Marketing Across Cultures (details see instruction) Essay

Marketing Across Cultures (details see instruction) - Essay Example The company, prior to Turkish entry, must be considerate of religious practices of Turkish consumers, the available infrastructure for distribution, the prevalence of competing food producers, the cultural characteristics of the society, economic conditions in the state, and available mediums in the country for promotion. 2.0 Expansion strategy In current Turkish society, 98 percent of consumers are Muslim, representing 73.6 million consumers in the country (Pew Forum 2009). This is a very large market and adherents to the Muslim religion have extremely strict food consumption expectations that are aligned with the divine teachings of the Quran. Muslim consumers consider certain foods to be najis, which means an inability to purify and make suitable for consumption against religious doctrine (Bearman, Banquis, Bosworth, Donzel and Heinrichs 2005). An example of banned foods in the Muslim diet include pork, as this animal is considered a scavenger and harbours known pathogens that, wh en consumed, would defile the body with its lack of cleanliness (Riaz and Chaudry 2004). It does not matter in the case of pork-containing products whether the animal has been slaughtered according to religious doctrine or processed as a secondary ingredient in any food product, it will not be consumed by Muslim adherents, which in the case of Turkey is nearly the entire available market. Alcohol is also banned from the Muslim diet, including any products that contain small volumes of alcohol in production or as an ingredient to produce a final food product. Muslim consumers also will reject products that use gelatine as a stabilizer or a main ingredient, which has implications for preserving or ensuring the integrity of a complex food product. Because of the dietary restrictions identified in Turkey, the most viable expansion strategy for this new market is vertical expansion. Under this strategy, the business will seek out companies that produce the intermediate goods that assist the company in distributing and marketing its finished products and acquire them. There is a pre-existing commercial infrastructure in Turkey and many surrounding nations that support large volumes of Muslim consumers that assist in distribution of halal products (those that are considered clean and appropriate for consumption) as well as manufacture of suitable food products under religious doctrine. Through acquisition, the business will gain the knowledge and expertise of existing staff and management post-purchase and will not have to incur the high costs of asset development by constructing its own, wholly-managed production and distribution centres from the ground up. The business should also consider lateral expansion, which is the acquisition of smaller firms that produce like products. This allows the business to achieve the necessary economies of scale that will bring the business model more cost efficiency whilst also establishing the framework for production, distributio n and allow the business to capitalise on the potential brand strength of these smaller acquired firms. Since this company does not have an established brand presence in this mostly Muslim market, there would be considerable time investment and expenditure to utilise appropriate promotions and build a

What Are The Problems Of Using Both Diesel Trains And Electric Trains, Essay

What Are The Problems Of Using Both Diesel Trains And Electric Trains, And Can These Problems Be Solved By Switching To Just One Or The Other - Essay Example But as, the world’s climate is changing, the technology regarding the trains is changing. Diesel fuel based trains are massively used in the world. On the electric trains have become the major sources of transportation (the Guardian, 2012). Some modals of electric trains are faster and consume a considerably low amount of energy as compared to the diesel as well as relative electric trains. In this paper, I will evaluate the problems of using both diesel trains and electric trains, and can these problems be solved by switching to just one or the other. Problems of Using diesel Trains As the diesel prices are raising, it became less feasible from economic point of view to utilize oil resources as the main source of energy. On the other hand, diesel fuel engines produce immense of green house emissions. The engine requires cooling, and thus the efficiency of a diesel fired engine is not more than 40% (the Guardian, 2012). The diesel power train engines require scheduled maintena nce. The maintenance cost remains to be high (Nearing, 2013). Problems with Electric Trains Consume a large amount of electricity energy. In case of electric failure, the train is unable to continue journey, as it requires constant supply. In case of thunder storm, the delicate electronics may no work properly. Sometimes, the hanging electric wires over the trains are considered to be less protective Comparison between Diesel and Electric Trains Electric trains are much efficient as compared to the diesel fired trains. On the other hand, the technological advancements in the electric trains made the electric power trains, the fastest trains. Electric trains convert electric energy to mechanical energy, the motors require less cooling as compared to the engines so less energy is wasted. At higher altitude diesel engines become less efficient due to the lack of oxygen but electric rains work properly in that situation. Electric trains are more environment friendly as compared to the d iesel trains. Electrical trains are equipped with backup systems in case if one motor fails, other motors support its weight. If electrical energy is from a renewable source, environmental impact of the transportation can be reduced. If electrical energy is generated from fossil fuel resources, electrical trains still generate 20-30% low green house emissions as compared to the diesel trains. Electrical trains are more economically feasible as compared to the diesel trains (Nearing, 2013). Solutions that can make diesel trains better In order to increase the efficient of the diesel trains, it is important to convert the heat energy from the exhaust to a useful form. One way of doing this, is to utilize the thermal energy recovery system. The heat recovery should be used to convert water into steam and then use steam to power the train. By doing this, the energy efficient can be increased to 80% or more. Instead of using the petroleum diesel, bio diesel can reduce the cost of the fue l and reduce the environmental impact of the diesel fired engines (Takeuchi, Goodman, & Sone, 2003). Solutions that can make electrical trains better The researches have researched much to make the electrical trains better and more secure but from general perspective, there is need to power the trains from more than one source, more than one sou

Pure Culture Methods and Gram Staining

Pure Culture Methods and Gram Staining Individual and well separated colonies are crucial when working with bacterial cultures. Pure culture method involves the step of taking a small and well isolated colony and transferring it to a sterile growth medium in a suitable culture vessel (Ryan Ray, 2010). There are three types of commonly used methods to produce pure cultures. They are the streak plate, spread plate and pour plate. All these methods require the use of aseptic technique. Streak plate is suitable for the direct plating of media that contains a large number of cells. To prepare a streak plate, a colony or a loopful of bacteria culture will be taken using a sterile inoculating loop and then the sample will be streaked several times over the surface of the solid growth media. Single cells are obtained along the streak as each streak represents a dilution process. The bacteria will grow into a separate colony and to be used for pure culture after being incubated at optimum condition (Carter Wise, 2004). Another alternative to obtain pure culture is the spread plate method where a small volume of suspension is spread evenly over the surface of an agar plate. The bacteria colonies will be evenly distributed over the surface of the agar plate after incubation. Larger colonies are the colonies that are well isolated. Pure culture can also be done by using the pour plate method. The diluted sample is suspended in agar growth at about 50 à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ °c. The mixture is then poured into a suitable vessel and incubated. The bacteria colonies will grow throughout the agar plate. The colonies within the agar will be very tiny and difficult to see and count as compared to those which grow on the surface of the agar. Objectives: The purpose of conducting this experiment was to understand the principles and aim of obtaining pure cultures, to compare the separation of bacterial colonies using streak plate, pour plate and spread plate techniques and to observe and compare the colonial features of isolated bacterial colonies on solid nutrient media as well as the morphological cellular features of isolated bacterial colonies using the gram stain method. In addition, the experiment explained about the principles of gram stain method and allowed the interpretation of each of the steps in gram staining. Method: Refer to lab manual page 32-36. Results: In this experiment, mixture of Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus was used to prepare pure culture using the three methods which are the streak plate, spread plate and pour plate. The plates were incubated and the colony morphology of the plates was observed. The cellular morphology of the bacteria was determined using the gram stain method. The results were recorded and tabulated in a table. Table 1: colony morphology and cellular morphology of different organisms. Organism Colony morphology Cellular morphology Gram stain Shape Arrangement Bacillus cereus Irregular, opaque and cream in colour, flat Positive (purple colour) Rod Chain Escherichia coli Circular, center, smooth, translucent, white (small), raised (Cham Tan, Group 1). Negative (pink colour) Rod Cluster Staphylococcus aureus Circular, smooth, some yellow, some white, convex. Positive (purple colour) Cocci Cluster Discussion: 1) Bacillus cereus was obtained from the big bacteria colony. When observed from the agar plate, it appeared to be irregular in shape, flat, opaque and cream in colour. It is a gram positive bacteria. So when gram stain was performed, the bacteria appeared purple in colour under the microscope. Bacillus cereus is of rod shape and the arrangement is in the form of chain. It has ÃŽÂ ²- capsule and is non motile. For Escherichia coli, it was obtained from the medium colony. When observed from the agar plate, it appeared to be circular in shape and mostly was located at the center of the agar. The bacteria colony appeared to be smooth, translucent, and some were white in colour (Cham Tan, Group 1). Escherichia coli is a gram negative bacteria. Therefore, it was pink in colour under the microscope. It has rod shape and its arrangement is in cluster form. It is motile and is a type of non spore forming bacteria. Staphylococcus aureus was from the small bacteria colony. It is circular, smooth, convex and some are yellow in colour while some are white in colour. It is a gram positive bacteria where it showed purple colour when under the microscope. The shape for Staphylococcus aureus is cocci and it is in cluster form. It is a non spore forming bacteria and is non motile. The cells seen in the original mixture matched with those obtained in the pure culture. Streak plate method is suitable for the direct plating of media that contains a large number of cells and as for spread plate method, a small volume of suspension is spread evenly over the surface of an agar plate. On the other hand, bacteria are suspended and grow throughout the agar plate for pour plate method. 2) Spread plate will be more suitable to produce well isolated single colonies from a broth culture that contains a mixture of organisms as the bacteria will be on the surface or the agar and not suspended. This way, the isolated colony can be counted and also be obtained easily compared to streak plate and pour plate method. When the bacteria is taken from a mixed broth culture, the colonies will grow and overlapping each other after being incubated. When the bacteria is incubated using pour plate method, the bacteria grown will be smaller and it will be harder to obtain a well isolated colony as they grow throughout the media. Agar has a higher melting temperature than gelatin. Gelatin will melt and becomes soft when bacteria is being incubated on gelatin media at their optimum temperature which is 37 à ¢Ã‚ Ã‚ °c. 3) Agar is used in preference to gelatin for making solid media as agar will remain solid at the optimum temperature for the growth of most bacteria. Therefore, the property of agar makes it to be more effective than gelatin as a solidifying agent (Muir Ritchie, 1953). 4) Bacteria that are well separated grow as isolated colonies without affecting the growth process as these bacteria cell do not merge or overlap with other bacteria cells in compete for sources. The growth of isolated bacteria will not be limited by the depletion of the nutrients (Cruickshank, 2005) 5) Individual colony does not always consist of one type of bacterium as the bacteria could be from a mixed culture of different organisms. Therefore, an individual colony does not always originate from a single parent cell. Before staining process, bacteria culture has to be dried and fixed. Heat fixation is convenient and it retains the cell wall structure. 6) Smear preparation has to be heat fixed through the Bunsen burner flame to kill the bacteria and make them adhere to the slide. Besides, it will also allow the cells to stain better during the staining process. A good smear preparation will allow a better microscopic view of the bacteria cellular features. Correct techniques in preparation of smear are important. 7) If the whole colony is used to make the smear, the smear will be too thick. Thick smear will cause the difficulties in distinguishing individual cell. In addition, the stain might not be completely washed out. If the bacteria used is gram negative, the cells will appear purple in colour giving gram positive results which is wrong. If the bacteria is gram positive, the intensity of purple colour will be so high that it will not be easy to differentiate the cellular features of the cell. 8) Cell wall determines the shape of a cell. Cells that lose their cell wall will change its shape. However, changing the shape of the cells will not affect the reaction to gram stain. Hence, there will be no association between cell shape and reaction to gram stain The cell wall structure of gram positive bacteria is different from the cell wall structure of gram negative bacteria. The cell wall of gram positive bacteria has a thick peptidoglycan layer while the peptidoglycan layer in the cell wall of gram negative bacteria is thinner. The thick peptidoglycan layer of the cell wall of gram positive bacteria retain the crystal violet dye and stain purple even after decolourisation but for gram negative bacteria, it is decolourised by the decolourising agent. Gram negative bacteria retain the second dye and stain pink. 9) The cell wall structure of a bacterial cell is important to determine its gram reaction. 10) The third step which is the decolourisation step of the gram staining procedure is important to determine the outcome of the result. The time taken should not be too long or too short as over-decolourising will cause the cell not able to retain the crystal violet dye and appear colourless. If the decolourising time is too short, the gram negative cells will remain purple giving a gram positive result. Conclusion: In conclusion, pure culture can be obtained by using several methods which are the streak plate method, spread plate method and pour plate method. Using the pure culture, the separation of bacterial colonies, the colonial features and cellular features can be compared. Aseptic technique should be followed all the time to prevent introducing new contaminants to the environment.

Power, Morality, and Terror Essay -- Terrorism Terrorist September 11

Power, Morality, and Terror In the wake of events stemming from the bombing of the World Trade Center, citizens of the United States have slowly been coming to grips with many changes- new threats, new fears, and a new vision of the world and our place within it. As we re-adjust the lens through which we see our geopolitical landscape and begin to formulate a national security policy which can effectively respond to the terrorist threat, we must acquire a firm understanding of what motivates terrorist operatives. It will not suffice to merely throw out simplistic explanations of terrorist motives such as, "they’re evil. . .they hate us. . .they’re irrational. . .they hate freedom." Rather, we must take a systematic look at what motivates terrorism on the theoretical level. In some ways, terrorism is just a new variation on an old theme. For as long as men have lived in societies, there have been the haves and the have-nots, the dominant classes and the oppressed groups, the weak and the strong. Whereas the tactics of terrorists may be more technologically advanced and, arguably, more cruel than those used by insurgents of the past, their primary goal of altering either the regional or global polarity is as old as mankind itself. For their part, those dominant nations against whom the repressed campaign tend to engage in a brand of rhetoric which portrays the opposition as morally depraved. While this may or may not be the case, two important questions follow which are asked all too rarely. The first question is: how valid are the claims of the repressed that the dominant state itself is morally culpable? In the current case, the United States is responsible for committing a number of evils against Muslims. This is esp... ...orism is the last resort of a desperate people. Perhaps its best cure is to confront and rectify the grievances of those who suffer so greatly at our hands (often because of our narrow oil-interests in the Persian Gulf). Even a minimal increase in the standard of living in such countries, even a small acknowledgment of our role in maintaining and exacerbating this suffering- would instill in potential insurgents the one thing that stops terrorism dead in its tracks- hope. Sources: Betts, Richard K. ed. Conflict After the Cold War: Arguments on Causes of War and Peace. Carr, Edward Hallett. "Realism and Idealism." Second Edition. Longman Press: New York. 2002. Coates, AJ. The Ethics of War. Manchester University Press. New York: 1997. Liang, Qiao and Wang Xiangsui. Unrestricted Warfare. Beijing: PLA Literature and Arts Publishing House. 1999.

Process of Problem Solving and Decision Making

Teamwork is important to organizations in this entire world nowadays to be successful and to have control in the market. Teamwork is basically defined as problem solving group of people who have a variety of skills and strengths to obtain the most perfect solution. Teamwork is one of the main goals for organizations to make sure that they are on the right track in obtaining their visions. There are many ways that organizations put their contributions in increasing the power of teamwork such as team building where it helps the employees to work in groups rather than individuals. Teamwork will help the organizations in the process of problem solving and decision making where it consists of several process that is cause analysis, creative problem solving, decision making and anticipate and plan. Firstly, find and analyse the cause to configure which errors or problems to be corrected or to be improvised. Teamwork is important in this process where it is more effective where it will save the cost and time in finding the cause to the problem. Each members of the team can concentrate in sectors where there they could possibly find the problem that they are searching. There are methods that practiced in some organizations such as the Root Cause Analysis (RCA) where it believes that the optimum solution only can be found if they discovered the root cause. By having the solution with RCA, it can also be used for identifying the immediately obvious symptoms for the future errors. After the cause of the problems have been discovered, the team can proceed to the next step that is creative problem solving. Creative problem solving is founded by Alex Osborn and Dr. Sidney J. Parnes in the 1950s where they made the process of finding and generating creative solutions to produce great ideas in solving problems. Despite that, to generate more ideas in solving the problems, teamwork is needed because generating many ideas must come from more brains and minds. Brainstorming can be practiced in this process where each of the group members in the team who have personal skills and abilities can give their own ideas and thus more ideas can be generated in solving the problem. These may help in having more alternatives to obtain an optimal solution regarding the problem faced. After the team has acquired a number of solutions, the decision making process will start where the team will now select the best alternatives in solving the problem. Decision making can be defined as an outcome of mental process which will lead to selecting the best solution among other alternatives. In order to obtain the optimal solution, the objectives must be reviewed first and the alternative chosen must be evaluated by those objectives. Moreover, a good decision making is essential for the success of the organization where they usually involve in some issues where it makes decision making difficult such as uncertainty, complexity, high risk consequences and also interpersonal issues. The last step in the process of problem solving and decision making is anticipating and plan to assure success. This is important after the alternative has been chosen because the team must further plan to make sure that the alternative goes well while facing the problem. It is a waste of time in the process of decision making when they do not plan on how to use the alternative effectively. After making plans for the alternative, the team can now anticipate the future effects of the alternative to make sure whether it is successful or not. If it does not work out, the team must fall back to the decision making process where they will choose another best alternative to be used. Last but not least, teamwork is a very useful in the process of problem solving and decision making because it helps much in saving the organization’s time and money as there will be more people can use their own point of view based on their abilities and skills in order to find the root of the problem, generating ideas in finding solutions, making decisions on the ideas and anticipate and plan the chosen ideas. Organizations should implement the mutuality among the members because it is very useful to assure their success and to work effectively although it is essential that team members acquire communication skills and use effective communication channels between one another to help in improving their interaction between one and another.

F. Scott Fitzgerald and Gatsby Essay

â€Å"It is invariably saddening to look through new eyes at things upon which you have expended your own powers of adjustment.†( F.Scott Fitzgerald 104) – Nick talks about how he looks at life with a new perspective and tries to abandoned â€Å"the West Egg† concept of â€Å"a world complete in itself, with its own standards its own great figures†. When he look at daisy, he explains that he could feel daisy’s pain and suffering by just looking into her eyes. So the significance of this quote is that nick is looking beyond the gilts and glamour of society so that he may see the true identity of people- as with Daisy. Later on, Nick will use this skill to find the true answer of whom Gatsby is . â€Å"The truth was that Jay Gatsby, of West Egg, Long Island, sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God—a phrase which, if it means anything, means just that—and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty. So he invented just the sort of Jay Gatsby that a seventeen year old boy would be likely to invent, and to this conception he was faithful to the end.†(F.Scott Fitzgerald 98) -Nick describes Gatsby’s early life using a comparison between Gatsby and Jesus to reveal Gatsby’s identity. In the Great Gatsby, Gatsby transforms himself into the ideal that he envisioned for himself a Platonic conception of himself as a youngster and remains committed to that ideal, despite the obstacles that society presents to the fulfillment of his dream. He wanted nothing less of Daisy than that she should go to Tom and say: â€Å"I never loved you.† After she had obliterated four years with that sentence they could decide upon the more practical measures to be taken. (F.Scott Fitzgerald 109) -Gatsby is frustrated at daisy for being a cowardly woman who doesn’t stand up for her. He believes its time for her to take action but Gatsby also realizes that it’s impractical. Gatsby would like to put everything back how it was in the past, but Daisy has moved on from the past into the present. â€Å"His heart beat faster and faster as Daisy’s white face came up to his own. He knew that when he kissed this girl, and forever wed his unutterable visions to her perishable breath, his mind would never romp again like the mind of God. So he waited, listening for a moment longer to the tuning-fork that had been struck upon a star. Then he kissed her. At his lips’ touch she blossomed for him like a flower and the incarnation was complete.†(F.Scott Fitzgerald111) -Gatsby opens up to Nick and tell a memorable event between Gatsby and Daisy. This is one of the times were he actually gives information about his past that is true and Nick is surprised and hears Gatsby through. Gatsby longs for the past and revisions the event where he and daisy first kissed. Gatsby fantasies about the past, believing that Daisy is the same girl he kissed many years ago. â€Å"But his heart was in a constant, turbulent riot. The most grotesque and fantastic conceits haunted him in his bed at night. A universe of ineffable gaudiness spun itself out in his brain while the clock ticked on the wash-stand and the moon soaked with wet light his tangled clothes upon the floor. Each night he added to the pattern of his fancies until drowsiness closed down upon some vivid scene with an oblivious embrace. For a while these reveries provided an outlet for his imagination; they were a satisfactory hint of the unreality of reality, a promise that the rock of the world was founded securely on a fairy’s wing.†(Scott Fitzgerald 99) – Gatsby is a man who seems to â€Å"have it all† but in reality is troubled by one-sided love. The one thing he doesn’t have is what he needs most to fulfill him is Daisy. At night, these thoughts both torment and comfort him. The beauty of this passage is Fitzgerald’s use of both negative and positive imagery to illustrate the conflict in Gatsby’s thoughts. The imagery of the rock and fairy’s wing just elaborates Gatsby’s view of his world is crumbling apart; something like a rock is a strong foundation has flew away so easily like a fairy. Very much like the difference between Gatsby’s real world and what he wishes for himself. Chapter 7 â€Å"Her voice is full of money,† he said suddenly.†¨That was it. I’d never understood before. It was full of money — that was the inexhaustible charm that rose and fell in it, the jingle of it, the cymbals’ song of it †¦ high in a white palace the king’s daughter, the golden girl. (Scott Fitzgerald 120) – Gatsby is shocked and confused why Daisy is all about money. He doesn’t even wonder why she married Tom. So Fitzgerald adds in dialogues as a hint to fill in the missing gaps and to show Gatsby who Daisy was and is. Tom allows Daisy to ride with Gatsby because he knows she wont choose Gatsby over him. Gatsby can’t let go of the Daisy, not because of the relationship now but what they had; back in the past were he was a poor kid in the army who got this beautiful rich girl to fall in love with him. â€Å"There is no confusion like the confusion of a simple mind, and as we drove away Tom was feeling the hot whips of panic. His wife and his mistress, until an hour ago secure and inviolate, were slipping precipitately from his control.†(Scott Fitzgerald 125) – This quote reveals that Tom is getting frustrated and shocked because of the accident. He feels as though he is losing control over both women, Daisy and Myrtle. You could see the signs of tension between Gatsby and Tom when they get into a verbal argument of some sort. Tom needs control and when he doubts his control, over a situation or another person, he cant handle it. â€Å"With every word she was drawing further and further into herself, so he gave that up, and only the dead dream fought on as the afternoon slipped away, trying to touch what was no longer tangible, struggling unhappily, despairingly, toward that lost voice across the room.†(Scott Fitzgerald 134) -As she spoke, he became more and more aware that Daisy would never be his. The dream that he once had of them being together slipped away. He was becoming forced to realize the truth even though he somehow wished it was different. â€Å"So we drove on toward death in the cooling twilight†¦.† Nick: ‘â€Å"Was Daisy driving?†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Gatsby: ‘â€Å"Yes, but of course I’ll say I was.†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Scott Fitzgerald 137-143). – Fitzgerald placed the first quote as a foreshadowing of Myrtle’s death. I don’t understand why Gatsby and the other characters mourn for Myrtle, they act if it was just a normal day by day event. It’s interesting how Gatsby spoke as if Daisy’s reaction was the only thing that mattered. â€Å"He put his hands in his coat pockets and turned back eagerly to his scrutiny of the house, as though my presence marred the sacredness of the vigil. So I walked away and left him standing there in the moonlight — watching over nothing.†(Scott Fitzgerald 145) -Before the trip into the city and the accident, Gatsby was convinced that Daisy was in love with him and would without a doubt leave Tom for him. When he watches Daisy and Tom in the kitchen, the reality of the situation is starting to hit him. Ever since he and Daisy fell apart when she married Tom, he has entirely devoted his life to getting wealth to impress Daisy and win her back. He has devoted his whole life and heart to this woman, and so as he watches her slipping away from him again, he knows nothing more than to return to his vigil over the woman that has controlled his life.

The Spanish-American War essays

The Spanish-American War essays It has been a splendid little war wrote John Hay to Theodore Roosevelt after the fall of Santiago. Little, the Spanish-American War was; it was over in barely four months. Splendid? Maybe for those at home, reading the headline about its lucky victories. But for those men who fought in it, it was a bloody, dirty and heroic war as any in history. Zinn, Johnson, and Tindall In Howard Zinns book, he emphasized strongly on commercial possibilities, economic interest and an establishment of a white and a black republic in Cuba. In 1898, there was a turnabout in the US business attitudes on Cuba. Businessmen had been interested, from the start of the Cuban revolt against Spain in the effect on commercial possibilities there. There was a substantial economic interest in the island because according to President Grover Clevelands summarization in 1896, it is estimated that at least $30 million to $50 million of American capital are invested in the plantations and in railroad, mining and other business enterprises on the island. The volume trade between the US and Cuba, which in 1889 amounted to about $64 million rose in 1893 to about $103 million. The US government had power and profit in mind as it observed the events in Cuba. The issue with the establishment of a white and a black republic was also a concern to the Cleveland administration if Cuba w ins the war since Cuba had a mixture of the two races. Out of the three books, only Zinn wrote about this issue. A black republic might be dominant. Two-fifths of the insurgents in the field are negroes. If these men win, they would demand a predominant share in the gov...

Project Management Implementation Strategies

Project Management Implementation Strategies Free Online Research Papers Project Management Implementation Strategies Project Management is the operations function of Sonoran Steel Services. The lone member of this department must divide time between other departments. Typically, he spends about 8 hours a day in these functions. As the company grows, there is a risk that this department may become overloaded. With current revenue projections, it will become necessary to hire another project management trainee within two years. Duties in this department are as follows: Interaction with customer Contract Management Purchasing Scheduling Change order costing and management Subcontractor management Management of records And More Sonoran is a steel re-seller or broker. The marketing department sells a project and it is this department’s duty to execute the contract. Steel fabrication is a custom or job process. Krajewski and Ritzman, 2000, describe a job process as one that â€Å"creates the flexibility needed to produce a variety of products in significant quantities†. Almost every project in construction is unique. Occasionally, similar projects will be built, but identical projects are extremely rare. This forces drafting firms, fabricators, erectors, and project managers to review each project and develop schedules and manufacturing plans for that unique project. Very little inventory is maintained in a steel fabrication shop. Operating similar to a â€Å"Just in Time† manufacturing facility, all materials are ordered and scheduled for delivery as they are needed. Storage is kept to no more than two weeks inventory. There is such a vast array of material sizes and specifications; there is no other reasonable way to provide the materials needed. Sonoran will purchase material directly from the steel warehouses for some projects and will buy materials from the fabrication shops on smaller projects. No management of inventory is required for Sonoran. While not in the possession of the latest technology and software, Sonoran has a file of spreadsheets that have been developed over the past five years. These ease the transfer and storage of information. Fewer documents need to be stored as hard copy. Enlisting the use of the Internet for both gathering and transmitting information saves the company time and money. Project Management situation analysis PROJECT MANAGEMENT STRENGTHS ? 20 years construction experience ? Relative strengths ? Multiple seminars ? Core competencies ? Taught by a great mentor ? Key factors of success ? Scheduling tools ? Very good understanding of the whole project ? Establishes good relationships with contractors ? Excellent computer skills ? Skillful negotiator ? Works toward greater good of subcontractors ? Good mentor and trainer The company principal, Richard Oxford, has extensive experience in the steel industry. He has attended many seminars on project management, time management and negotiation. To add to this, he was trained by one of the best managers in the steel industry. With over 40 years in the steel industry, his mentor was a strong influence in Mr. Oxford’s development. Mr. Oxford has successfully managed several projects greater than $10,000,000 in value. This requires a deep understanding of project scheduling and schedule maintenance. Mr. Oxford also has a history of extremely good relationships with contractors. Many of the projects that Sonoran is able to bid are opportunities given by people with whom he has previously worked. One reason he is able to establish such relationships is his understanding of the larger project and the impact of steel fabrication and installation on other trades. This understanding and concern has built lasting relationships that are paying off today. PM Weaknesses Only one person with time divided Can get overloaded and not take care of projects Not a strong estimator Works from small home office As with any single employee company, there is a risk of being too successful. This leads to overloading. With the need to divide time between sales, estimating, finance, and project management it is easy to miss an important task. Working from a home office saves money, but is somewhat cramped. There is occasionally the need to spread out multiple plan sets. Another weakness is that the project manager often needs to provide estimates for change order work. The financial situation at the company has forced the owner to become an estimator. These projects are all hard bids. If a project is underbid, the company has to absorb the loss. PM Opportunities Available upgraded scheduling tools New hire to expand capacity Freedom to develop new PM systems as necessary There is relatively cheap scheduling software available called SureTrac Project Manager. This software costs approximately $500 and is able to perform more than enough tasks to manage schedule on steel projects. This software would allow the company to track multiple projects on any interval it chooses. Resource loading options can be used to track project finances. Basic Excel software is also extremely versatile. It is easy to develop job specific spreadsheets from this platform. The company’s intended growth will require departmental growth. This will require the hiring of a new project manager. Several areas can be tapped for potential employees: ? Shop Personnel ? Other companies project management teams ? Detailers ? Estimators ? Field personnel ? Recent construction management graduates Any intelligent individual from one of these areas can be trained in the art of project management. Each of these areas would bring strengths and weaknesses. Computer and communication skills are a must. PM Threats Overloading Schedule interruptions by general contractors Non performing subcontractors Bad budgets from sales The greatest threat to quality project management is job overloading. It is not always easy to predict how and when this will happen. Projects are bid to fill schedule holes, but sometimes the schedules slip or are accelerated. The general contractor may not be performing in a proper manner causing the steel schedule to slip into a conflicting position with another project. Subcontractors sometimes do not perform at expectation. All of these factors lead to overloading of the project team and possibly to poor performance. PM Trends Greater technology Electronic data transfer Global subcontracting Like many other industries, steel management is moving toward higher levels of technology. New computer programs that feed design information into â€Å"Computer Numerically Controlled† equipment is the latest development. This ends the need to duplicate information from one functional area to another. Electronic data transfer has greatly increased the speed of information transfer. Project management is nothing without information transfer. Electronic files containing complete sets of design drawings are e-mailed around the world. This has led to increase in global subcontracting. There are many low cost, high quality detailers available in East Asia and South America. This could be a cost advantage for Sonoran. Project Management Strategic Objectives 1. Project Manual 2. Develop purchasing methodology 3. Add new Personnel 4. Train new project manager 5. Online drawing Transfer The goals in this functional area are developed around improving the department by developing better purchasing methods, hiring and training new personnel. If the company intends a 50% rate of growth, it will be necessary to develop a project manual to maintain consistency in project management. It is critical that high quality consistent management be provided to contractors. This consistency will develop into consistent profits. Project Management Implementation strategies 1. Project Manual 06/30/2001 ? Determine functional areas 12/31/2001 ? Develop or adjust spread sheets 02/28/2001 ? Text development for each area 05/30/2001 The intent of a project manual is to develop a consistent set of procedures to follow for each project. While it is usually easy for one individual to be consistent, it is difficult for multiple individuals to act in the exact same manner. A project manual will be used to help train new project managers in proper job methodology. This will lead to consistent documentation, filing systems, and measurements of job costs. The intent is not to clone the founder, but to recreate things that work. Latitude will be given for personal creativity. 2. Add new personnel 12/31/2001 ? Job description 09/31/2001 ? Hiring strategy 10/31/2001 ? Interviews 12/01/2001 Future employees at the company will wear many different hats. It is important to write a good job description of the employee’s duties. This will help both the owner and new hire. From this description, it will be easier to determine the kind of individual that will best fill the companies need. A strategy for seeking such individuals will be developed and interviews scheduled. With current market conditions, the duration of the strategy development stage and interview stage may be greater than the month allowed. 3. Training 12/31/2002 ? Introduce job sets 01/03/2001 ? Plan reading 01/10/2001 ? First Project 02/01/2001 ? Estimating 06/01/2001 Training is intended to be a multi-year project. A quality project manager will take 3 to 5 years to develop. Training will include many more phases than are listed. These are the basics of development. Much training will be hands on and by observation of the existing project managers. The first project will be awarded very early in the process. At this stage of company development, the senior project manager should have time to mentor the new project manager through several projects. The company is small enough that help will always be near. 4. Purchasing methodology 03/30/2001 ? Interview steel purchasers 11/20/2000 ? Develop needs analysis for company 01/31/2001 ? Needs analysis for sub-fabricators 02/28/2001 Purchasing is a function that many companies relegate to another department. At Sonoran, this function will be performed by the project manager. To develop a purchasing methodology, informal interviews will be staged with steel purchasers in the city. From these interviews, and interviews with sub-fabricators, a needs analysis will be conducted to establish proper and profitable formatting for the purchasing plan. Software is available, but it is very expensive. NPV analysis of the software purchase shall also be conducted. 5. Online drawing transfer 12/31/2003 ? Equipment analysis 06/30/2003 ? Software Analysis 07/30/2003 ? Lease or buy plotter 10/31/2003 ? Lease or buy computer 11/30/2003 This function is not just the wave of the future, it is now. Hardware and software is extremely expensive. It will be two to three years before the cost can be justified. It is possible to use equipment from other sources. The detailers generally possess the proper equipment to e-mail drawing files and plot incoming files. If the company intends to use international firms to do detailing functions, it can pay printing firms to plot the drawings. This is expensive, but not as expensive as equipment purchase. Ideally, the cost analysis will allow for the purchase of the equipment in three years. SUMMARY The project management department has more strength than any other department in the company. The company is based upon selling project management services. A weakness is in purchasing management. Work needs to be done to improve this process. Technologically, the company needs to make improvements. While the technology is available, money for such equipment and software is not available at this time. It will be necessary to closely monitor the workload within the department, especially with the shared duties the lone employee possesses. With the companies intended growth, it will become necessary to hire and probably train another project manager within the next 15 months. Mr. Oxford is very qualified to train such a manager. Research Papers on Project Management Implementation StrategiesThe Project Managment Office SystemAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalDefinition of Export QuotasBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductResearch Process Part OneTwilight of the UAWOpen Architechture a white paperPETSTEL analysis of India

Chinampa - Raised Field Agriculture in the Americas

Chinampa - Raised Field Agriculture in the Americas Chinampa system farming (sometimes called floating gardens) is a form of ancient raised field agriculture, used by American communities at least as early as 1250 CE, and successfully used by small farmers today as well. Chinampas are long narrow garden beds separated by canals. The garden land is built up from the wetland by stacking alternating layers of lake mud and thick mats of decaying vegetation. The process is typically characterized by exceptionally high yields per unit of land.  The word chinampa is a Nahuatl (native Aztec) word, chinamitl, meaning an area enclosed by hedges or canes. Key Takeaways: Chinampas Chinampas are a type of raised field agriculture used in wetlands, constructed of stacked alternating layers of mud and decaying vegetation.  The fields are built with a series of long alternating strips of canals and raised fields.  If properly maintained, by dredging organic-rich canal muck and placing it onto of the raised fields, chinampas are quite productive.  They were seen by the by Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes when he reached the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City) in 1519.  The oldest chinampas in the Basin of Mexico date to ca. 1250 CE, well before the formation of the Aztec empire in 1431.   Cortes and the Aztec Floating Gardens The first historical record of chinampas was by the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes, who arrived in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City) in 1519. At the time, the basin of Mexico where the city is located was characterized by an interconnected system of lakes and lagoons of varying size, elevation, and salinity. Cortes saw agricultural plots on rafts on the surface of some of the lagoons and lakes, connected to the shore by causeways, and to the lakebeds by willow trees. The Aztecs did not invent chinampa technology. The earliest chinampas in the Basin of Mexico date to the Middle Postclassic periods, about 1250 CE, more than 150 years before the formation of the Aztec empire in 1431.  Some archaeological evidence exists showing that the Aztecs damaged some of the existing chinampas when they took over the basin of Mexico. Ancient Chinampa Aerial view over Xochimilco traditional agricultural fields Mexico City, March 16, 2015. Getty Images / Ulrike Stein / Stock Editorial Ancient chinampa systems have been identified throughout the highland and lowland regions of both continents of the Americas, and are also currently in use in highland and lowland Mexico on both coasts; in Belize and Guatemala; in the Andean highlands and Amazonian lowlands. Chinampa fields are generally about 13 feet (4 meters) wide but can be up to 1,300–3,000 ft (400–900 m) in length. Ancient chinampa fields are difficult to identify archaeologically  if theyve been abandoned and allowed to silt over: However, a wide variety of remote sensing techniques such as aerial photography have been used to find them with considerable success. Other information about chinampas is found in archival colonial records and historic texts, ethnographic descriptions of historic period chinampa farming schemes, and ecological studies on modern ones. Historical mentions of chinampa gardening date to the early Spanish colonial period. Farming on a Chinampa Chinampa Field Scene, Xochimilco. Hernn Garcà ­a Crespo The benefits of a chinampa system are that the water in the canals provides a consistent passive source of irrigation. Chinampa systems, as mapped by environmental anthropologist Christopher T. Morehart, include a complex of major and minor canals, which act both as freshwater arteries and provide canoe access to and from the fields. To maintain the fields, the farmer must continually dredge soil from the canals, and redeposit the soil atop the garden beds. The canal muck is organically rich from rotting vegetation and household wastes. Estimates of the productivity based on modern communities suggest that 2.5 acres (1 hectare) of chinampa gardening in the basin of Mexico could provide an annual subsistence for 15–20 people. Some scholars argue that one reason chinampa systems are so successful has to do with the diversity of species used within the plant beds. A chinampa system in San Andrà ©s Mixquic, a small community located about 25 miles (40 kilometers) from Mexico City, was found to include an astonishing 146 different plant species, including 51 separate domesticated plants. Other benefits include a damping down of plant diseases, compared to ground-based agriculture. Ecological Studies Instensive studies in Mexico City have been focused on chinampas in Xaltocan and Xochimilco. Xochimilco chinampas include not just crops such as maize, squash, vegetables, and flowers but small-scale animal and meat production, hens, turkeys, fighting cocks, pigs, rabbits and sheep. In sub-urban spaces, there are also draft animals (mules and horses) used to draw carts for maintenance purposes and take visiting local tourists. Beginning in 1990, heavy metal pesticides such as methyl parathion were applied to some chinampas in Xochimilco. Methyl parathion is an organophosphate which is extremely toxic to mammals and birds, which negatively impacted the kinds of levels of nitrogen available in the chinampa soils, decreasing beneficial types and increasing those not-so-beneficial. A study by Mexican ecologist Claudia Chvez-Là ³pez and colleagues reports successful laboratory tests removing the pesticide, lending hope that damaged fields may yet be restored. Archaeology Chinampa or floating gardens, Mexico, journey of Leon De Pontelli to Central America, from LIllustration, Journal Universel 886(35), February 18, 1860. De Agostini / Biblioteca Ambrosiana Getty Images The first archaeological investigations into chinampa farming were in the 1940s, when Spanish archaeologist Pedro Armillas identified relict Aztec chinampa fields in the Basin of Mexico, by examining aerial photographs. Additional surveys of central Mexico were conducted by US archaeologist William Sanders and colleagues in the 1970s, who identified additional fields associated with the various barrios of Tenochtitlan. Chronological data suggests chinampas were built at the Aztec community of Xaltocan during the Middle Postclassic period  after significant  amounts of political organization was in place. Morehart (2012) reported a 3,700–5,000 ac (~1,500–2,000 ha) chinampa system at the postclassic kingdom, based on aerial photographs, Landsat 7 data, and Quickbird VHR multispectral imagery, integrated into a GIS system. Chinampas and Politics Although Morehart and colleagues once argued that chinampas required a  top-down organization to be implemented, most scholars today (including Morehart) agree that building and maintaining of chinampa farms do  not require organizational and administrative responsibilities at the state level. Indeed, archaeological studies at Xaltocan and ethnographic studies at  Tiwanaku  have provided evidence that the meddling of the state in chinampa farming is detrimental to a successful enterprise. As a result, chinampa farming may be well-suited to locally-driven agricultural efforts today. Sources Chvez-Là ³pez, C., et al. Removal of Methyl Parathion from a Chinampa Agricultural Soil of Xochimilco Mexico: A Laboratory Study. European Journal of Soil Biology 47.4 (2011): 264–69. Print.Losada Custardoy, Hermenegildo Romn, et al. The Use of Organic Waste from Animals and Plants as Important Input to Urban Agriculture in Mà ©xico City. International Journal of Applied Science and Technology 5.1 (2015). Print.Morehart, Christopher T. Chinampa Agriculture, Surplus Production, and Political Change at Xaltocan, Mexico. Ancient Mesoamerica 27.1 (2016): 183–96. Print.-. Mapping Ancient Chinampa Landscapes in the Basin of Mexico: A Remote Sensing and GIS Approach. Journal of Archaeological Science 39.7 (2012): 2541–51. Print.-. The Political Ecology of Chinampa Landscapes in the Basin of Mexico. Water and Power in Past Societies. Ed. Holt, Emily. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2018. 19–40. Print.Morehart, Christopher T., and Charles D. Frederick . The Chronology and Collapse of Pre-Aztec Raised Field (Chinampa) Agriculture in the Northern Basin of Mexico. Antiquity 88.340 (2014): 531–48. Print.

Nursing budget Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nursing budget - Assignment Example This would mean a noninvasive way to get the same results. Noninvasive is ideal for any patient because it means more comfort for the patient while we are conducting our tests. The controllable costs will be the initial costs to purchase a unit. Uncontrollable costs will be in the form of maintenance and this would be based on the usage. If we were to buy a unit that costs $10,000 and finance it at 8% interest over 2 years our payments would only be $452.27 per month. This is more than reasonable. 7. We would need to hire 6 RNs for the regular shifts and an additional part–time RN. This would mean a total of 7 RNs. 8. Median salary for RNs is 75,180. For the full time RNs this would be $451,080. Our part time RN would earn $33.09 per hour and receive up to 30 hours per week for a maximum payroll total of $51,620.40. Total for all would be approximately $502,700.40. 9. You could use 4 full time RNs and 1 part-time RN if the shifts were 12 hours each. 10 – 13. Options for the 6th nurse would include being a floater, training, helping out with phones or other things that need to be done. I would make my 6th nurse a floater meaning that she would constantly go from room to room to make sure that the patients and other nurses have what they need. The floater would be a different nurse each time this happens to make sure that the other nurses also have a chance to perform the same duties. Implementing this decision would allow all of the nurses to learn from one another thereby making sure they are all on the same page. One nurse would not be receiving more or less training than the other but instead they will be training as a group. 14 - 16. A cost containment strategy would be effective staffing and human resource policies. HR software could be used to keep track of employees’ comings and goings. We could use an automated time card system that would track time, holidays, breaks, etc. This would help with containment of overtime, lost hours due to being nonproductive and over or under staffing. Also making sure there is a clear plan for overtime, identifying nonproductive time, and demonstrating a firm understanding of incentives and bonuses (Kirkby, 2003). Overtime is usually the cause of being over budget due to not planning out the staff accordingly. There should always be some contingencies included in any personnel budget to make sure that overtime is at a minimum. Lost hours may not seem as important but if we look at the hours that an employee has spent being nonproductive we realize how much we are losing by paying that employee to do virtually nothing. 17 - 20. The continuous limb movement machines can be postponed as well as the seminar. We were most accurate in predicting supplies and personnel expenses. We were most inaccurate with continuing education, capital expenditures, and travel. Some factors that contributed to this could have been not knowing ahead of time which conferences we wanted to attend as well as deciding too late to buy more equipment. We over budgeted for personnel. This over-budgeting could be used towards some of the other things that we want to do such as purchasing the equipment we need or attending the conference. Our projected ADC was actually too low as well. In next year’s budget we should plan on ADC being slightly higher than 25.8 so that we can adequately budget for all aspects of our department. 21 – 24. According to Schmidt & Altus (Schmidt & Altus, 2010) several factors that are

Companies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Companies - Essay Example Thus non-price competition prevails in the market and it is up to a particular firm to convince consumers that its product is superior. Only then can it charge a higher price vis-Ã  -vis rivals. Given a large number of sellers, collusion is practically impossible In the event of an increase in demand, leading to an increase in price, the firms in the industry may earn higher profits in the short run. However, over time, the existing firms in the market will increase their production capacity or new firms will enter the industry to take advantage of the higher price. Either way, the supply demand mismatch would vanish and the firms will earn normal profit only. The assumption of symmetry in monopolistic competition, which states that when a new firm enters the industry it draws customers equally from all firms, will lead to negligible change in the CR of the industry. The aforesaid discussion suggests that if J’s Assistant Living is to start operations, the company will have to offer a differentiated product. The company will not be able to compete on the price plank and will earn normal profits in the long run. In case J’s Assistant Living does not succeed, it will be able to exit the industry easily. The Concentration Ratio (CR) of 80 percent in industry B with 20 firms signifies that there is ‘high concentration’ in the industry. The industry is oligopoly as the few largest firms account for 80 percent of the market share. In an oligopoly, the market dominated by a relatively small number of large firms. These firms have considerable market power and may either sell standardized products or differentiated products. Each firm realizes that any move that it makes would be taken note of by competitors. As such, the decisions that a firm takes is strategic in nature as it invariably elicits a response from the rivals. The main characteristics of this industry type include barriers to entry and

Classical political economists Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Classical political economists - Assignment Example Karl Marx (1818-1883) is considered one of the most influential thinkers of his time, and a lot of modern day economics are based on his theories. One of his notable contributions is the modern political economic theory. Karl Marx spent a lot of time studying the capitalist system, after which he viewed it as one that deprives the working class off their rights and advocated for a commun ­Ã‚ ­ist system (Hunt 17). One of the most notable characteristics of Marx’s theories is the influence Smith and Ricardo had especially when it came to theories about value and profits. According to Marx, most thinkers lacked historical perspective. He held the idea that production was a social activity taking various forms and modes based on the formation of social organization as well as their corresponding production techniques (Hunt 36). All epochs of production had similar characteristics, and their failure to differentiate what they had in common and what they did not have led to confusions and distortions among the thinkers. Most important among them was the claim that capital among all production systems it was a universal element and that all economic activity could be reduced to a series of exchanges. This was because capital had one feature that was universal in all production and one feature particularly specific to capitalism â€Å"production†. Marx admitted that the claim (capital was a universal production element) was not possible without an instrument of production nor their production without stored up past labour. Capital is among other things, also an instrument of production, also objectified past labour. Therefore capital is a general, eternal relation of nature; that is, if I leave out just the specific quality, which alone makes â€Å"instruments of production† and â€Å"stored up labour† into capital†(Hunt 73). Karl used this dialectal materialism theory to describe capitalism in that, within the dominance of the social class their

The case for diversifying across residential properties in London Coursework

The case for diversifying across residential properties in London - Coursework Example Average return as the percentage of the total returns is computed as (103.58/1243*100) = 8.33%. To calculate the percentage deviation from mean, you subtract the average return from the monthly returns for example in 2000, the total returns was $1404, the average return was $117. The month of january generated $100. To calculate the deviation, we subtract $117 from $100 to get a negative deviatio of $17 (-17). The percentage deviation is therefore calculated as (-17/1404*100) = -1.210826211% to 2 decimal places I get -1.21%. Note that: average return is only used to calculate the deviation in terms of returns but to calculate the % deviation, we devide the deviation return by the total returns then multiply by 100. Alternatively, we can calculate the average return as the percentage of total return as (117/1404*100) = 8.33% and take for example month of january, calculate its percentage of the total return as (100/1404*100) = 7.12% therefore, the % deviation is calculated as (7.21% - 8.33%) = -1.21% this is computed for the rest of the months to get the percentage deviations. Expected risk SD is = 0.5*0.35%+ 0.5*0.12 = 0.235%. This is the expected loss from the investment of choice. Therefore, whether an investor invests in Holland or south ken, the loss will be 0.235% of the total returns From the above data, that we have the same returns 8.33% but different risk level. Portfolios with more risk than others markets so invest in less risky investments (Baum & Hartzell, 2011). For instance, an investor can invest in south ken and Fulham. From the analysis, Chelsea residential market has the highest returns (profits) averagely $120 per month closely followed by ken/Holland with average return of $117 per month, then south ken with $104 per month then lastly Fulham with $103.58. on the other hand, Chelsea registered the highest possibility of a loss which is 0.51% of the total returns. Ken/Holland

Reading Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Reading Strategies - Essay Example As such, by employing strategies that address each phase in a specific way the reader is able to cultivate a critical skill of self-conscious reading. Also, a reader is better able to understand that a variety of reading techniques are required in order to understand and actively engage with a text. This paper will critically review a selection of reading strategies to demonstrate their benefits to teaching and learning of reading non-fictional texts. Firstly, before-reading will be discussed and reference made to the technique of using an Anticipation Guide. Secondly, during-reading will be presented with an example of the Anolighting Text method. Next, after-reading will be reviewed with reference to Organizational methods. Following, the implications of presented reading strategies for teaching practice will be outlined, and recommendations made for implication within the classroom. Finally, a conclusion shall synthesize the main points of the paper to illustrate the critical benefit of reading strategies for student understanding and conceptualization of non-fictional texts. The before-reading phase is where the reader determines within themselves the purpose of reading the text, and develops a tentative plan as to how to approach the reading endeavor (Beers, 2000). It is suggested that before a reader begins on a text that they take the time to survey the material so as to get an overall 'feel' for the material, before attempting to tackle link the details (Fairbrain, 2000). The first step suggested by Fairbrain is to understand the title of the article or text to be read. This requires careful reading to identify the key words used. For example "definition", "effect", "review", "comparison" or "analysis" (Duffy et al., 1987). A definition will aim to differentiate a concept/process from other members of the class by listing the term's distinguishing characteristics. An effect will seek to identify a cause that directly leads to a consequence (effect) that requires tracing probable or known effects of a certain cause or examining one or more effects an d discussing the reasonable or known cause(s). A review will present a series of research that discusses the findings and conclusions of previous studies by aggregating data to present the overall scope of the topic to date. Whereas a comparison will seek to detail how X differs and shares similarities with Y. An analytic paper will aim to break down a concept/process into it component parts so as to determine the actual parts that exist, their functions, structure and implications. Analysis involves breaking something down into its components and discovering the parts that make up the whole. However, it is clear that this step will only occur when the reader has a good grasp on the language of critical reading. As such, those readers who are new to a discipline could be expected to have difficulty with the above terms with regard to their academic definition. Further, students of low self-efficacy may find themselves confronted by academic terminology and 'jingoism' to

US government for the rich or for the poor Essay

US government for the rich or for the poor - Essay Example The expository by Valdas Anelauskas regarding the state of social affairs in the United States free market economy reveals several facts that profoundly try to establish that the US government is serving the interest of the rich while working against the poor.Central to X's arguments is the idea that US formulated tax laws are providing corporations opportunities to make enormous profits all the while pushing employees further into the quagmire of poverty and hopelessness.US economic policy is akin to providing business entities with benefits that are collectively called corporate welfare which I have learned upon further reading. This welfare consists of government programs that extend unique advantages or benefits to specific industries or companies. Corporate welfare includes direct grants to businesses, indirect commercial support to businesses and subsidized loans and insurance. These programs provide useful services to private industry such as research, insurance, statistics, l oans, and marketing support. In addition to spending programs, corporate welfare also includes barriers to trade that protect U.S. industries from foreign competition. The logic behind giving corporations such benefits is the hope that they will remain competitive in the local and global marketplace thereby ensuring the labor force with employment with the possibility of providing more because of the availability of more capital. Anelauskas provides many statistics on US tax disparities between the rich and the poor but the more telling one is corporate benefits amounting to $165 billion as opposed to the $50 billion given for social welfare (p. 283). Anelauskas reveals that the perceived benefits of the corporate welfare to the labor force did not materialize. It turns out that while corporations have slashed their taxes thru the different provisions of the law, they are actually using the money saved and even the subsidies received to enrich their top-ranking officials particularly the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The result is that CEOs are earning huge amounts of money that are hundreds and even thousands of times larger than what the average employee would earn. Instead of ensuring employment security and providing more employment opportunities, US corporations are actually conducting mass lay-offs on a grand scale and their CEOs even get paid with huge amounts of money for conducting such operations. Instead of the benefits of improved employment, US workers now face the possibility of employment termination more than ever, the decreasing availability of health and retirement benefits and lower compensation. Making matters worse is that while corporations are paying less and earning more, individuals are paying more to account for t he void left by the corporate tax cuts but are earning less. What is more undesirable is that individual taxpayer's money goes to corporate bank accounts. Aneulaskas argues that it is thru the actions of the US government that made this state of affairs possible. The US government even acts as a passive observer to the mass lay-offs and the scam of huge pay-offs that make the rich richer and the poor poorer. Is Aneulaskas right in claiming that the US government are actually serving the interests of the rich It is important to remember that the main basis why the US government formulated these give-aways to corporations is to help them stay financially viable in a rapidly globalizing marketplace. The US government would not want these corporations to go bankrupt or relocate their production and manufacturing facilities in countries with cheap labor and have their own labor force having little employment opportunities. Can we say therefore that the US government is not actually helping the rich but are actually more concerned with those of the average and meagre incomes I would have believed that such is the case if it were not for the obliviousness of the US govern

Reading Strategies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Reading Strategies - Essay Example As such, by employing strategies that address each phase in a specific way the reader is able to cultivate a critical skill of self-conscious reading. Also, a reader is better able to understand that a variety of reading techniques are required in order to understand and actively engage with a text. This paper will critically review a selection of reading strategies to demonstrate their benefits to teaching and learning of reading non-fictional texts. Firstly, before-reading will be discussed and reference made to the technique of using an Anticipation Guide. Secondly, during-reading will be presented with an example of the Anolighting Text method. Next, after-reading will be reviewed with reference to Organizational methods. Following, the implications of presented reading strategies for teaching practice will be outlined, and recommendations made for implication within the classroom. Finally, a conclusion shall synthesize the main points of the paper to illustrate the critical benefit of reading strategies for student understanding and conceptualization of non-fictional texts. The before-reading phase is where the reader determines within themselves the purpose of reading the text, and develops a tentative plan as to how to approach the reading endeavor (Beers, 2000). It is suggested that before a reader begins on a text that they take the time to survey the material so as to get an overall 'feel' for the material, before attempting to tackle link the details (Fairbrain, 2000). The first step suggested by Fairbrain is to understand the title of the article or text to be read. This requires careful reading to identify the key words used. For example "definition", "effect", "review", "comparison" or "analysis" (Duffy et al., 1987). A definition will aim to differentiate a concept/process from other members of the class by listing the term's distinguishing characteristics. An effect will seek to identify a cause that directly leads to a consequence (effect) that requires tracing probable or known effects of a certain cause or examining one or more effects an d discussing the reasonable or known cause(s). A review will present a series of research that discusses the findings and conclusions of previous studies by aggregating data to present the overall scope of the topic to date. Whereas a comparison will seek to detail how X differs and shares similarities with Y. An analytic paper will aim to break down a concept/process into it component parts so as to determine the actual parts that exist, their functions, structure and implications. Analysis involves breaking something down into its components and discovering the parts that make up the whole. However, it is clear that this step will only occur when the reader has a good grasp on the language of critical reading. As such, those readers who are new to a discipline could be expected to have difficulty with the above terms with regard to their academic definition. Further, students of low self-efficacy may find themselves confronted by academic terminology and 'jingoism' to

A Story Review from the 16th Century Essay Example for Free

A Story Review from the 16th Century Essay CHARACTERS: THE KING THE EARL OF CORNWALL SIR HUGH LACY, Earl of Lincoln. ROWLAND LACY, otherwise disguised as HANS, nephew of Sir Hugh Lacy ASKEW, another nephew of Sir Hugh Lacy SIR ROGER OATELEY, Lord Mayor of London. Master HAMMON, Master WARNER and Master SCOTT: Citizens of London. SIMON EYRE, the Shoemaker. ROGER, commonly called Hodge, a Journeyman of Simon Eyre FIRK, another journeyman of Simon Eyre RALPH, another Journeyman of Simon Eyre LOVELL, a courtier. DODGER, servant to The Earl of Lincoln A DUTCH SKIPPER. A BOY. ROSE, daughter of Sir Roger, the love interest of Rowland Lacy SYBIL, the maid of Rose MARGERY, wife of Simon Eyre JANE, wife of Ralph SETTING: London and Old Ford, England, as it happened in the 16th century PLOT DEVELOPMENT: With the different sub-plots evolving in The Shoemaker’s Holiday, the central plot is about the desperate love between Rowland Lacy and Rose Oateley.     And they defied the odds:   Rowland did not obey his uncle the Earl of Lincoln to go to war and Rose rejected the arranged marriage with Master Hammon, who is of wealth and nobility from London.     Sir Roger thought Rowland went to war.   Instead, Rowland apparently went to study shoemaking in Germany. He eventually went back to London; disguised himself as Hans a Dutch shoemaker and worked for Simon Eyre, a shoe shop owner and a real shoemaker.   Rowland and Rose went through the maze of re-discovering each other; plotting ways and means to be secretly married; and surmounting the ire and the vehemence of their respectively opposing families.   With the backdrop of the rise of Simon Eyre from being a simple man to achieving success and wealth, such paved the way for eventual happy conclusion of the fulfillment of the love of Rowland and Rose. SYMBOLISM: The Shoemaker’s Holiday generally illustrated basic features of the paradoxes in life:   unrequited love vis-à  -vis the determination to achieve its fulfillment; difference in social standing vis-à  -vis sustaining integrity of an individual inspite of any variance; applying duplicity and deceit to achieve a noble objective; how success can come and test humanness. In analyzing the various plots of The Shoemaker’s Holiday, Conover (1969) said:   â€Å"Achievement, promotion, advancement of all kinds are pictured in the play. For several of the characters in the play Simon Eyre is instrumental to success. The shoemakers, too, rise up the social scale – and Eyre tells them that opportunity is open to all.   Simon Eyre is, of course, the central example of the opportunities for success.   As he rises from shoemaker to Alderman, rich man, Sheriff, and Lord Mayor†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.[though the] main plot has to do with the love of young Lacy and the mayors daughter, most critics consider the Eyre action to be central in the play.† With such positive characteristic of the play, it is interesting to note that the author Thomas Dekker conversely led a nearly unknown life of deprivation.   He was constantly in debt and was in and out of prison for his inability to meet his obligations. As reviewed by The Harvard Classics:   â€Å"The play is full of an atmosphere of pleasant mirth, varied with characteristic touches of pathos; and it contains in the figure of Simon Eyre a creation of marked individuality and hilarious humor. It is striking that the most high-spirited picture of London life in the time of Elizabeth should come from the pen of the author who seems to have been more hardly treated by fortune than any of his contemporaries.†Ã‚   (Eliot, 1909) Indeed the tenor of the story is honest and realistic.   All the struggles that came by have been met with acceptance and resolve:   to surpass and emerge as victorious.   The need to bridge differences and misunderstanding were sought.   The overall intention of the theme of the story is allowing the truth of love and dignity of individuality its own due course. In a review of the Early Modern Theatre of the Theatre Studies Department of Duke University, it was noted that:   â€Å"Fantasy and reality blur, giving the plot a surreal quality that would be appealing as a holiday play: wishes come true and hopes are fulfilled.   However, realities do not completely disappear in this drama, ‘they keep returning, unexpectedly, to interrupt, trouble, and question any easy reading that would entertain by way of ignorance or innocence the real cost of social mobility and fluidity that is necessary in a class-ridden society’†¦..Thomas Dekker wrote a drama for the citizens of London, and incorporated social issues and ideas that citizens would be interested in.† (Duke University, undated) HOW THE STORY REFLECTED THE ASPECTS OF THE 16TH CENTURY† It has been described that:   â€Å"Literary development in the earlier part of the 16th century was weakened by the diversion of intellectual energies to the polemics of the religious struggle †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. The English part in the European movement known as humanism also belongs to this time. Humanism encouraged greater care in the study of the literature of classical antiquity and reformed education in such a way as to make literary expression of paramount importance for the cultured person. Literary style, in part modeled on that of the ancients, soon became a self-conscious preoccupation of English poets and prose writers. Thus, the richness and metaphorical profusion of style at the end of the century indirectly owed much to the educational force of this movement. The most immediate effect of humanism lay, however, in the dissemination of the cultivated, clear, and sensible attitude of its classically educated adherents, who rejected medieval theological misteaching and superstition.   The school of thought known as humanism, promoted the revival of Greek and Roman artistic and philosophical models that celebrated the worth of the individual.† (MSN Encarta, 2007). Because of a re-invention of the literary style at that time, the common pursuits for greatness and distinctiveness surfaced amongst the writers of that time.   â€Å"The Elizabethan Era is the period associated with the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603) and is often considered to be a golden age in English history. It was the height of the English Renaissance, and saw the flowering of English literature and poetry. This was also the time during which Elizabethan theatre flourished and William Shakespeare, among others, composed plays that broke away from Englands past style of plays and theatre.† (Elizabethan Era, http://www.answers.com/topic/elizabethan-era) With such overall characteristics that prevailed during the 16th century, the aura of prosperity and practical domination and excellence in every aspect of life is exemplified in The Shoemaker’s Holiday.  Ã‚  Ã‚   â€Å"London in the 16th century underwent a transformation. Its population grew 400% during the 1500s, swelling to nearly 200,000 people in the city proper and outlying region by the time an immigrant from Stratford came to town. A rising merchant middle class carved out a productive livelihood, and the economy boomed.†Ã‚   (Shakespeare Resource Center, 2008) The Shoemaker’s Holiday indeed encapsulated everything that is real and positive abounding in that period where new leaps in perspective about life and identity emerged. References: 16th Century Literary History.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://classiclit.about.com/od/16thcenturyinliterature/16th_Century_AD_Literary_History.htm Bellinger, M.F. (1927). â€Å"A Short History of the Drama† www.theatredatabase.com/17th_century/shoemakers_holiday.html Conover, J.H. (1969). The Shoemaker’s Holiday:   A Critical Commentary.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.geocities.com/magdamun/dekkerconover.html Early Modern Theatre, Theatre Studies Department, Duke University,   www.duke.edu/web/emt/student_projects/prentice/shoemakersholiday.html Eliot, C.W. (1909-14). The Harvard Classics. www.bartleby.com/47/1/. â€Å"Elizabethan England†.   2008.   Shakespeare Resource Centre   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.bardweb.net/england.html â€Å"Elizabethan Era†. http://www.answers.com/topic/elizabethan-era) English Literature, Microsoft ® Encarta ® Online Encyclopedia 2007 http://encarta.msn.com  © 1997-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. French Literature, Microsoft ® Encarta ® Online Encyclopedia 2007 http://encarta.msn.com  © 1997-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. The Shoemaker’s Holiday:   A Synopsis www.theatredatabase.com/17th_century/shoemakers_holiday.html An Abstract: Rowland Lacy, the nephew of Sir Hugh Lacy, the Earl of Lincoln, and Rose, the daughter of Sir Roger Oateley, the Lord Mayor of London are in love, but their families do not approve.     To separate them, Sir Roger sends Rose to the country, in Old Ford.   Sir Hugh sends Rowland to war in France.   Rowland disobeyed Sir Hugh and instead went to Germany and study shoemaking.   Rowland returns to London.   Disguised as a Dutch shoemaker, Rowland went to Simon Eyre, a shoe shop owner, for work and introduced himself as Hans.   Rowland and Simon sealed a very good friendship because when a cargo shipment at a very good price came up for sale, Rowland gave his war gift money to Simon to purchase the cargo.   This made Simon very wealthy.   Sir Hugh learned that Rowland is not in the war in France.   Meantime, Sir Roger was already arranging the marriage of Rose to Master Hammon, rich nobleman from London.   Rose vehemently refuses to marry Master Hammon. Meanwhile, Simon becomes the Sheriff of London and Sir Roger threw a party celebration for Simon in his house in Old Ford.   Simon and his shoemakers were invited.   During the dancing and merrymaking, Rose suspects that Hans is Rowland – inspite of Rowland talking in gibberish English to safeguard his disguise.   After the celebration, Rose and Sybil went to London.   Sybil asked Hans to take the shoe size of Rose and make a new pair of shoes. While Rowland and Rose are struggling for their love in the story, Simon has a journeyman named Ralph who was also sent to war.   Ralph is married to Jane.   Jane thought Ralph was killed in the war.   So she left off and no one knows of her whereabouts. Jane met Master Hammon – not knowing that a failed marriage arrangement transpired between Master Hammon and Rose.   So, Master Hammon was besotted to Jane and asked her to marry him.   Believing that Ralph is dead, Jane agreed and they were set to marry in St. Faith Church in London.   However, Jane wants the last gift of Ralph, a pair of shoes specially made for her, be duplicated to a brand new one to become her wedding shoes.   Master Hammon obliged and went to the shoe shop of Simon Eyre and ordered the duplication.   Meanwhile, Ralph returned to London because he was hurt in the war and was discharged.   Ralph returned to work with Simon and sadly learned that his wife left him for nowhere.    On that day that the shoe duplication for Jane was ordered, Ralph saw it and was therefore sure that it will lead her to his wife Jane.   Going back to the time when Rowland was taking the shoe size of Rose, Rowland had the chance to quietly and secretly instruct Rose to go to the house of Simon Eyre.   At this time, Simon became the new Mayor of London.   And as such, Simon could marry Rose and Rowland.   Eventually, Rose did so and they finally got married.   Sybil revealed the treachery of Rose and Rowland to Sir Roger and Sir Hugh.   But Sir Roger and Sir Hugh was told that the wedding will take place in the St. Faith Church. Whilst Sir Roger and Sir Hugh were on their way to St. Faith Church to take Rose from Rowland (as Hans), Ralph and with his shoemaker friends are already waiting in the church to take Jane from Master Hammon.  Ã‚   When Sir Roger and Sir Hugh arrived, it was a moment that Jane lovingly recognized her husband Ralph and apologized to Master Hammon for the cancellation of the wedding as she is still in love with Ralph.   Sir Roger and Sir Hugh were disgusted that they were seemingly duped because it was a different wedding that was suppose to transpire that moment.    Sir Hugh and Sir Roger nevertheless learned that Rowland and Rose are already married.   Sir Hugh and Sir Roger appealed to the King to nullify the marriage.   But King who has been enamoured with the antics and humanness of Simon as he treats his shoemaker workers fairly; he remains humble inspite of his wealth – worked out a solution to the enmity between the parents of Rowland and Rose and them.   The King divorced Rowland and Rose and re-married them and declared Rowland a knight just so the issue of differences in social standing come to an end.

Current Challenges Of Bhp Billiton Information Technology Essay

Current Challenges Of Bhp Billiton Information Technology Essay The Present day world is developing rapidly and there is dynamic nature in technology in the market. Due to this development and dynamic nature of the market, it is difficult and hard for organisation to face the competition and to have competitive edge. Organisations have been increased and the competition has also much increased irrespective of different industries. Information Technology has been playing an important role in driving the business for the past few decades .All the organisations are using Information Technology to developed fast in the market and to have online presence which makes them globalised. Every organisation in the world are making use of Information Technology(IT) to drive their business processes .In order to have competitive edge and growth in the market, the business process has to be aligned with Information technology. Organisation having better alignment of business strategy and IT strategy has attained an growth and competitive edge in the market. Go od Alignment between the IT and Business processes is an factor for driving their business growth and to have competitive advantage in the market. Organisations having no better alignment between business and IT have not only lose their competitive edge in the market but also business value. There are many reasons why alignment is not attained? Organisation structure is one of the important factors responsible for that. Organisation structure plays an important role in achieving business-IT alignment. Every organisation will have their own organisation structure and this structure varies from organisation to organisation .Organisation structure depends upon their business processes and how big the organisation is. Organisation structure is a coordination of all departments and it will tell us that how the business process flow. It is an hierarchy of different departments and how they are arranged and aligned ion the organisation. The other most important factor in having bad alignment is too much emphasises on IT rather than core business. This will have the wrong directionality and will leads to failure of the business. Too much spending on IT rather than core business will leads to have failure of alignment which in further leads to collapse of the organisation growth and business. Governance is one of the important factor need to be considered for having better business-IT alignment. Having proper governance, good communication channels, scope will drive the business to achieve their goals and objectives. IT function is most important factor in driving business and to have better alignment. Effective IT function will helps the organisation to have better alignment with their business that will drive towards organisation growth. IT function should be responsive that is IT should follow Business processes but not vice-versa and this will definitely will help the organisation to have better business-IT alignment .Communication should be effective in order to have good alignment of business and IT.IT function should be effective and this should be aligned with business goals and objectives but not vice-versa. That is IT should be in harmony or engaged or should be aligned with business for having competitive edge and good position in the market. IT strategy should be engaged with business strategy for achieving good alignment between business and IT.IT strategy tell the organisation how it is designed effectively for supporting the business needs for achieving business goals and objectives of the organisation. Abstract: BHP Billiton is a product based company consisting of 40,990 employees as June 2009 is one of the world largest diversified natural resource company operating in more than 25 countries. The aim of the company is to premier global company in providing its products and services to its clients.BHP Billiton products compromises of manganese, iron, aluminium, energy coal, copper, nickel, silver etc.BHP Billiton has an net revenue of US $50.2 billion in 2009 febrauary.BHP Billiton company is an merger of two companies called BHP and Billiton in 29 June 2009. BHP company headquarters based in London is an natural resources company has founded long period ago in 1860s has become one of the global leader in metal and mining sector and is strong in copper portfolio which helped the company growth much further. Its a main producer of aluminium and alumina, coal, nickel, silver etc. It has employees of 30,000 people all around the world and perform major operations in Asian Countries. Billiton founded in 29 September 1860s main business was tin and lead smelting and later in 1940 it extended its operations to bauxite mining. The company has an rapid growth in 1970;s through Royal Dutch group of companies. The company operates in different companies and having many portfolios which increased its growth and revenue in the market. Even though the two companies merge under the Dual listed Companies merger, they continue to acts as separate entities thus exploiting the market revenue. Headquarters of BHP Billiton Limited is located in Melbourne Australia.BHP Billiton limited has same group directors for running both the organisations as unity efficiently and effectively. In 2001, BHP Billiton is listed on AXS and LSE and in 2002 it invested in energy source using technology and in 2009,it emerges as the one of the global company in providing its best products in the world. From 2001 to 2009 it has many developments and deals that make company very competitive and powerful globally and this happens by through perfect business-IT alignment. BHP Billiton corporate objective is to create long term value through discovery , development and conversion of natural resources and also in providing innovation customer and market-based solutions.BHP Billiton Limited has developed rapidly by making use of information technology. The company is vast and diversified company and it has many complex projects to deal with and the manpower associated with it is very high. Information Technology has been deployed for their resources and they use it vey efficiently which generates them not only revenue but also competitive edge in the market. Organisational Structure: Organisational Structure is very important for driving the business in right directionality and to achieve organisation goals and objectives. Organisational Structure tells how the departments are arranged and how decisions are made and how to deal with any task to achieve an particular goal. Organisational Structure is explains how authority are distributed to make an effective business decisions. Organisation Structures not only differs from one company to another but also it differs in type of industry as well. Organisation Structure is developed based on type of industry, their goals and objectives. Basically, organisational structure is divided into three types. They are Functional, Divisional and Matrix organisational structure. Functional organisational structure is an hierarchical structure of all departments placing one and other. The communication is not much effective and decision made by only Chief executive of the company. This type of structure applicable to smaller com panies, where as divisional structure refers to each department has head and these head of the department will have their own decision without consulting all. The decision were made individually without consulting all departments, where as matrix or hybrid structure is an combination of both functional and divisional organisational structure where information flow is uniform across the organisation and decision made is collective ,this is including all the people from different functional background and this type of structure is mostly seen in larger multinational companies and there will be effective communication exits which makes them to have better decision-making. The organisational structure of BHP Billiton Company is very effective to drive their business and to get greater revenue from the market. As the company entered into an Dual Listing Company (DLC) ,both the BHP and Billiton companies has certain contractual agreements that put the shareholders of both companies in an position such that they represents as single company(they operate as one), even though they exits separately and is bound to all assets, liabilities ,profits as one.BHP Billiton Limited is an public traded company where it provides all its shareholders an Annual General Meeting(AGM) to attend. The Executive body of BHP Billiton Limited Company has Board of Directors which are selected by Annual General Meeting (AGM). The executive body comprises of 13 directors, 12 non-executive directors and one executive and if this non-executive directors will serve the company for more than 9 years then the same director must again stand for elections at the Annual General Meeting (A GM).It followed by Group Management Committee and senior management group .All these groups will collectively make an decision which helps to increase companies productivity in the market. Business-IT Alignment: Most of the organisation in the world is leveraging the Information Technology to drive their business and to achieve organisational goals and objectives. The competition has been very high in the market and almost all companies depend upon Information Technology to drive their business effectively and efficiently. But not every company has been be benefited from this information technology. Many companies has failed initially in making use of IT for driving their business. In order to drive the business and to achieve the goals and objectives of the organisation, IT has to be aligned properly to business strategy. Many companies spend much of the money on Information technology rather than their core business which leads to failure of the organisation. That is too much emphasis on the Information Technology rather than core capabilities of the organisation will leads to not only loosing competitive edge in the market but also failure of the entire business. Business-IT alignment sho uld consists of involving people from different functional backgrounds such as from IT, Management etc to participate in the decision making which will elevate the organisation to new dimensions which in turn will provide higher Rate on Investments (ROI).Almost all the companies in the world are using the IT as a function in driving their business effectively. Current Challenges of BHP Billiton: The Current Challenge of BHP Billiton are mainly petroleum projects and mineral projects. The petroleum projects Macedon Australia has commenced and progress is 3% complete and production capacity is 200 million cubic feet gas per day. The other petroleum project is Angostura gas Phase 2 is on schedule and budget and is 74% complete with an share of US $180 Millions. The other petroleum projects are brait strait kipper and brait strait Turrum k which is scheduled and budget under review and North west shelf CWLG life extension in Australia with 16.67% gas has completed 84% etc The other current mineral projects are Worsley Efficiency and Growth (Alumina as 86%) in Australia is on schedule and budget .The Construction for this project is 38% complete and overall project is 53% complete. The other mineral projects are Iron ore in Western Australia with iron ore as 85% has engineered 98%, construction is 77% complete and the overall project is 79% complete. The other projects are Douglas -Middleburg which is 100% energy coal and MAC20 project which is 100% energy coal. Future Challenges: There were many future challenges for BHP Billiton Limited company. Their main future challenges are to spread their products to each and every corner of the world through constantly researching their growth options. And their main primary objective is to provide larger amounts of their products to resources-hungry world. Through this they has an vision in sustaining the world economic development which helps them in bringing more revenue and growth to their organisation. For example the company has one of the challenges in 2011 to commence the production $625 million Daunia open cut cooking coal mine through BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA coal) where the company has an alliance with Mistisbushi and is one of the Australias largest coal mine exporter and world largest supplier to seaborne coking coal. IT functions: IT function is the important factor for any organisation for driving the business to competitive advantage in the market. IT function if aligned properly to business strategy will drive the company through innovation and helps to get more Return on Investments (ROI).If IT services are properly leverage to business functions then the business of the organisation will grow rapidly thereby eliminating higher cost ,slow cycle etc .IT function should be properly designed such that the life cycle period has to be reduced by eliminating waste of time, money spend on that extra steps etc. IT function is the main factor which drives the business of the organisation to achieve its goals and objectives. Factors driving the IT function of BHP Billiton: The factors which were used for driving the IT function of BHP Billiton are cost efficiency ,business-IT relationship, speed responsive time. Cost efficiency: BHP Billiton is very large and global organisation providing natural resources to the world economy. There are many large and complex projects involved in the organisation which they took the help of Information Technology to reduce their cost. By making of IT, they can reduce the much labour cost, cost associated with resources, tracking etc. Business-IT relationship: BHP Billiton has taken the help of information technology to drive their business much faster and efficiently. Information Technology is used differently by different companies according to their business needs. IT can acts as internal service provides just to drive some business needs and also IT can be used to redesign processes and the information flow across the organisation.BHP Billiton has used Information in both ways for developing their business throughout the world. Responsive Times: BHP Billiton is very large and global organisation and it operates many complex and large projects. The company needs effective information technology where it can provide the best responsiveness thereby reducing the period of life cycle and providing better products to the world. Managing IT and IT Strategy in BHP Billiton: The company uses Escondido as an IT function for achieving the strategic business direction. The Escondido is an strategic information systems and information technology that underpins the business strategy of BHP Billiton. This is used for generating massive amount of data where they can process the data much quickly for effective decision making. This IT function will allow them for data mining and this will helps the organisation to have accurate, timely and secured data which can be effective used for better decision making.BHP Billiton will also make use of E-business strategy for transforming work into business. E-business works in three channels such as technology, transitions and transformation of data so that it can be used effectively for data processing which results in good decision making. The technologies that the company uses technology for reducing costs and to improve productivity are wireless networking, video conferencing, webcams, and voice over internet protocol etc for effective communication which in turn increases responsive time for better business. BHP Billiton IT has been formed in 1989 and has office in Melbourne and all around the Australia. The company provides integrated IT solutions which will deliver better business results.BHP Billiton in association with Computer Sciences Corporations (CSC) has gained better IT services.CSC is an provider of an IT solution in various sector and it has been to an agreement that it leverage the best IT solutions to BHP Billiton for increasing its productivity in the market.BHP Billiton has an employees of more than 1700 in IT sector and has the product and services. They Include: Portfolio framework solution ,using this they can provide product and business solutions Enterprise Resource Planning where they can provide good and practical solutions in consulting areas such as business processes innovation, strategic information system which can be used for better decision making, technology infrastructure planning where they can used as an IT strategy in order to have better business and IT alignment which drive the business towards the desired results and systems evaluation which can be used for evaluating the resources required for projects work etc Knowledge management is one part of the information technology where the organisation can effectively used the knowledge for innovation and better business driven results. The knowledge management consists of knowledge consulting , data ware housing and mining where they can store large amounts of data relating to different projects at one place and miming the enormous amounts of data for better decision making, data document management where they can have better document portfolio for sharing among the different functional backgrounds for better decision making and also web services like intranet, online enquiry etc They also provide the supply chain management solutions as they have large number of suppliers providing materials, transportation, resources required for various projects. The various functions and plug-in associated with Supply chain management is tracking systems where they can track their materials or resources and check whether they met the schedule time. And this how they use the IT for driving their business. They can the best transport systems where they rely on that for estimating resources allocation, scheduled time and money. This is very good and analytical tool for processor their time, value and money in driving their business towards the better outcome They provide integrated and sophisticated SAP and enterprise wide solutions for project management.BHP Billiton has very large and complex projects to be deal with and the amount spend fro that also will be high. If the processing time or if they are managed improperly , then it will leads to loss of millions of dollars which will have an bad impact on industry in the market and in the world.SAP provides the better integrated systems with project management where the projects goes on without any risks. Project management is very important when dealing with complex projects like Energy coal, petroleum products etc where management of resources like skilled people, scheduling, task management etc is of high priority. With SAP, they also provide system analysis where they can have an analysis of data in the systems for determining the project plan, design and implementation. It can also be used for data conversion and application support also. One of the most important parts of aligning IT to business is to have better infrastructure management both technically and personally for driving the business.BHP Billiton has enterprise infrastructure management solutions for operating internal business process which will enhances their business towards the goals and objectives of the organisation. Communication plays an important role for any organisation to prosper and grow in the market.BHP Billiton is very large company and if communication fails ,then the company will have an loss of millions of dollars. The company has enterprise communication and network solutions throughout the organisation that will facilitate their communication very high in order to process their business process high in turn bring them greater return on investments. BHP Billiton has sophisticated business solution which helps them to manage their projects effectively and efficiently and to have an competitive edge in the market. The business solutions they provide are inventory management which is used to record each inventory items they purchase from suppliers ,order systems to enter their point of sales and purchases, returns for example such as MYOB or quick books integrated with Enterprise Resource Planning Systems, active operation information like call centre to give the right information regards project status, resources information, availability and bulk materials management which can be used to store the information relating to that materials, their safety and procedure to ensure not to have explosion. Business Strategy and Alignment: BHP Billiton company has many products such as petroleum, copper, nickel etc and each category has an its own business strategy. Bill Billiton is very large natural resource organisation and has too many large and complex projects. Business strategy is one of the important factor that every organisation will work for achieving competitive edge in the market and also to achieve organisation goals and objectives. Business strategy is framed on core business components and this business strategy has to be aligned with information technology to drive the business towards the desired results. Business strategy is nothing about the direction of the organisation over the long term and it tell how the organisation should go in order to have an competitive advantage in the market. Business strategy tells the organisation what resources it should have such as skilled people, software, hardware, competencies, technical competencies, skills, assets etc . Strategy exists at all levels of the orga nisation and many strategies will be depending upon the level such as operational strategy, business unit strategy, corporate strategy etc. Based on business strategy the companies has to properly designed IT strategy in order to align to its business strategy for driving the business towards the competitive edge in the market. BHP Billiton Limited Company has very highly and sophisticated IT management described above to be aligned with its business strategy for having better alignment which leads to achieving goals and objectives of the organisation. The company has many strategies and the strategy differs from one resource to another, but the overall strategy is grow strategy.Our strategy is to own life-long, low cost, export-oriented, expandable assets.Since the company is very large company, it makes much emphasis on whether it should put on millions of money on project. For that, BHP Billiton makes an financial strategy how it should go and how to eradicate risks involved. The strategy is described below as follows: Generate Ideas Analyse and Structure ON Time And On Budjet LOW COST OWN IT WELL BHP Billiton company has research and development team where ideas are generated, researched their capabilities, explore the idea with samples and also test their efficiencies. After testing efficiencies, they look at financial opportunities and tax issue concerning the development and funding of ideas. The most important thing they look at is safety. Safety is the most important concern as it is an natural resource company and it look at acquisitions and environmental factors whether they are any side effects that could affect the society and the company as well. After generating the ideas they analyse and structure the ideas. In this phase, they analyse how much capital should it worth is analysed through Capital Project Committee review and they analyse cost savings by looking at shared resources or the project should go for restructuring administration. They integrate the business strategy and plan with IT resources and analyse the risks associated with that project. The project is weekly assessed by senior financial management committee and forecasting will do according to it. They come with the risk assessments of the project. Next phase is on time and on budget where it look all all project management activities and quantifies not only cost and time but also financial impact on project. In this phase, the project is constantly reviewed by Capitals project review committee also assess any risks associate with that. Next phase is low lost where the committee forecast price associated with project. In this process it set out benchmarking of other natural resources companies and checks it with outcome of the project assessment. And it also assesses the general costs and administration costs. The final stage is own it well where it research market value of business units and assets and also assess cash flows and check whether it is compatible with the project or not. And at last it is checked by the Portfolio management team and has meetings with the bank inv estors for funding. IT Governance: Governance is a combination of polices, management practices, procedures, customs, processes, laws, etc that an organisation should be managed and controlled. It is very important part of the organisation as it describes all important relationships among shareholders, directors etc about right and power. IT Governance is very part in driving the business towards the competitive edge in the market. IT governance should enable the Information technology to be perfectly aligned with the business strategy to drive the results in the desired results. IT governance is all about information technology systems, risk management and their performance. The main goal of IT governance is to ensure the business value without any failure. IT governance has much more to do with organisation structure. Effective IT governance will helps to eliminate the risk associate in the project and in turn returns greater return on investments and good productivity. BHP Billiton has highest level of governance and it helpful for the organisation to have great culture that facilitate good values ,rewards, ethical standards etc.BHP Billiton believed high governance can be attained only when there is strong link between governance and shareholders value. The company has very good and high governance that will help their shareholders to have freedom and updated on the projects, company returns on investments, profits and dividends. Governance will set the requirements that the company should have in pursuing very high and reliable governance that can drive the business toward the desired results. The constitution of BHP Billiton Limited has variation of rights, transfer of securities, rules and regulations for all levels of management that will enable the company to great height to drive the business. SCOPE OF IT: Information technology or Information systems is used to store information, process information, transfer or exchange information for better decision making. It is also useful for the organisation to drive their business function based on results provided by the information technology. Without IT , no organisation in the world can survive their business bearing highly competition in the market.BHP Billiton has its own IT department for leveraging their business in the right direction.BHP Billiton is very large natural resources company and is spread across many different countries. Without information technology and its importance in the company, the industry cannot survive due to its large business processes in different sectors of the company. Security is one important thing that need to be taken care when it comes to large companies.BHP Billiton due to its versatile business segments and its diversity, there is large amount of enormous data will be present. All this data has to be protected by making use of the information technology or information systems. Knowledge is very important for any company to progress in the market. Without effective knowledge management, no company can survive in the market and cannot achieve competitive edge as well. Data has to be processes and then converted into information and then again has to be validated so that it can be used as knowledge and this knowledge is very important factor for decision making which in turn drive the business goals and objectives. Without Information technology or information systems this cannot be possible.BHP Billiton has strong information systems for storing huge amount of data in data warehouse which can be use effectively for processing for decision making. Document a management system which helps to maintain documents in reliable format and can be shared by all the departments for decision making. Enterprise Resource planning systems such as SAP and SAAS can be used for processing these hu ge amounts of data so that they can extract the target amount of data which can be used for decision making. Security is one important factor and for this the information technology can provide the security access to its employees only at a certain level and it depends upon their level. They make use of IT for supply chain management where they can effectively develop the relationships between supplier and their clients and costumers etc.BHP Billiton company has huge complex projects and in order to maintain and coordinate the resources , people, technology etc, information technology and information systems is very necessary. It is impossible for them to operate without information technology or information systems. For estimating the resources required and for calculating return on investments, for scheduling etc information technology is very important. For production roll out and for implementation and to check the progress of project and in every life cycle of the project ,info rmation technology and information systems is very necessary .Having effective alignment between Information technology and business function will helps the organisation to achieve its goals and objectives. Information technology enabled the business of BHP Billiton and there is much increase in its revenue and ROI(return on investments) as well. The scope of Information Technology in BHP Billiton is very high which drive their business effectively and efficiently. Business Value: Business value is one of the important factors that the company has to be assessing its value on various terms and conditions. Business value describes how the organisation can sustain over the long term on various factors. It just tells how healthy is the organisation running at the moment and its growth in the long-term.BHP Billiton Limited has high business value because of its good planning for sustainability. Business value not include tangible assets but also intangible assets and its effect on the company.BHP Billiton is ensured to have sustainability development where health, safety ,environmental and communities responsibilities are integral part of the business. The business will continue to enhance in the future due to its safety precautions procedures and standards at all levels of the organisation. Sustainability is one important factor that determines the healthy run of the organisation in the future.BHP Billiton is an natural resources company and the r isks associated with this is also very high. Environmental risks need to be eradicated like pollution and it should not affect the people health. Employees working in the organisation need to be taken and their security is most important concern and this will facilitate long run for the employees in the organisation. Developing the people and providing the resources to meet our standards will helps the company to progress in the future.BHP Billiton protects the rights of the people,employees working in the company thus providing them security and freedom so that they get motivation and encouragement thereby minimising the turnoff of employees.BHP Billiton has sustainable framework for successfully running their business and to have well-being in the future. The company has sustainable systems to implement sustainable development policies in accordance with the governance processes. The policy applies to each and every me