Principles of Economics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Principles of Economics - Research Paper Example Based on this research economics is about scarcity and choice. It is assumed that all human beings are rational thinkers hence would always choose to consume products that would give them maximum satisfaction or utility. Mankiw argues that rational people ‘systematically and purposefully do the best to achieve objectives given available opportunity.’ Given a choice among alternatives and with scarce resources, one would evaluate the benefits and costs of consuming an extra unit of a product and would only take a decision only if marginal benefit is greater than marginal cost. In this case, to solve the alcohol abuse problem, one has to consider marginal benefits and marginal costs derived from consuming an extra unit of alcohol and since excessive drinking has more costs than benefits, one would refrain from alcohol. The opportunity cost foregone by choosing to abuse alcohol is too high compared to satisfaction derived; money spent on alcohol can do many other things suc h as feeding the family, education for children, and investments among others. Besides, the person may have health problems thus adding to the costs. By considering all these factors, a rational person would refrain from alcohol abuse. Heyne acknowledges the role played by incentives in directing behavior. For him, rational people usually respond to incentives or are induced to act by them. Assuming alcohol abusers are rational, imposing taxes on alcohol substances would eliminate the problem. This would follow the law of demand which states that other things being constant, if the price of a good increase, the quantity demanded of the good decreases. Taxes have the effect of increasing alcohol prices and this would automatically mean that the abusers would desist from alcohol consumption or cut their consumption. Prescription Drug Effects on Demand and Supply of Other Products and Services Prescription drugs are drugs prescribed by a medical officer to a patient and are regulated b y legislation unlike the over-the-counter drugs which can be old to anyone. If a patient is under prescription drugs, he/she buys the drugs despite the price of the drugs. An increase or decrease in price of the drugs therefore has little or no effect on the quantity demanded by an individual (McCarthy & Schafermeyer, 2007). The drugs are provided by the National Health Insurance and have no close substitutes. The increase in price of the drugs thus affects all the sectors of healthcare industry such as patients and private insurers. Due to increased costs, the private insurers are forced to increase the cost of their services in case they have to offer such drugs and this may lead to low demand for their services. The patients are also required to get medical prescriptions before obtaining the drugs thus the demand for the medicine may be low compared to over-the-counter drugs. Use of prescription drugs also has an effect on demand for other healthcare services such as hospitalizat ion. The prescription drugs also affect supply of generic products as manufacturers have patents to supply the new drugs for some years. Elasticity of Demand and Supply The price elasticity of demanded which is percentage change in quantity demanded over percentage change in price shows consumers responsiveness to price changes. (McKenzie & Lee, 2006). It is an important consideration when analyzing the impact of a shift in supply and in determining if the firm should raise or lower its price. The supply curve is upward sloping showing a positive relationship between price and quantity supplied other things held constant. However, in long-run, those factors do change causing a shift in supply curve. Such factors include; input prices, technology, expectations and number of sellers in the market. For example, an increase in input prices such as labor would lead to a decrease in supply thus shifting the supply curve to the left. This

Chapter 11 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Chapter 11 - Essay Example Vocational aptitude tests, curriculum-based vocational assessment, person-centered planning have been used as important metaphors in order to have a close understanding with the subject at hand as far as this chapter is concerned. Also the career awareness process has been fundamentally discussed as it is a continuous one which begins at birth and goes on till death of an individual. The vocational objectives touch upon the quintessential aspects related with what vocational instruction is trying to achieve and in what proportions. The functional curriculum includes the instructional strategies which are employed in order to teach the required skills both in a classroom as well as under a natural environment. Other relevant skills that have been detailed within the length of this chapter include the academic skills, the social skills, the personal care skills, the motor skills, and the job search skills. Then again, the general principles that underline the vocational instruction hav e also been manifested for a proper understanding of the vocational instruction realms in

Organizational Change And Innovation

Organizational Change And Innovation Organizational change and innovation are essential for an organizations growth and development. Upon understanding the importance organizational change and innovation, many researchers have formulated theories related to change management. Theories have critically analysed with an example of British Airways. Compare strategies with the external and internal environment. The changes taking place in British Airways explores the understanding of change management is implemented in organizations. The case study explains the dimensions of business travel and tourism and its social, economic and environmental consequences. The case study elaborates the easier approach of organizational change in right method with mutual trust and obligation between the employee and employer. Strategy: Strategy is the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term: which achieves advantage for the organization through its configuration of resources within a challenging business environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfil stakeholder expectations. Johnson and Scholes (Exploring Corporate Strategy) Organizational Strategic planning process: According to the todays high rivalry in business environment, the large corporations not only follow the budged-oriented planning and forecast-based planning methods to survive and prosperity, but also engage in strategic planning which clearly describes objectives and assess the both internal and external situation to formulate strategy, implement the strategy, evaluate the progress, and make adjustments to make necessary to stay on track. Mission Objectives: The organizations mission is expressed in the form of a mission statement that projects the organization image to the consumers. Organizational leaders can define measurable financial and strategic objectives guided by the business vision. Environmental Scan: Scanning of the internal and external environment of an organisation is known as environmental scanning. The internal analysis reveals strengths and weaknesses and the external analysis reveals opportunities and threats of an organisation. Strategy formulation: Once the clear representation of an organisation has been achieved, specific strategy can be devised. Michael Porter identified cost leadership, differentiation and focus as three generic strategies can be used while formulating strategy. Strategy Implementation: For effective implementation, high level intangible terms and priority of strategy needs to be translated into more detailed policies for clear understanding at functional level of organization. Evaluation Control: After implantation, the results need to be measured and evaluated, with necessary changes made as required to keep on track. SWOT Analysis: SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method, which helps organizations in identifying and understanding their strengths and weaknesses, explore opportunities and minimise threats. It is helpful in identifying areas of development in any business. Strengths: Organizational strengths are skills and capabilities which makes possible to conceive of and implement its strategies. Examples include strong tie-ups with the suppliers, healthy relations with the customers, reputed brand name, etc. Weaknesses: Organizational weakness is deemed as an opposite of strength, which is important to overcome their weaknesses as it is highest importance to strive in the market. Examples include weak tie-ups with the suppliers and distributors, poor reputation among customers, weak brand name, etc. Opportunities: Opportunities are favourable circumstances, an area or duration in which an organization can work towards higher performance and profits. Examples include unfulfilled customer needs, up to date with new technologies, favourable changes in the international trading regulations, etc. Threats: Threats are unfavourable changes in the internal and external environment. Examples include new regulations, not able to manage the new technologies; products are not able to reach the customer satisfaction level, trade barriers, etc. By utilizing the SWOT analysis in strategic planning towards the organizational growth, a matrix can be developed which provides an accurate understanding of organizations strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. SWOT Matrix Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities S-O strategies W-O strategies Threats S-T strategies W-T strategies In conclusion, SWOT analysis is the most important method in analysing and formulating strategy. With this, the managers can assess the internal strengths and weaknesses as well as external opportunities and threats for overall development of the organization. (Ricky Griffin, 2008) (http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/swot/) Micro Macro Environment: PESTEL Analysis: PESTEL analysis means analysing the political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal factors, which may play a big role in an organisation processes. Using these key factors organizations can identify the attractiveness of a particular industry for investment, customers expectations, recognise the strategic gap and opportunities in the market. Political factors include political stability, taxation policies, legislation and regulation, government grants and fiscal incentives, and environmental regulations, and etc. Economic factors include interest rates, inflation rate, currency exchange rates, globalization, economic growth, and etc. Social factors include demographic change, emphasis on safety, lifestyle development, healthy management, and etc. Technological factors include research and development activity, communication technologies, automation, operation technologies, and etc. Environmental factors include climate, weather, and etc. Legal factors include discrimination law, consumer law, employment law, health and safety law, and etc. In conclusion, PESTEL analysis is a method of understanding external environment in which an organization operates and this is very important for overall development and success of an organisation. (Ricky W. Griffin, 2007) Change Management: Change management is an organized, systematic application of the knowledge, tools and resources of change that provides organizations with as key process to achieve their business strategy. (http://www.lamarsh.com/approach/managed) Michael E. Porter developed a five forces tool called porters five forces to understand the industry in which a firm operates. According to the Michael E. Porter, competition is often looked at too narrowly by managers and the five forces say that competing with direct competitors. The five forces give a holistic way of looking any industry and understanding the structural underlining drivers of profitability and drivers. With clear understanding of this model, an organisation can develop the competitive edge over its rivals and identify whether new products or businesses have the potential to be benefit or not. The five forces are supplier power, buyer power, competitive rivalry, threat of substitution, and threat of new entry. These five competitive forces give a frame work for identifying the most important industry developments and for foreseeing their impact on industry attractiveness. Michael E. Porter (On Competition) Source (http://www.visual-literacy.org/periodic_table/pix/porter-five-forces.png) Framework for Change: The job role of senior managers is to take decisions in favour of achieving the goals and make sure that the formulating strategies are implemented in the appropriate manner. The above-mentioned theories help the senior managers to approach change in a more structured way. Nevertheless, rather than sticking of organisational theories, managers have a broad range of choice and prudence. Resistance in Change: Change tends to be resisted when it affects interpersonal and job relations, but the manner of change is often important than the change itself. Change will not be effective unless the affected areas are committed to change. By creating supportive atmosphere, close working with affected areas by the change must work out a new value system we can reach the goal of successful change. According to the Lewins model, change means three stages: unfreezing, transition and refreezing. Unfreeze supporting people to replace the old behaviour with new one, which provides a sense of psychological safety and motivated to change. Transition people start looking at things in a different way and may learn new concepts or behavioural models in this stage. Refreeze stabilization of change via integration of changed behaviour into the normal way of doing things. Change will fall back to prior level unless the change is internalized and institutionalized after execution. Some of the organisational resistance factors are inactive structure, inactive group, threat to expertise, poor power relations, and limited forces of change. (http://www.consultpivotal.com/lewins.htm) There are number of organizations in the world in which there has been constant change and innovation. British Airways is one such organisation that has constantly changes in its strategy, structure, culture, management and technology. It has also employed various techniques to deal with such changes. Case Study: Background Information: In 1919, Aircraft Transport and Travel Limited (ATT) launched worlds first daily international air service. In 1924, four major airline companies in Britain Handley Page, Instone, ATT and British Air Marine Navigation merged together into a single airlines company called Imperial Airways. This airline grew in size and gained rapid reputation. The airlines not only dominated the operations in Britain, but also dominated across the different parts in the world encircling routes to Australia and Canada. In 1935, British Airways Ltd was formed with the merger of three airlines and extremely competed with the Imperial Airways. However, in 1939, British government nationalised the two airlines and formed British Overseas Airways Corporation. The BOAC separated into two entities as British European Airways (operates within Europe) and BOAC (operates rest of the world). With the rising oil prices and industrial concerns, BOAC and British European Airways decided to m erge into British Airways in 1976 and a Concord was introduced. This was referred as to as the new supersonic era. In April 1984, British Airways was made into British Airways Plc by shares offered to public. Now, British Airways is the United Kingdoms largest international scheduled airlines and operates more than 550 destinations across the world. British Airways has more than 280 aircrafts and has more than 40,000 employees. The corporate headquarter is located in London and its main hubs are Heathrow and Gatwick. British Airways has owned around 240,000 shareholders including 50% of shares owned by the BAs existing employees. (http://www.britishairways.com/travel/history) Strategies of British Airways: New strategies were adopted at each level of the organisation. British Airways top managers are certainly reviewing their strategies to identify the areas of improvement. Functional strategies aim at providing British Airways products with competitive advantages in terms of superior quality, innovation, efficiency and customer responsiveness. In airline industry, formal corporate strategy was that of vertical integration with lack of independent providers for specialized activities brought about the creation of in-house services with secure markets, therefore lacking up-to-date technology or cost efficiency. With the new corporate strategy, outsourcing activities to reduce costs and elevate competitiveness, and on developing partnerships with major airlines to increase the use of each partners assets and better serve customers. SWOT Analysis of British Airways: Strengths: British Airways strength includes purchased fast-rate new fleet of aircrafts to praise comfortable travelling of customers. British Airways operational research declared that level of knowledge and analytical skills performed by the organization and employees becomes it strength. Strong focus in customer areas while in purchasing high-end technology for air service strengthens the business orientation. Weaknesses: Lacking marketing strategy is one of many weaknesses on organizations business and service. Even though the great infrastructure hosted British Airways need to attract more customers with better market schemes. Furthermore limited knowledge of simulation technology, knowledge lost through internal staff moves, and difficulty to enhance specialist airline technology are the weaknesses. Threats: Threats are seen in centralized management, bureaucratic system and poor decision making. Rapid changes on technology and customer behaviour can also be a threat if not interpreted quickly. Major threats are trade union strikes. Opportunities: Availability of vast services and products create an opportunity to utilize them properly. In British Airways virtual reality could provide a new use for simulation, getting network software and sharing knowledge through special groups are opportunities, which can be utilized further enhance the companys growth. Online check-in for families with Fast Bag Drop facility, introducing baggage policies by standardizing the size of baggage to reduce queue time in airports are some of opportunities for British Airways. (http://www.thinkingmanagers.com/companies/british-airways) Porters five forces model applied to British Airways external environment High Risk of Entry Considerable start-up capital High financial risks Large economies of scale Control through Airport slots Low Power of Supplies BA sets terms and conditions, e.g. takes 130 days to pay suppliers High Rivalry Rises with Industry stakeout and operators will complete on cost and differentiation High Power of Buyers Due to a weaker demand while the number of operator stabilises Substitute Products Eurostar, new communication means, e.g. teleconferencing Political-legal Technological Macro-economic socio-cultural Source: Adapted from Michael Porters model. Change Management British Airways By signing the joint business agreement in revenue and cost sharing and with Iberia British Airways spread the choice of air timings, better connections and short journey timings for customers travelling between London and Spain. British Airways has changed the uniform for more than 25000 staff and the new uniform will cost 30% less than the previous one, which continues to generate long term cost savings while bringing a new smart look to the staff. Expanding the operations through launching BA CityFlyer and operating from the Docklands to six UK and European destinations in 2007. In 2008, introduced Online Boarding Pass (OBP) along with technology enabled PDF with e-fax and mail services to customers convenience and time saving. Formerly, passengers would need to have access to a printer at the time of online check-in to produce their boarding pass. The Online Boarding Pass facility helped the customers in a great way as they did not have to wait in queue. Now they can take advantage of the freedom of online check-in. British Airways also aims on cutting down 95% of energy consumption on air handling by installing in-flight stimulator cells at its training centre in Heathrow Airport and new technology equipment also being used to reduce the noise emission. Cost cutting on staff pay Nearly 7,000 British Airways staff have taken an early opportunity to apply for voluntary pay cuts in support of the airlines cost reduction programme. Of the 40,000-strong workforce, 6,940 employees had volunteered for unpaid leave, part-time working or unpaid work by June 24. Their actions will save the company up to  £10 million. Willie Walsh, British Airways chief executive, said: This is a fantastic first response. I want to thank everyone who has volunteered to help us pull through this difficult period. This response clearly shows the significant difference individuals can make. Options were made available for staff to volunteer for between one and four weeks unpaid leave or unpaid work, with the pay deduction spread over three or six months. The options also included switches to part-time working or longer periods of unpaid leave. Staff will have further opportunities to take part in the programme later in the year. Contingency plan British Airways is to increase its flying schedule for the period of Unites strikes as larger volumes of cabin crew call the airline to offer to work in support of the companys contingency operation. Following Unites decision to call strikes for March 20, 21 and 22, the airline published its flying schedules for the affected period on Monday, aiming to fly 60 per cent of its customers as planned. Since Monday, the number of cabin crew offering to work as normal has increased significantly and is expected to grow further. British Airways is also pleased that the number of other airlines offering their help for the strike period through charters or provision of spare seats has increased from 50 on Monday to more than 60. These developments have enabled the airline to reinstate some previously cancelled flights and provide extra capacity for both longhaul and shorthaul destinations. For example, this will allow the airline to fly home more competitors and supporters from the Winter Paralympics in Vancouver. Willie Walsh, British Airways chief executive, said: The determination of our colleagues across the whole business to keep the flag flying this weekend is increasing. I am delighted by the numbers of cabin crew who have been getting in touch with us to express their disillusion with Unites position. Our crews just want to work as normal, do their usual terrific job and look after our customers. We will now have the potential to fly more than 4,000 additional customers per day and serve more destinations. We believe this is a helpful move at a time when customers are facing rising fares with alternative carriers. Morale among our operations teams is high. Yesterday was our most punctual day at Heathrow for months, thanks to the efforts of all parts of the airline. Technological changes and innovation have been witnessed in British Airways from the past five years. British Airways has invested large amounts in new technology and terminal facilities. Exploring the knowledge and facilitation commencements in British Airways supported the decisions and management process. Another major technological change introduced by British Airways was implementation of management solutions from Calidris in 2007, which helped to create industrys first Order Data Stores (ODS), which stores the customers information in improving the level of customer service and minimising the duplicate bookings. Conclusion:

sociological methods :: essays research papers

Methods As we were interested in attitudes and experiences of our subjects we decided to use a qualitative approach to conduct our study. We wished our respondents to define their attitudes and experiences using their own words and meanings therefore it was considered that quantitative data was not appropriate for such a study. Qualitative study is more in-depth and much less structured than a quantitative approach, generating a greater depth of information (Mason 1996) A semi-structured interview technique to gather our data. This was chosen because of the benefits that this method entails and because of the disadvantages of the standardised and non-standardised methods (Gilbert, 2001). The standardised model was discarded because although all respondents received the same questions in the same order the system lacked credibility due a number of facts. Firstly, not every respondent may have the same interpretation of a question thus answers could not be compared to any degree of certainty. Secondly, the interviewer was unable to clarify any questions that the respondent did not fully comprehend. Most importantly, though, was the fact that the interviewer was unable to explore any area that our respondent unexpectedly enlightened us to, this also hindered us from asking any supplementary questions that may have furthered our findings (Punch, 1998). A non-structured approach was instantly ruled out as we wished to gage specific attitudes and experiences of drugs from our respondents. A non-standardised interview could have left us with an abundance of irrelevant material and little of any actual use. The semi-structured method has many benefits. Not only does this technique give the interviewer room for scope to probe, clarify and alter his or her interview schedule on the spot but it is also relatively easy to code and analyse the information that is procured (Seidman, 1998). The Sample Our sample were four third year students, two males and two females. Third year was chosen as our sample year-group as this allowed the respondents time to have become fully integrated into the Stirling student ‘life-style’. The sample was approached at random in the Stirling University union, ‘The Studio’. Random individuals were asked if they were 3rd year students and if so were they willing to take part in our survey. The sample were informed of the purpose of our research and confirmed the area of questioning which we wished to pursue. The sample was told that the location for their interview was entirely at their own discretion.

Homework Should Not Be Abolished Essay

School without homework is not an image I can fathom. There are many reasons homework should not be abolished as it is beneficial towards the student, allows the teacher to acknowledge the student’s weaknesses; in turn giving them an opportunity to improve and acquire new skills. Also, taking time each night to do homework is a chance for students to catch up on missed class and further reinforces the day’s lessons so it is permanently etched in the student’s mind where the information is stored and used when called upon. see more:why should homework be banned Several studies have proven that homework, in fact, does improve the stability of the student in school; this strengthens the statement that time spent completing homework is time well spent. Rather than giving students another hour of leisure time, doing homework entitles the student to an hour of enriched education; this can greatly benefit the student, as consistently finishing homework will reap great rewards such as a favorable test score or report card. Why are we posing such a ludicrous question about the possible abolishment of homework if doing homework is what it takes to succeed in school? It is a common emotion to students regarding the distaste of homework, but legions of teachers know better because they recognize the importance of homework in the success of students in school and outside of school. Not only homework benefit the student, it also benefits the teacher as well. Teachers receive the opportunity to see at what stage the student is by assigning homework. Furthermore, the teacher can identify the weaknesses of the student so they can improve their study habits in hopes of pulling their grades up. On the other hand, if teachers were to abandon the idea of homework altogether, they would have to base the majority of the student’s mark on tests alone.

Chiquitas Global Turnaround Essay

Executive Summary This report details several international management problems that Chiquita has been faced with over the past two decades. Many of these problems are to do with the company’s previously poor image when it came to Corporate and Social responsibility. Over the years Chiquita faced many accusations about the conditions workers were faced with at many of their facilities in Latin America and have also had their environmental policies questioned many times in the press. The company has made great strides in recent years in improving their public image with regards to corporate and social responsibility. In particular Chiquita’s commitment to the Better Bananas Project has helped improve their public image along with the continued work they are doing with the South American communities who farm their bananas. The Company also faced a significant legal and regulation of trade problem when the EU’s 1993 integration program saw tariffs on the company imports to Europe gre atly increased and their market share halved almost overnight. This report recommends that instead of going through a costly legal battle to gain re-entry to the European Banana market the company instead focuses on newer emerging markets such as Asia. Introduction Chiquita Brands International is a multinational producer, distributor and marketer of bananas, sourcing many of its produce from developing countries in Latin America. Banana industries have long been tarnished as having unethical business standards forcing companies such as Chiquita to take on ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR). CSR has been an essential element for Chiquita to take into consideration for a global turnaround. Vital aspects Chiquita had to consider were commitment to legal, ethical, environmental and social standards. These factors are at the most forefront to resolving CSR issues. Another key issue affecting the organisation was its struggles with access to a free market in the EU. The trade regulations the company faced through quotas and tariffs not only cut the company’s market share by over 50 percent but also negatively affected their ability to compete in the EU. These issues are seen as critical for the firm as it weakened its compet itive edge considerably. Chiquita has taken actions against these issues in the past several years however there are several solutions that could strengthen the company even further so that they remain the worlds leading supplier of bananas. Key Issues Issue #1: Corporate Social Responsibly After analysing the case in full depth it has come to our knowledge that corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a major international business issue affecting Chiquita. CSR is becoming a huge business venture in today’s corporate world. People are becoming more aware of business ethics and practices that don’t coincide with what they agree is morally correct and right. (Anglo American, 2012) Business practices have therefore moved from being profit maximisation focused to having social, cultural, technological and political focal points; or a ‘quadruple bottom line’ approach in order to create a company that is socially correct with a positive image. (LGAM, 2013) In 2003 Chiquita had 19,000 workers in its banana division with over 100 farms across Latin America. These countries are typically developing countries that have struggled with poverty, literacy and access to health care. The banana industry has long been for its support of child labour, unsafe w orking conditions, sexual discrimination and low wages leading to Human rights groups organising campaigns against all banana companies to improve social conditions on their plantations. (Luthans, F., & P. Doh, J. 2012). CSR is stated as â€Å"the continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as of the local community and society at large†. (Business Respects, no date) Therefore Chiquita’s image in the 1990’s of being a company that was â€Å"cold, uncaring, and indifferent, frustrated with mediocre returns, a lack of innovation, and a demoralized workforce† lead to the company becoming considerably unpopular with the public and business partners, which contributed to a decrease in growth rates. For example, in 1998 Chiquita fell a victim of an undercover investigation into dangerous and illegal business practices. The Cincinnati Enquirer, a paper based in Kentucky, accused the company guilty of â€Å"labour, human rights, environmental and political violations† in central America, leaving an â€Å"unsavoury impression of our company† according to Jeff Zalla, current corporate responsibility officer at Chiquita. (Luthans, F., & P. Doh, J. 2012). The centre of the debate about the CSR is the nature and extent of corporate obligations that extend beyond the economic and legal responsibilities of the firm. â€Å"The idea of social responsibilities supposes that the corporation has not only economic and legal obligations, but also certain responsibilities to society which extend beyond these obligations† (McGuire, 1963: 144). The issue is therefore critical for the firm as it is in the business’s long-term self-interest to be socially responsible. If Chiquita wants to have a healthy climate in which to function in the future, it must take actions now to ensure its long-term viability. Ultimately it will benefit the company by â€Å"winning the public† because the public believe firms should take on social responsibility. Issue #2: Tariff Regulations from the EU Another international business issue that had a significant effect on Chiquita’s day to day operations was the European Union’s (EU) decision to impose significantly higher tariffs and quotas on Chiquita’s imports from Latin American countries, in favour of their former colonies in the Caribbean and Africa, beginning in 1993. These new Tariff’s not only cut the company’s market share by over 50 percent but also significantly affected their ability to compete in the EU’s $6.7 Billion USD banana market. (Luthans, & P. Doh, 2012). This was a massive regulation of trade issue for Chiquita as they believed the EU’s decision to grant their former colonies preferential tariff rates was in direct violation of the fair trade principles specified in the WTO. These principles stated that countries must not discriminate against one another in their trade relations. (Luthans, & P. Doh, 2012). One of the key sub-issues that caused this issue for Chi quita was the EU’s 1992 integration program which saw the 12 member nations of the EU do away with their previously separate banana import regime’s and implement one uniform set of tariffs for the whole EU. (Patterson, 2001) This important change in international law saw Chiquita go from only having some quotas to deal with when exporting to the EU to now having to pay an extra 33% tariff than their rival importers from ACP countries. (Patterson, 2001) Although the EU’s new regime was immediately protested by the U.S.A and many Latin American countries this presented another significant legal international management problem for Chiquita. Not only had their market share been halved, drastically cutting into their profits, but they also now faced the prospect of a lengthy and expensive legal battle to be able to once again import their bananas to Europe at a fair rate. (Luthans, & P. Doh, 2012). Strategic options Corporate Social responsibility Chiquita began to initiate corporate social responsibility projects in 1992 but initiated projects aimed at implementing its CSR efforts on a global scale in 1998, (Luthans, & P. Doh, 2012). By 1999 Chiquita had adopted four key values, integrity, respect, opportunity and responsibility, which now guide all business decision-making worldwide, (Luthans, & P. Doh, 2012). In 2000 Chiquita appointed a full time officer responsible for all aspects of Chiquita’s CSR. This implementation as well as the four core values has helped drive a responsible change throughout the entire company, (Chiquita – Social Responsibility Is How We Conduct Business, 2013). It has meant all business decisions have had to be evaluated through the corporate responsibility policies, (Luthans, & P. Doh, 2012). Chiquita’s development of social responsibility efforts has developed significantly by expanding on the businesses code of conduct to outline the responsibilities and practices of the or ganisation, as well as adopting legal agreements to establish business standards, (Luthans, & P. Doh, 2012). Chiquita’s have resolved social conditions on all their plantations by using both these strategies. They expanded their code of conduct in 2000 to include Social Accountability 8000, followed by signing a worker rights agreement in 2001, (Luthans, & P. Doh, 2012). This covered areas such as food safety, labour standards, employee health and safety, environmental protection, and legal compliance, all which have been a long tarnished image in the banana industry. It has been proven to be a very effective tool for measuring and improving business practices to better serve the communities and individual consumers, (Chiquita – Social Responsibility Is How We Conduct Business, 2013). In order to adhere to the organizations core values, Chiquita routinely performs audits, to plan corrective and future actions using the firms core values and code of conduct as decision- making guides. This implementation has contributed significantly to allow Chiquita’s to maintain better CSR practices. An alternative solution for Chiquita is to contribute to local communities in an interactive way. Chiquita’s could set up programs to promote healthy living, particularly that educate children on nutrition and encourage them to lead healthier lives. Chiquita employees could do this by visiting local schools, events or other business firms in the community. To promote healthier living to people they could give out produce to the community to encourage eating healthier foods and give tips to men, women and particularly children about nutrition enforcing the idea of healthy living. Chiquita could also allow schools to visit their farms on an education basis. This gives the opportunity for Chiquita employees to get involved in supporting the community and has the added benefit of portraying a great social responsibility effort for Chiquita. Furthermore on the idea of allowing people to visit their farms, Chiquita could alternatively charge people a small dona tion, where a percentage of the profit could be given to charity or an ongoing event in the community. Tariff Regulations from the EU From the time that the new regime was put in place in 1993, Chiquita, along with the United States, filed complaints to both the General Agreement of Trade and Tariffs (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) implying that there were violations of free trade from the EU (Doh & Luthans, 2012). There were two complaints made to GATT the first, issued in February 1993, outlined that the new regime (Mark II) was ‘protectionist, discriminatory and restrictive’. While the second; was initiated by five Latin American plaintiffs on the first of July, 1993 (Read, 2005). While the GATT panel ruled that the Mark II regime violated GATT commitments, the EU refused to adapt the ruling made by GATT. In May 1997, the WTO ruled that the EU’s Mark II regime violated WTO obligations under the GATT on trade and services and the agreement on import licensing procedures (Doh & Luthans, 2012). Some of these licensing procedures included: Operator categories, activity functions, ex port certificates and hurricane licenses (Read, 2001). The EU was then required by the WTO, to bring its banana regime compliance by January 1999. This was brought about by the various amounts of import licenses that the EU used in which the WTO panel found that these licenses breached the GATT and the General Agreement on Trade in Services as it prevented competition in the EU (Read, 2005). However, the EU did not comply and so, the United States was allowed to enforce regulatory tariffs onto specific EU imports as a response towards the EU’s failure to implement the WTO rulings as well as the violations of the GATT trade rules (Read, 2005) It was not until April, 2001 that the United States and the EU announced that they had resolved their dispute but reaching an agreement. The agreement took effect on the first of July, 2001 during which the United States suspended retaliatory sanctions and the import of bananas from Latin America returned to the levels it was at before the 1993 regime change (Doh & Luthans, 2012). Final Recommendation An alternate option that Chiquita could have undertaken is that rather than focusing on regaining the European market, they could have looked towards expanding to a new regional market such as Asia. Evidence from the Chiquita’s website shows that they have yet to expand to the Asian market (Chiquita Homepage, 2013). Four out of the top five countries for banana consumption in the world come from Asia; these countries being: India, China, Indonesia and the Philippines (WolframAlpha: Banana Consumption, 2007). Upon entering the Asian market, Chiquita should approach with either a polycentric or regiocentric predisposition. Polycentric and regiocentric predisposition is, respectively; â€Å"a philosophy of management whereby strategic decisions are tailored to suit the cultures of the countries where the multinational corporation operates† and â€Å"the philosophy of management whereby the firm tries to blend its own interests with those of its subsidiaries on a regional basis† (Doh & Luthans, 2012). These two approaches would be good for entering into the Asian market as Asian cultures tend to be high context cultures in which negotiations are slow and ritualistic; whereas for and American-based company such as Chiquita, are used to low context cultures where negotiations are made efficiently as possible (Cavusgil, Freeman, Knight, Ranmal & Risenberger, 2012). These two approaches will allow for Chiquita to become more compatible with the Asian market. Implications of this however, is that the time and money spent on developing and researching strategies on entering the Asian market could cost either the same, or more than the legal costs that Chiquita faced while regaining the rights to exporting to the EU. However, if Chiquita looked towards expanding into the Asian market while dealing with legal issues regarding the EU quotas and everything went well, Chiquita would then be exporting to both Europe and Asia which would bring them more profit than if they were just shipping to one or the other. References Anglo American, (2012), Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility, Retrieved from: http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/anglo-american/business-ethics-and-corporate-social-responsibility/introduction.html#axzz2cMnSxmvE, Accessed 17/9/13 Business Respect, (no date), Corporate Social Responsibility- what does it mean? Retrieved from: http://www.businessrespect.net/definition.php, Accessed 17/9/13 Cavusgil, S.T., Freeman, S., Knight, G., Ranmal, H.G., & Risenberger, J.R. (2012). The Cultural Environment of International Business, International Business (pp.88- 122). Frenchs Forest, Australia: Pearson Australia Chiquita (2013). Chiquita.com – Social Responsibility Is How We Conduct Business. Retrieved from http://www.chiquita.com/The-Chiquita-Difference/Social-Responsibility.aspx, Accessed 13/9/13 Chiquita Homepage. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.chiquita.com/Home.aspx, Accessed 13/9/2013 Doh, J.P., & Luthans, F. (2012). Chiquita’s Global Turnaround (Case Study), International Management: Culture, Strategy and Behaviour. (pp.138- 165). New York, United States of America: McGraw Hill. European Commission (2011). Corporate Social Responsibility. Retrieved from http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sustainable-business/corporate-social-responsibility/index_en.htm, Accessed 13/9/13 LGAM, (2013) Quadruple Bottom Line, Retrieved from: http://lgam.wikidot.com/quadruple-bottom-line, accessed 17/9/13 Luthans, F., & P. Doh, J. (2012). International Management (pp. 560-566). (8th ed.). New York, America: McGraw-Hill, Accessed 13/9/13 McGuire, J (1963), The Business Case for Corporate Social Responsibility, retrieved from:

Advanced English Grammar Review Quiz

Advanced English Grammar Review Quiz Intensive grammar review quizzes are a great way for English students to test their knowledge. This exam covers some of the  most important upper-intermediate level English tenses, structure, and functions. Use it in class or at home to improve your reading and comprehension or to study for an ESL, EFL, or TEFL test. Grammar Quiz Choose the correct word to fill in the blank. Answers can be found in the next section, along with explanations for each sentence. 1. If she _________ about his financial situation, she would have helped him out. had knownknewwould have known 2. Ill be _______________ their cat while they are away on holiday. looking intolooking atlooking after 3. He made his children _____ their homework every afternoon. to dodoingdo 4. The test was _____ difficult she had problems finishing it on time. suchsoas 5. By the time she arrives, we _________________ our homework. finishwill finishwill have finished 6. She _________ lunch by the time we arrived. finishedhad finishedwas finished 7. The sun ______ at 9 last night. satsettedset 8. When I stopped __________ to Mary, she was picking some flowers in her garden. speakingto speakspeak 9. Despite ___________ hard, he failed the exam. he studiedstudiedstudying 10. That room ____________ for a meeting this afternoon. is usedis being useduses 11. We _______ play tennis every day when we were young. usedwould towould 12. If I __________ you, I would get a better job. wasarewere 13. Hell give you a call as soon as he _______. arriveswill arriveis going to arrive 14. He  really didnt want to come last night. ______________ So did I.Neither I did.Neither did I. 15. Do you think he knows what ________? he wantsdoes he wantwants he 16. I think San Francisco is ______ exciting _____ New York. as ... thanas .... soas ... as 17. Why are your hands so dirty? Well, I ______________ in the garden. have workedhave been workingworked 18. Did you remember __________ the door? lockinglockto lock 19. ____________ 250 mph? Which model does goWhich does model goWhich model goes 20. That is the man ________ grandfather founded Kentucky Root Beer. whowhosethat 21. I could hardly ___________ the ship in the distance. see outmake throughmake out 22. Look at those clouds! It ___________ rain. s going towillshall 23. _________________, we wont have much to talk about. If not he comesUnless he comesSince he comes 24. He has _____ interest in continuing the project. anynot anyno 25. Where do you think Jane was yesterday? She __________ at home. must bemust have beenmust go 26. Jack told me he ___________ come the next day. is going towillwas going to 27. He drove the car __________ the garage and left for work. out ofoutinto 28. Jack ______________ a fortune when his great uncle passed on. came alongcame intocame through 29. Unfortunately, Peter has ______ friends in Tacoma. a fewa lotfew 30. I will finish that project soon. Ken said he ________ finish that project soon. werewouldwill 31. In his position _____ managing director, he is responsible for more than 300 employees. likeasso 32. She wished she __________ the new car. boughtwould buyhad bought 33. Fiestas ____________ in Cologne, Germany for many years now. have been madehave been makinghave made 34. I think you ___________ see a doctor. should better tooughthad better 35. Youll be leaving for Tokyo soon, _______? arent youwill youwont you 36. ______ the last market session the Dow Jones dropped 67 points. DuringWhileFor Answers and Explanations If she  had known  about his financial situation, she would have helped him out. Use the past perfect (had past participle) in the if clause of the third conditional to talk about unreal past situations.Ill  be looking after  their cat while they are away on holiday. The phrasal verb to look after means to take care of.He made his children  do  their homework every afternoon. The verbs make and let combine with an object plus the base form (without to) of the verb. Other verbs use the infinitive form of the verb (with to).The test was  so  difficult she had problems finishing it on time. Use so with an adjective and such with a  noun phrase.  By the time she arrives, we  will have finished  our homework. With the time clause by the time... use the future perfect to describe something that will have happened up to that point in time.She  had finished  lunch by the time we arrived. Use the past perfect (had participle) to express an action finished before another action in the past. The sun  set  at 9 last night. The verb to set is irregular.When I stopped  to speak  to Mary, she was picking some flowers in her garden. When using the verb to stop, use the infinitive form to express an action that you stopped in order to do. Use the gerund to express an action that you have stopped doing (and doesnt continue).Despite  studying  hard, he failed the exam. Use the gerund or having   past participle following despite. Use a verb clause when  following  although.That room  is being used  for a meeting today. Is being used is the present continuous form of the  passive voice  that is required by this sentence.We  would play  tennis every day when we were young. Would do something and used to do something both express a habitual action in the past. Used to do something also expresses the idea that you do not do that action anymore.If I  were  you, I would wait a while to begin investing. Use were in the second conditional if clause for all subjects.Hell give you a call as soon as he  arrives. In a future time clause use the present simple. The construction is the same as for the first conditional. He really didnt want to come last night.  Neither did I. Use neither followed by the opposite form of the helping verb to  state negative agreement.Do you think  he knows what he wants?  Be careful to change questions to standard sentence structure when asking an  indirect question.I think San Francisco is as  exciting as  New York.  Use as ... as to show equality.Why are your hands so dirty? Well, I have been working  in the garden.  Use the present perfect continuous to show what has caused a present result.Did you remember  to lock  the door? The verb stop can  change meaning when used with a gerund or infinitive.Which model goes  250 mph?  Subject questions  take standard positive sentence structure but begin with who, whom or which.That is the man  whose  grandfather founded Kentucky Root Beer. Whose is the  possessive relative pronoun  required in this sentence.I could hardly make out  the ship in the distance.  Make out  is a phras al verb meaning to see in the distance.Look at those clouds! Its going to rain.  Its is a contraction of it is, the present tense. Use the future continuous when making a prediction based on the evidence at hand. Unless he comes, we wont have much to talk about.  Unless he comes is a conditional clause.He has no interest in continuing the project. Use no when preceding a noun that lacks an article.Where do you think Jane was yesterday? She must have been at home. Use might have participle for a past modal verb of probability. The other forms include could have participle - possibility, must have participle - almost certain, cant have participle - almost certain in a negative way.Jack told me he  was  going to  come the next day.  Use the past progressive tense to refer to events that occurred in the past.He drove the car  out of  the garage and left for work. Use the prepositions out of when exiting a building.Jack  came into  a fortune when his great uncle Jack passed on. The phrasal verb to come into means to inherit.Unfortunately, Peter  has  few  friends in Tacoma. Use few to express a small amount that is considered negative in a disappointing sense.I will fin ish that project soon. Ken said he  would  finish that project soon.Will becomes would in reported speech. In his position  as  managing director, he is responsible for more than 300 employees. Use as to indicate function, use like to indicate similarity.She wished she  had bought  a new car. The use of the verb wish in the past is followed by the past perfect similar to the third conditional.Fiestas  have been made  in Cologne, Germany for many years now. Have been made is the correct present perfect passive form required in this case.I think you  had better  see a doctor. Had better, ought to, and should are all ways of giving advice.Youll be leaving for Tokyo soon,  wont you? Use the opposite of the auxiliary for a question tag.During  the last market session, the Dow Jones dropped 67 points. Use during with a noun, while with a verb clause.

The Risk Management Process and its Interactions with the Project lifecycle essay

The Risk Management Process and its Interactions with the Project lifecycle essay The Risk Management Process and its Interactions with the Project lifecycle essay The Risk Management Process and its Interactions with the Project lifecycle essayThe risk management process is the pivotal element of the project lifecycle because the successful implementation of the project and completion of its lifecycle depend on the accuracy and effectiveness of the risk management. In the contemporary business environment, it is virtually impossible to foresee all risks and threats that may affect projects, but the accurate analysis and assessment of existing risks and the elaboration of the risk management plan can help to prevent them or, at least, minimize the major risks, which the project may confront at any stage of its lifecycle (Chari, 2007). The risk management process should develop within the framework of the project lifecycle focusing on specific challenges that emerge at the specific stage of the project lifecycle. On the other hand, the risk management should also elaborate the holistic approach to the project lifecycle, risk assessment and preve ntion. Therefore, the risk management process should focus not only on every stage of the project lifecycle but also assess the project as a whole and elaborate the risk mitigation plan to prevent or, at least, minimize risks and threats the project may confront in the course of its lifecycle and, thus, minimize negative effects of risks and threats that may emerge.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Project lifecycle  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The project lifecycle consists of four phases, including initiation, planning, implementation and evaluation. Each stage is equally important for the overall success of the project. Therefore risks associated with the implementation of every stage of the project lifecycle are dangerous and may threaten to the successful implementation of the project. The project team should analyze every stage of the project lifecycle to understand, identify and evaluate all possible risks, which the project may confront.  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The initiation stage involves the elaboration of goals and essence of the project. As a rule, strategic goals are set and the vision of the project emerges. Risks emerging at this stage can affect the further development and implementation of the project. The initiation stage is the primary stage of the project lifecycle that gives the start to the project. Therefore, the initiation stage determines the trajectory of the development and implementation of the project and, thus, determines the overall success of the project lifecycle.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The planning stage is pivotal because it lays the foundation to the practical implementation of the project because the project team implements the project on the ground of the project plan. In this regard, researchers (Lucas Baroudi, 2002) recommend developing alternatives to the main project plan. Alternative plans help to choose different ways of the project implementation d epending on risks that affect the project and changes in the course of the implementation of the project both internal and external.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The implementation stage involves the implementation of the plan, which though is not always implemented succinctly because often changes to the plan are necessary to complete the project successfully. In this regard, researchers (Ponzi Koenig, 2002) recommend to accompany the implementation stage with the permanent monitoring and control over the implementation of the project plan to identify flaws of the plan and introduce changes to complete the project successfully and transit to the final stage of the project lifecycle – evaluation.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The evaluation stage is the last but not the least stage of the project lifecycle. The accuracy of the evaluation of the project determines the effectiveness of lessons learned by the project team from the project. Moreover, the adequate evaluation of the project helps organisations to take a decision on the further maintenance or completion of the project as well as to assess the overall effectiveness of the project and its impact on the organisational performance.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Risk analysis and assessment  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The identification of the risk is the first and major step to the effective risk management and risk mitigation to prevent its negative impact on the project lifecycle. The identification of risks involves the analysis of each stage of the lifecycle of the project, identification of key stakeholders and analysis of possible risks that may emerge along with the preliminary assessment of possible effects, if those risks do occur.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Researchers (Finley, 2007) distinguish the following potential risks, which the project lifecycle may face, including: technical, costs, schedule, client, co ntractual, natural, financial, political, environmental, people. At the same time, the project team should be aware of the fact that each project is, to a certain extent, unique and, therefore, risks may vary depending on the project. The list of potential risks may be shorter or longer but the point is to identify risks succinctly and allocate resources properly. The proper allocation of resources means that the project team identifies risks and determines their probability and allocates resources required for the mitigation of those risks and elimination of their negative effects. Resources required for the risk management may vary but, as a rule, they include human resources, financial resources, equipment and other resources that may be required to manage risks effectively. In such a way, the risk assessment and analysis involve the identification of key risks and the probability of their occurrence.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In addition, risks analysis and ass essment involves the study of the impact of specific risks on the project lifecycle, which may vary from low to high impact.   The project team should forecast the possible impact of every particular risk that may emerge in the course of the project. The analysis of the impact of specific risks helps the project team to allocate required resources and develop possible alternatives to mitigate risks and minimize their negative effects on the project. Risks may vary in terms of their impact on the project from low to high but the probability of their occurrence varies too.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Therefore, it is possible to roughly group risks into four main categories: risks that have the low impact and are unlikely to occur; risks that have the low impact but are likely to occur; risks that have the high impact but are not likely to occur; and risks that have the high impact and are likely to occur (Schein, 2009). The latter are the most dangerous risks, which the project management team should come prepared to and be ready to confront at any stage of the project lifecycle. Nevertheless, the project team should not underestimate minor risks too. In fact, low risks may have a considerable impact on the project lifecycle, if they remain unaddressed by the project team. Such risks will steadily undermine the implementation of the project that may lead to its failure. In addition, different risks may have a different impact on different stages of the project lifecycle (Seitanidi, 2008). For example, risks that may emerge at the planning stage may cause the failure of the project at the implementation stage, if they remain unaddressed at the planning stage. Similarly, risks that emerge at the initiation stage may lead to the failure of the project at the planning stage. In such a way, risks should not only be identified, analyzed and assessed properly, but also the project team should respond immediately to any risk that is identified in the course of the project lifecycle.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Risk mitigation to the project lifecycle  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Researchers (Peters, 2002) distinguish different risk mitigation strategies that help to identify risks and respond to them effectively. At the same time, risk mitigation strategies include: risk avoidance, risk sharing, risk reduction, and risk transfer (Wisner, et al., 2004). Each strategy is applied depending on the nature of the risk and its impact on the project lifecycle or particular stage of the project lifecycle.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The risk avoidance implies the careful risk management strategy, when the project team attempts to minimize all the risks by elaborating the most secure project management strategy. However, even though this strategy seems to be very efficient because it leads to the avoidance of risks, but, in actuality, such strategy makes the implementation of the project extr emely challenging. Researchers (Royse, Thyer, Padgett, Logan, 2006) insist that the risk avoidance may lead to the refusal of the project team from daring and potentially highly beneficial projects because of certain risks associated with their implementation and the focus on mediocre projects that are safer, but also they are less profitable compared to more daring ones.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The risk sharing is quite challenging strategy because it admits the occurrence of certain risks but the team management does not try to avoid it but confronts those risks and shares the responsibility and mitigation of risks between different stakeholders or project team members. For example, a project may involve the risk of increase of its costs that will raise the burden of additional funding of the project. While using the risk sharing strategy, the project management team members can invest equal shares to cover extra expenses required for the successful accomplish ment of the project.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The risk reduction is an efficient strategy, which involves the reduction of risks by means of the preparedness of the project team for their emergence (Schmitt Simonson, 2007). As the project team comes prepared to risks, the team can allocate resources and develop effective strategy to reduce the negative impact of risks on the project lifecycle. As a result, the risk reduction strategy helps to reduce negative effects of risks on the project lifecycle.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   As for the risk transfer strategy, this strategy is also quite effective because it involves the transfer of risks from the most vulnerable stakeholder or part of the project to the least one (Viardot, 2011). For example, a company working on the construction project can use the subcontractor, who is more experienced and prepared to the risk mitigation, to complete certain stage of the construction. As a result, if the risk occurs, the subcontractor will deal with the risk management. Such risk transfer is effective because the subcontractor will be more efficient in the risk management compared to the company working on the construction project due to more extensive experience and better preparedness to such risks.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The risk mitigation should remain intact during the entire project lifecycle. In such a way, the project management team will always come prepared to risks and prevent them from occurrence or manage them effectively, if they occur. The risk mitigation should also focus on the project lifecycle as the whole to tackle risks that may be not identified at specific stages of the project lifecycle.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Contingency planContingency plan can secure risks and prevent the overall failure of the project lifecycle. The project plan should always involve alternatives or, at least one alternative, which can come into acti on, when either risk starts undermining the project and threatening to the project lifecycle. In addition, project managers should also plan contingency funds, which are funds set aside and used, in case of risks start interfering into the implementation of the project and affecting negatively the project lifecycle. The contingency plan contributes to the overall helps to back-up the risk management initial plan and minimize the negative impact of risks on the project lifecycle.Correlation between the project lifecycle and risk management processEach stage of the lifecycle should have all possible risks to be identified and measured in terms of their impact on the particular stage of the project lifecycle. Second, the risk mitigation plan for each stage of the project lifecycle should be elaborated and implemented respectively to the implementation of the project and progress of its lifecycle. Third, the contingency plan should be developed for each stage of the project lifecycle to ensure that the project management team will come prepared to confront risks and introduce reserves and extra funding and other resources to deal with risks, if the prepared risk mitigation plan fails. Finally, the project management team should elaborate the general risk mitigation plan along with the contingency plan that will help to plan the risk management for the entire project lifecycle.ConclusionThus, the project plan should be a flexible plan to maintain the project lifecycle successfully and mitigate risks emerging in the course of the implementation of the project at any stage of its lifecycle. The identification, assessment and analysis of risks help the project team to elaborate the risk mitigation plan. The risk mitigation plan, in its turn, helps to decrease the negative impact of risks on the project lifecycle and facilitates the successful accomplishment of the project. In addition, the risk management process should also include the contingency plan that will help the project team to accumulate resources and develop alternative plans to deal with emerging risks.

Atomic Bomb

During wartime, horrible atrocities against all of humanity must be dealt with.  Ã‚   Crimes against humanity, as never witnessed before, and hopefully to never be seen again, occurred during the course of World War II.  Ã‚   America has always, and most likely will always place a high value on American lives.  Ã‚   In order to protect these lives and to insure that the world is safe for democracy, American leaders had to make a very tough decision, whether or not to drop the atomic bomb on Japan.  Ã‚   This act would essentially trade Japanese lives for American lives.  Ã‚   The Japanese were responsible for hundreds of thousands of American casualties in the Pacific, including the unprovoked attack on Pearl Harbor.  Ã‚   With Japanese forces showing no signs of surrender, American leaders made a decision.  Ã‚   This decision essentially changed the history of warfare forever.    An atomic bomb is any weapon that gets its destructive power from an atom.   This powe r comes when the matter inside of the atoms is transformed into energy.   The process by which this is done is known as fission.   The only two atoms suitable for fission are the uranium isotope U-235 and the plutonium isotope Pu-239.   Fission occurs when a neutron, a subatomic particle with no electrical charge, strikes the nucleus of one of these isotopes and causes it to split apart.   When the nucleus is split, a large amount of energy is produced, and more free neutrons are also released.   These neutrons strike other atoms, which causes more energy to be released.   If this process is repeated, a self-sustaining chain reaction will occur, and it is this chain reaction that causes the atomic bomb to have its destructive power.    The first type of atomic bomb ever used was a gun-type.   In this type two subcritical pieces of U-235 are placed in a device similar to the barrel of an artillery shell.   One piece is placed at one end of the barrel and will remain there at rest.   The other subcritical mass is placed at the other end of the barrel.   A conventional explosive is packed behind the second subcritical mass.   When the fuse is triggered, a conventional explosion causes the second subcritical mass to be propelled at a high velocity into the first subcritical mass.   The resulting combination causes the two subcritical masses to become a supercritical mass.   When this supercritical mass is obtained, a rapid self-sustained chain reaction is caused.   This type of atomic bomb was used on Hiroshima, and given the nickname â€Å"Little Boy† after Franklin D. Roosevelt.    The second type of atomic bomb is an implosion bomb.   In this type a subcritical mass, which is in the shape of a ball, is placed in the center of the weapon.   This subcritical mass is surrounded in a spherical arrangement of conventional explosives.   When the fuse is triggered all of the conventional explosives explode at the same time.    This causes the subcritical mass to be compressed into a smaller volume, thus creating a supercritical mass to be formed.   After this supercritical mass is obtained, a self-sustained chain reaction takes place and causes the atomic explosion.   This type of atomic bomb was used on Nagasaki, and given the nickname â€Å"Fat Man† after Winston Churchill.    The blast from an atomic bomb’s explosion will last for only one-half to one second, but in this amount of time a great deal of damage is done.   A fireball is created by the blast, which consists mainly of dust and gasses.   The dust produced in this fireball has no substantial effect on humans or their environment.   However, as the gasses expand a blast wave is produced.   As this blast wave moves, it creates static overpressure.   This static overpressure then in turn creates dynamic pressure.   The static overpressure has the power to crush buildings.   The dynamic pressure creates winds , which have the power to blow down trees.   The blast pressure and fireball together only last for approximately eleven seconds, but because it contains fifty percent of the atomic bomb’s latent energy a great deal of destruction occurs.    In Hiroshima, the blast from the atomic bomb was measured to be about four and a half to six and seven tenths tons of pressure per square meter, while in Nagasaki the blast was measured to be about six to eight tons of pressure per square meter.   Because of this dramatic change in the pressure most of the cities were destroyed.   The static overpressure in Hiroshima destroyed between sixty-two and ninety thousand buildings, while in Nagasaki all of the buildings within three thousand feet of the center of the blast were completely destroyed.   The static overpressure created a dynamic pressure that had winds up to four hundred miles per hour.   These winds caused minor scratches, lacerations, or compound fractures, which came about when people and glass fragments were projected through the air.   By combining the results of the static overpressure and the dynamic pressure one can begin to see what damage was caused by the atomic bomb’s blast.    The thermal radiation produced by an atomic bomb explosion will account for thirty-five percent of the atomic bomb’s damage.   Thermal radiation can come in one of three forms: ultraviolet radiation, visible radiation, or infrared radiation.   The ultraviolet radiation is absorbed so rapidly by air particles that it has no substantial effect on people.   However, the visible and infrared radiation creates an enormous amount of heat to be produced, approximately ten million degrees Celsius at the hypocenter.   This heat has two main effects.   The first is known as flash burns.   The flash of thermal radiation produces these flash burns right after the explosion.   Flash burns can be either first-degree burns (bad sun burns), secon d-degree burns (blisters, infections, and scars), or third-degree burns (destroyed skin tissue).   The second type is known as flame burns.   These are burns that come from one of two different types of fires, which are created when flammable materials are ignited by the thermal radiation.   The first type is called firestorms.   A firestorm is violent, has raging winds, and has extremely high temperatures; but fortunately it does not spread very rapidly.   The second type is called a conflagration.   A conflagration is when the fire spreads in a front.   The thermal radiation produced by the atomic bomb’s explosion will account for most of the deaths or injuries.    In Hiroshima and Nagasaki the thermal radiation accounted for approximately twenty to thirty percent of the deaths or injuries from the atomic bomb’s explosion.   Those that were at a distance of two and one half miles from the hypocenter received first degree burns.   Those that were a t a distance of two and one quarter miles from the hypocenter received second degree burns.   Those that were at a distance of one half of a mile from the hypocenter received third degree burns.   Ninety-five percent of the burns created from the thermal radiation were by flash burns, and only five percent of the burns were by flame burns.   The reason for this low number of flame burns is that only two to ten percent of the buildings caught on fire.   By combining the damage from both the flash and flame burns one can begin to see the effects that an atomic bomb’s thermal radiation had.   Approximately sixty thousand in Hiroshima, and approximately forty-one thousand people were either killed or injured from the thermal radiation.    The final effect that an atomic bomb caused is the nuclear radiation produced from the fission process.   The nuclear radiation comes in the form of either Gamma rays or Beta particles.   Gamma rays are electromagnetic radiation originating in the atomic nuclei, physically identical to x-rays.   They can enter into living tissue extremely easily.   Beta particles are negatively charged particles, identical to an electron moving at a high velocity.   These forms of nuclear radiation are measured in rads (radiation-absorbed-dose), which is defined as the absorption of five ten millionths joule per gram of absorbing material.   During the initial nuclear radiation mostly Gamma rays are emitted from the fireball.   This period of initial nuclear radiation lasts for approximately one minute.   During the residual nuclear period (fallout) the Beta particles and more of the Gamma rays are emitted.   The residual radiation has two stages: early fallout and delayed fallout.   In early fallout, the heavy and highly radioactive particles fall back to the earth, usually within the first twenty-four hours.   In delayed fallout, the tiny and often invisible particles fall back to the earth, and usually last from a couple of days to several years.   The nuclear radiation from the atomic bomb’s explosion was not the main cause of death, but it did still have serious results.    In Hiroshima, the initial nuclear radiation was spread over a distance of approximately fifty-three hundredths of a kilometer.   In Nagasaki, the initial nuclear radiation only spread one and six thousandths of a kilometer.   The reason why the nuclear radiation was not the main caused of deaths or injuries was that the atomic bomb was detonated so high in the atmosphere; approximately five hundred and seventy meters in Hiroshima, and approximately five hundred and ten meters in Nagasaki.   Even without causing many deaths the nuclear radiation probably caused the most serious effects.   Those with definite proof were those of increased rates of cataracts, leukemia, cancer of the thyroid, cancer of the breast, cancer of the lungs, cancer of the stomach, and mental retardation of babies.   Those that had substantial but not definite proof were those of tumors of the esophagus, tumors of the colon, tumors of the salivary glands, and tumors of the urinary tract organs.   Those that had no definite or substantial proof were those of increased rates of birth mortality, birth defects, infertility, and susceptibility towards illnesses. Plagiarism Detection > Plagiarism Detection >The blast, the thermal radiation, or the nuclear radiation from an atomic bomb explosion will have severe effects on both humans and on the environment in which they live in.   The only two cities that have ever experienced having an atomic bomb being exploded on them were the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II.   In Hiroshima, the casualties have been estimated between seventy-five and eighty thousand. In Nagasaki, the total number killed was estimated at more that thirty-five thousand.   The total number severely injured was even greater than forty thousand.In the 50 years since the first atomic explosion, the promises and perils of nuclear science have touched nearly every aspect of our culture and politics.   The scientific development surrounding the A-bomb has been a pivotal point in the worlds history, launching us into the Atomic Age.   We came close to nuclear inhalation during the cold war, but its benefits have been much greater.   We have turned nuclear power into a reliable source of energy, and it has provided us with many technological advances.   In the future we can look forward to using the technology discovered during the Manhattan Project to create even better sources of energy.   We are only at the beginning of the Atomic Age, and there are endless possibilities for the future.

Print and TV Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Print and TV Media - Essay Example Television, or TV, literally means the unit that is used to receive broadcast signals from a network, and, in this case, refers to the actual use of TV-a means to get information on a regular basis. Shows on TV also vary in frequency, usually within minutes, hours, days, and weeks. Take a regular newspaper, roll it, tuck it under your arm or toss it in your bag, and you can read it whenever you've got the time-unless you want to get the information right here, right now. Such is the essence of the newspaper; news and information delivered through the convenience of compiles sheets of paper that one can carry around, as well as the corresponding affordability. On top of that, the availability of space in its environment allows print journalists to write lengthy news and feature articles, giving the reader access to more information that can be referred to anytime. The downside of it is the amount of time spent producing a single issue-a process that produces hundreds and thousands of copies-and how it measures against other sources. In this day and age, where everything can be accessed in one click, the speed afforded by print media is no longer up to par with the rest. This is particularly true for news-based publications, because this obstacle relegates them, by default, to last place in terms of relevance. On the other hand, if relevance is the is... A news anchor can be on air in seconds, and can announce breaking news even from remote locations via satellite right where and when it happens. Best of all, TV is visual-all the better to narrate in 30 seconds what a newspaper story will do with only words to rely on. Most people are inclined to TV than print, precisely because of this attribute. But TV can only be TV, at least for the mass market, if one has an actual TV. Compared to the print production process, the broadcasting system is far more complicated, requires more people to run it, and necessitates equipment that can never be called cheap. Plus, unlike newspapers, one can never read back what has been reported-unless a replay is run. III. Content is King, Distribution is Queen What a reader or viewer gets from both TV and print is almost identical. The reason for this lies in the preferences of its targets-the regular reader and the frequent viewer-whose loyalty the two media are always after. This resulted in the creation, development, and innovation of the material each features, known as content. News articles and breaking news. Coming from the same source, using the same methodology, but using different executions, these two form-specific materials naturally provides for the same need-that of knowing what is happening of significance at the moment. Magazines and variety shows. These two forms are actually several parts joined together to produce a printed material, or an hour-long show. They aim to cover certain interests, and, with the objective of making things fresh and upbeat, rely on the novelty of each section or segment. Dear Abby letters and drama programs. Many people are fond of emotional revelations,

Money Laundering Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Money Laundering - Term Paper Example disposition, movement, rights with respect to, or ownership of property, knowing that such property is derived from serious crime. In simpler words, Hopton (1) defines money laundering as that process in which the criminals conceal the origins of their possessions and the ownership of their proceedings of criminal activities. Their whole objective behind doing so is to maintain control over their illegal possessions (income, wealth or property) by covering them unlawfully. Hence, we can understand money laundering as a process by which dirty money is shown as clean money. The money needs not to be intangible form. Instead, modern day money laundering includes all such transactions of relationships that involve any kind of tangible or intangible wealth or possession that has been gained through criminal activities. Literature Review Alldridge (437-463) studied the imperatives that the money laundering panic of 1990s generated with the arrival of globalization. He states in his researc h that, â€Å"If there is to be an attempt legally to regulate laundering, it (laundering) must be a relatively serious offence, and consequently the anticipated harm must be something other than complicity†, which means that money laundering should be considered as a serious threat at an international level thus uniting all nations to make combined efforts to stop it. This will help homogenize the criminal justice system worldwide. Shneider and Windischbauer (387-404) have quantified and estimated the volume of money laundering activities in their research. According to them, â€Å"The overall turnover in organized crime for example had a value of 800 billion USD in 2001 and increased to 1.700 billion USD in 2007.† These statistics show how great the turnover of money laundering in the modern world is. Article no. 22 of Pursuant to the Law on prevention of money laundering (Ministry of Finance) states how the law for the prevention of money laundering is to be impleme nted. According to it, the Law on Prevention of Money Laundering is to be implemented to make sure that money laundering does not take place at all. Article 2 of the Federal Act on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in the Financial Sector, also called as Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA), defines the financial intermediaries that are at vulnerable end in money laundering business (Federal Authorities of the Swiss Confederation). These include banks, fund managers, investment companies, insurance institutions, security dealers, casinos, and persons who carry out credit transactions and provide their services for payment transactions. Stages of Money Laundering There are three stages of money laundering. Placement The first stage of the washing cycle of money laundering is placement. Being a cash-intensive business, large cash is generated from illegal activities which is then placed in the economic structure or is smuggled out of the country, so that the location of a cquisition of that cash can be covered (Levy 2-5). In this way, the authorities cannot figure out the location. The cash acquired is also converted into other forms like postal orders. Layering The first step in the layering phase is the concealment of the source of ownership of funds by way of creating such complicated layers of transactions that aim at impersonating the audit trail by providing

Comparing hiring and promotions based on Afirmative Actioin against Term Paper

Comparing hiring and promotions based on Afirmative Actioin against senority system - Term Paper Example Guadalupe Alegria was working in a poultry farm since the past twelve years and was a valued employee who was promoted to a managerial position temporarily. Although this had to last for two weeks, it stretched over a year due to which she had to put in extra hours without pay which left her few hours to spend with her friends and family. Later she discovered that she will be given a permanent position and she will also have to train a new manager because of which she is looking for another job. Another example is of Porter Douglas, who was a long term farm mechanic and he expected that he will be promoted to the position of a supervisor. However, an outsider got that job which left him disappointed because of which her job performance was affected and eventually he stopped putting up efforts in his work. (Bailey, Netting & Perlmutter, 2000). The loss of morale and the negative impact on productivity cannot be anticipated by the farmers when such organizational actions take place. Ho wever, an employee feels rejected which leads to dissatisfaction and they feel resentful because of the treatment they receive from the company and various questions come in their minds. In the case of Guadalupe Alegria, she wanted to know the reason why she was made a manager for so long and why was she told that she has been doing a good job when she wasn’t and why is she being replaced by someone else. After Porter was passed over for his promotion, he felt that his boss used an affirmative action trick when he hired a woman for the position of a supervisor. However, even the employees who are promoted and those who are hired from outside the organization come across various challenges that they need to deal with and morale is less likely to drop in cases when the employees know the reason why the management has taken a decision. In cases when the employees are not consulted, difficulties arise. For instance, if an employee is promoted and is made to work with another empl oyee, she might feel punished than being rewarded and same is the case when an employee is promoted to a more difficult job. When making promotion decisions, some companies also focus on seniority and merit considerations while some select the outside applicants for a job without discussing it with the present personnel. (Barker, 2008). Seniority vs. Merit in Promotions The length of service of an employee in a particular position marks seniority and an individual who has worked with an organization for four years is senior than an individual who has worked for two or three years. However, merit refers to worth or excellence and since it is intangible, it is difficult to measure when compared to seniority. For promotion purposes, merit is measured by looking at the relevant qualifications and the past performance of an employee. Promotion by seniority An organization that follows a seniority system, the promotions are given on the basis of the length of service. Japanese companies m ostly follow this system in which an employee joins the organization at a low level after which he is promoted to higher levels. In this system, length of service is the main criteria of moving upwards. However, it counts only within specific work groups and job classifications differ from one group to another. In a farm, all the pickers, tractor drivers and hoers fall in one group while the

Secrets of Sense and sensibility Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Secrets of Sense and sensibility - Essay Example It was essential then that the discourse of meaning in which these two characters appear though the passages within the novel be able to understand discreet measures in which women and women relationships were being censored by society. To show that Elinor and Marianne are able to use secrets as a measure of passing information and meaning to the other characters I have chosen two scenarios from the book to illustrate my point. The first scene that I would like to explore is when Marianne was having an intense relationship with Willoughby and an attachment so strong between the two of them that in the minds of the adults it was almost an assured attachment that would lead to marriage. However, in the eyes of pre-pubescent Margaret she could not understand that such daily contact between the two could excite into marriage. It was only when she witnessed that Willoughby had taken a lock of Marianne’s hair as a sign of fixed attachment did Margaret presume that the two will soon be engaged; Margaret related something to her the next day, which placed this matter in a still clearer light. Willoughby had spend the preceding evening with them, and Margaret, by being left some time in the parlour with only him and Marianne, had had opportunity for observations, which with a most important face, she communicated to her eldest sister, when they were next by themselves. The secret in question was the lock of hair obtained by Willoughby from Marianne that signifies their strong attachment from one another. However, we know this to be beside the case when Willoughby has a secret of his own to conceal that he may not marry Marianne. The eyes of a child, in this case, Margaret who’s pre-pubescent and slowly learning the art of conveying meaning without declaring it to the public world allows Marianne to be subtly disgraced without the knowledge of the public sphere thus securing

Market Structure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Market Structure - Essay Example Characteristics of Perfectly Competitive Market In a perfectly competitive market, a large number of buyers are willing to buy products and services at a certain price level and a large number of sellers are willing to sale those products and services for the specified price level. All firms are price taker in perfectly competitive market, having a relatively small market share and operating in a profit maximization motive. Profit is maximized in that point where marginal revenue meets marginal cost (Stackelberg, Bazin, Hill and Urch, 2010). There are no barriers to entry and exit for firms into the industry. All factors of production are perfectly mobile in long run perfect competition. Complete information is available to the consumers in terms of product quality, method of production, price of competitors. Purchasing behaviour of the buyers is rational as all information is available to them. Market cannot be affected by any externalities. Buyers are well aware about their market rights. Therefore, no cost of benefit can influence one party to harm the other party. Firms are engaged in producing homogeneous goods which are hardly differentiated in terms of price level and quality. Economies of scale is absent in this market structure as a result of continuance of a large number of buyers and sellers. There is no transaction cost is perfect competition. Hence no cost is involved in exchanging goods in this type of market structure. Local fish or vegetable market is a perfect example of this kind of market structure (Stackelberg, Bazin, Hill and Urch, 2010).

Comparing hiring and promotions based on Afirmative Actioin against Term Paper

Comparing hiring and promotions based on Afirmative Actioin against senority system - Term Paper Example Guadalupe Alegria was working in a poultry farm since the past twelve years and was a valued employee who was promoted to a managerial position temporarily. Although this had to last for two weeks, it stretched over a year due to which she had to put in extra hours without pay which left her few hours to spend with her friends and family. Later she discovered that she will be given a permanent position and she will also have to train a new manager because of which she is looking for another job. Another example is of Porter Douglas, who was a long term farm mechanic and he expected that he will be promoted to the position of a supervisor. However, an outsider got that job which left him disappointed because of which her job performance was affected and eventually he stopped putting up efforts in his work. (Bailey, Netting & Perlmutter, 2000). The loss of morale and the negative impact on productivity cannot be anticipated by the farmers when such organizational actions take place. Ho wever, an employee feels rejected which leads to dissatisfaction and they feel resentful because of the treatment they receive from the company and various questions come in their minds. In the case of Guadalupe Alegria, she wanted to know the reason why she was made a manager for so long and why was she told that she has been doing a good job when she wasn’t and why is she being replaced by someone else. After Porter was passed over for his promotion, he felt that his boss used an affirmative action trick when he hired a woman for the position of a supervisor. However, even the employees who are promoted and those who are hired from outside the organization come across various challenges that they need to deal with and morale is less likely to drop in cases when the employees know the reason why the management has taken a decision. In cases when the employees are not consulted, difficulties arise. For instance, if an employee is promoted and is made to work with another empl oyee, she might feel punished than being rewarded and same is the case when an employee is promoted to a more difficult job. When making promotion decisions, some companies also focus on seniority and merit considerations while some select the outside applicants for a job without discussing it with the present personnel. (Barker, 2008). Seniority vs. Merit in Promotions The length of service of an employee in a particular position marks seniority and an individual who has worked with an organization for four years is senior than an individual who has worked for two or three years. However, merit refers to worth or excellence and since it is intangible, it is difficult to measure when compared to seniority. For promotion purposes, merit is measured by looking at the relevant qualifications and the past performance of an employee. Promotion by seniority An organization that follows a seniority system, the promotions are given on the basis of the length of service. Japanese companies m ostly follow this system in which an employee joins the organization at a low level after which he is promoted to higher levels. In this system, length of service is the main criteria of moving upwards. However, it counts only within specific work groups and job classifications differ from one group to another. In a farm, all the pickers, tractor drivers and hoers fall in one group while the

Market Structure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Market Structure - Essay Example Characteristics of Perfectly Competitive Market In a perfectly competitive market, a large number of buyers are willing to buy products and services at a certain price level and a large number of sellers are willing to sale those products and services for the specified price level. All firms are price taker in perfectly competitive market, having a relatively small market share and operating in a profit maximization motive. Profit is maximized in that point where marginal revenue meets marginal cost (Stackelberg, Bazin, Hill and Urch, 2010). There are no barriers to entry and exit for firms into the industry. All factors of production are perfectly mobile in long run perfect competition. Complete information is available to the consumers in terms of product quality, method of production, price of competitors. Purchasing behaviour of the buyers is rational as all information is available to them. Market cannot be affected by any externalities. Buyers are well aware about their market rights. Therefore, no cost of benefit can influence one party to harm the other party. Firms are engaged in producing homogeneous goods which are hardly differentiated in terms of price level and quality. Economies of scale is absent in this market structure as a result of continuance of a large number of buyers and sellers. There is no transaction cost is perfect competition. Hence no cost is involved in exchanging goods in this type of market structure. Local fish or vegetable market is a perfect example of this kind of market structure (Stackelberg, Bazin, Hill and Urch, 2010).

Sludge Lab Report Essay Example for Free

Sludge Lab Report Essay For the first physical observation, I tried smelling the mixture. It smelled like permanent marker. Next I tried sticking a spoon in it and stirring the tan solid lightly. It looked like it was an extremely smooth sand. Finally, I tried drinking the liquid. Nah, I’m kidding! To start off, I will describe the liquid. I separated it simply by using the decanting technique. I carefully poured it off of the mixture of solids and into a separate plastic cup. Easy. The physical property of phase was used for separation. It was the only liquid in the mixture. Then I had to identify it. I smelled it and it had a permanent marker smell to it. That led me to believe it was an alcohol. Next, I tried measuring the density using a graduated cylinder and a balance. I measured the amount of alcohol I put in the graduated cylinder (volume) and how many grams it was on the balance (mass). The volume was 9. 2cm3, the mass was 7. 25g, and the overall density was . 79cm3. That proved my liquid was not water. Finally, I tested the boiling point to determine what type of alcohol it was. I used a ring stand, thermometer, hot plate, test tube, and a beaker full of water. I placed the beaker full of water on the hot plate. I then filled the test tube with my liquid and attached it to the ring stand. Finally, I put the thermometer in the test tube and turned the hot plate on high. The liquid really started boiling around 78 degrees (Celsius), so I concluded that my alcohol was ethyl alcohol. Next we have the blackish/brownish particle layer. To separate it, I used the magnetic retrieval technique. This tests the physical property of magnetism. I simply used a magnet to retrieve the particles and a toothbrush to remove them from the magnet into a separate paper cup. There’s only one substance that is magnetic, but I had to do two more tests. I simply checked solubility in water in alcohol. It wasn’t soluble in either. It was, obviously, iron filings. The third substance I decided to separate from the mixture was the tan sand. After the liquid was removed, the solid wasn’t as silky and it was more like normal sand. I also discovered the â€Å"rocks† were actually clumps of this substance. ANOTHER thing I discovered was white/clear grains. Yes, it was a salt! That means there’s only one way to separate this stuff: dissolve and filter. I poured water onto the rest of the mixture and stirred it up for a solid minute or so. After that, I poured the water into a funnel lined with filter paper which dripped down into another cup. This left me with only the tan sand. First I tried smelling it. It had a REALLY strong smell. Secondly, I recalled it being in the alcohol with a few particles floating around. This got me to believe it was slightly soluble in alcohol. Finally, I tried testing solubility in water. It just floated at the top without any particles floating around in the water, so it wasn’t soluble in water. Due to these factors, I determined it was sulfur. Last, but certainly not least, the white/clear grains. Before I evaporated the water, I took note that it’s soluble in water. To separate it from the water, I evaporated it off. I simply put it on a hot plate, set it on high, and poof. Only grains. By now I identified it as a salt. My next test was alcohol solubility. Turns out, it’s only slightly because the alcohol was very cloudy after the dissolving process. Lastly, I put a sample on a watch glass with some water and left it out over night to check crystal shape. In the end, the crystals were spear shaped, leading me to the conclusion that it was potassium nitrate. All in all, my sludge consisted of ethyl alcohol, iron filings, sulfur, and potassium nitrate. I think my only difficulty was that I discovered the salt fairly late in the process. Overall, I enjoyed this lab because I really felt like I was doing something a real scientist would do. Oh yeah, and I felt a feeling of loss once I had to throw my work away. Sniff.