Cross Functional Teams Purchasing and Acquisitions Management Term Paper - 1

Cross Functional Teams Purchasing and Acquisitions Management - Term Paper Example The analyst expresses that the frequency of M&A has kept on expanding altogether during the most recent decade, both locally and universally. The divisions generally influenced by M&A action have been administration and information based ventures, for example, banking, protection, pharmaceuticals, and relaxation. In spite of the fact that M &A is a well known methods for expanding or securing piece of the overall industry, the procedure doesn't generally convey what is normal regarding expanded gainfulness or economies of scale. While the thought processes in mergers can differently be portrayed as pragmatic, mental, or go getter, the goal of all related M&A is to accomplish cooperative energy, or what is regularly alluded to as the 2+2 = 5 impact. Nonetheless, the same number of associations figure out how to their cost, the simple acknowledgment of potential collaboration is no assurance that the mix will really understand that potential. The vast majority experienc e issues expressing their organization’s methodology: what the association needs to turn out to be, the means by which it might want its kin to carry on, and what it will give to which clients. Later on, actually the organization’s business and working units walk to needs unique in relation to, if not conflicting to, those inferred by its technique. Most of the individuals in an association center around everyday operational issues and their individual yearnings. Thusly, the procedure is rarely figured it out. Disappointed by the absence of forward advancement, officials dispatch new correspondence, revamping, process upgrade, or innovation activities. Everybody is accomplishing more, but then execution deteriorates or even decays. AKPMG report found that, however 82% of respondents accepted the arrangement they had executed was a triumph, 83% of similar mergers neglected to expand investor esteem. Of these exchanges, 30% created no recognizable contrast in investor es teem and 53% really diminished worth.

Agency Report on Human Services Agency Essay

I decided to compose a report about the YWCA Pierce County, situated on 405 Broadway St, Tacoma Washington. The YWCA or Young Women’s Christian Association is one of the most established and biggest women’s association in the country, serving more than 2 million ladies, and their families at in excess of 1,300 areas over the United States. The first Christian point of view is as yet solid in a large number of the national affiliations, however some have changed their concentration to be to a greater extent a social and network based program. The YWCA Pierce County is a network chief and harbinger in abusive behavior at home for longer than a century at this point. Set up in 1906, the YWCA is has consistently extended and improved a complete menu of aggressive behavior at home help arrangement, offering customers genuine instruments to actualize change in their own lives. Their statement of purpose is to change survives wellbeing, mending and strengthening. This is an as sociation that is committed to taking out bigotry and engaging ladies. The YWCA Pierce County’s vision is to make a sheltered, just and impartial network and they do this through instruction and effort by advancing harmony, equity, opportunity and pride for customers from all races and different backgrounds. Their far reaching Domestic Violence benefits that features mediation and anticipation incorporates 24 hour crisis help (intercession hotlines), free lawful administrations (with assurance orders, just as other crook and common law), movement and wellbeing arranging, child rearing plans, crisis cover, transitional lodging, case the board, remedial administrations, promotion, bolster gatherings, food, attire and diapers, transportation, teenager dating savagery counteraction, full interpretive administrations and the sky is the limit from there. There is such an extraordinary worry with the issue of aggressive behavior at home inside the network in general. The legitimate definition for abusive behavior at home as characterized by the RCW 10.99 (Revised Code of Washington) is ‘crimes carried out by one relative or family part against another.’ Here are the dreary measurements: One out of 4 ladies will encounter DV during her lifetime. Ladies experience in excess of 4 million physical ambushes and assaults on account of their accomplices, and men are survivors of about 3 million physical attacks. Ladies are bound to be slaughtered by a private accomplice than men. Ladies ages 20 to 24 are at most serious danger of turning out to be survivors of aggressive behavior at home. Consistently, 1 out of 3 ladies who is a casualty of crime is killed by her present or previous accomplice. The aggressive behavior at home related offenses rates for Pierce County and Tacoma are among the most elevated in the State. Additional disturbing is the way that the pace of DV fatalities in Pierce County far surpasses practically identical distr icts, and it is evaluated that around 10, 000 family units are influenced by abusive behavior at home at whatever year. The meaning of a DV casualty alludes to a demise that emerges from an abuser’s endeavors to attest force and command over a personal accomplice. These remember all crimes for which the casualty was a previous or current accomplice of the individual liable for the homicide(s) of individuals other than the private accomplice that happened with regards to hint individual brutality or amidst a perpetrator’s endeavor to murder a personal accomplice. The YWCA, Pierce County serves a different customer populace. In the 2012-2013 yearly report, the YWCA, Pierce County revealed working with more than 6,000 or more customers in some limit and encountering 5,473 emergency hotline calls. Suppliers revealed from these calls, there is more prominent portrayal of customers from populaces of shading with the most elevated numbers from the African American and Hispanic people group. Moreover, the YWCA states that a higher number of customers in any given DV related program (for example counteraction, cover inhabitants, and so forth.) are non-Caucasian. By and large, customers from minority bunches have restricted English capability and some are undocumented people and for a couple of projects working in the Hispanic people group, most of these customers fit these attributes. A few suppliers report a developing number in various populaces. Various suppliers express that there is an expansion in the quantity of Latina customers served, just a s people with language obstructions. There is additionally a sign of the rise of more up to date ethnic populaces, for example, Middle Eastern and East African people in the customer populace. Explicit projects will in general work with some particular sections of the populace. For instance, the Korean Women’s Association will in general work with a high extent of Asian Women, for example, Korean, Vietnamese and Cambodian customers, while associations, for example, Tacoma Community House and Centro Latino arrangement with a bigger Hispanic populace. By and large, it is accounted for that The YWCA Pierce County likewise has a level of customers from military families. The YWCA has banded together with JBLM (Joint base Lewis-McCord) to give help to address the issues for our military both on and misguided. The YWCA, Pierce County is the primary association in the district and state to likewise offer types of assistance that incorporate the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, promiscuous, transgender and eccentric/addressing) network. At the YWCA, no customer is ever dismissed. In the event that the YWCA can't furnish a customer with an assistance that might be required, the associ ation will do their absolute best to give referrals to all the more likely address the issues of the customer or person who is bringing in. The following is a table that outlines the administrations gave and the socioeconomics of customers that are served. This information is gotten from the 2012-13 Annual Report. Starting in 2010, the YWCA Pierce County offered cover that included private kitchens and bathrooms to customers and their youngsters. The asylum likewise start to acknowledge male customers in 2012.The sanctuary takes into account security, protection, poise and fundamental needs of customers for close to 90 days. During this time in cover, customers can use singular case the board, directing and training, children’s administrations, bolster gatherings and a 24 hour on location promotion. Having a safe house that tends to such exhaustive needs empower customers to fabricate an establishment for lives that are drained of viciousness. What sets the YWCA protects separated from most shared ones is that the Indi double condos give customers and their kids private regions to mend, reflect and develop. In light of their pet inviting arrangement, the YWCA puncture County is likewise one of only a handful scarcely any sanctuaries in the nation that is perceived by the American Humane Association. The 24-hour Crisis Hotline offers customers the capacity to security plan. Friends and family and companions who might be worried for DV casualties and are searching for arrangements will likewise be furnished with assets to help. Following introductory screening and desk work, the individual meets quickly with a prepared promoter, who plays out a necessities evaluation to figure out which benefits the customers require and need. Administrations are customer driven, which implies just what the individual shows that they are keen on. The most widely recognized prompt needs are (1) applying for assurance requests and (2) cover/lodging. In this way, a necessities and risk evaluation are performedâ during the time that the individual is accepting administrations. It is basic to comprehend a little about the direction of administrations that customers look for from the YWCA. Customers might be alluded from an assortment of sources (for example law implementation, companions, family, onli ne hunts, clinical workplaces, psychological wellness or substance misuse advisors, court referrals, CPS, and so forth.). The YWCA Pierce County asset focus offers network individuals drop-in, emergency mediation that depends nearby just as referral administrations. Customers who bring in or stroll in can get help with referrals to programs that are accessible at the YWCA just as other network assets. Customers who are casualties of abusive behavior at home can call the business line for nothing lawful portrayal or potentially backing. Ladies and their youngsters who are looking for wellbeing and confidence are sans given help with assurance orders, disintegration of marriage, child rearing plans, kid support, guardianship issues, parentage activity, movement and security arranging. There is additionally full interpretive administrations accessible to non-speakers of the English Language. Another striking special case about the YWCA, is other than legitimate supporters, this association has a committed staff lawyer accessible to give portrayal in common issues. The YWCA gives singular directing to both grown-up customers and their kids. This administration is additionally made accessible to shield occupant, customers taking an interest in other YWCA DV programs, just as the general network. Week after week encouraged gatherings are offered to give a methods for recuperating and treatment for customers who are needing to bargain and conquer the maltreatment and injury they have encountered. Members are taught about the elements of solid connections and how to create and remake confidence. Care groups happen simultaneously as children’s gatherings to forestall childcare issues to turn into a potential hindrance. Since moving and growing the asylum in 2010, the YWCA serves youngsters all through Pierce Country, instead of only customers from the safe house. The Children’s program outfits youngsters with devices to advance sound connections. Youngsters get food, dress, bunch treatment and are trained wellbeing arranging. They are additionally ready to take part in unique occasions andâ field trips and these strong based exercises are arranged explicitly as indicated by the diverse age gatherings. YWCA’S reason here is to help youngsters who have been exposed to brutality and injury to have the option to create sound personalities and bodies and give them a possibility at a steady youth which would progress into adulthood. At the point when customers and their youngsters get away from vicious and injurious connections, the greatest issues and entanglements confronted

Does Brain Training Really Increase IQ

Does Brain Training Really Increase IQ Theories Cognitive Psychology Print Does Brain Training Really Increase IQ? By Kendra Cherry facebook twitter Kendra Cherry, MS, is an author, educational consultant, and speaker focused on helping students learn about psychology. Learn about our editorial policy Kendra Cherry Medically reviewed by on February 10, 2020 Blend Images - Dave and Les Jacobs/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images More in Theories Cognitive Psychology Behavioral Psychology Developmental Psychology Personality Psychology Social Psychology Biological Psychology Psychosocial Psychology Brain training is big business. From online websites to video games to mobile apps, it seems like there are plenty of ways to give your brain a bit of a boost. But does all this brain training really work? Can it increase your cognitive abilities or your IQ? According to a few recent studies, while these brain training tools might help sharpen your abilities to retain information, they wont necessarily increase your intelligence or improve your ability to reason and think abstractly. The parent company of one of the most prominent brain training websites, Lumosity, was fined by the Federal Trade Commission in January 2016 for deceptive advertising. According to the FTC complaint, the company suggested its games could reduce or delay cognitive impairment such as one might find in Alzheimers patients, which is false.   So while there may be some benefits to brain training, dont expect miraculous results. Earlier studies have found no link between increased intelligence and brain training exercises.   Study Looks at the Impact of Test Prep on Intelligence Students today take a wide variety of standardized tests, from assessments throughout elementary school to evaluations required for college admission. While test prep for such assessments can increase factual knowledge, one study suggests that this prep does little to increase overall IQ. Why? While test preparation increases what psychologists refer to as crystallized intelligence, it does not increase what is known as fluid intelligence. Crystallized intelligence includes facts and information, while fluid intelligence  involves the ability to think abstractly or logically. In a study published in the journal Psychological Science, researchers looked at the IQ scores and test scores of approximately 1,400 eighth-grade students. While schoolwork helped increase the students test scores, it had no effect on measures of fluid intelligence. The authors suggest that fluid intelligence is a much better indicator of abilities such as problem-solving ability, abstract thinking skills, memory capacity, and processing speed. While the study found no indication that test preparation improved IQ, that does not mean that this preparation has no value. Research clearly shows that having high scores on standardized tests is linked to having high scores on other important tests including Advanced Placement tests, the SAT, and the ACT. Crystallized knowledge is also important for many areas of life, both in school and later on in the workforce. For example, factual knowledge is important for doing well in math classes and for later applying that knowledge in the real-world. Study Suggests Brain Training May Not Increase Intelligence In another study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, researchers found that while brain training games did increase performance on specific tasks, they didnt lead to a general improvement in overall intelligence. In the study, 60 participants were tested on their ability to withhold an action. After seeing a go signal indicating either left or right, the participants had to press a key corresponding to the correct direction. In about a quarter of the trials, however, a beep was sounded immediately after the go signal that meant that the participant was not supposed to press any key. Compared to the control group, which received no such beep, the participants in the experimental group showed increased levels of activity in brain areas associated with inhibitory actions. However, the researchers saw no corresponding activity in areas of the brain associated with working memory. According to the researchers, brain training games can result in a temporary increase in the ability to perform a specific task. However, they probably do not have much of an impact on overall intelligence. Is Brain Training Worth It? Given the results of such studies, you might be wondering if brain training has any value. After all, if it doesnt increase intelligence, then what good is it? Be aware of what you are likely to get out of using such tools. Ignore false promises that suggest your IQ will soar and instead focus on increasing your factual knowledge, challenging yourself, and having a bit of fun.

Bus 644 Operations Management Final Essay - 3189 Words

Improving Stickley Furniture BUS 644 Operations Management Abstract Stickley Furniture has a long tradition of manufacturing and selling fine furniture goods. The Consulting Firm has been charged with the responsibility of evaluating and explaining how the company operates and tracks jobs and inventory. Also, the pros and cons of how orders are processed are evaluated. Finally, suggestions are made regarding the way the company should handle forecasting, inventory, work measurement, facility layout, shipping, quality, goals, and recognition. A full change in operations could result in greater customer satisfaction, reduced electricity usage, greater customer satisfaction, faster and less costly delivery of goods sold, less†¦show more content†¦Skill of workers is generally low (page 240).† The sanders, assembly workers, as well as the oil and stain teams are perfect examples of a repetitive production processing system. There is not a lot of thought that goes into sanding off excess glue or painting on oil or stain. Lastly, the job shop method is also used by Stickley Furniture, which Stevenson (2010) said, â€Å"A job shop usually operates on a relatively small scale. It is used when a low volume of high-variety goods or services will be needed. Processing is intermittent; work includes small jobs, each with somewhat different processing requirements. High flexibility using general-purpose equipment and skilled workers are important characteristics of a job shop (page 239).† In the furniture company an example of the use of the job shop method is when pieces go to highly skilled workers who meticulously carve designs and other teams of master craftsmen who build custom cabinets. Tracking Methods During production how does the Stickley Furniture management track the status of jobs and track the location of pieces? Since mostly a continuous production method is used, except for the occasional customized order, the employees are doing approximately the same work throughout each day. As the individual pieces are made and before assembly all of the items are stamped indicating the date each piece was made and how the piece fitsShow MoreRelatedBus 644 Complete Week 6 / Final Paper and Dqs1393 Words   |  6 PagesBUS 644 Complete Week 6 / Final Paper and DQs Purchase here http://chosecourses.com/BUS%20644/bus-644-complete-week-6-final-paper-and-dqs Description BUS 644 Week 6 Final Paper Focus of the Final Paper Read the â€Å"Space Age Furniture Company† case study in Chapter 9 of your text. Answer the following questions: and include any MRP calculations. 1. What options are open to Coral to address this problem? 2. 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The Assassination Of President Ronald Reagan - 1629 Words

The attempted assassination of former President Ronald Reagan was a horrifying day for many people that were attending his speech; sadly James Brady was at the wrong place on the wrong day. Reagan was not severely injured but Brady certainly was, Brady ended up in critical condition! After recovering from the gunshot, Brady became a serious advocate for an anti-weapon organization, which is why there is currently an organization named after him. The lack of gun control is the main leading effects from gun violence, whether you are at school or sleeping at night, there is someone getting killed or hurt from some type of firearm. Guns tend to be used mainly for harming someone, whether it is self-defense or purposely. Plus gun trafficking has been increasing due to the lack of gun control. Gun violence is pretty much everywhere, and the Brady Campaign statistics show that â€Å"On average 31 Americans are murdered with guns every day and 151 are treated for a gun assault in an emergen cy room† (1). Although the statistics are made from an anti-weapons group, which might be a little bias, the statistics are still accurate enough to get the point across. The only way any of this happened was due to amount of weapons that are in America, it would be less likely for someone to cause a shooting if there were not as many weapons being produced. 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Throughout Reagans life he accomplished many great feats such as being a two-term president, film and television actor, radio announcer, and the governor of California Ronald Reagan was born in Tampico, Illinois to Jack and Nelle Reagan on February 6, 1911. Reagan’s father was a salesman

Compare and Contrast Wwi and Wii Free Essays

Compare/Contrast Essay Ever since the dawn of mankind there have been wars. WWI and WWI were two of the most lethal and devastating wars in our history. In both wars, the Allied Powers defeated Germany in hopes of terminating German expansion and dominance. We will write a custom essay sample on Compare and Contrast Wwi and Wii or any similar topic only for you Order Now Although somewhat similar, WWI and WWII were drastically different from each other. WWI was caused by an issue between countries for control of colonies, territories and resources. WWII began due to nationalistic tensions and unresolved issues from WWI. The â€Å"Great War† or the First World War launched the transformation of the world, but not until after the Second World War was anything really accomplished. WWI and WWII were similar in that they both exceedingly devastated many countries of the world. In both wars, Europe was destroyed. People were left homeless; farmland and industry were eradicated. Germany was also broken up as a result of both wars. After WWI, Germany no longer had colonies, and they lost the Alsace-Lorraine territory that formed Poland. After WWII, Germany was divided up into four zones run by the Allied Nations: Britain, The United States of America, France, and the U. S. S. R. They did this to make sure that the Nazi party would not gain control again. The total expenditure for all countries involved in both WWI and WWII was colossal. Countries like Germany, Britain, France and Russia suffered tough economic problems after both world wars. In most European countries prices increased greatly after the wars. International trade in Europe declined and therefore created an obstacle in their economic recovery. Unlike Europe, the United States was strengthened by both wars. After both WWI and WWI, peacekeeping organizations were set up in hopes of guaranteeing political independence and territorial integrity for all countries, large and small. The League of Nations, established in 1919 under the Treaty of Versailles, promoted international corporation, peace and security. The League of Nations halted all activities after failing to prevent a second world war. The United Nations, an international organization set up in 1945, was aimed at international security, social progress, economic development, human rights and world peace. Fortunately, the United Nations so far has prevented another world war, and still plays a vital role in international peace to this day. The Allied Powers won both wars and successfully hindered countries like Germany and Japan from causing anymore unnecessary devastation to the world. WWI and WWII differed in that they were initiated differently and WWII had a more profound effect on the world population, economy, and culture. WWI was caused mainly by imperialism. Increasing competition and desire for larger empires led to an increase in conflict that pushed the world into the â€Å"Great War†. WWII was virtually an extension of WWI. It was caused by unresolved issues between countries as a result of the First World War. Although both world wars were devastating, WWII was the deadliest military conflict in history. By the end of WWI, it is estimated that nearly 10 million people died. At the conclusion of WWII, the death count exceeded 78 million. Forty to Fifty civilians were killed in WWI, and almost half of them were due to war-related disease and famine. The total military deaths in WWII were as many as 25 million. WWII was a global conflict, whereas WWI was fought over approximately one hundred miles of territory. Up until WWII, Europe remained dominant politically and militarily. But after WWII, Europe was split and two new superpowers emerged: the United States and the Soviet Union. The financial cost of the two world wars differed drastically. $334 billion was spent during WWI and $4. 1 trillion spent during WWII. After WWI, few attempts were made to prevent economic distress. But after WWII the World Bank, International Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, and the Marshall Plan were created in order to counteract economic decline. While WWI and WWII have their similarities, there are so many more differences between the two. Both wars left Europe destroyed, caused widespread economic distress, and were won by the Allied Powers. On the other hand, WWII and WWII began for very different reasons, and WWII had a more substantial effect on our society in terms of peacekeeping measures, deaths, and financial cost. WWI was the beginning to the tragic Second World War which changed the course of the world in its entirety. How to cite Compare and Contrast Wwi and Wii, Essay examples

Police Discretion free essay sample

Police discretion is a very important approach in matters concerning criminal justice. There has been a consistent problem between enforcing the law and the spirit of the law. Discretion in the broader sense can be defined as the individual’s ability to make a decision basing on the principle of courses of the action. During training, police officers are given different possible scenarios that they may experience while on duty. However, the situations presented are not exact and the police come face to face with more riveting situations that demand their personal choices. The laws don’t cover all perspectives and there are always new laws being put in place allowing for the police officers to use discretion in the mean time. There are also situations in which the law is unclear and the police officer will disregard the different interpretations of the law and utilize his or her discretion in arriving at a decision (Rivera, 2006). We will write a custom essay sample on Police Discretion or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Police discretion is usually put to use when the officers are presented with many options to come up with one choice they think are necessary depending on the situation at hand. Discretion is the void in the middle of a ring consisting of policies and procedures. However, police are not always supposed to utilize discretion. In some occasions, the law and departmental policies do limit or eliminate the discretion altogether. Discretion is usually constrained by certain norms including professional, legal, social, and moral norms (Scott, 2009). The police discretion considers many factors which can be compiled into three broad categories. These are the offenders’ variables which include those aspects that are directly connected to the offender including age, race, economic status, gender, and health. Golphin 3 The police will empathize and offer pep talk to some law breakers depending on these variables. The situation variables also come into play when the police utilize discretion. These variables include the seriousness of the crime, the type of property involved in the crime, who initiated the investigations, and many others. The police also become more governmental in the presence of the witnesses, an audience, or the media. Lastly, the systems variables include aspects in the society’s systems that come into play when the police utilize discretion. Police will depict leniency when the courts and the correctional facilities become congested, and they will be tough when the city requires revenue. Communities with suitable social service resources will allow the police to use more of non-arrest options compared to those without such resources. Again, the manner in which the police perceive the distress call will determine how they will respond on arrival at the scene (l1ndsaystarr, 2006). One of the advantages of police discretion is the fact that it allows the officer to humanely treat people, giving them a second chance, and improving on the community’s perception of the police. If the police were to follow the laws strictly by the book, they will be perceived to be unfair by the society and possibly rejected (Rivera, 2006). The other benefit of police discretion is that it promotes realistic goals. In this aspect, discretion takes into consideration the fact that the police are presented with unique situations on the ground that requires personal decisions depending on the situation. Discretion is also necessary for productivity in the criminal justice system. If the police were to follow the law to the T, then the criminal justice system would be exhausted with the number of cases presented to them. In addition, discretion can also promote autonomy in the sense that the police and the community as Golphin 4 a whole are not enslaved by the written regulations. They are under particular circumstances allowed to route the way for the law. Lastly, the discretion promotes job satisfaction for the police in that they are allowed to utilize some powers which are provided for within the law. The disadvantages of police discretion mostly lie in the abuse of the  privileges they have in regard to exercising the discretion power. Discretion has been seen as inviting partiality in dealing with the citizens as well as creating an opportunity for corruption. Others have debated that during discretion, the police don’t have the slightest idea about what could be the consequences of their actions (Peak, 2009). Police discretion is a potential tool for abuse that could possibly result into potential needless death and/or injury. A police officers choice may be influenced by personal factors that may determine an irrational decision. For example; In the 2005 shooting, that occurred on 126th Street between Fifth and Lenox Avenues, the suspect, Richard Gooding, ignored officers’ orders to drop his gun and began shooting. Five officers returned fire, fatally injuring Mr. Gooding and wounding Ms. Johnson in the right elbow. Garnold M. King was shot in the lower back; he has settled his lawsuit with the city. Two officers said they did not look to see if there were bystanders on the street while they were shooting; one of those officers said he did not look to see if there were bystanders until after the shooting was over, Ms.Johnson’s lawyer, Barry A. Gutterman, told the judges — echoing those officers’ pretrial depositions. At one point in the hearing, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman questioned Susan Paulson, a senior counsel in the city’s Law Department’s appeals division. Golphin 5 â€Å"How do you know that they’re exercising their discretion correctly if they don’t look and have any idea that there are innocent bystanders? † Judge Lippman asked. He added: â€Å"They didn’t look; that’s what’s troubling me. How do we know they exercised the discretion appropriately without sorting out some of these facts? † (nytimes. com). There are possible variations in how the cops might think of a given crime. An officer’s personal attributes and cultural background may influence how they view certain crimes. Racist officers might abuse the discretion aspect and make arrests on the basis of ethnic background. The location of the crime also contributes to the police decision with crimes committed in what has been classified as hot spots likely to result in arrests. Arrests are most likely to happen in a more urban society or a racially mixed society since there is a high chance of crime based on the racial, economic differences, and social disorder (Petheram, 2009). The police officers do use their personal judgments in discretion and as we have seen, personal judgments can be affected by many contributing factors including mental health and educational level. With the police having the ability to momentarily decide on the future of an individual, there is need to test and approve their intellect. The police have a high level of authority and therefore require skills to enhance and justify their authority. The qualifications to become a police officer have been changing over the years even though they vary depending on the district and type of government. It has been established that there are changes in the amount of force and discretion used by officers depending on their levels of education. A police officer is required to make speedy and ethical decisions and with low level of education, this could be a problem

Premarital Sex Essays (3174 words) - Sexuality And Religion, Mating

Premarital Sex Premarital Sex and Religion The Catholic Church teaches that premarital sex is wrong, yet it is still widely practiced around the world. The reason marriage was created was to join two people of the opposite sex together in a holy sacrament that would make the couple one. Gods reason for marriage is quoted in the bible when he said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh . The Sacrament of marriage is one of the most sacred Sacraments in the Catholic Religion. By performing premarital sex, the couple is breaking a covenant with God and is performing a sin. Marriage is the joining of a couple in the eyes of God and in the eyes of the State. When two people are joined into marriage they become on in flesh and one spirit. Sexual intercourse within marriage is for this reason good and of great blessing both to the couple, to the family and to the church. However, outside of marriage it creates a conflict of body and soul. This conflict may not at first be evident but later it can result it real soul damage occurring between the two people involved. God tells us that we should control out bodies and our lusting, It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in a passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God1. By performing premarital sex we are abusing our bodies and our souls. The pain that premarital sex puts on us is very evident. Physically premarital sex can lead to many things, such as pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other things that accompany premarital sex. Mentally premarital sex also hurts. Our bond with God is ruined, we lose contact with God and we are no longer part of the Church. Premarital sex goes against Gods law so our relationship with God is destroyed. Penance can heal our relationship with God, but the emotional ties that go along with premarital sex can hurt a person for life. Many couples that have premarital sex often do not stay together in marriage. Many people have strong emotional hardships that they go through after having premarital sex. Premarital sex doesnt just lead to sin; it leads to a separation of God and your family and friends. Sex is the sacred sigh of the covenant with God, when a couple has sex they are sealing the covenant with God. Breaking this sign of the covenant is one of the most harmful sins that we as a people can expose ourselves to. In order for us to enter into heaven God says But among you there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity...because these are improper for God's holy people.1 Breaking the sign of the covenant with God is breaking Gods law and going against everything God wants for us. God doesnt ask much from us considering all that he has given us, he asks us only to follow his laws, in Jesus said, If you love me, you will obey what I command.1 Premarital sex goes against Gods command and ruins our relationship with him. Since the time of Christ, Christians have thought premarital sex to be a sin. Ancient Christians use to believe that marriage was a second rate choice but if one lacked self control, he had to take such a choice2 The ancient Christians were saying that if someone couldnt control themselves sexually without abstaining from sex until marriage then they were forced into marriage. Marriage was not looked upon as a good thing; so many Christians abstained from premarital sex in order not to marry. Early Christians also thought, sex was something unclean, something vile, to be avoided.2 This notion helped early Christians to abstain from premarital sex. The Churchmen of this time were very against premarital sex. The thought an early marriage were often looked upon as a sign of an evil, uncontrollable temperance2 So premarital sex was

Pakastanian Women essays

Pakastanian Women essays After viewing the film Purdha in class, I found many different types of positions, issues, and interests for three sides of the problem: the men of the rural Pakistani villages, the women of those villages, and the western worlds point of view. A position is when someone says what they want An issue is a question which defines dispute, and an interest is parties desired goals. After viewing this film, I also had a lot of anger built up inside of me to see how the women are treated over there; however, I will not be discussing my anger, but only my response to the abuse the women go through because of Pakistan peoples beliefs. The problem with this issue is that hundreds of women are killed and burned each year. This makes their children in danger by showing that this might happen to them, and its ok for this to happen. Women have absolute no rights and they are invisible to men. They must be covered head to toe when they are allowed to go out of their house. Women have fewer rights than the men in Pakistan. If a man kills a women, they dont get in trouble; however, if a women kills his husband in self defense, they are sentenced to ten years in jail or they are put on death row. The other problem is that the outer world doesnt understand that this is part of their beliefs and they think negatively upon them. The mens positions with this problem are to kill their wives, burn them, and beat them if they even think they are having outside relations with another man. Fathers positions are to kill their daughters if they dont agree with getting married with out their own will. The men of Pakistan dont want the women to have education or any freedom of their own. Their positions barley gets them in trouble. There is a slim chance in getting caught; however, if they do, they are sent to jail for a brief amount of time. The men also want to follow the teachings of the...

Security Issues in Daily Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Security Issues in Daily Life - Essay Example Airports serve as gateways for people to reach different places. Thousands of people go to the airport and work for the airport everyday that is why it is a must that airports are secured and safe. Airports are one of the places which practice heavy security inspection (FWAO, 2006). Every area of the airport has security inspections. Upon entrance, most airports will already have metal detectors and x-ray scanners for the baggage. Recent development in technology enables airport security to have a human scan similar to an x-ray baggage scan wherein all metals and explosives can be detected (TSA, 2008). Some of these scanners are the backscatter x-ray and Compton x-ray. After being thoroughly inspected, the airport passengers check-in their baggage. After checking in the baggage, passengers again undergo a more rigid inspection. Body search and metal detectors are again used (Airsafe). This is the last security inspection before leaving the airport. In the US, fingerprinting is now being practiced. They also use smartcard readers. Smartcard technology is an additional security device used in US airports to ensure all the passengers have a record in the system (FWAO, 2006). Together with the fingerprinting, they can name all the passengers and in case of attacks, they can trace the culprits using the finger prints. Aside from these security checkpoints, most airports are equipped with closed-circuit television (CCTV). These are being monitored all day round. Airport security personnel are very diverse. Some of the most common security personnel are the airport police, some local or area police, military men, police dogs and bomb specialists, and airport security. Aside from these security personnel, airports have immigration officers who check the identity of the entering passengers. All of these personnel work together ensuring the safety of the people inside the airport (Airsafe). According to TSA (2008), different

Construction Technology 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Construction Technology 2 - Essay Example Because the fire curves are modelled on the basis of design fires, the analysis becomes vulnerable to the difference between design fire parameters and the real fire situations that may occur. Furthermore, varying conditions and the global proliferation of standards for fire tests make it imperative that an approximate approach to different situations/standards, for structures (at sea and on land) be adopted. This work aims to analyse fire curves in terms of their vital components/features, simultaneously considering the critical levels at which these vital variables of the standard curves experience a change, with the associated consequences of such, regarding the effectiveness of fire curves at carrying out their function of fire resistance determination. A further look will be taken at the applicability of these curves at sea, with analysis involving a look at the means and extent to which these applications vary, in the approach associated with them. The level of fire resistance in structures (onshore) is generally assessed or analysed by the use of engineering fire design curves. Different types of fire curves and standards are adopted in various parts of the world. Different assumptions are also associated with these different curves. Technically speaking, fire curves are applied to determine the fire resistance rating of passive fire protection systems. This rating is a measure of the time over which a passive fire protection system can resist or withstand a standard fire protection test. Some of the most commonly used standard fire curves include the ISO-834 (BS 476 or DIN 4102), which are relevant to cellulosic structures. There are also the ASTM E119 and UL 1709(or Eurocode 1), applicable to hydrocarbon situations. Engineering design practice generally uses these curves in the context of design fire temperatures, which attempt to

The British Foreign Policy

The British Foreign Policy This essay aims to establish the role the Prime Minister plays in setting, shaping and implementing foreign policy in the UK by exploring decision-making patterns by former Prime Ministers in the related field, as well as current governments choices and aspirations on the international arena, and the contribution of Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and other bodies. As Paul Williams (2004: 911) noted that foreign policy is not made in a political vacuum it is paramount to take into consideration Britain`s national interest in international relations and the countrys position in the existing paradigm of world politics. First, it will define what foreign policy is and why it takes a special place in policy making. Foreign policy will be analysed against following factors: globalisation, public opinion and national interest. Also, it will summarize the key models of the Foreign Policy Analysis (Allison 1971) and question their effectiveness and drawbacks. Second, the essay will refer to case studies on the subject to bring empirical data into analysis. The case studies include the Europeanization of the foreign policy in the UK, the US-UK intervention in Iraq in terms of the ethical foreign policy. They will help to access the role played by foreign policy makers. Given the length of this essay it will not comment in detail on the influence of NGOs, British ambassadors abroad and the economy; however, they are undeniable parts of foreign policy-making process. Finally, the essay will discuss a possible course of action for the UK to take in order to achieve a successful foreign policy and bring back the power to British decision-makers. What could be done to overcome common thinking of foreign policy being about getting our way in an unhelpful world (Cradock 1997: 99-100). What foreign policy is? Definition, context, goals In the modern world it is impossible to imagine a country without a well-defined set of rules of behaviour towards its geopolitical neighbours and economic partners. The question remains, however, as to what extent foreign policy represents interests of leaders, political parties and general public of a particular country. Collective coping with the international environment is, indeed, a useful shorthand definition of foreign policy according to Christopher Hill (2003: 9) but this definition leaves infinite variants of interpretation of what collective is and who plays the leading role in doing so the Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary, a collaboration of both, official agents interpreting and implementing policies or influence of powerful countries that Britain has close relationship with? In order to understand who conducts the British foreign policy it is essential to outline the policy goals first. William Hague, the current Foreign Secretary, in his speech on the 1st of July, 2010 promises to deliver a distinctive British foreign policy that extends our global reach and influence, that is agile and energetic in a networked world, that uses diplomacy to secure our prosperity, that builds up significantly strengthened bilateral relations for Britain, that harnesses the appeal of our culture and heritage to promote our values, and that sets out to make the most of the abundant opportunities of the 21st century systematically and for the long-term. So for the first time in years in my view Britain will have a foreign policy that is clear, focused and effective. His statement highlights the fact that UK foreign policy is not pursuing one goal; on the contrary, it seeks to accomplish multiple aims: to extend Britain global influence, to secure prosperity, to promote values through culture, etc. Successfully achieving them means achieving each part separately which involves resources and actors in different areas. As a result some policies might overlap and even contradict one another (Williams 2004: 913) and it is worthwhile looking at specific parts of the policy rather than a whole. Foreign policy has been characterised by being overly secretive and elitist which makes it more complicated to trace the decision-making process. Foreign policy takes a special place in the whole policy-making field as it is closely linked with politics. It should not come as a surprise since it deals with sensitive issues like intelligence services and diplomacy, which seldom become available to general public, for obvious reasons: the information might fall into the wrong hands and undermine the objectives set by the policy. Nevertheless, it is possible to comprehend in which direction foreign policy is headed based on the past decisions made by politicians and the impact they made at the time. This direction a state chooses to follow depends greatly on the personality of a leader, current administration and economic situation a state finds itself in. Foreign policy is conducted in complex internal and international environments; it results from coalitions of active actors and grou ps situated both inside and outside state boundaries; it involves bargaining and compromise affecting the interests of both domestic and international groups (Neak cited in Carlsnaes 2008). Foreign Policy Analysis To analyse foreign policy scientifically Graham Allison (1971) in his work Essence of Decision comes up with three models of decision-making related to foreign affairs (known as Foreign Policy Analysis) trying to explain the reasons and causes behind states decisions in a crisis. The first model, Rational Actor Model (RAM), assumes that a single actor (state) makes decisions upon a calculation of possible outcomes, thus decisions are rational reactions to a particular situation. It can be said that state chooses a course of action in line with its national interest trying to avoid losses and maximize benefits. The second model, Organizational Process Behaviour (OPB), is characterised by decision made by multiple organisations that look back at previous precedent and act accordingly. Thus it tries to bring down the importance of central control in decisions. The final model, Bureaucratic Politics, is summarized by Allisons own words where you sit determines where you stand, meaning t hat governmental organizations normally have a preferred way of dealing with an international crisis. These models were used by the scholar to apply different lenses to explain the origins of the Cuban Missile Crisis and establish how and why the USA and the USSR came to the choices they made during the conflict. Allison admits that these three models are not capable of encompassing all possible variants, his study became a milestone in FPA as it attempted to present social science capable of achieving clear and objective explanations of social and political actions. Stein (2008) develops the idea of rational-decision making further: in order for a policy maker to make a rational choice, he/she needs to value how reliable the information is, and whether it comes from a trustworthy source. Moreover, any new information that might turn up has to be evaluated against diagnostic evidence that takes into consideration the consequences the policy maker is considering. Who is in charge? On paper it is the Foreign Secretary who conducts foreign policy in the UK although it hasnt always been the case. The Prime Minister retains the power to declare war and deploy military troops, making the fragile equilibrium of power shift. Tony Blair has shown that depending on who is leading the country, the style of policy-making changes dramatically. During New Labour the most important decisions on foreign policy were not taken at the FCO but in the Cabinet. His leadership earned the name interventiolalist as Britain took part in several military operations: Barras in Sierra Leone, Desert Fox in Iraq amongst others. It is the Prime Ministers decision whether to send troops into combat or not and Blair chose to consult not the cabinet as a whole but rather small ad hoc committees of advisers. Anthony Sheldon (2004: 692) named these groups denocracy as their meetings took place in Blairs office, the den. Such exclusiveness promotes confusion as a small circle of trusted ministers and advisors gives an impression that the policy as a whole is reactive rather than proactive. It is worthwhile mentioning that the UK is a parliamentary monarchy and the Queen is the official ruler in the UK. Although her power is mostly of a ceremonial nature, nevertheless, she plays an important role in representing the country at various levels: the UK, the Commonwealth and internationally. In her speech to the Parliament on the 9th of May 2012 the Queen set the following agenda: to strengthen oversight of the security and intelligence agencies, to seek approval of Parliament on the anticipated accession of Croatia to the EU, to support a secure and stable Afghanistan, to reduce the threat of nuclear proliferation in Iran and to build strategic partnerships with the emerging powers. These goals show that the Queen is far from being above politics, on the contrary, she is greatly concerned with Britains position in the fast developing world and foreign policy is one of her concerns. Factors influencing the British foreign policy: American influence The UK boasts to have a special relationship with the USA in terms of foreign policy. British foreign policy has privileged the idea of working closely with the United States, particularly in the area of international security, where the UK has provided the largest and most effective non-US contingent to three American-led conflicts in recent years twice in Iraq and once in Afghanistan (Wallace and Phillips, 2009: 267). The two countries have been allies for a long period of time and acted accordingly. Britain considers its international relations with the USA to be as important as its ties with Europe, if not more. However, in the light of Britain losing its imperial power long ago and the hegemonic rise of the US, arguably, Britain plays along with the American directives. This was the case in all interventions where the USA took part in the last 60 years except the conflict in the Falklands. It appears that Britain is torn among its own interests, the EU integration and Anglo-American ties (Atlanticism). Blair decided to strengthen the countrys position by addressing these three issues at once. The USA will benefit from a special relationship with the UK when making decisions in Europe and vice versa. This special relationship (Wallace and Philips 2009: 267-274) includes defence cooperation, military nuclear cooperation, provision of bases to the United States and intelligence relationship. But does Britain get out as much as the USA in this relationship? The answer to this question remains unclear: On issues as varied as the Kyoto Treaty, the Ottawa Treaty banning landmines, the war in Kosovo, the attack on Afghanistan, the Middle East peace process, the Iraq war and subsequent occupation, or the holding of British captives at Guantà ¡namo Bay, there has been little evidence of the UKs ability to shape US policy. Indeed, British governments, in clinging to the idea of the special relationship, have generally overlooked the fact that the US has several privileged relationships, notably with Mexico, Israel, Australia, Italy and Poland. (Wallace 2009: 65) While Brits assume that Americans hold certain sentiment towards shared past and noble goals, the USA might be pursuing its own national interest instead. Riddell (2003) argues that America is not disposed to sacrifice national interest on the altar of nostalgia or sentiment and shows scant regard for those who do. It shows that no matter who the USA considers to be its allies, it is going to pursue its own national interest and foreign policy. Tony Blair was not the first Prime Minister who chose to play a bigger role in foreign-policy making. Margaret Thatcher in her role as the Prime Minister had her own very specific view on how to conduct foreign policy. Her initiative to take part in the military conflict in the Falklands wasnt supported by the USA at first which didnt stop her. She had very distinctive views about Anglo-European relationship as well and the FCO was often excluded from the decision-making process. She blamed the FCO for being pro-European and considered creating a separate body to counteract the FCOs dominance in foreign policy-making. The UK and the EU: the FCO adapting to Europeanization While Anglo-American relations occupy an important place in Britains foreign policy there is another undeniable partner that has become more and more relevant in the recent years the European Union. British policy-makers have traditionally accorded a higher priority to transatlantic security relations than to relations with their European partners. This is despite having enjoyed arguably more success in shaping the actions of the EU than in influencing key decisions in Washington. In recent years, and on crucial issues such as defence, energy and environmental policy, Tony Blair played a crucial role in shaping the EU agenda. (Wall cited in Menon, 2010) After Britain joined the EU (EEC) in 1973 it became apparent that the country needs to integrate into the EU and to do so it had to adapt and reform its foreign policy. The FCO anticipated the changes both with suspicion and high hopes for a stronger Europe. Inevitably the line between domestic and foreign has become thinner and thinner as the EU touched upon an array of issues. Since the creation of the EU has influenced its member states so greatly it is argued that they became Europeanized. Bulmer and Burch (1998: 602) define Europeanization as the extent to which EC/EU requirements and policies have affected the determination of member states policy agendas and goals. Arguably the FCO lost part of its power to the EU in terms of policy-making towards Europe. The FCO wanted to retain its power as a sole determinant of Britains national interest. David Allen (2008: 3) points out that the FCOs position within British central government has been both enhanced and challenged by European integration. At the same time David Milliband (2009) emphasizes how important albeit difficult the integration is we can lead a strong European foreign policy or lost in hubris, nostalgia or xenophobia watch our influence in the world wane. Structurally, a Permanent Under-Secretary (PUS) remains as the top role of the FCO. PUS coordinates the FCOs work overseas and its administration. Another key role is held by Political Director, who makes sure that Britains interests are represented at European Political Cooperation (EPS), which is now effectively the top policy advisory post. Allen (2008) explains how these posts work as a tandem: The specific position of Political Director can be explained in terms of Europeanization in that the FCO willingly adapted its management structure so as to effectively participate in the EPC. This adaptation has led to spillover whereby the Political Director now plays a larger role than perhaps originally intended. However, the different roles played by the PUS and Political Director are the result of both EU membership and other factors, especially the need for improved management within the FCO. Britain remains being euro-sceptic towards further integration in the EU, it repeatedly criticises the current weakness of the economy in Europe and is not satisfied with being a member of the three major states (along with Germany and France) that have to help out weaker countries sometimes at their own expense. However, in the era of globalisation further integration is inevitable and the UK is more Europeanized than it thinks is. At a general level British foreign policy has undoubtedly been affected by a process of Europeanization, although the extent to which this has impacted upon actual policy will vary from issue to issue. In particular, British policy has been Europeanized at an ideological level, in regard to foreign policy-making, and in relation to the agenda and content of policy. However, the process of Europeanization has not entirely subsumed a distinctly British foreign policy. In this sense, successive British governments have been quite successful at using the European level of foreign policy to achieve its own objectives and simultaneously prevent unnecessary levels of integration. (Williams, 2002) Paradoxically, the EU shouldnt have foreign policy in the first place as it is not a sovereign state. Because of Maastricht Treaty 1993 the EU member states are committed to a common European and Security policy (CFSP) which enables them to pursue their own national interests but at the same time to coordinate them on the European level. This can be achieved with the help of the European Community, the CFSP and Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) which are responsible for different policy issues such as external economic relations, political and security question, international crime and terrorism respectively. Sometimes events on a global scale are capable to change foreign policy almost overnight. The 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York transformed British, European and American foreign policy and only after three days, on the 14th of September, the EU passed a declaration on European arrest warrants and measures to combat terrorism. This brings another foreign-policy dilemma the ethical dimension. As Tone Blair declared to bring human rights at the very heart of foreign-policy it remains unclear which ethics British foreign policy should pursue. The war on terror had best intentions in its core; nevertheless, Britain has to draw a line on its use of power to do so. Blair followed the doctrine of liberal interventionism, promoting liberal beliefs and sometimes imposing it on the countries with contrasting views: Afghanistan, East Timor, Iraq, Kosovo, Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo. If democracy and the rule of law are imposed in a non-negotiable way it becomes unethical as a result. Cases such as Iraq invasion in 2003 bring to attention this delicate matter in foreign policy. There was no direct threat to either US or UK sovereignty, the public polls disapproved of the intervention, yet both countries favoured the invasion. The workings of the EU institutional system mean that the coalition government may also struggle to exert the influence it desires. Britain already suffers from its exclusion from and lack of clear engagement with a key consultative forum the Eurogroup (comprising those member states that have adopted the euro). This structural weakness is only heightened by the absence of the Conservative Party from the European Peoples Party, whose members include the German Chancellor, the French President and the President of the European Commission. David Cameron will not be able to attend their pre-summit meetings, at which they coordinate negotiating positions. In other ways too, Conservative suspicions of European integration may limit the ability of the UK to achieve all that it could within the framework of the Union. What is more, to be reliable and effective foreign policy must attract domestic legitimacy, which means involving the public in the same kind of continuous dialogue as takes place over tax or transport policy. If we can accept the centrality of foreign policy in our political life without seeing it as a way of merely exporting our own superiority, we shall stand a better chance of, first, coping collectively with outsiders; second, making a contribution to a more stable and civilized international system; and third, avoiding the kind of catastrophic mistakes which cost hundreds of millions of individuals their lives in the last century, the century of progress. Public opinion and media shaping foreign policy Public opinion is another important lens of foreign-policy making. As we live in a world where communication has become instantaneous powered by digital media both politicians and policy-makers try to use it to their advantage. According to Robinson (2008) there exist two models capable of analyzing the impact of public opinion and media on a policy. The pluralist model suggests that the media and publics are independent of political influence and, as such, can act as a powerful constraint upon governments. The elite model, on the contrary, assumes that media act merely as mouthpieces for government officials, operating to mobilize publics in support of respective policies. The case of the polls on the Iraq War in the UK showed that although the majority disagreed with Tony Blairs decision to engage in the conflict, they did not stop the Prime Minister from changing his course of action. The consequences of this decision resulted in Blair not being re-elected, as the media coverage r evealed more details about the rising number of casualties in the war. Bias of the media should also be put under scrutiny the newspapers in the UK (as well as the rest of the world) often cater to different political parties promoting a certain agenda and delivering a policy chosen by that party to the public. Thus, it is extremely difficult to account for the influence of the media due to the fact that public opinion might not be partial having been shaped by the media. Foreign policy is always the product of a society, a polity, interpreting its situation and choosing who chooses is another matter to act or react in a particular, unpredetermined way. Conclusion In conclusion there is not a definite answer to who conducts the British foreign policy. Different Prime Ministers showed a ranging level of involvement into foreign policy-making process. Factors such as Europeanization, the US-UK alliance, public opinion and economic crisis make it more difficult to understand to what extent one person or several people (the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary along with advisors) can follow through with the propositions set at the beginning of a governments term. The process of foreign-policy making involves civil servants, ministers and officials of all spectrums as well as independent advisors, experts from the UK and worldwide. While most significant decisions are made by the Prime Minister, he makes his choice based on the data and evidence he has been given. Finally, it is not enough to simply formulate foreign policy, the major stages of the policy-making process fall onto the shoulders of civil servants who interprete, implement and pr esent the policy. Moreover, there are multiple foreign policies in the UK which demand different approaches. If the UK wants to remain its international power that has been in decline after the fall of the Empire and maintain the foreign policy that is coherent at all stages of the policy-making process, it needs to find balance between pursuing its national interest, skilfully presenting and implementing the policy at the domestic and the international levels and managing the members involved in the process. Britain faces not a menu of alternative routes to far-reaching international influence, but a choice between imperfect options (Cradock 1997). UK needs to go through the three-step process identified by Christopher Layne (cited in Menon, 2010) determining the countrys vital interests, identifying threats to these and deciding how best to deploy national resources in order to protect them.

Many Teenagers Run Away from Home Essay

Each year, many teenagers run away from home. Why do you think are their chief causes? There are many teenagers who run away from their home. Recently the problem of teenagers running away from home is getting more and more serious. This happens in big cities and small towns, and our country is no exception. Each year, many teenagers run away from their families. But it all depends on the person. The main reasons of teenagers’ running away are in surrounding community. The closest people in the world are our family. But if there are some problems in family, then person, especially teenager, who is formed own current psyche, escape from the hopelessness. Nowadays it is very difficult to live with the society around us. Many people try to find a benefit only for themselves, trying to deceive someone in order to satisfy their needs. They deceive each other without thinking that makes a pain and mental injury. There are several reasons why teenagers run away from home, normally these reasons are related to conditions in the families, bad influence of their friends and financial problem. The first cause of running away is conditions in the family. One of the reasons is because they come from broken homes where their parents are divorced. They do not get enough love and care from their parents. As a result, they will go and find love and care elsewhere. Some parents have the habit of quarrelling in front of their children. The children feel ashamed of their parents and cannot stand this kind of environment. In the end they run away from home. Some parents are too strict with their children. They always punished, scold and lecture their children. They also put too much pressure on their children especially in their studies. Actually they should encourage and guide them more instead of putting unrealistic goals on their lives. Most teenagers do not like to be restricted and treated like children. They want to have their own freedom. They like to be creative and learn things for themselves. To overcome the problem, parents should learn how to care and love their children. They need to be sensitive and careful not to do certain things in front of the children. For example, if they have conflicts among themselves, they need to settle it on their own first instead of arguing or quarrelling in front of their children. In many families children are afraid of talking to their parents and asking them for what they want. For this reason the misunderstandings between them grow bigger and bigger. This often ends in a big quarrel. The second reason that leads to run away teenagers from their home is bad influence of their friends. They find their own way of escape by running away from home. They tend to spend their time with their friends than staying at home. That is the beginning of the problem. If they mix with the wrong group of friends, they will get involve with all kinds of wrong activities. For example, under the influence of bad friends, teenagers who escape from home may fall under alcohol dependence. Teenagers abuse alcohol. They seem to be getting a hold of alcohol at a younger and younger age. Since alcohol is used to celebrate and have fun, teens that abuse alcohol most likely has no idea of the affect alcohol and its abuse can have on their bodies. If they find bad friends that influence of them, they begin to offer drinking and in the end teens used to drink and become an alcoholics. Then finish their life in the street. Also teens may become drug addict, which in turn lead to depression and suicide. The most common reason why teenagers use drug is to relieve stress. Many of them have to suffer stress from family condition. One of the explanations is that drugs users have a poor family life. The majority of drug users have had an unhappy childhood which includes cruel punishment and parental neglect. Many teenagers become a fraudster and a thief when the run away from home. Thus the undergrowths, which are associated with bad friends, began to becoming fraudsters or steal on the street. Eventually they are arrested for petty theft and in the future they have no chance to make something oflife, because they have a criminal past. The last cause of teenagers running away is financial problem. The most teenagers run away from their house for financial problem in the family. Mendicancy is big problem nowadays, especially in our country. A lot of people standing on the street and ask money. Most of them teenagers, I am sure that they have family and house, but anyway the escape from their home. The main reason it is financial problem. They become a thief and begin to stealing bags, wallets, mobile phones and others valuable things. If someone steals so they can survive or to help other people that are in need then in most cases it’s alright. To steal just because they didn’t want to pay for something even though they’re capable then it’s wrong. These people should be punished in order to learn that they were wrong for stealing. But these teenagers who have home and family, who must study, help parents, they should not steal. But others teenagers find not good pay jobs, such as water in cheap cafes, cleaner, job in car washing, janitor and so on. They need the money, but they have not opportunity and choice and they have to work in such jobs as these. They have not education and no one can help them with good job. Every teenager who run away from home, have made a bad decision. They got themselves under the pressures that they felt the need to escape from. Instead of facing their problem and solving it, they chose to run from it. When they have the right decision to change some of the things that may be going on in their lives, the pressure lessens, and there is no more need for them to escape. If they learn to solve their problem and their parents will help them to do so,withoutcursingandimpose theirgoals and solutions,then the escape of teenagers reducedmanytimes. In conclusion, there are so many teenagers who run away from their families. There are many reasons for it, but one solution parents must be more careful, understanding and loving. If parents will pay enough attention to their children, the children answered them reciprocate and they the same as apply to their children in the future. For teenagers is very important parents’ attention, their understanding and advice. Parents should only speak with their child and all this will not happen. I think the main problem of this issue is misunderstood of our parents, because they forget that they also be teenagers, they want fence in all things. But this lead to lies quarrels and finally escapes from home.

Shorefast Case Study B March 2013

Table of Contents Introduction†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 1 Financial Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 Strategy Diamond Model†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦7 Internal Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 8 Value Chain Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 8 VRINE Analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦12 External Analysis †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦13 Porter’s five forces†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦13 PESTEL†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦.. 14 Alternative Evaluations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦15 Fit analysis†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 18 Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 19 Re commendations†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦19Introduction Plant Nutrients Inc. (PNI) is an international company that supplied fertilizer ingredients used by its subsidiaries in 6 geographic area which are Northeastern United States, Eastern Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South America. The general manager of PNI is Brian Dunwoodie and the marketing manager is Dave Claussen. Mr. Dunwoodie and Mr. Claussen are the main decision makers within the organization. They were meeting with each other to determine the main issues of the company, which how to improve company’s performance next year (1999).They came up with three potential alternatives, which are strengthening the existing business, adding a seed business and adding precision agricultural services to better PNI’s performance next year. For choosing the best alternatives, this paper will use d ifferent frameworks and models to analyze each alternative, for example financial analysis, strategy diamond model, internal analysis (Value Chain and VRINE), external analysis (Porter’s 5 forces and PESTEL). After analyzing all these parts, the fit between internal and external environment will be analyzed as well. Financial Analysis 1. Operating income statement (Exhibit 1)As Exihit 1 in the case shows that the main product PNI had sold was Fertilizer, the total sales of PNI in 1998 is $4,621,097, which consist of the sales of Fertilizer( $3,339,097), the sales of pesticides ($1,058,000) and the sale of services ($224,000). The sales of fertilizer accounted for 72. 3% ($3,339,097/ $4,621,097) of total sales, the sales of pesticides accounted 22. 9% in the total sales, and the service only accounted for 4. 8% in the total sales, so fertilizer product generate more sales than pesticides and services and this also means the sales of pesticide and services may have huge growth potential in the future.Hence, PNI should focus more on the sales of pesticide and service in the future. In addition, the gross margin of fertilizer was 20. 07%, and the gross margin of pesticides was 18%. Among these products, fertilizer was the major contributor of PNI’s profit. In terms of the sales of each product, the analyst will use the following tables to identify what the major markets and customers of these products. 2. Fertilizer sales No. 1 The percentage of PNI’s customers accounted in the Fertilizer Market. (Formula: Number of Customers in PNI / Number of Customers in the whole market)Market AreaPNI Farm SizeSalesCustomersSalesCustomersMarket Share Small$1,128,000527$986,00040476. 7% Medium$10,635,0001578$1,259,00017110. 8% Large$3,631,00095$319,00099. 5% Total$15,394,0002200$2,564,00058426. 5% No. 2 The percentage of the fertilizer sales for the market and for PNI over the total sales by customer segment, 1998 Market AreaPNI Farm sizeSalesSales Small7. 33%38. 5% Medium69. 1%49. 1% Large23. 6%12. 44% Total100%100% Market AreaPNI Farm sizeSalesSales Small100%87. 41% Medium100%11. 84% Large100%8. 79% Total100%16. 7% No. The percentage of PNI’s fertilizer sales contribute to the market sales by customer segment, 1998 3. Pesticide Sales No. 4 The percentage of PNI’s customers accounted in the Market. Market AreaPNI Farm SizeSalesCustomersSalesCustomersMarket Share Small$797000527$35600020939. 6% Medium$63120001578$4580001066. 7% Large$3,300,00095$244,00077. 4% Total$10,409,0002200$2,564,00032214. 6% No. 5 The percentage of pesticide sales for the market and for PNI over the total sale by customer segment, 1998 Market AreaPNI Farm sizeSalesSales Small7. 66%33. 6% Medium60. 64%43. 3% Large31. %21. 2% Total100%100% No. 6 The percentage of PNI’s pesticide sales contribute to the market sales by customer segment, 1998 Market AreaPNI Farm sizeSalesSales Small100%44. 67% Medium100%7. 26% Large100%6. 79% Total100%10. 16% I nterpretation of tables 1. Table No. 1 and No. 4 For both fertilizer products and pesticide Products, PNI’s major customers are the small farm owner (Fertilizer: 76. 7%, Pesticide: 39. 6%), so the future trend for PNI is to take more medium and large farm size customers (Medium: Fertilizer: 10. 8%, Pesticide: 6. 7%; Large: Fertilizer: 9. 5%, Pesticide: 7. %). 2. Table No. 2 and No. 5 in the market area, the sales of fertilizers, the medium farm account the largest portion of sales (69. 1%). For the sales of pesticides, the medium farm still accounts the largest portion of sales (60. 64%). In the PNI’s area, both the sales of fertilizers and pesticides to the medium farm customers have the highest percentage (Fertilizer: 49. 1%, Pesticide 43. 3%); therefore, PNI should focus on the sales of fertilizer and pesticide to the medium farms’ customers because it accounts the largest part of PNI’s total sales. 3. Table No. 3 and No. The sales of PNI’s fert ilizers and pesticides to the small farms’ customers have already gained the largest sales in the whole market (Fertilizer: 87. 41%, Pesticide: 44. 67%). However, for the sales of PNI’s fertilizers and pesticides to the medium and large farms customers account a very small portion of the total sales in the whole market (Medium: Fertilizer: 11. 84%, Pesticide: 7. 26%; Large: Fertilizer: 8. 79%, Pesticide: 6. 79%). Hence, PNI should also pay more attention to increase the sales to the medium and large farms’ customers due to its huge growth potential. . According to the Exhibit 5 in the case, the large farm size prefer Materials and Regular fertilizers and it contributes almost 54. 3% of the material sales to total sales. Therefore, PNI should focus on selling Materials to large farm size customers. However, the sales percentage of the premium and regular fertilizers, which in the medium farm size contributes the most to the total sales of the market, and the sale percentages are 53. 1% and 59. 7% respectively, and the Exhibit 4 showed that the Premium fertilizers and Regular fertilizers of PNI have the highest ($89. 5) and second highest gross margin ($66. 11); hence, PNI should focus on selling premium and regular fertilizers to small and medium farm size customers. In addition, it is unnecessary for PNI to focus on the sales to dealers because PNI cannot stop the trend that the sales volume to dealers is decreasing year after year. Observation: 1. Medium and large farmers have great grow potential. 2. Small and Medium farms prefer Premium blends fertilizers, which is the most profitable fertilizer product in PNI (gross margin: $ 89. 95/ ton) Strategy Diamond ModelThe strategy diamond, which includes arenas, vehicles, differentiators, staging and pacing, and economic logic, shows how well a company do its business in a strategic level. Arenas: PNI’s current product and service lines consisted of fertilizers, pesticides, custom appli cation services and oil testing. The PNI in Lancaster is one of the subsidiaries in the 6 geographical regions, which are Northeastern United States, Eastern Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South America. In terms of distribution channel, the company outsource a trucking company to cut down on their distribution costs.Moreover, the company have modern equipment to produce products and have the best trained operators to provide services in the region. Vehicles: There is no information about vehicle in the current situation. However, if PNI select the second alternative, which is adding a seed business in the near future, the company may alliance with Larson Seed, a regional seed producer, to provide expertise and sales training for PNI sales consultants. Differentiators: PNI bundles their prices so that when a farmer buys their product the services are also included in the price.The services provided are also customizable to the farmer’s needs. They have the most q ualified operators in the region, and because of this, they are able to provide the highest quality services. They have a strong long lasting relationship with their customers as they have been in the business for 20 years. Furthermore, PNI is the only fertilizer supplier in the area with proprietary, premium fertilizers, had invested heavily over the years to develop and test their products. Each customer needs different services that depend on that customer's situation by creating value bundle.Staging and Pacing: There is urgency for PNI to do internal development because the company wanted to perform better in the next year (1999). So, the top management had come up with three alternatives to either adding new businesses or strengthening the current business. Economic logic: There is a great potential for PNI to generate more profits when the company minimize its cost. The case mentioned that PNI didn’t achieve its maximum capacity. For example, the capacity of PNI blendin g plant is 14,000 tons/ year; however, it just blended approximately 10,000 tons in 1998.By achieving the maximum capacity, the company can utilize the economies of scale to assign the fixed costs of the production into each process, so that the company can make more profit. Observations: Overall, PNI didn’t perform very well in 1998 because the operations within the organization don’t function well. The major reason of it is that the production level didn’t meet the maximum capacity, which increases the cost of each product. When costs go up, the revenue will decrease (assume the volume sold is the same).Internal Analysis-Value Chain analysis The Value Chain is a tool to analyze the internal environment of a company and determine where the business concentrates their efforts. Inbound logistics: PNI’s warehouse met the latest U. S. environment standards for fertilizer and pesticide storage; however, its storage is able to handle a substantially larger vol ume than currently required. This means the company have high variable cost per item because it didn’t fully utilize its storage. Operations: The capacity of PNI blending plant is 14,000 tons/ year; however, it just blended approximately 10,000 tons in 1998.This means PNI were not achieving the maximum capacity. The company has two types of application equipment, which are modern and in good working order. The first type is fertilizer equipment, which consist 25 bulk, full-typed spreaders. The cost of the equipment is incorporated in the price of fertilizer, so it is free for customers. However, customers just used bulk spreaders on about 80, 000 acres in 1998, which is about 32000 acres per spreaders, which is less than a spreader’s capacity of about 4000 acres. So, the company can reduce the number of spreader it gave to customers to reduce costs.Air spreader is more attractive to large and medium farmers. The capacity is 8000 acres per year under ideal condition, ho wever, only 4000 acres in 1998, which is only half of the actual capacity. Consumers can choose to pay for it by bundling price of equipment to fertilizers or separate the price for spray equipment and fertilizers. The other type of application equipment is pesticide application equipment. There are two self-propelled applicators under pesticide application equipment, which are small unit applicator and larger unit applicator.The capacity is 8,000 acres per year for smaller unit and 10,000 acres per year for larger unit. In the last two years, these two units are fully utilized, which sprays a total of 18, 000 acres of land each year. The problem is two application units were fully booked, whether lack of application capacity might be constraining pesticide sales. The soil testing lab can handle 14000 samples per year; however, it only handled 6000 samples in 1998. Outbound logistics: PNI deliver raw materials by using an excellent rail service and a local trucking firm handled all shipment to customers.Dunwoodie said that the outsourcing of PNI’s trucking had reduced costs and investments substantially. Marketing and sales: PNI is the only fertilizer supplier in the area with proprietary, premium fertilizers, had invested heavily over the years to develop and test their products, which are urea and ammonium, regular N-P-K, and premium N-P-K. The last product was a proprietary product that carried the Nutri-Plus brand, which provides significant economic benefits to farmers and the sales of it accounted for half of sales in 1988 and an increasing percent percentage of PNI's total sales over time.Most of customers didn’t ask about price, so they are less price sensitive. Dunwoodie estimated that to be about 40% of the total acres treated with chemicals sold by PNI. The market segments are depending on the size of farm, which are sorted by small, medium and large. There are up to 100 acres of crops in small farms, 100-500 acres of crops in medium f arms and over 500 acres of crops in large farms. PNI charge on the basis of the customer's ability and willingness to pay and are sharing in the benefits it create for the customers, which result in higher margin, premium products.However, PNI lost profit on the higher prices of these products due to high cost of service. The company had about $25,000 in its budget for marketing. PNI spent most of them on PNI-sponsored events where 25-50 local farmers were treated to a meal, some entertainment, and an information program. PNI also advertised in local newspaper and gave away hats, pens, and other premiums to customers and prospects. Moreover, $5000 was spent on a corporate brochure in 1998. Service: extensive agronomic services: soil analysis, crop scouting, nutrient consulting, micronutrients analysis, and pesticide and fertilizer application.Sales representative do delivery, application, consultation, consultation, and billing to customers. Also, they kept latest product knowledge and attempted to build strong personal relationships with each customer result in low customer turnover rate. Procurement: Supplied by its mother company. Technology development: PNI use modern equipment to produce products and advanced information system to provide more accurate data and feedbacks to the company. Also, if it decides to enter into the precision agricultural business, it needs to use GPS system and other AgriTechs, such as Yield Mapping and Remote Sensing Mapping.Human resources management: Brian Dunwoodie has 11 staffs reporting to him that includes sales, marketing, accounting, production, administrative functions. Staffs are flexible and empowered, so that they could do what needed to be done. Dave Claussen is responsible for developing PNI's marketing program. There are two services managers who work with sales consultant to determine the types of products and application rates for individual farmer clients. PNI is possible to use high-level technical support bec ause it use full time and better trained employees than competitors.Other company use part-time employees with little expertise with the equipment or procedures involved for applying fertilizers and pesticides. There are 4 sales consultants who is selling PNI products and services, working with existing customers, explaining soil test results, helping develop an annual fertilizer and pesticide program, providing general technical advice and attracting new customers. Average 30 days each year to sales and product training, compared to other competitors less than 15 days on training. Each consultant had a designated sales territory, which has approximately 140 customers. Observations: 1.PNI have extra capacity of warehouse and machinery. 2. Outsourcing trucking service reduce the company’s cost. 3. Staffs are well-trained and be able to provide superior services to customers. VRINE analysis VRINE is a tool to analyze the internal resources and capabilities to determine if a com pany has a competitive advantage over competitors. Value: There is no unique resource within the organization because the technology and resources the company use to produce the products is easy to access by other competitors. However, the company provide customized services and products to customers, which provide benefits to farmers.Also, PNI has the best operators within the organization to serve its customers, which helps the company to build a good relationship with customers. It also used the â€Å"win-win† philosophy and dispatched sales representatives to keep a good long-term relationship with its customers Rarity: The resources the company use are not rare, because it can be access by competitors too. Inimitability: The technology the company use to produce products is easy to imitate by competitors. Non-substitutability: The chemical fertilizer product can be substituted by Biofertilizers, which is made from microorganisms.Pesticide can be substituted if farmers bu y pest-resistant seed to remove the need to by pesticides. Exploitability: PNI didn’t manage its resources well because they have wasted a lot of resources in the process of operations. For example, the capacity of PNI blending plant is 14,000 tons/ year; however, it just blended approximately 10,000 tons in 1998. Air spreader is more attractive to large and medium farmers. The capacity is 8000 acres per year under ideal condition, however, only 4000 acres in 1998, which is only half of the actual capacity. Observation: 1.PNI has a non-sustainable competitive advantage. 2. The exploit of resource within the organization is poor. External analysis -Porter’s five forces Michael Porter's five forces model, which determined industry profitability, included degree of rivalry, threat of new entrants, supplier power, buyer power and threat of substitutes. Rivalry (High) There were five companies sell fertilizers and chemicals to farmers around Lancaster. PNI's largest competi tor is Lancaster County Co-op. It supplied both crop and livestock inputs and purchased grain through a separate division.It also offered application services-farmers were dissatisfied with the quality of these services and co-op didn't provide many value-added services, such as precision agriculture. Another competitor is Smith Farm Supply, which is an independent dealer. It only sold chemicals and fertilizers and provide custom application services using less expensive, poorly trained, part-time operators. Smith Farm Supply offered the best prices in the area. The other three competitors are Archibald Farm Supply, Henderson Farm Supply, Wilmington Crop Services; they all focus on supplying chemicals rather than fertilizer.Threat of new entrant (Low) Since the competition is so fierce, there is less chance that new entrant want to enter into the market. Supplier power (Low) PNI can directly get supplied from its mother company. Plant Nutrients International supplied fertilizer ingr edients to its subsidiaries. And their sales would not be influenced by the suppliers. Buyer power (High) The switching cost for customers is very low, so no matter which company offer good service and lower price customers could switch forth and back. Threat of Substitutes (medium-high)Fertilizer’s potential substitute: Customers may switch to biofertilizer, which is made from organism is applied either by coating seeds with the fungus, because people’s awareness of body health. Pesticide’s potential substitute: farmers may buy pest-resistant seed to remove the need to by pesticides Observation: Overall, the profitability of the market is not attractive because the competition is fierce, buyer power is high and there is some product can substitute the products the company currently sell. PESTEL AnalysisPESTEL analysis is used to analyze the external environment of a company; it stands for Political, Sociocultural, Environmental, Economic, Technological and Lega l. Political: PNI’s warehouse met the latest U. S. environment standards for fertilizer and pesticide storage. Sociocultural: Many of the small and some of the medium farms in Lancaster were owned by Amish farmers, they were hard-working farmers whose religious beliefs called stewardship of the land. Most of them are willing to adopt technology that supported stewardship of the land.Environmental: The chemical fertilizers and pesticides PNI sell have a potential to pollute land, so the company should be careful about the environmental costs regarding ecological or environmental issues. Economic: Asian financial crisis happened in 1997-1998, so it is not a timing to enter market into Asia. However, the financial crisis has limited influence to the United States’ economic environment. Technological: The company use advanced Information System to provide more accurate and detailed data on customers.Moreover, PNI is possible to use high-level technical support because it u se full time and better trained employees than competitors. Legal: Several federal regulations cover fertilizer manufacturing and transportation safety and limit their potential impact on the environment and security. Observation: Overall, there are many factors outside of the company have the power to influence a company’s decision and strategic plan. Alternatives Evaluation 1. Working the existing business harder Dunwoodie says that if they were to make no changes and just work their existing business harder they would be able to meet their objectives.They are lagging in the large farm segment and if they were to add 20 farms from that segment they would be able to meet their objectives. They could use their excess capacity to spread out their fixed costs. Advantages: a. It has a great potential to increase the number of customers from medium and large farmers. b. It can help the company to achieve its maximum capacity, which will reduce the cost of each product because it assigns the total fixed cost into more numbers of products. (Economies of Scale) c.Could meet the financial obligation within one year by attracting more medium farmers (the most profitable market segment) Disadvantages: a. It is hard to attract larger farmers because they prefer low-priced products. If PNI wants to attract larger customers, it should reduce product price, which means the profit will decrease as well. b. They should hire and train more sales consultant to meet the increasing number of customers, which increase PNI’s cost too. 2. Adding Seed Business Dunwoodie thought that adding a seed business to PNI would add value to the company.With the new genetic seed technology chemical sales would decline in the future thus creating more opportunities for seeds. Companies like Larson Seeds were already successful seed suppliers. Larson was looking for a distributer in Lancaster, but Dunwoodie was worried about the already existing competition in the seed market, the n ew staff they would need to hire, and the training for the employees and the company alike to get into this business. Advantages: a. Its new genetic technology might increase seed sales. b. It can help PNI complete the product line. Disadvantages: a. he new genetic technology can also decrease chemical sales in future, which conflict with PNI’s current product line. b. Another challenge for PNI to access to the seed business was that it needed to partner with a good seed producer, so whether PNI can cooperating with a regional producer would became an important question for Dunwoodie to consider if he wanted to enter the seed business. c. This alternative is hard to meet the company’s one year financial obligation because it is a new business to add a seed business, PNI should take times to discover the right strategy to sell seeds. . the competitive market is fierce, for example, Monsanto is a giant in the seed business. It is hard to steal market share from it. 3. Ad ding a Precision Agriculture Services If PNI was to adapt the precision agriculture they would be the first ones to market with this service, thus creating a huge competitive advantage. There would be a huge start-up cost to start such a venture, expenses like; new staff, equipment, trucks, and training. With is new technology they would be able to better serve their customers allowing them to put together superior agronomic packages.A lot of farmers were skeptical of the new technology but after reading the survey, I find that not many of the farmers are educated in the benefits of the new technology. It would be the sales force’s job to educate the customer on the benefits to be able to make the sale. Advantages: a. Many farmers were aware of precision agriculture and precision agriculture was a coming trend, so adding precision agriculture would improve the customer service and increase total sales. b. It can complete the company’s services by providing more precise and accurate method to application service. . It will be a competitive advantage for the company, because no competitor enters into this service. Disadvantages: a. High cost: it would cost $10,000 to set up one pull-type spreader and $225,000 to purchase the truck with six separate tanks. Moreover, PNI still needed people, computers, software, and monitors and so on; the investment would be extremely large. b. The survey found that many farmers had skepticism regarding the real benefits of the precision agriculture. c. It cannot meet the company’s financial obligation in one year. FIT AnalysisInternal: Internally PNI hires the best operators and most experienced sales consultants so that they are able to provide the best services and knowledgeable employees. By meet the company’s goal, which is better financial performance in the next year, PNI should hire more sales consultant to meet the increasing number of customers. Moreover, the company should try to achieve its maximum capacity in the next year, because it will significantly reduce the COGS. External: PNI has 5 competitors in Lancaster, which created a fierce competitive environment.However, PNI has its competitive advantage over other competitors, which is the customized and superior service it provided and also the relationship it built with customers are both the assets of the company Moreover, there are many factors externally have the power to influence a company’s decision and strategic plan. Observation: Overall there is a good fit between PNI’s internal and external environment. It recruited full-time and well trained staff to provide superior services to customers, which is a competitive advantage of the company.Externally, customers and even competitors perceived PNI as superior services providers with knowledgeable sales reps in the region. Conclusion In conclusion we think that PNI has the resource and capability to either entering new business or strengthening t he current business, because they haven’t achieve the maximum capacity of machinery and warehouse. Moreover, medium and large farmers have great growth potential and they prefer premium blends fertilizers, which is the most profitable fertilizer product in PNI.In addition, outsourcing trucking service reduces the company’s cost. Furthermore, PNI staffs are well-trained and be able to provide superior services to customers. PNI has a non-sustainable competitive advantage, which means its competitive advantage can be imitate by competitors. In addition, there are many factors outside of the company have the power to influence a company’s decision and strategic plan, such as government’s regulation and sociocultural factors. RecommendationAfter analyzing the organization’s internal and external environment, and all three alternatives, we recommend PNI choose the first alternative, which is working on the existing business harder. We also suggest that PNI focus on targeting medium farmer because of the following reasons: 1. PNI have a competitive advantage over their competitors because of their superior quality and customer relations. At the same time, medium farmers value good services when buying products, which is what PNI good at to do. 2.They are less price sensitive than larger customers, which can help PNI increase sales. 3. Medium farmers prefer premium blending fertilizer, which is the most profitable products in PNI. 4. There are only 6. 7% of medium farmers buy fertilizers of PNI and 10. 6% medium farmers purchase PNI pesticides. This means there is a great potential for PNI to get more customers from medium farmer segment because the customer base is big. 5. It has a greater potential than other alternatives to help PNI achieve its one year financial goal.Other two alternatives need longer term than the alternative 1 to breakeven, because PNI needs cost more money to implementing the seed business and precision busin ess. However, it costs the company less to implement the first strategy, because the company already have all capabilities and resources to implement the first alternative. However, it is not to say PNI should only target on medium customers. Instead, PNI should keep targeting small and large customers, because it is good to diversify the risk of targeting only one market segment. However, the medium farmers should be the priority of PNI.