Additive Layer Manufacturing for Aerospace Parts Essay

ES Technology has revealed that additive layer manufacturing (ALM) for direct part production has been embraced by a number of manufacturing sectors, not least the aerospace industry The ability to produce components in a range of materials including hot-work steels, stainless steel, cobalt chromes and Inconel, plus titanium and aluminium alloys, presents the aerospace industry with large potential for direct part production using ALM. ALM has already been used to produce small and medium-sized aerospace components, and having realised the potential of the process, aerospace manufacturers are seeking to produce larger, more complex parts. Material Solutions operates an ALM applications development centre with a particular focus on the aerospace sector. Carl Brancher of Material Solutions, said: ‘ALM in high-performance materials is well suited for complex thin-walled structures in gas turbines. ‘However, as a new technology it is not yet well understood or validated by potential users and, like all manufacturing processes, to get the best from metal ALM requires the designer to understand the process capabilities and materials’ mechanical properties,’ he added. Brancher said Materials Solutions is bridging this gap by providing manufactured parts, consulting (principally to the aerospace market), and working with equipment and materials vendors to develop the technology for mass production. See more:Â  Masters of Satire: John Dryden and Jonathan Swift Essay The collaboration between Material Solutions and its industry clients has so far led to the production of a range of components over the last three years. This programme has now reached the limit of component size that can be produced using the existing Material Solutions ALM systems. With the continuing pressure from aerospace manufacturers to develop the capability to produce larger parts, Material Solutions turned to Concept Laser to explore the potential for building larger components using Concept Laser’s M3 linear system. The fundamental principles of the M3 linear make it a novel development in the world of ALM. Unlike other machines the M3 linear does not have fixed optics but a combination of galvo scanning mirrors and linear direct drives to move the scanning head. Already used to build larger volume components, the M3 linear has all of the pre-requisites for up-scaling to enable production of the types of components envisaged by the aerospace industry. It is not only the physical attributes of the system that lend themselves to production of large components but the process control and laser scanning strategy already developed by Concept Laser, which will eliminate the potential pitfalls of accuracy errors on large components. Having established the potential of the M3 linear machine, Material Solutions set out to design a test component that would qualify certain build criteria and which could also be used to educate and inform aerospace designers of ‘Additive Friendly’ design features and techniques. These include reducing supports and using larger flowing radii to assist in reducing the time to build and subsequently, component production and finishing costs. The test part incorporates many features such as small diameter holes, threaded features, thin rib sections and areas of thick material section all typically found in aerospace components. The greatest challenges for Concept Laser were that a component of this size had never before been built and added to this the part was required in an unexpectedly short timescale. The finished component demonstrates the current capabilities of the technology in terms of size (300mm diameter), accuracy and surface finish. While this part does not yet satisfy the ultimate demands of aerospace manufacturers it clearly confirms the capabilities of the process, the scalable potential of Concept Laser’s M3 linear machine and the sound base which Concept Laser have for further development of the M3 linear for large aerospace components. There are also practical aspects to be considered when building large parts. Larger volume components require greater volumes of powder and hence a robust and stable platform to accommodate the weight. Having then built a large volume, and potentially very heavy component, safe and easy removal is essential. The M3 linear machine is built around a substantial fabricated framework and already incorporates a removable build module enabling the module and component to be easily positioned under an overhead crane if required. The success of this exercise and the current collaboration between Material Solutions and Concept Laser will be used to define the future strategies that will eventually see parts manufactured by ALM techniques leave the laboratory and take to the air.

Impairing Behavior Disorder

Each year, the U. S. Department of Education reports the percentage of school aged children receiving special education for learning disabilities in public schools. Impairing behavior disorders occur in approximately 3%-5% of school aged children. Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is one common disability in students. ADD is a neurological disorder that causes inattentiveness and impulsiveness. Inattentiveness means not concentrating or paying attention. Incomplete assignments the child brings home and the appearance of their papers is a good indicator that they rushed through the work without regard for quality (Umansky, Smalley, 1994).Inattentive students often seem to be paying attention as they sit quietly and stare directly at the instructor. Yet, during this time, their thoughts have drifted off from around them. Impulsiveness is acting without thinking (Peacock, 2002). Rapid decisions made without reflecting on the consequences. A child will act quickly on an idea that comes to mind without considering that they were in the middle of doing something else that should be finished first (Barkley, 2005). Behavioral areas include the ways teachers and children cope and react.These reactions can be divided into flexible reactions, which do not include any thought processes about consequences, and consequential responses, which include some processing before action. It is rare to find school professionals these days who have not heard of Attention Deficit Disorder. Fortunately, there are larger numbers of teachers who are willing to listen to the concerns and make accommodations for children with ADD. Informal outline speaker will use to speak from. I. Inattentiveness means not concentrating or paying attention.A. Rapid decisions B. Act quickly C. Thought processes D. No consequences II. Impulsiveness is acting without thinking A. Not Thinking B. Never finish C. Processing D. Flexible reactions The above is how your informal outline will look. This is the docume nt you will speak from. This document must be typed. No typing is required if using an index card. However, you must speak from an informal outline. Remember, the informal outline main points are complete sentences and sub points are key words and phrases.

Applications of seven habits by Steven Covey Essay Example for Free

Applications of seven habits by Steven Covey Essay This classic best seller for management, organisations and personal development encapsulates Steven Covey’s research on 200 years of success literature since his doctoral program. It is perhaps the most influential book for managers and organizations to learn the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, as the title suggest. It begins with the concept that people perceive the world differently, and we form our own paradigm – how we view the world with our own unique â€Å"lens†. Covey explains that paradigms are the source of our attitudes and behaviours. Part of achieving insight involves making a â€Å"paradigm shift† which causes us to perceive things differently. Our paradigms will affect how we interact with others, which in turn will affect how they interact with us. Covey argues that any effective self-help program must begin with an â€Å"inside-out† approach, rather than looking at our problems as â€Å"being out there† (an inside-out approach). We must start by examining our own character, paradigms, and motives. Hence, character and principles are keys to success, effectiveness, and happiness in life. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People points out: â€Å"Principles are guidelines for human conduct that are proven to have enduring, permanent value.† The seven habits divided into two main groups: private victory (independence) and public victory (interdependence). Habits of Independence: Habit 1: Be Proactive We must use our resourcefulness to work toward our personal goals. Everyone has both a circle of influence and a circle of concern. Worrying endlessly about things outside of our circle of influence isn’t particularly productive. Working within our circle of influence is productive. Further, the more effective we become, the more our circle of influence will expand. Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind What do we want people to say about us at our funerals? How will we be remembered? To succeed, Cov ey suggests visualization. Every successful outcome is created twice; first one plan and second on implementation. Habit 3: Put First Things First The key to putting first things first is to understand that we have many things we can do which will have a significant, positive impact on our lives. Covey stresses that we must balance Production (P) with Productive Capability (PC). We must keep the golden eggs, but also maintain goose. Prioritization is the essence of time management. Interdependence The remaining habits in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People are habits of interdependence. Rather than being dependent upon other people, or trying to be totally independent, we learn how to be more effective by effectively working with others. Habit 4: Think Win/Win Thinking Win/Win means seeking mutual benefit in our human interactions. To be successful in the long run, we should learn to consider other’s win factors besides our own. Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, then to be Understood Most people talk more than they listen. Until we listen actively and seek to understand others, we would not be understood. Active listening is about sensing the three modes of communications, i.e. visual, vocal and verbal. Habit 6: Synergize It means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Combining the strengths of each individual yields multiple outcome beyond expectations, simply ‘1+1>2’. Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw Just as a machine will wear out quickly if not properly maintained, the same is true for our own personal productivity. We must take care of ourselves. The four dimensions are physical, mental, social/emotional and spiritual renewals. To me, the first concept on paradigm is profound. I agree that when we change our perspectives, our attitudes and behaviours will change. To achieve enrichment in life, we need to understand our own paradigm, crystalize and anchor our principles. I have adopted these principles and find peace in self-awareness, social relationship and professional communications. Covey has successfully synthesised the successful habits of leaders, crystallised and organized them into two progressive segments. In line with child development from birth through death, one indeed grows from dependence to independence in early childhoo d to adolescence. We then mature to adults, where we progress from independence to interdependence. The seven habits are indeed proven to be critical for any individual to attain private and public victories. Hence it is no surprise that whenever I business leaders within my network on which are some books they would read to enrich their management knowledge, this book is voted as the most influential book that changed their lives. I have personally adopted these habits in my personal and professional communications and testify their effectiveness. I have sharpened my strengths in strategic thinking and leadership by adopting the habits of ‘Begin with the end in mind’ and ‘Synergize’. For instance at the Polytechnic, I mooted the idea of Young GEMS(Go-the-Extra-Miles-for-Service) camp for upper secondary school students to build our prospects for future enrolment. Upon approval from management for the Young GEMS camp, I formed a program team and successfully lead it to implement the camp through skilful synergy of the individual’s competence. This book has provided comprehensive coverage on the why and how of each habit. The only gap I see is that the context are US-based. It would be better if there is an Asian version with case studies of local enterprises and leaders, for the benefit of Asian readers. For instance, unlike Americans, Asians are generally weak in questioning skills to ‘seek to understand’ others. It would be helpful if there are some recommended strategies in questioning to gain insights of other’s perspectives. Also, Asians tends to individual and less apt to working in teams, particularly in appreciating individual strengths, expressing diversified opinions openly. Asian case studies on ‘Win-win’ and ‘Synergize’ would certainly be helpful. There is no doubt that all seven habits are pivotal in today’s managers and organisations. I personally have benefited as an account manager in Hewlett-Packard Singapore Sales when I was sponsored to attend the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People one-week course. It has significantly increased my self-awareness, strategic thinking skills, time-management skills and revolutionizes my perspectives in life. I can testify that the Habits are practical prescriptions for building trustworthy and lasting relationships, hence empowering managers to be effective leaders who could develop the most conducive working environment that attracts and retains like-minded talents for the good of society. Applications of seven habits by Steven Covey. (2016, Aug 05).

The economy today Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The economy today - Essay Example In a closed economy, if the government raises its budget deficit in the short run, both prices and GDP will rise. In the new equilibrium the real income is unchanged but the nominal is higher. The demand for money, then, increases. This means that with a fixed money supply the interest rate will rise so reducing the investment. Thus, the new equilibrium has lower investment demand and lower national savings. This is known as the crowding-out effect. In the case of a large recessionary gap the crowding out effect is much less important because with the rise of GDP determined by the government the volume of private savings will increase and will finance the deficit. By reducing private investment, the crowding out effect implies that the stock of capital to pass on to the future generation will be smaller and smaller will be the output as well. This is the long-term burden of the debt. If government spending crowds out private investment and reduces the wealth of a country, deficits ar e not eliminated or reduced because of short term stabilization policy that reduces the deficit involving real costs today, in higher taxes and lower government services, in exchange for benefits in the future. Such exchange does not appeal to everyone. However, there is little evidence to back up the idea of government borrowing "crowds out" private borrowing and thus reduces private investment and increases interest rates. ... In the new equilibrium the real income is unchanged but the nominal is higher. The demand for money, then, increases. This means that with a fixed money supply the interest rate will rise so reducing the investment. Thus, the new equilibrium has lower investment demand and lower national savings. This is known as the crowding-out effect. In the case of a large recessionary gap the crowding out effect is much less important because with the rise of GDP determined by the government the volume of private savings will increase and will finance the deficit. By reducing private investment, the crowding out effect implies that the stock of capital to pass on to the future generation will be smaller and smaller will be the output as well. This is the long-term burden of the debt. If government spending crowds out private investment and reduces the wealth of a country, deficits are not eliminated or reduced because of short term stabilization policy that reduces the deficit involving real costs today, in higher taxes and lower government services, in exchange for benefits in the future. Such exchange does not appeal to everyone. However, there is little evidence to back up the idea of government borrowing "crowds out" private borrowing and thus reduces private investment and increases interest rates. This has not been the eff ect in Japan, and cannot be shown to be the effect of deficits in the United States. Private savings and investment are reduced by government expenditures--regardless of whether they are financed by government borrowing or by taxation. Either way the private individual is left with less money, and ultimately with fewer resources. The attempt to replace

Examine the new policies proposed to solve the financial and sovereign Essay

Examine the new policies proposed to solve the financial and sovereign debt crisis in Europe. Your report should include a brief - Essay Example Understanding complex economic relationship in layman’s view point will be the crux of this essay. In the third part, the study will analyze proposed solution for resolving sovereign debt crisis in terms of advantages and disadvantages for countries with high credit ratings. In the last section, the essay will summarize the personal view of the researcher on sovereign debt crisis. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Sovereign Debt Crisis 4 Banking System and Sovereign Debt Crisis 5 Analysis of Proposed Solution for Solving Sovereign Debt Crisis 9 Reference 11 Appendices 13 Introduction The essay will try to shed some light on new policies which are being proposed to solve the financial and sovereign debt crisis in Europe. The essay will try to analyze these policies in terms of their capability of resolving sovereign debt crisis. Aim of this report to analyze real underlying problems related to sovereign debt crisis. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2011) has reported that European banking sector failure and sovereign debt crisis is correlated; hence the study has the scope to analyze issues related to sovereign debt crisis on the ground of banking sector failure in Europe. Sovereign Debt Crisis Research scholars such as Barr (2010) have stated that sovereign debt crisis started during 2009 in Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain or PIIGS economies. Boyes (2009) and Gross (2009) have stated that fiscal deficit of PIIGS economies was increased during 2009 as a result of sovereign debt crisis. Papadimas and Graham (2010) have stated that sovereign debt crisis was triggered due to high borrowing costs for Euro zone countries. Lynn (2010) has defined sovereign debt crisis as financial crisis which created problems for some European countries to re-finance or repay government debt without taking support from third party. Generally, economic performance of European countries is determined by their ability to settle their external debt obligation, level of fiscal deficit of a country is determined by country’s sovereign debt default risk (Pescartori and Sy, 2004). In such situation, if a country fails to repay external borrowings from international market with the help of issuance of bonds then economic growth of that country is bound to get hampered. Banking System and Sovereign Debt Crisis Regulation Economists have stated that European banks underpriced the risks which have contributed significantly to sovereign debt crisis. Risk-weighted asset optimisation of banks nullified the significance of Tier 1 ratio which is amended by Basel rules. Prior to sovereign debt crisis, banks were allowed to use internal derivatives to decrease risk associated with assets but unfortunately majority of European banks failed control leverage risks which was associated with rise of funding problems. In Europe, many of the banks tried to form capital market banking system in order to decrease risk asso ciated with high leverage ratio (Mody (2009); Gerlach et al (2010); Goldman Sachs Global Economics, 2010; and CGFS-BIS,2011). For example, investors went for short and long credit in capital market which increased risk for banks. Lack of efficient regulatory framework not only increased risks for banks but leveraged risk for investors also. Multilayer Relation Mouchakkaa (2012), who is Executive Director of Morgan Stanley Investment Management, has pointed out that â€Å"

Postmodernism in animation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Postmodernism in animation - Research Paper Example Baudrillard and Frederic Jameson to popular animation series such as Beavis and Butt-head, Drawn Together and Harvey Birdman that aimed to target adult audiences with their content and themes. The first part of the paper intends to explore the specific theories presented by commentators on postmodernism, in order to apply the elements of the concepts with regards to the animated television series under discussion thereby concluding that aspects of postmodernism and its cultural components are visible in the animated representations of popular culture. Lyotard’s description and assessment of the world, in his essay titled â€Å"The Postmodern Condition† puts forward the limitations of believing in the positivity associated with a social and cultural agreement, thereby, postulating that postmodernism should in fact strive to work against the foundations of this widespread consensus which is an unattainable or utopian state due to the aspects related to the emergence and progress of popular culture which preaches plurality rather than singularity, this assertion led to the development of the concept of metanarratives and recognized the need to promote knowledge that is held by the general population rather than what is advocated by dominant cultural and political forces through the means of Grand narratives (til B.A-prà ³fs and Bjà ¶rnsson 2006). However, for Baudrillard (1994) the notions of postmodernism are associated with the representation of what he terms as hyperreality, such that in the society of today symbols or signs are no longer associable to their existence in reality but due to the emergence of a simulacrum can be traced to the subsistence of other elements. Perhaps, the most viable link of Baudrillard’s theory of hyperreality can be traced to the projections of media such as film and television which create the hyperreality and then propogate it (til B.A-prà ³fs and Bjà ¶rnsson 2006). With its comprehensions of society and culture, postmodernism has

Able Corporation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Able Corporation - Essay Example Strategy choice and implementation are the primary determinants of strategy success. The analysis of strategy performance over time provides important diagnostic inputs into the development of strategy choice concepts. The early discussion highlights the importance of matching the strategy choice with the conditions of the environment and the organization's skills and resources. The long-term importance of selecting a sound initial strategy has research support. In order to define the identity of Able Corporation, it is important to take into account the nature of business and market strategies. Research suggests marketing strategy should be conceptualized and investigated within the context of the organizational mission. Most marketing strategy frameworks address the role of organizational mission but few empirical investigations actually take mission into account. Perception of market needs does not mean that an opportunity exists for any particular company (Fill, 1999). Available opportunities must be related to the particular company's resources, including its personnel, financial, and physical resources. Profitable courses of action vary with individual corporate postures and goals. The overwhelming majority of innovative opportunities will be rejected. But it is necessary to screen the many to find the few that do relate to the resources and the mission of the company (Johnson and Scholes, 1998). This function of innovation relates to specifying the company's innovative opportunity by identifying the various practical alternatives that exist to remedy the discovered dysfunctioning. This is a job in which the technician can assume a major responsibility. An analysis of total company operations and methods in the light of market opportunities is helpful in sifting the opportunities to arrive at the few that are most relevant and profitable for the company's current situation (Doyle and Stern, 2006). Because of different organizational goals and missions, each organizational type defines a unique strategic situation. The first group was labeled "mom and pop shops." These firms are extremely small and possess little marketing expertise or resources. The second group are stable, high-payoff companies. These enterprises have achieved some success and may have acquired substantial marketing expertise within a limited market. Such firms have no aspirations for future growth. A third group is composed of growth-oriented small firms. These are new ventures with a mission defined by aggressive growth (Johnson and Scholes, 1998). In order to prioritize the implementation steps, it is important to analyze a current market situation and take into account possible changes and market fluctuations. The extent to which a marketing strategy should be modified over time is an important strategy choice issue. Successful enterprises select and retain a strategy on a continuing basis. This issue has critical implications for the new enterprise, particularly when entering a new product-market where the lack of experience in the market provides little or no direction concerning strategy choice. Entrepreneurship research also provides insight into two important marketing strategy options: strategic alliances and product diversification. Small firms are also utilizing collaborative marketing strategies. In an empirical study of entrepreneurial high-technology firms, small firms at a competitive disadvantage with rivals in their industry were likely to utilize joint ventures or other cooperative strategies to launch new prod ucts (Doyle and Stern,

Negotiation skills - QUESTIONS 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Negotiation skills - QUESTIONS 2 - Essay Example Avoiding in a conflict situation generally means postponing, showing lack of assertiveness or withdrawing from issues (at present time) in order to deal with them later or in other words showing reluctant behavior in terms of solving problem. However this avoidance may be deliberate in order to come up with the better solution later or for so many reasons (Trainer, 2012, p. 3). Moreover using this technique too much can result in creating a communication gap which further leads towards unhealthy co ordination as both parties are unable to know the stance of each other. Similarly if avoiding is overused it may affect the nature of the decision or stance of the other party. Likewise if avoiding is underused it may result in creating a situation which might hurt individuals feeling as usually discretion is not very much opt by individuals. Furthermore if individual is less likely to follow avoiding policy he is likely to be threatened by various issues and conflicts. Accommodating generally means sacrificing ones interest, goals or motives in order to give preference to others for satisfying their concerns. It can be use for number of reasons for instance if an individual is wrong and feels like correcting himself, or if a boss in a company accommodates employees in order to give them chance so they can learn from their previous mistakes (Trainer, 2012, p. 3). Accommodating if overused can lead towards losing of respect as employees are likely to make mistakes and take employer for granted. Moreover employer may lose his overall control over his employees because of overuse of accommodating factor. However if this factor is underused it may result in creating trouble in so many dimensions, for instance in creating goodwill, realizing, and accepting one’s own mistakes. Compromising is a phase in which both parties understand each other’s point of view and are willing to give up

Moral and Ethical Principles of Self and of Company Literature review

Moral and Ethical Principles of Self and of Company - Literature review Example Three types of right vs. right problems of â€Å"dirty hands† situations were discussed by Badaracco (1997). The first problem is the crises of moral identity on which a person has responsibilities to himself and to others. The second problem is the conflict of moral identity and personal integrity which a person has responsibilities for others. This type of problem is usually faced by middle managers wherein they have responsibilities for their subordinates and their superiors. The third is considered to be the most complex on which the first two problems are present. The person facing this problem has responsibilities to himself, to others and for others. I should say that the situation I am facing is an example of the third type of problem. This is because I have responsibilities and commitment to myself to become a decent and honest manager. I always wanted to be on top of everything but with principles and standards governing myself. I cannot tolerate dishonesty, bribery, and lies. I also swore that I will uphold the vision and mission of the company which includes honesty and integrity as well as to follow company policies to make sales. Besides these responsibilities, I also have accountability for my team and my department. I have a duty to my subordinates to manage our performances and keep the sales up. This means keeping our job at the same time. It is also my job to provide good sales to my superiors, to my department, and to my company. In Barry Schwartz’ s TED talk (2009), he quoted Aristotle saying that practical wisdom â€Å"is the combination of moral will and moral skill.†

Businesses in United States Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Businesses in United States - Assignment Example Most mergers involve a bigger company absorbing a small enterprise, which has low market influence though mergers are not always full buying of the firm it depends on the terms of agreement. Moreover, firms, which merge operate dependently, and decisions made are together. Concisely, mergers are not always done out of good heart, but some firms absorb rival enterprises to reduce competition. On the other hand, there are companies, which operate solely without depending on other firms for support. Most mergers are ill intended since the bigger firms use acquisition as a way of extinguishing firms, which pose a threat to their customer base. Businesses go internationally in order to get raw materials, as well as access a ready market. This is experienced in countries where the market is flooded, therefore; international markets have cheap labor and readily available raw materials. International corporations enjoy protection from parent countries incase their operations are threatened b y rival firms and government regulations in the foreign country. International mergers Chase bank is a national bank, which has branches both nationally and internationally. Chase bank first started as Chase National bank before it merged in nineteen thirty with Equitable Trust Company of New York and Interstate trust Company. During initial times, Chase National bank was a managed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. Subsequently in nineteen fifty five, Bank of the Manhattan Company merged with Chase bank to form a giant corporation, which established branches in more than sixty countries in the world. Chase bank is among top four banks operating in United States economy. All the shareholders and management of the two banks, however, universally accepted the merging. There was 50% management of the business since the two firms joined their names and formed Chase Manhattan bank, which became a prominent bank in the world (Gaughan 2005). Chase Manhattan Bank, however, abandoned their logos and de signed a new logo octagon in shape representing pipes laid down by Manhattan Company. The logo was more of favoring previous activities of Manhattan than Chase bank. Reasons for merging Chase National Bank and Manhattan Bank merged so that they can increase their financial performance. Merging increases the capital available in the firm therefore, high sells revenue and net profit. Furthermore, acquisitions reduce costs spent by the banks in the operations. Cost is a factor, which makes many firms experience loses. More so, bank mergers lead to increase in market size. Geographical diversification is a factor, which guides many firms to merge. Chase National Bank was in New York while Bank of Manhattan is located in Manhattan, which is located in different states. Entities that start new in a different geographical area takes lots of time to get market acceptance therefore, to curb this, most firms acquire entities in the same geographical area and operates with them. Most enterpris es use the company’s names to decrease on risks and accrue long run profits. Riegle-Neale Act of 1 June (1997) allowed banks to expand geographically and acquire new markets throughout the United States and internationally. Stewart’s merger motivation theory argues that enterprises merge to reduce on debt capacity, which other banks owe them. Businesses, which have high debts that they cannot settle, agree to mingle with a firm operating well to help in settling of the accumulated debts. As Chase bank merged with Manhattan bank, their capital base increased as well as the lending capacity. This reduced dependency levels and businesses were self- reliant. Normally in businesses,

Human DNA and Sexual Differentiation Essay Example for Free

Human DNA and Sexual Differentiation Essay There has with respect to understanding human evolution, thus far, hardly been any greater an academic marriage than that which has occurred between physical anthropology and genetics. For anthropologists the union has been particularly beneficial as DNA has been incorporated into the quest to understand human evolution. Some scholars have referred to this as the culmination of the evolution of the once distinct fields represented symbolically by Darwin’s theories on evolution and Mendel’s speculation regarding genes; one scholar has opined that Darwin and Mendel are the core, the essentials of understanding. These basics work together.  The gene pool the hereditary property of a population of animals maintains the variation of the population or species, and mutation tends to increase that variation. Darwins selection cuts back the less favorable variation, in that way sculpting the inheritance of the species. (Howells 8) Fossils and genes, taken together, illuminate in ways that one without the other simply cannot. This refers to the discovery of positive knowledge as well as the discovery of long-established fallacies in the field of physical anthropology (Marks 131). This essay will focus on a few types of positive knowledge regarding the evolution of human DNA. More specifically, this essay will discuss how DNA variation can be used to explain some of the evolutionary physical features for sexual differences in humans as they pertain to language, sexuality, and visual spatial skills. As a preliminary matter, it is important to acknowledge that human sex differences were not always as pronounced as they are today. There were genetic variations that occurred over a long period of time and these genetic differences are evident in the fossils used by physical anthropologists to piece together how and why DNA has evolved as it has over the course of time. Scholars seem to agree that the evolution of human DNA is unique in certain respects; for purposes of this essay, it is significant to note that, regarding sexual differences in species, It is apparent that these same cross-species sex differences have become more pronounced in humans (Joseph 35). The evolution of human DNA with respect to sexual differences is greater than has been found in studies of other species. It has been demonstrated that DNA evolution led to Homo erectus females experiencing a vaginal reorientation at the same time that males experienced a change in pelvic structure (Joseph 35). The consequences were tremendous as this likely resulted in the development of long-term relationships between males and females; this is because, rather than being dependent on estrus in order to get pregnant, females were now physically and genetically configured to be sexually receptive continuously rather than sporadically. These long-term relationships also seem to have coincided with males and females establishing more permanent or semi-permanent homes. It can be argued, to some degree at least, that this genetic variation led to an embryonic notion of marriage and home. These human sex differences were further accelerated with the genetic evolution of the brain; indeed, as the brain became larger, this required a larger birth canal and an increase in the sexual physical differentiation in the size and width of the H. erectus (Joseph 35). DNA varied to accommodate these changes and they are manifest even today in the way that women walk as well as in the more fragile nature of their pelvic bones when compared to their male counterparts. As the female was evolving there were practical consequences; for instance, The transformation of the human female hips and pelvis, however, also limited her ability to run and maneuver in space, at least, compared to most males (Joseph 35). These DNA variations thus functioned to separate males and females and to lay the physical groundwork for other changes. This evolution in human DNA, in turn, led to a division of labor predicated on these newly exaggerated differences between the sexes. Generally speaking, women became gatherers and men became hunters. Each of these roles demanded different types of skills and the human animal adapted through the mechanism of its DNA. The female role demanded careful language skills rather than violence whereas the male role demanded aggression and physical strength. In explaining how the male DNA evolved to adapt to the male’s developing function, one scholar has noted that successful hunting requires prolonged silence, excellent visual-spatial and gross motor skills, and the capacity to endure long treks in the pursuit of prey. These are abilities at which males excel, including modern H. apiens (Joseph 35). In short, many of the human sexual differences noted today can be traced to the ways in which human DNA has evolved over time in order to adapt to changed environments and to changed sex roles. In the final analysis, even a cursory examination of the history of the evolution of human DNA suggests rather persuasively that there are watershed events which can aid in understanding the uni queness of sexual differentiation in humans and how sex roles evolved in response to that sexual differentiation.

Strategic Management Essay Example for Free

Strategic Management Essay Unilever is one of the world’s oldest multinational companies. Its origin goes back to the 19th century when a group of companies operating independently, produced soaps and margarine. In 1930, the companies merged to form Unilever that diversified into food products in 1940s. Through the next five decades, it emerged as a major fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) multinational operating in several businesses. In 2004, the Unilever 2010 strategic plan was put into action with the mission to ‘bring vitality to life’ and ‘to meet everyday needs for nutrition, hygiene and personal care with brands that help people feel good, look good, and get more out of life’. The corporate strategy is of focusing on bore businesses of food, home care and personal care. Unilever operates in more than 100 countries, has a turnover of â‚ ¬ 39.6 billion and net profit of â‚ ¬ 3.685 billion in 2006 and derives 41 per cent of its income from the developing and emerging economies around the world. It has 179,000 employees and is a culturally-diverse organisation with its top management coming from 24 nations. Internationalisation is based on the principle of local roots with global scale aimed at becoming a ‘multi-local multinational’. The genesis of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) in India, goes back to 1888 when Unilever exported Sunlight soap to India. Three Indian, subsidiaries came into existence in the period 1931-1935 that merged to form Hindustan Lever in 1956. Mergers and acquisitions of Lipton (1972), Brooke Bond (1984), Ponds (1986), TOMCO (1993), Lakme (1998) and Modern Foods (2002) have resulted in an organisation that is a conglomerate of several businesses that have been continually restructured over the years. HUL is one of the largest FMCG company in India with total sales of Rs. 12,295 crore and net profit of 1855crore in 2006. There are over 15000 employees, including more than 1300 managers. The present corporate strategy of HUL is to focus on core businesses. These core businesses are in home and personal care and food. There are 20 different consumer categories in these two businesses. For instance, home and personal care is made up of personal wash, laundry, skin care, hair care, oral care, deodorants, colour cosmetics and ayurvedic personal and health care, while food businesses have tea, coffee, ice creams and processed food brands. Apart from the two product divisions, there are  separate departments for specialty exports and new ventures. Strategic management at HUL is the responsibility of the board of directors headed by a chairman. There are five independent and five whole-time directors. The operational management is looked after by a management committee comprising of Vice Chairman, CEO and managing director and executive directors of the two business divisions and functional areas. The divisions have a lot of autonomy with dedicated assets and resources. A divisional committee having the executive director and heads of functions of sales, commercial and manufacturing looks after the business level decision-making. The functional-level management is the responsibility of the functional head. For instance, a marketing manager has a team of brand managers looking after the individual brands. Besides the decentralised divisional structure, HUL has centralised some functions such as finance, human resource management, research, technology, information technology and corporate and legal affairs. Unilever globally and HUL nationally, operate in the highly competitive FMCG markets. The consumer markets for FMCG products are finicky: it’s difficult to create customers and much more difficult to retain them. Price is often the central concern in a consumer purchase decision requiring producers to be on continual guard against cost increases. Sales and distribution are critical functions organisationally. HUL operates in such a milieu. I t has strong competitors such as the multinationals Procter Gamble, Nivea or L’Oreal and formidable local companies such as, Amul, Nirma or the Tata FMCG companies to contend with. Rivals have copied HUL’s strategies and tactics, especially in the area of marketing and distribution. Its innovations such as new style packaging or distribution through women entrepreneurs are much valued but also copied relentlessly, hurting its competitive advantage. HUL is identified closely with India. There is a ring of truth to its vision statement: ‘to earn the love and respect of India by making a real difference to every Indian’. It has an impeccable record in corporate social responsibility. There is an element of nostalgia associated with brands like Lifebuoy (introduced in 1895) and Dalda (1937) for senior citizens in India. Consequently Indians have always perceived HUL as an Indian company rather than a multinational. HUL has attempted to align its strategies in the past to the special needs of Indian business environment. Be it marketing or  human resource management, HUL has experimented with new ideas suited to the local context. For instance, HUL is known for its capabilities in rural marketing, effective distribution systems and human resource development. But this focus on India seems to be changing. This might indicate a change in the strategic posture as well as recognition that Indian markets have matured to the extent that they can be dealt with by the global strategies of Unilever. At the corporate level, it could also be an attempt to leverage global scale while retaining local responsiveness to some extent. In line with the shift in corporate strategy, the focus of strategic decision-making seems to have moved from the subsidiary to the headquarters. Unilever has formulated a new global realignment under which it will develop brands and streamline product offerings across the world and the subsidiaries will sell the products. Other subtle indications of the shift of decision-making authority could be the appointment of a British CEO after nearly forty years during which there were Indian CEOs, the c hanged focus on a limited number of international brands rather than a large range of local brands developed over the years and the name-change from Hindustan Lever to Hindustan Unilever. The shift in the strategic decision-making power from the subsidiary to headquarters could however, prove to be double-edged sword. An example could be of HUL adopting Unilever’s global strategy of focussing on a limited number of products, called the 30 power brands in 2002. That seemed a perfectly sensible strategic decision aimed at focusing managerial attention to a limited set of high-potential products. But one consequence of that was the HUL’s strong position in the niche soap and detergent markets suffering owing to neglect and the competitors were quick to take advantage of the opportunity. Then there are the statistics to deal with: HUL has nearly 80 per cent of sales and 85 per cent of net profits from the home and personal care businesses. Globally, Unilever derives half its revenues from food business. HUL does not have a strong position in the food business in India though the food processing industry remains quite attractive both in terms of local consumption as well as export markets. HUL’s own strategy of offering low-price, competitive products may also suffer at the cost of Unilever’s emphasis on premium priced, high end products sold through modern outlets. There are some dark clouds on the horizon. HUL’s latest financials are not satisfactory. Net profit is down,  sales are sluggish, input costs have been rising and new food products introduced in the market have yet to pick up. All this while, in one market segment after another, a competitor pushes ahead. In a company of such a big size and over-powering presence, these might still be minor events developments in a long history that needs to be taken in stride. But, pessimistically, they could also be pointers to what may come. Questions: 1. State the strategy of Hindustan Unilever in your own words. 2. At what different levels is strategy formulated in HUL? 3. Comment on the strategic decision-making at HUL. 4. Give your opinion on whether the shift in strategic decision-making from India to Unilever’s headquarters could prove to be advantageous to HUL or not. CASE: 2 THE STRATEGIC ASPIRATIONS OF THE RESERVE BANK OF INDIA The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is India’s central bank or ‘the bank of the bankers’. It was established on April 1, 1935 in accordance with the provisions of the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1935. The Central Office of the RBI, initially set up at Kolkata, is at Mumbai. The RBI is fully owned by the Government of India. The history of RBI is closely aligned with the economic and financial history of India. Most central banks around the world were established around the beginning of the twentieth century. The Bank was established on the basis of the Hilton Young Commission. It began its operations by taking over from the Government the functions so far being performed by the Controller of Currency and from the Imperial Bank of India, the management of Government accounts and public debt. After independence, RBI gradually strengthened its institution-building capabilities and evolved in terms of functions from central banking to that of development. There have been s everal attempts at reorganisation, restructuring and creation of specialised institutions to cater to emerging needs. The Preamble of the RBI describes its basic functions like this: ‘†¦.to regulate the issue of Bank Notes and keeping of reserves with a view to securing monetary  stability in India and generally to operate the currency and credit system of the country to its advantage.’ The vision states that the RBI ‘†¦.aims to be a leading central bank with credible, transparent, proactive and contemporaneous policies and seeks to be a catalyst for the emergence of a globally competitive financial system that helps deliver a high quality of life to the people in the country.’ The mission states that ‘RBI seeks to develop a sound and efficient financial system with monetary stability conductive to balanced and sustained growth of the Indian economy’. The corporate values of underlining the mission statement include public interest, integrity, excellence, independence of views and responsiveness and dynamism. The three areas in which objectives of the RBI can be stated are as below. 1. Monetary policy objectives such as containing inflation and promoting economic growth, management of foreign exchange reserves and making currency available. 2. Objectives set for managing financial sector developments such as supervision of systems and information access and assisting banking and financial institutions to become competitive globally. 3. Organisational development objectives such as development of economic research facilities, creating information system for supporting economic decision-making, financial management and human resource management. Strategic actions taken to realise the objectives fall under four categories: 1. The thrust area of monetary policy formulation and managing financial sector; 2. Evolving the legal framework to support the thrust area; 3. Customer service for providing support and creation of positive relationship; and 4. Organisational support such as structure, systems, human resource development and adoption of modern technology. The major functions performed by the RBI are: †¢ Acting as the monetary authority †¢ Acting as the regulator and supervisor of the financial system †¢ Discharging responsibilities as the manager of foreign exchange †¢ Issue currency †¢ Play as developmental role †¢ Related functions such as acting as the banker to the government and scheduled banks The management of the RBI is the responsibility of the central board of directors headed by the governor and consisting of  deputy governors and other directors, all of whom are appointed by the government. There are four local boards based at Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai and New Delhi. The day-to-day management of RBI is in the hands of the executive directors, managers at various levels and the support staff. There are about 22000 employees at RBI, working in 25 departments and training colleges. The RBI identified its strengths and weaknesses as under. †¢ Strengths A large body of competent officers and staff; access to key data on the economy; wide organisational network with 22 regional offices; established infrastructure; ability to attract talent; and financial self sufficiency. †¢ Weaknesses Structural rigidity, lack of accountability and slow decision-making; eroded specialist know-how; strong employee unions with rigid industrial relations stance; surplus staff; and weak market intelligence. Over the years, the RBI has evolved in terms of structure and functions, in response to the role assigned to it. There have been sweeping changes in the economic, social and political environment. The RBI has had to respond to it even in the absence of a systematic strategic plan. In 1992, the RBI, with the assistance of a private consultancy firm, embarked on a massive strategic planning exercise. The objective was to establish a roadmap to redefine RBI’s role and to review internal organisational and managerial efficacy, address the changing expectations from external stakeholders and reposition the bank in the global context. The strategic planning exercise was buttressed by departmental position papers and documents on various subjects such as technology, human resources and environmental trends. The strategic plan of the RBI emerged with four sections dealing with the statement of mission, objectives and policy, a review of RBI’s strengths and weaknesses and strategic actions required with an implementation plan. The strategic plan reiterates anticipation of evolving external environment in the medium-term; revisiting strengths and weaknesses (evaluation of capabilities); and doing away with the outdated mandates for enhancing efficiency in operations in furtherance of best public interests. The results of these efforts are likely to manifest in attaining a visible focus, reinforced proficiency, realisation of shared sense of purpose, optimising resource use and build-up of momentum to achieve goals. Historically, the RBI adopted the time-tested technique of responding to external environment in a pragmatic  manner and making piecemeal changes. The dilemma in adoption of a comprehensive strategic plan was the risk of trading off the flexibility of the pragmatic approach to creating rigidity imposed by a set model of planning. Questions: 1. Consider the vision and mission statements of the Reserve Bank of India. Comment on the quality of both these statements. 2. Should the RBI go for a systematic and comprehensive strategic plan in place of its earlier pragmatic approach of responding to environmental events as and when they occur? Why? CASE: 3 THE INTERNATIONALISATION OF KALYANI GROUP The Kalyani Group is a large family-business group of India, employing more than 10000 employees. It has diverse businesses in engineering, steel, forgings, auto components, non-conventional energy and specialty chemicals. The annual turnover of the Group is over US$2.1 billion. The Group is known for its impressive internationalisation achievements. It has nine manufacturing locations spread over six countries. Over the years, it has established joint ventures with many global companies such as ArvinMeritor, USA, Carpenter Technology Corporation, USA, Hayes Lemmerz, USA and FAW Corporation, China. The flagship company of the Group is Bharat Forge Limited that is claimed to be the second largest forging company in the world and the largest nationally, with about 80 per cent share in axle and engine components. The other major companies of the Group are Kalyani Steels, Kalyani Carpenter Special Steels, Kalyani Lemmerz, Automotive Axles, Kalyani Thermal Systems, BF Utilities, Hikal Lim ited, Epicenter and Synise Technologies The emphasis on internationalisation is reflected in the vision statement of the Group where two of the five points relate to the Group trying to be a world-class organisation and achieving growth aggressively by accessing global markets. The Group is led by Mr. B.N. Kalyani, who is considered to be the major force behind the Group’s aggressive internationalisation drive. Mr. Kalyani joined the Group in 1972  when it was a small-scale diesel engine component business. The corporate strategy of the Group is a combination of concentration of its core competence in its business with efforts at building, nurturing and sustaining mutually beneficial partnerships with alliance partners and customers. The value of these partnerships essentially lies in collaborative product development with the partners who are the original equipment manufacturers. The foreign partners are not intended to provide expansion in capacity, but to enable the Kalyani Group to extend its global marketing reach. In achieving its successful status, the Kalyani Group has followed the path of integration, extending from the upstream steel making to downstream machining for auto components such as crank-shafts, front axle beams, steering knuckles, cam-shafts, connecting rods and rocker arms. In all these products, the Group has tried to move up the value chain instead of providing just the raw forgings. In the 1990s, it undertook a restructuring exercise to trim its unrelated businesses such as television and video products and concentrate on its core business of auto components. Four factors are supposed to have influenced the growth of the Group over the years. These are mentioned below: †¢ Focussing on core businesses to maximise growth potential †¢ Attaining aggressive cost savings †¢ Expanding geographically to build global capacity and establishing leading positions †¢ Achieving external growth through acquisitions The Group companies are claimed to be positioned at either number one or two in their respective businesses. For instance, the Group claims to be number one in forging and machined components, axle aggregates, wheels and alloy steel. The technology used by the Group in its mainline business of auto components and other businesses, is claimed to be state-of-the-art. The Group invests in forging technology to enhance efficiency, production quality and design capabilities. The Group’s emphasis on technology can be gauged from the fact that in the 1990s, it took the risky decision of investing Rs. 100 crore in the then latest forging technology, when the total Group turnover was barely Rs. 230 crore. Information technology is applied for product development, reducing production and product development time, supply-chain management and marketing of products. The Group lays high emphasis on research and development for providing engineering support,  advanced metallurgical analysis and latest testing equipment in tandem with its high-class manufacturing facilities. Being a top-driven group, the pattern of strategic decision-making within seems to be entrepreneurial. There was an attempt to formulate a five-year strategic plan in 1997, with the participation of the company executives. But no much is mentioned in the business press about that collaborative strategic decision-making after that. Recent strategic moves include Kalyani Steels, a Group company, entering into a joint venture agreement in may 2007, with Gerdau S.A. Brazil for installation of rolling mills. An attempt to move out of the mainstream forging business was made when the Group strengthened its position in the prospective business of wind energy through 100 per cent acquisition of RSBconsult GmbH (RSB) of Germany. Prior to the acquisition, the Group was just a wind farm operator and supplier of components. Questions: 1. What is the motive for internationalisation by the Kalyani Group? Discuss. 2. Which type of international strategy is Kalyani Group adopting? Explain. CASE 4: THE STORY OF SYNERGOS UNFOLDS Synergos is a young management and strategy consulting firm based at Mumbai. It was established in 1992 at a time when there were a lot of expectations among the industry people from the liberalisation policies that were started the previous year by the Government of India. The consulting firm is an entrepreneurial venture started by Urmish Patel, a dynamic person who worked with a multinational consulting firm at the time. He left his comfortable position there to venture into the management consultancy industry. The motivation was to be ‘the master of his own destiny’ rather than being an employee working for others. Urmish comes from an upper middle-class Gujarati family, settled in a small town in Rajasthan. His father was a government servant who retired with a meagre pension. His mother is a housewife. His other siblings are all educated and well-settled in their  respective careers and professions. Urmish is a creative individual, uncomfortable with the status-quo. During his student days at a college at Jaipur, he was continually coming up with bright ideas that some of his friends found to be preposterous. To him, however, these were perfectly achievable ideas. He studied biotechnology and then went to the US on a scholarship to do his Masters. After a semester at a well-known university there, he lost interest and switched to pursue an MBA. He liked it and soon settled down to work with an American consultancy firm and toured several countries on varied assignments during the seven years he worked there. In 1992 came the urge to Urmish to chuck his job and be on his own. It was risky, yet an exciting step to take. His accumulated capital was limited—just enough to rent office space, buy a few computers and hire an assistant. There were no consultancy assignments for the first three months. But an acquaintance soon came to his aid, introducing him to the CFO of a major family business group who needed advice on a performance improvement project they wanted to launch. The opportunity came in handy though the returns were nothing to write home about. That project was the first step to many more that came gradually. Synergos started gaining presence in the competitive management consultancy industry and attracting attention from the people whom they worked for. Word-of-mouth publicity led them from one project to another for the first three years till 1995. Synergos took up whatever came its way, delivering a cost-effective solution to its clients. A team of four had formed by now, each member of the team specialising in services rendered to the clients. For instance, one of the members is a specialist in engineering projects, while another has expertise finance. The third one is a service sector specialist, also having experience in dealing with government matters. The phase of rapid growth started some time in 1995 when the Synergos team decided to focus on the small and medium enterprises (SMEs). These were firms that realised they had problems needing specialist advice, but were apprehensive to approach the big firms on account of their limited outlay and inexperience of dealing with such firms. Synergos came to their aid by tailoring their services as near as possible to their needs. Another differentiation platform Synergos offered to its client was a fully-integrated consultancy service where it got involved right from the stage of planning down to its implementation and monitoring.   Presently, Synergos has grown to be a medium-sized consultancy firm, serving clients in India and abroad, working for industries ranging from auto components to financial services and for manufacturing organisations to service providers. Some-how, nearly half of the assignments it has worked on have been for mid-sized, upcoming, family-owned businesses, a niche it has served well. These organisations typically need a boutique sort of consultancy that can offer customised services dealing with a broad range of practices related to strategy, organisation design, mergers and acquisitions and operational matter such as logistics and supply-chain management. Synergos fits in with their requirements owing to its personalised service and reasonable commission structure. The organisational structure at Synergos has a board at the top, consisting of seven people, including the four founding members and three independent directors. One of the independent directors is the chairman of the board. Urmish, as the founder CEO, also heads an executive management committee with each of the founding members, leading three other top-level committees dealing with business portfolio, service management and executive recruitment. The management team is called the professional group. The rest of the employees are referred to as the staff. The professional group has young women and men who are graduates from some of the best institutions in India and abroad. They are assigned to taskforces based on their qualifications, experience and interests. The departmentation at Synergos is flexible, based on an interplay of the three categories: skill, service and specialty. For instance, a professional may have IT skills, may have worked to provide supply-chain management ser vices and developed expertise in handling operational assignments for medium-sized food and beverage firms. There is a lot of multi-tasking however, to utilise the wide range of skills and special expertise that the professionals have. For administrative matters, the professionals are assigned to client-service departments of industry solutions, enterprise solutions and technology solutions. The flexibility that such an organisational arrangement affords seems to have been the major reason for the evolution of the organisation structure at Synergos over the years. The staff group of employees consists of the support people who provide a variety of services to the professionals. Among  these are research assistants, industry analysts, documentation experts and secretarial staff. There is no set pattern for assignment of staff to the administrative departments and generally, a need-based approach is followed, depending on the workload at a particular time. Recruitment for professionals is stringent. Synergos typically looks for a good combination of education and experience and lays much emphasis on the compatibility of the prospective employee with the shared values. Creativity, broad range of professional interes ts, intellectual acumen, team-working and physical fitness to undertake demanding tasks and work for long hours are the criteria for hiring. There are not many training opportunities except the on-the-job learning. New professionals are assigned to a mentor for some time till they are ready to handle assignments autonomously. The staff members are usually recruited from fresh graduates, with good degrees from reputed institutions, in arts, sciences and commerce. The staff positions are also open for persons wanting to work on part-time or project-bases. Emphasis is given to the ability of the prospective staff to undertake multi-tasking and work with documentation and word processing and presentation software packages. The compensation system consists of a base salary with commission and bonus depending on performance. There are other usual elements such as medical reimbursement, loan facility and gratuity and retirement benefits. the performance appraisal is informal, with at least one of the four founding members being part of the evaluation committee for a professional. Usually, the founding member closest to the work area of the employee is involved in determining the rewards to be given. The time-cycle for appraisal is one year. Management control is discreet and performance-based rather than behaviour-based. The means for control are informal, such as direct supervision. Urmish is a strong proponent of the emergent strategy and is not in favour of tying Synergos to a fixed strategic posture. So are the other founder members, though at times they do talk about deciding on a niche such as SME organisations as clients and enterprise solutions as the core competence. In the highly fragmented consultancy industry where it is possible for even one person to set up an office in a commercial area and leverage connections to secure projects, Synergos is open to opportunities as they emerge, while trying to maintain the flexibility that has made it successful till now. Questions: 1. Identify the type of organisation structure being used at Synergos and explain how it works. What are the benefits of using this type of structure? What are the pitfalls? 2. Express your opinion about whether the structure is in line with the recruitments of the strategy that Synergos is implementing. 3. Based on the information related to the information, control and reward systems available in the case, examine whether these systems are appropriate for the type of strategy being implemented. CASE: 5 EXERCISING STRATEGIC AND OPERATIONAL CONTROLS AT iGATE GLOBAL SOLUTIONS The Bangalore-based iGATE Global Solutions is the flagship company of iGATE Corporation, a NASDAQ-listed US-based corporation. Known earlier as Mascot Systems, it was set up in India in 1993, to offer staffing services. It acquired business process outsourcing (BPO) and contact centre businesses in 2003, making it an end-to-end IT and ITES service provider. Its service portfolio includes consulting, IT services, data analytics, enterprise systems, BPO/BSP, contact centre and infrastructure management services. iGATE has over 100 active clients and centres based in Canada, China, Malaysia, India, the UK and the US. Chairman, Ashok Trivedi and CEO Phaneesh Murthy, an ex-Infosys IT professional and their partners hold a major stake, with some participation by institutional and public investors. The revenues for 2006-2007 are over Rs. 805 crore and net profits, Rs. 49.6 crore. The corporate strategies of iGATE are offering integrated IT services and divesting the legacy IT staffing busin ess and possibly making acquisitions in the domain expertise for financial services businesses. The business strategy is focused differentiation based on the focal points of testing, infrastructure management and enterprise solutions. The competitive tactic is avoiding head-on competition with the formidable larger players in the  industry by carving out a niche. The business definition is serving large customers and staying away from sub-contracting work. iGATE adopts a differentiation business model based on an integrated technology and operations model which it calls as the iTOPS model. This is an advancement over the prevalent model in the ITES industry based on low-cost arbitrage model. iTOPS is based on transaction-based pricing for services and supporting the clients by providing the platform, processes and services. The strategic evaluation and control has both the elements of strategic as well as operational controls. The functional and operational implementation is aimed at achieving four sets of objectives: a) Shifting from small customers to large customer (Fortune 1000 companies) b) Shifting away from stocking to project-consulting assignments c) Working directly with clients rather than with system integrators d) Moving from a local to international markets Some illustrations of the performance indicators that reflect these objectives are: 1. On-shore versus off-shore mix of business revenues: In 2004, this ratio was 55:45 and in 2007, it has improved to 27:73, indicating a much higher revenue generation from off-shore business. 2. Billing rates: Revenue charged from clients on assignments. With project consulting assignments from off-shore clients, where the revenues are typically higher, with lower costs and higher productivity in India, the realisations from billing have to be higher. The industry norms for ITES are US$18-25 per hour for off-shore and US$ 55-65 per hour for on-shore assignments. 3. The number of large clients from Fortune 1000 companies: Presently, iGATE has nearly half of its more than 100 clients from Fortune 1000 companies, of which the top 10 account for 70 per cent of its business. 4. Controlling employee costs: This is an area where concerted effort is required from the HR and finance functions. Hiring less experienced employees lowers the compensation bill. In the IT and ITES industry, attracting and retaining well-qualified and experienced employees is a critical success factor. The performance indicator for this objective is the cost per employee. 5. Human resource metrics such as the hiring and attrition rates: In the IT and ITES industry, the human resource metrics such as hiring and attrition rates are critical indicators.  Increasing the number of employees and lowering the attrition rate by retaining the employees is a big challenge. There are presently about 5800 employees, likely to go up to 8500 in the next two years. The attrition of 20 per cent presently at iGATE is on the higher side. But such attrition is common in the industry where the employee mobility is high and employee pinching a widespread trend. The human resource management function being critical in an industry where so many challenges exist, needs a strong emphasis on training and development, motivation, autonomy and attractive incentives. iGATE has an integrated people management model focusing on developing technical, behavioural and leadership competencies. The three metrics by which the HR function is assessed are: human capital index, work culture and employee affective commitment. The reward system at iGATE consists of meritorious employees across all levels being granted restricted stock options, thus providing an incentive to remain with the company till they become due. The company, though, is an average paymaster, which disadvantage it tries to trade-off offering a more challenging work environment, quicker promotions and chances for practising innovation. Critics say that that iGATE lacks the big-brand appeal of the larger players such as Infosys and Wipro, cannot compete on scale and is still under the shadow of its original business of body-shopping IT personnel. Questions: 1. Analyse the iGATE case to highlight how it could apply some of the strategic controls such as premise control, implementation control, strategic surveillance and special alert control. 2. Analyse and describe the process of setting of standards at iGATE. 3. Give your opinion on the effectiveness of the role of reward system in exercising HR performance management at iGATE and suggest what improvements are possible, given the environmental conditions in the IT/ITES industry in India at present.

The Occupational Safety and Health Act Implementation

The Occupational Safety and Health Act Implementation Construction activities and work site is considered to be a high-risk occupation, with large number of fatalities and injuries every year, this inevitable truth suggests that having safety programs and procedures in construction sites is of great importance. Following the Occupational Safety and Health Act, safety planning in construction industry has improved significantly; Nowadays most of contractors have safety programs that is Adoption of attitudes and the provisions of resources within an organization to mitigate the risks involved in any activity necessary for the achievement of organizational aims (Osama Ahmed Jannadi, October 2003) and implement them on construction sites. Safety plans include specific elements which have been proven to be effective for a safety program in order to help reduce number of fatalities and injuries and make construction sites a less hazardous working environment. It is important to notice that only having a well written and comprehensive safety and health plan is not enough to have a safe and low-risk working environment, there are other elements that contribute to this goal. Factors such as how supportive is upper level management of a company towards the safety programs, Presence of a safety manager on site to direct implementation of safety plans, and selection of subcontractors that demonstrate a history of performing safe work, etc. are also important. Upper level management usually has an intention to see the components of work as cost; Risk and safety as a means to mitigate it also can be represented in numbers related to cost. Studies show that cost of accidents as a percent of total cost of construction has been in creasing in the past decades and it can be between 8 to 15 percent of total cost of a new construction that is a significant figure (Everett Peter B., Costs of Accidents and Injuries to Construction Industry, 1995). From a construction company perspective safety programs as a means of mitigating risk involved in the work should contain a subset of these elements that is found to be more relevant and effective to the companys type of work, this is usually done based on intuitive and experience of person/group in charge of providing the program. But recently there have been studies trying to use Risk Assessment Models (RAMs) (Osama Ahmed Jannadi, October 2003) or analytical research tools such as Delphi method (Hallowell Gambatese, 2009)in order to provide better understanding (for safety managers in construction) of important factors in a safety plan. In this paper different contributing and relevant elements and issues from a construction companys perspective are investigated. Safety regulations and standards were established formally in 1970 under Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) title 29, Chapter XVII Occupation Safety and Health act. The act is broken into different parts for different industries and part 1926 covers regulations related to construction. In addition to federal laws each state may provide its own regulations for construction activities under OSH act that is applied to construction work in that state. As of now every employer who works in Construction environment that is construction, repair, alternation, painting and decorations needs to comply with the regulations specified by part 1926. OSHA requirements for safety represent minimum standards for safety and the implication for any company is that if necessary take actions towards safety that are beyond OSHA regulations, for instance in a structural steel erection to comply with OSHA standards there is no need to provide fall protection at 6 feet but many companies feel the need to prov ide such personal protective equipment and measures for their employees at 6 feet, because they know that it will help provide a less hazardous work environment and reduce risk of falling for the workers. One example is Continental Building Systems that follows these beyond OSHA programs for fall protection or working near power lines (Continental Building Systems). As a construction company it is important to recognize hazards associated with any work and try to provide the best program in order to avoid it. It is often usual in construction work sites that different crews from different subcontractors work at the same working area with general contractors workers. For these Multi-Employer sites OSHA has certain rules and regulations effective from December 1999. It is important to note that in multi-employer sites if there is a hazardous condition that is a violation from OSHA standards, First role of each of employers in the site needs to be determined, By OSHA standards employers can be creating, exposing, correcting, or controlling the unsafe conditions; The definitions of each role is thoroughly described in OSHA regulations (OSHA Directive number CPL 2-0.124, (29 CFR OSHA 1926, 2009)). If an employer falls into any of these categories in a working site the responsibility is to take sufficient actions that meet OSHAs obligations. It is important for the General Contractors that are usually controlling employer in work sites to take reasonable actions in order to protect hazardous co nditions, but not as frequent as the specialty worker crews and subcontractors that are creating the hazard or exposing their employers to it. As a construction company who hires other subcontractor a major effort to lower the risks is to investigate history of the subcontractors and try to choose subcontractors that have well executed safety plans for their work. The later with respect to safety and lowering risks has two implications. First is the extent of experience that applicant has in the field of work he or she applying for, since experience helps the person to be more able to recognize and identify hazards and also to know the steps that are to be taken in order to mitigate risk and hazard. Second implication is to have a pre-employment testing for the applicant, the extent that a company wants to have applicants tested depends on many factors such as type of work, location of job site and its conditions, size of the employer, etc. and it may include Physical Examination and Laboratory Testing (Philip D Parks). For example one of the most critical Physical problems in construction is lifting heavy items and an employee should be able to lift or carry typical construction weights if it is in his responsibilities, injuries that can be aggravated or worsen due to lifting need to be diagnosed so that employee is not exposed to such condit ions, and reduce risk of injuries and probable compensation claims. Safety Training for Employees Employee training is an integral part of any safety program; Employees who are trained and have learned safe work practices are less likely to show hazardous behavior and subsequently will result in lower rate of incidents and injuries. It is important to note that for a training program to be effective, it needs to be based on a thorough analysis of the task and safe work practices. One of major issues in job-sites for host employer is to ensure that any person who is involved in the working zone is familiar with site-specific safety issues. For construction sites with multiple subcontractors, General contractor or host employer should require the subcontractors to train and explain their employees about the hazards associated in their work and safety measures that are required to perform the work in a safe and low risk manner. Daily briefing for employees on the work that needs to be done that day and safety issues related to it has been proven to be helpful in reducing risk of incidents (Hislop, 1999). OSHA provides training programs for private sectors through OSHA Training Institute (OTI) and also extends its training reach to workers through its various Outreach Training Programs. In these programs qualified individuals who have completed OSHA trainer course and are authorized to teach other students can teach workers 10-hour or 30-hour courses on construction safety. Nowadays numerous training programs are available for construction companies to train their employees with relatively low prices either online distance education or with instructors for a live class. This makes it more affordable to have frequent safety trainings for employees at one year intervals to make sure they are up to date with recent safety issues. Qualified and Competent Person On-Site A competent person is someone who, through training and/or experience, is knowledgeable of the various Occupational Safety Health Administration (OSHA) standards that apply to their workplace, is capable of identifying workplace hazards relating to their specific operations, and has the authority invested in him or her by their employer to correct the hazards to protect workers. Therefore it is employers responsibility and based on employers judgment to determine who can be a competent person with needed skills and qualifications for a certain type of task. If a person has knowledge and experience in different construction tasks he or she can be a competent person in different types of tasks. Identifying causes of incidents include two major components; first is the Work Element that is act or condition that directly caused the incident, this direct cause needs to be identified quickly and be corrected. Second component is the Root Cause of the incident that is the failure in system that allowed the deficiencies to occur in the work element. Identifying root cause may need a more thorough investigation but seems necessary to avoid recurrence (Incident Investigation Process and Exercise). As a construction company after any incident the investigation needs to be done properly in order to identify working element and root causes of incidents and follow up on them to ensure they are corrected. Also it is important to identify any trend in incidents and accidents in job site. OSHA Recordkeeping Defined by OSHA 1904.1 all employers who are covered by OSH act have to keep OSHA injury and illness records unless they are exempt, a common exemption is for employers with 10 or less employees at any given time. Regulations require employers to keep record of fatalities, injuries, illnesses that meet certain criteria described in section 1904.4(A) by recording in log of work-related injuries and illnesses (Form 300) summary of the incident (Form 300A) and injuries and illnesses incident report (Form 301) (OSHA Record Keeping Handbook (OSHA 3245-01R), 2005). Recordable Incidents somewhat are based on companies policies, some companies may decide to record incidents that are not necessarily recordable based on OSHA regulations. This is proven to be a beneficial safety approach in order to identify trends and plan preventive safety measures (Davoudpour, 2010). Workers Compensation Workers compensation insurance was enacted in order to protect injured employees by providing medical care for any injury, and in many cases, monetary payments to compensate for resulting temporary or permanent disabilities. Construction companies are required to subscribe to insurance for workers compensation; but the premiums for construction industry is higher than most of other industries (Agarwal Everett, 1997), therefore it is an important cost issue to know how to reduce associated cost with workers compensation. The cost also varies in different states and trades and crafts. Suggested strategies in order to reduce cost of insurance are formation of industry groups for insurance and effective safety programs because cost of insurance is directly related to companys history of injuries and fatalities or in other words safety performance. There are several safety performance indicators but the most commonly used is Experience Modification Rate (EMR) as will be discussed, other safety evaluation criteria include Recordable Incident Rate (RIR), Lost Time Incident Rate (LTIR), Workers Compensation Claims Frequency Indicator (WCCFI) among others (Hancher, Carza, Eckert, 1996). Researchers have recommended different strategies in order to manage the workers compensation and its cost; these strategies include education of employees and their representatives about workers compensations effects on business, contractors taking active role in interfacing with insurance companies and medical care providers, Modifying work for injured employees in order to keep them p roductive without risk of aggravating their injuries (Hancher, Carza, Eckert, 1996). Experience Modification Rate Experience Modification Rate is used to modify insurance premium for construction companies and is in essence an incentive for companies who have a history of performing safe and low risk as opposed to companies that have safety issues and more frequent injuries and fatalities. EMR is calculated using different parameters that include: actual primary losses (sum of costs below 5000$/injury), actual excess losses (sum of costs above 5000$/injury), weight (provided in state manuals), expected excess loss, expected losses and ballast. Sensitivity analysis shows that frequency of injuries and incidents has a greater impact on EMR compared to severity of injuries; Also EMR is noticeably reduced when hourly wages and total wages paid per year are increased (Hinze, Bren, Piepho, 1996). Understanding EMR and its impact on calculating workers compensation insurances cost will help employers and companies to manage and reduce associated cost and make use of incentives as much as possible. Also it is important to consider that the cost of a serious incident or a bad year will show up after 2 years because of the way EMR is calculated and be paid off over three years (Everett Thompson, Experience Modification Rating For Workers Compensation Insurance, 1995), so companies end up paying for their own losses over the time and with some delay, this can be a management and financing factor for companies in order to split this cost in their overhead for different projects in a long period. Main goal of elements discussed in this paper has been reduction of accidents and risk associated with it by using effective safety measures and programs. In reality an accident is inevitable and it has direct and indirect cost for the company these costs vary for insured and uninsured work. Main elements of costs for insured companies include direct costs workers compensation insurance, public liability insurance, and property insurance; and indirect costs such as loss of productivity, disruption of schedules, administrative time for investigation and report, training for replacement personnel (Everett Peter B., Costs of Accidents and Injuries to Construction Industry, 1995). On the other hand in uninsured cases costs include direct costs such as product and material damage, Legal costs, Fines, medical costs and indirect costs such as lost production time, investigation time/administration, supervisors time, loss of expertise/experience, loss of morale, and bad publicity. For examp le in construction of a supermarket that is a typical construction project an accident caused a total damage equal to 700000 Â £ (8.5% of project price), in this case uninsured total costs were 11 time more than insured costs that is a considerable amount and considering bad publicity for future work, insurance is the rational way of planning for accidents and damages (Higginson). Drug Testing Drug testing in workplace is gaining widespread acceptance in the construction industry in the past 3 decades. Due to high rates of alcohol and drug use between construction workers, and nature of construction work that is sensitive to safety issues and hazardous conditions can always be present drug testing and prevention strategies are parts of a safety plan for a safe work environment. As of 2000 about 50 percent of full-time workers are subject to some form of workplace drug testing, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As a construction company perspective, considering research results on this subject that shows that companies that use drug-testing methods for their employees experience a 51% reduction of incidents within 2 years of implementation and its significant effect in reduction of workers compensation experience modification rate, it is necessary to have drug-testing for new employees and periodical tests for workers. Indirect gains other than reduction in incidents and insurance costs is improving productivity of workers in a drug-free environment and also reducing absenteeism (Gerber George, 2001). Return to Work Policies Companies need a return to work policy for employees who have been injured to return them to employment as early as it is physically possible for the employee to continue work after the injury and the working conditions would not aggravate his or her injuries. In order to speed recovery and reduce insurance costs. In some cases, transitional temporary positions may be offered to the employee due to his or her conditions until full recovery. The job requirements should meet physicians restrictions, and the employee cannot return to his or her routine job without a release from the attending physician. Immigrants comprise an increasingly larger percentage of the total construction labor force in the United States, 2.4 million, or around 24 percent (US Census Bureau 2006), of workers are foreign born. Most of immigrant workers in construction are Hispanic, near 1.4 million (Center of Construction Research and Training 2002), with more than half of them being from Mexico (American Community Survey, PUMS 2004). Studies show that injuries and illnesses of Hispanic workers compared to other ethnicitys workers such as non-Hispanic whites and blacks are higher (Robinson, 1989). Therefore in order to have an effective safety program it is critical to consider non-English speaking workers, main factors affecting safety in job site for immigrant workers is lack of training in their mother tongue, communication problems with non-Hispanic workers especially in safety issues, and lack of understanding of safety signs and written procedures. Recent studies suggest increasing designers and engineers role in construction safety. Proposed elements to be considered in design include reviewing the designs to ensure that the designs provide a reasonable level of worker safety (since the design is usually governed by criteria such as cost or function)and creating design documents for safety such as providing points of anchorage for fall arrest systems or points of anchorage for scaffolding (Toole, 2005). In order to reach a safe design designer should become more knowledgeable in construction safety and with OSHA standards and stay current with safety issues (Richard J. Coble, 1999). Site-Layout can play an important role in safety in a construction job site. In crane operations safety protection against falling objects is required by OSHA, a further step is to plan site-layout to locate trailer and site offices and other high occupancy facilities out of the range of crane operations. Other element of safety in site-layout is location of storages for hazardous material such as explosives, toxic and flammable material or radioactive materials. Storages should be located in a manner that there is adequate separation between material or equipment that result in a hazardous combination, for example flammable material and power lines. Furthermore it is important in planning a site-layout to locate routes of equipment, vehicles and workers movement in a safe manner to reduce collisions especially at intersections (Rayes Khlafallah, 2005).

The Fatherhood Movement Essay -- essays research papers

Throughout the United States, more than one-third of children don't live with their biological fathers, and about 17 million of those children don't live with any father at all. Of those, roughly 40 percent haven't seen their fathers in the last year. The over 500 Father's Rights organizations are trying in a variety of ways to change these statistics because they believe that fathers are necessary to the intellectual, psychological and emotional well- being of all children. "Family values" groups encourage long lasting stable, marriages and tough divorce laws to increase the number of two- parent households. Some organizations focus on reasonable child support and visitation, as well as creative joint custody arrangements to combat fatherless ness after divorce. Still other sects within the movement encourage responsible fatherhood through counseling for "Deadbeat" or "Dead-broke" Dads, job training and placement to increase the likelihood of child sup port payments and educational seminars to teach men how to be emotionally supportive fathers. The unique coalition of conservative pro-marriage groups, white middle-class divorcà ©es and low- income fathers is an unusual alliance. But regardless of philosophical and tactical differences, the essential mission is the same- to improve the relationship between our nation's fathers and their children. A Brief History Throughout the 18th and 19th Centuries, wives and children were considered property of the husband. Divorce was very rare, but when it did occur, children would automatically become custody of the father. Even if a father died, his wife was not assured custody of the children unless his will explicitly stated so. In the Early 1900's, courts and state legislatures began to support maternal rights, viewing the mother as the more nurturing parent. The "tender years" doctrine, implemented in many states, encouraged courts to place young children with mothers because mothers were seen as essential to emotional development. The maternal preference continued to increase throughout the 1950's and 60's. With the spread of no-fault divorce laws throughout the late 1970's, and the increase of women's participation in the work force, women were more able to obtain divorces from unhappy marriages. Maternal preference in custody battles gave women a huge advantage, and a vast ... ...hers Manifesto or Dads Against the Divorce Industry, who use feminist bashing, gay bashing and make up outlandish statistics to support their cause. Aside for the fact that they support the repeal of the 19th Amendment, the Father's Manifesto web site includes a non-sensical graph which proves that 0% of 12th grade girls know anything about math and/or physics! Although I understand that many of these men are angry and frustrated, they will achieve nothing by make ludicrous claims and discriminating against women and homosexuals. Groups like this serve as easy targets for people opposing the movement, and reflect badly on educated reformers who see a need for change. I think that in order to be successful as a movement, positive Father's Right's organizations should distance themselves from the fringe groups, and try to make a cohesive movement excluding the reactionary organizations. Overall, I think that this movement focuses on a problem that many policy makers have ignored for two long. Our children do need fathers, and while I don't necessarily agree with the different ways these groups want to achieve their goals, I commend their efforts and think this is an important cause.

The Software Piracy Problem in China :: Technology

The Software Piracy Problem in China 1. The truth: Software piracy at issue in China. Surprisingly, software counterfeiting has such a profitable global market that â€Å"organized criminal groups using the proceeds from software counterfeiting to pay for terrorist operations overseas†, according to Brad Smith, Microsoft general counsel international. [1] Even though most people nowadays are aware of pirated software either from various news medium, or by seeing illegal software copies distributed among friends or students in their personal PCs, it would still be a shocking fact that, in the year 2000, software companies estimated that they lost $12 billion in revenue because of counterfeiting. That's 15% of the industry's $80 billion in worldwide sales.[2] Although software piracy is undoubtedly a global issue, people have been paying special attention to this issue in China. The truth is that, even though the piracy rate is increasing worldwide and the rate rose in 2000 to 37% from 36% in 1999, which means 37% of the software sold is estimated to be fake, the software piracy rates in China are up to 92% in 2002 according to Business Software Alliance (BSA). [3] Compare to China, in U.S. the average piracy rate by states is only 25.1%. Software piracy has different types. BSA identifies five common types as follows.[4] First, end user piracy. It occurs when a company employee reproduces copies of software without authorization, including using one licensed copy to install a program on multiple computers, or copying disks for installation and distribution, etc. Second, client-server overuse. It occurs when too many employees on a network are using a central copy of a program at the same time. Third, Internet piracy. This occurs when software is downloaded from the Internet where the same purchasing rules should apply to online software purchase as for those bought in traditional ways. Fourth, Hard Disk loading. It occurs when a business that sells new computers loads illegal copies of software onto the hard disks to make the purchase of the machines more attractive. Finally, Software Counterfeiting. This type of piracy is the illegal duplication and sale of copyrighted material with the intent of directly imitating the copyrighted product. In China, most of the software piracy is conducted as the type of Software Counterfeiting. Street gangs selling pirated software can be easily seen in grey market anywhere in China. 2. Who is able to protect your software right? The government?