The Disadvantages of Socialized Healthcare essays

The Disadvantages of Socialized Healthcare essays Socialized healthcare has emerged as a highly debated issue in the United States, attracting the attention from the media, as well as policy solution for political leaders. Both political parties are under increasing pressure to address the insurance and healthcare crises, in America. However, socialized healthcare has not been an effective or efficient solution to address these issues, in other countries, and rather has caused many healthcare systems to crumble. A portion of the challenge of rising healthcare costs is due to individuals not becoming sufficiently involved in decisions regarding their health and medical care or payment for services rendered. Instead, they simply entrust third parties, such as insurance companies, to make these decisions. Bills to fund health insurance for underprivileged children continue to be debated in Washington D.C.. There is a significant amount of support for some form of socialized medicine, a system of government controlled healthcare funded via taxation; however, there are significant downsides that must be considered before such a system can become a reality. One only has to look at the National Health Service (NHS) in Great Britain to begin to appreciate the challenges with socialized medicine. Founded in 1948, the NHS experiment quickly became more costly than anticipated. Today, one in eight patients wait more than a year for treatment (Carvel, 2007, s), prescription drugs are limited or unavailable for many, and the facilities are not up to par (Kelland, 2006, 1). Add to this government officials skimming funds and lagging research, and it quickly becomes a system no country would want to emulate. In order to cut costs in France, as is typical of government officials, their socialized healthcare program decided to buy heat-treated blood from foreign labs. Much of this substandard blood was tainted with AIDS and infected 3,000 patients. Canadians too find lengthy waits f...

Strontium - Elements in Fireworks

Strontium - Elements in Fireworks Metal salts are important in fireworks and other pyrotechnics. One of the most common metallic elements is strontium, which is atomic number 38 on the periodic table, with element symbol Sr. However, the pure metal isnt used. Fireworks are made using strontium salts, especially  strontium carbonate (SrCO3) and strontium nitrate (Sr(NO3)2). Strontium nitrate acts as both a colorant (the strontium part) and an oxidizer (the nitrate portion). Strontium salts impart a red color to fireworks. Strontium compounds are also important for stabilizing fireworks mixtures. Youll find it in emergency flares, including road flares and flare guns. Is Strontium Toxic? Strontium is one of the safest metals found in fireworks (biologically speaking). As with other metals, it has its uses, but overexposure can lead to problems. Strontium chloride is found in some toothpastes intended to reduce tooth sensitivity. It forms a barrier over the nerve endings in tooth dentin that is exposed by receding gums. Strontium supplements are available, said to aid bone health. In Europe, strontium ranelate is available by prescription to reduce fracture rate from osteoporosis. The strontium compounds available online or in the United States are more commonly strontium citrate or strontium chloride, which have not been shown to be effective for osteoporosis. While exposure to trace levels of strontium isnt a concern, taking a large amount of it is associated with side effects, including blood clots and heart damage. Sources J. Paul MacMillan, Jai Won Park, Rolf Gerstenberg, Heinz Wagner, Karl Kà ¶hler, Peter Wallbrecht Strontium and Strontium Compounds in  Ullmanns Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, 2005, Wiley-VCH: Weinheim.ONeill GT, Rolfe LR, Kaufman MH. Developmental potential and chromosome constitution of strontium-induced mouse parthenogenones (1991)  Mol. Reprod. Dev.30:214-219​.Pradyot Patnaik.  Handbook of Inorganic Chemicals. McGraw-Hill, 2002.

Business Plan for Robert Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Business Plan for Robert - Term Paper Example The company will bear all the associated expenses of the business process rather than just passing it to the customer side and in this respect, the company will gradually have declining profit margin. Quite a favorable chance also exists in case of Robert deciding to decrease his part of the liability by increasing the per unit selling price of the chocolate consignments for increased profit in future. For instance, in the provided question multiple instances describes that the investments made by Robert on the equipment and the storage locations. As a countering part, the discussion also comprises facts depicting how Robert should increase his product selling prices by certain percentage on every quarterly basis in order to recover the additional amount of US$ 16,000, which he has initially invested on the machineries and on processes such as website designing and marketing research. Considerable facts regarding how Robert should expands his market and bring about segmentation withi n customers are also taken under consideration with the aim of enhancing business performances. Additionally, the report also signifies the necessity of an effective ‘supply chain management’, which needs to be attained by Robert to provide better quality of product delivery services to the customers. In addition, the supply chain management will also enhance the product procurement process. The idea regarding these aspects has been provided in such a manner that customers satisfied with the services will gradually bring about more demands for the products offered by the business conducted by Robert. In this context, it can easily expand his market along with periodically increase the product selling prices as well. Robert has been conducting business for many years in New York.

Moral Corporation Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Moral Corporation - Personal Statement Example Moral Corporation Since every organization operates in a given community, it is important for it to pay back to the community for allowing it to run its business in the community. An organization may not be able to achieve its objectives without the involvement of the members of the society. It is, therefore, necessary that the company should take care of the interests of the society as it does with its own objectives. That is a moral corporation. An organization’s stakeholders are the key success drivers. Therefore, behaving morally towards them will give a company a good image which will motivate the stakeholders to work harder to achieve the organization’s objectives. The practice shows that companies which show moral responsibility towards its stakeholders perform better than those who do not. This is because a morally responsible organization attracts better human capital and increases the cooperation of the stakeholders in executing the company’s operations. In order for a c ompany to exercise a moral social responsibility successfully, it needs to establish a Corporate Social Responsibility Program which will ensure that the needs of all stakeholders as well as the welfare of the society are well taken care of by the company. Moral responsibility concerns an organization’s behavior towards the society as well. It means that the company should behave ethically towards the members of the community within which it conducts its business. First of all, it should be responsible for its actions. Morally responsible organizations ensure that their operations are not only in line with the law, but also responsive to the welfare needs of the society at large. Appropriate mechanisms need to be put in place in order for companies to contribute towards a sustainable working environment and economic development. One of the ways to take care of the needs and welfare of the society is environmental conservation. Organizations in such industries as oil, automobi le, and mining have a great impact on the environment by their activities. In order for such businesses to contribute to a sustainable development, they should use approaches which are able to minimize the negative impact on the environment. A profit oriented business should operate in a sustainable environment where business operations can be undertaken smoothly without major challenges. Therefore, every organization that is determined to achieve its primary objectives should take care of the environment by minimizing negative impacts on it. Oil, automobile industries among others often contribute to environmental pollution and cause greenhouse effects which are dangerous to human life and affect the climate. If human life is threatened and the climate is affected, the economic conditions of a country will be affected negatively and business environment will also be negated. In this case, the profitability of the business will decrease in the long run. Therefore, organizations must maintain a good green environment for the success of their businesses. Mining also leads to environmental degradation and pollution. This may make land unproductive and threaten human and animal life. This also leads to the unsustainable development which results in poor performance of organizations in the long run. Such businesses should, therefore, ensure that they always behave responsively towards the community by undertaking environmental-friendly or green operations. Another way by which an organization may demonstrate

A good neighbour Essay Example for Free

A good neighbour Essay A good neighbour is a blessing while a bad neighbour is a curse. The city-bred people are generally lacking in sympathy. They are mostly cold in their manners; they are more selfish than the villagers who are large hearted. I live in a thickly populated part of the town. I like to cultivate good relations with the people around me. I believe that no man, however rich or strong, can live in self-sufficiency. My next door neighbour to the right is Mr. Tara Singh. We are on the best of terms. We are deeply attached to each other. He is a gentleman par-excellence. He has a completely non-communal outlook on life. We share each others joys and sorrows. He has a jolly temperament. His robust optimism and his constant high spirits have always cheered me. Whenever some anxiety weighs upon me, I immediately seek his company and draw comfort from his ever-smiling face and carefree looks. He makes light of an illness, a financial loss, a near and dear ones death, even an insult, whereas anyone of these things is sufficient to rob me of my peace of mind and impose a severe strain on me. His companionship dispels all my fears, doubts and worries. We daily go for a walk together. We are both fond of boating and go to the river for boating every Sunday. We both have a passion for chess and never miss a game or two every evening. He is also a cinema fan like me. We differ in our preferences for film stars but that does not prevent us from enjoying a picture together. He cannot tolerate my smoking. His hatred is not based on any religious sentiment. He just feels a natural aversion for it. He is very stingy. I have often tried to set before him an example of liberality but he continues to be close-fisted. He is very much interested in sports. He does not miss any sporting event. We like each other immensely and I can call him a good neighbour who is very accommodating. Just opposite me there is the palatial house of Seth Karori Mai. He is some rare specimen of humanity. He is a millionaire. He is issueless but he is so miserly that he would not spend a penny. He is a thin and lean fellow. He is putting on the same weather-beaten suit which he purchased of a second -hand dealer twenty years back. He never brushes it lest it should wear out sooner. He never takes milk or fruit. He lives on a few biscuits, a rotten banana or an orange and a cup of tea without milk. He has more than half a dozen buildings but he himself lives in a small, dark, dingy room. His room is electric fitted but he never makes use of electric light. He lights a small candle when he stands in need of light. If some drops of wax are split over, he would go on collecting them and remould them into candles. To buy a banana or an orange, he would trot all the way to the fruit market and would buy a few rotten bananas or oranges after a lot of higgling, haggling. He trusts nobody. He hates social contacts. He is a big banker. He lends money at usurious rates of interest. Money is his God. He loves hoarding. He never gives a penny in charity. He is selfish and greedy. He fleeces his tenants but seldom looks to their needs. He seldom wears shoes and never goes to the movies. He is always serious and business-like. He never presents a smiling face to anybody. He is quite illiterate but very quick at figures. He is a psychologist and can easily read your mind. He is very shrewd. He has a very strong instinct. He is too clever to be ever taken in by anybody. He is a past master in the art of exacting money from others. You will be surprised to know that his bank balance runs into eight figures. From his general appearance, one will be led to think that he is a very poor miserable fellow who is penniless. I have failed in my efforts to draw him into conversation or establish any social contact with him. He is a man of few words. People avoid his ominons looks in the morning. Small children are terribly afraid of him. My neighbour on the left-hand side is a college lecturer. He has married quite recently. His wife is also a college lecturer. They form a happy couple. They are a well-matched pair. They live in perfect harmony. They have refined tastes. They are always dressed according to the latest fashion. Their rooms are artistically decorated. The modern paintings, curtains and curios in the rooms, all make you envy them. They have cultured friends and I love to hear their fine jokes and laughter. There are some other people also in my street. But there is nothing about them worth mentioning. They just lead their lives like machines and attract no notice of their neighbours.

TV Sucks :: essays research papers

In this essay I am going to express my views on the bad aspects of TV, and explain what they are. Possibly, this essay may change your views on TV and how it is used.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The truth is that most TV shows suck. This is especially true in so-called situation comedies. The reason they have to add that stupid laugh track is so you know what part is supposed to be funny. If you’ll notice, the funniest and most successful shows don’t usually have laugh tracks, such as The Simpsons, because it’s a good enough written show that you can laugh at the parts you think are funny. Instead of the laughing machine telling you which parts are funny. Yet, people sit through shows that they don’t even like because they are too lazy to do anything else while they are waiting for a good show to come on. Personally, I have about 60 channels, and in an hour period of time, there is maybe one good show on. That’s not much to select from. Since television’s primary purpose is to advertise, you also have to sit through about 10 minutes of commercials per 30 minute program. So, a 30 minute show is, in reality, only ac tually 20 minutes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  TV is mind numbing. In order to reach its maximum potential audience, so that the sponsors can sell more product, TV shows have to be brought down in intelligence to the point of having little or no intellectual value or relevance. Which causes smart people to get unintelligent. TV is always moving at a fast speed, there is usually action or a confrontation in every scene of a show so that viewers don’t lose interest. This tends to make people bored in real life which is a bad thing because then you will get lazy and board, which will cause you to watch more TV (do you see the cycle).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  TV is too censored. Only a handful of corporations control what you can and can’t see on TV, and who are they to say what should be censored and what shouldn’t. Often, what happens, is that kids (aged 1-12) ruin it for everybody else, because even though they are a small part of the population, TV’s censorship is run at their needs. It’s just the same as a classroom running at the speed of the least intelligent kid, which slows everybody else down.

Study Guide Bnc1

Chapter 13, Power and Politics – Learning Objectives 1. Define power and contrast leadership and power. 2. Contrast the five bases of power. 3. Explain the role of dependence in power relationships. 4. Identify nine power or influence tactics and their contingencies. 5. Show the connection between sexual harassment and the abuse of power. 6. Identify the causes and consequences of political behavior. 7. Apply impression management techniques. 8. Determine whether a political action is ethical. Chapter 13, Power and Politics – Section Outlines I.Power is the capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B, so that B acts in accordance with A’s wishes. A. Definition of power the ability to influence the behavior of others. 1. Potential 2. Dependency – B ’s relationship to A when A possesses something that B requires. B. Contrasting leadership and power. 1. Leaders use power as a means of attaining group goals. 2. Power does not require goal compati bility, but relies on dependency. 3. While leadership focuses on the downward influence of one's followers, power also deals with lateral and upward influence. II. Bases of powerA. Formal power = based on an individual’s position in an organization. 1. Coercive power: A power base that is dependent on fear of the negative results from failing to comply such as controlling by force of basic physiological or safety needs. 2. Reward power: Compliance achieved based on the ability to distribute rewards that others view as valuable. 3. Legitimate (formal authority) power: The power a person receives as a result of his or her position in the formal hierarchy of an organization. B. Personal power = Influence derived from an individual’s characteristics. 1.Expert power: Influence based on special skills or knowledge. 2. Referent power: Influence based on identification with a person who has desirable resources or personal traits. C. Dependency: The Key to Power 1. General depe ndency postulate: The greater B ’s dependence on A, the more power A has over B. 2. Factors creating dependency a. Importance – think of technology engineers of Gettyimages b. Scarcity – think of Ferruccio Lamborghini; he memorized the manual and destroyed it. c. Nonsubstitutability – the fewer viable substitutes for a resource, the more power control over that resource provides. III.Power Tactics: Ways in which individuals translate power bases into specific actions. Rational persuasion, inspirational appeals, and consultation tend to be the most effective, especially when the audience is highly interested in the outcomes of a decision process. A. Legitimacy: Relying on your authority position or saying a request accords with organizational policies or rules. B. Rational persuasion: Presenting logical arguments and factual evidence to demonstrate a request is reasonable. C. Inspirational appeals: Developing emotional commitment by appealing to a targetâ €™s values, needs, hopes, and aspirations.D. Consultation: Increasing the target’s support by involving him or her in deciding how you will accomplish your plan. E. Exchange: Rewarding the target with benefits or favors in exchange for following a request. F. Personal appeals: Asking for compliance based on friendship or loyalty. G. Ingratiation: Using flattery, praise, or friendly behavior prior to making a request. H. Pressure: Using warnings, repeated demands, and threats. I. Coalitions: Enlisting the aid or support of others to persuade the target to agree. J. Political Skill: The ability to influence others in such a way as to enhance one’s objective.IV. Sexual Harassment: Unequal Power in the Workplace A. Any unwanted activity of a sexual nature that affects an individual’s employment and creates a hostile work environment. B. Sexual harassment negatively affects job attitudes and leads those who feel harassed to withdraw from the organization. C. Some ways managers can protect themselves and their employees from sexual harassment: 1. Make sure an active policy defines what constitutes sexual harassment, informs employees they can be fired for sexually harassing another employee, and establishes procedures for making complaints. 2.Reassure employees they will not encounter retaliation if they file a complaint. 3. Investigate every complaint, and inform the legal and human resource departments. 4. Make sure offenders are disciplined or terminated. 5. Set up in-house seminars to raise employee awareness of sexual harassment issues. V. Politics: Power in Action A. Definition of Organizational Politics 1. Political behavior, in organization, consists of activities that are not required as part of an individual’s formal role but that influence, or attempt to influence, the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within the organization. . Legitimate political power b. Illegitimate political power VI. Causes and Consequence s of Political Behavior A. Factors contributing to political behavior 1. Individual factors 2. Organizational factors B. How do people respond to organizational politics? 1. Decreased job satisfaction 2. Increased anxiety and stress 3. Increased turnover 4. Reduced performance VII. Impression management VIII. The Ethics of Behaving Politically Chapter 13, Power and Politics – Key Terms †¢Power- A capacity that A has to influence the behavior of B so that B acts in accordance with A’s wishes. Dependence – B ’s relationship to A when A possesses something that B requires. †¢Coercive Power – A power base that is dependent on fear of the negative results from failing to comply. †¢Reward power – Compliance achieved based on the ability to distribute rewards that others view as valuable. †¢Legitimate power – The power a person receives as a result of his or her position in the formal hierarchy of an organization. †¢ Personal power – Influence derived from an individual’s characteristics. †¢Expert power – Influence based on special skills or knowledge. †¢Referent power – Influence based on identification with a person who has desirable esources or personal traits. †¢Power tactics – Ways in which individuals translate power bases into specifics actions. †¢Political skill – The ability to influence others in such a way as to enhance one’s objectives. †¢Sexual Harassment – Any unwanted activity of a sexual nature that affects an individual’s employment and creates a hostile work environment. †¢Political behavior – Activities that are not required as part of a person’s formal role in the organization but that influence, or attempt to influence, the distribution of advantages and disadvantages within the organization. Impression Management (IM) – The process by which individuals attempt t o control the impression others form of them. †¢Defensive behaviors – Reactive and proactive behaviors to avoid action, blame, or change Chapter 17, Human Resources Policies and Procedures – Learning Objectives 1. Define initial selection, and identify the most useful methods. 2. Define substantive selection, and identify the most useful methods. 3. Define contingent selection, and contrast the arguments for and against drug testing. 4. Compare the four main types of training. 5. Contrast formal and informal training methods. 6.Contrast on-the-job and off-the-job training. 7. Describe the purposes of performance evaluation and list the methods by which it can be done. 8. Show how managers can improve performance evaluations. 9. Describe how organizations can manage work-family conflicts. Chapter 17, Human Resources Policies and Procedures – Section Outlines I. Selection Process A. Initial selection are the first information applicants submit and are used fo r preliminary rough cuts to decide whether the applicant meets the basic qualifications for a job. 1. Application forms including letters of recommendation 2. Background checks B. Substantive selection 1.Written tests 2. Performance-simulations tests a. Work sample tests: Hands-on simulations of part or all of the work that applicants for routine jobs must perform. b. Assessment centers: A set of performance-simulation tests designed to evaluate a candidate’s managerial potential. 3. Interviews have a disproportionate amount of influence on employee selection decisions. a. In addition to evaluating specific, job-related skills, managers are looking at personality characteristics and personal values to find individuals who fit the organization’s culture and image. C. Contingent selection 1. Drug test is a common contingent selection method. . Argument against drug testing: Drug is a private matter. II. Training and Development Programs A. Types of training 1. Basic lite racy skills 2. Technical skills has become increasingly important in organizations. 3. Interpersonal skills 4. Problem-solving skills 5. Ethics training B. Training methods 1. Formal training a. Types of formal training 1. On-the-job training (i)job rotation (ii)apprenticeship (iii)understudy assignments (iv)formal mentoring programs 2. Off-the-job training (i)classroom lectures (ii)internet courses is most likely to be the fastest growing training. (iii)public seminars (iv)videotapes 3.E-training b. Individualizing formal training to fit the employee’s learning style c. Evaluating effectiveness 2. Informal training III. Performance Appraisal A. Purposes of performance evaluation 1. Helps managers make human resource decisions 2. Assists in identifying training and development needs 3. Provides a criterion against which management validates selection and development programs 4. Provides feedback on employees 5. Basis for reward allocations – determine promotions, B. Wh at do we evaluate? 1. Individual task outcomes 2. Behaviors 3. Traits – least predictive set of criteria used to evaluate employees. C.Who should do the evaluating? 1. Immediate superior 2. Peers 3. Self-evaluation a. Lead to employees rating themselves highly b. Make excellent vehicles for stimulating job performance discussions between employees and their superiors c. Often low in agreement with superiors’ rating d. Tend to be biased estimates 4. Immediate subordinates 5. 360-degree evaluation is to pool feedback from all the employee’s customers or provide performances feedback from the full circle of daily contacts that an employee might have, ranging from mailroom personnel to customers to bosses to peers. D. Methods of performance evaluation 1.Written essays – does not require no complex forms or extensive training to complete. 2. Critical incidents – the evaluation method that focuses the evaluator’s attention on those behaviors that are key to executing a job effectively. 3. Graphic rating scales consider their usability in quantitative analysis 4. Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS) – When an appraiser rates employees based on items on a continuum with the points reflecting actual behaviors on a given job 5. Forced comparisons a. Group order ranking requires the evaluator to place employees into a particular classification, such as top one-fifth or second one-fifth. . Individual ranking is an approach to performance evaluation rank-orders employees from best to worst. E. Suggestions for improving performance evaluations 1. Use multiple evaluators 2. Evaluate selectively 3. Train evaluators 4. Provide employees with due process F. Providing performance feedback 1. The human resources department is not supportive of the feedback process. IV. Managing Diversity in Organizations A. Work-life conflicts B. Diversity training V. Global Issues A. Selection B. Performance evaluations

AGRANA †From a local supplier to a global player Essay

The home market from the European Union is one market which everyone has free movement with goods, services, capital and people. This was not always the way if we look back before the time of the EU we had a Europe which was overfilled with conflicts and wars. Because of the foundation of the EU we got a lot of opportunities in the Western Europe and in Central and Eastern Europe but also challenges because it’s not easy to bring so many different countries together with different rules, cultures, norms and ethics under one big Union. Western Europe The Western Europe refers to the countries in the west of Europe, where the distinction is different depending on the context. But the borders between Western Europe and CEE were once determined by the ratio of power between USA and UDSSR during the Cold War. Europe was then divided in half by the Iron Curtain. Opportunities: One big opportunity for Western Europe is that the firms can get cheap human capital for their own work. Even today a blue-collar worker in Germany earns a lot more than in Poland. Another point is that the firms can invest in other enterprises from the CEE. So they can grow extremely fast as we have seen this with the AGRANA Company. With the difference in culture between Western Europe and CEE the firms can enter in a new market which can be really profitable. Challenges: But the fact, that the firms can get so cheap human resources, is on the other hand also a problem. Because of the cheap human resources, the own home country workers will lose their job and the unemployment rate of the country will rise. Another challenges is, that firms from the CEE area can expand to the Western Europe area, so there is the danger, that it will get dumping prices. The other culture and norms makes the whole situation a lot harder. The firms have to consider lots of different aspects. When they don’t do that the new branches cannot rise and flourish in the CEE countries. These are a few challenges for the Western part of Europe and it is not easy to solve these problems. Central and Eastern Europe The Central and Eastern Europe countries include all the Eastern bloc countries west of the Iron Curtain, which was collapsed in 1989-90. Also included are the three Baltic States Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Opportunities: For the CEE states the integration of EU markets brought with it many opportunities to grow economically and politically. One of the big opportunities is that the CEE countries can benefit from the higher level of living from the Western Europe countries. Everybody can work easier and live in another country. So if you want to leave your home country and settle down somewhere else that is no longer a problem. We still see this phenomenon to this very day in the Western European countries. More and more people are coming to live in the country than emigrate. The firms which can make business in the CEE countries are creating new workplaces and paying taxes on the profit. So the whole country and the government have the chance to raise their level of living. Challenges: Of course there are on the other side also challenges for the CEE countries. One of them is that the countries have to pay attention to their own experts in the country. A lot of firms in the Western part of Europe want to win the elite of the country over. This can be very dangerous for the own economy. The second aspect is that because of the globalization the poverty gap is getting bigger and bigger every day. The CEE countries have to be very careful that they don’t lose the access to the industry states. Question 2: From a resource-based view, what is behind AGRANA ´s impressive growth? â€Å"AGRANA was founded in 1988 as a holding company for the Austrian sugar and Starch industry. Operations started with 3 sugar plants, a potato starch plant and a corn starch plant.† â€Å"Nowadays, AGRANA is one of the leading suppliers to the multinational brands around the world with revenues of US $ 2.6 billion and capitalization of $1.4 billion. In the last two decades, it has become a global player with 52 production plants in 26 countries with three strategic pillars: sugar, starch and fruit.† The resource-based view focuses on a firm ´s internal resources and capabilities, for instance rare knowledge in the refining and processing of agricultural raw materials like AGRANA. These specific knowledge is a big advantage for the AGRANA company and not easy to copy by other competitors. â€Å"After the reorganization of the European sugar market by the European Union, AGRANA was motivated to look for new directions to ensure future growth of the enterprise. AGRANA decided to diversify into the fruit-processing sector in the future.† This was a really well-chosen decision, because AGRANA was able to transmit their core competence of the refinement process comparatively easy to the fruit sector. With the existing knowledge â€Å"AGRANA focused on fruit preparations and the manufacturing of fruit juice concentrates to sell them globally to fruit juice and beverage bottlers and fillers.† An analysis of the dates of the Tables 4.1a and c (AGRANA plant locations) shows, that the fruit sector is mostly responsible for the impressive growth of the AGRANA Company in the last years. In only four years (from 2002/3 to 2006/7) AGRANA ´s plant locations increased from totally 20 plant locations (15 Sugar, 5 Starch, 0 Fruit) to 53 (10 Sugar, 4 Starch, 39 Fruit). It is noticeable that during these four years the reduction of the number of sugar and starch plants was completely compensated by the new fruit plant locations. Moreover, AGRANA expanded during the growth period across the world. Especially with the fruit sector AGRANA practiced plant ´s in countries like Argentina, Brazil, China and USA for example. The key to the impressive growth of AGRANA and particular the fruit sector were firstly acquisitions and secondly â€Å"the ability to integrate those acquired into the group to realize synergistic effects† . It started with the acquisitions of Denmark ´s Vallo Saft (presence in Denmark and Poland) and Austria ´s Steirerobst (presence in Austria, Hungary, Poland Romania, Ukraine and Russia) in 2003. Furthermore, this was followed by acquisitions of France Atys Group (largest acquisition, 20 plants across every continent), Belgium ´s Dirafrost and Germany ´s Wink Group. â€Å"AGRANA ´s most recent expansion was a 50-50 joint venture with Xianyang Andre Juice Co. Ltd. in China.† The chosen consistent acquisitions policy of AGRANA ´s CEO Johann Marihart was only possible because of existing relationships and a huge amount of capital. AGRANA benefited from existing relationships to the food and beverage industry from the sugar and starch sector, whereby the diversification into a new sector was a bit more straightforward. With the existing relationships it was easier to find on the one hand acceptors for the new AGRANA products and on the other hand new business partners in the area of distribution for example. Furthermore, â€Å"Johann Marihart believes that growth is an essential requirement for the manufacturing of high-grade products at competitive prices.† For this very reason, AGRANA is prospecting for new growth opportunities in the future. Hence, AGRANA has started to diversify into the biofuel sector to ensure future growth and expansion of the company. Question 3: From an international perspective what challenges do you foresee AGRANA facing as it continues its expansion into other regions such as Asia? The impressive growth of the AGRANA Company is connected with an expanding strategy in Europe as well as in other continents like America and Asia. With this strategy AGRANA discovers new regional, cultural and language challenges for instance. AGRANDA already have a lot of experience in Asia because in 2006 they acquired a 50 % stake in concentrates manufacturer Xianyang Andre Juice Co. Ltd the company is located in the province Shaanxi China and also in 2008 AGRANA started a second joint venture for apple juice concentrate in Yongji China. But maybe they might have the problem of adapting to a different business culture. The business model that AGRANA use in Europe and the western world might not work as well in Asia. AGRANA will have to be flexible and adapt to the business characteristics of that certain country that they expand too. Many Asian countries have certain business characteristics that are deeply related to the countries tradition and these traditions will not in most cases be changed. Because of this many of AGRANA’s business standards such as work ethics and management styles may not match up well with Asian culture. In Asia a lot of administrative tasks that have been made easy in the west can be very time consuming. Many procedures that would be handled electronically in the West need a lot of paperwork which need to be filled out and stamped by hand. Cultural misunderstanding from miscommunication could be one of the biggest challenges that AGRANA will have to face. It might be very hard to make a business deal in Asia because of communication problems as there are a lot of English speakers in Asia but not many of them would have a strong enough understanding of both Chinese and western culture to help in business negotiation situation. Also Many Asian countries have high context cultures and AGRANDA would be more used to operating in low context cultures like in most of Europe. â€Å"In high context cultures communication relies upon unspoken conditions or assumptions.† This means that â€Å"yes† does not necessarily mean â€Å"yes† and this could be a major challenge for AGRANDA as they would not be used to this. Also another challenge that AGRANA might face would be that their products might not be as popular in these regions and because of this it might not be as profitable for the company to open a branch in Asia. Some of the infrastructure might not be very good in some eastern Asian countries so things like transportation of their products might not be delivered very safe or as efficient as in their European branches. Also because of climate and pollution it might cost more money to keep the products fresh. ARGANDA might have trouble with human resources because in the western world employees give a lot of responsibility and would have more flexible lines of authority whereas most of the Asian workers are more accustoms to a hierarchical structure in which each worker has their own role. All in all AGRANDA cannot guarantee success in another region but if they stay sensitive to the areas culture and local traditions for instance they can at least avoid some basic mistakes. Question 4: Compare the growth strategy of AGRANA to that of Danisco, one of its competitors in the sugar market. Which strategy do you expect to be more sustainable in the long run? To sum up the second question, AGRANA ´s impressive growth strategy is affected by acquisition associated with the diversification into the fruit sector. AGRANA acquired competitors particularly in Europe and expanded around the World and led them to be one of the biggest players. â€Å"The Danisco Company is a Danish bio-based company with activities in food production, enzymes and other bioproducts as well as a wide variety of pharmaceutical grade excipients.† â€Å"Danisco employed 6800 people in 17 countries† and â€Å"is one of the world’s leading producers of ingredients for food and other consumer products and was also one of the biggest sugar producers in Europe until the divestment of its sugar division to Nordzucker in 2009.† However, to look at the things in the right sequences: â€Å"Danisco had been created in 1989 by a merger of three companies aiming to create a strong Danish company that could compete in the EU common market after its completion† The new company reinforced the foods, food ingredients and packaging businesses, particularly in the sugar sector, â€Å"Danisco first consolidated its dominant position and Denmark, and then grew by acquisitions.† But after the reorganization of the European sugar market and also because of the intensity of competition in the sugar market, Danisco was motivated to alter and started a longtime transformation process. In 1997, the new CEO Alf Duch-Pedersen of Danisco â€Å"started focusing on becoming a global food ingredients company.† During the following years, Danisco started to acquire lots of ingredient and similar companies to initiate the transformation. The first step to become a global food ingredients company was to acquire the Finnish ingredient company Cultor in 1999 and at the same time the divestment of the De Danske Spritfabrikker Company (spirits and liqueurs) and branded foods and food packaging. In June 2004, â€Å"Danisco acquired the Rhodia Food Ingredients Company which becomes Danisco ´s dairy cultures division. The division is one of the two leading producers of dairy cultures and food safety products†. Rhodia is located in France and is an international operating company with a worldwide presence in Asia Pacific, Latin America and North America for instance. This will be followed by the acquisition of Genencor International in 2005, â€Å"which became Danisco ´s enzymes and bio-chemicals division†. Furthermore, Danisco invested in new research establishments in Shanghai, China for example. In contrast to AGRANA, Danisco divested as well, for example the flavor division to Firmenich. But the most important decision was the divestment of Danisco ´s sugar division to the German Nordzucker AG. With the divestment of the sugar division, which was one of its main divisions in the past, the transformation process was completed. During the transformation process the internationalization of sales of the company increased rapidly. It is mentioned that the sales outside of Denmark rose from â€Å"69 per cent 1995 to 88 per cent in 2004 and over 95 per cent after the sale of the sugar division†. In addition, it is impressive to see that the turnover of Danisco was â‚ ¬ 1.7 million in 2009 and that the turnover consisted mostly of all the continents, that means that Daniso has become a global player operating all over the world. â€Å"After the transformation, Danisco was positioned as a specialized supplier of food ingredients based natural raw materials. Its customers included global food giants such as Unilever, Kraft, DANONE and Nestlà ©, as well as regional and local players in all major economies.† In a final step, Danisco were acquired by the DuPont Company in 2011. â€Å"Danisco ´s attractive industrial enzymes and specialty food ingredients businesses have clear synergies with the DuPont Applied BioSciences and Nutrition and Health businesses.† This merger advances both companies ‘global efforts to provide sustainable solutions and to ensure future growth and expansion of the company. Summing up one can say that AGRANA grew by acquiring a lot around the world and by diversifying their business. Danisco grew by internationalizing their sales, transforming their business to the leading producers of ingredients for food and selling their previous businesses in order to focus on the new ones. The most important difference between these two growth strategies is that AGRANA wanted to ensure future growth by diversifying into other products with their existing knowledge. Danisco wanted to guarantee future growth by transforming themselves into a leader in a niche market. To answer the last question we want to define â€Å"Sustainability in the long run†. Sustainability or sustainable strategy at its most basic level â€Å"suggests that a company will improve its chances of survival in the future by ensuring that resources used by the business are responsibly managed and maintained.† Moreover, â€Å"in business, it is the ability of a company to develop and implement winning strategies that lead to long-term success† and the ability to decide â€Å"when to stay on course with the proven strategies or when it is time for change.† We expect the AGRANA’s strategy to be more sustainable in the long run thanks to their diversified sources of income such as their three main pillars: starch, sugar and fruit. AGRANA has more sectors to play on so AGRANA is not as dependent of a specific product sector like Danisco if business does not go as planned. The opportunities of growth are also bigger, because AGRANA has more capital and AGRANA has more companies to sell their AGRANA products to in the future because AGRANA is present worldwide and especially in emerging markets. In addition, AGRANA is part of a safe market, AGRANA ´s three pillars are always in demand also due to the fact that the earth population will grow. Moreover, AGRANA could enlarge their product line by diversifying to another sector with their existing knowledge as well as the fruit sector. All in all, AGRANA has a very good sustainable business strategy and we think that AGRANA will continue to be very successful in the future. Resources: http://www.danisco.com/about-dupont/duponttm-daniscor/history/ http://www.agrana.com/en/agrana-group/about-agrana/history-of-agrana/ http://www.us-pacific-rim.net/the-five-biggest-challenges-for-businesses-in-china.html http://www.mapconsulting.com/articles1-177/BusinessSustainabilityTheStrategiestoAchievetheLeadershiptha- tMakesItHappen http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-long-term-sustainability.htm http://www.rhodia.com/en/about_us/worldwide_presence/index.tcm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrana#History

The Settler’s Impact Essay

The Settler’s Impact Essay The Settler’s Impact Essay From the beginning the affect the Europeans had settling in the Americas, was known. Although they didn’t have the best of starts, they still managed to create settlements along the coast and eventually entire provinces. Their beginnings were rough with the Native Americans, but they soon learned to live amongst each other and learn each others tricks to survival. The affect the settlers had was nearly immediate and occasionally tragic as the settlers brought with them diseases, advanced weaponry, and in some places, a sense of entitlement to the land. Disease was one of -if not the largest- issue that the Natives had to face. European settlers carried illnesses, such as: typhus, cholera, and smallpox. None of the listed the Natives had immunity to. The spreading of these diseases led to massive amounts of death in Native communities that came in contact with settlers and explorers. This affected Natives for years to come as the generations built up immunity to them. With weakened tribes along the coast, settlers took the advantage while they could and expanded their settlements. Expansion led to the Natives losing precious farmland, sacred grounds, ritual sites, and valuable hunting territory. Effectively pushing Natives westward into surrounding tribe territories and creating more conflict. This also eventually led to more disease being spread amongst settlers and newer tribes. Newer and weakened tribes led to a greater lust for land amongst settlers, bringing about fights over who has the more effective weapon: bow and arrow or the rifle? Early rifles, although powerful, weren’t very reliable. Natives had a better sense of aim with their bow and arrows, and even with weak numbers this helped them a lot with conflicts with pushy settlers. Over time, rifles became more advanced and readily made. This changed warfare and hunting in favor of the settlers. Eventually, as land lust died down this became a very important trade item between settlers and natives. Trade was a big deal between settlers and natives from the beginning. Natives taught the settlers how to grow their crops and where to hunt. They even gave some of their crops to the settlers just getting on their feet until they had established enough of their own. In return, settlers introduced newer crops and

Definition and Examples of Theme-Writing

Definition and Examples of Theme-Writing Theme-writing refers to the conventional writing assignments (including five-paragraph essays) required in many composition classes since the late-19th century. Also called school writing. In his book The Plural I: The Teaching of Writing (1978), William E. Coles, Jr., used the term themewriting  (one word) to characterize empty, formulaic writing that is not meant to be read but corrected. Textbook authors, he said, present writing as a trick that can be played, a device that can be put into operation . . . just as one can be taught or learn to run an adding machine, or pour concrete. Examples and Observations: The use of themes has been maligned and vilified in the history of writing instruction. They have come to represent what was bad about the Harvard model, including an obsession with correcting the themes in red ink, but the womens colleges typically used themes to get students writing regular essays based on common topics. . . . Theme writing, as David Russell notes in Writing in the Academic Disciplines, 1870-1990, continued to be a model for required composition courses at small liberal arts colleges much longer than it did in the larger universities, in large part because the universities could no longer keep up with the labor-intensive practice of having students write multiple essays over the course of a semester or year.(Lisa Mastrangelo and Barbara LEplattenier, Is It the Pleasure of This Conference to Have Another?: Womens Colleges Meeting and Talking About Writing in the Progressive Era. Historical Studies of Writing Program Administration, ed. by B. LEplattenier and L. Mast rangelo. Parlor Press, 2004) Camille Paglia on Essay Writing as a Form of Repression[T]he present concentration on essay writing at the heart of the humanities curriculum is actually discriminatory against people of other cultures and classes. I think its a game. Its very, very obvious to me, having been teaching for so many years as a part-timer, teaching factory workers and teaching auto mechanics and so on, the folly of this approach. You teach them how to write an essay. Its a game. Its a structure. Speak of social constructionism! Its a form of repression. I do not regard the essay as its presently constituted as in any way something that came down from Mount Sinai brought by Moses.(Camille Paglia, The M.I.T. Lecture.  Sex, Art, and American Culture. Vintage, 1992)English A at HarvardHarvards standard, required composition course was English A, first given in sophomore year and then, after 1885, moved to the first year. . . . In 1900-01 writing assignments included a mix of daily themes, which were brief two- or three-paragraph sketches, and more extended fortnightly themes; topics were up to the student and thus varied widely, but the dailies usually asked for personal experience while the longer ones covered a mix of general knowledge.(John C. Brereton, Introduction. The Origins of Composition Studies in the American College, 1875-1925. Univ. of Pittsburgh Press, 1995) Theme Writing at Harvard (Late 19th Century)When I was an undergraduate at Harvard our instructors in English composition endeavored to cultivate in us a something they termed The daily theme eye. . . .Daily themes in my day had to be short, not over a page of handwriting. They had to be deposited in a box at the professors door not later than ten-five in the morning. . . . And because of this brevity, and the necessity of writing one every day whether the mood was on you or not, it was not always easyto be quite modestto make these themes literature, which, we were told by our instructors, is the transmission through the written word, from writer to reader, of a mood, an emotion, a picture, an idea.(Walter Prichard Eaton, Daily Theme Eye. The Atlantic Monthly, March 1907)The Chief Benefit of Theme-Writing (1909)The chief benefit derived from theme-writing lies probably in the instructors indication of errors in the themes and his showing how these errors are to be corrected; for by these means the student may learn the rules that he is inclined to violate, and thus may be helped to eliminate the defects from his writing. Hence it is important that the errors and the way to correct them be shown to the student as completely and clearly as possible. For instance, suppose that a theme contains the sentence I have always chosen for my companions people whom I thought had high ideals. Suppose the instructor points out the grammatical fault and gives the student information to this effect: An expression such as he says, he thinks, or he hears interpolated in a relative clause does not affect the case of the subject of the clause. For example, The man who I thought was my friend deceived me is correct; who is the subject of was my friend; I thought is a parenthesis which does not affect the case of who. In your sentence, whom is not the object of thought, but the subject of had high ideals; it should therefore be in the nominative case. From this information the stud ent is likely to get more than the mere knowledge that the whom in this particular case should be changed to who; he is likely to learn a principle, the knowledge of whichif he will remember itwill keep him from committing similar errors in future.But the theme from which one sentence is quoted above contains fourteen other errors; and the forty-nine other themes which the instructor is to hand back to-morrow morning contain among them about seven hundred and eighty-five more. How shall the instructor, as he indicates these eight hundred errors, furnish the information called for by each one? Obviously he must use some kind of shorthand.(Edwin Campbell Woolley, The Mechanics of Writing. D.C. Heath, 1909)

TELENURSING Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

TELENURSING - Research Paper Example In the field of nursing, there have been such kinds of technological development that target to address the problems of long distance between the caregivers and the receivers of the care. This has led to the development of a telecommunication system in nursing that enhances communication and ensures that many people from distant places can receive care according to the plan. Tele-nursing is a technology that ensures that communication in the field of nursing is easier than when the nurses have to travel to the places where patients are situated. This technology has come to ensure that the services like consultation, patient education, examination of test results and, therefore, assisting the physicians to administer treatment and the technology are used in transmission of medical record from one place to another. This technology in nursing has a lot of benefits that can ensure that nurses are able to provide care to as many patients as they could at a low cost and within a short time (MEDINFO, Kuhn, Warren & Leong, 2007). Discussion Background Nursing practitioners offer a variety of services to their clients and in different places in the world. This means that these nurses are required to travel to different places to meet their clients and provide the services that they need and carry out a follow up to the things that they need to ensure that those clients recover from their ailments. At one time, a nurse may have more than five patients whose health statuses he or she needs to track and afterwards prepare a report that shows the history of the services they have offered. When patients are not located within the same locality, the nurse may have to travel too much, and therefore, he or she will spend a lot of money on transport to achieve his or her goals. This means that the development of a system that would reduce frequent movement to patients is good to ensure that they can receive nursing care at their convenient time. The development of tele-nursing i s a technological development that will ensure that many patients can access the required services from anywhere in the world (Briggs, 2007). Services offered through Tele-nursing Tele-nurses offer similar services as other nurses who use travelling mode to avail information to and acquire it from patients in a particular place in the world. This means that all people who need care from the nurses link up through telecommunication systems to get the information they need in their different situations. The services that these patients receive may vary according to the problem from which they are suffering and which may need immediate or delayed care. Briggs (2007) notes that the services that tele-nurses offer include professional consultancy in which a patient seeks information about a particular condition. The tele-nurse involved in a situation may choose from various media through which he or she can provide the information that his or her client needs. This could be through calli ng, sending text message, faxing, emailing or any other electronic method that conveniently transmit information from one place to another. Tele-nurses transmit medical records that physicians may need to enable them to administer treatment to a patient who seeks care from them. This will mean that they will not need to transport through physical means the records that they have collected about the patient for whom they are caring. Tele-nurses may transmit this information

Alcohol impact on college students Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Alcohol impact on college students - Essay Example The play â€Å"Cat on a hot tin Roof† by Tennessee Williams paints the real picture of harmful effects of alcoholism on the family life. Brick is the most loved son of big mama and big daddy. He married Maggie, a beautiful girl from a poor family background. Brick is great football player. Skipper is the best friend of Brick. Maggie humiliates skipper for having sexual relations with his husband Brick. Skipper negates it and starts drinking alcohol for mental peace. He died of extensive drinking. Brick considered himself the cause of skipper’s death and indulged in alcoholism. This ruined the life of complete family. Memory loss Alcohol reduces short-term memory by transferring information to long term memory. Therefore, attention span reduces to 48 hours after the drink. Drink causes memory loss to college students this memory loss in known as blackouts (O’Malley & Wagenaar 479). Retention and assimilation capabilities of students are largely affected by alcohol ism. A study shows the statistics that, 54% of overindulged drinkers described that they did not remember anything about the world and their mind away in some other world when extensively drunken (Andreasson & Allebeck 634). We can find a good example of memory loss in the play â€Å"Cat on a hot tin roof†. Everybody of big daddy’s family knew that big daddy is suffering from cancer but big daddy knew nothing about his real disease. Brick was heavily drunk during conversation with big daddy on the birthday of daddy. During the same conversation, he told big daddy about his real ailment. This created big tension and trauma in the family life. Memory loss takes some time to regain short term memory. Behavioural Abuses Alcohol causes fluctuation in student behaviour. Sometimes they behave very rudely with the close relatives especially when they are just over with a drink. Hangover captures the senses of college students and makes them behave different from the normal (Gr ossman, et al 349). This behaviour leads them to property damaging and pulling of fire alarms. In one national study, 8% college students accepted damaging public property and pulling fire alarm. 25% administration staff of low drinking level colleges and about 50% of high drinking level campuses reported severe damage to property (Andreasson & Allebeck 636). Students after drinking get very emotional and break everything coming in their way. Brick also showed behaviour problem in the play â€Å"Cat on a hot tin roof†. He quitted sleeping with his wife and broke all the relations with her after the death of Skipper. Maggie tried to convince her husband to live a normal life but he did not listen. Complete family tried their best to make him quit drinking. Brick did not pay any attention to the family will and kept drinking extensively until the time he felt a click of peace in his mind. Physical Injuries and Deaths Students who misuse alcohol are exposed to danger of serious injuries and even death. The US department of education revealed death of hundreds of students per year due to alcohol trauma. Students most of the times face hangovers and vomiting. Long-term effect includes loss of immunity against the diseases. Cirrhosis of liver is a lifelong physical damage to human organ (Abbey, et al 1014). There is evidence that alcohol misuse can compel students to commit suicide or