Conflict in Organization

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT Conflict management refers on the way how we approach the other party in a conflict situation. There are main structural approaches such as emphasizing superordinate goals, reducing differentiation, improving communication and understanding, reducing task independence, increasing resources, and clarifying rules and procedures. Emphasizing Supeordinate Goals The first way to resolve the conflict is to seek and find the common goals. The emphasizing superordinate goals are common objectives held by conflicting parties that are more important than the department or individual goals on which the conflict is based.If the commitments to corporate wide goals increase, the employees will pay less attention to competing individual or departmental-level goals. So, it reduces their perceived conflict with co-workers. Besides that, they also can reduce the problem of incompatibility and differentiation by establishing a common frame of reference. For example, the most effecti ve executive teams frame their decision as superordinate goals that arise above each executive’s departmental or divisional goals. Reducing DifferentiationBesides that, another way for resolving conflict is to remove the sources of different values and beliefs that produce the conflict in the first place. When the employees think they have same backgrounds or experience with other workers, they will be more motivated to coordinate their activities and resolve the conflict. For example, move the employees to different jobs so that they come to depend on each others. Improving Communication and Understanding The third way to minimize the conflict involves by giving the conflict parties more opportunities to communicate and understand each other. By aving the good communication, the employees can understand and appreciate each other’s views and opinions. It relates to contact hypothesis which is the more meaningful interaction we have with someone, the less we rely on ste reotypes to understand that person. There are two warnings. First, apply communication or understanding after reducing differentiation. For example, when we interact with people who are quite different and have conflict with us, we tend to select information that reinforces that view. So, communication and understanding interventions are most effective when differentiation is sufficiently low.Second, people in collectivist and high power distance cultures are less comfortable with the practice of resolving differences through open communication. People in Confucian cultures prefer an avoidance conflict management style since it is consistent with face saving and harmony. Furthermore, direct communication is high-risk because it threatens the harmony easily. Reducing Interdependence Another way to minimize dysfunctional conflict may involve reducing the level of interdependence between the parties. It can occur by dividing the shared sources so that each party has exclusive use part of it in different times.Sequentially, interdependence task may be combined so that they can form a pooled or shared interdependence. Furthermore, buffers also can help to reduce the interdependence level among people. It includes resources such as more inventories could be added between people who perform sequential tasks. The organizations use human buffers as people who serve as intermediaries between interdependent people or work units that do not get along through direct interaction. Increasing Resources The dysfunctional conflict also can be reduced by increasing the amount of resource available.It also refers by duplicating the resources so that can minimize the conflict. Corporate decision makers might dismiss this solution quickly because of the costs involved. Nevertheless, these costs with the costs of dysfunctional conflict that arise out of resource scarcity must be compared carefully. Clarifying Rules and Procedures Conflicts that arise from unclear and ambiguous can b e resolved through establishing rules and procedures. This strategy has been applied by Armstrong World Industries, Inc. , when consultants and information system employees clashed while working together on development of a client-server network.Moreover, the rules establish the changes of interdependence. For example, employee’s work hours or a supplier’s order fulfillment. RESOLVING CONFLICT THROUGH NEGOTIATION Negotiation is the process whereby two or more conflicting parties attempt to resolve their divergent goals by redefining the terms of their interdependence. In the other meaning, people negotiate when discussion can meet satisfaction and resolution in their exchange of goods and services. For example, the employees negotiate with supervisors over next month’s work assignment. Bargaining Zone Model of NegotiationsBargaining zone means the process of negotiation moves each party along a continuum an area of potential overlap. It can be applied to situati ons in which both sides potentially gain from the negotiations. There are three main points of this model. First, the initial-offer point is the team’s opening offer to the other party. Second, the target point is the team’s realistic goal or expectation for a final agreement. Third, the resistance point is the point beyond which the team will not make further concessions. Negotiation begins with describing the initial-offer point for each item on the plan.Besides that, in the win-lose situations, neither the target nor resistance point is revealed to the other party. If the parties have a win-win situation, the objective is to find a creative solution that keeps both parties close to their initial-offer points. Situational Influences on Negotiations Both the situation and the behaviors of negotiators are the effectiveness of negotiating. There are four important situational factors such as location, physical setting, time and audience. First, location is easier to neg otiate as we are common with the negotiating environment and are able to maintain comfortable routines.It is also no need to depend on others for resources during negotiation. Second, the physical distance between the parties and formality of the setting can influence their orientation with each other. Sometimes, people who sit face-to-face tend to develop a win-lose orientation toward the situation. Third, the longer time in negotiations can lead to stronger commitment in reaching a solution. For example, the more time people put in negotiation, the stronger the tendency to make unwarranted concessions. So that, the negotiation is going to be succeed.Time deadlines are a liability in negotiation which it is useful to motivate people to complete it. Lastly, most negotiators have the audiences. They can be anyone that is interested in the negotiation outcomes. For examples are executives, other team members, or general public. The negotiators tend to be more competitive and less will ing to make concessions when the audience has the direct observation towards the proceedings. Negotiator Skills The negotiator skills are important in resolving conflict arise. Four of most important skills are setting goals, gathering information, communicating effectively, and making concessions.Firstly, negotiators should prepare for the negotiation and set goals. They also should think carefully through their initial-offer, target and resistance points. If the negotiation fails, they need to consider alternative strategies. Besides that, they need to check their underlying assumptions as well as goods and values. Secondly, in order to gather the information, negotiators should spend more time listening to the other party and asking the details. Thirdly, effective negotiators communicate in a way to maintain strong relationships between parties. They also will avoid irritating statements.Furthermore, they are masters of persuasion so that it is accepted by others. Lastly, making concessions are important because they enable the parties to move toward the area of potential agreement, symbolize each party’s motivation to bargain in good faith, and tell others about the importance of negotiating items. THIRD-PARTY CONFLICT RESOLUTION Third-party conflict resolution is any attempt by a relatively neutral person to help the parties resolve their differences. Procedural fairness is important when the third party makes a binding decision to resolve the dispute.There are three types of third-party resolution activities, which are arbitration, inquisition, and mediation. Arbitration is the final stage of grievances by unionized employees, and is becoming more common in nonunion conflicts. The arbitrators have high control over the final decision but low control over process. They will decide the outcome of a dispute between two parties. Besides that, executives engage in this strategy by following previous agreed-on-rules of due process, making a binding deci sion and listening to arguments from the dispute parties.Inquisitors control all discussion about the conflict and choose the form of conflict resolution. They have high decision control and high process control. They generally the conflict resolution process and enforce a resolution that they perceive to be the most appropriate. There are important ways to limit the collaborative problem solving process. First, they generally operate on assumptions of the problem and the relevant information in solving the problem. Second, they limit the information that they gather to the information they specifically request from disputants. As a result, inquisitors make quick decisions to resolve conflicts.Mediators have high control over the intervention process. Their main purpose is to manage the process and context of interaction between the dispute parties. However, the parties make the final decision about how to resolve their differences. So, mediators have little or no control over the c onflict resolution decision. There are several things mediators need to do to increase the likelihood of successful mediation such as suggest alternatives, prepare to invest time and effort, and insist on a detailed action plan. On the other hand, the mediation is hard work and time consuming. CHOOSING THE BEST THIRD-PARTY INTERVENTION STRATEGYResearch suggests that people in positions of authority usually adopt an inquisitional approach which is they dominate the intervention process as making a binding decision. The inquisition approach is preferred by manager because it is consistent with the decision-oriented nature of managerial jobs, tends to resolve the disputes efficiently, and gives them control over the conflict process and outcome. Conversely, this approach is usually least effective in organizational settings. The problem is leaders who take in an inquisitional role be likely to collect the limited information about the problem.Besides that, the employees often view inqu isitional procedures and outcomes as unfair. The most appropriate of third-party resolution in organizations depends on the situation such as the type of disputes, the culture values and the relationship between the managers and employees. However in general speaking, the mediation approach is the best because it gives employees more responsibility for resolving their own disputes. It also offers the highest level of employee satisfaction with the conflict process and outcome. References http://www. wright. edu/~scott. williams/LeaderLetter/mediation. htm

Hr a Short Briefing for New Hr Colleagues to Help Them Perform Effectively and Efficiently in Their Roles. Essay

HR Professionals must understand the business and culture for which they serve and the HR strategy must be aligned to this. As shown in the map above, there are ten professional areas in which as a HR Professional you should strive to demonstrate the highest achievable level of competence. As a new member of the HR Team at YWP, we expect you to support the improvement of HR processes and policies. This includes continuously looking at opportunities in which to improve the HR Function and its implementation within the organisation. You will act as a sounding board for employee relations, feeding back information to your HR Manager and facilitating change initiatives when required. You will be responsible for your own personal continuous professional development and as such will record and plan your development during your time at YWP. You will work with the HR Team to ensure you are well versed with the organisation and its context to ensure all decisions made within the HR Function a re in alignment with this. You will keep up to date with developments in the HR industry and implement and analyse how these will affect our organisation as they arise. You will be expected to act as a role model and deliver and exceed objectives and expectations. Showing courage to challenge, you will act as a driver for operational excellence within the organisation. http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/48FF823A-1A33-4C90-8B9B-B691D9130C01/0/AssociatemembercriteriaAug11.pdf The four concentric circles of HR Professionalism The four concentric circles of HR professionalism comprise of managing self, managing groups/ teams, managing upwards and managing across the organisation. These are all areas which you will demonstrate at some point during your career at YWP. As a HR Professional, you are responsible for the management of your own skills, knowledge and development. Use of a development plan and record will go some way to help you achieve this. However you must also be open to feedback from others and undergo frequent self evaluation in order to identify development areas and review set objectives. By undertaking this not only will you develop as a HR Professional but you will also add value to the organisation for which you serve. Effective management of a team or group requires effective leadership. Management and leadership can exist independently from one another however to be fully effective must co-exist. Leadership is something which must be worked towards and is not inherited automatically with the assignment of a managerial task or role. How you manage your team will ultimately determine how you are perceived as a leader in that team. (Selden, 2010) Effective delegation, motivation, development, communication, discipline and conflict management are all aspects of team management and how you manage these aspects will have a direct influence on the dynamics and success of your team’s outcomes. http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMM_92.htm Managing upwards is an important aspect of a successful HR Professionals’ management strategy. It is essential to ascertain the key factors which your manager expects you to deliver, how they expect you to deliver them and to what standard. Analyse what is expected from you by your line manager and seek regular feedback to ensure you consistently meet their objectives. Seek new responsibilities and provide regular updates to your line manager on your achievements and successful project outcomes. http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2006/11/03/7-ways-to-manage-up/ Collaboration across the organisation is imperative to ensure the full impact and implementation of any HR initiative. Managing HR across the organisation involves maintaining inter-department relationships and alliances, facilitating communication channels, ensuring credibility and the positive perception of the HR Function. Managing across the organisation by using its line managers to implement HR initiatives will ensure the HR Functions objectives are much more likely to be realised. Adding Value to the Organisation The HR Function drives performance and provides line managers with the tools and resources to increase the performance of the organisation’s employees. It must do this by identifying the business values and formulating a strategy in line with these. This strategy must then be effectively implemented at all levels. You will work with your HR colleagues to identify the business values as they evolve and formulate a strategy in line with this. In order for HR to add value in any organisation, the team members of that HR Function must align their goals to that of the organisation. You will work with the HR team to design strong policies and procedures which encourage managers and employees to focus on the growth of the company and maintain the competitive edge. http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2010/05/add-value-to-hr-not-spin.htm The behaviours you demonstrate on a daily basis will have an impact on the credibility of the HR Function, it is therefore essential to demonstrate operational excellence, stewardship, insight and influence in line with the business values in every action you undertake. Conclusion Your actions to influence the efficiency, relevance, effectiveness and credibility of the HR Function have the potential to affect the bottom line of the business. The effectiveness of the HR Function within the organisation is largely dependent on its perception within the organisation and we hope you will join us to ensure the HR Function continues to act effectively and in line with the organisational goals and business values. We look forward to a long and fulfilling partnership with you here at YWP. We hope you will use the time not only to develop the organisation but also your own professional skills, attributes and knowledge.

Joules law Essay

Variables and constants   The one variable in this experiment will be the load placed upon the wire, this is the obvious variable because as seen in the formula. By rearranging the formula to; e = F L A E We can see that there are 3 main factors which will effect the outcome of the experiment. The E symbolizes Young’s modulus, which will be effected by changes but is not itself a single factor as it is a measurement of the factors. In order for the experiment to be a success, it has to be a fair test. Thus of course meaning that factors that need to be kept constant must be identified and kept that way. In this scenario I will be isolating Force as my variable. Force is directly related to the load on the wire; only multiplied by the gravitational pull (approx. 9. 81) as the load is measured in Kg as it is a mass. From the equation we can see that a change in Force will indeed affect the extension of the wire, at this stage it is apparent to say that; Theoretically the larger the force the greater the extension according to the equation above, as it is the value that is being divided. Following this it is also imperative that both the Cross sectional area of the wire is indeed accurately measured, as well as remaining constant through out the experiment, as a change in this value would indeed effect the value for Tensile stress, and in turn the extension. The length of the wire must also remain consistent through out the experiment. This is because each unit of wire will stretch or elongate by a proportional amount to the load being applied to it. Thus changing the length of will increase or decrease the amount of units of wire that can be stretched, causing different readings to be measured. The wire will indeed elongate and extend no matter what the length, but for these experimental purposes it is best to be long as explained above to stand a greater chance of measuring it properly. The important thing is to set the length of wire you wish to work with and do not change it. B) Implementing Results, observations and description. Cross sectional diameter of wire Measurement number and degrees of rotation 1/mm 2/mm 3/mm Average 0 Calculation of Average wire diameter= (0. 195 + 0. 185 + 0. 1925) / 3 = 0. 1908mm Thus the average cross sectional area of the wire is Force = mass   9. 81 ms. Table of readings Final length, attempt; Mass/g Mass/Kg Force/N Orig. L/M 1/M 2/M 3/M Mean Extension/ Unfortunately errors can easily occur in this experiment, the first way of minimizing the percentage error in the experiment is to identify the sources that could cause such a problem; these being. When measuring the extension there are 3 main sources of uncertainty. Meter rul Parallax error   Zero error I plan to minimize these by* Careful choice of meter rule, as man are bent and warped   Fixing a head and eye position against something so that the parallax error is minimized as I will be looking at the ruler from exactly the same angle.   Record results from 0. 0 M If there is a zero error, take it away from the results. When measuring the weight of the mass the following sources could effect the results; Zero error on the scales   Not allowing for the weight of the cradle Simply using the weight that is imprinted on the mass instead of weighting it. I will minimize these sources by selecting my masses carefully and weighing each one separately to find its exact weight, as well as double checking a pair of scales against each other by putting the same weight on both scales to see if there is a zero error. The final measurement source of error is the measurement of the diameter of the wire. This is typically a source of inaccuracy because the wire does vary in cross sectional area, because of the way it was made. This can be accommodated for by measuring the wire extremely accurately with the micrometer, and measuring the wire in three different areas of the length and taking two readings at each of the three points along the wire, twisting it 90 degrees at each point to allow for ovals etc. The average can then be taken and used in the calculations to give a better representation of the wire being used Diagram of ideal and misshapen wire. Observations for experiment conducted on the 14th of December 2002   At approximately 0930 the equipment was set up and the working area was in suitable condition to go ahead with the experiment as planned. I had two main concerns whilst conducting the experiments, these were of measuring natures, the first of these being that, when measuring the wire with the micrometer it proved initially extremely hard to turn the wire 90 degrees, I quickly remedied this by sticking a label on the wire so that it was clear what angle the wire had to be turned.   The second was that of concerning minimization of the parallax error, this proved to be quite challenging, so we decided to look at the ruler twice each a couple of seconds apart and in what i8 thought was the same position to see if it was a fair test. This way through up different results so we deemed it necessary to have someone stand over the wire and not move until the experiment was finished to minimize this risk.   Another observation I made was that I didn’t think we were measuring the extension accurately enough I felt that measuring it to 1mm was far to inaccurate as the extension as will be seen by the graphs was minimal, I will mention this point heavily in the Evaluating.   The equipment was packed away and the experiment was completed within the hour.   I observed a changing in mass or load on the wire and no change in any of the identified variables. C Analyzing Evidence and Drawing Conclusions. Force/N Area/M Sress/Nm (Pa) Length/M Extension/M Strain Youngs modulus 1 The stress was simple to calculate as it simply meant dividing the force by the area, as so; The strain is a simple ratio it involves dividing theextension by the length; Thus the young’s modulus can be found for every plotted point separately on the graph; this is done by dividing the stress by the strain. As I predicted earlier the material obeys hookes law and froms a straight line through the origin until the elastic limit is reached. As well as we can calculate the extension from the gradient of the graph because its equal to L / EA. When a material obeys Hooke’s law, then its force, extension graph is a straight line through the origin (see graph). This is only the case up to the proportional limit. The graph being a graph of force against extension, the area is the energy stored in the wire. As the equation of the graph is F=kx, the equation of the area is . From the graph we can say that as the load increases on the wire the extension also increases proportionally, up to a certain point known as the elastic limit, this is because it is obeying kooks law as described above, and for this material whilst under low load the strain is proportional to the stress.. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Electricity and Magnetism section.

Answer Job Interview Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Answer Job Interview Questions - Assignment Example During vacations, I have been able to work in the marketing department of Toyota Company and where I gathered tangible experience about marketing. The talent of communication and negotiation that I possess is a key component in marketing as it will help one to gauge the ability to buy as well as the behavior patterns of the customer. I am highly motivated and work best under no strict supervision. A team player and a positive result oriented person. My strengths are that I am highly motivated and positive and focused result oriented person with the abilities of teamwork and good interpersonal communication skills. During my internship at the Toyota Company, these skills enabled me to move sales worth $ 1 million in three weeks. As such I am capable of delivering in the sector of business for a firm as a whole. My weakness is that my failures in anything I do make me fill demoralized and weak. However, I have been putting a concerted effort to take my failures as lessons and learn from them. I am applying for a job with this company because it is one of the best .marketing companies in the country with a strong brand name in marketing. By working here, I will be put my expertise to use and also learn more about my career as marketing officer. This will give the opportunity to be part of the great reputation that the company posits to the outside world. As a marketing intern with the Toyota Company, a valuable customer came to inquire about the issue of breaking system with his car. This was following the withdrawal of thousands of cars all over the world over the same issue; I was able to explain to him the reasons for the withdrawal of the vehicle and the duration it was to take as well as the need for doing so to his satisfaction. The incident when I was given what seemingly was an achievable target to sell up to 6 high valued cars within a month. It seemed hard, but I managed through teamwork and aggressive networking that made me sell up

Rewrite Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Rewrite - Essay Example This only shows that hospital associated infection is a serious issue that needs to be taken seriously. HAI cause preventable deaths and complications in the hospital environment. Hospital workers, including the healthcare providers, use their hands during most of their dealings with the patients. The hands carry millions and millions of microorganisms, including viruses, bacteria and fungi which can easily be transmitted to the next patient the healthcare worker touches, when adequate measures are not put in place. Poor hand hygiene results to the contamination of the hands of the personnel especially when they attend to patients with airborne diseases, so it is easy to see how this can cause HAI. Studies show that hand washing is important in health care facilities in order to minimize infections. However, the statistics show that there is a great problem in the implementation of hand washing among health care personnel because of the increased number of HAI. Using the current literature and program from IHI and Voss and Widmer, the question arises: Does an educational intervention increase hand washing among nurses and care providers? Hand washing by health care providers has differed because of two aspects, perception and practice (Ebbing et al, 2010). Normally, healthcare providers wash their hands when the hands are soiled, gritty, or sticky or after using the toilet. Generally, these actions are the result of what was learned during childhood. Beyond that, there are no other norms or habits regarding washing hands beyond these personal hygiene actions. There are practices, however, that do not necessarily cause the healthcare provider to wash their hands, including touching patients, taking the blood pressure of patients or just the touching of the healthcare environment (Ansie, 2008). The fact remains that the healthcare providers

Young people 's attitude to health (young people who eat McDonald's Essay

Young people 's attitude to health (young people who eat McDonald's more than once a week do not care about their health) - Essay Example nald's more than once a week. The researcher has used two separate hypothesis regarding health awareness and hedonic value drivers of eating in fast food restaurants in order to develop research problems. As research methodology, the researcher has used triangulation approach in order to address the research problem in robust manner. Close ended questionnaire and open ended interview were used in order to collect the data. On the basis of data analysis, influence of hedonic value drivers on fast food consumption of young people has been identified but the study has failed to find any significance of the primary hypothesis: â€Å"Young people who eat McDonald's more than once a week do not care about their health†. It is not the fact that the research paper has only the academic value of fulfilling gap in the literature but the research findings will also have commercial value such as, findings of the research can be used by fast-food marketers to decide their marketing strateg y. Chapter 1: Research Background In the last couple of years, fast food industry has witnessed phenomenal growth in terms of both value and volume across different countries. Ali, Kapoor and Moorthy (2010) found that demand for fast food among customers have increased due to three reasons, 1- convenience for customers to consume fast food in quick succession in contrast to waiting in long queue to dine out in traditional restaurants, 2- fast foods are low cost food offerings which can satisfy the hunger of consumer without costing them huge chunk of money in contrast to dining in posh restaurants and 3- while consuming fast food, consumers often pass through health-indulgence antinomy which helps them to establish trade-off between immediate gratification and prophylactic reward. According to Ali, Kapoor and Moorthy (2010), children, adolescents, young people and working professional are the prime target market for fast-food marketers like McDonald, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Pi zza Huts, Domino’s, US Pizza etc. Anand (2011) and Ali, Kapoor and Moorthy (2010) identified reasons why fast-food marketers target young people and the identified reasons can be summarized as, 1- income of young people is low as compared to adults, therefore they show the preference for low cost fast-food items in contrast to high end food items, 2- young people prefer to eat out in fast food joints with friends due to convenience, 3- health consciousness among young people regarding the ill effects of fast foods is less as compared to young people and 4- young people prefer to indulge themselves in fast-food experience in order to satisfy hedonic value. Now the question is whether eating fast-food offered fast-food marketers like McDonald, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Pizza Huts, Domino’s, US Pizza has only benefits or there is presence of dark side of the story? The answer is yes and health related issues regarding fast-food consumption among people are central the me of the research paper. Consideration of the research works of Ritzer (2001) and Williams (2006) reveals the fact that periodic and frequent consumption fast food can lead to multiple health problems such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and even cancers. Ali, Kapoor and Moorthy (2010) found a direct link between growing obesity among young people

Major Assignment 1 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Major Assignment 1 - Essay Example Yes, â€Å"if you fail to tip the person getting you that coffee, you may be directing and even substantially affecting that persons income (Lewis),† but the state sets a minimum wage requirement that the employer must adhere by. If tips and wages do not meet the minimum wage requirement, then the employer must compensate the employee for the difference. Yes, â€Å"they know that if someone shoots up his school, he will become a celebrity (Ellis),† but they also know that jail time will be in their future. Usually a school shoot up has nothing to do with fame but is a psychological reaction to bulling inside or outside the school or home. Yes, â€Å"61 percent of the programs examined last year contained some violence (Ellis),† but television program does not put the firearm in the hands of the adolescent. Parents with firearms have the responsibility to keep them locked up tight and safe from children. Yes, â€Å"the violence depicted on television and movies escalates with each passing year, as audiences grow inured to â€Å"routine violence (Ellis),† but many people watch violence without committing violent acts. Parents should monitor children’s viewing habits and watch violent programming with the child to explain what is happing and that it is wrong to do what they see in real life. In The Case against Tipping by Michael Lewis, Lewis had a point when he said, â€Å"people who serve you are more likely to do it well and promptly if they will be rewarded.† I felt this concern had merit in that servers do expect the tip and know that if they perform great service then they will be tipped generously. Servers also provide mediocre service if the patron is not spending much money at the establishment because they know the tip is based on a percentage of about 15%. A patron spending $2 on coffee will only be required to pay a 30-cent tip and that is hardly worth any effort. The expected tip should not influence the amount of service the patron receives but

An analysis of a current product portfolio and recommendation of a new Essay

An analysis of a current product portfolio and recommendation of a new product for the UK market, taking into account the market - Essay Example Historically, company was given a royal warrant by Queen Victoria and also declared it as the official manufacturer of cocoa products for the monarch. Later in 1861, the business was taken over by John’s son due to his deteriorating health condition. Subsequently, the company started innovating newer products such as the milk chocolates made up of dried milk powder, sugar, cocoa solids and cocoa butter. The company increased its product portfolio primarily to compete with the leading Swiss milk chocolates in the market (Poulter, 2013). Even though Cadbury has a diversified product portfolio but its ultimate production has always been the chocolates and cocoa products. Their product range comprises from varieties of chocolates in the form of Christmas treats, bars and boxes to the drinking chocolate. The company also specializes on the products made up of vegetarian ingredients (Cadbury, n.d). The vegetarian products are free from the meat based items and are preferable by most of the customers who share vegetarian eating habit. This report focuses on the product portfolio of the company and makes recommendations for the launch of a new product after considering the factors such as market opportunities, marketplace scenario and completion associated with the UK market. Current Product Portfolio Cadbury possesses a wide range of product portfolio among which the major products include Dairy Milk, Milk Tray, Flake, Creme Egg and Roses (Woodgrange Technologies Ltd, 2012). Initially, the company started its operation with as a small chocolate selling business but later after the 100 years of its business, the company entails under its umbrella wide variety of products. If the history of the products is to be reviewed, then it can be observed that all the products were developed by the company primarily during the year 1905- 1938. The company has constantly been involved in adding products under its umbrella in order to strengthen its product portfolio [Dairy Milk in 1905, Milk Tray in 1915, Flake in 1920, Creme Egg in 1923 and Roses in 1938] (Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2013). The company has also diversified its product portfolio from chocolate related brands to many other stronger brands such as Bourneville, Green & Black’s and Jaffa along with other categories of chewing gums and candies which has proven to strengthening its product portfolio to a considerable extent. Cadbury has been focusing on the expansion of the products to make its market stronger and also with an intention of providing its customers with the best products. It is worth mentioning that Dairy Milk is the most preferred and popular brand of chocolate among the people almost all over the world. It was launched in the year 1905 with an intention of expanding its business. Notably, the products were produced by the company with lower costs within the intention to capture the customer’s interest along with earning substantial profit for their sale. . T he company has been manufacturing the products which are enjoyed by people of all age (Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2013). Targeted Audiences The targeted audiences for Cadbury include people from all age group. Almost all the people including children and adult are very

Technology in the Courts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Technology in the Courts - Essay Example The same year, Video Conferencing System was assessed in the South Dakota Unified Judicial System and also the Existing Case Processing Systems was analyzed for bringing into being the Unified Case Management System in the Puerto Rico Courts. In 2005, one major leap was the implementation of the Electronic Document Management System for the Iowa Judicial Branch. The year 2006 saw a lot of activity in terms of reassessment of court needs. The Case Management Systems were assessed in several courts including the Montgomery County, Ohio and Washington Administrative Office of the Courts. The Chatham County, Georgia made a review of its Information Technology needs. The Travis County, Texas reviewed its Assess Document Management System. In the year 2007 also there was a lot of hectic activity with regards to review and implementation of technology in courts. Firstly, there was the review of Court technology in the Appellate Courts for the Indiana Supreme Court. There was also the assess ment of the effect of new Automation on Guardianship Cases in the Probate Division of the eleventh Judicial Circuit, Florida 2007. Alongside, information technology security was also planned for these courts. In the year 2008, the Automated Management System came to be developed in the Massachusetts Courts. Another major event during 2008 was the feasibility study for the Electronic Warrant Process for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the analysis of the Justice Information Exchange Model for the Juvenile Docket for the State of Vermont Judiciary. In the same year, the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands updated its e-filing technology software. Technology and Business Reviews of the case management system for Palm Beach County, Florida and Technology system for Eugene, Oregon Municipal Court were also conducted in 2008. Let us now briefly try to understand all the different kinds of technology that are being implemented in courtrooms nowadays. â€Å"A basic trial tec hnology kit includes a laptop(w/Pentium mobile chip, 2 Ghz processor, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, XP Professional & DVD player/burner); Microsoft PowerPoint; a computer light projector(w/ 2000+lumens) & screen; a visual presenter/document camera; a multi-plug power adapter with extension cord; and 3 â€Å"key† foam core board blow-ups. Trial presentation software can also be made use of like Sancion or Trial Director. And the ones who are big-time into the use of technology can even consider using the Blackberry or other text messaging handheld device.† (Use of Technology in the Courtroom) But then there are factors to be borne in mind when using technology in courtrooms particularly with respect to its flexibility of usage and redundancy. In courtrooms, the focus is on the work to be done. A single activity may be composed of sub-activities that are dependent on each other. How they interact and what result they will throw up can vary depending on the inputs. What ca se management software does is that it serializes the outputs of the sub activities so that the user is presented with the final output in quick time. Furthermore, users can add new tasks, data objects, documents and even new processes to the case while the case is being analyzed. A common feature of case management software is the electronic case folder which includes activities, data and documents for the case. A case

ELearning in Qatar Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

ELearning in Qatar - Research Paper Example This is further supported by the provision of wireless internet in form of WIFI in the academic institutes. Students have access to all the digital material, the necessary websites needed in the curriculum. The class environment is totally participative where the teacher and student both interact live via these gadgets. These gadgets have taken the place of conventional tools like calculators, measuring tapes, constructors, scales etcetera (Academy, 2011). Qatar Academy is an example of its kind where the management is fully aware of the challenges faced in modern times and thereby has introduced systems that are according to the 21st century needs. Early education center provides the Montessori students and adaptable environment familiarizing them with digital devices. The instructors so inducted are all able personnel who have a grip on the subject. Qatar Academy is an example of the digital sense that is generating in the Qatar nation. Overview of One to One computer initiatives from different countries around the world . Advantages and disadvantages. (One to One initiatives are projects where schools and governments give EACH student a computer to be used in classrooms for educational purposes). Singapore is a good example. Another example is Microsoft’s future schools in America. Please summaries other 5- 6 examples IN modern times, the one to one interactive imitative has become essential part of educational environment. Many nations have already adapted this format of education where each student is provided with a single computer in the class room. The computers so provided are fully protected and contain only academic content related applications. The browsing is fully under control. Microsoft in this regard has taken an initiative in the African countries where one laptop is distributed per child and that laptop contains the basic elements for the students under the slogan of â€Å"One laptop per child† (Miller, 2007). Colombia,

Immune System Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Immune System - Essay Example For instance, a problem in the spleen may lead to the destruction of white blood cells and platelets within a human body beyond the required level, thereby causing weakness and leading towards a weak immune system. The proper functioning of an immune system is highly critical to other systems found within a human body, such as the immune system, nervous system, and circulatory system. To explain things more clearly, let’s take the example of the circulatory system. The function of a circulatory system is to enable proper blood flow within the human body and its interaction with the immune system enables the transference of white blood cells along the circulatory system. If the immune system fails to function properly, by, for instance, producing less or more blood cells than may be required, then its circulation along the blood vessels can be very dangerous for a healthy human body (Parham, 2005). There are many instances when things can go wrong with an immune system and caus e it to work improperly. We all know of allergies. What most of us don’t know is allergies develop as a result of our immune system’s incapability to the handling of alien substances such as pollen grains, dust, or even pet hair for that matter which a human body may come across. These problems definitely interfere with human lives as, for instance when people are allergic, they often can’t concentrate or do their work properly as they are often found sneezing, vomiting, having red eyes, itchy palms etc.

The Tunnel Rats Essay Example for Free

The Tunnel Rats Essay INTRODUCTION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was in January 1966 when one of the biggest intelligence coups of the war that time took place. While the soldiers or the â€Å"diggers† were doing a sweep of the â€Å"Iron Triangle† that was an area near Saigon they discovered a vast complex of tunnels.[1] This location was heavily guarded with armed protection and was restricted by the Viet Cong (VC). What they were about to find out was 60 feet into the ground of that perimeter would be the Viet Cong headquarters. [2]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When they arrived in Vietnam as part of the 1st Battalion of the 28th Infantry, 3rd Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division in January 7, 1966, they were called the â€Å"Big Red One† and were sent to engage in operation â€Å"Crimp.†[3] The mission was to search and destroy sweep the Viet Cong stationed in the Northwest of Saigon. Even as they were just landing, they could see from the air how there were groups of their men in trouble with small fire fights that made them quickly exit their helicopters to engage in battle and destroy the VC that had been attacking the soldiers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When they went inside the tree line that led to the locations were they saw some of the fights, they saw a large trench filled with nothing and no one. They did not know where the VCs went. Those they saw that were firing at the other soldiers just disappeared into thin air. They were gone, all of them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The battalion moved forward to see large catches of rice and estimated the amount they saw were enough to feed a Regiment.   Even after a few days later, they saw foxholes, trenches and caves but there were no VC enemies to fight with. However, it was evident the United States casualties were still increasing because of sustained enemy sniper fire that basically came out of nowhere.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was already January 10th and they merely had a few glimpse of this enemy. Later that day, a radio report came out that elements from another brigade had made contact with the VC and found the same thing tunnels. VIETNAM WARFARE STATEGIES   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Later they would discover that the VC’s strategy was to strike unexpectedly and then slip away into the tunnels to avoid retaliation. Their strategy was concealment and was effective with their hit and run tactics.[4] Tunneling was the essential element in the VC strategy. It was the greatest element in the VC stationed in the area of Cu Chi, located north the South Vietnamese capital, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly known as Saigon).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   They used the tunnels for many functions. They attack American installations that were conveniently built right above them.[5] They took refuge in the tunnels when they felt threatened with annihilation. They used the tunnels to escape from threatened villages. The also used them to store war materials and to operate facilities like an underground hospital. The Americans never really discovered the full extent of the Viet Cong tunnel systems, but they gradually tried their best to develop tactics to counter attack the VCs and to use the complexities of the tunnels to their advantage.[6]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The tunnels are now made into something like a Disney amusement park wherein tourists can take an hour bus ride from Ho Chi Minh to experience going into them. These tunnels used to be well hidden from American soldiers and reporters of the war but now it has brought tourism to the country. But along with the sights and the interesting experience, the war tactics and weapons the Viet Cong used were placed on display that serves as a reminded of their polished warfare strategies.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Man traps made to kill were part of the display. When American soldiers would try to slip into the tunnels, Punjisticks or spears of bamboo with razor sharpness and covered with excrement or poison were the first things that greeted them.[7] The sticks pierced the legs and the torsos of the Americans. More brutal strategies were used as bear traps were also placed in the tunnel openings to amputate the feet of the soldiers as they go inside the tunnel. Like this was not enough protection, booby traps were also hung from the trees near the opening that would result to beheaded soldiers or amputated limbs.[8]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The VC did not even bury some of their casualties. The United States forces often buried their dead enemy to keep track of the extent of the casualties for the enemy. Tactical conditions from the Viet Congs would result to dead VCs lying around the tunnels for the tunnel rats to discover. In some cases, they would even pull the bodies of dead American soldiers in the tunnels for the soldiers to encounter. This was a strategy they used to unnerve and demoralize the U.S. troops that would come into the tunnels.[9] TUNNELS OF CU CHI   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Located just seventy-five kilometers northwest from the country’s capital Ho Chi Minh were the tunnels of Cu Chi. This district of Cu Chi was a major Viet Cong infiltration route that served as a trail towards the Ho Chi Minh.[10]   Situated above the ground of this perimeter was the station of the United States 25th Infantry Division.[11] Below them was the home of the 7th Viet Cong Regiment and other allied units. It was like sleeping with the enemy, only with them they were sleeping above the enemy, literally.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The tunnels were reported to be 250 kilometers long and most of the tunnels were located in Cu Chi. There were three levels to the VC tunnels. [12] In the first level, the opening was three meters deep. As one goes deeper into the tunnel, it would widen and be about six meters deep. The third level of the tunnels was eight meters below the ground. An Underground Battle Station   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In the tunnels, it was like a whole word underground. There were kitchens, there was a hospital, and the officers’ quarters were there as well as a meeting room.[13] During that time the tunnels were almost inaccessible. It was hidden in a jungle-like area. During the war it was ravaged by a skin-burning chemical Agent Orange that was part of the American counterattack. Some tunnels were also too narrow for an overweight Westerner.[14]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The tunnel system included different sizes of chambers, rest areas, weapons and ammunitions storage, kitchens, workshops, barracks room as well as rooms that housed the communication equipments.[15]   The kitchens was designed so well the smoke that could signal the Americans of their location were dispersed and dissipated into numerous pipes that would mislead anyone who would see it.[16]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The tunnels of Cu Chi were the venue where the Viet Cong fighters and the American Tunnel Rats, as they call those brave enough to penetrate the tunnels, would go into hand-to-hand combat inside dark and dangerous subterranean and complex tunnels. These tunnels were where they fought to death using knives and pistols.[17] The Little IRT   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The tunnels of Cu Chi were known as the Little IRT. They were similar to the railway system in America with an interconnecting tunnel system that was in the northern section of Hau Nghia Province and in the southwester section of Binh Duong Province. The tunnels complexity connected hamlets, villages and provinces in the area. Originally it was dug up to be used to support the Viet Minh guerilla war against the French.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The American soldiers dubbed the tunnels the â€Å"little IRT† because of how similar it was to the New York City Subway. The complex tunnel system allowed for different levels in different locations that were interconnected by a series of â€Å"trap doors, channels, shafts, wells and communication tunnels.†[18] There connections from the tunnels to bunkers that was almost bombproof as well as to ground level bunkers. Tunnel Explorer, Locator Communicator System   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The TELACS was an experimental communications device system that the tunnel rats or the American soldiers used when they explored the enemy tunnel systems. It was a system that was composed of an earphone and a throat microphone for communications with the troops in the surface.[19]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was a flawed system because there was much voice distortion and there needed to be a large amount of wire that had to be dragged behind the explorer. It was a slow and inaccurate system. When it was tested in the year 1969, it was withdrawn.[20]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The tunnel system proved to a sophisticated military tactic from the Viet Cong that may have been underestimated by the American troops. The genius of their strategies overwhelmed U.S. Forces until it came to the point that they decided to clear the tunnels of the VC. TUNNEL CLEARING   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   After the time when Ben Suc, Vietnam was depopulated American troops went on to clear out the tunnels of Cu Chi, looking for Viet Cong fighters. The army made use of large tanks with bull dozer blades as well as medium built soldiers that were known to be â€Å"tunnel rats† that went to uncover the underground city.[21] In the clearing process they found stoves, furniture, clothes for men and women, and essentially thousands of pages of important war documents. This major headquarters that the American command found brought them to explore further into the tunnels.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   However, during that time, a senior officer that was in-charge of exploring the tunnel was killed by one of the bloody booby traps. The U.S. army saw the danger of the situation and retreated from exploring the tunnels. Instead, they pumped tear gas into the tunnels as well as set off explosives.[22] The Americans thought this was the top headquarters for the Viet Cong, they miss the headquarters of the NLF that was several miles north that place.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The U.S. used tons of artillery and bombs for every Viet Cong fighter. The Viet Cong manual even said that the U.S. had much superior weapons and strength compared to them on the battlefield. But they could not chase them as they always launched surprise attacks from their underground tunnels.[23]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The use of incendiary weapons that included the white phosphorous and the napalm was used vastly by the U.S. forces during this time. [24]This move has placed them in the center of condemnation.   Napalm was described to be a petroleum fuel that as very effective in the destruction of the enemies’ bunkers as well as the people inside them. White phosphorous was used to mark targets and to set fire to flammable ones. It has caused suffering that would tend to continue burning the skin long after the initial contact.[25] Used together with napalm would prove to be painfully lethal. The mortality rate from those who suffered from such weapons was high and there were deaths that arose from injuries where victims were too badly burnt to receive hospital treatment.[26] CS Gas was proficiently used in clearing the tunnel complexes that sifted the enemy soldiers as well as the large numbers of civilians who sought refuge in the tunnels.[27]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some antiwar critics of the U.S. Forces in the Vietnam claimed that America conducted a war of genocide in Vietnam because of the civilian casualties. However this was denied because the U.S. military strategy did not amount to having an official policy of genocide nor was it the intention of the government and the armed forces to wipe out any significant part of the Vietnamese civilians. TUNNEL RATS   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   During the war trained special units were called tunnel rats. They were described to be â€Å"small, mean and crazy† as they actually went inside the tunnels and combated with Viet Congs they encountered while other units merely thrown explosives to clear the tunnels.[28] They were also known to be the â€Å"Tunnel Runners† by the 25th Infantry Division and â€Å"Ferrets† by the Australian Army. â€Å"Tunnel Rat† was their official accepted name.[29]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was during this time that the U.S. Army realized that it was short-sighted to destroy the tunnels by the bulldozers and the bombings. There would be a massive loss of vital intelligence if the plans and documents of the Viet Cong would be destroyed through their first strategy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was in 1965 when the 1st and 25th Infantry division organized specialized teams that had missions to search and explore the tunnels in the III Corp area.[30] The tunnel rats were not assigned; they were all volunteers and were armed only with a pistol or shotgun, a knife and a flashlight.[31] They infiltrated the tunnels with such minimal weapons where hundreds of VC might be hiding with their massive supply of weapons stored in the tunnels as well. Anyone who went into the tunnels was then dubbed as â€Å"Tunnel Exploration Personnels.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As the tunnel rats descended into the tunnels they experience walking into a pitch black and claustrophobic pathway wherein they were playing a deadly game of hide and seek with the enemy Viet Cong. The sensitive probing of the floor, sides and roofs of the tunnels soon became second nature to the tunnel rat as he inched his way deeper into the tunnel complexes.[32] They carefully watched out for wires and tree roots that was irregular and could pass for booby trap that could blow them up to pieces or cut their limbs into pieces.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The entrances of the tunnels alone are usually mined or protected by concealed guards ready to fire upon entry. Sometimes, the unsuspecting tunnel rat can met the garrote or someone would cut his throat as he came up and pass by connecting trapdoors[33].   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Aside from the VC booby traps were a whole breed of animals that resided in the dark confines of the tunnels.[34] There were bats that used the grounds during the daylight hours. Snakes were also encountered inside the tunnels. The Bamboo Viper and the Krait were the deadly snakes that can be found the VC tunnels. The Viet Cong would deliberately tether a snake in the tunnels to serve as a natural booby trap for the tunnel rats.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The stress the tunnel rats undergo every time they went into the tunnel was unthinkable that pushed their mental state to its limits. They would crawl into the narrow, pitch black tunnels looking for a heavily armed enemy for hours to combat with. The idea was to find the VC first before he jumped on them to kill them. Sometimes the strain on the men’s nerves was too much to bear to the point wherein he had to be dragged from the tunnel screaming and crying.[35] When this occurs, they are not allowed to go into the tunnel ever again. There were no dead tunnel rats that were to be left inside the tunnel. Dead or wounded they were dragged out with wires, rope or by a comrade only to be taken out of the VC territory.[36] Weapons and Warfare   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There was extensive use of the tunnel by the VC. The tunnel rats had to search and flush out the VC. Tunnel warfare then occurred between the VC and the U.S. Tunnel Rats.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The soldiers became used to tunnel welfare that they reveled in the opportunity to pursue a VC through the narrow passageways. It was not a work for someone with a faint heart as the danger of death was ever present underground were grenades would just pop through trapdoors and other forms of booby trap awaited.[37]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   When a tunnel rat went in for tunnel warfare, the infantry basic load was kept to a minimal. His total lack of equipment to carry was a factor for the tunnel rat’s survival.[38] The pistols the tunnel rats carried where the .38 Smith and Wesson. Sometimes they would carry a 9mm German Luger.[39] Most of the tunnel rats agreed not to carry the Colt .45. It was too big of a weapon for the underground battle with a silencer. Without a silencer, it was too loud that the enemies from far away could know your location instantly while you are temporarily deafened by the shot. In tunnel warfare, the tunnel rats follow the golden rule that prohibits firing more than three shots underground without reloading.[40] If this does not happen, the VC could know that the tunnel rat is out of ammunition and could attack while they reload.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The tunnel rats carried a standard Army issue flashlight and each member carried one. They practiced how they would carry the flashlight to prevent themselves from being lighted targets. They also practiced how to change batteries in pitch darkness by touch alone and how it can be done quickly.[41] CONCLUSION   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The tunnel rats were remembered to be one of the bravest in the American-Vietnam war. They did a job that not many wanted to do. In fact, not many dared to volunteer for this position. But they stepped up and made it a duty to their country.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   It was not an easy job considering the highly sophisticated tunnel strategies that the Viet Cong implemented before the U.S. Army troops even discovered that they existed. They were in and out of a battle scene. They controlled the tempo of the battle because of their invisibility. Even when the tunnels were discovered, threats still turned on the American troops as it proved to be dangerous to explore the tunnels. Deadly booby traps such as land mines, sharp sticks and trapdoors overwhelmed the U.S. troops that may have underestimated the intelligence of the VC tactics. In the end much of the tunnels that were deeper into the complexes were remained uncovered and unexplored by the U.S. Army. This was a war rightfully won by the one who had the best strategies, the most ruthless approaches that surprised the nations of the world. BIBLIOGRAPHY Brown, Lousie. War and Aftermath in Vietnam. New York, Routledge, 1991. Clark, Gregory R. Words of the Vietnam War: The Slang, Jargon Abbreviations, Acronyms Nomenclature, Nicknames Pseudonyms, Slogans Specs, Euphemisms Double-Talk, Chants and Names and Places of the Era of United States Involvement in Vietnam. Jefferson, NC, McFarland, 1990. Mangolds, Tom. â€Å"Behind Enemy Lines a Nam Vet Returns; Tom Mangold Revisits the Terrifying Viet Cong Tunnels He Discovered as a Young War Reporter.And Finds Them Transformed into a Fascinating, Disney-Style Attraction†, The Mail on Sunday, 15 October 2006, 94. McGibbon, Ian. â€Å"The Tunnels of Cu Chi: A Remarkable Story of War in Vietnam†, New Zealand Internationa lReview, Vol. 31, No. 3 (2006): 29. Philbert, Robert E.   â€Å"Back to Nam†, Social Studies, Vol. 86, No. 1 (1995): 6. Schulzinger, Robert D. A Time for War: The United States and Vietnam, 1941-1975. New York Oxford University Press, 1997. â€Å"Tunnel Rats.† Digger History, (2002). Available from http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-conflicts-periods/vietnam/tunnel-rats.htm, accessed on October 3, 2007.

Roles of a financial manager

Roles of a financial manager Introduction Of The History Of The Function And Qualifications Of A Financial Manager First we need to understand the term ‘financial manager, Brealey, Myers and Allen (2008, p.6) referred this term to anyone in an organization who is specialized in finance and responsible for the companys investment or financing decision, large corporation may name it as ‘controller, international conglomerates even appoint a Corporate Financial Officer [CFO] to be responsible for corporate planning. History Of The Financial Managers Function Ever since 1900s and even after the Great Depression in 1930s, the primary role of a finance people was only a descriptive discipline on bookkeeping which means accurately recording all transactions related to the payment of suppliers, billing of customers, and handling of cash passing through the accounts department and issuing periodic financial statements. Until late 1960s increased competition in industries forced financial managers to shift their focus towards evaluating investment opportunities and making decisions on the choice of assets and liabilities necessary to maximize the companys value. The 1970s and 80s was a period of increased international competition, CEOs became concerned with operational efficiency to cope with the fast growing market, this included the accounting functions which was streamlined and required to reach out to becoming a profit center for the whole organization (Besley Brigham, 2005, p.6). This transitional shift was gradual and finance managers r oles are no longer stuck solely to the accounting functions, hence a new operational trend brought in a new breed of heavily educated controllers profession with MIS training and computer systems operational capabilities to bring forth efficiency and accuracy in management reports and analysis versus the old accounting systems. Olley (2006) quoted a study by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) [The Practice Analysis of Management Accounting (1996)] which mentioned that since the mid 1980s, management accountants have transitioned from the traditional role of being a ‘number cruncher to an internal management consultant and decision-support specialist. Over the century, finance manager has risen to a highly educated, professional and useful positions in the entire corporate structure. Qualification Requirements Of A Financial Manager [FM] In normal practice, a finance manager has to have ACCA/ HKICPA or degree in accountancy or financial planning academic track record or even a chartered accountant qualification, who may possess a minimum of 10 years experience in accounting and financial planning. The traditional career path towards a Financial Manager was through the accounting clerical ranks, then move onto being an assistant accountant and accountant. Other recruiters would prefer one who has been an auditor as this experience allows the individual a wide exposure to auditing and learning from different industries, knowledge of financial situations and how to avoid human or systems errors, so that the person is more affluent on how to manage a smooth transaction flow. Expectations From Corporations, Job Description And Key Attributes Of FM Expectations From Corporations The functions, levels and scopes of responsibilities of financial managers can be very different depending on the size of organizations. For large corporations, the generic role is highly focused on strategic analysis while for smaller organizations, the role could only be more concerned on the collection and preparation of accounts and ledgers. Michael Page International, one of the worlds executive recruitment agent, posted a front page headline advertisement in Classified Post of South China Morning Post on 14 November 2009 in the need of a Chief Financial Manager. The advertisement stated the incumbent will be an integral part of the senior management team, report to the Managing Director [MD] with the ultimate responsibility for the control of the global finance operation of a new venture. The person will need to manage the cash situation of each branch of the business and exercise the financial strategy across multiple locations and will need to build the necessary reporting, risk and control frameworks. The person also needs to prepare analysis and financial models and ensure compliance to corporate policy and national accounting practices. In addition to technical finance advice, the incumbent should possess strong commercial acumen and will work closely with the MD on strategic growth and development plans for the b usiness, furthermore, to liaise with shareholders, key investors and build relevant banking relationships. The client expected someone with experience working within an entrepreneurial environment and display the ability to be part of a dynamic team. Allicolven, another executive search consultant, listed the criteria on its advertisement in JobsDB (13 November 2009) that the applicant has to provide value-added insight into opportunities and risks, responsible for completing the statutory consolidated financial audit for the organization, as well as ensuring the impeccable application of global accounting policy issues for the company and its subsidiaries, the development and maintenance of global controls surrounding treasury and cash management. The client required from the incumbent excellent leadership, proven understanding of regulatory capital issues and align with regulators, excellent communication and command of English and Chinese. These advertisements include all the criteria this paper aims to discuss on and one can easily see the challenging roles of a finance manager nowadays which exceeds the normal accounting functions already. Job Description Of FM Typical work activities, stated in the Job Description of a Financial Manager in JobsDB (9 Nov 2009), Prospects (16 Dec 2009), and Careerplanner (16 Dec 2009) are summarized below, with each requirement stating clearly a standard that has to be met and how the results of the good work would impact the organization: Manage and oversee the daily accounting functions to ensure relevant accounting activities are handled in compliance with the regulatory requirements and group accounting policies and maintain the highest standard; Coordinate and execute all financial related activities in the groups businesses to ensure the proper financial management and minimize the financial risks; Assist the top management to formulate strategic and long-term business plans; Monitor and supervise the month-end closing to ensure all management reports are tendered on time and with accuracy; Prepare and review monthly financial charts for all offices, debrief the financial data and results into business implication to relevant divisional heads; Compile various periodic analytical reports and hold discussion meetings with department heads timely to alert them of the updated business performance; Liaise with external auditors to ensure annual auditing is performed smoothly; participate in the group internal audits to ensure proper control procedures are in place; Monitor cash flows, oversee the total funding, predict future trends of cash and fund management to optimize the benefits of the companys fund usage; Establish the annual budget program and financial models to sustain a smooth and comprehensive process; Handle taxation and legal matters; Review and implement efficient and effective internal control system, make recom- mendations on existing work procedures to improve efficiency. Set up accounting software to ensure it meets the corporate accounting requirement; Supervise the accounting staff locally and ensure the accounts department is well managed, liaise with overseas accounting heads to make sure appropriate guidance and directions are given. Assist in appropriate recruitment and provide coaching and training programs to staff members and conduct performance review for them; Work independently, when applicable, take the initiative to provide input on process improvements as it relates to reconciliations; Develop network and relationships with community and external contacts, such as customers, auditors, solicitors, bankers, brokers, creditors, insurance companies and statutory organizations. Provide assistance and solutions to them whenever necessary; Analyze and keep updated of changes in legislation, financial regulations, competitors move and market trends, research and report on factors influencing the organizations business performance and advise the management accordingly. The Key Attributes And Competencies Required For FM It is almost a prerequisite for a professional finance manager to be analytical, rational, cautious and meticulous yet possessing a macro view of the whole accounting picture, ethical, risk sensitive and inquisitive to detect fraud in any areas in the organization. General personal attributes such as being hardworking, independent with initiative, responsible and accountable, well organized, efficient, timely, cost-effective, self motivating, willing to work under pressure are expected. In addition, management skills to enhance productivity of the accounting team, interpersonal skills in proactively communicating the financial facts and findings to the management, coordinating with other department personnel and decision makers, and being a team player would be most appropriate and eligible to be a finance team leader. Typical Accounting Roles Of Financial Managers And The Critical Aspects Gitman (1992, p.8) defined that financial management is in the arena of business management, dedecated to a careful selection of sources and prudent use of capital, with the aim in enabling a spending unit to move towards the direction of reaching its goals. The duties and responsibilities of financial managers vary with their specific functions and position titles in different organizations, this includes being a controller, treasurer, credit manager, cash manager, internal auditor, taxation manager, risk and insurance manager. Each of these functions has their critical aspects and prime objectives. Function As A Controller Controllers direct and compile the preparation of financial analysis reports concluding and forecasting the organizations financial status. These analyses include income statements, balance sheets, continual review of revenue and expense trends and analysis of future earnings. Controllers provide periodic compilation of business cycle forecasting statistics and periodic calculation of a standard set of ratios for corporate financial performance and regulatory authorities. Controllers make financing decisions typically including should the company raise funds by borrowing short term or long term debt or by selling stock and equity, timing to pay dividends and timing to sell the debt and equity. The long range plan should include a listing of capital investments required and calculate the economic benefits to attain the revenue and profit objectives. Brigham Ehrhardt (2002, p.502) mentioned clearly that effective capital budgeting and funding allocation including cash management, budg eting, sourcing and requirement can improve both the timing and quality of asset acquisitions, all of these decisions affect the investment profile of the company hence impact the shareholders value. It is common that controllers oversee the accounting, audit and budgeting, logistics departments and are responsible to communicate any financial variances and adverse trend results to management, along with recommendations for improvement. With regards to budgeting, Mason (2007, pp.121-123) briefed that a controller should determine various budgets on sales and revenue, revenue expenditure, profit and loss, capital expenditure and cash budgeting. The prime purpose of budgetary control is to maintain expenses to be spent within the limits of income. As the budget is set, a controller must control costs and management overheads and allocate the costs accordingly. Figure 1.0 illustrated basic elements of management overheads, listing clearly actual expenses versus the budget assigned. Function As A Treasurer Treasurers are responsible to oversee the organization cash, execute capital-raising strategies to support expansion of the company. Basically, as Brealey et al. (2008, p.6) mentioned, treasurers look after the investment of funds and manage associated risks, supervise cash management and deal with merging and acquisition activities. To ensure tasks to be properly processed, they need to maintain relationships with bankers, stockholder and other investors holding the companys securities. An example of Allied Air Products, given by Besley Brigham (2005, pp.690-691) which issued different classes of securities because the finance team was aware that different investors had different risk and return trade off preferences, so to appeal to the broadest possible market, Allied offered securities to attract as many different types of investors as possible. Besides, different securities are more popular at different points in time, the company can issue whatever is popular at the time they need money. A wise strategy that takes advantage of market conditions can lower a companys overall cost of capital. Function As A Credit Manager Credit managers have to tailor make credit agreements that concerns the indebtedness limits, evaluate the credit applicants, ensure that the company maintains a fixed amount of working capital to cover the companys operating cash needs. Primarily, they monitor the companys issuance of credit, develop credit rating criteria and determine the ceilings, establish an accounting system for the sake of banking transactions (Van Horne, 2002, pp.449-459). Furthermore, they are responsible to review the collection reports, status of outstanding balances, then arrange to collect debts of past-due accounts or submit the delinquent accounts to solicitors or outsourced agencies for collection. This role ensures the company to have valid funds for the operation and arrange new sources of finance for a companys debt facilities. Function As A Cash Manager Cash managers monitor and control the flow of cash, control check stock, signature plates, separate the responsibility for the cash receipts and bank reconciliation functions, process all accounts payable and receivables, and cash application transactions in accordance with rigidly defined procedures. Petty cash authorization and usage is to be supervised, recording incoming cash payments and verify amount of cash discounts taken. All above measures have to be scrutinized to ensure proper cash in-flow record and usage to meet the business and investment needs of the company and avoiding the risk of committing fraud if the operations are not monitored well. Least to mention, cash flow projections are required so that the management needs to determine if external loans are needed to meet the cash requirements or if surplus cash can be invested in other interest-bearing instruments. Cost accounting and Inventory accounting is another major role of Cash Managers, they need to conduct job or process costing and verify the inventory valuation, because inventories form a link between production and sale of products. Van Horne (2002, p.463-465) explained that cash managers measure the benefits of inventory versus the cost, like account receivables, inventories hedging should be increased as long as the resulting savings exceed the total cost of holding the added inventory. Other than paper work, cash managers have to coordinate periodic physical inventory counts, audits and allocation methods, and provide periodic compilation and evaluation of the inventory costs. Function As An Internal Auditor And Coordinator With External Auditors The scheduling and management of periodic audits within the company lies upon the shoulder of the Internal Auditor. The preparation of audit reports and communicating the findings and recommendations to the management and board of directors is essential. Without saying, they are responsible to assist the annual external auditing. Auditing for fraud especially for small scale transactional fraud is difficult, so by observing the environment, the managing persons accountabilities and employee lifestyles may help in detecting unnoticeable fraudulent act. American and European based corporations have their own internal auditors who perform ad hoc auditing within the corporation worldwide at least once or twice a year. Function As A Tax Manager The reporting requirements of all governmental authorities have increased significantly and become more complex, so it becomes mandatory that companies comply with the changing federal and local tax laws and regulations. Tax managers handle the tax filing and reports for the organization so they must be familiar with tax laws and report timely to the Inland Revenue and tax authorities. Profound knowledge of and experience in international business and personal tax laws will help in this role although company may hire external tax consultant or tax attorneys. Tax managers should review the annual and strategic plans to develop the tax jurisdiction and liabilities for each period, develop tax shelter policies, research the foreign tax consequences of the business plan, recommend actions concerning all tax adjustments and at times, defend the company in respect to disputed tax matters. Eun Resnick (2001, pp.475-486) recommended some measures to be taken by tax managers, such as acceler ating deductions which involve depreciation, making use of local and foreign countries tax credits, avoiding non-allowable expenses, increasing tax deferrals and obtaining tax exempt income to use the excess tax savings in other forms of investment. It is critical that the application of tax laws must be considered in many day-to-day operating decisions, setting up business operations overseas, utilize tax havens, consider personal tax situation when hiring expatriates which will help to avoid paying excess taxes by the company or individuals. Function As A Risk And Insurance Manager And Liquidity Crisis Manager Risk and insurance managers oversee the operations, projects and production programs to minimize risks and losses that may arise from financial transactions and business operations. They need to manage the insurance budget, analyze and measure risks of the investments, direct operations of brokerage firm which were commissioned in buying and selling securities, insurance negotiations, and finally select the insurance brokers and carriers. Establishing procedures for custody and control of assets, records, loan collateral, and securities, review reports of securities transactions and price lists is critical to ensure safekeeping and analyzing the market conditions. Rowe et al. (1994, pp.383-386) suggested risk managers to work on the capital cost overruns, nationalization of facilities as some countries may nationalize certain industries with little or no compensation to the previous owners, ecological costs notably in the asbestos and tobacco industries, sales fluctuations, market gr owth rate, companys market share, investment required, cost of production, raw material scarcity, deterioration of margins for competing products, and technological advances. They would identify the key variables that have impact on the business decision, after all, a long range plan should include an in-depth assessment of the risks that may occur as a result of the business plan. If impending problems are predicted, company can avoid going into involuntary liquidation. Functions Specifically Required In Financial Institutions Financial managers who serve in financial institutions, such as commercial and investment banks, finance associations and credit unions, oversee a variety of functions, including loans, trusts, mortgages, futures, lines of credit and investments. They must be highly familiar and operate in compliance with the State laws and investment regulatory rules and always keep abreast of the fast growing array of financial services and products. Arnold (2005, p.627) suggested that managers have to evaluate and examine application, approve or reject, lines of credit and commercial, real estate and personal loans, they also need to be aware of, and assess the international risk that arises due to foreign currency exchange rates and inflation rates, economical and political situations which may impact the local and foreign countries bonds requisition. Liability Responsibility Financial manager, regardless of the functions above, should monitor the accruals, take a standard review of customer advances in the closing procedure if the company regularly deals with a large amount of customer deposits. They should plan the current and long-term liabilities, such as accrual for bonuses, commissions, property and income taxes, royalties, unpaid wages and vacation pay, warranty claims, by period, in addition, they can analyze each way to reduce the companys obligation such as using just-in-time inventory methods to reduce accounts payable and arrange for a good payment terms for product or materials purchase and update the projected debt status to the year-end closing (Spiceland et al., 2009, p.358). A cautious procedure and alertness will assist the companys growth with little draw back. Organizational And Strategic Roles Of A Financial Manager As computerized systems are unanimously used in corporations, so finance managers can utilize more time in establishing strategies and implementing the short and long term goals for their corporations. As Part Of Management With Management Skills A Financial Managers function can be very distinct and like any other department manager, a finance manager needs to have general management skills such as A) Planning on what work is to be done and the completion schedule in the accounting department, especially in the timely processing of transactions and guiding the budgeting process; B) Organizing the financial tasks, office management, and software, hardware utilization; C) Directing the department work to ensure it operates in an orderly manner; D) Measuring the performance of all key aspects of the department to ensure that performance meets or even exceeds the standards set; E) Delegating work to accounting subordinates and F) Process controlling and constant reviewing if assignments are completed with accuracy and within the time frame; F) A finance manager must have a good knowledge of both company and industry operations in order to know how they impact the operations and new strategic move of the organization. As A Strategic Business Partner Any business decision, in particular the crucial strategic move, cannot dart ahead if without assessing the financial implications. This extends the domain of a finance manager to be involved in strategic business management. To compete successfully, a company must analyze its cost position relative to that of competitors, finance manager will play a strategic role here to provide competitive-cost analysis, if all competitors costs are researched, the company can project future price levels, anticipate competitors moves, prepare countermoves, and assess the potential of its strategies for success. Van Horne (2002, p.199-200) interpreted competitive-cost analysis begins with an analysis of strategic cost-driving factors which determine a companys relative long-run position. The initial question is to determine which costs are relevant in a strategic sense, should the company ‘do the things right by cutting costs in the short run or ‘doing the right things to position the o rganization for long term cost advantages by exploiting opportunities for excess returns. Rowe et al. (1994) had a good insight by raising a number of questions while revealing the financial analysis, the manager should ask if the new strategy is appropriate given the companys current financial position in the industry, do we have the financial resources to initiate the strategy, are financial resources being allocated correctly in order to achieve the strategic goal, should acquisitions be considered, should outsourcing be considered. Finance manager can help in companys growth by determining a wise use of the strategic funds (which is total funds available minus the baseline funds) for purchase of new tangible assets such as facilities, equipment, and inventory, to increase working capital, and to fund direct expenses for research and development, marketing, advertising and promotions and even for mergers and acquisitions. As Corporate Policies Writer And Evaluator Being cautious and versatile in the financial principles and discipline, knowing a thoughtful planning would affect the strategies of the company, finance manager should initiate the details of all procedures, the authorization and limitations of peoples act, regardless such act is aggressive or ignorant, into written polices and procedures. Such policies can include the operation of the accounting systems and statements issuance, the inventory purchase and control, capital and asset investments, human resources compensation plans and expenses, capital evaluation and auditing control measures must be enacted into a procedural manual for all divisional managers to follow suit. Besides, authorization and procedures of credit and collection policies, dividend polices with regards to the dividend amount and payout timing must be thoroughly documented and regulated because rightful process allow less human error or falsified ethics, avoid paying excess tax which would overall influence th e level of a companys accounts receivable. A good policy and practices impact the quality of the trade accounts, increase the companys branding and competitive edge in the market. Handle Mergers And Acquisitions And Consolidations Financial managers have an essential function in mergers and consolidations, in global expansion and related financing. The primary motive and purpose of merging two companies is to increase the value of the combined enterprise. Say if company A and company B merge to form a company C, and if Cs value exceeds that of A and B separately, then synergy exists and such merger should be beneficial to both As and Bs shareholders. A recent headline is Bank of Americas [BA] 2008 acquisition of Merrill Lynch which made BA the worlds largest wealth manager. Both Brealey (2008, p. 883) and Brigham Ehrhardt (2002, p.970) cited on the same record breaking example of AOL spending a significant amount of USD156 billion in acquiring Time Warner, aimed to create a company which offer consumers a comprehensive package of media and information products. Financial managers possess extensive and special knowledge in the areas of risks reduction, valuing the targeted firm, compliance of merger regulation s, international foreign exchange, tax considerations, analysis of the companys current surplus funds, merger analysis of benefits of the complementary resources of income, and last of all provide a post-merger report. Without the merger analysis by financial managers, these merger and acquisitions and consolidation in the market would not have been active worldwide, especially in the USA. Maximize Shareholders Value A competent finance manager should act in the interests of the companys owners and shareholders, maximize current wealth and profit of the organization by increasing the companys market value. To do so, monitoring the equity of the organization in terms of debt and credit is important, because investors expect a high return on the capital invested in terms of dividends, minimized liabilities and a maximized stock price. Brealey et al. (2008, p.22) explained that the real assets of the organization need to produce sufficient cash to satisfy bankers debt, so the capital budgeting responsibility of the finance manager plays an important role to calculate how much money the company can invest and into what kind of assets that could be predicted to earn the most and fastest, and diffuse all concerned risks. This measure is to ensure enough flow of money from investors into the company is well utilized and then maximize the return back to them to satisfy the shareholders. Summary With any and all of above accounting and organizational functions that Financial Managers have to perform and fulfill, it is almost imperative that they should take the initiative to advise, make recommendations for improvement to the management on all financial related matters. Acting as a counselor and invigilator of senior management is critical and affect the survival of the company. Prince (2005, p.15) quoted an example on the CEO of Kmart who exercised extensive high spending manners, extravagances and received excessive executive compensation in the cost of the corporation finally led to the bankruptcy of the company in January 2002, now became a subsidiary of Sears Holdings Corporation. Likewise, General Motors Company [GM] which was ranked as the largest US automaker, filed for liquidation in June 2009, finally assisted by US â€Å"Governments Troubled Relief Program and commenced its reorganization since July 2009. On the other hand, the low resource utilization manner of Murdoch (Prince 2005, p.15) was advised to use the high value assets to offset News Corporations debt, eventually, the company was spared liquidation due to the financial approach. Nowadays Financial Manager Versus Traditional Accounting Manager And The Challenges Accompanied With This Role There is a growing realization that a Financial Manager is no longer called on only to process accounting transactions and issue financial statements when these tasks require detailed technical knowledge but no considerable management or analysis skill. Instead, the modern finance manager or controller must exhibit additional mastery of a multitude of management skills, so that the accounts department runs in an efficient and effective manner, offers a detailed analysis of financial statement results, recommends improvements, and monitors the activities of other departments and perhaps even manages the computer systems in a smaller organization. They should no longer focus on the paper driven reports, so modern finance managers need to radically change the finance report styles and to be efficiently generated by the computerized systems. Financial managers need to cope with the competitive advantage, add values to the corporation, and advance into the use of electronic spreadsheets for financial analysis, target costing, disaster recovery planning, fraud prevention plan, inventory valuation, activity-based costing and budgeting, outsourcing information systems security and software package integration. Nowadays finance managers should utilize the analyzed information to strategize plans to maximize profits and act as business advisors to top management. Global Expansion And International Financial Management Globalization is a trend where business enterprise can search for lower production and labor costs complemented with high quality merchandise and production efficiency, companies may have a need to broaden the markets, seek for raw materials and new technology. Kim Kim (2006, p.4) defined globalization means integrating the world marketplace and creating a â€Å"borderless world† for goods and services. In the era of heightened global competition, international finance managers have to be a strategic partner by starting off to consider the external environment in terms of economic situation, the current and future stage of the business cycle, entrance of the new competitors, political

Impact of Transnational Corporations on NICs

Impact of Transnational Corporations on NICs Introduction What are TNCs? Trans National Corporations (TNCs) are companies which operate in at least 2 countries. Its organization is very hierarchical with the headquarters as well as research development often located in the mother country. Production centers tend to be host countries. When organization becomes more worldwide regional headquarters and regional research development will widen in the manufacturing countries. This gives TNCs many advantages, such as right of entry to the global market, cheap labor, low production costs, consequently greater profits. The headquarters of these remains in its mother country, usually one of the most developed countries in the world, like USA UK. Their established factories throughout the world, which either make parts or entire finished goods for the company to sell on the global market. Among all the TNCs in the world, Most of them are oil companies such as Exxon (Esso) BP, car manufacturing companies (for instance Toyota, Ford, Nissan and Volkswagen). Other familiar companies like Sony, IBM and Coca-Cola are also defined as being TNCs. Trance National Corporations are established globally for their advantages, to earn more profits. They bring with them both positive and negative impacts for the country that plays host to them. Top 10 TNCs in 2009 TNCs manufacturing high-tech Scientific instructions, pharmaceuticals microelectronics, (Mitsubishi, Sony, Glaxo- Smithkleine) Large volume consumer goods Tyres, Motor vehicles, televisions other electronic products (Toyota, Daimler, Ford, Volkswagen, General Motors) 3) Mass produced consumer goods cigarettes, beverages, breakfast cereals, cosmetics branded goods (Mars, Uniliever, Nestle, Kraft foods) 4) Service Banking/ insurance, freight transport, advertising, hotel chains and fast food outlets (IN group, AXA, citigroup, HSBC, Allianz, Dexia) TNCs organize manage economic activities in different regions develop trade inside between units of the similar corporation in different regions. It means they can often control the terms of trade and can diminish the effect of quota boundaries on the movement of products, go around trade tariffs. Advantages to TNCs TNCs have the ability to take advantage of spatial differences in factors of production. They can utilize differences in the accessibility of labor, capital, and building or land costs. e.g. 2002 Dyson moved its production from a plant in Malmesbury, Wiltshire to Malayasia to take advantage of cheap labor. Dyson did retain several hundred jobs in Wiltshire for RD saving of 30% in production costs0 They can locate to take advantage of government policies such as lower taxes, subsidies and grants and less strict legislation on employment and pollution. They can get round trade barriers by locating production within the market where they want to sell. E.g. Nissan in Sunderland, Toyota in Derby. Japanese car firms have been attracted to locations in the EU because of quota restrictions on the import of Japanese made vehicles into European manufacturers and gain entry to the European market What are NICs? Country that has within recent decades experienced a get through into rapid productivity growth, rapid export oriented economic growth, quick industrialization farther a high amount of investment and assets formation largely funded from local savings, and a high tendency to export, with end user durables and machinery accounting for a large share of exports. Superior examples are South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore. These countries invest capital and production facilities in other developing countries like China, Vietnam, India, and some countries in South East Asia. Within 20th century lots of East Asia countries were industrialized such as South Koria, Taiwan, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Japan. These states are called as Newly Industrialized Countries or (NICs). They are also sometimes referred to as Tiger Economies because of the growth rate of these counties. The governments of NICs controlled over industrial development motivated industries to export manufactured products to abrade such as more developed states. The exports profits were re-invested in the local economy. Local businesses did grow; wages rose workers did spend their new assets to buy domestic goods and services thus motivating further growth. This type of rotation or knock-on effect, in which money paid out by businesses is reinvested inside the country, is often called the multiplier effect. NICs have been being succeeded for the last 30 years. That successfulness of these economies has contributed to the turn down of manufacturing industries in MEDCs like UK. Industries struggled to compete with the NICs competition, because their production cost and wages were very low. Characteristics of NICs Countries whorled market exporter share is increasing, they often copying existing products then reproducing for a much low price. Continues growth in the production sector that results for more exports continues increasing of GDP. Generally NICs Can be developed by three stagers, thats traditional society to a developed country society. Three stagers are explained below. The time frame of whole process can be minimum 30 years. Traditional society: There are more labors work under the industry, its labor oriented. Concentrating on small cottage-style traditional industries, concentrated on local raw materials. Instance could include food processing, textile manufacture Most of the time, lots of people are still work in the primary sector, doing things include farming. Using primary technologies most of the people have less money. Import the products what they want, that indicate county is not producing what they actually needed addicted to import products. Import substitution industries: The country does promote its own industries. Newly started companies imitate products from well known market giants and then produce them for low price. The government operates tariff barrios for the products are being imported trades that make similar products. The purpose of that is protecting their own domestic companies whilst they grow. Instance industries are computer manufacture, car manufacture, electronic goods and other electrical goods, like hi-fis. Export orientated industries: The new companies established in their own country they are unleashed upon the global market. Industries are being capital intensive, using high technology aimed at earning a big profit. The gross domestic product (GDP) of the country starts to increase, mostly growing at well over 5% per year which is a wonderful rate. Now the country has been being an NIC. How do TNCs affect to the NICs economy their environment? Investment: Advantages: The companies earn, invest, bring foreign currency into the country. Though most of their earnings come back to the companys country of host, all the remunerations do come to the local economy Disadvantages: The salaries paid to host country workers are very low and a lot of companies have been accused of exploiting the workforce before benefiting it. There are often tax incentives for these TNCs to locate in countries in the Developing World. Due to the fact that they get lots of their profits out of the country that says the real economic benefit to the country could be limited. Technology: Advantages: TNCs help the development of the NICs by bringing in latest technology and new knowledge that the host country doesnt use. Disadvantages: Unless the company actively participates in a program to educate local companies in the new technologies, the countrys industry will not really benefit. TNCs are not going to share too much information. If the local industry competition will increase because of new knowledge TNCs have to compete even with the local companies. Transport: Advantages: The new TNCs mostly help to develop transport links around the company area. Disadvantages: Mostly serve only the direct roads, rails that needs of the company, not the surrounding area as well. Employment: Advantages: They create jobs opportunities for the NICs domestic employees. Disadvantages: Most of the jobs opportunities are highly skilled so the company uses their own people to do the work. Because of the technological environment of these companies. Remain less jobs opportunities. Urbanization -launching a TNC in a city in NIC does encourage urbanization. Young migrant workers gather to the city. It influence to the rural communities their development Environment/Safety: Advantages: Companies bring with them the environmental friendly technologies expertise to decrees harmful pollution establish a safe working environment. Disadvantages: a lot of TNCs have very bad history on pollution and worker safety. They have been complained of trying to cut both safety of working environment and environmental pollution in order to keep costs down. . Overall impact to the Economic growth Development of NICs can be potentially promoted by transnational corporations through their activities that generate economic growth. Some evidence exists that the foreign exchange and foreign direct investment that TNCs provide can improve the performance of the economy of the NICs which they operate in. The process of economic growth is impacted by the TNCs through influencing the quality and amount of new capital formation, transfer of soft and hard technology, expansion of trade opportunities and the development of human resources. Further, Such as Province of China, Taiwan, and South Korea demonstrate, that under some conditions economic growth can foster social development. For example in Taiwan, enormous growth of economy has been combined with increased educational levels, longer life spans, improved health conditions, advanced housing conditions, political liberalization and enhanced civil liberties. Theoretically TNCs can uplift the development of the NICs society by fostering economic growth; practically this relationship exists for two reasons. Mainly, in the host countries it is not clear whether transnational corporations are really responsible for the growth of economy. In the most recent two notable cases related to economic transformation, Taiwan and South Korea, a negligible role was played by transnational corporations. Further, TNCs actually have the ability to prevent NICs local economic growth by running local entrepreneurs out of the business zone, along with the importing of main goods and services, reducing large amounts of the profits from their local NICs, and transferring royalties and fees to the main companies which are located away from the host economy. Secondly, even if the economy of the NIC is not developing, there is a tenuous relationship between social development and economic growth. Even though there is an global economic growth annually, it is yet hard to prevent the problems of poverty, unemployment, inequality in wealth, and such other issues of social malaise. For example In Cote dIvoire, from 1960 to 1975 the TNCs could have helped to foster aggregate the growth of the economy, they did only a very little to uplift the development of the society: increase in unemployment, income distribution expanded and nationals increasingly started losing the control over the industrial capacities of the country. In some, under some circumstances TNCs can act as the engines of growth of economy, the power of economy is very rarely harnessed to the achievement of development. Overall impact to the Environment Transnational corporations can have a negative impact through a demotion of resources in the environment to the social development. And over the past ten years such entities had been responsible for environmental disasters. For an example, Union Carbide in Bhopal, India, Exxons Valdez spill off Alaska, and Texaco in Ecuador. To a group of environmental problems TNCs have been linked. Fifty percent of the green house emissions are generated by them, in which they are responsible for global warming. Furthermore they are also the users of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and they are also producers of CFCs. Explaining further, transnational corporations are responsible for the pollution of land, air, wetlands, water and the oceans. Ultimately, through their mining activities and commercial logging, there is a contribution to deforestation by the TNC. For example in the mid-1980s, there was a control of 90per cent of the logging by the foreign corporations in Gabon and in Congo it was 77 per cent. As a result of such mining and logging negative effects such as flooding, loss of topsoil rapid run-off of rain have occurred; Farmers are economically not in a rich status to buy the land from forest owners and usually TNCs dont internalize such social costs. Hence such negative externalities cannot be p revented. The relationship between TNCs and the environment is massively complex even though transnational corporations can definitely obstruct social development through their environmental practices .But yet the Critics dont mention that consumption of environmental resources should be abstained by transnational corporations, instead they should promote sustainable growth and development via their activities. In the meantime there is a practice by the TNCs to follow demoted environmental standards in the developing countries with comparison to the developed countries; and it is found with evidence that environmental practices are more responsible in developing countries than in local firms functioning in such countries. Nevertheless, critics emphasize that, as a result of having better resources they have better access to research and development, It is the responsibility of the TNCs to promote environmentally sustainable practices and they bare that responsibility. Some companies undergoing so much of pressure have started to follow more environmentally responsible policies. Example, a maligned polluter named Dow Chemical, had to establish one-and-a-half days each session with the environmentalists brief senior management quarterly. The salary of the manager was pegged to the goals of the environment, and a toxic release of 32 per cent between 1988 and 1991. Further some laudable environmental practices were also implemented by the IBM including rewards for the employees for technical innovations which helped to comply with the environmental standards. Finally 18 environmental awards were won by ATT since 1990. On the other hand, expect these three companies majority pillage to consume environmental resources from the countries that are developing and they consume these environmental resources in a destructive and unsuitable manner. practices which certainly hamper prospects for social development. Some of the companies that involves in issues related to the environment are General Electric and DuPont, for example, Dupont was responsible for toxic chemical releases in 254 million pounds during the period of 1991 in the United States , and this has led to minimize such practices that destroys environment. e.g. In December 1984, one of the worlds worst industrial disasters occurred in a Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, India. Poisonous gas leaked from a negligently maintained chemical factory killing 3,000 and injuring over 200,000. See Reinhold (1985), Lueck (1985) and Everest (1985). An Exxon ship called the Valdez crashed off the coast of Alaska, spilling thousands of gallons of oil into the ocean and killing large amounts of marine life. The company untruthfully maintained that the oil spill had caused only minor damage and that the oil spill had been satisfactorily neutralized (de George, op. cit., p. 5). Conclusion -s-cool.co.uk. (). Geography GCSE: Industry. Newly industrialised countries: South Korea. (), . http://www.s-cool.co.uk/gcse/geography/industry/industry-in-the-developing-world.html