Academic article free essay sample

The capability of states and institutions to foster post-conflict resolutions that are primarily focused on Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) and Weapons Reduction are determined by the communication processes and the willingness of each member of the party to cooperate. However, the objectives of the two issues must be clearly pointed out to further support several important ideas related to post-conflict resolutions which it fails to address. Muggah presented the way DDR and weapons reduction has been eminent and evolving in the area of post-conflict resolution. Muggah first argued that in the end of conflict, security and stability is not yet attained contrary to other peoples understanding. There are processes involved to gradually restore order. In other words, the ‘post-conflict’ period is not as safe and secure as generally believed.[1] With this, Muggah elaborated several post-conflict scenarios and events that have been evident in studies. The rise of organized urban criminality in the aftermath of conflict is common. We will write a custom essay sample on Academic article or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page [2] This situation paved the way for the rise of post-conflict resolution mechanisms to ensure that these events and scenarios are lessened at a certain extent.   Groups, states and individuals are now recognizing the detrimental effects of these issues and adopted several important measures that will focus on monitoring, communication and cooperation. DDR and weapons reduction were the things that was emphasized by Muggah. He then elaborated on the rise of both literatures and indicated each ones significance in the realm of conflict resolution. DDR is a comparatively recent instrument adopted by the development community in the context of post-conflict reconstruction.[3] It can be seen that the concept of DDR has only been new compared to weapons reduction mechanism that had been used since the Cold War.   Muggah elaborated on the evolution of the concept of weapons reduction and how it has been applied in every specific time frame. Muggah then indicated that the recent concept of weapons reduction seek to address the issues caused by terrorism. More recently, as the (tenuous) linkages between under-development and terrorism have been woven together in policy circles, arms reduction has also recently been invoked by some governments as a part of a general poverty reduction initiative in the post-conflict period.[4] In the next section of Muggah’s analysis, he elaborated on the different flaws and shortcomings of the two mechanisms. Major weaknesses relate to the criteria invoked for measuring ‘success’ or ‘failure’ and the disproportionate focus on disarmament and demobilization, at the expense of long-term activities such as reintegration.[5] He first elaborated on the issue of gauging success and failure and argued that its weakness is that people treat each one as interchangeably and alike which should not be the case. In addition, Muggah argued that these varying criteria (interchanging, rationality of success and failure, substitution for long-term development measures, labeling, and management of expectations) can have detrimental effects and suspicions of the mechanisms credibility to promote post-conflict resolution. In the end, Muggah argued about the importance of communication and indicating objectives. Political process must also be taken into consideration by the actors. It is also important to recognize that any ‘successful’ DDR or weapons reduction intervention depends equally on the management of ostensibly ‘political’ issues associated with reconciliation, peace building and meaningful reform or judicial government and economic structures.[6] In his conclusions, Muggah indicated the importance of these mechanisms in promoting post-conflict resolutions as well as the emergence of development actors to promote such objectives. Mechanisms are in place however the objectives and aims must be clearly elaborated to prevent misunderstanding of the concepts and uncertainty. Looking at the article of Muggah, I can say that the article presented sufficient evidences surrounding the literature. In the end, it can be said that Muggah’s argument regarding DDR and weapons reduction are indeed relevant and convincing enough. By making the essay organized, Muggah is able to foster a better understanding of the article to readers. In the essay, Muggah gave a good outline and indicated important points that need to be considered in studying the two mentioned mechanisms. Furthermore, he looked into the evolution of such concepts and incorporating important actors that contributed to its development. Laslty, Muggah clearly gave important analysis of the two mechanisms shortcomings and highlighted important measures that should be addressed for it to be effective and efficient in promoting post-conflict resolution. Many studies have been made in relation to post-conflict resolutions. There had been reviews pertaining to different scenarios wherein post-conflict resolutions were successful and also failed. The review of Adekanye focused on the different mechanisms where the issue was applied to different countries and how each mechanism paved the way for each ones success and failure. It was indicated the study the (1) importance of arms management in negotiations, (2) resolving disarmament and conflict, and the (3) transition phase. In arms management according to Adekanye must have its own rules and dynamics that each party is willing to follow. The transition from war to peace involves military, political, psychological, humanitarian, and economic questions which are closely intertwined.[7] The next thing that Adekanye looked into is the ways resolving disarmament and conflict. In this section he elaborated on different scenarios where military intervention was made and elaborated on several process that it took for conflict and disarmament to be resolved. Lastly, Adekanye examined the movement from each phase of the issue. He indicated the shift from the military phase going to the process of post-conflict transition. Adekanye also indicated the important factor that arms contributes to the failure or setback in the transition process. Arms are seen as themselves ‘a major source of instability’, and the concern of participants in the project that these military considerations had not been sufficiently addressed in the past.[8] In addition, the factors revolving around the transition phase are varied and dependent on the internal factors present in the country. Comparing this with Muggah’s study, it can be seen that DDR and weapons reduction is a response to the different factors that are revolving around the conflict. The study of Adekanye was an analysis of the relationship between arms and post-conflict resolution.   Thus, both Muggah and Adekanye’s study are literature responses to the emerging field regarding post-conflict resolutions. Each study highlighted important mechanisms that can foster a transition stage for stability and peace after a post-conflict environment. By presenting several cases, the studies presented were able to justify each mechanism that were used and created several important suggestions and recommendations to further improve the process.

Why The Driving Age Should Be Eighteen essays

Why The Driving Age Should Be Eighteen essays Why the Driving Age Should be Eighteen In most states the driving age is eighteen. Unfortunately, Louisiana is not one of them. But most of the time, younger drivers are too irresponsible. The driving age should be eighteen Certainly, teens do not pay attention and are easily distracted. Overall, teens have the highest fatal crash risk of any age group. The problem is worse among young teens, especially sixteen year olds, who have the least driving experience and are the most likely to take risk behind the wheel. Which is certainly It is certain that night driving is a high-risk activity for beginning drivers. The nighttime fatal crash rate is three times higher during the day. Fatal crashes occur more in this age group because young teens simply do not have the experience to make the correct decisions in sudden situations. Sixteen year old drivers have the highest rate of fatal crashes. Speed is definitely one of the problems. Also, they are more likely to have a fatal crash with other people in the car. It is even more risky when there is more than two or three people The driving age should be eighteen in all states. The reason it is important for the driving age to be eighteen, is most younger drivers do not pay attention and think they have to show off. In fact, they are most likely to run into a ditch or even worse, hit another car or be a cause of an accident. This combination cannot be left out! Young drivers and loud music! This is a hazardous combination. It is impossible to tell a teen the above facts, they know it all! ...

Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 8

Economics - Essay Example Basically, the Irish Government and European Central Bank are fixing a problem that has struck worldwide. In the end, the Irish economy will bounce back. As around the world, Ireland had a massive amount of bad bank debt. This bad bank debt has created a crisis within the Irish economy. This phenomenon has been worldwide. Banks have been making irresponsible loans, Irish banks were no exception. Kirby (2010: 4) reports â€Å"Government subsidies fuelled a frenzy of building around the country and banks lent recklessly to developers to buy land at grossly inflated prices and to customers to buy the houses and apartments built on this land at equally high prices.† When the economy was better, mortgage interest and collateral were seen as a win/win situation. However when the economy started taking a downward turn the banks began having too much collateral. Bankers do not want collateral, they want mortgage payments. Once these mortgage payments started to decrease, Irish banks started to fail. The banks were not tightly regulated before the recessions. Loans could be given on inflated prices. McCormick (2009) explains, â€Å"Overreliance on construction, cheap credit and securitization of housing loans exposed Ireland to a sharp reversal of economic activity. Irish housing prices collapsed and the banking sector faced losses and liquidity pressures.† The more given, the more the banks expected to receive. If regulations had been in place on how much could be loaned, property assessed correctly, and other common sense rules, the Irish economy might not be in a recession. McDonald and Moya (2010) reports: Hard-pressed Irish taxpayers are now rescuing the banks from the consequences of their greed and folly. In return, we must now insist that they go back to basic business, and that means keeping every fundamentally profitable company in business. As a result of the failing banks, the Irish Government and

Burger King Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Burger King - Essay Example With the help of these marketing communication techniques a product can be expansively marketed and product consciousness may be generated amongst the public regarding the various aspects with regard to the product (Laitenen, 2009). The above mentioned tools may be used in segregation, but an organisation can get superlative advantage when these tools are used in a unified way to create impact among the target customers. Messages can be customer oriented or it may be related with the product but the basic underlining principle should be how to convey or deliver the message in the effective most way. Media may be further alienated into six chief classes’ print, outdoor, broadcast, in-store and other media class. Each class has a distinct media type, for example broadcast includes radio and television whereas print class has newspapers and magazines. The combination of the three elements i.e. the messages, the media and the tools is termed as integrated marketing communication ( IMC) (Laitenen, 2009). Planning for the promotion is an indispensable management activity and it should therefore be developed within an appropriate framework. Marketing communication planning framework certifies the provision of a visual guide among different elements. This plan is based on the basis of gathering of relevant information (Laitenen, 2009). The prominent factors that must be incorporated in the market communication plan are the context analysis which deals with defining an opportunity or problem. It identifies the opportunities which are available in the market segment. In the promotional objective tool, the object should be pragmatic in approach. The final end should however be in inducing the customers in buying the product. Corporate objective implies to the business area where the business unit should tend to function. Through promotional strategy the distinct marketing communication techniques are identified and subsequently selected. The three P’s strateg y of marketing communication is pull, push and profile. Pull strategy mainly focuses on the consumers and the basic goal is to induce them to procure the product. For the push strategy, the prospects are the channel intermediaries. A profile strategy emphasises on the brand development (Laitenen, 2009). Budget is concerned with the opportunities and precincts of the thriving marketing communication plan. It considers the monetary aspect of the concern. Schedules are the determining factors of time that may be a determinant in attaining the organisational objective (Laitenen, 2009). The communication process is followed by scrutinising the entire plan. It measures the level to which the target has been achieved. Control and evaluation is thus the most important factor to judge the efficiency of the executed project (Laitenen, 2009). Marketing Communication Planning Framework Source: (Laitenen, 2009). Situation Analysis Burger King has been lacking behind when being compared to McDona ld’s and Subway due to their declining sales figure which were disappointing. It was facing sturdy competition from its competitors who were reaching peaks in terms of gratifying their prospect customers. It had been observed by the analysts that that latest campaigns of Burger King focused on the

Classical composer Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Classical composer - Essay Example in the fourth year of his age, father, for a game as it were, began to teach him a few minuets and pieces at the clavier.†(Deutsch pp.  454–462) He was about five years old when he begun making his own music which he played to his father who annotated them. Recognizing the special abilities of his children, Leopold devoted more time to teaching his children. He was a loving father as he was an exacting teacher. Wolfgang, though, found pleasure in learning. He â€Å"was motivated to make progress even beyond what his father was teaching him. His first independent (and ink-spattered) composition, and his initial ability to play the violin, were both his own doing and were a great surprise to Leopold.† (Deutsch pp.  452–453) At that point, Leopold started to consider ambitious plans in his mind. Partly perhaps out of parental pride, partly perhaps out of duty as he did not doubt his children’s talent were God-given, he set forth to bring his young prodigies on tour to the courts of Europe. Wolfgang was six when in January, 1762, his father brought them to the nearby Munich court of Maximilian III Joseph, Elector of Bavaria. It was Wolfgang’s first exposition. The following three years were hectic for the young Mozarts. Leopold Mozart took his family to a long concert tour to the courts of Munich, Mannheim, Paris, London and The Hague. This foreshadowed the eight more years ahead of traveling Europe.. It was during these travels and performances when the young Wolfgang also met other musicians and got acquainted with their works. A prolific writer, Mozart wrote many of his music during that period of travel. â€Å"Most composers created music at the point of a pencil, writing and erasing over and over until they got down what they wanted.   Mozart, however, created exclusively in his head; then he wrote it all out once, once only, never erasing a note.†Ã‚  (Shepherd, pg. 5) Following their final return to Salzburg in 1773, Mozart, who was seventeen then, was

Alternative Methods of Lactic Acid Production

Alternative Methods of Lactic Acid Production Lactic acid is a hydroxycarboxylic acid, which is widely used in food, pharmaceutical, leather, cosmetic and textile industries. It can be polymerized to biodegradable and biocompatible plastic, i.e. polylactic acid, which has environment-friendly and great potential for replacing petrochemical plastic. Industrially, it can be produced by either chemical synthesis or microbial fermentation. Presently, approximately 90% of lactic acid was produced by lactic acid bacteria fermentation. Fermentative production has the advantage that by choosing a strain of LA bacteria producing only one of the isomer and optically pure product. The widely used substrates for lactic acid production are pure sugar, which are expensive. It is also possible to use lignocellulosic biomass, especially by product or waste materials from agriculture and industrial waste as substrates for fermentation. Therefore, the use of alternative substrates, low-cost and raw materials become thus of special interest for la ctic acid production. The present study the utilization of industrial wastes and lignocellulosic as an alternative substrate for lactic acid production. Lactic acid Lactic acid (2-hydroxy propionic acid) is a chemical compound that a role in several biochemical processes. It is a carboxylic acid with a chemical formula of C3H6O3. Lactic acid is chiral and has two optical isomers as shown in figure 1. Lactic acid is organic solvent that can dissolve in water but insoluble in other organic solvents. Other properties of lactic acid are presented in Table 1. Table 1. Physical properties of lactic acid. Parameter Chemical formula C3H6O3 Molecular weight 90.08 Acidity (pKa) 3.85 Melting point L : 53  °C D : 53  °C D/L : 16.8  °C Boiling point 82  °C at 0.5 mm Hg 122  °C at 14 mm Hg Dissociation constant, Ka at 25  ° C 1.37 x 10-4 Heat of combustion, Hc 1361 KJ/mole Specific Heat, Cp at 20  ° C 190 J/mole/  °C Source: Vickroy (1985) Lactic acid can be produced by chemical synthesis or microbial fermentation. The chemical synthesis produced a racemic mixture of D, L lactic acid. Presently, about 90% of lactic acid made by LAB fermentation and the remainder is produced synthetically by the hydrolysis of lactonitrile. The advantage of fermentation technologies is possible to use renewable resources as substrates, such as starch and cellulose in fermentative production. In figure 2 described the diagram of commercial uses and applications of lactic acid. Food applications reported for approximately 85% of the total lactic acid, while the nonfood industrial applications reported for only 15% of the demand. Alternative substrate for lactic acid production In fermentation process, lactic acid bacteria (LAB) need carbon source, essentially simple sugars and nitrogen source, as vital nutrients for their growths. The widely used substrates for lactic acid production are refined sugar, which are expensive. Therefore, attention has turned towards lignocellulosic biomass and industrial wastes to provide a source of carbohydrate for lactic acid production. Lignocellulosic Lignocellulosic resources are generally considered to represent an interesting and inexpensive raw material for microbial fermentation of lactic acid production, as they are renewable and cheap. A schematic diagram of the procedures for the preparation of lignocellulosic hydrolyzates is provided in figure 3. Wee and Ryu (2009) reported the production of lactic acid from lignocellulosic, glucose and lignocellulosic hydrolyzates were used as the carbon source. The concentration of lactic acid decreases with increases in the dilution rate. Generally, the cell concentration obtained from lignocellulosic hydrolyzates media was approximately 10-15% lower than observed with glucose media. The lactic acid yields were provided at more than 0.90 gg-1 the result are shown in table 2. The lignocellulosic hydrolyzates have to be detoxified in order to reduce these inhibitory effects prior to fermentation, as some of the by-products released during the pretreatment (Mussatto and Roberto, 2004). Ruengruglikit and Hang (2003), reported the lactic acid production from lignocellulosic materials by R. oryzae. After an enzymatic hydrolysis and 48-h fermentation, lactic acid yields of 0.3 gg-1. Food wastes Food wastes, which are supplied at lower costs, high in moisture and rich in carbohydrates. They could be suitable alternative substrate for lactic acid production. The food wastes contain polysaccharides as well as various oligosaccharides. Ohkouchi and Inoue (2005) reported the production of lactic acid from food wastes. The composition of food wastes is shown in Table 3. The optimum pH for L (+)-lactic acid production by L. manihotivorans LMG 18011 was 5.0 and under these condition the L (+)-lactic acid was 19.5 g produced from 200 g food wastes Kim et al. (2003) determined lactic acid production from food wastes by simultaneous saccharification fermentation technical. The effect of food wastes concentration on lactic acid production as shown in figure 4. In figure 4, the highest yield was obtained from 65 g/L of food waste with a final lactic acid concentration of 44.3 g/L, while the highest lactic acid concentration of 79.7 g/L was obtained from 145 g/L of food waste. Pineapple waste Most of the work using starch, beet molasses and sugar cane as the fermentation media for lactic acid production. Recently, Uno (2003) used grape invertase to attractive the production of lactic acid utilizing pineapple syrup as substrate. The efficiency of lactic acid production has been an affect from various aspect and ability to use fruit waste. Idris and Suzana (2005) reported the liquid pineapple waste, it is feasible to use produce lactic acid by immobilized L. delbrueckii. The maximum lactic acid can be obtained when parameters initial pH of 6.5, temperature of 37  ° C and sodium alginate concentration at 2% with a bead diameter of 1 mm in diameter. The highest values of kinetic parameters are obtained at 37  ° C and initial pH 6.5 (Table 4 and Table 5). Recycled paper sludge Recycled paper sludge is an industrial waste has high polysaccharides (mainly cellulose) content. The conversion of polysaccharides on sludge to be broken down into the monomers and released sugars to be fermented to lactic acid. The methods for conversion of a polysaccharide into the monomer consist of enzymatic and acid hydrolysis. Marques et al. (2008) studied the utilization of recycled paper sludge as an alternative substrate for lactic acid product. The maximum production of lactic acid was produced 73 g/L of lactic acid, maximum productivity of 2.9 g/L/h, with 0.97 g LA per g of carbohydrates on initial substrate. The fermentative parameters concerned the lactic acid production of all the cultivations in this work are presented in table 6. Conclusions The widely used substrates for lactic acid production are refined sugar, which are expensive. It is also possible to use lignocellulosic biomass, especially by product or waste materials from agriculture and industrial waste as substrates for fermentation. Therefore, the use of alternative, low-cost and raw materials become thus of special interest for lactic acid production. The ability to utilize this industrial wastes and lignocellulosic as alternative carbon sources for lactic acid production will help reduce of environmental pollution problem and also reduce production costs. LITERATURE CITED Idris, A. and W. Suzana. 2006. Effect of sodium alginate concentration, bead diameter, initial pH and temperature on lactic acid production from pineapple waste using immobilized Lactobacillus delbrueckii. Process Biochem. 41: 1117-1123. Kim, K.I. , W.K. Kim, D.K. Seo, I.S. Yoo, E.K. Kim and H.H. Yoon. Production of lactic acid from food wastes Appl. Biochem. Biothnol. 101-108: 637-647. Marques, S. , J.A.L. Santos, F.M. Gà rio and J.C. Roseiro. 2008. Lactic acid production from recycled paper sludge by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation. Biochem. Eng. 41: 210-216. Mussatto, S.I. and I.C. Roberto. 2004. Alternatives for detoxification of diluted-acid lignocellulosic hydrolyzates for use in fermentative processes. Bioresour. Technol. 1-10. Nexant. 2008. Biotech Route to Lactic Acid/ Polylactic Acid. Available Source:  http://nexant.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0255-130_ITM Ohkouchi, Y. and Y. Inoue. 2006. Direct production of L(+)-lactic acid from starch and food wastes using Lactobacillus manihotivorans LMG18011. Bioresour. Technol. 97: 1554-1562. Ruengruglikit, C. and Y.D. Hang. 2003. L(+) lactic acid production from corncobs by Rhizopus oryzae NRRL-395. Lebensm. Wiss. Technol. 36: 573-575. Uno, T., Y. Ozawa, M. Ishikawa, K. Nakanishi and T. Kimura. 2003. Lactic acid production using two food processing wastes, canned pineapple syrup and grape invertase as substrate and enzyme. Biotechnol. Lett. 25: 573-577. VickRoy, T.B. 1985. Lactic acid, pp. 761-776. In: Blanch, H.W., S. Drew and D.I.C. Wang eds. Comprehensive Biotechnol. Vol. 3. Pergamon Press, Oxford. Wee, Y.J., J.N. Kim and H.W. Ryu. 2006. Biotechnological production of lactic acid  and its recent applications. Food Technol. Biotechnol. 44(2): 163-172. Wee, Y.J. and H.W. Ryu. 2009. Lactic acid production by Lactobacillus sp. RKY2 in a cell-recycle continuous fermentation using lignocellulosic hydrolyzates as inexpensive raw materials. Bioresource Technol. 100: 4262-4270.

The Red Badge of Courage - Henry is No Hero Essay -- Red Badge Courage

The Red Badge of Courage - Henry is No Hero      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In The Red Badge of Courage, Stephen Crane explores the theme of courage and heroism in depth. He develops these themes through the main character, Henry Fleming. Henry is a naà ¯ve young man faced with the harsh realities of war, in this book, some argue that Henry is transformed into a heroic "quiet manhood" while others see Henry as the same young man who ran from battle in the beginning of the book. I think Henry doesn't change, his heroic status acquired at the end of the book isn't truly him, instead he merely is motivated by fear of dying and being rejected by his fellow soldiers.    At the beginning of the novel Henry is disappointed of war; he had far greater expectations of war. He wants one thing out of this experience, Glory, and he would go to any extreme to fulfill it. In battle Henry acts impulsively and is easily manipulated, he flees from battle at the sight of others running. When he realizes his cowardice he rationalizes without end to why he ran. He justifies that nature also flees at the sight of fear when he scares a squirrel to runoff. Henry acts shallow and vain when he manipulates his friend, Wilson; he uses the letters Wilson gave him as leverage if Wilson finds out Henry's "crimes". His pride is restored when he finds out that he doesn't get caught. He is constantly comparing himself to others, and doesn't judge himself by the same standards as he does others. I think Henry is envious of his friends. The only thing the tattered man wanted is warm pea soup and a warm bed, but he wants to survive to be there for his children. I think Henry admires the tattered man's selflessness and courage, he never really complained abo... ...ck at his General for calling them mule drivers by dying in battle. In reality Henry was an insignificant soldier and the General would never care whether he died in battle or not. To me, a hero doesn't try to hide behind his insecurities, like Henry did, he faces them.    In conclusion, I think Henry was not a hero in this novel, in fact I thought he acted more like a coward. Though during brief periods of time Henry physically acted heroically, his moral character was weak, trying to cover up his psychological wounds with self-justification and delusion. I think towards the end of the novel Henry abandons the notion of becoming a hero, mostly because it is unrealistic. Instead, he settles with a more humble title of being a man.    Work Cited: Crane, Stephen. The Red Badge of Courage.   Logan, IA:   Perfection Learning Corporation, 1979.

The Nogo Railroad

The NoGo Railroad I. Problems A. Macro 1. Union problems need to be addressed at corporate level. 2. Massive changes are needed in personnel policies that can only be accomplished through intensive union and executive sessions. 3. This organization may not survive the needed changes. There may not be time for organization development to be used and the revolutionary method—organization transformation—may be too radical. 4. Changes may not be allowed by management at this time. Change is inevitable and the longer that NoGo waits, the more radical those changes will be.B. Micro 1. Dave Keller is in a no-win situation. 2. The only hope Dave has of making all the needed changes would be to accomplish the needed changes over a long period of time with empowerment and support from top management. 3. In the short term, Dave can attempt to gain employee support. Because the union is so strong, it is doubtful that he can obtain much support. II. Causes 1. Union stronghold. 2. Co mpany has been reacting to changes instead of proactively forecasting changes. 3.Management is not cohesive; they do not share information, support, or resources with employers and lower-level managers. III. Systems affected 1. Structural – job descriptions and the formal structure are very rigid, largely because of years of practice. 2. Psychosocial – Dave is very unsure of the security of his position and suspects he is being set up. Other employees, including some in management, want to preserve the status quo. 3. Technical – the technology has change through the years but the organization has failed to recognize the change.As evidence is the archaic job titles (fireman) and job descriptions. 4. Managerial – virtually no support from management for Dave to make changes. Management seems to be as much of the problem as unionized employees. Everyone seems to want to protect his or her turf. 5. Goals and values – though â€Å"status quo† is actually not a value, it never-the-less is what employees in many cases value. Their goal is not to change. IV. Alternatives 1. Dave can forge on ahead and suggest changes as he sees them.If top management does not begin to press for changes, the organization will probably cease to exist. 2. Management needs to consider what they will offer to unions prior to the next contract in order to make the following changes. a. Positions need to be eliminated. b. Positions need to be combined. c. Featherbedding and nepotism need to be eliminated from all levels of the organization. 3. Some proposed â€Å"carrots†: a. Management reduces unnecessary managerial and corporate staff as well as union positions. . The Board of Directors ties future management and union pay raises together. Pay increases will also be tied to productivity and profits. 4. Management should consider confrontation with union. a. This alternative needs to be carefully considered. b. There would be the possibility of violent confrontations. c. There will be many legal ramifications and expenses incurred by both sides. d. Even if the company is successful in obtaining concessions from the union, the company may have future problems.In unpopulated areas such as Montana, Idaho, and Washington, future employees will probably have ties to former union railroad employees. V. Recommendations Dave should attempt to make the necessary changes for NoGo to become a healthy organization. Unless he is able to live with the old corporate culture, he will not be effective. When Dave is â€Å"fed up,† he will probably resign. Hopefully before that point, the company’s top management will become supportive of the needed change programs. Meanwhile, Dave needs to be realistic about his future and keep his resume up to date.

Finance: United States Dollar and Exchange Rate Risk Essay

Your write-up should be eight to ten pages (double-spaced). If you provide information outside the case or the textbook, use a footnote to indicate the source. You can use pictures, but no more than four, and each figure should be no more than half a page in size. 1. Executive Summary. Briefly describe the history and business of Tiffany’s Co. What type of decision did the company have to make in 1993? Why was the decision important? 2. History of Japanese Yen. Describe the historical exchange rates between Japanese Yen and U.S. dollar over time. Focus on the big changes and what was the exchange rate in (and years before) July 1993. 3. To Hedge or Not? Do you think Tiffany should actively manage its yen-dollar exchange rate risk? Why or why not? Explain the benefits and costs of hedging. 4. What to Hedge? If Tiffany were to manage its exchange rate risk, then identify what exposures should be managed via such a hedging program (e.g., hedge sales, hedge gross profit, or hedge cash flows, etc.). Explain why. 5. Forward or Options? If Tiffany were to hedge the yen-dollar exchange rate risk, it can choose either forward contracts or options. Explain how Tiffany can hedge using forward contracts? How to hedge using options? The available forward contracts and options are described in Exhibit 8, assuming Tiffany can only use those derivatives to hedge. Based on what you have learned in this course, what are the pros and cons of using options to hedge compared to using forward contracts to hedge? 6. Your Decision. If you were CFO of Tiffany, what would you have done in July 1993? No hedging at all? Or hedging? If you decided to hedge, quantify how much of these exposures should be covered and for how long. You have to justify your answers. Note that there is no â€Å"correct answer.† The reasoning is more important. You should obtain information from Tiffany’s financial statements (e.g., Exhibit 3) and use information in the case (e.g., on page 3 it says that â€Å"Tiffany’s sales accounted for only 1% of the $20 billion Japanese jewelry market†) and then make an educated guess on what is the exposure and how much you want to hedge and how (i.e., using forward contracts or options or a combination.) Again, if two groups have similar write-ups, both write-ups will receive a grade of 0. Also, you should provide an answer to each specific question. Quantify questions 5 and 6. Otherwise you have to rewrite. Finally, I just want to clarify the option prices in Exhibit 8 in case 2. The left panel says Calls: it means these are call options on U.S. dollars, and these are from Japan’s point of view, not from U.S.’s point of view. So the left panel gives you the right (but not obligation) to buy U.S. dollar with Yen (i.e., sell Yen for dollar), and that is what you want to use. Do not use the right panel. You may ask, how come the case says that Tiffany should use Yen put options to hedge? Well, a Yen put option IS a dollar call option, why? A call option on US dollar, written at an exercise price in terms of Yen, is a put option on Yen, written at an exercise in terms of dollar. For example, in Exhibit 8, the three months call option on dollar with a strike price of 92Yen has a premium of 2.52 100ths of a cent per yen (i.e., premium is 0.000252$/yen). This call option gives you (mainly Japanese investors) the right to buy $ using Yen, that is to say, it gives you the right to sell Yen at (1/92)$, therefore, this is a put option for Yen from U.S. investors’ point of view. Bottom line, since Tiffany has Yen exposure, so you want to sell Yen as financial manager of Tiffany, so you should use the left panel, not the right panel.

Sony Case Study Essays

Sony Case Study Essays Sony Case Study Essay Sony Case Study Essay International Business Strategy Case Study: Sony: managing the international Ramp;D network 1. How did Sony internationalize its Ramp;D activities? Sony started to internationalize its activities in the 1950’s. For this, it used an incremental and cautious way. They followed the Morita’s strategy which is: first to learn about the market, to learn how to sell to it and to build up its corporate confidence before to commit itself. He also says that when you have confidence, you should commit yourself wholeheartedly. So Sony started by exporting products through foreign agencies or its own sales offices when entering foreign markets. The manufacturing plants close to markets where sales took off were also set up. Sony also internationalized its Ramp;D activities, starting with marketing activities in the US and other centres across Europe. Sony established incrementally overseas technology centres when the overseas sales and manufacturing subsidiaries were successful. Until the early 1980’s, these Ramp;D centres were set up by Japanese business labs or by foreign subsidiaries without the direct involvement of corporate headquarters. Sony established its first overseas Ramp;D centre in San Jose in California in 1977. The second was built in Basingstoke in UK in 1978. What were the initial motivations for Sony to establish technology centres abroad? The main reason why Sony’s foreign subsidiaries established Ramp;D activities was to solve problems faced by local sales and manufacturing activities, especially requirements. Indeed they had problems to modify products for local markets and to provide technological support to overseas plants. With technology centres established directly in the countries concerned, it was easier to analyze the local needs and to act directly. Sony also believed that foreign subsidiaries should ultimately conduct their own manufacturing, marketing, service financing and Ramp;D activities. How would Kuemmerle categorize the Ramp;D centres at Sony? Ramp;D centers at Sony can be categorized as home-base-augmenting because advanced knowledge from local Ramp;D centers is used to improve other Ramp;D bases. Indeed, the goal is to benefit from host country input markets as new suppliers of valuable resources or so called new FSAs. In the mean time, Sony has understood the need for more adaptation in order to meet host market demand requirements. . How have the motivations for internationalizing Ramp;D changed over time? At first Sony was very cautious in internationalizing its activities. It was very gradual. Foreign Ramp;D activities were set up only where Sony was successful. Sony believed that its foreign subsidiaries should run their Ramp;D activities themselves. The early motivations to proceed that way were to solve problem s faced by local sales and manufacturing activities, especially requirements to modify products for local markets and to provide technological support to overseas plants. So the first motivation was actually product adaptation. Managers on the field were more likely to choose the right Ramp;D projects to engage in. the underlying motivation was also to develop products locally in order to meet the needs and requirements of the local markets. Sony also aimed to realize global synergy in Ramp;D by transferring local specialties to other regions. But later Sony felt the need to use advanced knowledge embedded in various foreign locations. Indeed, some technologies were far more advanced in some countries than in others. There was then a clear need to establish Ramp;D bases in advanced technology locations so as to access the relevant knowledge. The second motivation could be called access to advanced knowledge. Then internal coordination between Ramp;D labs had to be increased to improve efficiency and to create synergies (efficiency and synergies). Coordination had become an important motivation for internationalizing Ramp;D while autonomy was kept by local Ramp;D centers in order to adapt to local requirements. 3. Why did Sony feel the need to internationalize its Ramp;D activities in the late 1980s and early 1990s? First Sony overseas production accounted for 30% of Sony’s total production and foreign sales represented 70% of Sony’s sales. So there was clearly a need to increase the fraction of Sony’s international Ramp;D which represented a too small fraction of Sony’s total Ramp;D. There was also the need to keep on developing products locally in order to meet local needs and requirements. Sony also felt that some parts of the countries could use more advanced technologies than others. There was then a need to allow Ramp;D centers from countries that were less technologically advanced to enjoy the advanced knowledge gained in other countries in order to remain at the cutting edge of technology. 4. How did Sony manage its overseas Ramp;D activities? How did the managerial approach evolve over time? As we’ve already said before, Ramp;D centers were set up by Japanese divisions or by foreign subsidiaries and managers of these centers were given substantial autonomy. Actually the overseas labs had the freedom to decide which Ramp;D projects to do. Then, as they gradually internationalized, Sony thought they had to increase internal coordination between the different Ramp;D labs in order to improve efficiency and create synergies. That’s why they introduced in the early 90’s a regional management system, hoping to improve internal coordination. In fact, they gave specific role to the US, Japan and European based offices. The CTO based in Japan became responsible for worldwide Ramp;D strategy, while CTOs in the US and in Europe were responsible for regional Ramp;D strategies and the coordination of activities. In addition, they organized coordination meetings twice a year for the 3 CTOs to discuss internal collaboration and resource allocation. However, overseas labs retained the power to plan and execute their own projects. 5. What have been the problems with Sony’s way of managing Ramp;D activities? There are 2 mains problems with Sony’s way of managing Ramp;D activities. First, the lack of coordination among divisional managers due to a silo structure. This insufficiency of coordination led to bad allocation of resources in Ramp;D for improving existing products. Moreover, different divisions and products groups under the decentralized structure have been allowed to pursue independent agendas. So, different labs worked on the same project. It is fair to say that Sony wasted resources and duplicated efforts for nothing. Secondly, even if we don’t care about the first problem, Sony’s Ramp;D efforts have simply been less effective than those of rivals because of a major problem in the realm of strategic guidance and incentives. 6. Besides in-house restructuring to strengthen its technological capabilities, what did Sony do to rejuvenate its business? Sony started to form strategic alliance to increase its technological strengths. For instance, Sony, IBM and Toshiba developed together Cell, a semiconductor described as a supercomputer-on-a-chip. Joint ventures were also formed by Sony such as Sony BMG in the music business and Sony Ericsson in mobile phones business. Sony has also worked on the structure of Ramp;D’s activities. They tried to create a sense of urgency and to stop with complacency. In 2005, they launched a plan to reduce management layers, improve coordination of Ramp;D and refocus Ramp;D on growth areas. This plan was called â€Å"Project Nippon†. Sony is also trying to create an â€Å"over-arching structure† for research and development and software spending for all products. 7. Can you provide an update on the internationalization of Sony’s Ramp;D activities, using materials available on the Web?

Barbara Ehenreichs The Roots of War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Barbara Ehenreichs The Roots of War - Essay Example Here, the chain of events elucidated in the writing is closely related to the notion of warfare by human beings. By drawing many cause and effects of warfare, Ehenreich attempts to challenge many of the prevailing understandings of war. In the very introductory paragraph of her paper itself, she negates some of the widespread misunderstandings on war such as the ideas that ‘war is essentially human’, war is essentially modern capitalist’ and war is instinctual’. War is mysterious. It stems from mysteries and it mystifies. There exist hundreds of misconceptions about war. Many people think that war is unique to human species. The proverbial saying goes that even animals do not kill except for food. According to Barbara Ehenreich, â€Å"there are [o]nly three types of creatures engage in warfare- humans, chimpanzees and ants†(598). Is tendency to go for war part of our genome make up? Feminists for long thought that it is testosterone that makes men wa r prone. War is not new to the human society. War prevails in all kinds of societies from primitive hunter-gatherers to modern capitalist ones. The first cause/effect assertion by the writer is that war is not equal to violence because violence is just part of it. It is a reductionism to say that war is equal to violence. No, war is greater than violence.

Brazil's development will attempt to lead sustainability for the next Essay

Brazil's development will attempt to lead sustainability for the next World Cup - Essay Example Introduction 1.1 Background Sports, conferences and entertainment events have become major events in which environmental sustainability has emerged as an important theme (Ponsford, 2011). Every event claims to be environmentally conscious but the extent to which the authorities take steps to attain sustainability remains a debatable issue. The event organizers should be responsible for making the first step towards sustainability as they make a major impact on the environment (Hill, 1998). The first step involves preparing an action plan based on various factors that are set together to create an event. Brazil is due to host the World Cup in three years’ time and the infrastructure development that this event calls for, is tremendous. Brazil is expected to invest US$18.7bn for the 2014 FIFA World Cup which will fund 50 projects in 12 Brazilian host cities (Portal Brasil, 2010). The Minister for Sports claims that the development of Brazil to meet the demands of the event would greatly improve the country for the citizens. 1.2 Rationale for the study Hosting the World Cup requires the nation to be prepared in three main areas – the stadium, airport and transportation, and accommodation (De la Cerda, Fernandes, Huebner, Madanes & Suarez, 2011). Brazil is poised for growth since its foreign exchange policy is liberalized. The success of an event is not merely limited to whether the event was economically profitable. For most mega events economic benefits are overstated in order to justify the public expenditure by the federal government (Karadakis & Kaplanidou, 2010). It can cause tremendous debts as in the case of Montreal 1976 as it was burdened with capital and interest costs; as resources become scarce price inflation is likely for goods and services. The general population could also be burdened in terms of additional taxation to pay for the cost of hosting. Opportunity costs also arise when the government is unable to raise enough funds to host the event. A reasonable ratio between the profit generated and the costs incurred is based on short-term effects, and is derived from induced demand stimulus (Muller & Moesch, 2010). However, an event can be sustainable only if the added infrastructure continues to generate revenue and pay for its maintenance. Sustainability is not limited to environmental concerns but can expand to other regions as well. 1.3 Research aims and objectives With the aim to evaluate what steps the authorities have taken to ensure that development attempts will lead to sustainability for the next world cup, the objectives of the study are: To determine the likely damage to the environment and suggest measures for sustainable management To determine the likely impact of the World Cup 2014 on the GDP of Brazil and its population in the future generations To evaluate if Brazil is moving towards a sustainable event This study has great significance because event managers/organizers globally would make consc ious attempts while planning events to ensure minimum damage to the environment, to the people, to the nation as a whole. 2. Literature review 2.1 Definition – events –