Monday, December 30, 2019
President Pro Tempore Definition - Role and Explanation
The president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate is the highest-ranking elected member of the chamber but the second-highest ranking officer of the chamber. The president pro tempore presides over the chamber in the absence of the vice president, who is the highest-ranking officer in Congress upper chamber. The current president pro tempore of the U.S. Senate is Republican Orrin Hatch of Utah. Writes the Senate Historical Office: Election of a senator to the office of president pro tempore has always been considered one of the highest honors offered to a senator by the Senate as a body. That honor has been bestowed upon a colorful and significant group of senators during the past two centuries  men who stamped their imprint on the office and on their times. The term pro tempore is Latin for for a time or for the time being. The powers of the president pro tempore are spelled out in the U.S. Constitution. President Pro Tempore Definition The president pro tempore has the power to administer oaths of office, sign legislation and may fulfill all other obligations of the presiding officer, the Senate Historical Office states. Unlike the vice president, however, the president pro tempore cannot vote to break a tie vote in the Senate. Also, in the absence of the vice president, the president pro tempore jointly presides with the speaker of the House when the two houses sit together in joint sessions or joint meetings. The U.S. Constitution states that the position of Senate president must be filled by the vice president. The current vice president is Republican Mike Pence. During the legislative bodys day to day business, however, the vice president is almost always absent, appearing only in case of a tie vote, a joint session of Congress or big events such as the State of the Union speech. Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution describes the pro tempore role. The full Senate elects the president pro tempore and the position is typically filled by the most senior senator in the majority party. The pro tempore is the equivalent to the speaker of the House of Representatives but with fewer powers. Thus, the Senate president pro tempore is almost always the highest-ranking official, though in cases of normal business, the president pro tempore appoints an acting president pro tempore which is typically a more junior Senator. Except for the years from 1886 to 1947, the president pro tempore has been third in the line of succession after the U.S. vice president and the speaker of the House of Representatives.
Sunday, December 22, 2019
Should College Athletes Be Paid - 1088 Words
â€Å"Should college athletes be paid†is an issue that is very controversial. Some people say â€Å"yes sure it’s a great idea†. Others say â€Å"no not at this time†. Paying college athletes for participating in sports is a bad idea. Athletes getting paid to play sports could take the focus of education away, it would cost way too much for universities, take the love and passion of the sport away, and many other reasons. Mostly all athletes get scholarships anyway which pays for their tuition, dorm, meals, etc. As the athletes receiving scholarships have a full ride through college their payment is in the form of education benefits as opposed to direct compensation. As the majority of Division I and II schools are higher scale colleges in general this†¦show more content†¦If college athletes were to get paid for playing sports then where would that leave their education? Their education would go down the drain because they could care less about school work as long as they are getting paid to play a sport. Student comes first in student-athlete. If a college athlete does not succeed in sports then they would need a skill to fall back on. Not all students will make it to the pros. Students are not professional athletes. Their sports included with their education can possibly be an avenue for them to get to the pros where they then can be paid. College sports are not careers or professions at that point in time. Their education should be first and foremost in their game plan. Worrying about money can distract them from their concentration on their academics which will pay long term dividends. Many college coaches emphasize the importance of education first. Parents and students are paying for a good education preparing for a profitable future. Sports pros don’t and cant guarantee how long their run will last. Then the money is gone especially if they don’t plan ahead. Also, if college athletes get paid to partic ipate in sports it is the same thing as saying that are paid employees of the college! Would this step include benefits such as paying towards retirement, health benefits, social security, and unemployment compensation? This makes the sport more of a job. Universities would have to invest in a Should College Athletes Be Paid - 1088 Words Should College Athletes be Paid? Since 1906 When Theodore Roosevelt established the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to infose and make rule for intercollegiate sports. The NCAA had made billions of dollars out of college athletic increasing popularity. This has fuelled debates whether college athletes should be compensated beyond their athletic scholarship and how and who would do it. While many people argue that college athletes are compensated enough with their scholarship and that they shouldn t get paid as they are just amateurs representing their school, not putting in account â€Å"...what the scholarship is†¦.It’s the school paying itself. It’s like me paying myself for rent for my kids in my house, and then claiming I†¦show more content†¦Which is against NCAA rules, athletes are not eligible for participation in a sport if you have ever: Taken pay, or the promise of pay, for competing in that sport. Nor are athletes allowed to work anywhere where there image may be use to promote business. These amateur athletes have no incentive to stay in college and finish their respective degrees, as many cannot afford to pay for the increasingly expensive college experience. Some even argue, College athletes are being exploited by their schools, which make millions of dollars off of intercollegiate athletics. Everywhere else athletes are paid, so why shouldn’t college students too? The main reasons fronted by the NCAA for lack of payment are that it wants to maintain its amateur status and that payment would compromise the integrity of intercollegiate athletics, or do they mean to say they want to keep their pockets full with other people s money. I argue that paying athletes would promote wellness among students, because money will always be the main attraction. So, if college pay their athletes more students will be interested in playing different sports, making student fit and heather. Also the money would pave the way for students to pay off their loans. In 2000, due to the increasing cost of education, the NCAA â€Å"approved student-athletes’ employment in jobsShow MoreRelatedShould College Athletes Be Paid?1578 Words  | 7 PagesAshay Mehta Nou Per 8 Should College Athletes Be Paid? One of the hottest debates in the sports industry is if college athletes should be paid. If you want to pay these athletes, how would the college determine the dollar amount that should be paid? Should the basketball team make more than the football team? Should the the soccer team be paid as well? Cheerleading? Chess team? Should everyone on the team get a salary? What if your college is good at football and your basketball team is awfulRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1398 Words  | 6 Pagesbelieve that college athletes at the highest performing schools are better treated than others. Although they do not get paid, they do receive some benefits for being athletes that other students would not get. One advantage for playing a sport is access to scholarships that some schools reserve for their athletes. Depending on the school and the athlete’s performance, money towards tuition is often given. Only some schools are willing to grant â€Å"full-ride†scholar ships for certain athletes. AccordingRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1364 Words  | 6 PagesHave you paid attention to all of the news that has been surfacing about collegiate sports lately? It is a big topic now days in the world of sports on weather college athletes should be getting paid to play sports. College athletics have gained great popularity of the past few decades, and have brought schools lots of revenue. A lot of college athletes think they should be getting paid for their services they do for their school. College sports like basketball and football generate over six billionRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1289 Words  | 6 PagesThroughout the years college sports have been about the love of the game, filled with adrenaline moments. However, the following question still remains: Should college athletes get paid to play sports in college? Seemingly, this debate has been endless, yet the questions have gone unanswered. The National Collegiate At hletics Association (NCAA) plays a vital role in this debate. The NCAA is a billion dollar industry, but yet sees that the athlete should get paid for their hard work and dedicationRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1130 Words  | 5 PagesWhat college athlete would not want to be paid to play the sport that he or she loves? The real question is, though, should college athletes be paid for their roles in a college’s athletics? They are many points to each side of this recent controversial topic, which is why this has been made into such a hot debate in the past couple of years. As of right now, these athletes are not getting paid, but many of them truly believe that they should. Others believe that they already are being paid throughRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1334 Words  | 6 Pagesrising to the surface is â€Å"Should college athletes be paid?†. This has become a burning question. The NCAA is a multibillion-dollar industry, that makes milli ons, if not billions, in revenue. Yet it’s still maintains the non-profit status meaning that the industry is not set on making a profit and none of the revenue that is made is distributed to its members, managers, or officers. While most players who play in college sports are under a scholarship, that pays for the college tuition, books, and housingRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?1239 Words  | 5 PagesLindsey Simmerman Speech 102 T/Th 1:00-2:15 October 25, 2016 Should college athletes be paid to play? Specific Purpose: To persuade the class to agree with my stance on paying college athletes to play sports Thesis: College football is the hours players spend practicing and performing, the number of injuries the players face, and the persona these athletes must portray every day all the while watching their schools, coaches, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) get all the compensationRead MoreCollege Athletes Should Be Paid1254 Words  | 6 PagesSome college athletic departments are as wealthy as professional sports teams. The NCAA has an average annual revenue of $10.6 billion dollars. College athletes should be paid because of the amount of revenue that they bring to their college. Each individual college should pay its athletes based on how much revenue they bring to the college in which they attend. The colleges that win their Division title, their Conference title, or the National championship, give bonuses to the Head coach of thatRead MoreShould College Athletes Be Paid?986 Words  | 4 PagesPaying the College Athlete The college athlete has steadily grown in popularity in the United States over the span of the past decades. Monetarily speaking, this increased publicity has been extremely beneficial for National Athletic Association (NCAA) and all the colleges involved in athletics which has sparked the dispute of whether or not the athlete should be paid for their hard work and dedication on the field and to their school or if the athletic scholarship is more than enough. College athletesRead MoreCollege Athletes Should Not Be Paid1558 Words  | 7 Pagesstudent-athletes participate in a variety of different sports, and currently they do not receive paychecks for their performances. College athletics have attained an extensive popularity increase among Americans over the past few decades. This has resulted into increased revenues for the National Collegiate Athletic Association [NCAA] and the participating colleges, which has fuelled the debate of whether or not college athletes should colle ct an income. College athletes should not be paid to play
Saturday, December 14, 2019
Why Project Fail Free Essays
Why Projects Fail Computer projects fail when they do not meet the following criteria for success: It is delivered on time. It is on or under budget. The system works as required. We will write a custom essay sample on Why Project Fail or any similar topic only for you Order Now Only a few projects achieve all three. Many more are delivered which fail on one or more of these criteria, and a substantial number are cancelled having failed badly. So what are the key factors for success? Organisations and individuals have studied a number of projects that have both succeeded and failed and some common factors emerge. A key finding is that there is no one overriding factor that causes project failure. A number of factors are involved in any particular project failure, some of which interact with each other. Here are six of the most important reasons for failure. 1 . Lack of User Involvement Lack of user involvement has proved fatal for many projects. Without user involvement nobody in the business feels committed to a system, and can even be hostile to it. If a project is to be a success senior management and users need to be involved from the start, and continuously throughout the development. This requires ime and effort, and when the people in a business are already stretched, finding time for a new project is not high on their priorities. Therefore senior management need to continuously support the project to make it clear to staff it is a priority. 2. Long or Unrealistic Time Scales Long timescales for a project have led to systems being delivered for products and services no longer in use by an organisation. The key recommendation is that project timescales should be short, which means that larger systems should be split into separate projects. There are always problems with this approach, but the benefits of oing so are considerable. Many managers are well aware of the need for fast delivery, leading to the other problem of unrealistic timescales. These are set without considering the volume of work that needs to be done to ensure delivery. As a result these systems are either delivered late or only have a fraction of the facilities that were asked for. The recommendation here is to review all project plans to see if they are realistic, and to challenge the participants to express any reservations they may have with it. . Poor or No Requirements Many projects have high level, vague, and generally unhelpful requirements. This has ed to cases where the developers, having no input from the users, build what they believe is needed, without having any real knowledge of the business. Inevitably when the system is delivered business users say it does not do what they need it to. This is closely linked to lack of user involvement, but goes beyond it. Users must know what it is they want, and be able to specify it precisely. As non-lT specialists this means normally they need skills training. 4. Scope Creep Scope is the overall view of what a system will deliver. Scope creep is the insidious growth in the scale of a system during the life of a project. As an example for a customer bills, then these bills will be provided on the Internet, and so on and so forth. All the functionality will have to be delivered at one time, therefore affecting time scales, and all will have to have detailed requirements. This is a management issue closely related to change control. Management must be realistic about what is it they want and when, and stick to it. 5. No Change Control System Despite everything businesses change, and change is happening at a faster rate then ever before. So it is not realistic to expect no change in requirements while a system s being built. However uncontrolled changes play havoc with a system under development and have caused many project failures. This emphasises the advantages of shorter timescales and a phased approach to building systems, so that change has less chance to affect development. Nonetheless change must be managed like any other factor of business. The business must evaluate the effects of any changed requirements on the timescale, cost and risk of project. Change Management and its sister discipline of Confguration Management are skills that can be taught. 6. Poor Testing The developers will do a great deal of testing during development, but eventually the users must run acceptance tests to see if the system meets the business requirements. However acceptance testing often fails to catch many faults before a system goes live because: Poor requirements which cannot be tested Poorly, or non planned tests meaning that the system is not methodically checked Inadequately trained users who do not know what the purpose of testing is Inadequate time to perform tests as the project is late Users, in order to build their confidence with a system, and to utilise their experience f the business, should do the acceptance testing. To do so they need good testable requirements, well designed and planned tests, be adequately trained, and have sufficient time to achieve the testing objectives. Conclusion These six factors are not the only ones that affect the success or failure of a project, but in many studies and reports they appear near, or at the top of the list. They are all interlinked, but as can be seen they are not technical issues, but management and training ones. This supports the idea that IT projects should be treated as business projects. How to cite Why Project Fail, Papers
Friday, December 6, 2019
Address Customer Needs
Question: Discuss about the Report for Address Customer Needs. Answer: Communicating with the customers Communicating with customers regularly is important due to various reasons. First, where the company ensures regular communication; it is easy to implement change. The clients are more likely to stay with a business they rust even where the goods and services are changed. The communication, therefore, is important in creating this trust. The customers are also a source of new ideas, because they know the needs that need fulfilling. Additionally, the company is in a position to identify the needs of the clients hence modifying the products and services accordingly. Good reputations also spread where the customers are satisfied. This, therefore, helps in crating new customers. As a result of the change in technology, customers should adopt new communication methods. The new methods may include using a website, application of some means such as the e-mail. Further the business can use videoconferencing, as well as social media, texting, and blogs. Loyalty programs have some negative asp ects such as the fact that the product being offered is additional and not free. The client, therefore, still pays for that additional item as opposed to the belief that it is free. They are also not effective because most people are offering tem, and could even lose their meaning. Loyalty Schemes A loyalty scheme refers to a system where the customers who frequently make purchases are offered rewards (Cantamessa, Montagna, 2016). This may include access to new products, coupons, special sales, as well as free merchandise. One loyalty scheme that I a part of is the loyalty cads which are provided by the local supermarket. These cards add points every tie I make purchases, and I later redeem them for free products. The supermarket waits until a certain time when they state the redeeming of the points accumulated by the cards. At this time, the points are many, as I always shop with the supermarket. This scheme is beneficial to me as customer because I am able to acquire products without paying for them. This, therefore, helps me save on the expenses. Further, the card is a like a form of reward which I am given by the business because of my loyalty. This, therefore, boost my level of satisfaction. The second loyalty scheme is the scratch to see program, which is on-going for s ome products from various companies. Under this scheme, where one buys a product, they scratch the bottom and see a gift which is offered for free. This scheme, however, does not need registration and is open for all people. As such, the scheme is beneficial since it does not necessarily need one to be a loyal customer, and it saves ones money. Maintaining Records Keeping records is important because it makes the preparation of year-end accounts quicker. It also helps the company in making tax plans. Further, it is important while identifying the strengths and weaknesses of a business. It also helps in the management of changes, as well as the improvements which are made on the business. Further, one can get the information to change and improve the business. Customer relationship management software, (CRM) is a class of software which is used in the management of customer data, as well as the customer interaction, and also accesses the information on marketing and automated sales, and customer support. It is also used in the employee management. CRM is used in a business to help in organization; storage of data to be used in the future, predicting the future, and is also used to track data and events. The four classes of functions of CRM include tracking of customer interaction, registration of the lead contacts, possibilities revelation, and storage of customer data. Company policy and procedures A Company Policy and Procedure refers to a set of guidelines, principles, as well as regulations which are established and adopted by an organization in the attainment of the companys long-term goals (Harhoff, Lakhani, 2016). Recording complaints is important for a company because it is the basis for changes and improvements which are made by the organization. It also enables the company to understand the customers perception. It also assists the organization in being a step ahead of the other firms the industry, hence creating a competitive advantage. The complaints which are documented are also significant because are applied in the future while modifying products and services. The complaints recorded by the organization are solved by the application of a certain procedure. The first step is listening to the customer, and understanding the complaint. The second step involves apologizing to the client. The third step is finding and implementing a solution to the complaint. The comp any then follows up on the customer, and finally goes further to exceed the customer expectations. Address Customer Needs: Referral Networks Scenario 1 A referral system in business is a program which is designed to get referrals through marketing and can be duplicated and is not dependent as a single unit. A formal referral is one where there is agreed procedure between the agencies. In this case, referral protocols are followed, where adult guidance is done with the agencies. The professional judgment and experience as well as good practice are important aspects which assist one in selecting the referral. The informal referral, on the other hand, involves the use of existing networks between people to create new networks amongst themselves (Andersen, Ritter, 2008). This kind of referral is most favored by the clients because it enables the client to take responsibility of the choices they make as minimum information is provided. In our case scenario, it is important for a business to have well established as well as maintained networks because the clients also need preparations for other sections. The fact that the company is onl y involved in small conferences and weddings, and the client requires the firm to arrange the entire wedding; the business will need assistance in some of the sectors. As such, the existing networks will be helpful in acquiring the services required. It is, therefore, important for a business to keep its networks are not only accurate but are also up-to-date. Such a situation can be attained by ensuring that the business works closely with other firms that carry out activities that are related. This will help the firm to keep connections which can inform them of any additional requirements, as well as the upcoming trends. In the given scenario, the organization may need to source services of a caterer, photographer, floral designer, entertainer or deejay, and even a stationer who arranges wedding invitations. The referral may benefit the customers because they will not be required to seek services form different people. This will, therefore, save them time, as well as money. The organization will benefit because it will create good relationships with other businesses, hence future referrals from these organizations. The referred organization, on the other hand, will benefit because it will acquire clients (Brink, Berndt, 2004). Technical writer Can share services with Graphic designer Wedding planner Can share services with Photographer Make-up artist Can share services with Hair stylist Receptionist Can share services with Caterer Housing agents Can share services with Electricians Scenario 2 The business of selling plants and trees in the outer suburban location may attract many different customers. Other than this, therefore, one can refer the customers to other products as well as services. Some of the services which may be referred in this case include tree-trimming, fence repair, lawn care, concrete contractor, tree cut and removal, as well as yard care. Each of these services brings a lot of benefits to the business because they will assist in creating networks. Further, the business could refer the services at a certain fee hence making some profits. Additionally, the business may get benefits from working with the companies which provide the different services, hence creating a business transaction. This is particularly important for services such as concrete contractor, lawn care. Addressing Customer Needs: Part B 1 Wheels in Motion, which deals in bicycle sales and repair, can communicate to the customers using different types of communication. The first type is physical media, where the person communicating can be seen and heard by the audience (McNealy, 2004). This is effective because the receivers of different messages consider it important if it can be communicated live from their manager. This, therefore, will catch the attention of the customers as well as potential customers to the business. Some of the methods that are applicable in this case include viral communication by word of mouth, where different departments of the business inform the customers of the sales and repair business. Large meetings in town halls are also effective as many people can be reached by the message. Further, the business can identify individual clients, and set up close and personal meetings, which will help register them and clearly outline all the information about the company services and products. These methods are effective because the personal approach to the customers helps in convincing the clients. Further, the clients cannot misinterpret the information because they also have the chance to ask questions on aspects that are not clear. Additionally, the business is in a position to create a relationship with its clients. This also ensures that the views about the business, as well as the feedback are collected from the individuals during the interaction. The second type of communication that can be used in this case is the mechanical media, where written, as well as electronic means are used to communicate with the clients (Barnes, Kelleher, 2015). This method is important because the client is in a position to archive messages so as to get the bigger picture as well as the in-depth details that may escape the customers. These ways are also fast, though the reader may interpret the information wrongly. Some of the means under this type of communication include personal letters, sms, e-mail, magazines, as well as social media. These methods are effective because they provide a means where the business and the customers can refer where there are misunderstandings in the future. Additionally, the customers can scrutinize the information thoroughly, and also apply it in future times while considering dealing with the business. The customers can also share the information with their friends and family via sms, e-mails, social media accou nts, as well as giving the magazines and letters to other people. As such, this method is effective because more customers are created and hence increasing the sales of the business. 2 Wheels in Motion can create good business dealings by creating referral networks. These networks are important as they help in providing further business activities for the company by providing new and additional clients (Williams, 2009). The first network is associations. This can be achieved by joining and being an active member of different associations. The business should first look for firms that deal with similar business activities. They should then join the associations that include these firms, hence creating a background for sourcing target market. This is a perfect start where a business intends to meet bigger opportunities. The second network is created by doing a good job. This refers to the provision of quality services and good products. The business should ensure that all the customers are satisfied with the products, as well as the services which are provided by the company. This works because where the customers are happy with the services provided, they are likely to refer these services to other people. These people may include friends, family, as well as business colleagues, who will be convinced of the effectiveness of the services and products provided by the company. Where this happens, the business will gain revenues and hence ensuring growth of the business. 3 Information regarding the customers should be kept up-to-date (Kessler, 2003). This is important as it assists the business identify the information which is applicable at the current period. AS such, Wheels in Motion should ensure the information on the customers is always updated. This can be done by giving specific instructions to the people handling the customers, so as to have the information updated regularly. The individuals responsible, therefore, should always communicate with the customers so as to enquire on the extent of business activities at different and regular times. The staff should also compare the sales against the revenues, to ensure they check for any additional transaction. On finding this information, they should record it in the books according to the nature of the transaction. 4 Different kinds of information can be collected about the Wheels in Motion customers. This includes the dates of transactions, different kinds of transaction, as well as different agreements between the company and the customers. The information is important for different reasons. First, communicating with the customers is important as one is able to get the accurate and up-to-date details of different transactions. It is also important to check he transactions that took place during the day at the end of each day. The records on this information should also be kept so as to ensure errors are not committed. Where the records are not clear, one should compare the revenues available with the remaining stock. In the case of bicycle repair, strict instructions should be issued, requiring the staff responsible to record each transaction. The information is also important for future reference incase of any disagreements between the customers and the company. The business can also use this information while making crucial decisions in the future. 5 On acquiring the information and giving services and products to the customers, it is important for a business to get feedback from the customers (Ingram, 2008). One type of feedback acquisition for Wheels in Motion is the use of physical communication. This can be done by calling meetings, or holding conferences in town halls. The business can also call the customers and have an up-close and personal discussion. This way, the business is in a position to get the information from clients first hand, and the individual responsible for collecting the information can read the facials expressions. This method is also effective because it ensures that the business is able to get all the expectations that the customers, as well as potential customers have. Further, the meetings capture additional clients for the business. The second method used for acquiring feedback is the use of social media, which is a common site for many people. Here, the business can gather all the genuine feedback t hat the customers have, as well as the genuine concerns. This method is beneficial because most people go to social media sites to pour heir frustrations or to praise good products. As such, one is able to acquire accurate information on the products and services. Bibliography Andersen, H., Ritter, T. 2008. Inside the customer universe: How to build unique customer insight for profitable growth and market leadership. Chichester, England: John Wiley Sons.Brink, A., Berndt, A. 2004. Customer relationship management customer service.Landsdowne, South Africa: Juta.Barnes, R. A., Kelleher, B. 2015. Customer experience for dummies.Cantamessa, M., Montagna, F. 2016. Management of innovation and product development:Integrating business and technological perspectives.Harhoff, D., Lakhani, K. R. 2016. Revolutionizing innovation: Users, communities, andopen innovation.Ingram, T. N. 2008. Professional selling: A trust-based approach. Mason, OH:Thomson/South-Western.Kessler, S. 2003. Customer satisfaction toolkit for ISO 9001:2000. Milwaukee, Wis: ASQQuality PressMcNealy, R. M. 2004. Making customer satisfaction happen: A strategy for delightingcustomers. London: Chapman Hall.Williams, C. 2009. Management. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Airport Expansion Is Important For Scotland Tourism Essays
Airport Expansion Is Important For Scotland Tourism Essays Airport Expansion Is Important For Scotland Tourism Essay Airport Expansion Is Important For Scotland Tourism Essay Aviation plays an of import portion of modern society. It provides the capableness for international concern to work efficaciously. It allows people from different parts of the universe to remain in touch and it serves the touristry industry. Tourism is critical for many states and without inexpensive, dependable conveyance, the benefits from this industry would be impossible to gain. However, air power has faced a figure of consecutive challenges in the last few old ages. For an industry straight using more than 29 million people, this is a concern ( Hanlon, 2007 ) . The figure of people going has declined due to increased security concerns, the worsening province of the international economic system, increased frights over emanations, increased fuel costs and a really competitory market runing on the bounds of viability. Additionally, events such as the recent break such as those caused by the Icelandic volcanic ash eruption and industrial action in some air hoses have provided extra challenges. In the period 2008-2009, the Association of European Airlines ( AEA ) saw a bead of 2 million riders ( AEA, 2009 ) . Worse still, the chief autumn has been for premium flights. This accounts for 30-45 per centum of rider gross. This has been caused by the impact of the economic crisis and the increasing competition from alternate methods such as teleconference, which is maturating as a feasible engineering. Despite this, air power still provides the best solution for travel transcending 1,500 kilometers and with tenancy transcending 75 % for such flights, there is no feasible option. This is despite the concerns raised from air power pollution, which contributes 2-3 % of human C emanations. The air power industry has no alternate but to alter to run into the new challenges. The three analysed in this study are ; emanation control, cut downing operating costs and increasing air power efficiency for the expected growing in air travel expected in the long term. Without run intoing these challenges, single operators and the viability of the industry as a whole are under menace. Fuel histories for typically 15 and 25 % per centum of a typical air hose s costs. However, it can be every bit high as 40 % due to local revenue enhancement ( Hanlon, 2007 ) . Fluctuations in the monetary value of oil to a great extent influence profitableness in air power, because ticket monetary values are non linked to fuel costs in the short term. One possible method of cut downing this consequence is the hunt for alternate fuels. Potential options include bio-derived fuels, such as fuels based on vegetable oil, and man-made fuels derived from coal or natural gas ( NASA, 2006 ) . However, air power fuel performs a figure of coincident undertakings other than to feed the engines. These include being used for aircraft trim and as chilling systems. They besides need to run into rigorous marks for viscousness, weight and anti-inflammatory prosodies in the instance of accidents. This complicates the design of alternate fuels. Cost decrease may be achieved by carry throughing the dema nds of other users with less rigorous demands, therefore cut downing overall demand and hence monetary value. However, this attack does non run into the demand for lower emanation marks. Man-made fuels can bring forth lower emanations in flight but bring forth more C dioxide during fabrication. New engineerings that can seclude the generated the C during industry will nevertheless take to lower emanations during the whole fuel rhythm ( NASA, 2008 ) . This attack offers the possibility of C impersonal fuel within the following 50 old ages, but at present, there is still a demand to blend the man-made fuel with air power fuel to at least better the state of affairs in the short term. Depending on the cost of bring forthing this mix of fuel, it offers possible for cut downing emanations and cut downing fuel costs. Emission control is of import for air power to run into its C emanation demands. Aviation has now been included in the carbon trade understanding, and every decrease counts. Decrease of costs in all countries is besides indispensable for air hoses that face stiff competition and besides have expensive fleets to keep while maintaining ticket monetary values competitory. Other countries besides require continual monitoring for cost-cutting chances. These scope from doing understandings with other air hoses, teaming them or accumulating with them right through to bettering turnaround clip and cut downing care costs ( Doganis, 2006 ) . This has to be done within the purely regulated uninterrupted airworthiness government. While strategic issues are directed by senior direction within individual administrations, decrease of care costs involves committedness from a figure of stakeholders in the industry. These include MROs ( Maintenance and Repair Organisations ) , airport governments and aircraft interior decorators. Aircraft interior decorators are working to plan new aircraft that require less care and can pass more clip in the air being productive. Airport governments have a alone place. Each airdrome is in its ain location, which means competition is slightly limited. However, airdromes such as Gatwick, Heathrow, London City, Stansted and Luton all serve London traffic and therefore are in competition with each other to some extent. In other parts of the universe, there is competition between airdromes near metropoliss and those farther afield. The pricing scheme for landing fees and other services is of import to keep fight. Low-cost air hoses accept airdromes further off from their finish in return for lower landing fees. Prestige air hoses prefer closer airdromes and accept higher fees. MROs have likely the greatest function in the potency for cost decrease. MROs and other land services have in general been slower to react to competition than air hoses ( Delfman et al, 2005 ) . However, they besides offer a major chance to cut down air power costs by increased efficiency, improved quality and sourcing of competitory constituents. All air hoses can profit from this, but low-priced air hoses are peculiarly interested. Since these are working to border-line concern programs, every penny counts. MROs can potentially cut down costs by unifying with other MROs, which would cut down disposal costs and supply higher purchasing power through volume. This would necessitate staff to be conformable to alter working patterns and greater flexibleness. They may for illustration demand to accept the demand to work at different airdromes for a clip. Investing in new engineering to streamline care of aircraft, such as machine-controlled creative activity of care certification and res ource direction are besides of import ( Demais, 2007 ) . There are many new package systems available to ease this. The hereafter of air power requires betterments in emanation control, cost decrease and efficiency to stay competitory while still functioning the demands of society. This will necessitate proficient betterments in fuel and aircraft design, optimizing care every bit good as strategic determinations associating to air hose amalgamations and acquisitions. In order to be genuinely effectual, this efficiency thrust has to be endemic in all parts of the air power industry. Regulators, aircraft interior decorators, air hoses, airdrome governments and MROs all have their portion to play. This study has discussed some of these issues ; nevertheless, this issue is the topic of intense analysis throughout the industry and likely to stay so for many old ages to come. The monetary value of failure to run into these new challenges will be of hurt to the full industry. As a instance survey to exemplify how these planetary issues affect single locations, the state of affairs in Scotland was considered. Aviation accounts for 15 % of Scotland s C emanations ( WWF, 2008 ) . Equally good as functioning traditional tourer and concern demands, Scots air power besides fulfils other demands such as postal services to remote Scots islands. Additionally, there is a whole market dedicated to the North Sea oil concern. The demand to command emanations has been recognised by the Scots Government ( OPSI, 2010 ) . Initiatives on this forepart are better addressed by industry-wide action and single airdromes have trouble in run intoing the demands themselves. Airport enlargement is of import for Scotland, and Edinburgh airdrome has been seeking to spread out. However, troubles have been encountered. The chief job is due to next landholders, including the Royal Highland Agricultural Society of Scotland ( RHASS ) . Costss associated with traveling the RHASS have been established at A ; lb ; 350 million ( Holidays Extra, 2008 ) . However, other developments have gone in front, with A ; lb ; 40 million being spent to better the airdrome installations ( BAA Edinburgh, 2009 ) . This has non been without resistance, as a group called SESA ( Stop Expansion at Scottish Airports ) has been set up to seek and forestall development at Edinburgh, Glasgow and Prestwick among others ( Plane Stupid, 2010 ) . Along with other UK airdromes, Scotland has been severely affected by the Icelandic ash cloud, the hapless economic state of affairs and industrial action by BA staff. However, Scots airdromes have some extra resiliency to downswings because they are comparatively distant, offering fewer alternate conveyance methods to the remainder of the UK and farther abroad. Linkss between Edinburgh, Glasgow and London are really of import, with many people populating in Scotland and transposing to occupations in London. Air travel is their lone option to go on to make this. Additionally, about 1/3 of the money in the metropolis is really based in Edinburgh, doing it one of the most of import fiscal Centres in the universe. Even with fiscal downswings, travel between the two capitals remains indispensable. These grounds make Scots air power slightly more robust than other countries. Expansion of airdromes is nevertheless hard to accomplish because many of the airdromes are located in countries w here the force per unit area on land is high and there is active resistance. This could be a confining factor that may forestall Scots airdromes from accomplishing the possible benefits that could be made from betterments. Scots skies have somewhat less force per unit area on them than in the South of England, but non much because the state is comparatively little. Improvements in air traffic control would be good and there is possible for airdromes such as Edinburgh, Glasgow and Prestwick to move as hubs to the US. However, at present airdromes in Holland and France execute this function. For Scots air power to develop, BAA needs to get the better of opposition to enlargement and besides needs to guarantee the industry meets environmental criterions.
Monday, November 25, 2019
Management practices employed by multinationals in controlling and managing the financial risks The WritePass Journal
Management practices employed by multinationals in controlling and managing the financial risks ABSTRACT Management practices employed by multinationals in controlling and managing the financial risks ABSTRACTINTRODUCTION:IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATIONBMW: CORPORATE OVERVIEW LUFTHANSA: CORPORATE OVERVIEW FINANCIAL AND EXCHANGE RISKS EVALUATIONRISKS PECULIARITY: BMWRISKS PECULIARITY: LUFTHANSAFINANCIAL/MARKETING STRATEGIES TO MANAGE RISKSCONCLUSIONBIBLIOGRAPHYRelated ABSTRACT This study seeks to highlight the management practices employed by multinationals in controlling and managing the financial risks they are exposed to. It also assessed the management practices used by multinationals in the face of financial crisis using Lufthansa and BMW as case study. INTRODUCTION: Early learning of scholars has presented arguments that exchange risks have little impact on foreign activities especially by Multinationals. This view has been shared by Jorion (1991) who went on to question the activeness of financial managers who perform hedging as the risk associated with foreign exchange/currency exposure is minimal. This was also in line with the argument by Bodnar and Gentry (1993) who suggested that not many industries are faced by exchange risks depending on their significance. However, contrary to these views, recent studies have identified exchange rate to be of huge significance amongst the risks that multinationals face and thus questioned the measurement techniques used by earlier studies. This view is supported by Doukas et al (2001) who projected that organizations who engage in foreign activities will be more affected by exchange rate movement. Eitemal et al (2006) further explain that corporate organizations, mostly multinationals face a higher exchange risk exposure than their non-multinationals counterparts because of their higher degree of international business operations. In line of these contrasting views, the author however argues that firms wanting to exercise their international or global presence will be faced with distinctive financial management challenges. And as long as there is movement of capital and finance owed to the rapid movement of globalization, corporate organizations will continually be faced by global factors like reactions to movements in currency markets (such as a undervaluing of a currency) . Dominguez et al (2001) go further to argue that even emerging markets are likely to be faced with a significant level of financial risk exposure as they may be relatively less efficient and for the reason that both developing and developed countries are open to such risks. Therefore, firms must be flexible in their approach by demonstrating an ability to diversify their consumers, contractors and financial sources. IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION BMW: CORPORATE OVERVIEW BMW, an independent German automobile and engine manufacturing company is a global leader in premium car sales and is known for its performance and luxury vehicles. It has under its ownership the Mini brand, BMW motorcycles and the Rolls-Royce motor cars. A commanding international company with presence in over 120 countries, the BMW Group has business activities broken down into manufacturing, assembly and sales of automobiles and a financial services arm whose primary aim is to provide financial credit to dealers and customers. Its strategic investors make up 46% of its shareholdings, while institutionalized investors breakdown include North America 15.8%, United Kingdom and Ireland: 11.8%, Other Europe: 5.7%, Germany: 4.8%, Rest of the world: 2.5%. Other investors make up the rest with 12.7%. Its financial arm provides financial and investment advice to customers and dealers alike which extends into offering financial credit which is used in the lease or purchase of its automobiles or spare parts. It therefore offers flexible and attractive payment options which also ensure that its finances circulate within the group. BMW has been to known to practice operational flexibility in a bid to handle foreign exchange shocks and has began exploration of emerging countries like China for investments and long-term commitment for service. Establishment and entrenchment of BMW in emerging markets has emerged and identified by its operations in China for instance. China is currently its fourth largest market with huge potential even though representing only 5% has been boosted by the Chinese government offering incentives and subsidies to urge purchases. LUFTHANSA: CORPORATE OVERVIEW Deutsche Lufthansa AG (Aviation Group) is an international aviation company with strategic business segments providing mobility and services for airlines. A German based company serving more than 500 destinations across the world with code sharing agreements. Its business operation is segmented into passenger airline services, MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul), provision of IT services, logistics and catering for its own airlines and extensively to external customers. However, providing passenger airline services is the hub of its business activity. It is a premium brand with global service offering via a fleet of over 500 aircrafts (which makes the company very liquid) with its major target market being Europe, America and Asia. Lufthansa is one of the leaders in the provision of maintenance and overhaul services for external airlines, servicing government, organizations and leasing companies. It also extends this service to its own airlines. Its catering segment also provide airline cuisine as it is located at international airports of over 40 countries catering to regular customers and international airlines. Its Europe segment contributes the highest of the company’s total revenues, with sizeable contribution in North America, Asia/Pacific and the Middle East.  However, it continues to strive given the significant exposure in competitive markets like Europe visible through the improvement of the flights and other business operations in Asia, North America and the Middle East. Even at this, a successful diversification of its flights to other market regions to reduce the economic, political and geographical risks has not been fully achieved. FINANCIAL AND EXCHANGE RISKS EVALUATION Extending operations into a global landscape is becoming increasingly challenging even as companies wish to exert global presence, they are increasingly faced by the risks that expose the unpredictability of cash flow. They are constantly faced with emerging dimensions of risks varying from long run against short run investment risks, certain against uncertain transaction risks, and risks relating to value of cash flows. Multinational corporations like BMW and Lufthansa are therefore faced with risks such as transaction risks which identifies the impact on exchange rate changes on the value of cash flows that lie in the future that has been committed but whose nominal value is known. It refers to committed transactions for which the company is expecting receivables or payables from export or import contracts. Profits or losses may arise if exchange rates fluctuate between the date of purchase and the date of payment. They may also be faced with economic risks which refer to varying cash flows based on the impact of changes in macroeconomic activities such as inflation, economic growth and or interest rates. Inflation generally increases the cost price of goods due to an increase in costs of input which may lead to a cut back in purchases. Economic growth on the other hand may increase the demand of a product as people may increase their purchase or consumption at these periods. Another major risk faced by MNCs such as the companies under study is translation risk which refers to the degree of influence of foreign exchange rates on the value of foreign assets and liabilities. The seeming liability for multinational companies facing translation risks is the volatility of the currency at hand and the currency with which it is being measured against. Even as the risks mentioned above account for the major risks that multinational organizations may face, they may also be faced with some other types of risks. Country risk refers to risks that are associated with particular countries which make them higher volatility for investments. A proper country risk analysis will ensure that a corporate organization will monitor countries with excessive risk and therefore avoid entrance into such country. Government laws or bans on certain items may also have an impact on the sale of certain products while interest rates, inflation and exchange rates all have an impact on the other therefore making the consideration of entry into a country more complex. It is also pertinent to recognise that there may be political influence in some countries arising so that local companies may thrive in the face of foreign competition. Therefore, considering the nature of globalization, even though it has encouraged borderless trading, multinational corporations have to recognise the risks associated with operating in a host country.    RISKS PECULIARITY: BMW The BMW group enjoys the exclusivity of three premium brands that are not overlapping and doing well independently. With a keen focus on research and development, it has developed innovative display in the manufacturing of groundbreaking engines. It has therefore enjoyed success due to its unique designs and a carving a niche for itself in the luxury brand sector. However, due to its setup and base mainly in Germany, cost competitiveness may continually be a worry given that more competitors are recognising the cost advantage of emerging markets and therefore shifting their production activities to these locations. It must therefore locate a balance between cost efficiency and the status it derives from the German engineering quality. BMW, having a huge base in Germany may pose a risk as there may be considerable currency fluctuation in other countries of operation which may result in uncertainty in cash flows. Selling to its American market may result in converting the Dollar revenue to Euros for instance, and a decline or a weakening of the Dollar makes the expected Euro income equivalence to be lower. It also faces cross-border purchases which consumers may engage in to avoid some costs mainly on currency value differences with people going to Canada for instance to purchase an automobile and driving it back into the US. These fluctuations are beyond the company’s control and may on only react to the changes which may have been caused by changes in the economic position of such country, speculation, demand and supply factors on currencies, consumer index, foreign investment and or Gross National Income (GNI). BMW also faces the risks of specification given the nature of the product it sells. Product specifications especially for countries outside Europe will be a huge concern as it may require new production lines to cater for this change. Also, risks associated with late delivery of goods or damages while shipping as was the reported case of a sunken ship containing BMW automobiles many of which were beyond repairs. Being a premium brand, BMW has to contend with high cost of producing its high quality parts and still staying within the reach of consumers who are now more exposed to cost effective automobiles given the rising of oil prices. RISKS PECULIARITY: LUFTHANSA Risks associating with the airline industry are becoming more complex even as the industry is becoming more competitive. The business model applicable in the industry attracts a lot of capital, labour and technology input. Additional business dynamics like increase in oil prices, frequent risk of terrorism, charges that are specific to countries, unfavourable weather conditions and disruption of air-traffic are all risks associated with security and safety, hazards issues and operational risks that have characterised the airline industry. A peculiar situation was the abnormal weather in December 2010 which had a huge impact on air traffic as over 4,000 flights were cancelled. The industry is also characterised by cyclic demand, domestic and international competition which is growing by the day, increasing gearing levels, regulatory hindrance like landing rights or ownership restrictions. The concern of interest rate is particularly of great significance to airlines as it affects their debt financing. Also, the debt-to-equity ratio of the airline industry is thus equally high as it is capital intensive which makes borrowing more difficult. Bartram (2002) highlighted this further by pointing out the impact of interest rate and the succession of business cycle considering the effects on demand by customers. Carter et al (2002) also argued that due to expected costs of distress, there is a considerable level of underinvestment. When airlines are strained and therefore resort to sell off their fleet of aircraft, this may be a representation of financial distress as the aircrafts are sold off at heavily discounted amounts. The industry is equally faced with currency risks which may affect international or domestic demand in relation to the home country currency value. For instance, if the Canadian dollar depreciates, there will be an increase in demand for flights into and within Canada by non-residents while the residents may substitute local travels for international locations. The predictability of these currency changes being close to impossible equally makes the airline operators more exposed to these risks. A considerable contribution of airline operating cost is the cost of jet fuel which also poses a risk to Lufthansa. Although, the level of profit responsiveness may be dragging as airline tickets are sold in advance, future commitment to advertised lower fares in the short term. However, in the medium/long term its profitability decreases in relation to direct and indirect cost of fuel. Carter et al (2002) further illustrate that airlines are in a dilemma of underinvestment whenever a revenue generation opportunity presents itself during the periods of high cost of jet fuel. The further weight of the air traffic tax adopted in Germany and Austria for instance means that fuel costs cannot be passed on in full to consumers due to the sensitivity of pricing. FINANCIAL/MARKETING STRATEGIES TO MANAGE RISKS For BMW, recognition of the potentials of emerging markets both for demand and production units has helped diversify its risk. Its focus traditionally had been on European market, but with the steady growth of the Chinese automobile industry, there was a need to break its unilateral brand structure and embrace innovation. However, completion is becoming strife in the Chinese region as competitors have recognised the potentials it offers and focus is shifting gradually away from product competition to a comprehensive demand for brand and services. Adopting localised sustainable development in the Chinese market by adding traditional local elements will also attract demand within this newly acquired market. Also, BMW may choose to relocate its manufacturing and supply units to final markets whose currencies are less prone to currency exchange risks. This can be done through an investment in localised procurement and production units. Shifting its base to final markets and having its suppliers do likewise ensures that BMW is guaranteed input cost safety. Whilst doing this, it can also assure its suppliers of sustainable income which reduces their vulnerability in time of fluctuations. Even as it tries to satisfy global appeal by developing unified product models, BMW cuts costs and alleviates risks by adopting flexible means of customizing its models to fit regional tastes in markets representing huge demands on short notice. For instance, it developed a longer version of one of its models solely for Chinese customers due to high demand. It can then focus supply of its marketing plans and products to markets with stronger currencies with less likelihood for fluctuations. As the largest market outside Europe, the US plays a vital position in BMW’s business plans as it established production lines for its 3 and 5 series models in the country due to increasing demand. Even at the point of establishing the plant, most of its cars were manufactured in Europe and transported to the US and sales of the cars may become more profitable as the dollar weakens. It then may build its competence to identify and take advantage of a strong currency market. It is also striving to ensure there is a plant in china by 2012, thus making sure most of its costs are denominated in local currencies. However, all these strategies are not as expedient as currency hedging. Hedging refers to an investment that is made in order to alleviate the risk of adverse price movement in an asset. Exchange rate risk can also be neutralised (hedged) through financial instruments, such as exchange rate derivatives or foreign currency debt (financial hedges), as well as through the operational setup of the exporting firm (operational hedges). Financial derivatives have today become standard tools for hedging risks related to exchange rates, interest rates or commodities prices. Accordingly, Bartram et al (2009) further argued that organizations do not only use financial derivatives, but operational hedging and foreign currency debt may be crucial to their management of financial risk.            Even as the hedging strategy may be applicable to Lufthansa AG as well, it can be argued in accordance to the views of Kim et al (1993) that diversification is considered to be a chief instrument which corporations can adopt in order to manage the financial risks facing them. This is in line with the view of the author as hedging is still a rather speculative attribute and can still lead to a loss or a profit. It can be further argued that a business ought not to fully hedge all of its firm value from all risks because when future hedges are applied and the prices go up in the first few years, there will be a large marginal impact on the cumulative futures covering the multiple years. And as a form of international strategy, Lufthansa formed the Star Alliance with other airlines which afforded it an almost faultless network of intercontinental connections which provided it with the needed expansion. Lufthansa also hedges fuel prices to dea l with fuel price risk for a time sphere of two years mostly by means of time combined options. The hedging transactions are based on fixed rules and map the average of crude oil prices over time. Sales of international tickets, fuel purchases, aircraft and spare part maintenance also present some form of currency risk to Lufthansa and it performs hedging on the main currencies it uses which are the US Dollar, the Yen, Euro and the Sterling. Being a very liquid company (Lufthansa owns about 75% of its fleet of aircrafts), considering its financial strength, Lufthansa is considered a worthy partner by investors and banks. Thus, future investment plans can be met through borrowing at an already determined action plan and the duration of such investment is limited to one year. The risks and opportunities facing the group, is defined mainly by macroeconomic factors and a resulting effects on passenger and cargo demand. In this regard, Lufthansa relies on its capability to regulate its resources and capacity in a flexible manner in order to adapt to changing market conditions and therefore cut costs.  CONCLUSION Organizations are faced with financial risks arising from a combination of sources either from an exposure to changes in market prices either through interest rate or exchange rate fluctuations and/or financial risks emerging from an interaction with suppliers or customers. Given that corporate risk management can lower the present value of bankruptcy and financial distress costs, firms with a high probability of default and/or high financial distress costs should be more likely to engage in corporate hedging. Companies with international supply chains and international markets will face not only exchange rate risk from the financial accounting perspective, but risks to their competitive positions and cost-revenue dynamics as a result of steep and large declines in the dollar’s value. Financial hedging strategies are suitable for mitigating small and short-term currency fluctuations. But to avoid the effects of huge, long-term shifts in a currency’s value, the likes of BMW and Lufthansa are however advised to adopt operational hedging strategies. These provide the flexibility to dynamically manage supply chains and markets, thereby allowing some degree of difference and efficient management of the cost-revenue equation as international macro-economic forces influence the global marketplace.  BIBLIOGRAPHY Alan Shapiro,2006. Multinational Financial Management, Wiley 8th edition Jorion, P., 1991. The Pricing of Exchange Rate Risk in the Stock Market, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 26, 3, September 363-376. Bodnar G. and Gentry W., 1993. Exchange Rate Exposure and Industry Characteristics: Evidence from Canada, Japan and U.S., Journal of International Money and Finance, February, 29-45. Doukas J., P. Hall and L. Lang, 2001. Exchange Rate Exposure at the Firm and Industry Level, SSRN working paper series Eiteman, David K;Moffett, Michael H;Stonehill, Arthur, (2006) Multinational business finance11th ed Published Boston, Mass. ; London : Pearson/Addison-Wesley Bartram, S.M. 2002, ‘The interest rate exposure of nonfinancial corporations’, European Finance Review, vol. 6, pp. 101–25. Carter, D.A., Rogers, D.A. Simkins, Betty J. 2002, ‘Does fuel hedging make economic sense? The case of the U.S. airline industry’, Working paper, Oklahoma State University. http://investor-relations.lufthansa.com/en/fakten-zum-unternehmen.html Bartram, S.M., G.W. Brown, and J.E. Hund 2007. â€Å"Estimating Systemic Risk in the International Financial System. â€Å"Financial Economics 86(3), December, 835-869. Kim, W. C., Hwang, P., Burgers, W. P. 1993. Multinationals diversification and the risk-return trade-off. Strategic Management Journal, 14: 275-286. Dominguez, K. and L. Tesar 2001. A Re-Examination of Exchange Rate Exposure, NBER Working Paper Series. (Forthcoming, American Economic Review: Papers and Proceedings, 2003)
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Does Communication Matter in ALL Fields Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Does Communication Matter in ALL Fields - Essay Example Attaining success in the field of business is heavily reliant on the attainment of effective communication. In this field it is necessary for stakeholders to use the right communication tools to communicate the appropriate message and to do so in a timely manner. In fact, in business, communication is a vital key that managers rely on to motivate and their staff and other stakeholders to aspire toward the attainment of organizational goals and success. The importance of communication in business today can also be proven by the fact that most successful corporations have corporate communication departments which deal with improving communication. Studies indicate that people who work in business-oriented fields spend over nearly three quarters of their time at work communicating (Phillips & Friedman, 2008).It is findings such as these that have driven employers in the business field to put more emphasis on the need to employ people who can communicate effectively. In fact, lack of eff ective language skills, low self-assurance in communication and improper body language have been cited as some of the most common reasons why employers disqualify potential employees in business-related fields. This is perhaps due to the fact that employers look for a recruit who can communicate effectively on a global scale because of increased globalization (Phillips & Friedman, 2008). In science- related fields, communication is also just as important. There is a prevalent perception in society today that people in science-related fields are mostly aloof and have very minimal communication skills. While this perception is not entirely accurate, it is a fact that it is often easier for scientists to communicate with their colleagues than it is for them to do so with those not in the realm of science. However, effective communication matters in the field of science because; ultimately, scientists need to express their ideas to non-scientists in
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Discussion Questions( corporate governance& ethics) Essay
Discussion Questions( corporate governance& ethics) - Essay Example Such a leadership style inevitably has a positive impact on the people. The Affiliative Leader- An Affiliative leader is intrinsically a networking expert and enhances the overall harmony within an organization by consolidating the interpersonal relations within that organization (Changing Minds, 2009). Such a leader turns out to be a real source of strength under stressful situations. Such leaders do provide the much needed sense of direction in the times of chaos. The Democratic Leader- A democratic leader is not only an astute listener but evokes a considerable influence on and trust in other people through one's positive inputs and a solid sense of commitment. Such a leader encourages all the human constituents within an organization to participate in the overall process of decision making. It is the natural ability of such a leader to solicit support and consensus. The Pacesetting Leader- Though such a leader has a strong drive to achieve and high personal standards, yet he/she often exhibits a blatant impatience towards the frailties of other people. Such leaders are predominantly number driven and often get ruthless in their success for personal success and achievement. The pacesetting leaders do turn out to be poor guides and mostly harbor unrealistic expectations of other people. The Commanding Leader- A commanding leader is mostly authoritarian in one's approach and expects others to willingly or unwillingly tow the strategy chalked out by him/her. Such leaders often exhibit a negligible sensitivity to emotions and do prefer to centralize the activities within an organization. Realistically speaking, commanding leaders create unnecessary frictions, insecurity and dissonance within the organizations. The leadership style of Al Dunlap in the case study under consideration is definitely pacesetting in its approach. He not only had a great drive for achievement and success, but assessed the levels of achievement within the organization he managed, solely through numerical parameters. He was highly opinionated and rigid in his approach and never made the efforts to extract inputs from other employees working within the organization. His tenure was marked by high levels of employee insecurity, rapid centralization, sweeping changes and unethical financial practices. The leadership style of Al Dunlap was characterized by low emotional sensitivity and a ruthless approach towards challenges. He did not hesitate to go for large scale lay offs and resorting to self customized accounting practices to create a faade of success. Answer 2: Al Dunlap as an Ethical LeaderAl Dunlap was an utterly poor ethical leader in the sense that he exhibited a lousy personal character. He was not guided by any ethical scruples and was a hard core opportunist who did not
Monday, November 18, 2019
To what extent did domestic political considerations shape the Johnson Essay
To what extent did domestic political considerations shape the Johnson administrations conduct of the war in Vietnam, 196568 - Essay Example This rapid change of attitudes to the war raises a number of questions. The most important of them is, perhaps, how the USA domestic affairs affected the inclination of the war in Vietnam. Apparently, President's Lyndon Johnson decision to take the United States into a large-scale in Vietnam could not be completely understood without the assessment of domestic political issues and considerations in 1960s. In this project, I will examine all domestic sources of forces as well as forces themselves that shaped to one or either way, Johnson's administration conduct of the Vietnam War. Respectively, I will focus on the 1965-1968 period of the War known as "Escalation and Americanization of Vietnam"4. While analyzing this period of War, I will evaluate the influence of Johnson's administration that determined Presidents' decisions of deployment of combat troops in July 1965, escalation of troops' involvement in 1967, and Johnson's decision to limit the bombing of Vietnam as well as his later decision not to seek reelection. Historically, there are two dominant approaches in analysis of Johnson's administration decision making regarding Vietnam War5. ... Historically, there are two dominant approaches in analysis of Johnson's administration decision making regarding Vietnam War5. One approach emphasizes Johnsons and his administration's irrationality and isolation from critique that consequently resulted in disastrous decisions about Vietnam. This approach describes Johnson as a single-minded "hawk" and extremely ambitious President reluctant to listen to the experts' views6. The second approach implies that Johnson had an access to the full range of information about Vietnam from diverse points of view, particularly from his foreign policy advisers: McGeorge Bundy, Dean Rusk, Walter Rostow and Robert McNamara, as well as from more informal ones78. This view provides a more rational view of Johnson, though makes him a hostage of his informants9. Another question under concern is the extent, to which domestic issues determined Johnson's decisions about Vietnam. In the other words, how domestic economy ("economic crisis" of 1968), growing Congressional opposition, shaping of public opinion and public riots (pacifists' movements), rapid loss of Johnson popularity, etc. determined the way of Vietnam War conduct. As Barrett (1993) believes, this "Vietnam dilemma" has significantly influenced generations of historians and political scientists10. Gulf of Tonkin incident and beginning of Johnson's Vietnam War era Until the August of 2004 Vietnam War was rather a local conflict than an issue, which further preoccupied the minds of average Americans in late 1960s. However, the attacks of Northern Vietnamese on American navies on August 2-4, 1964 prompted the large-scale involvement of American troops in the country. It is still debatable, whether Vietnamese indeed attacked US
Saturday, November 16, 2019
Trying Out Life Without A Television English Language Essay
Trying Out Life Without A Television English Language Essay The Adult Literacy Survey recently concluded that watching more than two hours of TV a day is harmful and holds children back. So what would happen if there were no televisions? No sport, no American Idol, no Days of Our Lives, no National Geographic, no BET, MTV or, (gulp) Spongebob? To find out, three of our reporters volunteered to turn the box off for a week. How did they cope, what did they do instead and did one of them really end up sewing a hem on a pair of trousers like one of the Ingalls girls on Little House on the Prairie? In our special feature, we also drop in on a family of two parents and six children who havent had a TV in the house for six months. The kids say its been torture but mom and dad say the children have come alive since its been gone. We also took to the streets to find out how much time islanders spend in front of the TV. Like most things, at the end of the day its a question of balance. Do you have it right? I was in denial about TV?habit By James Whittaker The hip hop group Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy once described television as the drug of the nation. But Id always considered myself as more of a casual user than an addict. Sure I was not immune to the hypnotic pull of the tube, but as far as I was concerned it was under control. Asked how much I watched a week, Id probably say five or six hours, if that. More, I suppose, if you count sports. Movies count too? Okay, maybe a few hours more. What about documentaries, surely thats just interactive learning? No? A couple more hours then. In the words of George W. Bush, I guess I mis-underestimated myself. When I actually added up the number of hours Id sat watching TV the previous week it was more than double what I thought it would be. I was well inside the two-hours-a-night category that the Bermuda Adult Literacy Survey classifies as the danger zone. A fair portion of that time was spent flicking between channels looking for something decent. Another chunk was spent criticizing the banality of what American mainstream channels consider comedy (somehow it never occurred to me to flick the off switch). And then the rest was spent on what I considered more worthy televisual pursuits like the English Premier League or David Attenboroughs Planet Earth. I still stand by the belief that television and literacy are not mutually exclusive. But when asked to recall a useful lesson Id learnt from TV, Dont mess with lions or sharks was about the best I could come up with. Worse still was the realization that a possibly vital part of my brains storage system would forever be assigned details about a nasty little growth hormone called Relacor which means unsightly belly fat is not my fault. The subliminal power of advertising had its hooks firmly in. Clearly, it was time for a change. The best way I found to curb the cravings during my week of abstinence was to stay out of the house. I went to a jazz concert on the Monday night, played in a squash tournament on two separate nights, went for the odd run and genuinely didnt miss television all that much. When I was home I had the benefit of a couple of good books and an online chess game to satisfy my entertainment demands. With no default selection, the question of what shall we do tonight? was always a challenge, but the answer was invariably more interesting than MTV. With the experiment over, I still watch my fair share of television. Id probably have to remove it from the house to avoid it completely. But Im at least a little more conscious not to watch, just because it is there. Maybe next time someone asks how much I watch Ill be able to say five or six hours a week and it might even be the truth. I hand-wrote a letter and did some sewing! By Sirkka Huish Think about all those important jobs you never get around to doing. Well, theres a way to get them crossed off the list and even enjoy the process give up TV for a week. Its a simple way to find more hours in the day, but you might find yourself doing some bizarre things. Typically, I get home from work and chill out in front of the box for a couple of hours. Now I faced going cold turkey for seven days 168 hours! All of a sudden I had to fill my time with more meaningful activities; I was forced to get the creative juices flowing. The key to getting through the week was staying busy and pretending I wasnt really missing Wife Swap, Survivor, Greys Anatomy and Ugly Betty or that I didnt mind being clueless about the latest American Idol audition or Oprah special. How did I spend my time? I read and went to the gym and spent a lot longer than normal slaving over a hot stove. A friend in the U.K. will get the surprise of her life when my hand-scribbled letter arrives on her doormat. I also came over all domesticated. Im proud to say my bathroom is now spotless and my fridge was given a good clean out. I even found time for a bit of sewing. Yes, I amazed even myself by sewing up the hem on a pair of trousers. To avoid temptation I also arranged a few nights out, but I was limited to where I could go. There was no way my boyfriend would give up TV even for a day, let alone a week, so I had to avoid his house. And almost every pub now has a widescreen TV looking back at you. Surprisingly, going without TV got easier as the week progressed. Im not a huge TV watcher anyway but I did miss my daily dose of news. I felt a bit lost without my window into the world. It brought home the fact that Im stuck on an island in the middle of the Atlantic. However, breaking free of the grip of TV wasnt a life-changing experience and I cant say I felt liberated. Neither did I find myself indulging in a healthy dose of outdoor activity. It was a valuable experience, though, as I was a lot more productive. I turned on life rather than the TV and stopped vegging-out in front of B-list celebrities, B-movies and bad plot lines. But I wont be throwing out the telly just yet. My TV isnt evil, it doesnt ruin my life, I just like it to have it around. Im not an addict. I would like to catch up with American Idol after missing two episodes, though The bliss of longer soaks in the tub By Don Burgess Giving up a week of TV left me hiding out in the bathtub and spending less time with my wife. It wasnt a good week to go on the no-TV diet. My house was full of people and we had relatives sleeping on the pullout sofa in the living room. We have an open plan house so the dining room and living room are connected. Also, my wife was sick for much of the week laid-up in bed with the TV on. And the weather was too bad for playing sports most days. I felt a little stranded. I would normally watch two to four hours of TV a day, but there are only five must-see programmes: Survivor, Battlestar Galactica, Bones, House and American Idol. And I did watch some TV couldnt help it. With the TV on in the bedroom and in the living room, there was no way not to see and hear programmes as I walked through, or interacted with people. But I didnt sit down to watch a programme. Instead, I spent more time in the bathtub. I could have stayed in the tub reading longer, but I after an hour, my skin had more wrinkles than a Shar Pei. I decided to set up a chair, with its back to the TV, and read a baseball magazine. I read a bad novel So how did I spend the rest of my time otherwise? I went to church, managed to get in a softball game, spent more time on the computer and read Stephen Kings Cell (very disappointing). We did play a few board games together like Vegas Showdown, San Juan and St. Petersburg, but those would have been a normal part of life anyway. Now that my week of abstinence is over, will I watch less TV? Probably not. As soon as the clock struck the witching hour, I had Comedy Central on. In the three days since going back to TV, Ive only watched six hours, which isnt that much considering it was a weekend. But of course, thats what any addict would say.
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
Diabetes :: essays research papers fc
Diabetes occurs when the pancreas either cannot or has trouble making enough insulin to control the sugar a person receives from their food. (Bete, Co. 1972) Diabetes Mellitus is broken down into two groups: Juvenile (Type One), and Adult (Type Two) (McHenry, 1993). Type One diabetics are insulin dependant. People under forty years of age are more prone to this type. They have low serum insulin levels and it more often affects small blood vessels in eyes and kidneys. Type Two diabetics are non-insulin dependant. This type is prone to people over forty years of age. They have low, normal or high serum insulin levels. It most often affects large blood vessels and nerves (Long, 1993). Type One diabetes was one of the earliest diseases to be documented by historians. Once called "honey urine" and the "Persian fire". The name diabetes was conceived by the Greek physician Arteus almost eighteen hundred years ago. The disease remained a mystery until 1700 when an English doctor demonstrated that a diabetic's blood was abnormally high in sugar (Aaseng, 1995). Thus, bringing to the conclusion that diabetics are unable to use blood sugar as other persons bodies do (McHenry, 1993). With this fact, a young doctor named Fredrick Banting and a biochemist, Charles Best, were lead to the discovery of manufacturing insulin, the hormone for which is the key to blood sugar processing. Many diabetics lives have been saved because of this discovery (Aaseng, 1995). A person is at risk of this disorder if they have diabetic relatives, are over the age of forty years, are over-weight, and if they are of certain racial or ethnic groups. Women with gestational diabetes who give birth to a baby that weighs more than nine pounds are also at good risk of conducting this disease (Long, 1993). Higher numbers of diabetics occur more in Caucasian people than other races, and the highest incidents of Type One diabetes in the world are found in people residing in Scandinavian countries (Aaseng, 1995). Some signs and symptoms of this disorder are: an increased thirst and appetite, frequent urination, fatigue or anxiety, sickness of the stomach, loss of weight, skin infections, blurred vision, or numbness to feet and hands. Blood, urine, or supplementary tests can be done to determine whether a person is diabetic. Once diagnosed, the patient can be treated by making changes in their diet, exercising regularly, injecting themselves with insulin, or taking oral medications (Diabetes, 1997).
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