws and jurisdiction in relation to the electronic signatures and more than 47 states in United States along with the District of Columbia, and the US Virgin Islands have enacted and have been using UETA in an active manner. Only three states as New York, Illinois and Washington have not enacted UETA. New York has designed its own rule that recognizes electronic signatures as legal and the law that represents these signatures is Electronic Signatures and Records Act (ESRA) (Boss, and Kilian, 2008, p. 67). Other countries that have started assigning legal values to electronic signatures include Canada. The definition of electronic signatures given by Canadian legal authorities is generic and different from the one given by the US authorities. Generic definition of signature given by the Canadian Department Of Justice says that an electronic signature contains a chain of letters, symbols, and numbers encrypted in a digital format associated with a certain electronic document that belongs to an individual or a certain organization (Snijders, and Weatherill, 2003, p. 45). After this Canadian Department Of Justice has defined an electronic signature by arguing that electronic signature in contrast to normal signatures possess some distinct properties that define these signatures. Canadian law that talks about the digital signatures in accordance to the protection of electronic documents is PIPEDA. PIPEDAs secure electronic signature regulations argue that electronic signatures are those that are designed, applied and verified in a specific manner. European Union has also given its rules and regulations in accordance to the use of electronic signatures in document protection systems. These laws have been published in the EC Official Journal. These laws are referred to as the Directive 1999/93/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council while officially these are more often referred as the EU Directive on Electronic Signatures or the EU Electronic Signatures Directive. These were published on 13th December 1999 (Adams, and Lloyd, 2003, p. 78). Maintaining Legal Nature of Electronic Signatures Various laws and jurisdictions have been defined that help e-commerce and trade to incorporate the advantages of electronic signatures in daily business deals that can help in increased document protection. It has been realized that at a local and an international level there is a need to incorporate certain document protection systems that can help in easy working and trustworthy document sharing within different parties. 1. Definitions of PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) An electronic signature can be defined as being safe when a. It is unique to an individual b. Technology that is being used in order to generate signatures are under the control and only being used by the person who creates the signature thereby adding to the level of uniqueness. c. The technology being used to create signatures should be able to represent an individual who has created the signatures. d. The electronic signatures are to be linked with an electronic document in various ways. One way that has been defined by Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act argues that the electronic document should be able to identify, by the help of electronic signatures associated with it, if any changes have been made to this document after signatures were associated with the document originally (Kehal, and Singh, 2005, p. 78). 2. The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act This law was passed by the US congress in relation to the electronic signatures and this law has defined and authorized the electronic signatures in three steps. a. The term ‘electronic’ in electronic signatures has been highlighted as something that possesses digital, symbolic, magnetic, wireless, electromagnetic, electric properties. b. Electronic record on the other hand has been defined as a document, contract that has been generated, created, shared, discussed, and sent by using electronic means. c. Electronic signatures have been defined by The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act as an electronic sound, symbol or a process that is legally and authoritatively associated with a document created by an individual holding rights to create, sign and decrypt the document in any manner thereby ‘patenting’ the document (Pathak, 2007, p. 34). Other similar definitions have been given by the following acts that relate to the use of electronic signatures. a. Government Paperwork Elimination Act, US b. Federal Reserve 12 CFR 202 c. UETA d. Commodity Futures Trading Commission 17 CFR Part 1 Sec. 1. 3. Creation of Electronic Signatures: Public Key Infrastructures (PKI) Importance of electronic signatures has been realized since long as it has been seen that these are more important in protecting the legal status of documents in a comparative manner. Thereby secure and much complex ways have been identified that can define electronic signatures in ways that ensure their legal status in order to protect records. Creation of electronic signatures depends on asymmetrical cryptographic method. This method ensures that the kinds of protection status being encrypted in the document are only approachable by the person who creates the signatures on the document. Thereby two kinds of keys are used in this case and these are referred to as public and private cryptographic keys. The theoretical fundamentals and practicalities of the asymmetric cryptographic key were laid down in 1976 (Doukidis, Mylonopoulos, and Pouloudi, 2004, p. 79). In accordance to the theory and recent ways that have been developed for electronically signing a document, a number is calculated that represents the length of a document and this number is referred to as the checksum of a particular document. This checksum is calculated by using a hash function. This is the case where a private key is used which is more representative of the person signing the document. Thereby signature is represented by private key which in the end is attached to a document. This private key is thereby a signature of the document. Role of Public Key Another key that plays an important role in this case is a public key. An important that is played by a public key is that the signature’s and relevant document can be checked by the public key. Public key as the name indicates is freely and easily available to any individual within the public. Decryption of the electronic key is performed by the help of an electronic signature. Integrity Check An integrity check is an important part of electronic signature allocation. It has been seen that integrity of a document can be checked by recalculating the checksum number that was allocated to the document originally. As was done during the calculation of checksum, the recalculation of checksum is also done with the help of hash functions. Integrity of the document can be validated if the checksums are identical ensuring that the integrity of the document is intact (Rice, and American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, 2005, p. 78). Role of Certificates Public keys and cryptographic keys are the most important part of the electronic signature creation thereby there is a need of a system that can authorize the genuine nature of these keys. Both of these keys are authorized by a certificate. Certificates are specially created electronic documents that associate and connect the public key with the key holder’s identification data that in this case has to be unique. On the other hand in order to provide increased protection it has been observed that to ensure increased protection, certificates are also electronically signed by the certification providers that are also authorized. All these links and methodologies designed to sign the documents make sure that document is signed, encrypted and decrypted by using the public key only by the person who has created the document. Certification service providers play important roles as Trusted Third Party offering services other than certificates for protection of electronic documents. Certification service providers are known to provide a set of directory services that are also related to electronic documents. These are the services that bring the protection provided by the electronic signatures a step ahead. Directory services provide additional measures by which the certificates can be checked for authentication time by time. Advantages of Electronic Signatures These days there is a need to exchange business in a fast manner that requires and demands exchange of information including documents in a secure manner. It has been realized that exchanging information on a regular basis is more secure in an electronic manner rather on paper. 1. Electronic information takes lesser time to travel as compared to the paper based information thereby there is no time wasted (Mann, Eckert, and Knight, 2000, p. 67). 2. The cost of electronic signature based documents is only needed in the beginning of this setup and there are no additional costs required after its implementation. 3. Because of the electronic nature of documents, there is lesser involvement of human beings other than the ones that are directly involved ensuring security in case of these documents. 4. Because of an electronic nature of these documents there is a lesser chance of interruption and interference in electronic documents that increasingly ensures the protection of these documents. In terms of protection it has been observed that electronic signature based documents are more secure and protected as compared to paper based signatures. 1. In this case it has been argued that the electronic signatures are not able to be copied as compared to the normal paper based signatures and electronic signatures are implemented on the complete document rather than the last page. 2. In this case it has been observed that as electronic signatures are implemented on whole document thereby there are no chances of any text being maliciously changed in any part of the document. 3. Time stamping is the proof of transmission time of the document thereby transmission dates can be cross checked in order to check the legal status of the document. 4. Additional restrictions can be imposed on the message content in electronically signed documents. It has been observed that with the consent of the document holder and creator, reader can read and verify the contents of the document (Katsikas, Lopez, and Pernul, 2005, p. 45). Other than these, additional advantages that are offered by the electronically signed documents include streamlining businesses and trade globally and on a local scale. Business chains are better connected when paper documents are removed having a much better control on business with the help of electronic documents. 1. Increased cost are associated with typing documents and sending these through courier and these costs are reduced in case of electronic documents that take lesser time to be emailed and fixed. 2. In case of signing the contracts an important issue used to deal with signing the contracts which is resolved by electronic signature based reinforce bale contracts that are signed anywhere. Electronic Signatures Usage in Medial Healthcare Records Healthcare in the modern days is recognized by an increase in the specialization of medical specialization. In order to ensure that patient care process is optimized there is an increased cooperation and data exchange between different healthcare institutions. Thereby it has been observed that in order to ensure timely, cost effective and economic patient care, often known as shared care, there is a need to increasingly exchange information with healthcare institutions and medical facilities. The kinds of patient record systems that are adopted these days are increasingly dependent upon the data exchange. On the other hand it has been realized that there are many shortcomings associated with paper based documents that have been also held responsible for a decreased efficiency of healthcare institutions, thereby there is an increased adoption of electronic signatures on the documents (Boss, and Kilian, 2008, p. 38). In order to ensure that all heath care operations undergo in a proper, streamlined and a secure manner there is a need to implement the technology of electronic signatures to the field of healthcare. Paper based signatures are time consuming and are less protecting as compared to electronic signatures thereby in the field of healthcare, document authenticity is a critical business operation. There is a set of documents that are in a need to be protected in face of infringements and these documents include patient records, physician diagnosis, order, bills and payments. Thereby based on the set of advantages that have been highlighted in the previous sections healthcare facilities in different countries have started to implement electronic signatures. Recently there are many changes in United States health departments in order to implement electronic signatures based documents. It has been recently reported that regulations have been passed and implemented by the Drug Enforcement Agency in order to implement electronic signatures on medical prescriptions that are of electronic nature in order to ensure that original prescriptions are checked on the counters of pharmacies rather than cooked ones. Another law that has been passed by the Veteran’s Health Administration relates to the consent forms that are signed by the patients. In order to protect these forms, protection is being ensured by the implementation of electronic signatures on these forms. In healthcare administration various standards have been defined that link important records and documents with encrypted signatures. Recently a standard has been defined that helps in an authentication of medical records of the patients, an ASTM standard. In order to electronically sign the radiological images, DICOM standard have been used and are in practice. Most of the documents in medical centers and healthcare institutions are related to signatures, including signatures from families, patients and physicians. Thereby after the creation of these documents it is important that these documents are protected and sealed by the help of electronic signatures. Successes of document security solution lies in the fact of creating documents that are electronically signed thereby are digitally protected. These protection measures have also been considered important in the case of offline and online business, e-commerce (Adams, and Lloyd, 2003, p. 24). Conclusion Internationally accepted standards have been defined that can help in securing the documents in a better manner. In case of healthcare it has been seen that there is an increased dependency on a long term archiving of patient records as soon as these are created and passed on to the other facilities. International standards have been used to define the signatures in accordance to the advantages that they ensure, as DICOM, XML, and HL7. In addition to this it has been argued that there is an increased integration of PKIs in healthcare services as these are designed in accordance to the legislations that have been designed in order to ensure document protection. References Adams, C. , and Lloyd, S. (2003). Understanding PKI: concepts, standards, and deployment; considerations, Technology series. Edition 2. Addison-Wesley. Boss, H. A. , and Kilian, W. (2008). The United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts. Kluwer Law International. Brazell, L. (2004). Electronic signatures law and regulation. Sweet Maxwell. Doukidis, I. G. , Mylonopoulos, N. , and Pouloudi, N. (2004). Social and economic transformation in the digital era. Idea Group Inc (IGI). Katsikas, K. S. , Lopez, J. ,and Pernul, G. (2005). Trust, privacy, and security in digital business: second international conference, TrustBus 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark, August 22-26, 2005:proceedings, Lecture notes in computer science, Springer eBook collection. Birkhauser. Kehal, S. H. , and Singh, P. V. (2005). Digital economy: impacts, influences, and challenges. Idea Group Inc (IGI). Mann, L. C. , Eckert, E. S. , and Knight, C. S. (2000). Global electronic commerce: a policy primer. Peterson Institute. Pathak. (2007). Legal Aspects Of Business. Edition 3. Tata McGraw-Hill. Rice, R. P. , and American Bar Association. Section of Litigation. (2005). Electronic evidence: law and practice. American Bar Association. Schellekens, M. (2004). Electronic signatures: authentication technology fro

Sunday, October 13, 2019

The Elevator And Escalator Industry In Sri Lanka Economics Essay

The Elevator And Escalator Industry In Sri Lanka Economics Essay I am employed at ETA MELCO ENGINEERING (PTE) LTD for the past one year and Im currently working as the Human Resource Executive. My company is a fully owned subsidiary of ETE MELCO Elevator Co. L.L.C. and has its head office in Dubai, U.A.E. which belongs to the ETA STAR GROUP OF COMPANIES. We represent Mitsubishi Elevators and Escalators in Sri Lanka and our activities cover the marketing, supply, installation and maintenance of all types of Mitsubishi Elevators, Escalators, Moving Walks and Vertical transportation equipment. Mitsubishi Escalators and Elevators has earned a reputation as one of the most advanced Elevator and Escalator manufactures in the world, offering firsts in technology. Let analyze in detail the Elevator and Escalator Industry in Sri Lanka and the market my company belongs in relation to the economic context. About the Group Company ETA STAR Group was established in the early 1973 and is involved with expertise ranging from Civil Construction to Electro Mechanical, Facilities Management and Elevator Engineering. Today the ETA STAR group involves in activities that cover 16 broad industry verticals. Namely: Construction and Engineering, Trading, Shipping, Manufacturing and Assembly, Facilities Management, Auto Mobile, Real Estate, Retail, Services, Travel and Leisure, Health Care, Aviation, Learning and Education, Insurance, Hospitality, Oil and Natural Gas. The group has a network of 140 entities and offices in 22 countries. As a group we provide employment to over 72000 people. All group companies are guided through the group companys vision, Quality is our single-minded pursuit in the application of new technologies. In our wide ranging diversity, we innovate continuously as we strive to provide complete satisfaction to our customers and shareholders. We have emerged as one of the largest corporate houses duri ng the last 37 years of operations achieving excellence. A look at the Industry The Elevator and Escalator industry in Sri Lanka is highly depended on the construction industry. The construction industry in Sri Lanka comprises of building, highway, bridge, water supply and drainage, irrigation and land drainage, dredging and reclamation and other constructions. According to the annual survey carried out by construction industries, the total value of estimated work done by all types of construction activities in Sri Lanka was Rs. 56,496 million in 2007. The building construction sector was the highest contributor to the total value of work done contributing 64.1%. This contribution to the building construction sector was made by the private and public sector. The second largest contributor to the total value of work done in the construction industry was the highway construction amounting to 25.2% of the total value of work done. The highest value of work done was reported from Colombo district amounting to 37.2% of the total output. Hambanthota and Kaluthara Dist ricts contributed 11.3% and 6.2% accordingly. Jafna District reported the lowest value of work done amounting to 0.3% of the total output. A detail breakup constriction industry for the year 2007 is as follows: Source: Annual Survey of Construction Industries 2008 To evaluate on the industry of Elevator and Escalator lets analyze the detail break up of the building construction industry. Source: Annual Survey of Construction Industries 2008 Elevators and Escalators are mainly used in Sri Lanka for high and medium rise buildings that has being developed for residential apartments, hotels, shopping complexes and hospital buildings. The demand for elevator is based on the infra structure development in the above mentioned areas. Based on the interview I had with the Sales Manager he told me that the demand for elevators and escalators have being 238, 243, 219 and 171 for the years 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 respectively. This clearly helps us to understand the sudden drop in the demand for elevators was due to the economic crisis that affected the constriction industry in our country in the mid 2008 and 2009. The estimated annual demand for elevators for the year 2010 is predicted to be 260 units. However the rapid development in the northern and southern province in the country after the 30 years of civil was is contributing favorably to the elevator and escalator market in Sri Lanka as many infra structure development programmes are presently taking place. Many of these projects are government owned. Population growth on the other hand too contributes immensely to the building construction industries. Due to scare resources such as land developers are compelled to put up high rise apartment buildings and complexes. Today even in the rural sector there are plans to up such building. Tourist industry too positively contributes to the elevator and escalator market as we need to develop many hotels and hotel apartments to keep up to the demand. Sri Lanka tourist board is presently focusing on areas such as Trincomalee and Puthalam in order to promote Dolphin, Wale watching and Surfing. Also areas such as Hambanthota, Jaffna, Baticalo are given preference. The Health care sector too in Sri Lanka gives high priority to the elevators and this is seeing as a sector that has been having a continual growth over the last decade. Overview of the Organization Taking into account the initial success achieved in the U.A.E. market in the early 1980s the ETA MELCO Elevator Co. L.L.C. set up branch office in Sri Lanka in the name ETA MELCO ENGINEERING (PTE) LTD and 20 other countries. The Sri Lankan construction industry proved to be during very well in the early 1980s and this influenced the management to set up operations in Sri Lanka to provide vertical transportation facilities as there was a huge demand for products such as elevators, escalators and moving walks and other related products for high rising buildings, hotels, hospitals, commercial buildings, residential apartments etc. These products are supplied by Mitsubishi Corporation. Popularly known as the Elevator People of Sri Lanka we have grown to be the biggest elevator specialist in the region enjoying a very high market share. We as a company are singularly focus on growth by keeping up with modern technological changes and advances. We have a fully fledge research and development team in Japan that keeps us updated with trends that suites the industry tomorrow. The phrase that brands our products, Quality in Motion is not just a catchy slogan but a statement of fact. We are driven by the continual evolution of technological improvement. The professionals of our company and through out the worlds practice Quality in Motion everyday. We not only pay emphasis to operational efficiency but also safety and comfort. We are embodied by our mantra Number one for Quality to ensure we exceed out customer requirements. The policies of Mitsubishi Electric has made all these possible while fostering the values necessary to harmonize our products and activities with the environment and local communities. These will vary based on customers requirement for capacity, speed, purpose, number of persons, number of stops (floors) etc. Refer appendix for more details on our product range. Market Share The industry leader in the Sri Lankan Elevator market is ETA MELCO ENGINEERING (PTE) LTD the agent for Mitsubishi Elevators in the country. We import Mitsubishi Elevators and Escalators under the HS code 84281010 Lifts and skip hoists. According to the import statistics details obtained from Data One Company our sales team analyzed the market share for the year 2009 based on the number of units ETA MELCO (Mitsubishi) secured as against its competitors. The data is as follows: With reference to the analysis carried out it could be said with much certainly that this industry belongs to the Oligopoly (Imperfect) Market Structure as it has a relatively small number of large firms. They sell differentiated products and comprise of significant entry barriers. Thus we have a few key industry players like Otis, Sanyo, Sigma, Dipra, Schindler, Johnson, Kone and Local Fabrications who deal with Elevators and Escalators in Sri Lanka. Hence we export only three types of products Elevators, Escalators and Moving Walks. We are the only local company that exports these products from Mitsubishi we have better access to architects, clients, contractors, government authorities and other developers due to the good name we maintain in safety, comfort, efficiency and superior quality. Nevertheless this industry is highly competitive as all the few players on average have to meet a demand of 175 200 elevators for a year. This leads to sever competition. We have to keep a breast of the ever changing technological advances and we need to convince our customer base on the modern products and modifications needed to existing products from time to time to avoid our products being modernized or serviced by out competitor companies. Taking in to account the over all market in to consideration ETA MELCO has grown from strength to strength enjoying the highest market share in this segment when compared to its competitors. The company has to now focus on promoting vertical transportation products such as Elevators, Escalators and Moving walkers by moving in to the northern and southern geographical areas of the country to remain as the market leader as many developments are taking place. The product alone is a luxury item and today the demand for Home elevators our becoming popular. The company also has it focus in coming up with more customized products to cater to the market. In Sri Lanka alone we have Home Elevators. Market Structures My findings indicate that this organization belongs to the Oligopoly (Imperfect) market structure since it highlights the following characteristics; Major industry players amounts to 9 competitors while there are few other mushroom companies that deals with maintenance of elevators and escalators. The firm is relatively large compared to the overall market and has a substantial degree of market control. In short there are small numbers of large firms. Firms in oligopolistic industries produce either identical or differentiated products. Identical product oligopolies also knows as perfect oligopolies produce tend to process raw materials or intermediate goods that are used as inputs in other industries. Notable examples are petroleum, steel and aluminum. On the other hand elevator and escalator falls into differentiated product oligopolies also knows as imperfect oligopolies focuses on consumer goods (mostly luxury) to satisfy the wide variety of consumer needs and wants. Barriers to entry prevail as the firm attain and retain market control. Patents, brand names, recognition, resource ownership, start-up cost, decreasing average cost are the most common barriers and the make it extremely difficult or impossible for potential firms to enter the industry. Oligopolistic firms are diverse and they posses several behavioral tendencies. The following behavioral characteristics were highlighted in my findings: Interdependency among firms as it takes in to account relative size and market control. This means that the actions of one firm will depend and make an influence on the actions of another firm. The firm keeps a close eye on the activities of the other firms in the industry. As a result the decisions made by one firm invariably affect others and are invariably affected by others. Thus a firms success will not only depend on its own action but also those of the competitor. A Rigid price strategy is followed by the firm that helps to keep the price relatively constant as the firm prefers to compete in other ways that does not involve changing the price. This is mainly because if price decreases the competitor will try to match the same and will not take in to consideration the increases in prices as the firms do not gain much from price changes. As the firm does not gain much from price competition they tend to follow non-price methods of competition which includes entry barriers, product differentiation and advertising, continuous improvement in quality, after sale services, effective distribution, guarantees as the firms objective is to get more buyers and simultaneously increase the market share while holding the line on price. Taking all firms in the industry I wish to emphasize that the firms operate in cooperation through collusion in an oligopoly market. The factories of the companies that manufacture elevator and escalators secretly agree on prices, production and other aspects in the market and behave like they are operating as one firm a monopoly. A formal method of collusion is cartel which is found among international produces. Operating in an Oligopoly (imperfect) market brings in two important advantages to the firm. It could be elaborated as follows: The firm tends to be a prime source for innovations that promotes advances in technology and economic growth. This leads to higher living standards. These firms have the motive and opportunity for innovation. Interdependent competition results in motive and access to abundant resuorses bring about opportunity. The firm is in a position to enjoy economies of scale as it leads to a reduction in the cost of production and prices. The firm can mass produce at a low average cost. Elevators and escalators will be more significantly expensive if they were produced by a large number of small firms that small number of large firms. Graphical Illustration of the Market Equilibrium A kinked demand curve is used to illustrate the short run production activity of an oligopolistic firm. To explain the price rigidity in an oligopolistic firm the kinked demand curve is used. The kink of the demand curve exists at the current quantity (Qpm) and current price (Ppm). This is because competitor firms will not match the increases in price as it will loose its customer base and market share. It is evident that a small increase in price will lead to a relatively large decrease in quantity demanded. Similarly any price decreases will be matched by competitor firms and the firms is unlikely to gain customers or market share. If a firm is to gain a small increase in quantity demanded a large decrease in price needs to take place. (This is not feasible to many firms) Conclusion With reference to my study on my organization ETA MELCO ENGINEERING (PTE) LTD I could state that we fall into Imperfect Oligopoly Market Structure. Hence I will use the following findings to justify my answer; There are small numbers of large firms (09 major industry players) in the elevator and escalator industry. The company sells a range of differentiated products to suit customer, client, architect, developers requirements and specifications taking in to account type of building, type of elevator/escalator, number of stops (floors), travel speed, capacity, and usage thus falling in to imperfect oligopoly without any doubt. Significant barriers to entry prevail due to brand name, recognition, start up cost, decreasing average cost, patent and resource ownership. Interdependency among firms exists. A rigid price structure is followed to keep price relatively constant. As any decrease in price will lead towards the same action from competitor thus affecting the companies customer base and market share. Also any price increases will lead to a reduction in quantity demanded thus affecting the customer base and market share. Due to the above reason the company follows non-price methods of competitions by promoting its brand image and reputation, quality products, customized products, guarantees, cost effective after sales services and product differentiation. The firm balances competition among others through cooperation. We can identify collusion as a method used in the elevator/escalator industry. Price cartels are experienced in the factories that produce elevator/ escalators. The company is heavily involved in innovations that promote advances in technology and economic growth. The main factory of the company enjoys economies of scale through mass production thus leading to low average cost. Finally giving all reasons, arguments and justification above like to conclude that ETA MELCO ENGINEERIN (PTE) LTD is operating in an Imperfect Oligopolistic Market Structure.