How did the concepts, theories, lessons, discussions and exercises Term Paper

How did the concepts, theories, lessons, discussions and exercises impact and enhance your understanding of Planning, Organizin, - Term Paper Example Thus, concepts on planning illumined one’s mind in terms of goal setting activites, including the need to develop SMART goals. As emphasized, the ability to design strategies that would direct the organization towards achieving a defined goal should first consider how goal setting was effectively established. The three steps involved in the planning process, explicitly stated as: â€Å"(1) deciding which goals the organization will pursue, (2) deciding what strategies to adopt to attain those goals, and (3) deciding how to allocate organizational resources to pursue the strategies that attain those goals† (Jones and George 9), have provided one with the guidelines to ensure that planning is appropriately implemented. Thus, the crucial function of a manager in terms of planning different activities and endeavors that subordinates must undertake would depend on the competencies, skills, and capabilities of the leader. It necessitates a comprehensive understanding of the r esources of the organization (including the competencies of human resources), as well as the ability to address external forces that impinge on the organizations’ operations. ... s made aware that organizational structure, which is supposedly the outcomeof this function, is â€Å"a formal system of task and reporting relationships that coordinates and motivates members so they work together to achieve organizational goals. Organizational structure determines how an organization’s resources can be best used to create goods and services† (Jones and George 12). Thus, it was noted that managers should be able to effectively discern the perfect match of utlizing the organization’s resources, and how much costs need to be entailed to maximize profits. The third relevant task of a manager – leading, was described as the ability to â€Å"motivate, coordinate, and energize individuals and groups to work together to achieve organizational goals† (Jones and George 8). More detailed theories of leading were discussed in the whole portion of part five: leading individuals and groups; and which were separately discussed in three chapters: Chapter 13: Motivation and Peformance; Chapter 14: Leadership; and Chapter 15: Effective Groups and Teams (Jones and George). There have been diverse leadership theories that tackle leadership traits, skills, and characteristics which make them effective leaders; leadership styles; motivational theories; and other contemporary leadership concepts – transformational leadership and even servant leadership, among others. One strongly believes that this function of management is crucial as it does not only focus on the leader to gauge the effectiveness in achieving defined organizational goals. It was, therefore, learned that there is a need to incorporate a comprehensive understanding of the subordinates’ personalities and competencies; as well as the situation at hand. The fourth task, controlling, was defined as

The Balance of Good and Evil Essay Example for Free

The Balance of Good and Evil Essay â€Å"The Tyger† by William Blake expresses the idea of the creation of evil. It involves a very powerful rhyming scheme to convey the strength of the matter. Through the use of metaphors relating to certain gods, both Christian and Greek views, the image of the â€Å"Tyger† is described. This poem is the second in a pair which was published in his collection Songs of Experience in 1794. Blake’s previously written poem â€Å"The Lamb† was written in his collection Songs of Innocence in 1789, and it represents the complete opposite, the creation of good. Both poems are very necessary to generate the essential question; is the creator of the tiger the same creator of the lamb? Focusing on just â€Å"The Tyger,† Blake questions the maker of this evil beast, and the purpose behind the making. The Lamb is an extremely important piece to both collections. The poem’s focus is centered by the question of creation, but it does so in a modest way, opening as a simple question to a lovable, fragile creature. Little Lamb, who made thee? (1) In the first stanza of the poem the speaker asks the lamb who is responsible for both life and the creation of this innocent creature with the softest clothing and Gave thee such a tender voice (6-7). The lamb symbolizes the association between civilization and the natural world. The lamb is also a representation of pastoral innocence, connecting the urban world with Gods creation. Pastoral life holds a great deal of strength in the poem. This collection contains many pastoral scenes. These peaceful images of life outside of the busy city strongly suggest a sense of peace and tranquility. This connects the characters of the poem to the natural world, where they can consider their existence without the interference of human components. Blakes tender choice of words creates a spiritual mindset which answers the question in first-person narrative in the second stanza that a higher power is responsible. In answering as Jesus Christ, Blake presents his own admiration for God: He is called by thy name, For He calls Himself a Lamb. He is meek, and He is mild; He became a little child. I a child, and thou a lamb, We are called by His name. Little Lamb, God bless thee! Little Lamb, God bless thee! (13-20) By stating Jesus Christ as the lamb’s creator, Blake is signifying that everyone is in some respect a lamb created by God. Although Blake’s religious views are clearly stated in both his collection of poems and in biographies, a creation of his own mythology is tied into his work shown by illustration and by the poems themselves. The second quatrain starts off asking another question, â€Å"In what distant deeps or skies burnt the fire of thine eyes? †(5-6) Distant deeps creates an image of Hell, while skies is referring to Heaven. The eyes are in fact God’s eyes. The question as a whole is asking if it was God in Heaven who created this beast, or Lucifer in hell. Blake is known for using references to Greek gods and goddesses. The question â€Å"On what wings dare he aspire? † (7) depicts Daedalus and his son Icarus who fell from the melting sun after ignoring instructions from his father not to use his wings to fly. The question immediately following also symbolizes a Greek reference. â€Å"What hand dare seized the fire? † (8) represents the Titan Prometheus who was sentenced eternally to a rock where an eagle would devour his liver over and over everyday, in punishment of stealing fire to benefit human civilization. These Greek depictions help to enhance to message of religious drama. Blake is making a bold statement by asking a question that many of us ask at some point in our lives. Is the same god who created all the good in the world, specifically represented by the lamb, also the creator of the Tyger, which represents the brutal side of nature, and in the bigger picture, reality. â€Å"Did he who make the lamb make thee? † (20) This questions the probability of a god creating something so beautiful and pure, but then allowing the creation of something so horrible. Blake uses a very interesting and powerful technique with the line â€Å"frame thy fearful symmetry† (4,20) He uses it twice, and the first time it begins with â€Å"could. † The second time, however, it begins with â€Å"dare. † The repetition and alteration of the phrase serves as a tool to describe the change of tone from questioning the capability to interrogating the reasoning. Symmetry is important because it shows the relationship betwen the Lamb and the Tyger. They are the same in that they are both part of Gods creation. They are both equally important tools of nature, but they are different in that the lamb represents innocence, youth, and positive aspects of nature, where as the tyger represents the more powerful fearful part of nature. Though both can be beautiful in their own way. The Tyger is beautiful in a more experienced light, as one recognizes the striking colors and form of this graceful, yet deadly beast, where as the Lamb is seen in a more childish fashion. Both good and evil are present in the world today. Although they each serve different purposes, their contributions to humanity bring each other balance. â€Å"The Lamb† and â€Å"The Tyger† are equally vital in the intended creation of good and evil, and they share the same creator.

Pepsi Co History and Company Analysis

Pepsi Co History and Company Analysis Pepsi Co Inc. has established itself as a dominant snack food and soft drink distributor with its PepsiCo North America, Pepsi Co International, Frito-Lay, and Quaker Oats segments. (Refer to exhibit 1) In 2007, PepsiCo became the worlds largest snack and beverage seller bringing in revenues of more than $39.5 billion and with its Frito-Lay merger brands accounting for 29 percent of the companys total revenues and 36 percent of the companys operating profits. The company emphasizes maintaining spectacular performance operations that were accomplished thorough strategies aimed at product innovation, creating and sustaining close relationships with distributors, international growth, and beneficial acquisitions. The company sported an impressive business portfolio in 2008 which included its brands such as Pepsi soft drink products, Frito-Lay, Quaker Oats products, Doritos, Gatorade, Tropicana, SoBe, Lipton Brisk tea, Propel, Hickory Sticks, SunChips Multigrain snacks, Aquafina, the acq uisition of Pizza Hutt, Gatorade, and several other consumer goods. The PepsiCo International division is an ever-growing sector in emerging markets such as Russia, The Middle East, China, and Turkey. The company grew by 9 percent in 2007 with volume gains and acquisitions that allowed the company to attain a 22 percent increase in division revenues and 15 percent increase in operating profits. (Gamble 433) The Quaker Oats division attained 2007 sales of $1.8 billion, and held a 58 percent market share in its North America division since 2006 (Gamble 435). PepsiCo has successfully diversified itself with different product lines and methods to improve those product lines so that they ensure customer satisfaction. The company has developed a diversification strategy that is executed through acquisitions of similar or complimentary products. Expanding into these markets not only creates consumer satisfaction, but increases shareholder value as well. With well established, diverse markets PepsiCo has secured business affiliations that benefit the company and allow it to compete better than they would alone. Since 2008, they have focused on new product innovations that addressed consumer health and wellness concerns. PepsiCo has diversified into a multi-business corporations, offering products through their four main business segments; PepsiCo North America, PepsiCo International, Frito-Lay, and Quaker Foods North America. Refer to exhibit 1 to see a complete list of products PepsiCo has been able to offer through their diversification stra tegy. A key competitive strength of PepsiCo is that it has close relationships and partnerships with distributors. PepsiCo has also established successful strategic acquisitions and continues its expansion into profitable markets. The company has adjusted its product innovation to create healthier products in response to consumer demands, thus creating better consumer value and a higher rate of return. The company capitalizes on its consumer research and development which helps it to apply strategies such as the Power of One strategy which increases the opportunity for consumers to purchase more than one PepsiCo and Frito-Lay product at a time on each visit. Dominant corporate strategies that support their many acquisitions of well know products have led to diversification of the company. Products are customized to suit the consumers preferences; for example, the company has designed their product tastes to country specific satisfaction. Because PepsiCo has created and maintained strong br and loyalty with its consumers, it continues to possess a significantly large portion of the food and beverage market shares.   The companys business units have been able to successfully cut costs. Frito-Lay and Quaker had savings of   $40 million for their joint distribution and Quaker Oats saved $ 160 million in innovative packing materials and sharing specific product ingredients. The company also redesigned their shipping methods to reduce stock-outs in retail stores.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are many ways companies try to maximize the value of their shareholders.   Some of the strategies that CEOs of companies may use to maximize the value of their shareholders are reducing company costs while at the same time maintaining a stable revenue levels. Another way that companies maximize shareholder wealth is by partaking in acquisitions of companies. Acquirin companies however is an often risky business venture for a company to undertake. PepsiCo is an example of how acquiring various business ventures in turn benefited the shareholders of the company. The various acquisitions that PepsiCo partook in had a gross value of two billion nine hundred and twenty two dollars. This increased the revenues of PepsiCo substantially by a twenty billion dollar increase from 2000 to 2007.   This increase in revenues being brought in, in turn increases the value of the issued stock. You can see the gradual increase in the price of commo n stock in exhibit ____.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A strong driving factor in the maximization of shareholder value is the CEO Indra Nooyi. Her tenure as an employee of PepsiCo has yielded only improvements for the company as a whole. She was seen as a negotiator and involved in many of the acquisitions that were very profitable for PepsiCo. She built her reputation with various acquisitions such as the Tropicana acquisition in 1998 and the 2001 acquisition of Quaker Oats. She also spearheaded the public offering of Pepsis bottling operations. The hard work of Nooyi at PepsiCo has made the company a multi-billion dollar company. Bringing in the substantial additional revenue increased PepsiCos net worth which also made the stock of Pepsi rise in value also which is beneficial for those who invested good deals of money in this company.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   PepsiCo appeared to always have a handle on their revenues and knows at what levels to price their goods at as to not lose customers base. Looking at their financial summary, exhibit ___ you will notice that from 1998 to 2007 there has been a steady increase in the revenues brought in which affects the value of the shares of common stock as well that are increasing at a corresponding rate.   Pepsi Co has proved to be a company that truly does have the resources to remain a leader in the carbonated beverage industry. Even when Coca-Cola tried to be the leader in the carbonated beverage market holding a little more than forty percent of the market shares, PepsiCo held a little over 30 percent of the market shares.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Looking at Exhibit ____ you will see the break down of PepsiCos net cash provided by operating activities. You will notice that they have a decent amount of Management operating cash flows that can be disbursed or used for benefit of the company. Part of the managers operating cash flows could be used to try and acquire more food or beverage products that would make their product base more diverse. They could also use part of the money to put towards having Pepsi or Tropicana products served in new restaurant chains. PepsiCo clearly have a surplus of money from operating activities that could be put toward their Research and development team so that they can improve the products that they are already have. Another way they could disperse their managements cash flow is by looking to acquire or merge with a manufacturer of candy or a sweet of some sort. PepsiCo is well versed in the variety of snack foods that they offer when it comes to sal ty snack spending the time and money to find a sweet snack would benefit them. This would in turn would bring in more money to Pepsi and increase their stock prices which would in turn increase the value of their shareholders. If a sweet snack was added to Pepsis line of products it would compliment the notion of wanting to eat something sweet after you eat something salty, and vise versa. This would bring in more revenue which in turn would give PepsiCo more operating cash flows to work with n the future and become a very powerful company. We do not recommend PepsiCo to divest any Quaker brands since the acquisition provided PepsiCo a stable platform to enter the health foods and isotonic beverage market. PepsiCos portfolio is established in 2011 with a good mix of carbonated beverages, isotonic beverages, fruit flavored beverages, fruit juices, salty and savory snacks, cereals and other health foods and drinks. (Refer to exhibit __ If they were to divest any Quaker Oats brands. PepsiCo could harm its portfolio and decrease its shareholder value, lower stock prices and lower economies of scale. Also, it is possible that the brand could be acquired by another company and pose as a threat to PepsiCo. We recommend PepsiCo to acquire or form a merger with RedBull. Red Bull holds a 70 percent share of the world market for energy drinks, or functional beverages, a category it was largely responsible for building (Red Bull GMBH). The biggest isotonic beverage brand Gatorade is already under PepsiCo. Adding Red Bull to their portfolio would create higher shareholder value and increase revenues. The volume share for energy drinks on the PepsiCo portfolio was only 1% in 2007. We believe that there is great potential for an increase if Red Bull is acquired or merged with. Also, with PepsiCos strategy of better-for-you and good-for-you products, PepsiCo could encourage Red Bull manufacturers to use different types of healthier sweeteners which would increase sales and publicity for Red Bull and PepsiCos health awareness. Having Red Bull on their portfolio of products would also give PepsiCo a better market share and add value to the brand for appealing to various consumer demands. Refer to exhibit___ to see PepsiCos current market share.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   PepsiCos current portfolio has a wide variety of snacks, beverages, and cereal catering to all types of demands including health conscious consumers. Refer to exhibit 1 to see a full list of PepsoCos snacks,   beverage and Quaker Oats Brands. We recommend PepsiCo to acquire or merge with a candy company to add a different product to their portfolio. Mars Incorporated, has strong brands such as Mars, Snickers, MMs, Whiskas, Uncle Bens, Dove, Extra, Orbit, Flavia, Pedigree, and Royal Cannin on their portfolio. A merger or acquisition with Mars incorporated would give PepsiCo a wide variety and add to their existing brands which will make them achieve greater economies of scale. Through such a merger or acquisition, PepsiCo will be able to cater to the consumer population that they are unable to reach with their existing products. They will also be able to cater to consumers with pets with popular brands like Pedigree and Royal Cannin that are a part of Mars Incorporated.   Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The corporate strategy recommended for PepsiCo is the Best Cost Provider Strategy. The essence of a best cost provider strategy is giving customers more value for the money by satifsying buyer desires for appealing features/performance/quality service and charging a lower price for these attributes compared to rivals with similar caliber product offerings (Gamble111). We recommend PepsiCo to implement this strategy into their business by cutting costs and lowering prices to cater to those who enjoy PepsiCo products but are not able to afford them any longer due to the current recession. Also offering those products at a lower price will give them a competitive edge against Coca Cola which is one of their biggest rivals. In order for the Best Cost Provider Strategy to work, a company must have the capability to incorporate attractive or upscale attributes at a lower cost than rivals (Gamble111). PepsiCo has the capability to out compete Coca Cola by focusing on their core competencies through the value chain and by eliminating costs that do not add value. In addition to the recommendations above, we also recommend PepsiCo to focus more on their Good-for-you and Better-for-you products. With an increasing population of health conscious citizens, PepsiCo should enter a line of Organic ready to eat products and beverages apart from the Naked Juice products. Quaker Oats brand is already known for healthy food like oatmeal, cereals, granola bars, and etcetra. We recommend PepsiCo to focus more attention to ready made, ready to eat foods like noodles, organic tv dinners, and quick organic lunch options. EXHIBIT 1 Breakfast Bars/Granola Bars  Ã‚ ² Quaker Chewy Granola Bars  Ã‚ ² Quaker Dipps Granola Bars  Ã‚ ² Quaker Fruit Oatmeal Bars  Ã‚ ² Quaker Fruit Oatmeal Toastables  Ã‚ ² Quaker Oatmeal-to-Go Bars  Ã‚ ² Quaker True Delights Bars  Ã‚ ² Quaker True Delights Squares Coffee Drinks:  Ã‚ ² Starbucks Doubleshot  Ã‚ ² Starbucks Frappuccino  Ã‚ ² Starbucks Iced Coffee Energy Drinks:  Ã‚ ² Amp Energy Energy Drinks  Ã‚ ² No Fear Energy Drinks  Ã‚ ² SoBe Energy Drinks Tea/Lemonade:  Ã‚ ² Brisk  Ã‚ ² Lipton Iced Tea  Ã‚ ² Lipton PureLeaf  Ã‚ ² SoBe Tea  Ã‚ ² Tazo Tea Juice/Juice Drinks:  Ã‚ ² Amp Energy Juice  Ã‚ ² Dole Juice/ Juice Drinks  Ã‚ ² Dole Plus Fortified Juices  Ã‚ ² Dole Sensation Juice Drinks  Ã‚ ² IZZE Sparkling Juice  Ã‚ ² Ocean Spray Juice/Juice Drinks  Ã‚ ² Naked Juice  Ã‚ ² SoBe Juice Drinks  Ã‚ ² SoBe Lean Diet Juice Drink  Ã‚ ² Tropicana Trop50 Beverages  Ã‚ ² Tropicana Pure Premium Juices  Ã‚ ² Tropicana Twister Juice Drinks  Ã‚ ² Tropicana Tropics Oatmeal/Cereals:  Ã‚ ² Capn Crunch Cereal  Ã‚ ² King Vitaman Cereal  Ã‚ ² Kretschmer Toasted Wheat Germ  Ã‚ ² Life Cereal  Ã‚ ² Mothers Ready-to-Eat Hot Cereals  Ã‚ ² Quaker Essentials  Ã‚ ² Quaker Grits  Ã‚ ² Quaker Instant Oatmeal  Ã‚ ² Quaker Natural Granola Cereal Oatmeal/Cereals Cont:  Ã‚ ² Quaker Oatmeal  Ã‚ ² Quaker Oatmeal Breakfast Squares  Ã‚ ² Quaker Oatmeal-to-Go  Ã‚ ² Quaker Oh!s Cereal  Ã‚ ² Quaker Puffed Rice  Ã‚ ² Quaker Shredded Wheat Cereal  Ã‚ ² Quaker Squares Cereal  Ã‚ ² Quisp Cereal Other:  Ã‚ ² Amp Energy Gum  Ã‚ ² Aunt Jemima Mixes Syrups  Ã‚ ² Quaker Baking Mixes Rice Snacks:  Ã‚ ² Quaker Large Rice Cakes  Ã‚ ² Quaker Mini Delights  Ã‚ ² Quaker True Delights Rice Snacks  Ã‚ ² Quaker Tortillaz  Ã‚ ² Quaker True Delights Fiber Crisps Side Dishes:  Ã‚ ² Near East Side Dishes  Ã‚ ² Pasta Roni Side Dishes  Ã‚ ² Rice-A-Roni Side Dishes Snacks:  Ã‚ ² Baked! Doritos Tortilla Chips  Ã‚ ² Baked! Lays Potato Crisps  Ã‚ ² Baked! Ruffles Potato Chips  Ã‚ ² Baked! Tostitos Tortilla Chips  Ã‚ ² Baken-ets Pork Skins and Cracklins  Ã‚ ² Cheetos Snacks  Ã‚ ² Chesters Popcorn  Ã‚ ² Cracker Jack Candy Coated Popcorn  Ã‚ ² Doritos Tortilla Chips  Ã‚ ² El Isleno Plantain Chips  Ã‚ ² Frito-Lay, Fritos and Cheetos Snack Crackers  Ã‚ ² Frito-Lay, Fritos and Tostitos Dips Salsas  Ã‚ ² Frito-Lay Nuts Seeds  Ã‚ ² Fritos Corn Chips  Ã‚ ² Funyons Onion Flavored Rings  Ã‚ ² Gamesa Cookies and Wafers  Ã‚ ² Grandmas Cookies  Ã‚ ² Hickory Sticks  Ã‚ ² Hostess Potato Chips  Ã‚ ² Lays Kettle Cooked Potato Chips  Ã‚ ² Lays Potato Chips  Ã‚ ² Lays Stax Potato Crisps Snacks Cont:  Ã‚ ² Matador Meat Snacks  Ã‚ ² Maui Style Potato Chips  Ã‚ ² Miss Vickys Potato Chips  Ã‚ ² Munchies Snack Mix  Ã‚ ² Munchos Potato Crisps  Ã‚ ² Natural Cheetos  Ã‚ ² Natural Lays  Ã‚ ² Natural Tostitos  Ã‚ ² Quaker Soy Crisps  Ã‚ ² Quaker Quakes  Ã‚ ² Rold Gold Pretzels  Ã‚ ² Ruffles Potato Chips  Ã‚ ² Sabritones Puffed Wheat Snacks  Ã‚ ² Santitas Tortilla Chips  Ã‚ ² Smartfood Popcorn  Ã‚ ² Spitz  Ã‚ ² Stacys  Ã‚ ² SunChips Multigrain Snacks  Ã‚ ² Tostitos Tortilla Chips  Ã‚ ² TrueNorth  Ã‚ ² Wavy Lays Potato Chips Soft Drinks:  Ã‚ ² Diet Pepsi  Ã‚ ² Diet Mountain Dew  Ã‚ ² Diet Sierra Mist  Ã‚ ² Mountain Dew  Ã‚ ² Mug Soft Drinks  Ã‚ ² Pepsi  Ã‚ ² Sierra Mist Sports Drinks:  Ã‚ ² Gatorade Prime 01  Ã‚ ² Gatorade Thirst Quencher Perform 02  Ã‚ ² G2 Perform 02  Ã‚ ² Gatorade Recover 03 Water:  Ã‚ ² Aquafina  Ã‚ ² Aquafina FlavorSplash  Ã‚ ² Aquafina Sparkling  Ã‚ ² Ethos Water  Ã‚ ² Propel Vitamin Enhanced Water Beverage  Ã‚ ² SoBe Lifewater Vitamin Enhanced Water Beverage EXHIBIT 2 PEPSICO TIMELINE 1965 PepsiCo, Inc. is founded (Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay) The new company reports sales of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  $510 million and has 19,000 employees. 1966 Doritos brand tortilla chips are introduced. Pepsi enters Japan and Eastern Europe 1968 Growth through acquisition 1970 PepsiCo sales pass the $1 billion mark. The company has 36,000 employees.. Pepsi is the first company to respond to consumer preference with lightweight, recyclable, plastic bottles. 1974 PepsiCo sales pass the $2 billion mark. Pepsi-Cola becomes the first American consumer product to be produced, marketed and sold in the former Soviet Union. 1976 Pepsi-Cola becomes the single largest selling soft drink brand sold in U.S. supermarkets. 1977 Acquisition of Pizza Hut Passes $3 billion in sales. 1978 Acquisition of Taco Bell 1984 Diet Pepsi is reformulated with 100% NutraSweet. Pepsi-Cola makes advertising history as Michael Jackson and his brothers usher in a new generation of Pepsi-Cola advertising. 1985   PepsiCo is now the largest company in the beverage industry. The company has revenues of more than $7.5 billion, more than 137,000 employees. Pepsi-Cola products are available in nearly 150 countries and territories around the world. Snack food operations are in 10 international markets. 1986 Acquisition KFC Purchases 7UP International PepsiCo is listed on the Tokyo stock exchange. 1989 PepsiCo enters top 25 of Fortune 500 ranking with sales of $15.4 billion, it is number 23. The company has more than 300,000 employees. 1992- Pepsi-Cola begins distribution of Liptons line of ready-to-drink teas nationwide. 1994 PepsiCo and Starbucks form the North American Coffee Partnership to jointly develop ready-to-drink coffee beverages. PepsiCo sales reach $30.4 billion. There are 470,000 employees worldwide, making PepsiCo the third largest employer. 1997 Frito-Lay announces plans to buy the 104-year-old snack, Cracker Jack, a candy-coated mix of popcorn and peanuts from Borden Foods Corp. 1998 PepsiCo acquires Tropicana Products 2001 Acquisition of the Quaker Oats 2002 Frito-Lay announces it is eliminating trans fats from Doritos, Tostitos, and Cheetos. 2005   Quaker Introduces Weight Control Instant Oatmeal PepsiCo Donates $2 Million to Pakistan Earthquake Victims 2006 PepsiCos brand SoBe Launches New SoBe Life Water Cold Stone Creamery announces a multi-year agreement making Pepsi its exclusive beverage supplier Frito-Lay North America signed agreement with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation for a new policy for selling foods in schools Federal Trade Commission clears PepsiCo for Naked Juice Co. purchase 2008 PepsiCos diversification strategy built into three new divisions. PepsiCo agrees to buy Bulgarias Leading Nuts and Seeds Company EXHIBIT 3- SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTHS WEAKNESESS OPPORTUNITIES THREATS

Biography of Catherine the Great Essay examples -- Empress Russian His

Biography of Catherine the Great One of the most interesting, hard-working and powerful people to grace the pages of history during the eighteenth century was Catherine II, Empress of Russia. Historians have not always been so kind to her memory, and all too often one reads accounts of her private life, ignoring her many achievements. The stories of her love affairs have been overly misinterpreted and can be traced to a handful of French writers in the years immediately after Catherine's death, when Republican France was fighting for its life against a coalition that included Russia. Catherine was born Sophia Augusta Frederika of Anhalt-Zerbst on April 21, 1729 in Stettin, then Germany, now Poland. Her father, Prince Christian Augustus of Anhalt-Zerbst, was a high-ranking officer in the Prussian Army and a minor prince among the principalities in Germany. He married the much younger Princess Johanna of Holstein-Gottorp. Years before, Johanna's brother Karl August of Holstein-Gottorp had gone to Russia to marry the Princess Elizabeth Petrovna. However the Prince died of small pox, leaving Elizabeth heart-broken. Elizabeth's sister, Anna gave birth to a son named Peter Ulrich, however tragedy once again struck as Anna's died of tuberculosis three months after giving birth to Peter. Peter, who eventually became Tsar Peter III, was the only surviving male descendent and the potentially heir to the throne of Russia after his father died. In November 1741, Elizabeth seized the throne with the help of the Imperial Guards, and formally declared her nephew Peter heir to the throne. Peter was now 14 years old, and it was time for him to find a bride. Elizabeth had always remembered the family of her dead fiancà ©e with fondness, and chose Sophie as the bride to be. The Empress Elizabeth seemed to have taken an instant liking to Sophie at an early age. Sophie began to learn the Russian language and studied the Orthodox religion, which of course pleased the Empress. On June 28, Sophie was received into the Church in a great ceremony, and as a result changed her name to Catherine. Catherine was now the second highest-ranking lady in the country. Shortly after, Peter obtained measles, which started to show all the symptoms of small pox. Catherine found him to be a most pitiful creature, and it was with dismay that she looked towards her wedding day. The royal... ...h the many relationships she formed with men. Perhaps we misunderstand her many attachments. She loved to teach, and she had much knowledge to give. We can see from her many letters to Baron von Grimm, that she took pride in the education of her young protà ©gà ©s. Perhaps what many historians interpret as promiscuous behavior, was nothing more than her filling the lonely hours by sharing her vast knowledge with the young men she deemed worthy of her attention. She had long and lasting relationships with Orlov and Potemkin, and it seems that she was capable of being faithful and devoted. Russia owes her much. After a long reign of thirty-four years, Catherine died of a stroke on November 17, 1796. History knows her as Catherine the Great, a title she was offered during her lifetime and rejected. "I leave it to posterity to judge impartially what I have done" she said at the time; and Catherine has done well. Domestically, She dealt with peasant revolts, pretenders, and noble opposition. Abroad, she increased Russia's territory, prestige and international importance. Regardless of her much emphasized personal life and sexual relations, she deserves the title because she earned it.

How the Town of Maycomb Strongly Demonstrates Social Iniquity Essay

People can be unfair, unjust, and downright cruel. In the novel â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird†, there is a good demonstration by the members of Maycomb’s society of the theme of social iniquity that has very strong supporting evidence towards this opinion. Many different acts are shown to price the county of Maycomb is biased and unfair to its members. It proves things are not as they seem considering the fact that the county of Maycomb is a very proper and ‘classy’ group of people, to some extent. But, as many people read, they notice there are hidden things involved in this ‘not so proper’ place. People in Maycomb are biased towards others based on their colour, job, age, gender, age or family. In more than one way are people discriminated and treated differently due to these aspects of them. Examples that are shown in the novel of social inequity the difference in treatment from a white man compared to a black man, the missionary circle or the different age groups in Maycomb. In the county, there are a group of ladies that like to get together and ‘talk’ about situations that go on in Maycomb and get each other’s input on each of the situations that are brought up. They like to call themselves the missionary circle. Some people think that this group is just a group built to gossip. â€Å"I heard Mrs. Grace Merriweather giving her report in the living room on the equalled lives of the mrunas, it sounded to me. They put the women out in huts when their time came, whatever that was; they had no sense of family- I knew that’d distress Aunty.† (Lee, 121). This quote is simply just an example of what the missionary circle talks about. They find different topics and news about the county and gather around at different locations to talk about it, acting as if they are a club. They all have  different opinions, sometimes belittling different figures or characters in the novel. Some of the opinions given from the members reflect upon other members opinions of situations or characters making some opinions bias. Some of the things said by the missionary circle’s members can be untrue. Since the characters or figures that are being spoken about are not there to defend or give their point of view, this makes the judgement unfair. â€Å"I tell you there are some good but misguided people in the town. Good but misguided.† (124). This quote is in reference to Atticus. Some people could say this quote has a significant impact on this novel because it opens the discussion of the group up to different people in the town and the judgement, sometimes false, that they get from people. Everyone has their own opinions of others, sometimes their opinion is part of someone else’s. The missionary circle’s members are socially high in the rankings from the opinions of others. They tend to be the ‘popular’ group in Maycomb which is why Alexandra wanted to join the group in the first place. The members of the missionary circle consider themselves fine upstanding Christian women of Maycomb. The missionary circle talks about different people in Maycomb and where they are ranked in the social standards to their perspective. The black people of Maycomb tend to be a topic the group talks about and most of the rest of the county. In the novel, people tend to make it seem as though black people are treated very poorly compared to white people. White people think they are better than them and consider it a crime if a black man beats a white man in any way shape or form. This is when Tom Robinson comes into play. He is a huge aspect of the book. He is put into trial for supposedly raping Mayella Ewell. When the court date comes, the information gathered from both sides point to Tom as being innocent. Many people suspect Mr. Bob Ewell was the man that beat Mayella for coming to a black man. Evidence suggest that Tom Robinson only losses his case because of his colour. Even in the courtroom, people are divided by their colour and class. The black people of the crowd have to sit on the balcony while the white folk sit on the floor. This is  discrimination against the black race. They are treated differently than the white people because of false and prejudice judgement and opinions of others. â€Å"A white man’s word against a black man’s word, the white man always wins.†(Lee, 243) This quote is a significant piece of evidence that represents the injustice and biased treatment against black people in Maycomb. This can also demonstrate the fact of how Maycomb tends to be bias towards characteristics of people or families that are out of their control such as age, gender, wealth, race or even your family. Everything the people in Maycomb are is based upon these factors that are out of their control. Atticus tells Scout â€Å"It’s not okay to hate anybody.† (pg. 246). This quote is significant because Atticus is trying to tell Scout that you can’t not like anyone for no reason. He is telling her not to judge a book by its cover. He could be suggesting giving everyone a chance before you give them a negative judgement. In a way, Atticus is trying to navigate Scout away from the common disease in Maycomb of false judgement unlike the rest of Maycomb. Not many people see how they are unfair to each other but it tends to stand out to Atticus which is why he tries to treat people fairly. Atticus also tries teaching Jem and Scout to be respectful to elders and the adults in Maycomb. There are different cases for different people that are older that the kids don’t understand and Atticus is trying to make them appreciate them without telling them their situations. In the novel â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird†, the role of adults is huge. When Scout first goes to school, her first teacher, Mrs. Caroline Fisher, doesn’t know the customs of the county so she   assumes something about the Cunningham’s family. She doesn’t know that the Cunningham’s don’t take anything they couldn’t pay back so it seemed as though she got offended when Walter didn’t take the quarter. Everyone in the class knows what the Cunningham’s are like so when this happens, the class reacted surprised. Mrs. Fisher did not show an act of false judgement which shows that things change in Maycomb. Over time, people begin to look at different situations a bias way due to the perspectives of others. She also  doesn’t like the fact that Scout can read. It seems as though she was discouraged by a child’s knowledge and didn’t know how to react towards it. â€Å"Jem and I hated her. If she was on the porch when we passed, we would be raked by her wrathful gaze, subjected to ruthless interrogation regarding our behavior, and given a melancholy prediction on what we would amount to when we grew up, which was always nothing.† (Lee, 13). This quote shows the false judgement on Mrs. Henry Lafayette Dubose on the children. Most of the adults in Maycomb do not fully respect Jem and Scout. This is because of their age; something they cannot control. People treat them differently based on this because nobody stands up for them except themselves. The adults have no reason to follow along in someone else’s footsteps in this aspect because no one is making the footsteps for anyone to follow in. â€Å"Stephanie Crawford even told me once she woke up in the middle of the night and found him looking in the window at her. I said what did you do, Stephanie, move over in the bed and make room for him? That shut her up a while.† (48). The meaning of this quote could be interpreted many different ways. Mrs. Maudie is saying this about Boo Radley. He is a very mysterious man. Many people in the town have made false accusations about him, not knowing who he truly is, not even what he looks like. Boo is considered a complete outcast to Maycomb. It is as though he doesn’t exist. People don’t even put the initiative to get to know Boo Radley because if they did, they would be considered weird. Mrs. Maudie is, in a way, sticking up for Boo because she doesn’t believe in false judgement. This is Mrs. Maudie showing the opposite of what most adults in Maycomb. People in Maycomb tend to follow other people. This is when a movement happens. The movement in the novel, â€Å"To Kill a Mockingbird† is social iniquity because of the decisions made upon the citizens in Maycomb. In a way, the missionary circle is a group of people looking for followers in order to continue their ‘club’ and stream of gossip. People in Maycomb discriminate different people due to their race. This is why black man is considered to be less than a white man in Maycomb’s social standards. It is a cruel judgement which is why everyone should be given a fair chance before they are given a label. People also judge people by their age. All of these  discriminating factors are things you cannot control. It is downright cruel and unfair. Social inequity is something quite simple that should be fixed. Many crucial factors in the novel end up being decided by discrimination. Most people in Maycomb don’t want to break the trend of discrimination and start a new movement by standing up for what is right. It could be very easy to fix. Why carry it on? There isn’t a point. People just end up being punished or judged due to these factors which isn’t right. People shouldn’t be judged on aspects of themselves that they can’t control. Don’t be a follower, be a leader.

Chinas Reliance on The World Market †Economics Essay

Chinas Reliance on The World Market – Economics Essay Free Online Research Papers Chinas Reliance on The World Market Economics Essay China at this moment is experiencing the transition of its grain trade policy from a policy of self-sufficiency to that of somewhat greater reliance on the world market. On June 1 this year, Premier Wen Jiabao announces that China has listed liberalization of grain trading and pricing and offering subsidies to grain growers as among Chinas priority tasks for reforming its grain distributing system. (1) Earlier this year, it is reported that Chinas grain output falls for five years in a row to 431 million tons last year from a record high of 512 million tons in 1998 while its farmland is also down 7 percent from 1998 to about 100 million hectares. (2) To encourage production, China for the first time in its history directly subsidizes its rural grain farmers: about 1.2 billion US dollars from its grain risk fund is used to directly subsidize individual rural households. Such subsidy is just one policy in the package of massive supporting measures, which also includes setting minimum grain purchasing prices, strictly protecting farmland and lowering agricultural tax. Such measures affect hundreds of millions of grain farmers in 13 provinces, accounting for 69 percent of China’s grain production. (3) Also China begins to liberalize its stri ctly-controlled and inefficient grain system to break state-owned enterprises’ long-held monopoly over the grain market. Private grain companies now can buy grain directly from farmers and resell or process them, which was unimaginable years ago when the central government held a complete monopoly over the grain market. (4) This paper will look into why China, as a WTO member now, goes for such dramatic policy change, examine the policy tools that China adopts most recently in the progressive liberalization of its grain trade and how they will impact the local and international communities. Agricultural resources put China at a disadvantage in producing grain from a comparative economic advantage standpoint. (5) The per capita arable land and water resource levels in China are much lower than world averages (6), and the demand on the land for other crops, particularly for vegetables and fruits, is great. (7) So, even though technologically China is able to feed its people, the self-sufficiency grain policy is irrational from an economic standpoint. Despite the relative success of government controls, with domestic grain costs increasing and domestic grain prices surpassing those of the world market as early as in 1994, Chinese scholars began to question the rationality of the self-sufficiency policy. (8) Moreover, self-sufficiency carries a heavy social cost. It is possible to make simple estimates on the social cost of grain self-sufficiency. According to Long (9), a net loss of social welfare USD 6.59 billion in the year 2020 will occurassuming that the demand for grain has no price elasticity and there is no price margin. If there is a price margin of, say, 20%, the net loss of social welfare will go further up to USD 13.52 billion. In Mid-1998, China instituted a price support program for grain. (10) The price support policy had two pricesa higher protection price for quota grain and a lower reservation price for any amount of grain that a farmer may have wished to sell. The state grain bureaus that purchased the grain were required to sell the grain to the marketing system at a price that covered their costs as well. The intention was that the price support policy would have no budgetary cost and that consumers would pay the full cost incurred in bringing grain to the retail shop. Of course, there should be no objection to that since urban consumers have far higher incomes than the grain producers, and there is no reason why their consumption of grain should be subsidized. But neither is there any reason why consumers should pay more for their grain than if they were served by an efficient marketing system. (11) If the policy functioned as planned, consumers would pay higher prices than necessary. To permit the grain bureaus and subsequent grain handlers to cover their costs, private traders were prohibited from buying directly from farmers. The reason for this action can only be that the private sector can move grain from the farmer to the consumer at significantly lower cost than the state enterprises that, once again, were given a monopoly in the marketing of grain. If this were not the case, there would have been no reason to give the grain bureaus the monopsony in purchases from farmers. If the grain bureaus promptly paid the farmers the specified prices and accepted all the grain farmers offered, as the policy said they should, private traders would have had to pay same prices as the grain bureau paid for grain in excess of the quota. (12) In fact, government losses in the purchase and sale of grain went up sharply since the program implemented. In 1995-1996 (April to March), the cost to the government was 19.7 billion renminbi (RMB); in 1996-1997, 40 billion RMB; and in 1997-1998, in excess of 100 billion RMB. (13) The losses in 1997-1998 exceeded the total expenditure urban consumers made in purchasing grain in 1997. According to the urban household survey, the per capita expenditure on grain by urban household survey, the per capita expenditure on grain by urban consumers was 238 RMB (14). With an urban population of 370 million (15), a total expenditure of 100 billion RMB would equal a per capita cost for the urban population of 270 RMB, or somewhat more than the average expenditure on grain 1997. While realizing the heavy costs of self-sufficiency and the apparent benefit of grain liberalization, Chinese leaders worry about a number of factors that inhibits China’s movement toward greater reliance on grain imports: food security, farmer unemployment, long-term foreign payment ability, as well as economic efficiency. Since the international community has significant influence over these factors, analysis of China’s grain policy suggests how the international community can promote China’s full engagement in the international trading system following is accession to the WTO. China has a long history of farmer rebellions, most of them were triggered by famine; the disastrous famine of the early 1960’s left an indelible imprint on China’s psyche. (16) The lowest requirements for the food safety are that nobody, particularly the poverty-stricken population, starves to death due to the short supply of grains and that the grains issue can not influence the social stabilization. Chinese leaders doubt whether China’s food security can be ensured by relying on the world market, especially records show that the main grain exporting countries have poor policy records, and specifically in times of domestic crises, they may transfer internal shocks to importing countries. Also, since China is a country of vast population, Chinese leaders are concerned that a grain embargo will be used by main exporters as a political weapon against China.(17) It is not until China’s accession to WTO that they finally gradually let go such uncertainties. The general commitments inherent in WTO membership include unconditional most-favored-nation treatment required by Article I of GATTthat member will not discriminate between members. Another basic condition is national treatment required by Article III of GATTthat imports can not be discriminated against other than through border priced-based measure such as tariffs. (18) Under this commitments and condition China can seek tighter disciplines on the use of export restrictions by food exporters to ensure the security of supply. The risk of grain embargos is greatly reduced. And China can increase the extent it relies on world markets as its source of grain. Increasing the security of supply would also be in the in the interest of the exporting countries, which face demands greatly diminished by China’s lack of confidence in the security of supply. Even when members of main grain exporting countries do not honor the WTO agreement and decide to use embargo against China, any grain embargoes have only short-term effects due to the high elasticity of grain supply. Supplier countries that do not participate in an embargo can easily increase their production to provide China with grain over time. Moreover, with an apparently high ratio of grain stock to grain consumption, China is definitely safe from famine in case grain embargo is used against it. (19) The volume of grain stocks is an important index used to measure whether a country is safe or not in terms of grains. In general, the proportion of carry-over stocks of grains at the end of a grains year in the estimated total consumption of grains during the next year will be taken as the grains stocks safety coefficient. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization holds that the lowest scope for a countrys grains stocks safety coefficient is 17~18 percent. If the coefficient is smaller than that, in combination with the analysis on other factors, it can be regarded that this country is not safe in terms of grains. (20) For China, even when grain prices fluctuate in a large range, the safety coefficient of the grains stocks is still higher than 18 percent, the lowest value for the countrys grain stocks safety coefficient. (21) Underemployment and unemployment has always been a problem in China’s rural area. Whether grain liberalization will aggravate unemployment has been a subject of controversy. Those who advocate for liberalization argue that Chinese grain farmers can adapt themselves to more grain imports by converting agricultural activities to higher value-added and labor-intensive production as in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. (22) As high value-added crops are more labor-intensive than grain, such a transition will provide a solution to the unemployment problem. Some also suggest the superabundance of rural labor can be dealt with by transferring most of them to non-agricultural sectors especially to the service sector. Such arguments are valid only when there are enough markets for higher value-added and labor intensive goods. However, China faces barriers in its exporting markets, and the extent of the barriers can be better understood by examining the duty burden that China faces in the export markets. It is clear that China faces some substantial tariff barriers and high tariff rates on its high value-added and labor-intensive agricultural products such as vegetables, fruits and fish products. The average tariff rate faced by China on its agricultural product exports is four times as high as the average tariff faced on its exports of other products. (23) The absence of reliable assurance of food security has been precluding China from opening up to the world grain market. To provide reassurance to China and boost Chinese confidence in the world grain market, greater market access from the international community therefore must be provided for China’s labor-intensive agricultural goods as well as other labor-intensive goods such as textiles. Skeptics of China’s grain liberalization also question China will be able to afford to import a large amount of grain. Since 1999 China has more than USD 140 billion in its foreign exchange reserve, the second highest in the world. (24) However, it is not clear if, in the long run, China will be able to sustain surpluses in its exchange reserve. There are several reasons behind such a pessimistic forecast. First, the rapid growth of China’s export is mainly attributable to â€Å"Processing trade†, in which countries import inputs and re-export processed goods. Between 1980 and 1997, normal exports did not increase as much as the average GDP growth. (25) The exports of â€Å"processing trade are mainly labor-intensive goods with value-added ratio of 10-15 %. (26) Because China has not realized processing trade industries are in fact â€Å"rootless industries†: The plants that produces goods for processing exports move to other countries due to the increase in the labor cost in China, as what had happened in Japan and East Asian Dragons. Unlike its predecessors, however, China will have difficulty in adopting the model of exporting higher value added intermediate inputs. Second, the long-term prospect of China’s capital account balance is ambiguous. As a result of its open-door policy, China has b een the second largest foreign direct investment (FDI) host since 1993. (27) Although decreasing profitability may prevent FDI from rising in the future, foreign investment in service sectors, such as telecommunication, banking and insurance, will rise if China lifts its restrictions on foreign investments. At the same time, the tremendous expansion of outward investment and illegal capital outflow explains why China’s foreign exchange reserve increased only slightly despite years of huge surplus. Given China’s unpromising outlook for its exchange reserve, some policy makers are pessimistic about China’s long-term balance of payment, although they tend to have confidence in China’s short-term balance of payment surplus. However, according to Long (28), such a view is not warrant as the expenditure in grain imports is predicted to be at most accounting for 2.5% of the exports by 2020. So there has to be other reasons other than balance of payment that make Chinese still uncertain about their ability to pay for grain imports. As China is on its path of rapid industrialization, imports of machinery and transportation equipment, raw materials, and high value services will inevitably increase rapidly with continued economic growth. Grain imports will have some crowding-out effects on other imports if foreign is a scarce resource and the opportunity cost of grain imports will be higher than nominal cost. (29) Still, even if China faces difficulties in keeping it s balance of payment, the Chinese currency can depreciate and lower domestic grain prices, reducing or halting grain imports at any time it The shift in the use of procurement prices as a means of taxing agriculture to a means of providing support suggests that policy transformation is well under way in China in light of food consumption change. China realizes the fact that over the past several decades the grain consumption structure has been changing: First, per capita grain consumption has been falling slowly since the early 1990s, offsetting some of the effects of population growth; second, the urban households consume much less grain than rural households. (30) Nevertheless, due to the expanding consumption in feed grains, seed and industrial input, research results suggest that the total grain demand will be growing at an average rate of 1.2 % between 1996 and 2020 and 1.1 % between 1996and 2030. (31) In order to be accurate, the above forecasts of grain demand take numerous factors into consideration, such as the urbanization rate, the consumption trends in the past 10 to 15 years and food consumption habits of ne ighboring countries in East Asia, etc. All of these factors indicate that per capita grain demand will only grow slowly (1.2 % and 1.1%) even if the Chinese economy further develops. (32) However, policies to increase prices received by farmers, like price support, even when successful, have limited effect on the returns to labor and capital engaged in agriculture. (33) Chinese officials did not learn from the similar serious and expensive agricultural policy errors made by the United States and the European Community until recently. (34) Rather than wasting money through high storage costs and payment to government employees, they realize that giving grain farmers direct subsidy and lowering agricultural tax do increase the income of farm people much moreeven though the government still applies price support, i.e., setting minimum purchasing prices. Such measures are implemented because increasing rural incomes is one of China’s prioritized commitments. While incomes have grown and poverty in rural China has been reduced substantially over the last 20 years, the income gap between rural and urban China has widened. (35) This has contributed to social tensions in rural areas and has become one of the major concerns for the government. While agriculture contributes almost one half to rural incomes, agricultural policy measures alone will have a very limited impact on rural incomes if they are not integrated with a wide range of other policies. In particular, the policy agenda has to include labor market reform to soften labor migration restrictions; education reform to provide the rural population with sufficient skills to compete on labor markets; fiscal policy reform combined with local administration reform to diminish the government-imposed burdens on rural households; and social policy reform to reduce the gap in access to social benefits between the rural and urban populations. China’s comprehensive reforms over the last 20 years have transformed its trade regime along with the economy as a whole. The reforms of the domestic economy have greatly increased the importance of market, rather than planning, in the allocation of resources. In fact, China has agreed to phase out restrictions on trading rights for most products. However, a small percentage of imports remains covered by the traditional monopoly trading system. Grain is a case in point. While such a system is allowed under GATT rules, there appears to be a strong case for, at minimum, reforming its operating procedures. It is because this system appears to involve the worst of both worldsthe poor information flows typical of command planning systems and the exploitation of market participants typically associated with poorly regulated markets. China realizes the importance of coordinating its domestic circulation system with the foreign trade system. Despite China’s commitment to distributing grain import quotas to private enterprises, the monopoly trading system will not allow it. Implemented in 1998, China’s domestic grain circulation system ensures the monopoly of the grain bureau by permitting no state-owned or private enterprises except the state grain bureau to purchase grain directly from farmers. If other enterprises can directly buy cheaper grain from the world market and sell at prices lower, the monopoly of the grain bureau will break down. Granting import quotas, thus, is not viable under the monopoly system to achieve the goal. For a broader distribution of import quotas, a reform of domestic circulation system is essential. That’s why, as mentioned in the first paragraph, China has started to progressively expand the scope of quota distribution to include private enterprises. Such a new move signifies an irreversible market reform of the country’s grain industry. As a member of the WTO, China controls over grain by the application of tariff rate quota. In accordance with Chinas promise on its entry into the WTO, during the transitional period, the tariff-rate quota for imported grains in 2004 will be no more than 22.15 billion kilograms; it is anticipated that the dependence on foreign trade will be 4.4 percent at most. During several years in the future, the annually average dependence on foreign trade in terms of grains will be 5 percent. (36) As the ratio of grain imports to total demand will expand to 10% or more by 2020, the amount of China’s grain import requirement will be about 60 million tons or more, significantly lower than 200 million tons suggested in the free trade scenario. (37) So with partial reliance, domestic grain prices would be higher than those of the world market, but lower than what would be if it adopted free grain trade. Although main grain exporters may prefer China to adopt grain trade policy than anything else, it is least likely to take effect. First, agricultural goods are far from being freely traded in the world. Even the United States, the largest exporter of agricultural goods, has a substantial level of government intervention when it comes to agriculture not to mention Canada. In this international framework, China can hardly go so far as to liberalize grain trade as a developing country. Second, free trade in grain does not constitute China’s national interest. China will not only exposed to the possible shock of price fluctuations in the world market, but also face the risk of serious rural unemployment, even in the absence of man-made attacks such as grain embargos. Third, other grain importers might not want China to adopt a free trade policy: The importing countries may object to the international pressure to open up their agricultural markets. Therefore it is understandable why Chinese government on the one hand let go of the old regime and progressively allows market force to take charge of its grain trade; on the other hand, however, it is still heavily involved by exerting powerful policy tools onto the market during the transition from planning-based regulations to free trade. As the world’s leading importer and exporter of grain, China has influenced the world grain market in many ways even with its long-held policy of grain self-sufficiency. As China now further liberalizes its grain trade, it will provide a larger market for grain exporters. There is no doubt that China, as the largest grain producer and consumer grain in the world, will become more powerful in affecting world food security. The question is how. China affects world food security through the price volatility it causes in the world market. There are two reasons for price volatility in the world market. First, almost every country, including China, imports to take advantage of the world market to stabilize its own domestic market. Almost no country relies solely on imports. Rather, countries vary the amount of grain imports according to the changes in their domestic grain prices. For this reason, the share of imports in the domestic market relative to domestic production is fairly small in most cases. Second, variations in the amount of imports in individual countries affect the world market prices since the world market is small relative to the total grain production. China swaps different varieties through the world market, and its enormous variations in import volumes usually affect world market prices. With China changing its trade policy and increasing its grain imports, the variations in China’s imports will be reduced substantially, mitigating the price volatility in the world grain market. Some researches pay attention to China’s grain imports and its impact on grain prices in the world market. Some researchers were alarmed by the prospect of China’s rising imports and its potential harmful effects on some of the poor grain importers. (38) However influential in policy-making, this view lacks credibility. Variation in China’s imports causes price shocks in the world grain market because suppliers can hardly anticipate the changes and adjust their production in time. If China relies more on grain imports, its import requirement will become more transparent and more predicable. Moreover, as mentioned earlier grain is an elastic commodity, main exporters will be able to expand their production to meet China’s increased import needs. Therefore, in the long-run the price of the world grain market will not soar even with China’s new grain policy. Besides direct economic benefits, the international community will also gain security benefits from China’s grain trade liberalization. China has been deeply involved in the global economy since the late 1970s as suggested by the amount of foreign trade in China. The twenty-year history of China’s integration into the international economy reveals that China has chosen to play under the current international rules along with the West, rather than to establish a new international framework that would challenge the existing rules. China has been involved with international organizations including the United Nations, the World Bank, the IMF and, eventually, the WTO. With deeper economic integration with the world market, the Chinese have realized the importance of interdependence and cooperation with other countries. Such a policy change will have important implication for China’s foreign policy. International and regional peace and stability will become a higher priority for China. When dealing with international affairs, China will be more cooperative with main grain exporting countries such as the United States. Consequently, the prospect of international cooperation will have positive consequences to certain extent for international security. Because grain is an important strategic good, a transition in grain trade policy will have important implications for China’s domestic and foreign policies. Because China is an indispensable player in the world grain market and a rising power in international affairs, China’s policy transition will also have major consequences for the international grain market and world security. Now, as it is liberalizing its grain trade, China requires smooth policy transition to bring a win-win situation to both China and the international community. If done successfully, both China and the international community will benefit from the policy change. Grain importers will gain a stable market for their product, a reduction in budget subsidies on agricultural goods, and a more predictable and reliable partner. China will be able to feed its people with lower costs and strengthen its international competitiveness. The policy transition, however, is dependent not only on China’s domestic circumstances but also on what the international community will do. In the international efforts to promote peaceful transition, the United States, Canada and Australiathe three major grain importers for Chinashould play a key role. Reference: 1.) china-embassy.org/eng/gyzg/t127570.htm 2.) http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-05/06/content_1454463.htm 3.) chinastudygroup.org/newsarchive/5603/ 4.) chinastudygroup.org/newsarchive/5941/ 5.) Cheng F. and Beghin J. C. (2003), â€Å"Protection and Comparative advantage of Chinese Agriculture: Implications for Regional and National Specialization†, in Scott D. Rozelle and Daniel A. Summer (eds.), Agricultural Trade and Policy in China, Ashgate Publishing Company. 6.) www.agecon.ucdavis.edu/facultypages/sumner/iatrc/chengfang.pdf 7.) www.usda.gov/oce/forum/ Archives/2004/speeches/wade0220.doc 8.) Cheng F. and Beghin J. C. (2003), â€Å"Protection and Comparative advantage of Chinese Agriculture: Implications for Regional and National Specialization†, in Scott D. Rozelle and Daniel A. Summer (eds.), Agricultural Trade and Policy in China, Ashgate Publishing Company. 9.) brookings.edu/fp/cnaps/papers/1999_long.htm 10.) Ke, Bingsheng (1998), â€Å"Grain Circulation and Market System Reform†, paper for Commemoration Seminar on the Twentieth Anniversary of China’s Rural Reform, Beijing, 1998. 11.) Johnson, D.G. (1999), â€Å"Agricultural adjustments in China: Problems and Prospects,† Office of Agricultural Economics Research, University of Chicago, Paper No. 96:03, August 10. 12.) Johnson D.G. (2003), â€Å"China’s Grain Trade: Some Policy Considerations†, in Scott D. Rozelle and Daniel A. Summer (eds.), Agricultural Trade and Policy in China, Ashgate Publishing Company. 13.) Crook, Frederick W. (1998), â€Å"Agricultural Policies in 1998: Stability and Change,† U. S. Department of Agriculture, China: Situation and Outlook Series, International Agriculture and Trade reports, Economic Research Service, WRS-98-3, pp. 9-10 14.) State Statistical Bureau (1998), China Statistical Yearbook 1998, Beijing: China Statistical Publishing House 15.) State Statistical Bureau (1998), China Statistical Yearbook 1998, Beijing: China Statistical Publishing House 16.) Kane P., (1988), Famine in China, 1959-61: Demographic and Social Implications, New York: St. Martins Press. 17.) eco.utexas.edu/Homepages/Faculty/Cleaver/357Lsum_s4_Paarlberg_FA80.html 18.) gatt.org/ 19.) www.ers.usda.gov/publications/wrs012/wrs012k.pdf 20.) www.econ.worldbank.org/files/2469_wps2689.pdf 21.) http://en.ce.cn/main/Insight/200409/06/t20040906_1728837.shtml 22.) card.iastate.edu/iowa_ag_review/fall_00/competitiveness.aspx 23.) Hertel, T., (1997), Global Trade Analysis: Modeling and Applications, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 24.) Hunag Jikun, (2003), â€Å"Trade Liberalization and China’s Food Economy in the 21st Century: Implication for China’s National Food Security†, in Scott D. Rozelle and Daniel A. Summer (eds.), Agricultural Trade and Policy in China, Ashgate Publishing Company. 25.) Naughton B., (2003), â€Å"China’s Trade Regime Entering a New Century†, in Scott D. Rozelle and Daniel A. Summer (eds.), Agricultural Trade and Policy in China, Ashgate Publishing Company. 26.) Naughton B., (2003), â€Å"China’s Trade Regime Entering a New Century†, in Scott D. Rozelle and Daniel A. Summer (eds.), Agricultural Trade and Policy in China, Ashgate Publishing Company. 27.) Hunag Jikun, (2003), â€Å"Trade Liberalization and China’s Food Economy in the 21st Century: Implication for China’s National Food Security†, in Scott D. Rozelle and Daniel A. Summer (eds.), Agricultural Trade and Policy in China, Ashgate Publishing Company. 28.) brookings.edu/fp/cnaps/papers/1999_long.htm 29.) brookings.edu/fp/cnaps/papers/1999_long.htm 30.) www.ers.usda.gov/publications/wrs012/wrs012l.pdf 31.) brookings.edu/fp/cnaps/papers/1999_long.htm 32.) agriculture.com/default.sph/agNotebook.class?FNC=ArticleList__Aarticle_html___8683___826 33.) Johnson, D.G. (1991), World Agriculture in Disarray, 2nd ed., London: Macmillan. 34.) Johnson D.G. (2003), â€Å"China’s Grain Trade: Some Policy Considerations†, in Scott D. Rozelle and Daniel A. Summer (eds.), Agricultural Trade and Policy in China, Ashgate Publishing Company. 35.) Johnson, D.G. (2000), Reducing the Urban-Rural Income Disparity in China, Office of Agricultural Economics Research, The University of Chicago, Paper: 00-06, mimeo. 36.) http://docsonline.wto.org/DDFDocuments/t/WT/ACC/CHN49.doc 37.) brookings.edu/fp/cnaps/papers/1999_long.htm 38.) Brown, Lester R., (1995), Who Will Feed China?: Wake-up Call for a small Planet, Norton Company Ltd. Research Papers on China's Reliance on The World Market - Economics EssayDefinition of Export QuotasAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanInfluences of Socio-Economic Status of Married MalesPETSTEL analysis of IndiaTwilight of the UAWMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductGenetic EngineeringNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NiceBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of Self

The Only Place

The Only Place The Only Place The Only Place By Mark Nichol In spoken English, even the most careful speaker may casually misplace the modifier only in a sentence, as in â€Å"The meeting will only be held if the ordinance passes.† The intended meaning here is that whether the ordinance passes determines whether the meeting is to be held. Literally, however, the sentence indicates that the holding is the only action that will pertain to the meeting if the ordinance passes. (The meeting will not be recorded or reported on, for example, but if the ordinance fails, perhaps these and other things will occur in relation to the meeting.) As the parenthesized sentence before this one demonstrates, the meaning is changed depending the positioning of only: In the original sentence, the meeting is not conditional on the passage of the ordinance, though that is exactly what the speaker or writer means. Therefore, to accurately convey the meaning of the sentence, the word only should appear immediately after the word, phrase, or clause it modifies. Because a speaker can provide stress to the sentence, a listener is unlikely to misunderstand it, but a writer has no such advantage. Ambiguity is not inevitable when misplacing the modifier in written expression, but the careful writer makes the effort to produce a sentence that is syntactically sound. Here is another sentence best expressed with only positioned correctly: â€Å"Are we certain that participants only reside in those neighborhoods?† The significant point appears to be that the participants reside in those places but do not have any other connection to them. The intended meaning, however, is that the â€Å"we† are uncertain whether the participants live only in the specified locations and not in other places. This meaning is best conveyed by writing, â€Å"Are we certain participants reside only in those neighborhoods?† Note the difference in meaning when inserting the modifier only in various positions in the sentence â€Å"Smith said he could only confirm that nine demonstrators were taken into custody.† 1. Only Smith said he could confirm that nine demonstrators were taken into custody. (No one else made the claim that Smith could confirm the information.) 2. Smith only said he could confirm that nine demonstrators were taken into custody. (Smith didn’t say anything else.) 3. Smith said only he could confirm that nine demonstrators were taken into custody. (According to Smith, he is the only one who could confirm the information.) 4. Smith said he only could confirm that nine demonstrators were taken into custody. (Smith could not do anything else but potentially confirm the information.) 5. Smith said he could only confirm that nine demonstrators were taken into custody. (Smith could confirm the information but do nothing else about or to it.) 6. Smith said he could confirm only that nine demonstrators were taken into custody. (Smith could confirm nothing else but the information he provided.) 7. Smith said he could confirm that only nine demonstrators were taken into custody. (Smith was able to specify that nine demonstrators, not another quantity, were arrested, with the implication that other demonstrators were not arrested.) 8. Smith said he could confirm that nine only demonstrators were taken into custody. (This sentence seems to indicate, albeit ungrammatically, that the people arrested were only demonstrators and had no other occupation or pastime.) 9. Smith said he could confirm that nine demonstrators only were taken into custody. (The number of demonstrators arrested was only nine; unlike version number 7, this sentence does not necessarily imply additional demonstrators.) 10. Smith said he could confirm that nine demonstrators were only taken into custody. (The demonstrators were taken into custody, but nothing else pertaining to custody occurred to them.) 11. Smith said he could confirm that nine demonstrators were taken only into custody. (The demonstrators were not taken anywhere except into custody.) 12. Smith said he could confirm that nine demonstrators were taken into only custody. (The demonstrators were taken into a type of custody known as â€Å"only custody†; like version number 8, this sentence is not grammatically correct.) 13. Smith said he could confirm that nine demonstrators were taken into custody only. (Nothing else was done to the demonstrators besides taking them into custody.) The usual placement error for this type of sentence is â€Å"Smith said he could only confirm that nine demonstrators were taken into custody,† where only erroneously precedes the pertinent verb, suggesting that confirmation is all that could be done. However, the point that the stated item of information, and only that item, could be confirmed is correctly stated thus: â€Å"Smith said he could confirm only that nine demonstrators were taken into custody.† (Therefore, version 6 above is the only version suitable to express the intended meaning.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:How Many Tenses in English?20 Words Meaning "Being or Existing in the Past"Adverbs and Hyphens

Free Essays on Gullivers Travels

In the fictitous work of Johnathan Swift in Gulliver’s Travel, here he describes and imitates the lives of very different beings. We come to know and experience the lives of the Houyhnhnms, the Yahoos, Human Beings in the European world, and Gulliver. The way each being lives is uniquely different and yet similar to each other in a way. For the Houyhnhnms in their country is similar the Humans in Europe. Yet at the same time, the Humans are similar the Yahoos. Gulliver, in all circumstances, plays a part of all the beings from his ways and behaviors of his past to his ways and behaviors of his present situation. The Houyhnhnms are seen by Gulliver to be the utmost, perfect society of creatures in a beautiful world. The perfect society according to Gulliver. These Houyhnhnms live a world where there is nothing but honesty and nothing can be false. The Houyhnhnms live in a world where there is no lying, cheating, stealing, greed, or hostility among each other. This place is a perfect world where there is harmony. The Houyhnhnms place is where reason is the backbone of everything. For if you live by reason and go by reason, then how cans anything is judged or wrong. Where everything is not questioned and everyone goes along with what is ordered, for instance his or her hierarchy of classes. Where the white, sorrel, and gray coat Houyhnhnms are to be â€Å"naturally† inferior of the bay, black, and dapple-gray coat Houyhnhnms. Yet with all this, these Houyhnhnms are losing something that Humans have. They miss out entirely of the conditions of emotions which the Houyhnhnms have n one. Also, that no one can actually have a mind of their own, even though they are to be so intellectual. No Houyhnhnms can have an opinion or say that they hate being a servant and want more out of life or want to succeed. The Houyhnhnms society may have seen as the perfect world, but the inhabitors of this world are missing out on things, whic... Free Essays on Gulliver's Travels Free Essays on Gulliver's Travels In the fictitous work of Johnathan Swift in Gulliver’s Travel, here he describes and imitates the lives of very different beings. We come to know and experience the lives of the Houyhnhnms, the Yahoos, Human Beings in the European world, and Gulliver. The way each being lives is uniquely different and yet similar to each other in a way. For the Houyhnhnms in their country is similar the Humans in Europe. Yet at the same time, the Humans are similar the Yahoos. Gulliver, in all circumstances, plays a part of all the beings from his ways and behaviors of his past to his ways and behaviors of his present situation. The Houyhnhnms are seen by Gulliver to be the utmost, perfect society of creatures in a beautiful world. The perfect society according to Gulliver. These Houyhnhnms live a world where there is nothing but honesty and nothing can be false. The Houyhnhnms live in a world where there is no lying, cheating, stealing, greed, or hostility among each other. This place is a perfect world where there is harmony. The Houyhnhnms place is where reason is the backbone of everything. For if you live by reason and go by reason, then how cans anything is judged or wrong. Where everything is not questioned and everyone goes along with what is ordered, for instance his or her hierarchy of classes. Where the white, sorrel, and gray coat Houyhnhnms are to be â€Å"naturally† inferior of the bay, black, and dapple-gray coat Houyhnhnms. Yet with all this, these Houyhnhnms are losing something that Humans have. They miss out entirely of the conditions of emotions which the Houyhnhnms have n one. Also, that no one can actually have a mind of their own, even though they are to be so intellectual. No Houyhnhnms can have an opinion or say that they hate being a servant and want more out of life or want to succeed. The Houyhnhnms society may have seen as the perfect world, but the inhabitors of this world are missing out on things, whic...

StrategicManagement Analysis of The Package Holiday Company Thomas Assignment

StrategicManagement Analysis of The Package Holiday Company Thomas Cook - Assignment Example Thomas Cook is an international operator of tours. The company stands out because of the participation of vacationers and tourists in order to ensure the vision of the company â€Å"The Whole World of Travel†. A publicist of English origin named Thomas Cook commenced the business operations back in the year 1841. The company accomplished growth at a quite higher rate in the industry of tourism through continued strategies of business. Strategies of group tourism and package tours are implemented by the company to make certain soaring share in the market and growth. The company with employee strength of 23,300 and sales of â‚ ¬7.7 billion is counted in the best three companies of travel services all over the globe and is the second best travel company in Europe (SAP, n.d.). The growth of the industry of package holiday has been quite rapid. The earlier decade has given immense chance to a lot of people to visit, travel and avail holidays at such places that were formerly accessible only by the privileged and affluent. The industry of package holiday has become an industry of multi-million pound that is operated by handful big players and numerous smaller ones. The holiday packages are structured by ‘tour operators’ who ‘bundle together’ the assorted elements of a holiday into a ‘package’. The packages are available directly as well as through travel agents as well. The industry can be aptly expressed as oligopolistic meaning ‘competition among the few. ... The industry can be aptly expressed as oligopolistic meaning ‘competition among the few’ (High Beam Research, 2011). There are essentially four companies in the industry of package holiday in the UK that carry over a million people every year (High Beam Research, 2011). The segmentation of the package holiday industry of the UK is shown in the model below: Category %Population Groups Wealthy Achievers 25.1 1. Wealthy Executives 2. Affluent Greys 3. Flourishing Families Urban Prosperity 10.7 1. Prosperous Professionals 2. Educated Urbanites 3. Aspiring Singles Comfortably Off 26.6 1. Starting Out 2. Secure Families 3. Settled Suburbia 4. Prudent Pensioners Moderate Means 14.5 1. Asian Communities 2. Post Industrial Families 3. Blue Collar Roots Hard Pressed 22.4 1. Struggling Families 2. Burdened Singles 3. High Rise Hardship 4. Inner City Adversity Source: (Williams, 2008) The reason behind choosing the company Thomas Cook is its international popularity. 2. Task A 2.1 P ESTEL Analysis Political Severe laws of immigration and tight security as an outcome of terror attacks If few of the destinations are kept off-limits by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, then the people visiting there will be refused insurance by the travel insurers Political instability affects package holidays Policies of taxation on tourism imposed by other countries affect the industry of package holiday (Scribd, n.d.) Economical A critical role is played by the exchange rates in the trade of package holiday. Greater stability in the exchange rates would have a constructive impact on the package holidays Globalisation has a good impact on package holiday as more companies are entering new markets Recession affects the industry of package holiday

Information technology and society Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Information technology and society - Assignment Example The society needs to care more on this issue because; through education people promote their social status and it also influences the way of life of individuals. Besides this, education provides access to such items as employment opportunities and thus improves the way of living of people. It is an important issue to focus on because knowledge gained through education can be applied in various fields such as health, information technology and in technical skills (Petersen, 2002). The application of information technology in the education is important so as to obtain current knowledge and improve access to many people across the globe. The name of the database is African Journals Online (AJOL) which provides access to African scholarly research online and is a non-profit making organization based in South Africa. The publisher that maintains this database is the International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publication (INASP) supported by Google. The staffs in AJOL maintains this database using digitalized full texts and capable software such as Linux as an operating system, Apache and PHP for scripting. The database is freely accessible and provides a user front-end where those using can browse and access the contents of the database online. It also has an administrative end where the staff, journal publishers and editors can log in and manage the contents of the database. In March 2004, AJOL re-launched a data system that was more sophisticated to increase the functionality of site and to ensure compatibility. This included the indexing of all journal content listed with AJOL through Open Archives Initiative, OAI search engines. Basically, information and knowledge products that are indexed include journals article so as to make them available to a greater audience and increase their visibility among the research community. An option for limiting

Company risk management analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Company risk management analysis - Assignment Example A year later in 1988 Vodafone was listed on the stock exchange. After three years in 1991, Vodafone separated from Racal Electronics and since that time, it was quoted as Vodafone in the stock exchange. In 1999, Vodafone merged with AirTouch Communication producing one company known as Vodafone Airtouch plc. The dawn of the twenty-first century saw greater developments for Vodafone Plc as it introduced Vodafone Live! in 2002 and went on to commercially launch its 3G services in Europe. A year later in 2005 the company launched a fixed mobile convergence product in Germany called Zuhause and acquired controlling interests on Hutchison Essar Limited in India. Since 2007, the company has been involved in a number of acquisitions and partnerships in Europe, Asia and Africa. Currently, Vodafone holds a market leadership position as the largest mobile carrier in terms of subscriber base. Vodafone’s Business Model Business models are very important for the existence of every business enterprise (Casadesus-Masanell, Ramon, and Ricart 2011). Models give a business a sense of direction and purpose (Chesbrough 2010) and basically define what the business is all about, what it seeks to achieve and the steps it will take to achieve the outcomes (Osterwalder and Pigneur 2010). The business model of Vodafone Plc is quite simple; it consists of five steps with the shareholder in between. The first element in the model consists of Assets; these include networks, supplier relationships, distribution, people, and brand (Vodafone 2013). Vodafone aims to have a great mobile network in all of the markets in which it operates. This mainly involves providing their customers with far-reaching coverage, reliable mobile connections, and increasing speeds and data capacity. Figure 1: Vodafone’s Business Model (Source: Vodafone 2013) Vodafone plc indicates in its annual report (2013) that it combines ongoing high level of network investment with a commitment to securing the b est possible portfolio of the spectrum. The next asset for Vodafone is people; the company has a highly skilled, motivated and diverse workforce. Vodafone expects its employees to be key in advocating for its products and services. Distribution is the other asset owned by Vodafone; the company reaches its customers through the over 15 thousand stores it owns as well as through a broad network of exclusive distribution partners and third-party retailers. According to Vodafone (2013), the Internet is becoming an increasingly important channel for distribution. The fourth item is the brand; Vodafone is ranked as one of the first most valuable telecoms brands in the world being worth over US$27 billion. This brand strength is one of the major drivers of purchasing decisions for consumers and enterprise customers. The final asset listed by Vodafone is its supplier relationships, the company has a large-scale global reach and is a key strategic partner with a large number of suppliers wit h whom it works together to develop innovative services and offer many new innovations. The next element in Vodafone’s business model is it its customers. According to Vodafone (2013), the company boasts over 404 million customers globally making it one of the biggest mobile operators in the world. The ranges of its customer

Sustainable Architecture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sustainable Architecture - Essay Example Engineered structural materials is defined as "recycled/reconstituted wood materials that employ laminated wood chips or strands and finger jointing (the gluing of larger pieces together)" (Sustainable Building Sourcebook, 2006). The materials that formulate the structured materials fall under the category of engineered wood and as such it means that the "tolerances in stability, consistency, straightness and strength are more precise then dimensional lumber, making the products easier to work with. In joist and rafter applications, the reconstituted products are particularly useful for long spans without bowing or lateral movement" (Sustainable Building Sourcebook, 2006). When making these building materials look to drastically minimise the amount of waste that is created in processing the raw materials as waste wood and entire trees, regardless of their size, age or species can be utilised in making these products. "Finger jointed studs reduce waste in two ways. Short pieces that normally would be unusable are combined rather than disposed and the engineered quality of finger jointed materials eliminate warping or cracking. The strength of the joints in good quality material is such that the solid wood portions will be more likely to break than the adhered finger joint" (Sustainable Building Sourcebook, 2006). The following graph outline both satisfactory and unsatisfactory or difficult in various circumstances of recycled/reconstituted wood and explain the ease of both finding satisfactory results in finding the technology and costs relatively low. There is also the issue of both finding the financing in engaging in implementing the recycled/ reconstituted wood along with much more public acceptance as the public continues to be interested in companies that engage in sustainable material practices. Figure 1 Commercial Status Implementation Issues Recycled/Reconstituted Wood Legend Satisfactory Satisfactory in most conditions Satisfactory in Limited Conditions Unsatisfactory or Difficult When looking toward sustainable materials in the construction industry it is important to start with forestry management. There are many companies that look toward accomplishing sustainable building product development by first looking toward how to better utilise the forest itself. Hunt and Winandy (2002) write about how 3D engineered fibreboard as "an economically viable process to produce three-dimensional structural fibreboard products that can utilise a wide range of lignocellulosic fibres contained in the forest undergrowth and in underutilised timber. This will encourage the public and private sector to undertake thinning or clearing of these components from the forest thereby reducing or removing dangerous fuels and minimising costs to the federal government for fire mitigation" (106). Hunt and Winandy's (2002) proposed product "consists of a structural material which can be made from a wide range of little or no-value

Manufacturer Brief Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Manufacturer Brief - Case Study Example Number of employees: According to the data as at 2013, the company has an approximate of 2,000 employees. The number of employees has been increasing for the last five years an indication that the company is growing. Annual revenue: The Company’s annual revenue is approximated to be $150 million. According to the world’s statistic, the company’s revenue has been increasing with 2 per cent for the last seven years. Recent news release: The Company introduced four digital TLM 103D microphones for vocal applications building. The microphones have a little self-generated noise. They also have a clear sound transmission that is clearly heard at a distance. The Company’s interaction with its clients: The Company has an active interaction with its customers. Through the company’s website, clients can submit their proposals and complaints. More so, the company has created a page in social media like Facebook. The created page enables the company to market itself and also to receive customers’ opinions. It has helped the Company produce microphones that meet the customers’ tastes and

Educational benefits of Television on Children Essay

Educational benefits of Television on Children - Essay Example However, despite this distinction, the American Pediatric Association has nevertheless discouraged television viewing by pre-school children for more than two hours a day, and has recommended no television at all for children below two years of age. This research seeks to determine the beneficial effects of educational television programs for infants, toddlers, and young children of pre-school age, and to understand the factors that positively contribute to these benefits. Introduction Television is the most influential of the popular media (Schneider & Fisch, 2001:29). Television has the power to engage people through its entertaining programming, and has proven a powerful tool to inform, influence, and educate. This had led Boyer (1991:140) to comment: â€Å"Television, next to parents, is the child’s most influential teacher.† The problem for many is that this works both ways: considerable data proves that televisions can exert both positive and negative influence on children. There has been tremendous research that has gone to proving that television is capable of programming children to consumerism, violence and sex. Many of the ill effects of TV viewing on children are unintentional offshoots of programs intended to entertain a wider segment of the viewing audience, targeting particularly adults. However, there is a narrower market segment which intentionally focuses on commercial broadcasting for the purpose of educating young children. The most successful of these programs is Sesame Street, begun more than 30 years ago by Joan Ganz Cooney, which had been adopted in many countries worldwide. Numerous research studies have shown that children of preschool age have significantly benefitted from exposure to Sesame Street, and these beneficial effects have endured over several years (Fish & Truglio, 2000, in Schneider & Fisch, 2001). Other successful shows produced by Children’s Television Workshop (CTW), the producers of Sesame Street, are 3-2-1 Contact, Square One TV, and Cro. Other producers have created Bill Nye, the Science Guy; Beakman’s World; and Magic School Bus (Schneider & Fisch, 2001:30). Reservations about the educational benefits for toddlers Most academic studies conducted on children targeted the 3-to-5-year-old age group, thus the educational effect of television on this age group is well documented. Very few studies have been made, however, on the below-3-year-old audience routinely exposed to educational television. Among TV shows dedicated to the 0-to-3-year-old age group are Sesame Street and Teletubbies, and the videos Baby Einstein and Baby Bach. The lack of conclusive data has spawned a debate about whether toddlers are even cognitively prepared to understand and learn from educational programs aired on television (or video recordings). According to Fisch (2004:45), the lack of readiness of toddlers to comprehend TV programs is supported by the recommendation by the American Academy o f Pediatrics (AAP) for television shows to be completely avoided for children below 2 years old.

Sustainable Architecture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sustainable Architecture - Essay Example Engineered structural materials is defined as "recycled/reconstituted wood materials that employ laminated wood chips or strands and finger jointing (the gluing of larger pieces together)" (Sustainable Building Sourcebook, 2006). The materials that formulate the structured materials fall under the category of engineered wood and as such it means that the "tolerances in stability, consistency, straightness and strength are more precise then dimensional lumber, making the products easier to work with. In joist and rafter applications, the reconstituted products are particularly useful for long spans without bowing or lateral movement" (Sustainable Building Sourcebook, 2006). When making these building materials look to drastically minimise the amount of waste that is created in processing the raw materials as waste wood and entire trees, regardless of their size, age or species can be utilised in making these products. "Finger jointed studs reduce waste in two ways. Short pieces that normally would be unusable are combined rather than disposed and the engineered quality of finger jointed materials eliminate warping or cracking. The strength of the joints in good quality material is such that the solid wood portions will be more likely to break than the adhered finger joint" (Sustainable Building Sourcebook, 2006). The following graph outline both satisfactory and unsatisfactory or difficult in various circumstances of recycled/reconstituted wood and explain the ease of both finding satisfactory results in finding the technology and costs relatively low. There is also the issue of both finding the financing in engaging in implementing the recycled/ reconstituted wood along with much more public acceptance as the public continues to be interested in companies that engage in sustainable material practices. Figure 1 Commercial Status Implementation Issues Recycled/Reconstituted Wood Legend Satisfactory Satisfactory in most conditions Satisfactory in Limited Conditions Unsatisfactory or Difficult When looking toward sustainable materials in the construction industry it is important to start with forestry management. There are many companies that look toward accomplishing sustainable building product development by first looking toward how to better utilise the forest itself. Hunt and Winandy (2002) write about how 3D engineered fibreboard as "an economically viable process to produce three-dimensional structural fibreboard products that can utilise a wide range of lignocellulosic fibres contained in the forest undergrowth and in underutilised timber. This will encourage the public and private sector to undertake thinning or clearing of these components from the forest thereby reducing or removing dangerous fuels and minimising costs to the federal government for fire mitigation" (106). Hunt and Winandy's (2002) proposed product "consists of a structural material which can be made from a wide range of little or no-value