Competitive Market Study in the United Arab Emirates

Competitive Market Study in the United Arab Emirates Background According to Butt, the performance of the oil and gas industry of the United Arab Emirates in the local and international markets is influenced by the work of the industry players and the productivity of the workforce (231).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Competitive Market Study in the United Arab Emirates specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Productivity is influenced by the availability of skilled personnel who are well trained to use modern technologies to perform the upstream, midstream and downstream oil exploration and production activities. According to Butt, skilled personnel contribute significantly to the competitive positioning of a firm in the market (232). To ensure efficiency and effectiveness, companies operating in the global and local oil and gas industries use the 360 degree performance appraisal system to evaluate the level of employees (Vessenes, 11). This appraisal system enable s the management of the companies to set goals and objectives for employees and the firm as an entity to work at the improvement of managerial effectiveness. The approach enables the management to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of employees who can positively affect the competitive market position of the companies operating in the industry (Vessenes, 11). Dessler argues that the upsurge in the demand for oil and gas in the local and international markets has necessitated the industry to employ skilled personnel to perform the tasks of oil and gas exploration and production (1).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More To achieve excellent performance targets which have a positive effect on the competitive positioning of the firms in the local and global markets, the oil and gas companies have adapted the 360 degree performance appraisal system to manage em ployees and the expatriates who work in the industry. Here, most of the expatriate employed in the oil and gas industry in the United Arab Emirates joined the companies from other countries as soon as the government discovered oil and gas in the country. Expatriates came in because of the shortage of skilled personnel to address the challenges and problems the companies operating in the oil and gas industry were experiencing. According to Langley and Guest, the need to respond to the increasing demand for oil and gas necessitated the country to embark on an ambitious program of sourcing for highly skilled personnel from other countries between 1990 and 2000 (2). The newly recruited employees working in the industry consisted of 91% expatriates of the country’s 2.4 million people by 2006. It is important to note that the public sector was the greatest employer because of the attractive benefits employees enjoed from the government. According to Randeree and Chaudhry, the urgen t need for trained and skilled personnel to work in the fields based on the exploration and production of oil in the United Arab Emirates was the reason for the ministry of labor and social services and the UAE council of ministers to identify training and development needs of the people (8). Here, the Government partnered with training institutions to teach skills required for the exploration and production of oil to the local people.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Competitive Market Study in the United Arab Emirates specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, the companies which operate in the sphere of exploration and production of oil and gas undergo significant challenges in employing the local people who demand higher salaries, better job security, shorter working hours, and greater employment benefits (Rees, Mamman Braik 2). The employees in the oil and gas industry in the UAE positively influence th e performance of the oil and gas sector in the international market, which is partially driven by the underlying population growth in the consumer market, and the rise in the demand for oil and gas in emerging markets such as China, South East Asia, and Africa. 50% percent of the market position and performance of the oil and gas industry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is influenced by the performance contributions of each individual employee against established objectives and standards (Rees, Mamman Braik 2). The financial performance of the companies in the industry makes significant contributions to the sharp rise in oil and gas prices in the international markets which contribute to the strength of the market position of the firms. The phenomenon was observed before the 2008 sharp fall in the international prices of oil and gas which created a decline in the market position and financial performance of the companies in the international and local markets. A summary backgroun d investigation shows that the exploration and production of oil in the United Arab Emirates is run by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), which was established in 1971, and operates a consortium of subsidiary companies. Zakum development company (ZADCO) is one of the subsidiary companies that make ADNOC with a workforce which is involved in the exploration, mining, and production of gas and oil in the UAE. Employees with specialized skills in the production of oil and gas have contributed significantly to the increased production capabilities of the companies under the directions of the top level management which uses the 360 degrees performance appraisal technique (Business Monitor International United Arab Emirates Oil Gas Report, 1).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More To achieve the objectives of the desired market position, the management of the companies has integrated a performance appraisal system for all employees who work in the industry to evaluate their contributions to the performance of the oil and gas industries. The management is responsible for the management of customers, the analysis of the market positions, the ultimate pricing of oil in context of the global oil prices, the quantity and quality of oil production, the market size, the customer value, maximization of market share and profit in the oil industry. Scope of the oil and gas industry in UAE This study focuses on the effect the oil and gas companies, which use the 360 degree performance appraisal system for performance evaluations, have on the local and international markets. An examination of effect of the 360 degree performance appraisal system on the performance of the human resource and the market position of the oil and gas industry in the United Arab Emirates is cri tical in answering the research questions. The Oil and Gas Industry in the UAE A study by Rees, Mamman and Braik shows that the workforce in the oil and gas industry contributes 90% to the performance of the sector which is the key driver of the economy of the United Arab Emirates, which possesses 10% of the world’s oil reserves (12). An effective workforce has contributed positively to the industry by transforming the economy from a desert region to one of the best performing economies in the Middle East by increasing the revenue required for the provision of social services and for the rapid economic growth and expansion. Expatriates working in the oil and gas sector consist of 85% of the 4.337 million workers according to the 2012 statistical data. The licensing of the companies involved in the exploitation of oil and gas in the United Arab Emirates is done according to the constitution of the UAE. Under the constitution, the licensing for the development of the oil and ga s resources is an exclusive task of each Emirate. Typically, around 95% of the oil produced in the UAE is from Abu Dhabi. The main companies involved in the production of oil and gas in the UAE include ADNOC, Dubai Petroleum Company (DPC) for upstream operations, Abu Dhabi Marine Operating Company (ADMA-OPCO), and Dubai Natural Gas Company (DUGAS), which is owned by the state and responsible for the production and transportation of gas from the offshore fields. A critical review of the licensing of the production of oil and gas in the UAE shows that ADNOC holds the majority shares and is considering limiting the number of foreign companies involved in the exploration and production of oil in the UAE. The United Arab Emirates has an ambitious investment plan on the upstream production activities to enhance the recovery of oil and gas. The strategy is to raise the production capacity to 3.5 million barrels a day by investing a US $60 billion in the next five years to achieve the targe t. To enhance competitive exploration and production of oil and gas, the government of the UAE has awarded contracts to Hyundai worth US $1.88bn for the exploration and production of oil from the Satah al-Razboot (SARB) regions, the National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC), and Petrofac Emirate and Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine Engineering (DSME) respectively for the production of oil and gas in other fields. Market Position Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) The market is the key driver that has significant effects on the financial performance of the company and its competitive position. To improve the performance and effectiveness of the company, it was important to restructure the main company into five autonomous business units under a directorate. Each directorate offers services in the exploration, production, and marketing of oil and gas. To improve accountability, the restructuring, which was implemented, affected different companies under the coordination of ADNOCâ €™s project directorate, which coordinates the management, human resource, and administration units. In this case, the critical components that contribute to the competitive strategy formulated by the company are the five new autonomous units of the main company (Rutledge, 9). ADNOC operates as a joint venture with other companies and has invited western countries, which contribute skilled personnel, enabling the company to improve its market strategy and competiveness. Employees in the industry do not like the 360 degrees performance appraisal system as a tool to determine the marketing strategy of the oil and gas industry in the country. The critical components of the performance appraisal system that affect the performance and marketing position of the oil and gas industry include the assessment centers, human resource accounting, and behaviorally anchored methods. Managerial effectiveness provides the organization with an evaluation of complete assessment of the effectivenes s of the oil companies performance and the development needs of the company. Market position A report by the Business Monitor International United Arab Emirates Oil Gas Report shows that 61.4 % of employees consider the 70% market share held by the company to be a direct result of the 360 degree performance appraisal system (1). A positive impact is created on the market position held by the company because of the impact caused by the 360 degree. Over 60% of the employees regard current market position and the competitive strategy to be as a result of the problem solving capabilities of the management, the promotion of teamwork, management competence in creating the right company mission and vision statements, ability to create strategic awareness, management drive to achieve organizational goals and objectives, and the ability of the management to enhance teamwork and motivate employees toward improved performance. Employee contributions to the company’s upstream interests in the production of oil and gas with its commercial production concentrated in the Dubai Natural Gas Company (DUGAS), which started the commercial production of oil and gas in 1980 (1). That is in addition to other national companies that ADNOC has invested its shares in. Besides, the company is undertaking different expansion projects to increase its production capacity (Vessenes, 11). The strategic aims of the company is to boost oil and gas production and market share in the oil and gas market, both locally and internationally and enhance the performance of the downstream operations of the company at different refineries. To enhance the performance of the downstream and upstream, the management has strategized to use technology to design and develop the latest engineering components to perform downstream activities with efficiency and effectiveness (Business Monitor International United Arab Emirates Oil Gas Report, 1). Zakum development company (ZADCO) ZADCO was constituted in 1977 under the promulgation of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan of law No. 9 to incorporate the company into the development and production of oil in its present area of work. ZADCO is a high performance subsidiary of the fully integrated oil and gas company ADNOC in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the wider perspective of carrying out petroleum industry business related activities, which include mining and exploration for oil and gas. ZADCO is a subsidiary that deals with the production of oil in the Umm Al Dalkh, Satah, and the upper Zakum fields using the latest oil mining technologies, which have given the company a competitive edge, enabling it to become the leading oil mining company in the UAE (Stauffer, 9). Methodology A literature review of secondary sources including books, articles, journals, and online sources will provide the required data for the study to determine the competitive market position of the oil and gas industry in the United Arab Emirates. The resear ch method will consist of a combination of both qualitative and quantitative approaches to answer the research question on the competitive market study in the oil and gas industry at the national and company levels. The choice of the method of study is based on the online availability of information on the market position and performance of the oil and gas industry of the United Arab Emirates. Different articles will be studied and the results will be deductive from the sources of information used as sources of data. Findings According to the results in the appendix, 15% of organizational employees agree that the management needs to improve on problem solving skills, managerial skills, and decision making skills to improve the performance of the organization in the oil market. 90% of the employees agree that the management has driven the employees to improve the productivity of the firm, 85% regard management as excellent in strategic planning, 90% regard management as having cellar mission and vision statements. The factors that contribute to organizational performance including teamwork, effective communication, and problem solving skills are rated above 50%. Analysis ZADCO holds a 60% market share of the oil and gas industry in the UAE and a 10% share in the global market which has been improving significantly. The reason for continuous growth is in the performance of the employees in the companies. Conclusion The effect of the 360 degree performance appraisal system on the performance of the employees who work in the oil and gas industry in the United Arab Emirates shows a direct positive effect on the market position of the firms. The results have shown that the competitive market position of the United Arab Emirates oil and gas companies show a positive relationship with the performance of organizational employees. The appraisal system enables management to understand and determine the rationale for continuous learning and the ability to make changes at management level by restructuring the company. That is in addition to increased levels of trust the employees develop, and the ability to collect information from different sources for effective decision making and improved performance, which contributes to enhanced organizational performance and market position. Business Monitor International: United Arab Emirates Oil Gas Report 2013. Web. Butt, Gerald. ’’Oil and Gas in the UAE.† United Arab Emirates: a New Perceptive. Ed. Ibrahim Abed and Peter Hellyer, London: Trident Press Ltd, 2001. 2331-249. Print. Dessler, Gary. Human Resource Management, 13th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2012. Print. Langley, Ian, M, and Mark Guest, 2012, The Global Oil Gas Workforce  Survey, 2012. Web. Randeree, Kasim, and Abdul Ghaffar Chaudhry. â€Å"Leadership in Project Managed Environments: Employee Perceptions of Leadership Styles within Infrastructure Development in Dubai.† International Review of Business Re search Papers 3. 4 (2007): 220-232. Print. Rees, Christopher J., Aminu Mamman, and Aysha Braik. â€Å"Emiratization a Strategic HRM Change Initiative: Case Study Evidence from a UAE Petroleum Company.† The International Journal of Human Resource Management 18.1 (2007): 33-53. Print. Rutledge, Emilie. Monetary Union in the Gulf: Prospects for a Single Currency in the  Arabian Peninsula. London: Routledge, 2009. Stauffer, David. The Power of Competitive Intelligence, Cambridge: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2003. Print. Vessenes, Peter. â€Å"Cash Is King, but Marketing Is Everything.† Journal of Financial  Planning 16.12 (2003): 1-19.Print. Appendix This questionnaire is used to collect data on the effect of the 360 degree performance appraisal system on the performance of the employees at the Zakum Development Company (ZADCO), and the direct effect it has on the performance of ZADCO development company in the local and international oil markets. Any informati on provided by the respondent is confidential and cannot be used for any other purpose except to conduct this study. You are kindly requested to fill and submit the questionnaire. Questions about the management Experienced and understands the management skills Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Solves problems, seizes opportunities plans for action Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Is proactive in making tactical decisions Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Technical and professional skills Is expertise in area of specialization Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Positively solves technical problems and anticipates problems Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Solves problems innovatively Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Is strategically aware of the financial position of the company Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Communicates clearly Strongly agree Agree Di sagree Strongly disagree Positively influences teamwork Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Creates business strategy Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Mission and vision statement of the company exists Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Has a structured planning mechanism Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Manages to gain an edge over competitors Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Makes the company products available than the competitors Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Strives to make higher profits Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Results Ranking Strongly agree Agree Disagree Strongly disagree Total The management 1 2 3 4 Scale Experienced and understands the management skills 7 5 3 5 20 Solves problems, seizes opportunities plans for action 3 4 7 1 15 Is proactive in making tactical decisions 3 10 3 0 16 Technical skills Strongly agree Agree D isagree Strongly disagree Results Is expertise in area of specialization 10 2 1 13 Positively solves technical problems and anticipates problems 15 4 1 20 Solves problems innovatively 11 9 20 Is strategically aware of the financial position of the company 18 2 20 Communicates clearly 18 2 20 Positively influences teamwork 10 7 17 Creates business strategy 17 1 18 Mission and vision statement of the company exists 18 2 20 Has a structured planning mechanism 17 3 20 manages to gain an edge over competitors 16 2 1 19 Strives to make higher profits 18 2 Analysis of the results Management competencies Ranking Rating between high =7 and low=1 percentage Self Manager Peer team Average Influence 1 4 1 1 2 4.3 61.4 Communication 2 1 7 6 3.5 4.2 60 Impact 5 3 9 2 5 4.9 70 Problem solving 7 2 3 7 5.1 3.7 52.9 Strategic awareness 5 6 3 4 5.1 4.9 70 Vision 9 7 2 2 5.6 4.3 61 Organization 4 5 8 7 6 4.8 68 Teamwork 3 9 3 9 6.3 4.1 59 Drive 8 8 3 4 6.4 3.5 50

How to Convert Celcius to Farenheit (°C to °F)

How to Convert Celcius to Farenheit ( °C to  °F) Youre looking to convert Celcius to Fahrenheit. While youll give your answer in  °C to  °F, you should know the temperature scales are Celsius and Fahrenheit. It doesnt matter for your final answer, but if youre ever expected to spell out the names, its good to know. The conversion is really easy: Celsius to Fahrenheit Conversion Formula Multiply the  °C temperature by 1.8. Add 32 to this number. This the answer in  °F.   Ã‚ °F   ( °C Ãâ€"  9/5) 32 Its just as easy to convert Fahrenheit to Celcius;  °C   ( °F − 32) x  5/9 Example  °C  to  °F Conversion For example, to convert 26 °C to  Ã‚ °F (the temperature of a warm day):   Ã‚ °F   ( °C Ãâ€"  9/5) 32   Ã‚ °F   (26 Ãâ€"  9/5) 32  °F   (46.8) 32  °F   78.8 ° F Table of  °C  and  Ã‚ °F Temperature Conversions Sometimes its good to just look up important temperatures, like body temperature, the freezing point and boiling point of water, etc. Here are some common important temperatures, in both Celsius (the metric scale) and Fahrenheit (the US temperature scale):  °C  °F Description -40 -40 This is where Celsius equals Fahrenheit. It's the temperature of an extremely cold day. −18 0 An average cold winter day. 0 32 The freezing point of water. 10 50 A cool day. 21 70 A typical room temperature. 30 86 A hot day. 37 98.6 Body temperature. 40 104 Bath water temperature. 100 212 Boiling point of water at sea level. 180 356 Baking temperature in an oven. Bold temperatures are exact values. Other temperatures are close but rounded to the nearest degree. Key Points Celsius and Fahrenheit are two important temperature scales that are commonly misspelled as Celcius and Farenheit.The formula to find a Celsius temperature from Fahrenheit is:  Ã‚  Ã‚ °F   ( °C  Ãƒâ€"  9/5) 32The formula to find a Fahrenheit temperature from Celsius is:  Ã‚  Ã‚ °F   ( °C Ãâ€"  9/5) 32The two temperature scales are equal at -40 °.

Summary Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Summary - Coursework Example As per the requirements of US GAAP and Securities and Exchange Commission, the income statement of PepsiCo shows the comparative financial performance of the company over last three years, i.e. 2009, 2010 and 2012. There is one extra ordinary item is also included with the head of â€Å"bottling equity income†. However, this item was of non-recurring nature such that it was present in the income statements of 2009 and 2010 but in 2011, this figure was not shown by the company. The requirement to show both basic and diluted earnings per share is also provided in the income statement of PepsiCo. There are few optional items also presented by the company in order to provide more meaningful picture of the company especially to its shareholders such as weighted average number of ordinary shares outstanding and dividend per share declared by PepsiCo over last three years. Contingencies Contingencies, is a specific type of liability under which account head is presented on the face o f the balance sheet but its amount is not showed. Generally, contingencies include those items the results of which can go either in favor or against the company such as lawsuits, long-term contractual obligations, commitments etc. However, contingencies are presented only when their respective amounts are probable and can be reliably estimated as well. PepsiCo has also provided contingencies on its balance sheet under the name of commitments and contingencies. There are different kinds of contingencies under which PepsiCo is obligated, such as non-cancelable commitments. These non-cancelable commitments include commitments for operating leases of building, purchasing agreements with the suppliers of sugar and sweeteners, oranges and its juices and related packaging material. Non-cancelable marketing agreements are also signed by PepsiCo mainly for its sports based marketing. There are some items, which have not been included under contingencies by PepsiCo such as bottler funding an d medical plan related liabilities for retirees. Bottler funding is that agreement which is negotiated by PepsiCo with its suppliers on yearly basis. Medical plan is not included because expected future cash outflows in this regard are not represented as long-term contractual obligations. Off-balance sheet transactions and items are also not included in the commitment and contingencies because PepsiCo has not made it its practice to include in its financial statements unless they constitute under the normal course of business of PepsiCo. INTANGIBLES Being a multi-national entity, PepsiCo has acquired different sorts of intangible assets such as brands, computer software, franchises, goodwill etc. The company has developed various criteria in order to value its intangibles, which are discussed below. Brands PepsiCo develops certain brands the cost of which is normally expensed out by the company in the year in which the brand is developed. Certain brands are acquired by PepsiCo such that their goodwill is recognized separately in the balance sheet. With respect to the life of brands, there are two types of brands i.e. brands with definite life and brands with indefinite life. PepsiCo has the specific brand valuation criteria, which it follows in order to assess the life of the brand. Generally, the brands with definite lives are amortized over a period ranging from 5 to 40 years are

Origins of vernacular language Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Origins of vernacular language - Essay Example Some of the vernacular language carries an interesting history laced up with all its delicacies and ethical norms. Latin and the vernacular languages Originally Latin was among one of the Italic Languages which later underwent into a continuous development and in each period it showed some significant changes between the literary written language which was influenced by other languages including Celtic Languages, Etruscan and Greek. There was an obvious difference between the linguistics used by an educated class and a uneducated class. It was in c.70 BCE to c.14 CE when Latin was at its peak and was used by poets and writers whose literature is still considered to be a golden heritage. Latin which went into a lot of brushing and grooming by other languages like Greek was then adopted by Western Church in Rome where Christianity was the most dominant religion and Latin fathers helped in compiling Christian Doctrine. African American Vernacular English (AAVE) African American Vernacul ar English is commonly known as a black vernacular as it is spoken and understood in a region where black masses are living in. It is another form of English with difference of grammatical changes in English Language used or understood in America. Controversies are noted with a subject of emergence of AAVE.

The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis Essay Example for Free

The Yellow Wallpaper Analysis Essay In Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, strong themes of captivity and entrapment are in play in regards to how women perceive their specific situations. In the story, the troubled narrator goes through a lot of soul searching, but after a while, the wallpaper itself in the story is given much more meaning by the author. Over time, the actual wallpaper in the story becomes more than just decoration. Over time, it becomes a representation of the way that women are often trapped in their own domestic situation. The wallpaper traps the narrator through its design, which is complicated and takes up a lot of the narrator’s time. She is also trapped because of the wallpaper’s associated meaning to her life, as it brings up the bad memories that she does not want to remember. The third and perhaps most important way that the yellow wallpaper limits the narrator and traps her is through the social connotations that went along with the color at the time. Yellow was not associated with many positive things, and the narrator had knowledge of this. Though the narrator feels more trapped in a figurative sense, the actual wallpaper itself is quite limiting because of its complicated design, as well. In the beginning of the story, the narrator finds herself exploring the wallpaper design, which takes up her time. Though she would like to go through with her normal, day to day activities, she is forced to spend the majority of her time mulling over the complicated nature of the yellow colored wallpaper. Over time, she begins to see things in the wallpaper that she did not see before. Eventually, the narrator sees strong imagery within the wallpaper and it serves as a moving experience. She sees a vision of herself within the wallpaper – a real life picture of a woman struggling to break free from the toil and insanity of her everyday life. Once the narrator realizes what she sees within the wallpaper, she begins to associate that with her life in a way that almost drives her crazy. In the past, the narrator sees the wallpaper as being something of a watchdog that keeps her in her place. Once she starts to break down the wallpaper’s design, this leads her to associate the wallpaper with her struggle in life. Though the wallpaper is made out of paper, it seems more like prison bars to her because it reminds her, each and every day, of what her life has become. She is domesticated and that is what she is expected to be. The narrator has become locked in to what a woman is supposed to be in her society. Yellow is a color that is supposed to represent femininity and everything that is right about women. Instead, it becomes a signal to her about everything that is wrong with the way she is being forced to live her life. Though it would be easy to break through the wallpaper itself, she would never be able to break out of the domesticated life that had taken over her creativity and everything else that she had once hoped to accomplish in life. At some point in the story, the narrator begins to become a little bit crazy over the wallpaper. She begins to break it down in ways that it was never intended to be broken down. One of those ways is through analyzing the actual color itself. Yellow, as mentioned before, was a color that was supposed to represent goodness. Instead of seeing it as that, she begins to realize all of the negative connotations that go along with the color yellow. She associates it with many unpleasant medical conditions, including jaundice. More importantly than that, the narrator sees the color as a representation of the sun, which was both powerful and controlling. It was the dominant force of the universe and something that, like the wallpaper and her life, she could not get away from. The other social connotation that goes along with yellow is the idea of oppression of minorities. Chinese people in particular were associated with this color and that sort of racism was another negative aspect of the color. In order to truly assume a position of self worth, the narrator had to break through all of these things, including the color barrier associated with the wallpaper. In the short story, wallpaper, which was meant to be positive, works as a restricting force in trapping one woman in her own life. It should be a symbol of the perfect domestic life, but it instead acts as prison bars for women who feel that they cannot truly be themselves because of the limiting nature of the wallpaper. The many different negative things about the wallpaper all combine together to create something that was powerful enough to nearly drive one woman crazy. In the story, if a woman was to break free from the oppression of her domestic situation, she had to break through both the symbolic barriers and the actual wallpaper that was limiting her life.

Managing Change In Operations Essay -- essays research papers

Behavior Traits of Successful Businesses Business Innovation Opportunities Businesses are resource limited and must determine where and in what way to allocate resources to achieve business mission objectives. This translates to why it is so important for business to be creative and actively plan for innovation correctly. Innovation is a change of direction and it alters investment policy so it is essential from the onset for the business planner to be clear about the current state of product â€Å"portfolio†. The planner must recognize how to balance the current products against possible policies for future development and their likely implications in terms of cash flow, market share, return on capital employed and other key components of company objectives. A successful behavior trait taking hold for successful companies is to develop business models to assess a strategy. These models provide change models expanding on issues such as â€Å"what†, that provide a picture of the company now of analysis; and â€Å"which†, that suggest alternative action paths for the company to take. Both of these models provide information to build a more complete picture of events within the business and options for future development. Managers should make use of these models and many don’t. Those that do are more likely to be successful and have the ability to minimize risk of failure. Business managers who do are far more likely to survive. For planners and non-planners there is not a single universal technique that can be applied in all situations. Use of strategic planning models can be a very important behavior trait for successful companies. Companies that do not use strategic planning models usually don’t because the model does not offer what the customer wants. It may be inadequate because of its analysis of the relationship between company resources and markets. These result in advice about overall investment decisions rather than about the specifics of how to manage the alternatives in the market/business relationship can be shortsighted, since there are always alternatives in order to gain the maximum competitive advantage. Since change is so an important aspect of business continuity, many models don’t necessarily provide assiduous suggestions for what type of change should be considered. An example of modeling one such model in use by Boston Consulting Gr... ...he market required by other types of innovation. Therefore, three broad types of organizational patterns can be described as appropriate for components of the innovation matrix and it can be described as follows: 1. Common room – appropriate for the development of sector creating innovations 2. Rugby scrum – approaches are best for the management of performance extension, technological reorganization and process innovations and those innovations that require a close and continuing contact with the marketplace for effective control 3. Coffee shop – reformation, service, branding, design and packaging are most suited in this sector Once a company has formulated an innovation policy it must evaluate whether to acquire the expertise from outside the organization (acquisition), to borrow it (licensing), to develop it with a partner with some specific expertise in this area (joint venture), or to concentrate on developing the knowledge internally. By studying how knowledge has been acquired and the problems associated with each route, it is then possible to come to some general conclusions about the best overall method for developing competitive advantage in the 1990’s and beyond.

Effect of racism from a functionalist’s point of view Essay

One of the most identifiable effects of racial discrimination in education and training is the negative impact it has on the performance of children at school. The failure to address the needs of minority children and those of migrant workers through, for example, combating racial stereotyping or through formulating school curricula that include modules on minority languages and cultures, can lead to school curricula which lack relevance for those children. As a result, children may lose interest and become bored at school which in turn increases the risk that children will drop out early or even fail to attend school at all. The failure to provide curricula adapted to the specific needs of the children of minorities and migrant workers can also lead to low literacy rates amongst these groups. Similarly, where a child does not have an adequate grasp of the official language, the failure to provide additional language classes in the official language and to provide classes in minority or migrant languages could have the effect of retarding the progress of those children through school. Another long-term effect of racial discrimination is that children learn to accept acts of racial discrimination as the norm. Such learnt behaviour can lead to the consolidation of racial discrimination within society as the norm, with children of minorities or migrants growing up and discriminating against the newest influx of migrants. Thus, a vicious cycle of discriminatory behaviour is produced which reinforces racially discriminatory behaviour. The forced segregation of children of minorities and migrant workers from other children can have serious negative effects on the capacity of these children to integrate with other children and into the society in general. In particular, segregation of children into schools for mentally handicapped children can severely retard the child’s progress through school and can affect his or her self-image. Education is arguably the basis of a functionalist’s beliefs, where children learn social skills and behaviours, these skills help build towards unity in society. Therefore racism is abhored in their beliefs.

A Failure to Communicate: Long Term Care for the Baby Boomers

The Government is taking the home Mary and Marshall Brandenburg worked for all their lives.   Mary and Marshall poured all of their assets into realizing the American dream of home ownership.   Now they are among the thousands of seniors who are having that dream extinguished by the estate recovery provision of Medicaid.   Mary has lived in a nursing home since 2001.When she dies, Georgia will collect the cost of her long-term care from her estate, wiping out any inheritance for her family.   Like Mary and Marshall, most Americans think the money taken out of their paychecks every week for Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid will cover their long-term care.   This is simply not true.This paper explores the misconception held by a significant number of people that Government programs will pay for long-term care.   This paper also discusses the way Congress altered the role of Medicaid through passage of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.   The policy changes of the DA R substantially affect estate planning and increase the need for long-term care insurance.Also included is a discussion of provisions a long-term insurance policy should include.   The two main delivery methods of long-term care insurance are through a private carrier or a state sponsored Long-Term Care Partnership Program.   The paper concludes by recommending nationwide implementation of the Long-Term Care Partnership Program.II. ITS REALITY TIME FOR THE BABY BOOMERS!Americans are living longer than ever and the first members of the Baby Boom Generation will reach 65 in four more years.   Many of them are or have been caregivers for their parents.   The reality of old age is now staring them directly in the face.As one recent blogger lamented: â€Å"I was cleaning the bathroom yesterday, wiping down the mirror, when it happened.   It stopped me in my tracks, mid-swipe, and I couldn’t believe my eyes.   I blinked hard, took another look, but there was no denying the truth.   I have become my mother.†A. Just Who Are These â€Å"Boomers† Anyway?The U. S. Census Bureau defines Baby Boomers as the 78 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964.   They comprise approximately 30% of the total population and are more numerous than any other generation.   Boomers transformed America into what is now the wealthiest and strongest nation on the planet.Along the way, they also transformed our culture.   Boomers are the driving force behind the emphasis on individual rights, from civil rights to gay rights.   They started out by challenging authority but now control almost every major institution.Now they are facing retirement but the majority of them have not considered any type of estate planning.   According to a recent study, 60% of Americans between the ages of 21 and 64 have neither an IRA nor a 401(k).   According to Cheryl Russell, a well-known demographer, most Boomers â€Å"haven't faced retirement planning yet, b ut when they do, it will come as a shock.†B.   Their Need for Long Term CareAmericans are living longer than ever.   At birth, a Boomer could expect to live to the age of seventy.   Now Americans reaching 65 have a life expectancy of 20 more years.   This trend of more of us getting older and living longer will continue.   Individuals that are age 85 and older are the fastest growing demographic of our population.At age fifty, there is a 20% chance of needing long-term care within the next year.   At age 65, there is a 44% lifetime risk of entering a nursing home.   The trend is clear, more and more of us will need long-term care.What is Long-Term Care?Long-term care encompasses a broad range of services needed by people who are unable to care for themselves because of illness, disability or aging.   Long-term care is the assistance needed to perform the essential activities of daily living (ADLs).   Individuals may receive this assistance at home, in an assi sted living facility, adult day care center or skilled nursing home.The term, activities of daily living, means activities that people generally do by themselves on a daily basis.   These are dressing, bathing, transferring (getting into and out of bed or a chair), walking, eating and toileting/continence.   Medicaid eligibility or payments from a long-term care insurance policy usually require the person be unable to perform two or more of the ADLs.However, long-term care encompasses more than just meeting the chronic health care needs of an individual. Maintaining your quality of life and lifestyle preferences are also important components.   Providing assistance in a traditional facility is usually more efficient and cheaper than assistance provided at home.Yet most people prefer to remain in their home and maintain control in the determining their daily activities.   Whether this is possible depends on the individual’s financial situation and the availability of s upport from the family or community.

Free Essays on E Commerce

E-Commerce Business Models & The Ever Changing Environment Unbelievably, the E-Commerce Business models are probably the most discussed and least understood aspect of the Internet. In the simplest form, a business model is the method of doing business by which a company can sustain itself while generating positive revenue. Internet will give rise to new kinds of business models. The Internet business models continue to evolve on a daily basis. The models could be implemented in a variety of ways. Furthermore, a company may combine several different models as part of its overall Internet business strategy. For example, it is not uncommon for businesses to blend customer service with a marketing model. Business models have taken on greater importance recently as a form of intellectual property that can be protected with a patent. Indeed, business models have fallen increasingly within the realm of patent law. A number of business method patents relevant to e-commerce have been granted. But some of the more noteworthy patents may be challenged in the courts. Some questions that arise are as follows: Which models will prove most effective for which kinds of businesses? How can each be pursued most effectively? What combinations of the pure models tend to be particularly effective and which tend to be in conflict? It is understood that each of the business models should be applied to a Web site under centralized management. Here are some important example of E-commerce business models: Â · STOREFRONT MODEL: An organization offers products or services for sale. Many Web sites of this sort also have Customer Service Model features, and if not then probably they should have. One legal issue that might arise from this model is misrepresentation of the customer service model. Â · MALL MODEL: Someone who offers products or services to consumers from a collection of distinct businesses that retain their individual identities and pay for in... Free Essays on E Commerce Free Essays on E Commerce E-Commerce Business Models & The Ever Changing Environment Unbelievably, the E-Commerce Business models are probably the most discussed and least understood aspect of the Internet. In the simplest form, a business model is the method of doing business by which a company can sustain itself while generating positive revenue. Internet will give rise to new kinds of business models. The Internet business models continue to evolve on a daily basis. The models could be implemented in a variety of ways. Furthermore, a company may combine several different models as part of its overall Internet business strategy. For example, it is not uncommon for businesses to blend customer service with a marketing model. Business models have taken on greater importance recently as a form of intellectual property that can be protected with a patent. Indeed, business models have fallen increasingly within the realm of patent law. A number of business method patents relevant to e-commerce have been granted. But some of the more noteworthy patents may be challenged in the courts. Some questions that arise are as follows: Which models will prove most effective for which kinds of businesses? How can each be pursued most effectively? What combinations of the pure models tend to be particularly effective and which tend to be in conflict? It is understood that each of the business models should be applied to a Web site under centralized management. Here are some important example of E-commerce business models: Â · STOREFRONT MODEL: An organization offers products or services for sale. Many Web sites of this sort also have Customer Service Model features, and if not then probably they should have. One legal issue that might arise from this model is misrepresentation of the customer service model. Â · MALL MODEL: Someone who offers products or services to consumers from a collection of distinct businesses that retain their individual identities and pay for in...

Finding Chi-Square Functions in Excel

Finding Chi-Square Functions in Excel Statistics is a subject with a number of probability distributions and formulas. Historically many of the calculations involving these formulas were quite tedious. Tables of values were generated for some of the more commonly used distributions and most textbooks still print excerpts of these tables in appendices. Although it is important to understand the conceptual framework that works behind the scenes for a particular table of values, quick and accurate results require the use of statistical software. There are a number of statistical software packages. One that is commonly used for calculations at the introductory is Microsoft Excel. Many distributions are programmed into Excel. One of these is the chi-square distribution. There are several Excel functions that use the chi-square distribution. Details of Chi-square Before seeing what Excel can do, let’s remind ourselves about some details concerning the chi-square distribution. This is a probability distribution that is asymmetric and highly skewed to the right. Values for the distribution are always nonnegative. There is actually an infinite number of chi-square distributions. The one in particular that we are interested in is determined by the number of degrees of freedom that we have in our application. The greater the number of degrees of freedom, the less skewed our chi-square distribution will be. Use of Chi-square A chi-square distribution  is used for several applications. These include: Chi-square test- To determine if the levels of two categorical variables are independent of one another.Goodness of fit test- To determine how well-observed values of a single categorical variable match with values expected by a theoretical model.Multinomial Experiment- This is a specific use of a chi-square test. All of these applications require us to use a chi-square distribution. Software is indispensable for calculations concerning this distribution. CHISQ.DIST and CHISQ.DIST.RT in Excel There are several functions in Excel that we can use when dealing with chi-square distributions. The first of these is CHISQ.DIST( ). This function returns the left-tailed probability of the chi-squared distribution indicated. The first argument of the function is the observed value of the chi-square statistic. The second argument is the number of degrees of freedom. The third argument is used to obtain a cumulative distribution. Closely related to CHISQ.DIST is CHISQ.DIST.RT( ). This function returns the right-tailed probability of the selected chi-squared distribution. The first argument is the observed value of the chi-square statistic, and the second argument is the number of degrees of freedom. For example, entering CHISQ.DIST(3, 4, true) into a cell will output 0.442175. This means that for the chi-square distribution with four degrees of freedom, 44.2175% of the area under the curve lies to the left of 3. Entering CHISQ.DIST.RT(3, 4 ) into a cell will output 0.557825. This means that for the chi-square distribution with four degrees of freedom, 55.7825% of the area under the curve lies to the right of 3. For any values of the arguments, CHISQ.DIST.RT(x, r) 1 – CHISQ.DIST(x, r, true). This is because the part of the distribution that does not lie to the left of a value x must lie to the right. CHISQ.INV Sometimes we start with an area for a particular chi-square distribution. We wish to know what value of a statistic we would need in order to have this area to the left or the right of the statistic. This is an inverse chi-square problem and is helpful when we want to know the critical value for a certain level of significance. Excel handles this sort of problem by using an inverse chi-square function. The function CHISQ.INV returns the inverse of the left tailed probability for a chi-square distribution with specified degrees of freedom. The first argument of this function is the probability to the left of the unknown value. The second argument is the number of degrees of freedom. Thus, for example, entering CHISQ.INV(0.442175, 4) into a cell will give an output of 3. Note how this is the inverse of the calculation we looked at earlier concerning the CHISQ.DIST function. In general, if P CHISQ.DIST(x, r), then x CHISQ.INV( P, r). Closely related to this is the CHISQ.INV.RT function. This is the same as CHISQ.INV, with the exception that it deals with right-tailed probabilities. This function is particularly helpful in determining the critical value for a given chi-square test. All we need to do is to enter the level of significance as our right-tailed probability, and the number of degrees of freedom. Excel 2007 and Earlier Earlier versions of Excel use slightly different functions to work with chi-square. Previous versions of Excel only had a function to directly calculate right-tailed probabilities. Thus CHIDIST corresponds with the newer CHISQ.DIST.RT, In a similar way, CHIINV corresponds to CHI.INV.RT.

Chick-fil-A - a swift service restaurant chain in the United States Research Paper

Chick-fil-A - a swift service restaurant chain in the United States - Research Paper Example The company is associated with the Southern United States region, where it has been identified as a cultural icon (Cathy, 1989). This article will analyze the culture and its impact on the company’s achievement by bringing out the strength of this culture. This paper will also explain how culture is conveyed to employees, and also include a brief outline on the company’s ethics. By April 2012, the company had 1,614 restaurants in roughly 38 states, including the Columbian District (Cathy, 1989). The company is also focusing its prospect growth in Southern California and American Midwest. Historically, Chick-fil-A was renowned with shopping malls, since most of its original food courts were located in trendy shopping malls. The first food court belonging to the restaurant was opened in Atlanta’s Green-briar Mall in 1967 (Cathy, 2002). Moreover, this company opened their first freestanding store in 1986. Nowadays, the chain has over 1000 such units of which some can be found in various places like universities, airports and hospitals through licensing agreements with the authorities (Cathy, 2002). The Chick-fil-A chain has grown tremendously from the Dwarf Grill (now recognized as Dwarf house); a restaurant opened in the Georgian suburb of Hapeville, Atlanta in 1946 by Cathy, who is the company’s chairman to date (Cathy, 2002). ... In the 2006 season, the company became Peach Bowl’s main sponsor. The company is also a considerable sponsor of ACC, SEC, and Big 12 conferences of college athletics. The chain came up with a popular advert created in 1995 by The Richards Group that reads â€Å"Eat mor chikin† (Cathy, 2002). This slogan features cows wearing signs painted with the slogan in uppercase. In connection to the company’s advertising strategies, these cows have united in an effort to reform the American food industry by reducing the amount of beef being eaten. This suggests that chicken burgers are preferably better off compared to the beef burgers. This advert aims at restricting the American community from eating beef burgers, which is common in menus of Chick-fil-A’s competitors such as Burger King, Wendy’s, and McDonald’s (Michelle & Darren 2011). However, the ad campaign was halted in the interim during a mad cow disease scare in January 1, 2004. Two months lat er, the cow advert was put up again. This time, the cows replaced the chain’s old mascot, an anthropomorphized chicken which appears as the C in the logo and doodles (Cathy, 1989). The company has a well structured culture which enables the company to run successfully. Additionally, the company has happy employees and services. The employees are always cheerful, and some of the customers claim that their happiness has something to do with their monthly wages. This is a delightful model to any business success in America. A visit to the joint is usually welcomed by young, inevitably welcoming, smiling, helpful, quick and polite young faces. The joint runs clean restaurants based on many people’s