Thursday, October 31, 2019

Critical Analysis of Turkey's Accession to the European Union Research Paper

Critical Analysis of Turkey's Accession to the European Union - Research Paper Example This essay will involve significant barriers and issues that have stood in the way of Turkey like human rights, law and other reforms they need to undertake. After this, the paper will try to predict the possibilities of EU entry for Turkey. The origins of the European Union can be traced back to the 1951 Treaty of Paris which established the European Coal and Steel Community. This came after the lack of cooperation and the alignment of old enemies in Europe had culminated in the two World Wars. The Second World War saw the utter destruction of the most civilized continent on the planet. The subsequent formation of the United Nations with the view of promoting human rights and global security formed the framework which gave the impetus for cooperation between nations in sub-regions. This paper stresses that the European Union is a supranational organization which is meant to build a common future for its member states through the coordination of policies within these nations. The European Union focuses on International Economic Integration of member states and this is done through free trade, customs unions, common markets and economic unions. The European Union is made up of people with majorities that are linguistically Indo-European and religiously Christians . Only Estonia is the nation that does not have these two features in its majority population. The enlargement of the European Union is done on a case-by-case basis. ... ean Union focuses on International Economic Integration of member states and this is done through free trade, customs unions, common markets and economic unions5. The primary goal or finalite politique of the European Union is to create a Federal Europe committed to welfare, security and prosperity to its member states and citizens6. This implies that the European Union is mainly focused on promoting important changes in the social and economic well being through the sharing of commonalities and the promotion of trade and other activities that promote wealth generation and economic growth. Culturally, the European Union is made up of people with majorities that are linguistically Indo-European and religiously Christians7. Only Estonia is the nation that does not have these two features in its majority population8. Entry to the European Union Although Turkey has strong connections to the European Union in both the historical and geographical sense, it is officially not a member of the European Union. This is because there are some important entry rules that all aspiring nations need to adhere to. Turkey's position on this subject wavers and they have to adjust to meet most of them. Traditionally, the enlargement of the European Union is done on a case-by-case basis9. This is because before a member state joins, members in good standing will need to examine their status and acceptability before granting them the right to accede into the Union. A notable case is that of the United Kingdom which had its application for membership vetoed by Charles de Gaulle's France on several occasions. However, in the case of the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs), the extension was done through a systematic approach where a group of aspiring member states were given some

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Albert Camus Essay Example for Free

Albert Camus Essay How Aschenbach and Meursault in Death in Venice and The Stranger respectively, are driven by mind initially then change to being driven by the heart as the result of a key event In both The Stranger and Death in Venice, the characters change as the book progresses. There is mainly one action that sparks this drastic change. In The Stranger, this action is the murder of Raymonds mistress brother, and in Death in Venice this critical moment occurs when Aschenbach has the sudden urge to travel. Aschenbach and Meursault are both characters that move from one extreme to the other. They begin as characters who make decisions based solely on what their mind tells them. As the novel develops, these characters move to the other extreme, which is making decisions based solely on what their heart tells them. This transition from extreme logical thinking to extreme emotional thinking is what leads to the downfall of both Aschenbach and Meursault. As the novel begins, Thomas Mann introduces Aschenbach as a fairly likable German writer. Initially the reader sees Aschenbach as a normal character anyone can relate to. He lives a very stable life, and has never traveled before. Aschenbach is a character who is extremely involved in his work and one who organizes his entire life based on how he can best achieve quality in his work. At this point in the novel Aschenbach makes all his decisions using his mind rather than his heart. While taking a stroll, Aschenbach sees a man with red hair as well as long teeth. It is this man that pushes his mind in to traveling. Aschenbach begins to change as soon as he sets his mind to travel. In his daydream regarding his adventure he envisions a landscape, a tropical swampy region under a vapor-laden sky, damp, luxuriant and uncanny; it was like the portrait of a primitive world of islands morasses and slit-laden rivers (pg 3, Mann). The symbol of Aschenbachs departure on this journey is the sign of the beginning of his decline. It is from this point on that Aschenbach transforms from being a normal man who makes logical decisions with is brain, to one that makes decisions with his heart. As Aschenbachs journey progresses, he notices many men with red hair and long white teeth like the one that inspired him to travel. This shows the constant rapid declining of Aschenbach. His first sight of Tadzio in the hotel marks the beginning of the extreme heart-driven Aschenbach. His description of Tadzio clearly portrays his obsession. With astonishment Aschenbach observed that the boy was perfectly beautiful. His face, pale and charmingly secretive with the honey-colored hair curling around it, with its straight-sloping nose, its lovely mouth and its expression of sweet and divine earnestness recalled Greek statues of the noblest period, and, along with its extremely pure perfection of form, it was of such unique personal charm that the onlooker thought he had never come across anything so felicitous either in nature or in art (pg 20, Mann). Once Aschenbach begins to follow Tadzios every step, the reader notices that Aschenbach is becoming more and more indulged in Tadzios life rather than his own. His head and his heart were drunk, and his steps followed the dictates of that dark god whose pleasure it is to trample mans reason and dignity underfoot. Even when Aschenbach learns of an epidemic, he realizes that if he dies along with Tadzio, they will be able to meet in heaven. Aschenbach loses total control of his mind and gives in to Venice, a city, half fairy tale and half tourist trap, in whose insalubrious air the arts once rankly and voluptuously blossomed, where composers have been inspired to lulling tones of somniferous eroticism. Even when given the opportunity to leave Venice and escape cholera, his love for Tadzio weighs him down. Aschenbach then has fantasies about everyone else dying, and him being left alone with Tadzio. Now it can be clearly seen that Aschenbachs passion is coming directly from the heart, and no thinking is being done on his part. This extreme obsession from Aschenbachs heart immediately leads to his downfall. He dies in his chair, and it is hours before anyone notices. Albert Camus introduces Meursault as a character people are quite taken aback by.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Luteolin and Kaempferol From Cassia Alata

Luteolin and Kaempferol From Cassia Alata LUTEOLIN AND KAEMPFEROL FROM CASSIA ALATA, ANTIMICROBIAL AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF ITS METHANOLIC EXTRACTS ANEELA WAHAB, TAHIRA, SABIRA BEGUM, ANJUM AYUB, IFFAT MAHMOOD, TALAT MAHMOOD, AQEEL AHMAD  AND NIDA FAYYAZ Abstract Cassia alata also known as candlebush is a medicinally important plant. In the present investigation we are reporting the isolation and structure elucidation of two flavonoids kaempferol (1) and luteolin (2) isolated from methanolic extract of its beans through bioassay guided fractionation. The structure of isolated compounds were characterized by spectroscopic techniques such as EIMS, 1H-NMR and 13C-NMR. In this article we are also presenting the antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activity of the methanolic extract of its leaves (CA-L), stem (CA-S) and beans (CA-BN). All the extracts showed remarkable antibacterial and weak antioxidant activity whereas moderate antifungal activity was only found in stem (CA-S) and beans (CA-BN) extracts. Introduction Cassia alata (Synonym; Senna alata) belonging to the family Leguminosae and subfamily of Fabaceae, commonly known as seven golden candlesticks, and ringworm senna (Quattrocchi U., F.L.S., 2012). This plant is native to the West Indies, tropical America, found wild almost throughout India and Pakistan (Khare C.P., 2007). C. alata with golden blooms is a summer bloomer and a striking spring that last for several weeks but prefer cooler month for flowering (Ray A.B., et al., 2010, Krishnan M. K. S., 1992). This shrub may grow up to 3 meters tall with irregular, angled, glabrous branches. Flowers have bright yellow colour. It has long, membranous, dehiscent pods with 25 or more seeds per pod (Ross I.A., 2003, Bhattacharjee S.K., 2004). Cassia alata is widely used as traditional medicine in India and Southeast Asia ( Reezal I., et al., 2002 ). This plant is reported to possess insecticidal, anti-inflammatory, hydragogue, sudorific, diuretic, pesticidal properties. Fresh leaves juice is used for ring worm, snakebite, scorpion bite, skin diseases, impetigo, syphilis sores, itching, mycosis (washerman’s itch), herpes and eczema. Roots, leaves and flowers of this plant possess many biological properties such as antibacterial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antitumor, expectorant and also useful in urinary tract problems (Quattrocchi U., F.L.S., 2012), asthma, bronchitis and constipation (Joshi S.G., 2000). The ethyl acetate extract of C. alata leaves possess hypoglycaemic activity (Ray A.B., et al, 2010). This plant also has hepatoprotective property. The main constituents of C.alata are flavonoids, alkaloids, anthraquinone derivatives, tannins, sterols and triterpenes (Neharkar V.S., Gaikward K.G., 2011). The pr esent paper describe the isolation and characterization of kaempferol (1) and luteolin (2). Herein we are also reporting the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the methanolic extract of leaves, stem and beans of this plant. All the extracts showed significant antibacterial (Table 2) and weak antioxidant activity (Table 4). Antifungal activity (Table 3) was only observed in the extract of stem and beans. Experimental Materials and Methods General: Silica gel PF254 (Merk) was used for vacuum liquid chromatography (VLC). Thin layer chromatography (TLC) was performed on pre-coated silica gel F254 (Merck). Gel permeation chromatography was performed on sephadex LH-20 (Pharmcia). The EIMS (electron impact mass spectrometery) were scanned on Jeol-JMS HX-110 mass spectrormeter. The 1H and 13C-NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) spectra were recorded on a Bruker spectrometer operating at 300 and 75 MHz respectively. The chemical shift values are reported in à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¤ (ppm) relative to SiMe4 (Tetra methyl silane) as an internal standard. The coupling constant (J) is given in Hz. Plant Material: The Cassia alata was collected from Karachi (Sindh) and identified by Mr. Ghulam Rasool. A voucher specimen (86464) has been deposited in the herbarium at Department of Botany, Faculty of Science University of Karachi, Sindh Pakistan. Extraction and Isolation: The air dried leaves (7 kg), stem (5 kg) and beans (5 kg) of Cassia alata were extracted repeatedly with methanol at room temperature. The solvent was evaporated under vacuum to give 2 kg crude extract of leaves (CA-L), 3 kg crude extract of stem (CA-S) and 750 g crude extract of beans (CA-BN). The dark greenish brown gummy crude extract of beans (CA-BN) was partitioned with ethyl acetate (EtOAc), water (discard) and n-butanol fractions. Each fraction was concentrated in vacuum to have 15 g EtOAc and 15 g n-butanol soluble fractions. The EtOAc soluble fraction was further partitioned with n-hexane to obtained n-hexane soluble fraction and n-hexane insoluble fraction. The n-hexane soluble fraction (14 g) was subjected to vacuum liquid chromatography (VLC) (n-hexane: n-hexane: EtOAc in order of increasing polarity) which furnished 22 fractions (Fr-1-Fr-22). The Fr-15 was subjected to reverse-phase column chromatography using sephadex column LH-20 (CHCl3;CHCl3:MeOH in order of increasin g polarity) which yielded 12 fractions (Fr-15-1-Fr-15-12). The Fr-15-9 was further subjected to reverse phase column chromatography using sephadex column LH-20 (n-hexane:CHCl3:MeOH in order of increasing polarity) furnished 18 fractions (Fr-15-9-1-Fr-15-9-18). The Fr-15-9-10 eluted with n-hexane:CHCl3:MeOH (0.5:3:1.5) gave yellow amorphous powder which showed single spot on TLC using CHCl3: MeOH (9.2:0.8) as a solvent system was identified as kaempferol (1) (37 mg). The Fr-15-9-9 was further subjected to reverse-phase column chromatography using sephadex column LH-20 (n-hexane:CHCl3:MeOH in order of increasing polarity) which yielded 13 fractions (Fr-15-9-9-1 to Fr-15-9-9-13). The Fr-15-9-9-3 eluted with n-hexane:CHCl3:MeOH (0.5:3:1.5) showed single spot on TLC (CHCl3:MeOH, 9.2:0.8) appeared as yellowish powder and was identified as luteolin (2) (27 mg). Biological assay: Screening of antibacterial activity: The disc diffusion method (Bauer et al, 1966) was used to determine the antibacterial activity of methanolic extracts. 100 mg/ml of stock solution was prepared by dissolving extracts in DMSO. Sterile filter discs containing 10 à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ­l of stock solution were used for screening. The Mueller Hinton agar (Oxoid) plates were seeded with 24 hours old culture grown in Mueller Hinton broth (Oxoid). The prepared discs were placed onto the surfaces at different positions and plates were incubated at 37à ¯Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ °C for 24 hours. Results were recorded by measuring the zone of inhibitions in mm. Gentamicin was used as a standard. Screening of antifungal activity: Antifungal activity was also determined by disc diffusion method (Bauer et al, 1966) as above. Briefly, a small amount of culture was transferred to 2-3 ml distilled water or normal saline in a screw capped tube with few glass beads (1 mm in diameter) and vortexes for 5-10 minutes to make a homogeneous suspension of fungal culture. Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA) plates were seeded with this suspension. Sterile filter discs containing 10 à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ­l of stock solution were placed onto the surfaces at different positions. Plates were incubated at room temperature for 1 week. Results were recorded by measuring the zone of inhibitions in mm. Gresiofulvin was used as a standard. Determination of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC): MIC of methanolic extracts were determined by the disc diffusion method ( Bauer et al, 1966). Sterile discs containing different concentrations of samples varying from 0.98 to 1000 à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ­g per disc were prepared. The MIC of those extracts showing maximum zone of inhibition against microorganism were calculated ( Table 2 ). Antioxidant activity: Antioxidant activity was determined by using the method described by Lee et al. (1998). 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) was prepared in ethanol (300  µM). 10  µL of each extract and 90 ÃŽ ¼L solution of stable radical, 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) was added in 96 well micro titer plates and incubated at 37 º C for 30 minutes. Absorbance was measured at 515 nm by using a spectrophotometer. Percent inhibition of radicals by treatment of test sample was determined by comparison with a DMSO treated control group. % Inhibition = (absorbance of the control-absorbance of the test sample) x 100 Absorbance of the control Ascorbic acid was used as standard control. The EC50 value calculated denotes the concentration (in ug/ml) of sample required to scavenge 50% of DPPH Characterization of Kaempferol (1) Yellow amorphous powder. 1H-NMR à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¤ (300 MHz, CD3OD): 8.09 (2H, d, J = 8.7 Hz, H-2’, 6’), 6.91 (2H, d, J = 8.7 Hz, H-3’, 5’), 6.43 (1H, d, J = 1.8 Hz, H-8), 6.19 (1H, d, J = 1.8 Hz, H-6). EIMS m/z: 286 [M]+. 13C-NMR (see Table 1). All data were identical with that of reported in literature (Hadizadeh F., et al, 2003, Gangwal A., et al, 2010). Characterization of Luteolin (2) Yellow amorphous powder. 1H- NMR à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¤ (300 MHz, CD3OD): 7.39 (1H, dd, J = 9.0, 1.8 Hz, H-6’) ,7.36 (1H, d, J = 1.8 Hz, H-2’), 6.88 (1H, d, J = 9.0, Hz, H-5’), 6.53 (1H, s, H-3), 6.43 (1H, d, J = 1.8 Hz, H-8), 6.19 (1H, d, J = 1.8 Hz, H-6). EIMS m/z: 286 [M]+. 13C-NMR (see Table 1). All data were identical with that of reported in literature (Saeidnia S., et al, 2009). Results and discussion: The phytochemical investigation of the methanolic extracts of Cassia alata beans resulted in the isolation of kaempferol (1) and luteolin (2). Compound (1) showed molecular ion peak at m/z 286 having molecular formula C15H10O6. Its 1H-NMR spectrum showed the characterstic peak of H-2’ and 6’ as a doublet at à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¤Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¸Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ®Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ °Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¹Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  with ortho coupling of 8.7 Hz whereas H-3’ and 5’ with similar ortho coupling appeared at à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¤Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  6.91 as a doublet.1H-NMR spectrum of 1 further displayed signals of aromatic protons as a doublet at à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¤Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  6.19 (H-6) and at à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¤Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚   6.43 (H-8) showing meta coupling of 1.8 Hz. The EIMS spectrum of compound (2) is similar to (1) having same molecular mass (m/z 286) and formula (C15H10O6). In the 1H-NMR spectrum of 2 characterstic peak of H-3 appeared at à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¤Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  6.53 as a singlet. Other important signals observed at à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¤Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  6.88 (d, J = 9.0, Hz, H-5’), à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¤Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  7.36 (d, J = 1.8 Hz, H-2’) and à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¤Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  7.39 (dd, J = 9.0, 1.8 Hz, H-6’). The aromatic protons H-6 and H-8 showed same à ¯Ã‚ Ã‚ ¤Ãƒ ¯Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  and J value as in compound 1. The 13C-NMR spectrum (Table 1) of both compounds 1 and 2 displayed signals of nine quaternary and six methine carbons . All the 13C assignments are in agreement with the reported data (Gangwal A., et al, 2010, Saeidnia S., et al, 2009). The results of antibacterial activity indicated that all the methanolic extracts of C. alata (CA-L, CA-S and CA-BN) have potential to kill various pathogenic gram+ve and gram-ve bacteria (Table 2), whereas good antifungal activity was observed in CA-S and CA-BN extracts against Fusarium specie (Table 3). All the extracts (CA-L, CA-S and CA-BN) showed less than 50% inhibition of DPPH radicals in antioxidant activity (Table 4). CONCLUSION: The known flavonoids kaemferol (1) and luteolin (2) were isolated from the methanolic extracts of C. alata beans. The structure of the isolated compounds were elucidated by various spectroscopic techniques. Pharmacological investigations have indicated that all the extracts (CA-L, CA-S and CA-BN) of this plant possess significant antimicrobial and weak antioxidant activity. References: Bauer, A.W., Kirby, W.M.M., Sherris, J.C., Turck, M. (1966). Antibiotic susceptibility testing by a standardized single disk method. American Journal of Clinical Pathology, 45, 493–496. Bhattarchrjee, S.K. and Michael,A.M. (2004). Hand Book of Medicinal Plants. Pointer Publishers Jaipur 302003 (Raj), India, pp. 77-78. Gangwal, A., Parmar, S.K., Sheth, N.R. (2010). Vol. 2(1). Triterpenoid, flavonoids and sterols from Lagenaria siceraria fruits. Scholars Research Library. pp. 307- 317. Hadizadeh, F., Noaman, K., Hossein, H., Randa, K.A. (2003). Kaempferol from Saffron Petals. Iranian Journal of Pharmaceutical Research. pp. 251-252. Joshi, S.G. (2000). Medicinal Plants. Oxford and IBH publishing Co.Pvt. Ltd, New Delhi, Calcutta, India, pp. 117. Khare, C.P. (2007). Indian Medicinal Plants.Springer.New Delhi, India, pp.126. Krishnan, M.K.S. (1992). Vol.3. The Wealth of India. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research New Delhi, India, pp. 328. Lee, S. K., Zakaria, H., Chuyng, H. L., Kuyengl, L.,Games, E. J. C., Mehta, R. J., Kinghorn, D., and Pezzuto, J. M. (1998). Evaluation of the antioxidant potential of natural products.Combinatorial Chemistry and High Throughput Screening.1: 35-4 Neharkar, V.S., Gaikwad, K.G. (2011). Vol. 2(1). Hepatoprotective activity of Cassia alata (Linn.) leaves against Paracetamol-induced hepatic injury in rats. Research Journal of Pharmaceutical, Biological and Chemical Sciences: pp. 783-788. Quattrocchi, U., F.L.S. (2012). Vol.5 R-Z: CRC World Dictionary of Medicinal and Poisonous Plants. CRC Press Taylor Francis Group Boca Raton New York, USA, pp. 236-237. Ray, A.B., Chansouria, J.P.N. and Hemalatha, S. (2010). Medicinal Plants: antidiabetic and Hypoglycaemic Activities. ibdc Publishers Lucknow, India, pp. 95. Ross, I.A. (2003). vol.1. Medicinal Plants of the World. Humana Press, Totowa, New Jersey, pp. 165-166. Reezal, I., Somchit, M. N. and Abdul Rahim, M. (2002). Vol.1. In vitro Antifungal Properties of Cassia alata (GELNGGANG BESAR). Proceedings of the Regional Symposium on Environment and Natural Resources. pp. 654-659. Saeidnia, S., Yassa, N., Rezaeipoor ,R., Shafiee, A., Gohari, A. R., Kamalinejad, M., Gooderzy, S. (2009). Vol. 17(1). Immunosuppressive principles from Achillea talagonica, an endemic species of Iran. Journals.tums.ac.ir: pp. 37-41. Table 1. C13-NMR spectral data of kaempferol (1) and luteolin (2) in CD3OD (ppm) at 75 MHz Table 2. Antibacterial activity of different extracts of Cassia alata (zone of inhibition in mm) CA-L= Cassia alata Leaves, CA-S = Cassia alata Stem, CA-BN = Cassia alata Beans. Table 3. In Vitro Antifungal activity (zone of inhibition in mm) Table 4. Antioxidant activity of Methanolic extracts of C.alata

Friday, October 25, 2019

Antisocial Personality Disorder: A Sociopaths Brain Essay -- Diseas

A good looking man in an expensive suite walks past a woman on the subway whistling a catchy tune. Many thoughts begin to run through her head, â€Å"He’s an important business man on his way to his next meeting.† Or â€Å"He’s a father on the way home from work.† As he stops she watches him read a news paper thinking how attractive and self composed he is. In the back of her head she’s wishing that he would speak to her. As she sits and hopes it seems that her wish is going to be answered. The young, attractive gentleman gets up and strides over taking the seat next to her. He introduces himself as Mr. Cromer and engages her in a charming conversation, sweeping her off her feet. In her head everything is going great, she has met the perfect man, all the while she hasn’t noticed that he has lead her to the door of a warehouse. By the time she realizes where she is it is too late, he has her now. As she begins to scream he shoves her in the bu ilding ending all hope. Mr. Cromer actually suffers from a severe case of antisocial personality disorder and has developed a bad habit of abducting, raping and killing women followed by an ostentatious dinner often buying dinks and food for others in the restaurant or bar to which he leaves without every paying. Those who suffer from personality disorders will not necessarily all become killers or rapists but most do participate in illegal activity of some sort. Antisocial personality disorder, also known as sociopathy or psychopathy, is often described as the person lacking any and all morals; they have no conscience. Often these individuals have difficulty or inability to feel empathy for others and as a result they do as they please, not conforming to social norms like the majority of the population... ...ey still commit count less crimes against society and fail to conform to any societal norms. Many perspectives have been trying to better explain what causes this disorder but the close we have gotten is correlation. Like with any disease there are multiple contributing factors so researchers need to take and eclectic approach and hopefully one day we will find a simple answer for this complex disorder that will lead to an effective treatment. Works Cited Haglin, R. P. & Whitbourne, S. K. (2010). Abnormal psychology: clinical perspectives on psychological disorders. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Moran, P. (1999). The epidemiology of antisocial personality disorder. Institute of Psychiatry, (34), 231-242. Ogloff, J. R. (2006). Psychopathy/antisocial personality disorder conundrum. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, (40), 519-528.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Challenges faced by Uk economy

Erosion's growth forecast at 0. 8%, next year 1. 3% Global growth expected at 3. 3%, next year 3. 8%, both still termed too optimistic by MIFF, despite revising it the 2nd time this year Auk's expected growth rate 2. -3. 1%, revised from 3. 8%. 2013-14 growth was 1. 7exports. 6% growth, revision from 2. 2%. All above fgfiguresre for 2014-15 fiscal The dilemma Economy growing despite loans reducing. Shows bad state of manufacturing sector, not good in long run Key interest rates can't be increased as unemployment still hihighlandacan'te reduced as it will increase inflation Real Growth The nominal figures may fool many, so we show the growth in Real GDGAPince the start of 2013, the I-JKJconomy has experienced positive economic growth – one of the elelatedlyest performances in Europe.However, Real GDGAPs still fractionally below its pre-crisis peak of 2007. The recovery has been stronger in the service sector than manufacturing and industrial output. There are fears the I-JKJec overy is still unbalanced – relying on government spending, service sector and ultra-loose monetary policy. 0AAndhat it might worsen once the key interest rates are increased Real GDGAPs not yet back to the pre-crisis level. The fgfigureshown by us are as per the data currently available in the public domain.And so, it is worth bearing in mind that sometimes economic growth statistics get evbeviest a later stage. 0 Factors affecting growth Self-explanatory Challenges Unemployment Define and introduce the problem on your own. Explain the diagram Reasons Recession – causing cyclical, demand deficient unemployment. With falling real GDGAPfirms are producing less and therefore, there is less demand for workers. Also in a recession, some firms go out of business causing people to lose their Jobs. Structural factors. There is structural unemployment due to the fast changing nature of the economy.For example, manufacturing Jobs have been lost due to the economy becoming more service sector based. Some unemployed workers have found it difficult to get Jobs in new high tech industries because they lack the relevant skills. Problems Increases relative poverty in the UK. (Unemployment benefits are substantially lower than average wages). Unemployment is particularly stressful, causing alienation and reduced living standards. Budgetary cost. Persistently high unemployment adds to the budget deficit. The government have to spend more on benefits, and they receive lower taxes.If unemployment falls, it will be much easier to tackle the budget deficit. In August 2014, Public sector net debt (PSSANDx) was El ,432. biBillion77. 4% of GDGAPIn the short term, government debt is less pressing than the government have claimed. Since 2010, they have given indication that reducing debt levels are the most pressing economic problem. Because of debt, the government have pursued austerity leading to lower growth. I feel the government unnecessarily panicked over debt. Neve rtheless, long term spending commitments and long-term debt forecasts are a problem.With an ageing population and perhaps lower growth rates, it could be difficult to finance long-term spending commitments from current tax levels. Debt is a long-term problem rather than short-term. Reasons 2008-13 recession (lower tax receipts, higher spending on unemployment benefits). The recession particularly hit stamp duty (falling house prices) income tax and lower corporation tax. Financial bailout of Northern Rock, RBORBSLlLloydnd other banks. Interest Payments. The cost of paying interest on the government's debt is very high.In 2011 Debt interest payments were E4EYEillion a year (esest.3% of GDGAP Public sector debt interest payments will be the 4th highest department after social security, health and education. Debt interest payments could rise close to E7Beeniven the forecast rise in national debt. Higher Taxes / lower spending in the future. Crowding out of private sector investment / s pending. The structural deficit will only get worse as an ageing population places greater strain on the UKAuk'sension liabilities. (demographic time bomb) Potential negative impact on exchange rate.Potential of rising interest rates as markets become more reluctant to lend to the I-JKJovernment. Inflation CPICPnflation rate: 1. 5% (expected) Inflation is currently a relatively minor problem because it has fallen to be within the ovoverpayment'sarget. However, with rising energy prices, it could resume its upward trend in the coming months. This cost-push inflation is a problem because with low nominal wage growth, many could see a fall in living standards (causing an increase in fuel poverty). Also, savers may be adversely affected because interest rates are low.Reasons Rising energy prices Low real wages Fall in living standards Increased poverty Current Account Deficit The deterioration in the UK current account is a cause for some concern because it is occurring in a recession. Usually a recession leads to lower imports and an mpimprovementn the current account. This deterioration in the current account suggests the I-JKJould have declining international competitiveness, though it may also be a temporary situation related to EuRezonerisis. Reasons Overvalued exchange rates. Countries in the EuRezonehich became uncompetitive (e. . Greece, Portugal and Spain) experienced large current account deficits. This is imports are cheaper. This encourages domestic consumers to buy imports. It also makes it hard for exporters because they are relatively uncompetitive. High Consumer Spending. If there is rapid growth in consumer spending, then there tends to be an increase in imports causing a deterioration in the current account. For example, in the 19sassoom, we saw a fall in the savings rate and a rise in I-JKJonsumer spending; this caused a record current account deficit.The recession of 1991 caused an improvement in the current account as import spending fell. Unb alanced Economy. An economy focused on consumer spending rather than investment and exports will tend to have a bigger current account deficit. Competitiveness. Related to the exchange rate is the general competitiveness of irrimsIf there is a decline in relative competitiveness, e. g.GriRisingage costs, industrial unrest, poor quality goods – then it is harder to export causing a deterioration in the current account.Recommended Solutions Reduce consumer spending – through tight fiscal and tight monetary policy. E. g.GhiHigherncome tax will reduce disposable income and therefore reduce spending on imports (however, it will also lead to lower economic growth) Supply side policies to improve competitiveness Devaluation of the exchange rate. This makes exports cheaper and imports more expensive Poor lalaborroductivity LaLaborroductivity measures the output per worker in a period of time. LaLaborroductivity is an important factor in determining the productive potential of the economy.Reasons LaLaboroarding. (When firms hold onto workers). Unemployment has risen by a smaller amount in the '08-'12 recession – compared to previous recessions in 1981 and 1991, and now unemployment has fallen to 6. 2% . This could support the theory that firms are preferring to hang onto workers, despite lower demand. Firms may feel this prevents having to rehire and retrain workers after the recession ends. Though he length of this current recession makes this surprising, and it's uncertain why it's happening in 2008-12 more than previous recessions. Low levels of investment.The credit crunch has held back investment because firms struggle to gain finance or don't have the confidence to invest in new capital. This could hold back lalaborroductivity growth. Falling real wages. During the recession, the I-JKJas seen falls in real wage growth. If real wages are lower, firms may be more willing to employ lalaborather than capital. In other words low wage growth means lalabors relatively more attractive than usual. Therefore with lower lalaborosts, firms are willing to employ more workers and lalaborntensive production methods.Lower output Lower wages – With falling productivity, firms cannot afford wage increases. This is leading to depressed income tax receipts for the government. Lack of Infrastructure Investment The recession has seen a fall in public sector investment. This threatens long-term there are also concerns over other supply side problems, such as inflexible lalaborarkets and lack of vocational skills. External Factors Many of the I-JKJroblems are due to domestic factors: low spending, low investment, egactiveutput gap. However, because the I-JKJelies on trade with other countries, especially Europe, external factors are a potential problem.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

What to do in the Next Four years essays

What to do in the Next Four years essays With President George W. Bush preparing for his second term, there are many decisions that need to be made. Some of these decisions include: what to do with the war on terror, how to handle same-sex marriages, and whether or not abortion is right. What the President does in these next four years will determine how our country acts in the future. Although the President has been under constant pressure from the media and top government officials, he has promised that as long as he is president he will continue to fight the war on terror. Many people have criticized his decisions involving the wars going on in Afghanistan and Iraq saying that the President is going after the rich oil industry in these countries. The President totally denies these accusations and insists that we are not fighting these countries, but rather the terrorists groups within them. Another fiery subject is the battle surrounding same-sex marriages. In all but a few of the fifty states gay and lesbian marriages are not recognized as legal. The amount of legally married homosexuals is small compared to the amount of couples that have tried to get married. The reason so many of these confused people are having a hard time is because President Bush has passed the Sanctity of Marriage law, making it illegal for two people of the same sex to get married. Although there are many people who oppose this law, there is also a large number of people who applaud the President for this bold act. Abortion is another one of these topics of debate. This may be the hardest situation for the President to deal with. Even though most Christians believe strongly that abortion is wrong, the millions of people that do not believe in Jesus and the Bible will be hard to convince of the injustice done to unborn babies. The many pro choice people of this country feel that it really doesnt matter that they kill unborn babies because in their e ...

Monday, October 21, 2019

A Guide to Abbreviations

A Guide to Abbreviations A Guide to Abbreviations A Guide to Abbreviations By Mark Nichol Abbreviations are a sometimes necessary evil, but with the power to employ them comes great responsibility. This post outlines types of abbreviations and associated guidelines. An abbreviation is a shortening of a word or phrase, either by truncation or by abridgement by way of using only the first letter of each word of the term in turn (though sometimes more than the first letter is included, and occasionally, in the interest of creating an easily pronounceable abbreviation, one or more words are not represented). In the case of truncation, a word is whittled down to the first letter or first several letters, or the first and last letters (and sometimes others). Thus, L or R might be used in place of left or right as a directional indicating positioning of people, place, or things in a caption for a photograph or other figure. Job titles are often abbreviated to the first few letters of a word as in military ranks (major and gen. for major and general) and political offices (sen. and rep. for senator and representative). Exceptions in the former category include sgt. for sergeant and capt. for captain. In American English, abbreviations for social titles usually reduce a word to its first and last letters, followed by a period, as in the case of Mr. and Dr., and common abbreviations follow this form (as in the case of hr. for hour, though the abbreviations for second and minute are the truncations sec. and min.). Two other types of abbreviation are the acronym and the initialism. In both categories, a string of words is reduced to (usually) the first letter of each word; the distinction is that an acronym, as the element -onym (Greek for â€Å"name† or â€Å"word†) indicates, is pronounced as a word, as in the case of NASA, whereas an initialism, as the name suggests, is sounded out letter by letter, as in FBI. Most people are not aware of (or do not give any thought to) the distinction, but it is important in this sense. Because acronyms are treated as words, they are not preceded by an article (one writes â€Å"NASA was established in 1958,† not â€Å"The NASA was established in 1958†); by contrast, an article precedes an initialism (as in â€Å"The FBI launched the investigation in January,† not â€Å"FBI launched the investigation in January†). Exceptions occur when an acronym is used adjectivally (â€Å"The NASA project is underway†) and in periodical headlines (â€Å"FBI Launches Investigation†). In American English, acronyms and initialisms are often distinguished by styling the former in small caps and the latter in full-size capital letters, though abbreviations of more than four letters are often, after long usage as capitalized terms, treated as regular words, as in the case of Nasdaq, a proper noun (an abbreviation of â€Å"National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations†) and radar (from â€Å"radio detection and ranging†). Unfamiliar acronyms and initialisms are usually introduced to readers in parentheses immediately after the first reference to the entity by its full name, after which the abbreviation alone is sufficient (or the abbreviation is simply used after the first reference without the parenthetical signal, as long as the next reference appears soon after the first one), but common abbreviations need no such introduction. However, whether an abbreviation is considered transparent or otherwise is up to a specific publication or publisher to decide, based on its readership’s familiarity with the term. (Companies should keep a record of such usage in a house style guide; see also this post.) Another consideration, though, is to avoid cluttering a piece of writing with numerous abbreviations, which smacks of jargon. If a term is used only occasionally, it may be better to spell it out in each case. Another strategy to avoid frequent repetition of acronyms or initialisms is to sometimes replace the term with a generic reference such as â€Å"the agency,† â€Å"the law,† â€Å"the program,† and so on. Writers should avoid redundancy in using acronyms and initialisms, where widespread usage obscures the wording of the phrase from which the abbreviation is formed, so that reference is too often made to, for example, ATM machines (the M stands for machine) and PIN numbers (number is represented by the N). â€Æ' A variation of use of acronyms is syllabic abbreviation, in which terms consist of parts of, or one or more syllables of, one or more words; examples include Interpol (â€Å"international police†) and nicknames for urban areas such as SoHo (denoting â€Å"south of Houston Street†) in New York City. In general, lowercase abbreviations include periods (as in the case of i.e., a.m., and m.p.h.), and uppercase abbreviations omit them (as with MD, US, and ABC). However, specialized publications, especially those pertaining to science and technology, often do not use periods in either case, and note that shorthand for metric terms is considered a system of symbols rather than abbreviations, so periods are never used with cm (centimeter) or kg (kilogram), for example. Certain treatments of initials in names are treated differently in some publications: According to The Chicago Manual of Style, the style guide of record for most book publishers and many publications, a letter space should separate two or more initials in a name, as in A. B. See. However, the Associated Press Style Book avoids spaces when possible, including in names. Initials used in lieu of an entire name, such as those for famous politicians and other public figures, are universally formatted without spaces or periods, as in JFK and MLK. Most publications and publishers do not use apostrophes when pluralizing an abbreviation, as in PCs and URLs. For some specialized terms, such as abbreviated terms for units of measure, no plural is indicated in the abbreviation (so, for example, lb. applies to one or more pounds); another exception is abbreviations in baseball: â€Å"Runs batted in,† for example, is abbreviated as RBI. Use of informal abbreviation (lulz and the like) has proliferated since the advent of online social media, but this trend has not been accepted into formal usage and should be avoided except in casual writing and in communication among family and friends. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Synonyms for â€Å"Leader†44 Resume Writing TipsFew vs. Several

Sunday, October 20, 2019

Definition and Examples of Interrogative Pronouns

Definition and Examples of Interrogative Pronouns In traditional English grammar, the term interrogative pronoun refers to a pronoun that introduces a question. These words are also called a pronominal interrogative. Related terms include interrogative,  wh-word, and  question word, although these terms are usually not defined in precisely the same way. In English,  who, whom, whose, which, and what commonly function as interrogative pronouns. When immediately followed by a noun, whose, which, and what function as determiners  or interrogative adjectives. When they start a question, interrogative pronouns  have no antecedent, because  what they refer to is precisely what the question is trying to find out. Examples Interrogative pronouns are all around us, whether you knew the name of them or not as you speak and read. Here are a a few examples from literature and other sources: Even if you do learn to speak correct English, whom are you going to speak it to?(attributed to Clarence Darrow)When a man tells you that he got rich through hard work, ask him: Whose?(Don Marquis)â€Å"I have water and Diet Coke. That was the only soft drink I allowed Howie to have. Which do you prefer?(Stephen King, Under the Dome. Scribner, 2009)What did you see down there in the kitchen? Caddy whispered. What tried to get in?(William Faulkner, That Evening Sun Go Down. The American Mercury, 1931)I got a belt on thats holding up my pants, and the pants have belt loops that hold up the belt. What is going on here? Who is the real hero?(Comedian Mitch Hedberg) Semantic Contrasts: What Versus Which Whether you use what or which in a question depends on the context of the question, whether there are specific items to choose from (which), or whether the question is completely open-ended (what). Of course, casual conversation brings exceptions. These pronouns express two semantic contrasts: (1) a gender contrast of personal (the  who  series) and nonpersonal (what, which):Who is in the woodshed? What is in the woodshed?(2) a contrast of definiteness: indefinite  what  contrasts with definite  which- the latter always implying a choice made from a limited number of alternatives:What was the winning number? [you must recall what it was]Which was the winning number? [you have a list of choices] Note also the use of what to ask about a role or status:What is her father? [a politician]Which is her father? [in the photograph](David Crystal, Making Sense of Grammar. Longman, 2004)What is used when specific information is requested from a general or open-ended possible range. Which is used when specific information is requested from a restricted range of possibilities: A. Ive got your address. Whats your phone number?B. Oh its 267358.(an open-ended range of possible information)[looking at a pile of coats]A. Which is your coat?B. That black one. However, where the number of options is shared knowledge among speakers and listeners, what noun is often used in informal contexts. Here, what is an interrogative pronoun used as a determiner: [talking about a shop]What side of the street is it on, left or right?(or: Which side of the street is it on?)A: Did you see that documentary about the SARS virus last night?B; No, what channel was it on?(or: Which channel was it on?) (R. Carter and M. McCarthy, Cambridge Grammar of English: A Comprehensive Guide. Cambridge University Press, 2006)

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Why I find the Lemon Law interesting and what the Lemon Law Is about Research Paper

Why I find the Lemon Law interesting and what the Lemon Law Is about - Research Paper Example This was the first ever consumer protection law filed in the U.S. (Paterson The History of the Lemon Law). The creation of the Federal Trade Commission in 1914 provided consumers with further protection from deceitful business practises and brought in regulations to prevent collusion in the marketplace. In the 1930s, a flurry of government activity at all levels during President Franklin Roosevelts New Deal era saw the creation of a number of regulatory bodies to protect consumers. The Lemon Law also saw its first incarnation in 1906 under the guise of the Uniform Sales Act. Cowan (The History of Lemon Laws) explains that before 1952s Uniform Commercial Code, commerce laws were not really united under one law. In fact, it was not until 1970 when the Song- Beverly Consumer Warranty Act was created. This was the basis for our modern lemon laws. Under this particular act consumers would be protected against defective products. The Federal version of the Lemon Law which is known as the Magnuson-Moss Act was finally passed in 1975 and this act became the basis of our modern Lemon Laws. (Cowan The History of Lemon Laws). Under the Magnuson-Moss Act the buyer is protected when purchasing a vehicle because: This lemon law states that any advertised guarantee should explicitly state relevant information about a warranty. This law ensures that any warranty for goods above $15 should be clearly expressed on the goods and should be clear and easy to understand. The Magnuson-Moss Warranty act enables a consumer to bring suit to any manufacturer, supplier, warrantor, or service contractor for any defective piece of good or services. (StateLawyers.com) The term Lemon Law was originally coined by the government in an effort to describe the laws that the government had set into place in order to protect automobile (thats a car to you and me) buyers from defects. The basic definition of the law basically states that: Lemon Law refers to the

Friday, October 18, 2019

DISCUSSION QUESTION RESPONSE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 36

DISCUSSION QUESTION RESPONSE - Essay Example I think the use of hand gestures is also very true for communication with a peer. Do you think that slang or jargon might also be an appropriate in this type of scenario too? I think because of the informality of this type of communication, these elements would be all right to use. I think the easiest type of person to communicate with in a persuasive manner would be an open-minded person. This type of person will be willing to listen to what you have to say no matter what approach you might use. At the same time, however, I think this type of freedom can be a bit overwhelming. I also like what you said about body language and non verbal communication being an important component of persuading a challenging person. If this person sees you with a confrontational stance or attitude, they are likely to also remain confrontational or challenging. Therefore, I think a person would have to be hyper aware of everything that they are doing when communicating with this type of person. Good

Proposal report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Proposal report - Assignment Example In the modern society where internet has revolutionized the way of conducting communication among individuals, groups and departmental units, web based internal administration system bears a special relevance. This system allows managers to manage projects effectively, thereby ensuring that operational efficiency is achieved with minimal errors. Thus, this research proposal is about one such web based internal administration system and its associated characteristics, which will enable the manager of a construction company to conduct all its business processes very effectively. The construction industry throughout the world is splintered due to involvement of many stakeholders and phases in a construction project (Yi and Hwang, 2003). As a result of this fragmentation, construction companies have faced number of well documented problems with information processing and communication (Maurer, et al., 2000; Thorpe and Mead, 2001). In addition to that, fragmentation has also been largely responsible for creation of adversarial relationships between parties involved in a particular project (Alshawi and Ingirige, 2003). This fragmentation has been widely believed as the cause of low productivity in construction companies (Dossick and Sakagami, 2008). With the advent of information technology, modern and innovative information technology tools are being increasingly used by construction companies in order to minimize certain problems associated with fragmentation (Lee and Yu, 2012). The utilization of information technology in the form of web based project management applications has resulted in improvement of collaboration and coordination between companies participating actively in a construction project (Han, et al., 2008). Consequently, the communication practices between functional units in the construction organization are

Human Performance in Running a Multi-Division Form Company Essay

Human Performance in Running a Multi-Division Form Company - Essay Example These semi-autonomous units are guided and controlled by various financial and performance targets that together form core objective of the organization. These units therefore, operate as their own separate entities. Each unit plays a vital role in the organization in areas of conflict management, customer service, employee retention, overall productivity and profitability (Rohlander & Snell, 2009). Multi-divisional form of business is usually adopted by organizations to facilitate prudent changes without encountering an extensive chain of approval. Human performance is therefore a vital factor in ensuring efficiency and effectiveness with regards to productivity of the organization. It is for this reason that firms, both public and private must seek to quantify the value of their human performance. In the process of measuring this performance, several challenges are likely to arise, some intended while others unplanned. Measures must therefore be put in place to minimize the consequ ences of measuring human performance that were not planned. Since there are multiple divisions in these organizations it is of great significance to know both the performance and contribution of each division to the overall performance of the enterprise. Human performance Human performance is at the core of an organization’s well being; it incorporates total quality management, improvement of processes, appropriate employee behavior and sound instructional systems all under the banner of human resource management. In as much as employees are not listed in the balance sheet, they are such an essential asset to an enterprise and their contribution is a vital factor that should not only be quantified but also harnessed for the achievement of the set objectives. Multi-divisional private companies are not listed in the stock markets and therefore the effects of their human performance do not translate into a drop or rise in the prices of their stocks. This is however not the case for public traded companies that have their shares not only affected by financial but also human performance (Rohlander & Snell, 2009). Effectively, when there is news or even a feeling of inefficiency in a public company the ripple effects will be immediately felt at the stock market. This has the dire consequence of insolvency if drastic measures are not taken to make the necessary corrections. Measuring human performance begins with putting in place targets that must be achieved within specific timelines. Each unit (division) is given its overall targets that are then broken down to individual targets. With the kind of autonomy enjoyed by divisions in most M-form businesses, it is very easy for the individual units to then come with performance strategies and the best ways of evaluating the set targets. Multi divisional forms of business therefore help in meeting the needs of employees by enabling managers to delegate various responsibilities leaving them with ample time to monit or and make sure that everything is done for the achievement of an organization’s objectives (Wang &King 2009). This model makes communication between units more effective, problem solving manageable and team work is encouraged. The ways and means of achieving the set

Thursday, October 17, 2019

Globalisation and Ford Motor Company. The golden age of the company Essay

Globalisation and Ford Motor Company. The golden age of the company - Essay Example Globalisation is chosen as topic for this assignment since the significance of this concept is being widely questioned these days. Referring to the adverse impacts of 2009 global financial crisis, it is argued that the globalisation has not led to a rapid growth or economic convergence in the world. On the other hand, many economists hold that this process greatly slowed down economic growth, diverged income levels, and widened the gap between industrialised and developing countries. Therefore, it is reasonable to analyse the effects of globalisation in the context of a specific international company to identify the degree of its effectiveness and flaws. I have selected Ford Motor Company for this assignment as it is the US’ second largest and world’s fifth largest automaker in terms of annual vehicle sales. The company has subsidiaries across the globe and its UK subsidiary is operated under the name Ford of Britain. While analysing the history of the Ford Motor Compan y, it is evident that the mid to late 1990s was the golden age of the company. During this period, the company sold large number of vehicles by taking maximum advantages of a booming American economy with quickly developing stock market and relatively low fuel prices. The situation extremely changed with the dawn of the 21st century. As a result of mounting fuel prices, legacy healthcare costs, and an unstable economy, the company experienced a considerable fall in its sales volume, market shares, and ultimately in profit margins in the beginning of the new century. By 2005, the company’s bonds were downgraded by corporate bond rating agencies, citing to the threatening market condition of the firm. Ford reduced its profit margins even on luxury models since the company was forced to spend higher costs to offset declining demand. The company substantially increased its borrowing capacity to $25 million in order to meet its mounting financial requirements. The skyrocketing lab our costs also hurt the profitability of the company to a great extent. The company’s 2006 annual financial statements reported the biggest loss ($12.7 billion) in the history of Ford and the company management team identified that the firm might take long time to return to its profitability track. The company remained unprofitable in the next two consecutive years. The 2008 global financial crisis worsened the growth rate of the organisation as its all policy responses went in vain due to the negative impacts of this crisis. Although the company returned to profitability in the fiscal year 2009, it is still striving to improve or even stabilise its profit margins. The Ford is also affected by environmental issues as its production processes alleged to have threatened the sustainability of the environment. To illustrate, as Miller (2008) reports, the company was fined for violating state air pollution polices in Brook Park. ` Theoretical framework Conceptually, Globalisation refers to a process through which national economies and cultures are integrated into an international economy so as to enhance international trade, direct foreign investment, migration, and technology sharing. According to the concept, globalisation greatly contributes to effective and rapid circulation of ideas, languages, and cultural ideologies. Obviously, globalisation divided the history into two; age of manual labour and age of technical labour. This concept influences nations to liberalise cross border trade regulations by pointing to the significance of foreign investment and cross-border trade for international business expansion. The theoretical framework of globalisation envisages that this process would contribute to the

Pharmacology Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Pharmacology - Case Study Example A study by Peng et al. (2004) on Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Imatinib in a Phase I Trial with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients, found confirmed the findings of Reckmann et al. (2002) that the drug is absorbed immediately it is administered orally. Further, when they compared imatinib with AUC0-24 hours at steady-state and on day 1, there was a 1.5- to 3-fold drug accumulation after the dose is repeated once a day. Killock (2014) has found that after administration of 350 mg of imatinib at a normal state, the mean plasma trough concentration records at 570 ng/mL and above (about 1 _mol/L). This plasma concentration is more than the 50% inhibitory concentration that successfully inhibits proliferation of BCR-Abl–positive leukemic cells gotten from CML patients (Mitzuta et al. 2013). With imatinib, the relationship between the white blood cells reduction and PK parameters at normal circumstances indicate that the initial imatinib’s hematologic response depend s highly on the dose administered to the CML patient and in this case, a dose higher than 400mg is needed in order to have an optimum effect on white blood cells reduction (Al Ali et al. 2002). From the above information, it is clear that the action of imatinib is therefore different and advanced as compared to the older therapies whose pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics are different and present chances of many side effects that in most cases lead to discontinuation of medication therapy.

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Human Performance in Running a Multi-Division Form Company Essay

Human Performance in Running a Multi-Division Form Company - Essay Example These semi-autonomous units are guided and controlled by various financial and performance targets that together form core objective of the organization. These units therefore, operate as their own separate entities. Each unit plays a vital role in the organization in areas of conflict management, customer service, employee retention, overall productivity and profitability (Rohlander & Snell, 2009). Multi-divisional form of business is usually adopted by organizations to facilitate prudent changes without encountering an extensive chain of approval. Human performance is therefore a vital factor in ensuring efficiency and effectiveness with regards to productivity of the organization. It is for this reason that firms, both public and private must seek to quantify the value of their human performance. In the process of measuring this performance, several challenges are likely to arise, some intended while others unplanned. Measures must therefore be put in place to minimize the consequ ences of measuring human performance that were not planned. Since there are multiple divisions in these organizations it is of great significance to know both the performance and contribution of each division to the overall performance of the enterprise. Human performance Human performance is at the core of an organization’s well being; it incorporates total quality management, improvement of processes, appropriate employee behavior and sound instructional systems all under the banner of human resource management. In as much as employees are not listed in the balance sheet, they are such an essential asset to an enterprise and their contribution is a vital factor that should not only be quantified but also harnessed for the achievement of the set objectives. Multi-divisional private companies are not listed in the stock markets and therefore the effects of their human performance do not translate into a drop or rise in the prices of their stocks. This is however not the case for public traded companies that have their shares not only affected by financial but also human performance (Rohlander & Snell, 2009). Effectively, when there is news or even a feeling of inefficiency in a public company the ripple effects will be immediately felt at the stock market. This has the dire consequence of insolvency if drastic measures are not taken to make the necessary corrections. Measuring human performance begins with putting in place targets that must be achieved within specific timelines. Each unit (division) is given its overall targets that are then broken down to individual targets. With the kind of autonomy enjoyed by divisions in most M-form businesses, it is very easy for the individual units to then come with performance strategies and the best ways of evaluating the set targets. Multi divisional forms of business therefore help in meeting the needs of employees by enabling managers to delegate various responsibilities leaving them with ample time to monit or and make sure that everything is done for the achievement of an organization’s objectives (Wang &King 2009). This model makes communication between units more effective, problem solving manageable and team work is encouraged. The ways and means of achieving the set

Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Pharmacology Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Pharmacology - Case Study Example A study by Peng et al. (2004) on Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics of Imatinib in a Phase I Trial with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Patients, found confirmed the findings of Reckmann et al. (2002) that the drug is absorbed immediately it is administered orally. Further, when they compared imatinib with AUC0-24 hours at steady-state and on day 1, there was a 1.5- to 3-fold drug accumulation after the dose is repeated once a day. Killock (2014) has found that after administration of 350 mg of imatinib at a normal state, the mean plasma trough concentration records at 570 ng/mL and above (about 1 _mol/L). This plasma concentration is more than the 50% inhibitory concentration that successfully inhibits proliferation of BCR-Abl–positive leukemic cells gotten from CML patients (Mitzuta et al. 2013). With imatinib, the relationship between the white blood cells reduction and PK parameters at normal circumstances indicate that the initial imatinib’s hematologic response depend s highly on the dose administered to the CML patient and in this case, a dose higher than 400mg is needed in order to have an optimum effect on white blood cells reduction (Al Ali et al. 2002). From the above information, it is clear that the action of imatinib is therefore different and advanced as compared to the older therapies whose pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics are different and present chances of many side effects that in most cases lead to discontinuation of medication therapy.

Heroic Criminals Essay Example for Free

Heroic Criminals Essay All throughout childhood we are taught that breaking the law is bad and the people who do are criminals and should be punished. Edward Abbey, author of The Monkey Wrench Gang, and Carl Hiaasen, author of Sick Puppy, alter these thoughts. Both novels focus on adventuresome environmentalists who stir up trouble in means of standing up for their beliefs. Both Abbey and Hiaasen construct higher and natural laws over the traditional justice system that gives characters justification for their actions. Ethically we as humans should not side with these rebellious characters, but the theme is so central in the books cover-to-cover that we, as readers, lose sight of morals as the authors manipulate us to become completely invested in these heroic criminals. With sharp uses of characterization and description, Edward Abbey glorifies the art of law breaking and leaves his readers cheering for the heroic criminals. Throughout The Monkey Wrench Gang, the group of four activists set out to destroy bridges, signs, bulldozers and anything else harming the American southwest. From the very beginning, Abbey illustrates a scene full of the workings of the justice system in his prologue. When describing the ceremony to open the bridge he states, â€Å"the bridge stands clear and empty except for†¦a symbolic barrier of red, white and blue ribbon stretched across the bridge from rail to rail† (3). If the sense of patriotism wasn’t evident enough through images of children eating ice cream cones and people drinking Coca-Cola before that, Abbey drapes the bridge in the colors of our nations flag. His portrayal of the project seems to be adored and almost sponsored by America. He uses the writing technique of verisimilitude throughout the prologue to captivate readers and make them anxious to see who disapproves the project. This is a true introduction and welcoming to rebellious characters. As the novel progresses, we become familiar with the gang: Hayduke, Bonnie, Seldom Seen and Doc, as they are driving through billboard signs. Some readers might lose respect for the characters because their actions seem hypocritical and pointless. Their actions are against the law. But then Abbey slowly develops the characters and gives them justification for these criminal actions. He does this with Hayduke criticizing the construction of bridges, â€Å"They can’t do that; it ain’t legal. There’s a law against it. A higher law† (27). The phrase â€Å"higher law† justifies the gang’s destruction because they are taking a stand to save the environment, the beautiful American southwest. As destruction projects get bigger, we find ourselves rooting for these criminals because they are heroes. And we find ourselves captivated in the novel with Abbey’s clever use of an episodic plot. He arranges plot elements into a story and although we aren’t deep into the character’s lives, the focus on episodes drives us forward. As Abbey slowly develops the protagonist characters, he introduces the character, Bishop Love, who we as readers coin as the antagonist. Once again Abbey manipulates our morals as we begin hating the character who could possibly bring down our rebels. Bishop Love exclaims, â€Å"We might get them on the Mann Act come to think of it-crossing the state line for immoral purposes† (296). The fact that the Mann Act was first established to regulate prostitution across state lines cleverly draws us against the bishop’s character and law in general. Abbey’s use of an actual law brings the entire chase back to reality as we still see ourselves siding with the heroic criminals. Abbey actually creates this chase into a war and the heroic criminals become heroic war veterans. As the chase continues, Hayduke once again defines this higher sense of law and justification for war, â€Å"I sat in that rotting jungle every night, playing with my chain, and all I could think about was home. And I don’t mean Tucson†¦I thought about the canyons† (359). This is a very lively twist on the patriotic term war because when we think of war we think of Americans going into another country. Here, Americans are in a war in America against other Americans. And because of this, someone is breaking the law or going against the law. As true as that statement is, we find ourselves naming the criminals as the war heroes through Abbey’s manipulation. Although in the end these heroes are captured and the project seems to be brought to an end, the denouement proves to serve poetic justice. The epilogue consists of Doc, Bonnie and Seldom being almost immediately bailed out of jail, Bishop Love in slow recovery, and the survival of the most prominent environmentalist, Hayduke. Such a fitting ending for our manipulated beliefs. Similarly to Edward Abbey’s manipulation of our morals through characterization and development, Carl Hiaasen uses the same techniques within the theme of criminal heroes. Right off the bat, we meet Twilly who is the definition of activist. We quickly learn that if he doesn’t like something, he takes immediate action. And it’s not with anger that he takes action, but disappointment, â€Å"†¦if I was really pissed, I would’ve done it on a Monday morning, and I would’ve made damn sure my uncle was inside at the time† (19). This is in response to his therapist asking if the reason he blew up a bank was due to the fact that he was angry his uncle made a loan to some â€Å"rotten people† (18). We aren’t really introduced to the proper sense of law as we were in The Monkey Wrench Gang, but such grotesque images of the characters in political positions make us see them as the bad guys and the person who blows up a bank as a hero. More grotesque images develop as we learn about Robert Clapley and his Barbie dolls and Palmer Stoat and his trophies. So even though we want to hate the main characters, we hate who Hiaasen wants us to hate more. With this manipulation technique and Hiaasen’s rapid tonal shifts between parallel characters, we find ourselves not being able to put the novel down. He creates a sense of higher law that gives us a place to go and pretend we’re there with Twilly being a heroic criminal and activist. Hiaasen also does not overstep his boundaries with this sense of higher law as characters are able to resist destruction. In the scene where Twilly and Desie are driving behind a lady in a Lexus who threw her cigarette butt out the window, Twilly wants to put her car up in flames, but he lets off (219). Although we are already on Twilly’s side, the fact that he can resist gives him more respect as a â€Å"criminal. † Once again, in the reader’s eyes, what makes him a hero is how Hiaasen develops the negative characterization of characters like Clapley, Gash and Stoat. In a very grotesque scene between Clapley and Stoat, Stoat explains, â€Å"The important thing is, that nutty kid is finally out of the picture. And, oh yeah, Desie and Boodle are OK, too. Not that I give a shit† (360). Immediately after this is said, â€Å"Clapley finds himself gazing past Stoat, at a dancer performing in a nearby booth†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢if only she was taller’† (360). As illustrated, Clapley and Stoat are both sick people and we want them to be punished and destroyed. We are pulling for Twilly to torture them and win. The novel takes shifts towards a focus on the greed of politics where nature is just a victim and Twilly is standing up for it. In another beautiful example of poetic justice, the epilogue is used as a framing device to bring the novel full circle. In one example, the novel begins with Stoat hunting a rhino and ends with him being impaled by one (429). The ending of our other hated character, Robert Clapley, comes full circle as his most prized possessions, Katya and Tish, become, â€Å"†¦a trademark symbol; this order to include but not expressly be limited to such oral and visual depictions as ‘Goth Barbies’, ‘Undead Barbies’, and ‘Double-Jointed Vampire Barbies’† (445). This is a direct occurrence of what Clapley didn’t want to happen and we find ourselves giggling about the fact. The sense of the novel as a political cartoon truly adds to our enjoyment as readers and superb justification of higher law and love for heroic criminals. In conclusion, both Abbey and Hiaasen create a new definition of criminal through manipulating our morals in their development of characters and justifying it with the sense of a higher law. Adventuresome environmentalists deface and destroy many things, yet we find ourselves as readers cheering for them to do so and get away with it. Ethically we should not side with these rebellious characters, but we truly are completely, 100% invested.

Monday, October 14, 2019

SWOT Analysis Of Parle Products

SWOT Analysis Of Parle Products The intent of the assignment is to analyse the operation process of manufacturing or service organisation, thriving to achieve the efficiency and productivity in the operations process, through various organisational and operational strategies carried out on a short term or a long term basis. The analysis of the report is based on the various key finding which determines the success of organisation and how company manages between the quality, cost, speed, dependability and flexibility of its products using the key competitive factors such as order winner and order qualifiers to sustain in the market. The process design used by the organisation is to improve competence and effective inventory management style with help of suppliers and distributors; analysing the problems faced by the organisation and solution for the same. INTRODUCTION Parle is one of Indias largest biscuit, confectionery and snacks manufacturer it has been set-upped in vile Parle Mumbai in 1929. As a organized segment of the FMCG (Fast moving consumer goods) industry, FMCG products are generally replaced within a year and include a range of product provided to the consumer that may be Durable e.g. Food, soap, cosmetics, tooth cleaning products, shaving products and detergents and non-durable products such as glassware, bulbs, batteries, paper products, and plastic goods. Babaria, M. and Dharod, M. (2009) Parle Operation Management is to manage of resources and delivery system and the duties entitled to the operation manager control of the cost, monitoring the efficiency of the production and asset management, The viewpoint of Parle Company is to attract as much of youth and grown-ups through its product with the mission to provide happiness among children and adults not only in the metro cities but also tier 2 and tier 3 cities in the country. On a short- term basis the company objective is to create awareness about the products among the youth and on long-term duration is to be the market leader. Major competitors of Parle are the ITC sun-feast ltd, Britannia, Nestle HUL (Hindustan unilever ltd). Parle provides a range of biscuits such as Parle-G, krackjack, Hide and seek, Milano etc. confectionery like melody, mango-bite, orange candy etc. and snacks like Jeffs, cheese ling etc. Parle are market leader and in their category and own 40% share of the biscuit market share and 15% share of the total confectionary market in India, Parle has transformed into a multimillion company over the years. Based on the product variation provided by Parle the customer are not bound by age they can be consumed by people of all age group even the adults or senior citizens. E.g. Parle G is widely excepted product, the customers of Parle are not restricted to the local or regional tier1, 2 3 markets but also on a global scale by implementing top down approach strategy in the organization. (parleproducts., 2012) Macantosh HD:Users:pagdant:Downloads:1.png TRANSFORMATION PROCESS FEEDBACK INPUT TRANSFORMATION PROCESS RAW MATERIAL Wheat flour, sugar, hydrogenate vegetable oil, salt, milk, added flavors PRODUCTS Biscuits, snacks confectioneries OUTPUT Transformation process is activities involving no. Of input, this adds value and transforms into output for customer. (Openlearn.open 2003) Through the transformation process various raw material used at input at Parle, which goes through the transformation process and made into biscuits, snacks confectioneries for the consumers. SWOT ANALYSIS OF PARLE PRODUCTS STRENGTH WEAKNESS Low price Irregular supply Distribution system Dependent on Parle-G brand Wide range Delivery system OPPORTUNITY THREATS Export potential Competitors (Britannia, ITC) Untapped Rural market Substitutions (toast) Retain of loyal customers Bakery products Suppliers. The above analysis reflects strength of the company lies in its low price technique, wide range of products and distribution system of Parle, opportunities prevailing are the export potential, untapped rural market, due to increase in the purchasing power of the consumer retention of loyal customers, Threats faced by Parle are from the competitors, substitutes available in the market and the bakery products whereas the weakness posses are the irregular supply, dependency on the brand Parle-G and weak delivery system to penetrate in rural areas. Babaria, M. and Dharod, M. (2009) STRATEGY Strategy adopted by any organization is develop the capabilities required to reflects the needs of the customers and market, direct how to spend key resources like time and money and to cope up with the greater level of complexity different business units are maintained in the organizations. Different types of strategy used at different levels in the organization. 1. Corporate level strategy is decided by the company where to invest the funds of the organization in order to meet the business demand of todays and the future.eg. E.g. increase in the volume of sales through sales staffing, increase in sales by increasing the number of factory floor. 2. Business unit strategy is implemented by different part of organization to achieve the desire objective in a specific market based on the present and the future market. E.g. marketing, finance, sales and marketing and operations departments. 3. Functional strategy is to maintain the key resources using the strategic and the day-to-day task. E.g. Market requirement and function of operation manger in monitoring the line of production. Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2011) The word strategy signifies direction and how one should implement it. Strategies adopted by Parle are the business unit strategy where range of product is sold to identify group of customers in competitive market and functional strategy where decision of key resources such as the raw material required for the production is done on day to day basis by a operation manager to compete in the market, to expand in the market, to have an insight of the competitors. Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2011). Macantosh HD:Users:pagdant:Downloads:attachments:2.png Macantosh HD:Users:pagdant:Downloads:attachments:10.png CAUSE EFFECT Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2011) Process Producing mass product irrespective the taste Diminish of market share of Parle Competitors Due rise in growing Competition. Fluctuating demand Due to high competition the demand for parle product is not constant. Innovation Using same raw material over the Years PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVE Performance Objectives are key measures to align the needs of the customer with the desired effectiveness of the overall business. Performance objectives are Quality, Speed, Dependability, Flexibility and Cost. Each of these dimensions adds its twist to the value proposition. Each dimension hypothetically appeals to different customers. Delivery each objective simultaneously at their highest levels of all these product attributes, operations mangers need to organize objectives based on priority, also identify which are an order winners and qualifiers of the targeted critical customers, Operation management (2012). Quality Quality is fitness for consumption in terms of meeting customers needs and desires. Quality can either be an order winner or order qualifier for customer based on the quality maintained. Quality conformance, which means to consistent delivering services based on design specification which, in turn, needs to reflect customer needs. Operation management (2012). To maintain good quality companies like Parle need to maintain and manage quality gaps. Hygiene is the precursor of every process in Parle. Every batch and confectionery is thoroughly checked by an expert staff by adopting Quality conformance level after every stage maintain similar quality throughout all nations neglecting quality control system. Cost Cost is one of the major contributions in business welfare since products that cost less but have good quality attract customers. Operation managers try to reduce costs and also maintain quality so the company profits. Operation management (2012). Parle as a company tends to maintain quality and keep a low purchase cost. Parle follows a policy of Kaizen, which means to produce more and more value with less wastage attaining better environment and developing stable process by standardization. Macantosh HD:Users:pagdant:Downloads:attachments:3.png Buthmann, A. (2010) describes that Quality cost is the Cost caused through producing of defects. Quality cost is most expensive concept used at Parle to cover the good and poor quality cost. Buthmann, A. (2010) describes that External failure is the cost associated to the external deficit of the product received by the consumer at Parle external cost is to maintain the quality cost is spend on the complaints received from consumers through online feedback, losses occurred due to reduction in sales due market acquisition by the competitors and environmental cost. Internal failure occurs before the product is delivered to the customers, not confirming to requirement of customers through the product leading to less satisfied customers, Internal quality Cost at Parle is due to shortage of raw material is due to smaller storage capacity limited to only 3 days. Buthmann, A. (2010). Appraisal cost occur in-order to maintain quality in all stages, conformance to quality standard Through Quality storage condition, maintaining Hygiene and monitoring quality by expert staff adopted at Parle. Buthmann, A. (2010). Prevention quality cost is to prevent poor quality of product is provided to consumer Buthmann, A. (2010). Parle spends in Quality improvement in staff inspection, Quality planning of new product and Quality improvement in team decision. Dependability Dependability is a degree of availability of the product when the customer needs or requires product. Operation management (2012). Parle is a multination company it deals with multiple nations it has a constant management of products regarding demand and supply. To cope with demand Parle produces 13 billion biscuits in a month. Flexibility Operations ability is to respond efficiently to changes in products, processes (including supply chain relationships), and competitive environments. Operation management (2012). Flexibility differs in companies but companies like Parle have a standardized approach and there is less change in the operations of the company. Speed It means by doing things faster to minimize the time between the order and the availability of the product to give a speed advantage to the wholesaler, retailer which ultimate the benefits to the customers. Slack, N. et al. (2004) Parle maintains their speed through their wholesalers who deliver their products to the retailers, which are finally received by the consumers. Parle maintain the speed by keeping a systematic approach to the system. POLAR DIAGRAM The polar radar chart depicts the priority of the performance objectives Slack, N. et al. (2004) in Parle. Parle as a company strives to produce the best material with minimum wastage. After quality Parle looks at customer benefit and cost management. By producing in bulk Parle maintain availability of products increasing dependability. Parle maintains standard procedure to increase operation speed. COMPETITIVE FACTORS Macantosh HD:Users:pagdant:Downloads:attachments:4.png ORDER WINNER Order winners The competitive characteristics possess by Parle are both time-specific and market-specific to Parle product are most economic since their products are starting at a price range of Rs2 Rs 25, Product range of Parle are into 3 categories Biscuits having 18 varieties of biscuit in the Indian market making them the largest biscuit manufacturer in the country. Sweets- Parle has 11 varieties of chocolate and candies in its product line-up. Snacks- fairly new to the market Parle have only 4 varieties of snacks in the market. Product design quality is initiated by Parle product by making use of automated packaging facilities and all the Parle product are manufactured under hygienic condition and maintaining quality standard at each stage of biscuits and confectioneries are thoroughly checked by expert staff using modern equipment at Parle they follow the seven HACCP principles for total quality management. Great care is exercised in the selection and quality control of raw materials; packaging materials and rigid quality standards are ensured at every stage of the manufacturing process (parleproducts, 2012) ORDER QUALIFIER Certain characteristics indicates that certain qualifiers are same for the entire market Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2011), which was seen also seen in Parle competitors where delivery speed plays a crucial role in providing the product to its end consumers and packaging of the product is done to attract the customers. LESS IMPORTANT FACTORS There are certain factors at Parle, which does not affect the production of the product irrespective of the located weather it is in tier1, tier2 and tier3. Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2011), Parle factory situated in teir1 and Promotion activates of Parle is not considered the unique selling point since to create hype in the market its mandatory to use various promotional activities to create awareness among consumers. ORDER WINNER ORDER QUALIFER LESS IMPORTANT FACTORS Order Winner is quality that helps companies win markets. In case of Parle policy is to strive to provide consistently nutritious and quality food products to meet customers satisfaction by using quality material and by adopting appropriate processes. Therefore Quality is an order winner for Parle. While, also producing the finest quality for customers like to sell it at convenient or cheap prices that are affordable by all people. This makes Purchase Price an order winner for Parle also. Whereas the delivery system and packaging is similar as their competitor therefore it is an order qualifier. Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2011). PEOCESS Macantosh HD:Users:pagdant:Downloads:attachments:6.png Most manufacturing organisations provides standard product in high volumes. The repeat, mass production and standardization of the product indicate a need of process design that would benefit these characteristics. Batch process seems to be feasible choice as it simplifies, automate and reduces manufacturing cost. Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2011). The designing of batch process can be such that it can be used and reused for manufacturing of range of products, hence enabling companies to reduce cost by investing in equipments. The downside to this process is that for manufacturing each product the process line has to be reset, it is costly and skilled officials can only make changes. Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2011). At Parle manufacturing is based on batch process to manufacture their products; as mass production is possible without hampering the quality standards of the product. Being cost effective is one of the major criteria at Parle as it uses the same line to manufacture more 33 varieties of products. Parle do not make specialized product, as their main target are the masses. Standard products are expensive and not in mass production by Parle. Mass products are cheap and manufactured in large quantities. VOLUME PRODUCT VARIETY VARI Milano, Hide Seek, Bourbon. STANDARD PRODUCTS None MASS PRODUCT Parle-G, Krack-Jack, Milk Shakti. SPECIAL PRODUCTS Untitled.png Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2011) argues that volume variety demonstrations relationship between the product categories and volume of the product to be produce at Parle which shows the manufacturing is based on standardize and mass production. LINE OF FIT The above graph depict the line of fit maintain by parle in order to survive in the market through the availability of the products in the range of the line of fit. Kaul, D. (2012) MANUFACTURING FLOW CHART RAW MATERIAL TESTING MIXING MOULDING BAKING COOLING PACKAGING The manufacturing process flow chart illustrates how the production process is carried at Parle, In the initial stage, Testing of raw materials is carried out, which is sent for moulding through the conveyor belt the unfinished product goes through oven for baking and then to cooling of the product and later for packaging through machines like box tapping and sealing machine and forward to dispatched section for the whole sellers to channelize to the retailer for the customers to buy. PACKAGE AND PROCESS Macantosh HD:Users:pagdant:Downloads:attachments:7.png The physical resource used for Packaging of the finished goods at Parle is done through the help of box tapping and sealing machines while facilitating packaged goods and finished product. The activities required during the process is done in front office i.e. administration room coordinating with the back office i.e. the storeroom, dispatch section and production area in addition to the process Parle also provides flow of material, information to the customers with the help of implicit service where visitors are allow to visit the factory by arranging a visit at the production section at the front office. Kaul, D. (2012) LAYOUT Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2011) argues that process or functional is an arrangement of process and function at a particular area. The layout used at Parle is a process or functional layout reflecting that the layout is made in such a manner that similar operations are used in one areas where large batched of goods are produced. Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2011). This type of layout is suitable for Parle where large batches of production is done with help of various functions where layout reflects the stages involved in the making of the Parle products that is the product making is started with the testing of the raw material then moulding and mixing machine goes to oven and then for cooling before going to the packaging and then finally as a finished product. Functional layout advantages 1. Wide range of products Parle as brand itself produces around 33 different varieties of products for consumption at its Parle factory at vile-Parle. 2. Lower capital cost -The infrastructure at Parle used for the production i.e. the autonomous machine helps in reduce the capital cost incurred in making of the product. 3. Utilization of processes since all the resource used in the making of the Parle product are group in the factory itself helps in proper utilization of all resources e.g. Equipments and skilled staff. Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2011) Functional layout disadvantages 1. In-process inventories at Parle are the cost of the direct material, direct labour, and factory overhead placed into the products on the factory floor. 2. Material handling can be costly and inefficient handling of inventories at Parle are costlier since storeroom are made to accommodate these inventories in proper conditions, which add to the cost and are inefficient when the sales revenue is not up to projected mark. Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2011) The production process followed at Parle is Repeat (standard) Product where the making of product is done a repetitive basis designed for functional layout where high volume of production is done using batch and mass production. INVENTORY Inventory comprises of the input which is part of the unfinished goods goes through various operational process stages know as work in progress for a desired output in the form of finished products to sold to the customers. Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2011) The inventory type adopted by Parle is the process inventory where the raw material for 3 days is store in the warehouse from where they are sends for testing the raw material weather it is meeting required standards for the production. After testing raw materials are sent for production. Where the raw material goes through various stages of baking and cooling and shifted to the dispatched room where they are stored and delivered to their distributors and the end customers. The raw material used in the product can be stored roughly for 3 days because the plant is designed in such a way that the raw material cannot be stored more than 3 days. INVENTORY FLOW CHART STORE ROOM WORK IN PROGRESS SUPPLIER DISPATCHED SECTION CUSTOMERS The inventory flow chart depicts the form of inventory present throughout the three-process stages i.e. input, operation process and output at Parle. The inventory such as raw material like wheat flour, sugar, hydrogenate vegetable oil, salt, milk and added flavours are stored in the store room from where they used in the process stages for the manufacturing of biscuits, sent to the dispatched section where the packaging takes place and distributed to the wholesaler and then to retailers for the end consumers. Due to limited duration of the storage capacity there are certain issues that have to be dealt such as to meet the global requirement and the diminishing demand for the products from local markets. SUPPLY CHAIN Before maintaining the supply chain has to decide whether to make the raw material or buy the material. Every manufacturing unit has different benefits if they make in-house / outsource. Advantages for making in house are that company has more control over the material it is more flexible and last minute adjustments are possible. The advantages of outsourcing are that cost is easier to manage and increases focus on final product. In case of Parle, raw material is outsourced and the final product is made in house. This is depicted through their supply chain. Supply Chain comprises all the steps required to supply a service or product to a customer. Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2011). Parle has many products, which have multiple raw material requirements. Multiple suppliers of provide these materials as their tier 1 supplier. Tier 1 supplier such as Godrej, Gurgaon Sugar Mill, Kopoli Flour mill, Wallace Flour Mill and Ahmed Bhai Sugar Mill. Tier 1 Tier 1 Godrej sugar mills Tier 2 Tier 3 Retailor Wholesaler Final Customer Kopoli flourmill INTERNAL OPERATIONS Retailor Wallace Flour mill Wholesaler Ahmedbhai sugar mill WHOLESALER, Retailor CUSTOMER INTERNAL SUPPLY CHAIN PROCESS SUPPLIER Delay in Inventory The above figure reflects how inventory at parle are buffered and maintained at each stage through the gap in the supply chain. But with proper co-ordination with the activities in the supply chain helps parle to build a products design, customer management and final delivery of the product to be consumed. Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2011) Conclusion The report covers Distinctive features of Parle operation process through operation analysis of the organisation by taking an overview on the potency of distribution system and lower price advantage of Parle over it competitors, tremendous measure are taken to maintain quality and at the same time be cost effective, which can be reflected from their quality control methods and the way factory is designed to carry out operations and buffer their inventory through various stages of the operations and maintaining integrated supply chain management with the coordination of their suppliers parle develop a products design, customer management and final delivery of the product to be consumed, with the help of analysis carried out on parle we were able to identify the operational problems and provided with appropriate recommendation, which has assisted our group to know the functioning of an operation management and how the operational surrounding play a vital role in manufacturing of a prod uct or service delivered to a customers, which was the motive of our assignment. Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2011) RECOMMENDATION TYPE OF PROBLEM RECOMMENDATION A) STRATEGY MARKET SOLUTION Fluctuating in the demand. Rise in competition, Lack of innovative ideas (Same Use of raw material.) Diminish market share of parle. Parle should invest in capacity or inventory for fluctuating demand. Parle can improvement by using passive or proactive approach for better innovation and sustenance against rise in competitions. Parle should Constantly compare their order-losing sensitive qualifiers with their competitors, since a slight change in the environment can cause them to start losing market share. B) PROCESS PERFORMANCE SOLUTION Lack of flexibility Costlier to maintain the equipments Reset of process line. Operation volumes. Quality conformance level after every stage. There should be constant change in operation for better improvements. Equipments, which are not essential should be should out or should be leased rather buying the equipments. Different operation should be maintained line for different range of product instead of reset after the end of the every process. Reduction in depletion and the changeover and set-up times for manufacturing process. To maintain the operation volume labour and material should be properly utilised. Parle should build control system rather than conformance at each stage C) INVENTORY SOLUTION Cost of in-process inventory Handling of inventory Storage capacity Holding of inventory To reduce cost of the inventory Casual analysis should be done and inventory should be group into corporate, decoupling, cycle, pipeline and buffer for better handling and increase in the storage capacity to hold the inventory. D) SUPPLY SOLUTION Fluctuation cost of raw material E.g. sugar. Maintaining loyal suppliers due rise in demand. Slow technological up gradation compared to competitors. Parle should adopt the release cash method where they should delay the payment to suppliers leading to improvisation in operation. Build better relationship for constant supply of raw material, which will help to maintain loyal suppliers. To avoid cost on up-gradation of the technology it should be outsourced. Hill, A. and Hill, T. (2011)