Polysar Limited Essay

Executive Summary This report seeks to explain the key differences between the NASA (North American South American) and EROW (Europe and rest of world) sales performance over the past nine months. There are several reasons causing the sales performance figures currently stemming from NASA to be incomparable with the EROW numbers, including the current practice of transferring large quantities of regular butyl rubber from the Sarnia to the Antwerp production facilities. As Polysar operates globally, it is also important to consider certain international aspects and specific risks. These include, foreign currency exchange fluctuations, potentially creating gains or losses, as well as international taxes and tariffs. The decisions made regarding allocation of profits between the two geographic centers will directly impact the taxes paid in either location. ADD ON WITH SPECIFICS Introduction A high-level overview of Polysar Limited provides an all-encompassing image of the nature of this case, necessary to later effectively focus in on specific financial details and problems. Polysar is Canada’s largest chemical company, with the North American production facility located in Sarnia Ontario. The company splits into 3 main groups including petrochemicals, diversified products, and rubber, of which the latter is the largest representing 46% of sales. This rubber division is the core of the report, as its success is vital to Polysar. The rubber division is split into two geographic centers, in Sarnia Ontario and Antwerp Belgium respectively. (See Appendix 1 for graphical representation). Both geographic centers produce both regular butyl and halobutyl rubbers. In 1985, Sarnia opened a second production facility that has not yet reached capacity. By comparison, Antwerp has only one facility operating at full capacity and still unable to meet demand for regular butyl rubber. To cope with this, the Sarnia transfers large quantities of its production to Antwerp at cost. The inability of the Sarnia facility to earn a profit from these transferred units represents one of the main causes of concern regarding sales performance figures. In order to correctly and efficiently asses the current situation, we will be reviewing a number of criteria, and from there introduce and analyze several alternatives presented by these assessments. Further Recommendations Transfer Pricing As you are aware, the NASA segment is currently charging EROW for the butyl rubber being transferred in order to meet the European demand. This charge is currently calculated on the basis of NASA’s cost. This is only one of three possible approaches that are used to set to transfer prices internally within Polysar Limited. The three options that may be considered are: 1. Set transfer prices at cost 2. Set transfer prices at a negotiated mutually agreed upon level 3. Set transfer prices at the market value  Currently, as the first option is implemented, this is causing the two major problems. The first is in regards to the product mix produced within the Sarnia production facilities. As no profit is recorded for the units that are transferred, the product mix may be decided on a sub-optimal basis. Our team recommends further investigation to determine the necessary information as to if the costs to produce the halobutyl and butyl rubbers within both NASA and EROW. This could lead to decisions of specialization in the Sarnia plants or Antwerp plant for one type of rubber produced if cost savings for that product line is higher than transportation costs of shipping to the other facility. Additionally, another problem being experienced through the current transfer pricing approach is that the NASA does not show any profit on the Polysar internal transfer of rubber. Consequently, the EROW segment may record this profit without the same having the additional fixed costs pertaining to the costly initial investment of the second Sarnia plant amounting $550 million and the associated depreciation. This leads to an unfair representation of profitability for the two cost centers. In terms of which to use for Polysar Limited’s Rubber Segment, setting prices at cost hereby benefits the EROW center, whereas using market price would benefit the NASA segment. This is because then NASA is recording revenue for the units transferred, whereas EROW will not, (provided that the prices in both markets are similar – international arbitrage). With Polysar’s company wide profitability in mind, as well as spirit of fairness in representation for both segments using a de-centralized approach, our recommendation is the use of negotiated transfer pricing. This occurs when the NASA and EROW segments collaborate to agree on a selling/purchasing price for the internationally transferred butyl supply. Implementing this will cause both segments to have better information of the costs and benefits associated with the transfer. To narrow down on what this transfer price should specifically be, a range of acceptable transfer prices will provide an estimate.  As this is an international transfer, there are even more considerations that become relevant. For example, the corporate tax rate applied in North American versus Europe should be considered. Furthermore, management should look specifically into duties, tariffs, foreign exchange rates and risks, as well as governmental relationships. By this token, charging Antwerp a lower transfer price will result in fewer Custom Duty payments as the rubber crosses borders. Flexible Versus Static Budgetary Systems Currently Polysar employs a static budget system for their budgeted level of rubber sales. However, if more butyl or halobutyl rubber is produced and then sold these will cause a variance as composed to budgeted figures. For  example, variable costs will go up, however this may simply be in direct correlation to the increased rubber produced. It is important to be able to analyze if variances are based on volume or cost differences. By tracing the cost variances more closely after implementing this flexible budget system, a better evaluation of management’s performance may be achieved. This can be directly used when considering compensation for managers. INSERT NUMBERS. Employee Compensation Plan Polysar uses the participative budgetary system, which is directly linked to employee compensation. Although this bottom-up approach to budgeting allows for accurate estimates due to managers with specific rubber cost knowledge being involved, it can cause a conflict of interest that may be costly. It is essential, and highly recommended that the NASA rubber division establish a budgetary committee to review the estimates made to ensure the lower level management has not added in budgetary slack intentionally in an effort to achieve their compensation figures based on meeting these targets. However, even the top management currently possesses a huge conflict of interest influencing them in the direction of allowing for budgetary slack as their compensation is up to 50% for both meeting divisional profits, as well as exceeding corporate profit targets. These targets can clearly be met, if costs have been artificially manipulated to be higher than expected. As it is improbable to find members of the budgetary committee who will be completed impartial and not subject to a bonus on the premise of meeting profit targets, responsible accounting should be implemented. This system holds each manager responsible for the estimate of the individual cost and revenue basis for which he or she was in charge of deciding. This means, he or she is essentially responsible to explain the differences between the actual and budgeted results. In order to negate the previously mentioned conflict of interest, it is recommended to include the amount of variance in a manager’s estimate in the calculate of compensation, hereby eliminated large bonuses if the original estimate was not within a certain range of the actual value (extra-ordinary occurrences excluded). Hedging of Risk The nature of the Polysar’s business contains a certain degree of  specialized risk. First and foremost, operating internationally in various currency zones contributes to foreign exchange risk. This can be hedged through capital markets, resulting in lowering risk for the corporation. Also, as there is a great degree of risk for the variable costs of production in relation to the oil, it is imperative to hedge this risk as well. It is very possible to hedge market commodity price risks through capital markets or advance purchase of these oil inputs. This can provide more stability for Polysar Limited as a whole, particularly the key rubber division. Capacity Analysis Appendices Appendix 1 Polysar Rubber

Babylon Revisited

The question of whether or not Charlie Wales’ request to have his daughter returned to him is reasonable seems fairly clear. The fact that the story begins and ends in a bar, with the alcoholic protagonist struggling with his addiction seems an indication that his demon has not been slain. Ambiguities seen in the story lead a reader to think that perhaps at this point it is not reasonable.Charlie perceives his old haunts as less than glamorous in the cold light of sobriety, but still he feels compelled to go and look once more. Yet, while it seems that Charlie genuinely regrets his past the reader also is told that Charlie has lost his fortune, which could easily be the reason for his new mindset. One of the twin themes of this story is that a person is responsible for his own shortcomings, and must pay his dues, so to speak, being held accountable to others.Charlie says that he never had a problem with alcohol until he began to lose his fortune, appearing to be in classic den ial. Charlie does not accept that his bouts of drunkenness are the reason why people such as Marion behave toward him as they do. He faults Marion’s lack of compassion and her intolerance for their discord. Everyone is out of step but Johnny, so to speak, and Charlie is not willing to accept that is likely his own actions that cause the rift between them.The story ends with Charlie sitting in a bar with drink in hand, which is a dangerous act for a recovering alcoholic. Though he has refused a second one, it is clear that he is not over his addiction. His life is a tragedy, yet he has not demonstrated the ability, by story’s end, to take responsibility for his own inadequacies, so the question of his being able to care for his young daughter seems moot. For the stated reasons, Charlie is not being reasonable in asking for custody of the child. Babylon Revisited Babylon Revisited is an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story, penned in 1930 Paris. It was then published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1931. The narrator speaks in third person, and from the point of view of Charlie, the protagonist. During his lifetime Fitzgerald was not recognized as a purely modernist author. It was after his death that this appellation was attached. Still, this short story has many features of the modernist movement, as can be seen in its theme, which is dark and fraught with conflict.The story is also written largely in the vernacular, which caused Fitzgerald to not be taken seriously as a writer early in his career. The protagonist is the character, Charlie Wales. The story opens and closes in a Paris bar. The conflict that Charlie finds is chiefly his struggle with alcoholism. He is in a battle of wills with his sister in law, who has custody of his daughter following the death of his wife. The twin themes of this story are that one must pay the piper if one has called the tune, as well as the idea that change is difficult to effect.The conflict is not resolved in the story and the reader is left to ponder the possibility that Charlie may or may not rise out of his sea of troubles. He is left sitting in a bar, but he has had a drink Still, he does some soul searching, and in the end refuses a second one. If he is to be considered a victim it must be understood that he suffers from a self-inflicted wound. The reader must decide if he feels sympathy toward Charlie. Charlie is the victim of forces outside his control but also a victim of his own weaknesses.My opinion is that the proof of the pudding is in the tasting, and we are known by our good acts and not our words. I have no sympathy for Charlie but I can see forgiving him if he keeps his pledge. Fitzgerald implies that he will. My hunch is that Charlie will find the dream of custody of his daughter stronger than the lure of alcohol. Reference Fitzgerald, F. and Bruccoli, M. (Editor) Bab ylon Revisited: and Other Stories Scribner 1996

Wage Determination in the UAE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Wage Determination in the UAE - Essay Example If the job is of private sector, foreign applicants would be preferred (Abdalla et al., 2010, p. 165). The difference in the access to job opportunities for the national and foreign applicants can fundamentally be attributed to the high level of segregation in the labor market. The public and private sectors in the UAE are completely independent with their own characteristics, criteria, and culture. The public sector is almost entirely meant for the national applicants whereas the private sector almost entirely accommodates the foreign workers. This is because of the fact that companies in the public sector are government-owned and thus can accommodate the high expectations of the national workers with respect to wage and benefits. Foreign workers in the public sector are vulnerable to discrimination and stereotyping because of their rarity amidst the abundance of national workers of the UAE. On the other hand, companies operating in the private sector place emphasis on maximizing th eir profits. So hiring national workers of the UAE does not prove a cost effective option. Besides, the national workers of the UAE are also less equipped with the talents and competences required by the companies operating in the private sector. ... While mentioning experience, it is important to note that companies both in the public and the private sector mostly value experience that is gained within the UAE rather than elsewhere. So a worker with ten years of experience in India or Pakistan might be considered equivalent to a college freshman in the UAE. Conditions of job in the private sector in the UAE are tougher as compared to those in the public sector. An example of this is more number of working hours in the private sector than those in the public sector (Abdalla et al., 2010, p. 171). Therefore, as an individual gets more experienced within the UAE, he/she prefers to work in the public sector rather than the private sector, though the basic factors of nationality and gender are still considered. The segregation of labor market in the UAE can be attributed to the fact that the UAE wants to protect the rights of its national workers and considers their employment more important than those of the foreign workers. Educati onal level of a worker plays a significant role in his/her productivity. The more educated the worker, the more productive he/she is because of the added knowledge he/she has as compared to a less educated worker. Citizenship of the employee generally does not have any impact on the employee’s productivity because irrespective of citizenship, all employees have to work in the culture of the UAE industry following the norms and rules of the UAE. Working hours per week do have a connection with productivity. There is an optimal number of working hours that promise maximal productivity. Working hours above or below them reduce the productivity.

Create a moral compass for characters of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Article

Create a moral compass for characters of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz - Article Example Max is an experienced man who is described as a real good teacher, and his pieces of advice are useful for Duddy. Simcha is, perhaps, the most positive character in the story, as his good intentions toward Duddy’s success characterize him as more related to goodness. Benjy and Ida are related more to evil, as their attitude to life was complicated by their childlessness. Mr. MacPherson is relevant to goodness as he tried to teach through pure knowledge and personal example rather than through corporal punishment. Hersh positions himself as a positive character struggling for peace and harmony. Jerry Dingleman is a negative character as he is tied up to the criminal and drug-smuggling activity along with other lawless activities. Mr. Cohen is driven by immoral virtues in life, as the main target for taking off. Mr. Calder is a man spoilt by his richness; he loses the idea of humane due to that fact. Being an owner of a hotel, Rubin is driven by positive intentions and virtues o f his soul. Irwin is definitely driven by negative virtues as he cheats Duddy and sees no other way to grow rich than to betray and let people down. Cuckoo has good traits of character and aims himself at working and living in peace and harmony. Linda is spoiled and she is really bad in her moral compass as she always tries to make a dirty trick to her friends.

PETCOs Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

PETCOs - Essay Example This discussion highlights that the strategic move of re-privatizing will help the company in certain aspects, but it will also have bad consequences. One of the benefits of going private is that company does not have to comply with SEC regulations including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act which costs millions of dollars a year to comply with. Becoming private increases the power of the ownership team. Some of the cons of not being public are the inability to raise capital in a liquid marketplace such as the NYSE or NASDAQ. I thought that the company acted unethically and did not comply with the FDA mandate when they re-privatize because by not being public they were not obligated to comply with the demands of the FDA. Private companies are not able to build as much goodwill as publicly traded companies. The author believes that PETCO’s reputation covers its entire supply chain. When a breeder they do business with mistreats animals it reflects badly on the image of the company. The firm has to drop the supplier of help them fix the problem to comply with state regulations. The scandal associated with unsanitary conditions at a PETCO warehouse reflected on the company. The company also did not react quickly enough the fix the problems as the firm’s stakeholders expected. The company in the future has to react faster to issues that can hurt its corporate.

Integrated Marketing Communication Program for Zamda Motors Research Paper

Integrated Marketing Communication Program for Zamda Motors - Research Paper Example Integrated marketing communication is the process of developing and implementing various forms of persuasive communication programs with customers and prospects with a view to influence and directly affects the behavior selected market audience (Percy, p. 6). IMC refers to a careful coordination of various promotional messages including traditional advertising, sales promotions, personal selling, event marketing, public relation etc for marketing a particular product or service with a basic objective of maintaining consistency in information to be conveyed to the prospective customers. Yeshin (p. 14) emphasized that the underlying requirement of integrated marketing communication is to ensure maximum consistency in message being communicated to the public as it forces all aspects of communication programs to deliver a single-minded and unified message to the audience. Weiss stressed that the marketer needs to have graphic consistency and message consistency throughout every communica tion emanating from his organization.  Ã‚   Integrated marketing communication is a strategic tool that helps a marketer plan, design and develop coordinated, systematic and measurable brand communication program with customers, employees and other important stakeholders to ensure short term financial benefits as well as long term brand value.     Marketing mix and IMC In an attempt to prepare an IMC project for Zamda motors, it is worth explaining the concepts of marketing mix to illustrate how various marketing elements of the company are coordinated. Traditionally, the marketing mix comprises of four marketing elements; product, price, place and promotion. Many literatures have suggested adding people, process and physical evidence (Palmer, p. 259).   IMC is related to the promotion mix of marketing mix. Promotion, the fourth element of marketing mix, consists of five sub-elements; they are advertising, consumer promotions, personal selling, direct marketing and public re lation. While planning for an effective marketing communication program, it is highly important to consider evaluating all the four marketing mix and sub-elements of the company in order to carefully coordinate the message to be conveyed to the targeted audience.

Written Assignment #2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Written Assignment #2 - Essay Example Donatello’s version of David is estimated to have been created around 1440. It was a rather unique and famous statue owing to two facts; that one, it was the first unsupported bronze sculpture of the 15th century, and two, it was one of the earliest â€Å"nude† sculptures known to the Renaissance. It has the figure of a David who seems quite young, like a seventeen-year-old, wearing only a hat and some knee-height boots. The rest of his body is nude. He is holding a large sword (seemingly Goliath’s), in his right hand, and his left hand akimbo. Beneath his feet is Goliath’s head, badly severed. One of the Renaissance aspects of this work is in proportion. The Renaissance artists, focussed on realism, and that meant capturing their subjects accurately; as they appeared in nature. As is evident here, David is wholly proportional. The second aspect is texture. The body has been made smooth as should be in nature, and the hair has its texture simulated in a similar manner. The boots he is wearing also have the â€Å"leathery† appearance achieved through texture creation. The other outstanding Renaissance art feature is the capturing of fine details, such as his face in which one can see the smile on him. It displays a happy emotion. Finally, the body has been molded such that the light falling on it will create shading so some parts of David will be dark and others lighter; creating depth. Verrocchio’s David was created in bronze in the given period between 1473 and 1475. Similar to Donatello’s, it was commissioned by the Medici family for placement at the Medici Pallazo (Pallazo della Signoria). The David here is older than Donatello’s, seemingly in his early to mid-twenties. He has no hat on his head, wears a decorated battle vest, and a knee-length skirt. His hair falls freely and he is a little more muscular than Donatello’s David. The sword he holds in his right

Asset allocation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Asset allocation - Assignment Example High yield corporate bond- BofA Merrill Lynch US High Yield Master II Total Return Index Value has the second highest standard deviation after the US treasury. But it is attractive to household investors since corporates like banks and insurance firms will invest in the US treasury fixed income securities. This particular allocation receives the second best return and steady coupon rate over the term of the bond. The standard deviation of 5 year term is 8.63% while for 20 years is 8.86%, given that the minimum age of investor presented begins at 39 years old, this is the best option of getting a good coupon rate and yield in the short term if he/she chooses the 5year bond or in the long term if he /she choose the 20 year bond. This investment is however volatile due to the relatively high standard deviation. Assuming the investor bought $1000 par value bond which had maturity of 5 years, he will get 15 bond certificate each $1000(total of $15000), and the eventual return in the short term will be $2556.75, which is greater than the 20 year term. However the investor will get fewer half year coupon payments in the 5year term relative to the 20 year term. Correlation (High yield, Large Cap) = (0.115), Correlation (High yield, mid cap) = 0.715, Correlation (High yield, Total bond) = 0.692. On the other it is negative correlated with the small equities market and the treasury bonds, that is; correlation (high yield, treasury) = -0.467 and correlation (high yield, small cap) =-0.074. This implies that the as much as the client may be constrained with expense of mortgage payment and other household payment, the investor can still get a good return on the 5 year high yield bond and at the same time investing in the treasury bonds and shares in the medium and large stock markets. The price rises for both rises positively, if the yield on

The pursuit of sexuality Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The pursuit of sexuality - Essay Example Sexual objectification, the act of treating a person as a mere instrument of sexual gratification, is perhaps the single most dominant and recurring theme in gender studies; in this regard, sexual objectification entails disregarding a person’s dignity, or personality, and often takes place at the societal level. Feminists have always regarded the concept of sexual objectification, especially women objectification, not only as intolerable, but also as a significant cause of gender inequalities in society (Papadaki, 2007 p.330). The concept of sexual objectification has always been a contentious issue that has fascinated critics over the years, especially in areas such as sexual ethics and philosophies of sex, leading to varied views regarding the origins of sexual objectification. Social commentators have recently observed that many women in contemporary societies often objectify themselves as a sign of their found freedoms and empowerment over their male counterparts. Other s ocial commentators have also argued that men too, have fallen victims of objectification in contemporary societies due to the increased freedom for women, gay and bisexual men in society. However, social commentators also agree that sexual objectification, particularly of women, has origins in the intricate relationship between the genders in society; in this case, because gender roles are social constructs, gender plays a very significant role in the sexual objectification of women. Women have been the unfortunate victims of objectification over the years because society has often looked down upon their personal and intellectual abilities and capabilities of females. Many societies have unintentionally reduced the worth or role of women to that of a mere object or instrument of sexual pleasure to be used for the entertainment of the men. Pervasive sexual images of women have often dominated the mainstream media such as advertising, and art in general (Harper & Tiggemann 2008, p.649 ), and the sexually oriented depictions of the female gender have enforced the gendered objectification of the women even further. The role of gender in the objectification of women debate stems from the fact that women have often perceived themselves based on what labels they have been given in society; in that respect, women have often been judged based on their gendered social roles, which are typically feminine in nature, and based on their sexual attractiveness. Conventionally, looks or beauty in women have always been glorified over everything else because gender roles assigned to women are heavily dependent on their sexual attractiveness; beauty pageants or contests have focused on aesthetics as a bottom line for judging the worth of women. In this regard, the conventional gender roles assigned to females by virtue of their sexuality have led to the pervasive objectification of women in society. For this reason, women have traditionally been judged and valued based on their p hysical attributes; women’s understanding of the importance of their sexuality has pushed them to seek further enhancements of their sexual attractiveness through a variety of methods. By disregarding women’s capabilities and achievements in fields where men dominate because they are perceived to be exclusively masculine,

Childhood obesity Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 3

Childhood obesity - Research Paper Example The best control is to train the participants on what is expected of them. The training session will involve coming up with a different mindset that will assist the participants to veer off these destructions until the end of the study (Babbie, 2009). This will apply to the control group. The idea is to gain a great understanding of the instruments in place while making good use of the Obesity and Weight-Loss Quality of Life Instrument in checking out the various domains that affect the way of life for all these individuals. The goal is to establish the valid and reliable scores that emanate from the study. The instrument consists of different checklists that will assist in rating all the answers provided. Test-retest reliability will be carried out to ensure consistency in the results attained. Face validity will be the ideal way of working on the measures accurate enough to assess the ability of the scores to define the results reliably. Interventions will be carried out amongst both the control and dependent variables, working on the ability to systematically assess the changes that can happen when different variables are in place (Cohen, & Arieli, 2011). With the obese participants, there will be some physical activities taking place and a chance to check on the impact this has on their scores after this. The control group will also be divided into two groups, where one takes up physical activities while the other does not (Gorard, 2013). The results will be correlated to check on the impact this will have on obesity issues. Public distress is another area where intervention will take place. This will happen by looking at the major signs that will define the individual as well as contribute to the changes. Counseling will be a part of the intervention, assisting in redefining the effects of obesity on an individual (Babbie, 2009). The data collections methods will be questionnaires and surveys. These are

Fun at School Essay Example for Free

Fun at School Essay Is a conspiracy theory defined primarily by its internal narrative characteristics or by its external discursive position? The answer to this quote is because the term â€Å"conspiracy theory† is not a neutral descriptor; it is commonly deployed as a term of disqualification for narratives that may, on their qualities, deserve thought. Further, when attached to a writer or thinker, the label â€Å"conspiracy theorist† can carry a shame similar in kind (if not degree) to that suffered by those designated â€Å"mentally ill. † I dont think that I am paranoid that much because I dont have to believe what other people say about their theories. I see others paranoid though every day. I think some conspiracy theorist could have a bad rap because people do not like what they have to say. For example 9/11 people say terrorist flew into the twin towers. Conspiracy theorist say there where bombs planted throughout the building and that the attack was plotted by our own government. Of course this is going to give these people a bad rap. If our society believes our own government is attacking us and they dont want to believe its true then it falls back on the conspiracy theorist giving him a bad rap. I do agree America is more paranoid then other countries because of the hype of conspiracy theories like sandy hook, 9/11, and all the deaths of famous people like Tupac, and JFK. Other countries may have more problems than us like war and food and water and they need more help than us, so why are we the ones paranoid and they are not. To me this shows America has only a few things to believe and one of those things being conspiracy theories. other countries have to worry about sustaining a life and living when Americans are thinking is Tupac really dead? Is this right for us to think like that? Do we really have problems here in the U.S.?

Analysis On Jit Sourcing Strategy Information Technology Essay

Analysis On Jit Sourcing Strategy Information Technology Essay Outsourcing problems are very complex where even a small decision when taken wrongly can lead to unpredictable risks. From JITs outsourcing experience, the following questions should be considered in order to analyse the case. How to strategically select the appropriate activities that can be outsourced or be maintained internally? How to identify the relative risks and benefits of outsourcing the selected activities? (Quinn, J. B. Hilmer, F. G., 1995). It has been identified that most managers do not consider the risk factors into account while giving importance only to the costs and benefits of outsourcing and offshoring. Many IT jobs outsourced offshore are help desk jobs. People who hold such jobs typically do not have computing discipline degrees. Murphy and Chabrow (2003) argue that the IT jobs outsourced offshore were the routine, repetitive, and largely uninteresting ones. They are well trained and well versed in the product that they are supporting but in-depth questions regarding the internal workings of the product usually require that a person with a computing discipline degree be summoned to assist. (Antonio M. Lopez, Jr., 2004). Similar to many other outsourcing projects, the key reason for failure in JIT outsourcing activity is poor management and governance. In order to identify the root cause for this failure, we need to frame the key stages of the outsourcing cycle followed by JIT. Based on the success of Corporate Intranet, selective sourcing was decided. Also, it should be noted that corporate Intranet did not involve any vendor employees and was only purchased and handled completely by the JIT. IT outsourcing problems usually happen at the contract and post-contract stages (Alborz et al.s 2003), where how to negotiate and come out with a sound contract, how to manage the contract, and how to build up and maintain a good relationship become the most critical issues IT executives need to face. Managers have to carefully select which IT activities to outsource. John Smith in JIT had an uncertainty about the IT departments value. In order to resolve the internal Infrastructure department issue, some of the IT activities had been selectively outsourced without a proper strategy. An increased IT costs and poor service level in vendors has been mainly due to ill-defined relational contracts and non-flexibility in adapting to both business and technical changes. Thus, many IT activities like JIT did should have remained in-house, but instead were handed over to the vendors.( Lacity, M. C. Willcocks, L. P. Feeny, D. F., 1996). The IT outsourcing lifecycle suggested by (Sparrow E., 2003) can be used to identify the outsourcing process implemented in the IT department of JIT. Initiation Vendor Selection Contract Negotiation Transition Service Delivery (Continuous) Contract Renewal/Termination Pre Execution Execution Time In the Initiation stage, the plan was to outsource the Datacentre management and PC help desk activities to outsourced vendor in order to give provision and for the IT infrastructure group employees to concentrate completely on the enhancement and up gradation of projects within that division. The main motive of outsourcing is generally cost cutting or for maintaining the legacy systems. However, it is required that whatever outsourcing option a company adopts, there is always a need for a capable IS managers to manage the IT operations effectively. It is just not enough to just outsource the work. A companys IT managers should also know how to manage contracts and relationships with third parties. The main motives for JIT outsourcing of Datacentre and PC helpdesk were to reduce IT Infrastructure cost, Improve service quality in PC helpdesk and resolve employee retention in the IT infrastructure section. The IT employees were highly qualified and disliked to work on PC helpdesk. There was employee retention in the infrastructure section. The IT employees spent more time on day-to-day maintenance activities due to which they had no time to enhance the existing projects or innovate new ideas for a competitive advantage over other firms. A study found that only 54% of the agreements realized expected cost savings (Lacity and Willcocks 1998). More recently, a Gartner Dataquest Report claimed that about one of every three outsourcing contracts targeting cost reductions failed to match expectations (Caldwell 2002b; Caldwell 2002a).It should also be noted that, when a company outsources its IT services to a third party vendor, how can it be sure that the vendors skills would be updated? Moreover, in JITs case, cost reduction has been the major concern to decide the outsourcing. Therefore, it cannot expect the vendors CMPI to be updated on technical capabilities and process management. (Earl, M. J., 1996). In the Vendor Selection, JIT finalized with two vendors for each outsourcing projects. The vendor was mainly selected based on the cost/benefit analysis, expertise level. The Datacentre activities in JIT did not face any cross-cultural issues. However, the PC Helpdesk activity required that the staff should know Japanese language as well, in order to support the rotational staffs. Hence, it is essential that the outsourcing firm should be able to understand and manage the cross-cultural differences. (I Oshri, J Kotlarsky, LP Willcocks, 2009). Among the two vendors that JIT finalised for PC helpdesk outsourcing, CMPI was not an experienced company in handling this, whereas, Outsourcing Solutions had proposed a unique business model to provide technicians in four different levels covering all aspects including the cross-cultural differences in JIT. The proposal of Outsourcing Solutions had to be compromised considering just the cost factor. The third stage is the Contract Negotiation. In this, JIT had a Service level agreement with both the vendors for a one year contract. Willcocks and Kern (2000) suggest that strategic intent as well as technical capability shape both contract structure and interpersonal relationship development. In JITs case, the strategic intent and technical capability of DR solutions was strong. But, it was not the same with CMPI. Thus, it resulted in a very poor interpersonal relationship. Thus, a relationship that aims to tap into the technical leadership capabilities of a vendor to achieve IT efficiency may generate higher value if it is run as a partnership; whereas, one that aims to achieve IT efficiency by tapping into a vendors widely available resource pool, may be better managed as a technical supply pay-per-service relationship. In the transition stage, both the datacentre and helpdesk activities were moved to DR Solutions and CMPI vendor appropriately. The IT manager John Smith did not have a clear cut plan with the outsourcing vendors .Immediately after the contract begun; there was not much of monitoring or management of IT operations. (Earl, M. J., 1996). Because of this, it is also likely that the company might have to some of its crucial competencies or capabilities. In JITs aspect, there has been value capture of the outsourcing companies but no value creation. Moving the Datacentre from JIT to DR Solutions was not efficient in terms of preplanning. Although JIT had involved 5 different specialists for the deployment, there was no one to actually monitor the process. Moreover, it was not an appropriate time to relocate the Datacentre to the DR Solutions. In the Service delivery stage, although Datacentre activities was a success, the CMPI employees allocated for PC helpdesk did not possess enough troubleshooting skills right from the beginning, in order to manage the escalation calls they received. They could handle only the quick fixes. They also were reluctant to handle the calls from Japanese executives which clearly convey that, CMPI employees were not well versed in Japanese language. This is another major drawback in CMPIs business model. Governance is considered not just in terms of pre-specified frameworks for a formal relationship, but that emerge in interactions between client and provider (Mintzberg, 1978). It involves both the client as well as the vendor. The MOG model addresses the question of how a companys governance affects the outcome of outsourcing in terms of Value Capture and Value Creation. .(Moments of Governance in IS outsourcing: conceptualizing effects of contracts on value capture and creation). Having char ged $180/per user/month, the employees felt that they were not receiving a quality service from the PC helpdesk. Thus, John smith decided to improve the quality of service by outsourcing to CMPI and also increasing the user charge $200/month. This did not bring any change in the quality of service. This in turn has increased the expenditure in the Infrastructure division of JIT. Also, there was also a need for expense reduction. Even before finalising the contract with CMPI, John smith had the doubt whether the employees from CMPI would be able to handle the numerous numbers of calls received by JIT per day. In order to identify the core capabilities of the outsourcing suppliers, the framework proposed by (Feeny, Lacity and Willcocks,2005) can be applied. In this framework, the capabilities of the outsourcing suppliers have been rated based on their Delivery, Relationship and Transformation Competency. Based on the given information, Compared to the Outsourcing Solutions vendor, CMPI had lacked in the leadership, as CMPI had less experience in providing IT services. It had provided services only to 20 companies. Whereas the Outsourcing Solutions vendor had the credit of providing services to Fortune 500 companies. Considering the technical expertise level, CMPI had highly skilled technicians. However, they did not follow any specific business model to implement the helpdesk activities. Whereas, Outsourcing solutions had proposed with a specific business plan with 4 PC helpdesk technicians of 3 different levels for JIT. Also the technicians had excellent resumes and references with them. Also, CMPI were not willing to give an upper limit on the amount of time its employees would take to resolve an escalated call. This information was very unclear when compared to Outsourced solutions. While the Relationship and transformation competency of Outsourced Solutions is much better when compared to CMPI, the cost has been very high. This forced JIT to choose CMPI.(I Oshri, J Kotlarsky, LP Willcocks, 2009).If a company decides to outsource IT services just focusing on costs; It is assuming that its directions and necessities are clear. (Earl, M. J., 1996). Key Problems with JITs Sourcing Strategy: JIT was focusing more on cost cutting instead of the quality of the service provided by the vendors. This is because, although the vendors CMPI chosen for PC helpdesk activities were not expensive, they did not have as much of experience as the other vendor Outsourced Solutions. The existing IT division employees at JIT felt that PC help desk Job was not a very productive and was not improving their career as all these employees felt they were overqualified to perform the mundane job. Moreover, as they were spending most of their work hours on maintenance and PC problems, they were unable to concentrate on upgrading or enhancing the existing projects. This eventually started demotivating them. There was poor governance and Management right from the beginning of the outsourcing contracts initiation. The Service Level agreement was not made clear during the initial contract with CMPI. There have been poor contract and relationship issues. According to Deming (1986), a poor communication or a poor coordination between the vendor and the client is mainly due to poor vendor performance. Some of the anticipated benefits of outsourcing such as cost reduction, expanded, updated skills from vendors and increased flexibility often failed to materialize. (An enterprise perspective of Software Offshoring).Most companies that are outsourcing IT for the first time are not aware of the hidden costs that might start occurring post contract. These may arise as a result of insufficient planning or an unexpected turn of events. (Daniel C. M. Tan, 2009). The IT director John Smith, who was solely responsible for both the outsourcing projects, did not actually investigate deep into similar outsourcing cases. Based on just the Corporate Intranet outsourcing that gave a success to JIT, he proceeded with this outsourcing decision. He did not give much interest for getting consulting, although he just got a suggestion from one of the known consultants. In Information technology, Customized services are generally not outsourced. As, Michael Cunningham (Ask IT Professional IT Advisory Services Company) Said to John Smith, IT outsourcing is significantly less mature than other outsourcing sectors. Before outsourcing the Datacentre and PC Helpdesk activities, the JIT Company had little knowledge on the Outsourcing strategies. From the clients perspective, IT outsourcing decision makers are usually short of experience to select and evaluate service providers and immature in negotiating contracts, managing contracts and maintaining good relatio nships with the providers.(Q.Cong, 2000). Recommendations for fixing helpdesk problems faced in 2002: Aron and Singh (2005) suggest that firms should base their outsourcing and offshoring decisions on the assessment of operational and structural risks. For activities that present high operational and structural risks (e.g. corporate planning), they recommend to execute in house and onshore. Activities that present moderate operational and structural risks (e.g. supply chain coordination) they suggest to outsource carefully, using extended organization offshore, and monitor closely in real time. Activities with low operational and structural risks (e.g. transaction processing) are suitable for outsourcing to offshore service providers. With the datacentre outsourcing, although there was a problem in the transition phase, it got resolved immediately due to the vendors dedication and strong relationship with JIT. However, there was no risk management planned for both the outsourcing. With the PC helpdesk outsourcing, rather than choosing the in-house facility, choosing the right vendor/vendors for outsourcing will always be cheaper and efficient for mundane IT tasks. According to Willcocks and Lacity, over 75% of organizations in the developed economies outsource 15%-50% of their IT budgets, typically with multiple suppliers. JIT can continue for the same SLA with CMPI. But, instead of re-negotiating the contract only with CMPI, it can also involve into a new contract with Outsourced Solutions. As Willcocks (2008) said, outsource only business and not your problems. Outsourcing should be viewed as an opportunity and not just as a cost cutting strategy. Hence, JIT should consider the quality, their experience and capability while choosing to outsource the tasks to vendor. As JIT is going to outsource a part of its helpdesk activities to the new vendor, the cost can be reduced. Also through the adoption of multi-vendor strategy, competition between two vendors result in the right pricing for the client and the quality of service will be improved. In order to resolve the PC helpdesk problem, my recommendation would be to continue with the existing vendor (CMPI) and shift some of the other helpdesk activities to a new vendor. In this case, the new vendor can be Outsourced Solutions, which means JIT can follow a multi-vendor Outsourcing Strategy. Or, JIT can cancel the contract with CMPI and choose Outsourced Solutions for better service. Benefits / risks of Single vendor Outsourcing strategy: By adopting a single vendor strategy that JIT already follows, it needs to track only a single implementation. Complexity of management will be much minimized. This is mainly adopted by clients to benefit from lower operational costs. Similarly, JIT also adopted the single vendor strategy only to lower its operational costs. But, cost should not be the only criteria. Vendor management, capability, and experience, of vendor should be given more importance. The client can expect the highest level of vendor capabilities through a well-planned Service Level Agreement. The risks could be poor quality of service by the vendor. There is also a possibility of too much dependency created on the vendor by the client. At the end, this can result in a situation for clients where they cannot move out of the vendor at their will. However, as JIT failed to follow this strategy efficiently, I would recommend that a multi vendor offshore outsourcing can be adopted by JIT to solve the issues faced in its Infrastructure section. Benefits /Risks of Multi-Vendor Outsourcing: As mentioned earlier, JIT did not follow a risk mitigation methodology while choosing the vendors for both the Datacentre and PC helpdesk activities. Thus when JIT outsources the PC help desk activities to CMPI as well as Outsourced Solutions, it can reduce the risk level because, even when CMPI does not provide a quality service, Outsourced Solutions will be there to backup. Working with multiple suppliers provides a strong element of power for a company for at least two reasons. First, if a supplier underperforms, it becomes easier to transfer the work to a supplier that is already executing the same processes. Second, working with multiple providers will generate a competitive climate among them that, if managed carefully, can become very beneficial for the customer, both in terms of the quality of service delivered and in terms of price. As there are two vendors (CMPI and Outsourced Solutions), there is increased domain and technical expertise. This will also enhance the service quality as each vendor will try to compete with the other vendor while providing its services. However, in multi-vendor outsourcing, the companies engage an array of vendors; the managers should be increasingly adept at managing the entire portfolio of vendors. Thus, John Smith should think beyond cost to ensure the success of the PC helpdesk outsourcing. (Lacity, M., Willcocks, L. and Feeny, D., 1996). Firstly, vendors familiarity with the business is most important. Although, CMPI was familiar with helpdesk activities, it was not aware of the actual activities happening in the Infrastructure section in JIT. (Kakabadse, A., and Kakabadse, N., 2000) Secondly, there should be good involvement from the JITs IT team to equally co-operate with the vendors employees. (Kreitner, R. and Kinicki, A., 2007).

Insights Of Ecology Into Nature And Protection Environmental Sciences Essay

Insights Of Ecology Into Nature And Protection Environmental Sciences Essay Ecology which is a Greek word is defined as a scientific study of the relations or interactions between the organisms and their environment. Ecology also involves the study of ecosystems which is the science dealing with the network of interaction between organisms at different scales of organization. Since ecology involves all forms of biodiversity, the ecologists have therefore carried extensive research involving the smallest organisms as well as the biggest ones in the bid to better understand the environment (Nash Roderick 1989 2-3). The global flux of the atmospheric gases, are also part of ecology. These gases which are very significant to the general characteristics of the environment are usually regulated by the gases emitted or taken in the organisms during the respiration or photosynthesis processes. Human beings have always endeavored to understand their environment better so as to comfortably live in it. Ecology which is a young discipline the field of environmental science was developed in the nineteenth century from the natural sciences. However ecology is not much similar to the other studies in environmental science since its more related to the disciplines of evolution, physiology, genetics as well as the general behavior of organisms in response to their environment. Through ecology, human beings have been able to understand the environment in a better way than before. Ecology helps us to understand the life processes of organisms as well as their adaptation mechanisms, and their distribution and number (Nash Roderick 1989 8-9). Movement of materials and energy from one stage to the other through the environment, and the patterns in development and succession in ecosystems are all understood and appreciated through the study of ecology. According to Carson, R., A (2000 21-30) the science of ecology has brought more understanding in most of the global processes form the marine and terrestrial habitats to the individual inter-specific interactions with the environment. It has also shown useful application in several fields like conservation biology such as the management of wetlands, management of natural resources. Moreover, ecology has brought better understanding and proper problem solving in community health as well as providing conceptual framework for understanding and researching human social interaction. Its usually distinguished from natural history since natural history deals with the descriptive study of organisms. I therefore tend to believe that the continued insights of ecology into nature have made it possible to achieve a satisfactory balance between human progress and protection of the environment. How ecological insights of into nature have made it possible to achieve a satisfactory balance between human progress and protection of the environment. The environment is usually interlinked with ecology in many different ways. Basically the environment which is the living place for all organisms, explains all the factors and scales of life that are external to the organism. These factors include the ambiotic factors such as temperature, climate, radiation, chemistry and geology as well as the biotic factors such as the genes, cells, and members of same or different species who share the same environment. On the other side ecology is concerned with biological relations of organisms and how they relate with the environment. Ecological studies focuses on environmental factors like the chemistry, temperature pressure and energy which are very important in environmental management. (Goodland, R. 1990 5-7). The laws and principles of thermodynamics which controls most of the environmental principles are also obeyed in ecosystem processes which make ecology to be very important in understanding and managing the environment for the purpose of peaceful coexistence with human beings. Environmental and ecological reactions are habitually studied through manageable parts, though the when these issues of the environment are understood they are then linked together again as a holocoenotic system (White-Stevens, Robert 1972 17-21). This implies that the change of one of the ecological or environmental factors can result to change in the state of the entire ecosystem. Though ecology involves so many studies on issues affecting the environment, it is different from the other environmental studies since its one of the few academic disciplines dedicated to the mechanistic complications of the ecosystems and the metaphysical hierarchy where the cause mechanisms of the larger systems are understood without referring to the mechanisms of the smaller systems. Some of the metaphysical aspects observed in the environment are the increases, in the outer skins of certain seeds or small insects when their existence has been threatened due to excessive predation. These environmenta l adaptations in certain insects ensure continued existence of these species. Natures relationship with society and history together with the knowledge of human beings shows many indications that the relation has really gone through many phases with the latest phase being the threatening global environmental crisis (Carson, R., A 2000 21-30). This phase of balances between the human progress and the environmental protection represents a significant progress in our understanding of nature. This understanding has been shown by the extensive dialogue among relevant disciplines as well as the recommendable empirical studies being conducted in the ecological field. Environmental history should be given the pride of place within this large field of the current environmental studies. The current awareness in environmental destruction has been the source of great concern in ecology. Many colleges have now than before introduced extensive studies on the earths world ecological systems. This has equipped more individuals with the needed skills in assessing environmental parameters. For instance St josephs College in china has started studies bioremediation which is the study of plants that take up pollutants from the water and soil hence helping in cleaning up the atmosphere. More studies elsewhere have focused on ecotoxicology which is the study of harmful biological effects of specific pollutants or combination of pollutants that are usually discharged into the environment. This study has given insights on the effect of cocktail and other contaminants discharge to the rivers and other waters. According to Europa publications (2001 70-71), the study has therefore provided new approaches in controlling effluents and therefore saving the aquatic life as well as provi ding more clean water for the human consumption. Extensive research has focused on the complex chemical and biological processes influencing the toxicity of ammonia to fish and other aquatic life so as to develop standards of practical control for their protection. However the achievement of a balance between human progress and environmental protection is not an easy task though ecology has really helped in achieving the standards. Some of the measures that have been proposed by the environmentalists are use of electric vehicles as a method of road transport that would reduce pollution by air by the nitrogen oxides carbon dioxide and particulates associated with conventional car exhaust (Europa publications 2001 70-72). Ecologists have also studied the reasons leading to extinction of certain plants and animal species and also given appropriate advice so as to protect them. Human activities like agricultural expansion and deforestation in such for farming and settlement land have made the efforts of environment management even more complicated. However the increased peoples knowledge on the good farming methods and the dangers of deforestation has made them more cautious in protecting the environment. According to Goodland Robert (1990 139-141), ecologists and development agencies have defined biological diversity as encompassing the genetic diversity within species, the types or variety of ecosystems as well as the number of different species in an area. Biological diversity has gained familiarity to the scientist and the policy makers although its definition is subjective and depends on the user. However, world conservation strategy by referring to living resources has the best definition for biodiversity as used in the protection of environment. Living resource conservation encompasses the preservation of genetic diversity as well as promoting the sustainable use of species and their ecosystems Conservation of biological diversity and still maintaining human development is a global problem that has continued affecting all species not forgetting human beings. For instance the current rate of destruction of the tropical forest in search for fuel and shifting agriculture can only be controlled through the most conservative estimates of the current biodiversity (Goodland Robert 1990 140-142). Ecologists and conservationist have in the recent past advanced their awareness in the ecological, economical and aesthetic need of protecting biological diversity. This awareness which has been noted in the last 15 years has gained the acknowledgement of the international development community programs. This knowledge in ecology has created more awareness to the developing nations as well as the multilateral and bilateral donor institutions which have then appreciated that sustainable economic development is directly dependent on the conservation and good use of the natural resources. However it has been slow for the ecologist and environmental conservationist to realize that the biodiversity found in domestic and wild plants as well as in the animal resources is necessary for continued development and that it should be maintained in all places. There have also been events that have illustrated the emerging appreciation that biological diversity conservation is related to general human welfare and economic developments in the world. In order to conserve biological resources we should conserve more natural habitats and also manage those that already exist. In the same efforts we should also increased production of food and fuel wood on the already cleared land so as to minimize pressure and mineral exhaustion on the remaining wild areas (Goodland Robert 1990 140-142). Ecological services such as soil and water regulation are also maintained through conservation of biological diversity. In July 1986 the World Bank adopted an environmental conservation policy that directed the bank to fund projects on already disturbed lands and to moderate the use of these lands by funding the preservation of ecologically similar areas (Rubin, C 1999 240-243). All these conservational measured have been facilitated by the improved understanding of nature through ecological studies. These measures are aimed at achieving and maintaining a satisfactory balance between the human activities in development and good environmental preservation measures. Despite the current advances in environmental protection the Ecology analysis has also led to the ecological accounting which has enabled human beings to determine environmental effects in terms of money. According to Schaltegger, and Burritt (2000 230-232), ecological accounting has adapted the primary fundamentals of management accounting to management of environmental information. Its usually concerned with the activities, methods and systems that are applied in the recording and analyzing as well as reporting the consequences of a certain economic activity on the natural environmet. This study has shed more light on production sites, plants and companies. There is also the internal ecological accounting which has provided ecological knowledge necessary for the internal management purposes. This accounting is similar to the old traditional methods used to inform the managers about the environmental impacts of their companies. Internal ecological accounting has been confirmed to be a very crucial precondition when dealing with environment management measure. This accounting is also necessary for the external accounting. External ecological accounting and reporting has taken in account the information requirements of the external stakeholders in protection of the environment. Moreover the lenders, insurance companies and investors require sensible management of the environmental risks while the governments are concerned with regulations of environment management (Schaltegger, and Burritt 2000 230-231). Unlike the perception of many people, ecological accounting in not only used by few companies and individuals who have necessary resources to carry out experiments but its used in many parts of the world. Environmental laws and regulations have also been put in place in countries like us, Europe and other parts of the world which have created a new area of substance accounting as a foundation for monitoring r eports that the companies have to submit. Over the last two decades, the average internal cost of environment related impacts has been increasing at a an alarming rate while the average cost of environmental emission accounting and the reduction cost have reduced during the same period. This has then resulted to an increase in the relative value of environmental impacts information but the information on technology has led to reduced costs in reducing environmental impacts. Recent argument about sustainable ecological development suggests that the environmental impacts of companies could require a separate accounting system which would also imply that other issues like the social impact of companies could require special accounting system. However the ecological accounting that has been in use has shown great help in the companies efforts to protect the environment by carrying their activities in environmental friendly ways (Schaltegger, and Burritt 2000 233-234). This therefore implies that this type of ecological accountin g is already well established and shows much practical importance than social accounting. According to Gunderson Holling (2008 149), the advent of new ecology if often indicated in recent social sciences and legal literature, although most of the insights into the behavior of systems away from the normal ranges is not a new phenomena. On the other hand the old ecology was involved with those systems that are headed for equilibrium. Climax was then determined by the signature of environmental driving forces, such as water and nutrient availability, soil type rainfall and the like. The size and structure of ecosystems as well as their components has been set by the thermodynamics and predictable organizational features of biotic communities. Research has indicated that ecological problems and mostly induced by a disturbance from the equilibrium which is mostly caused by the human activities (Gunderson Holling 2002 149). These findings have helped environmental scientist to deal with these ecological problems and enhance the environmental protection. Management of these ecological problems would be easier if the renewable resource systems would have well described and defined properties like the sigmoid growth curves. This would enable the scientists to generate short cycle production function for ecosystem goods and services. These functions would then be managed to get the best results in yields. This way, ecological and political issues will be easily separable as well as manageable so as to give the best results in sustained environmental protection. However some new insights in ecology claim that chaos, contingency and disorganization, where disorganization represents more subtle, organized, complexities in natural systems cannot be manageable (Gunderson Holling p.150). Studies in ecology have also shown that the environmental changes are not continuous or gradual but they are episodic and critical processes in which structural ecosystems take place at radically different rates covering vast environments. Ecology and epidemiology have also developed a set of theoretical tools approaches in mathematical modeling which have helped us to understand the primary characteristics of the infection agents in ecosystem (Sagarin Taylor 2008 190). One of the great problems of social sciences in environmental issues however has been to find the correct scale of adaptation and nature management. The existence of these scales is also not known. The importance of this problem in environmental management has been enhanced by the attention to scale in natural systems. Some decisions have therefore been left to communities or individuals depending on who has the best information on the issue. This therefore means that both ecological scale and social scale have been crucial in the balance between environment management as well as human development. Conclusion With the current necessity to conserve the environment and the human need for development, both of which are equally important, it therefore becomes clear that human beings must look for ways of balancing the two. Human activities in his daily development have continued to impact negatively of the environment leading to unpredictable and disastrous natural happenings. These environmental reactions against the human activities have in turn greatly affected the human efforts towards development. These challenges have then resulted to extensive studies and research on the entire universe so as to understand the world and take the appropriate measures towards controlling them. Many scientific studies in biology and environment have been and still are carried out to ensure human development as well as a protected environment. Ecological science is one of the studies in environment that has brought great knowledge and understanding of the environment and therefore promoting the balance bet ween human development and environmental protection (Evans, David. 1999 57-59) According to Naess Rothenberg (1990 39-40), Ecology comprises a great deal of natural science that has helped us to understand the atmosphere though is should not however be considered as a universal science. When looking at the relations and interactions between organisms and their environments there are many aspects of their separateness that are not put into account. In ecologism therefore we find excessive universalization or generalization of ecological concepts. Ecological movements have therefore presented human beings with great technical recommendations in reforms. Some of these recommendations are in technical abatement of pollution and reduced consumption in the third world countries. The deep movement of providing environmentally friendly actions is global and should actually not be left for ecologists but for all people. In order to achieve and maintain a satisfactory progress in environmental protection every human being should take initiative in conserving the environ ment. In order to sustain this balance between environment protection and environmental management, the ecologist should also work with the public sector managers and the policy makers so as to provide them with scientific expertise necessary in making on ecological and environmental issues (Nash Roderick 1989 p.343). For this to be possible there is need for an amicable relationship between the ecologists and the policy makers which will be facilitated by their common goal in protecting the environment. The measurement of environmental resource value had been largely left to the economist but now the ecologists are also involved in these evaluations which have resulted to more effective decisions in environmental management. Generally the most challenging problems that are facing the modern societies are related to the consequences of interaction between the people and the environment (National Research Council U.S2009 1-7). Through ecology, human beings have been able to understand the way in which the humans social and economic systems interact with the environmental systems. This understanding has been crucial in achieving sustained development. The evolving concept of sustainable development is the main cause for new approaches in environmental policy and management of ecosystem. This concept together with insights in ecology has seen significant improvements in sustained development over the last three decades.

Comparing A Painting By Fra Filippo Lippi And Dante Gabriel Essays

Comparing a painting by Fra Filippo Lippi and Dante Gabriel Rossetti The two pictures are Rosetti’s Ecce Ancilla Domini and Lippi’s Annunciation. Both of the artists were influenced by their age. Lippi lived in Italy between 1406 and 1469 and Rosetti from 1828 to 1882. Lippi’s background of Italian Renaissance determined his style to a large extent. In Florence where Lippi lived the economic changes of the time led to an emerging new class: that of the banker princes. They lent money to almost all the kings in western Europe and so they collected great fortunes. From their riches they could give patronage to all kinds of artists. This gave artists a stable living but did not give them the freedom that Rosetti enjoyed a few centuries later. Rosetti lived in England at a time when power came to the hands of a new industrial middle class who became the new patrons of the arts. They were rich but not as rich as the church or the patrons of Lippi’s time. Therefore, the artists could not enjoy the protection of this new class for years. Consequently, an artist had to sell pictures in open competition with his rivals on the walls of a salon or an Academy. This competition naturally led to a variety of styles. Some turned to history or exotic arts and others sought new ideas. One of such artists was Dante Gabriel Rosetti he turned against the neo-classical traditions of the Academy and looked for different inspiration. He wrote in 1901 that "an artist, whether painter or writer, ought to be bent upon defining and expressing his own personal thoughts, and that they ought to be based upon a direct study of Nature, and harmonised with her manifestations." In the same year he founded with some fellow artists the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood based on the same principles. These ideas were not welcome by the public and Ecce Ancilla Domini one of Rosetti’s first paintings was severely abused. Rosetti was so offended by the criticism that he swore never to exhibit in public again. Rosetti’s age did not appreciate his art because they thought that the style Raphael established was the crowning of all paintings. This style was based on dark colours, artificial settings and a triangle composition. Rosetti wanted to free ... ...we cannot see where the wall ends and the floor starts. With this we can draw a parallel with Lippi’s painting where architecture was also illogical. This brought us to the elements that connect Rosetti’s painting to a traditional one like Lippi’s. Although the colouring is mostly white the picture is patched with some gold, red and blue, the traditional colours of Mary’s virginity. Also, the lily is present in both paintings, again it is related to virginity and the dove too appears, which represents the Holy Spirit. All these differences and similarities could be related to the problems Rosetti had to face when painting a religious picture. Probably he wanted to be realistic as much as possible and at the same time following his ambition he wanted to express his thoughts as well. This could be achieved by mixing traditional elements with innovations. One such new element was covering the figures with simple white dresses. Probably Rosetti did not dress his figures in contemporary clothes because that would have been strange to the Victorian viewer. Painting the figures in white was a solution to this problem. This way managing to be realistic and contemporary at the same time.

Child Development Essay -- Child Rearing, Natural Growth

Lareau (2003) reports that social class plays a very important role in a child’s upbringing because it helps determine the way a child will be raised. In Lareau’s (2003) study she came to the conclusion that there were two different patterns of child rearing: concerted cultivation and natural growth. Concerted cultivation is the child rearing method that middle class parents use focusing on not only caring for their child, but developing a personality by enrolling their children in many structured activities and developing language skills (Lareau, 2003). Natural growth is the child-rearing method that working class and poor parents use to raise their children because there is not a lot of time and money for structured activities and long verbal discussions with the children (Lareau, 2003). Families who practice natural growth child rearing practices need to focus on providing the simpler needs of the child like providing shelter, clothing, food, and water therefore unab le to have the structured activities and worry about establishing communication skills. This is important to consider because the way children are raised because this has a social impact. The children that are being raised today will eventually grow up to be a part of their own society; there are social impacts on the current society because of the methods of child-rearing and the consequences that these child-rearing practices are having on children with the way they interact in society, There are benefits and disadvantages to both childrearing methods reported by Lareau (2010) however there are definitive differences in the child’s outcome due to the child’s social class and thus the method the child was raised with. In concerted cultivation children spend a ... ...nd sometimes talk to my extended family I seldom see them or would by any means categorize our relationships as strong kinship ties (Lareau, 2003). This I feel has been an unfortunate result of concerted cultivation because I see how some of my other cousins behave towards each other as they are so close talking everyday and meet several times a week for lunch or dinner. I feel this is sad because while I would love to have stronger ties with my extended family I realize it is not a part of the way I was brought up because of my middleclass child-rearing. The concept of my social connections often being mostly in homogenous age groups as a child is very accurate (Lareau, 2003). Because of the activities I participated in and the area in which I lived and went to school I predominately have friendships through activities with children much like I was at the time.

A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams Essay -- A Streetcar Na

A Streetcar Named Desire In what way can A Streetcar Named Desire be seen as an exploration of†old† America versus the â€Å"new† America? In the play, Blanche represents old America and Stanley represents new America. Why Blanche represents old America is because of her way of thinking, lifestyle and values. When Blanche walks into the room where the guys are playing poker, there is a great example of how Blanche represents old and Stanley new. When she walks in, the guys are sitting around the table, then Blanche says â€Å"Please don’t get up†. Stanley replies â€Å"nobody’s going to get up, so don’t be worried†. Before men were always supposed to treat women with respect, and get up from the chair when they came in, and when they left. Blanche expects or imagines that they are going to treat her like that. In this way Blanche appear as the â€Å"old† America, how people used to think. Stanley is a large contrast and represents new America, when he says nobody’s going to get up. None of them were even thinking of getting up for her, because that is not their manners, a nd that is not what people do in the â€Å"new† America. New America is when there was a lot of immigration. In this new â€Å"world† the old fashions and norms were bit by bit disappearing, for instance racism. Also the lower classes in society became more common. This is the world Stanley lives in. In contrast Blanche is stuck in the old world. Stanley represents new America because he is from Poland. America’s growth of immigration is shown, and very many people in America today are immigrants. Blanches behaviour towards Stanley’s background shows that she is old-fashioned. When Stella says that Stanley is Polish, Blanche says â€Å"They’re something like Irish, aren’t they?†. Her racist view is very old and conventional. Stanley represents the â€Å"new† America, and he can be seen as a message from Tennessee Williams about how the society in America was changing and what it was changing into. Stanley is a chauvinist, because he obviously takes what he desires, referring to where he rapes Blanche. Stanley is very dominant, he rules and his word is always the strongest. He has a strong sexual desire, even in the end of the play when Blanche is taken to the hospital, he starts making love to Stella. It is quite obvious that Tennessee Williams shows Stanley as â€Å"new† America, and this might be what he means America is develo... ...t with Mitch. When Stanley beat Stella, and she was mad at him, he shouted out Stella’s name, she came down, and they then spent the night together. The next morning Stella and Blanche discuss the incident. Blanche asks â€Å"How could you come back in this place last night? Stella answers â€Å"You're making much too much fuss about this†. This also demonstrates that the â€Å"new† and â€Å"old† America collides because of their different values and norms. At the end of the play when the doctor has come to take Blanche away, she says â€Å"Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers†. This is Blanche’s final statement in the play. She perceives the doctor as the rescuing gentleman she has been waiting for since she came. But ironically, strangers have never done her any good. The truth is that strangers have only been kind in exchange for sex. Strangers like Stanley, Mitch and the people of her hometown Laurel have not given Blanche the sympathy she so sorely needed and deserved. Stanley’s class hatred seeks to destroy Blanche. His cruelty, combined with Blanche’s fragile state of mind and insecure personality, leaves her mentally isolated from reality by the end of the play.

Favorite Genre Essay

There are many different genres of movies – science fiction, romance, drama, adventure, comedy, to name a few. Certain ones appeal more to some people than others. In my opinion, adventure, comedy, and science fiction are the best of all the genres. Adventure movies top the list when it comes to being the best. They are full of action, have good story lines, and keep me on the edge of my seat. Adventure movies are thrilling and never boring. What I like best is finding it easy to imagine myself as part of the adventure. Some of my favorite adventure movies include â€Å"Lord of the Rings†, â€Å"Chronicles of Narnia†, â€Å"Pirates of the Caribbean†, and â€Å"National Treasure†. There are more adventure movies in the list of the best top 10 movies from 2004-2006 than any other type of movie. The second most popular type of movie over the past three years has been comedy movies. I too agree that comedy movies are wonderful. Everybody likes to laugh, including me. It is said that laughter is the best medicine. With all the bad things going on in the world today, everyone needs to have a good laugh every now and then. Some of my favorite comedy movies include â€Å"Shrek† and â€Å"Shrek 2†. The third most popular type of movie at the box office is science fiction. This is also my third favorite type of movie. Science fiction movies are thrilling, suspenseful, and action filled. They can be scary too. Science fiction movies are typically â€Å"guy movies†. They allow for limitless imagination. Some of my favorite science fiction movies include all the â€Å"Star Wars† movies, â€Å"Alien vs. Predator†, â€Å"Men in Black†, and â€Å"War of the Worlds†. So, in my opinion, adventure ranks number one, comedy ranks number two, and science fiction ranks number three. According to the results at the box office, I’m not the only one who thinks so. So, go to the movies or rent an adventure, a comedy, or a science fiction movie and enjoy!

The Vinaya Pitaka

The Vinaya Pitaka The Buddhist Canon is called the Tipitaka (literally ‘3 baskets’) and consists of three distinct collections of the teachings of the Buddha designated, respectively, Sutta Pitaka (SP), Vinaya Pitaka (VP) and the Abhidhamma Pitaka (ABP). The SP contains the discourses of the Buddha while ABP deals with the metaphysical aspects of Buddha’s teaching. VP embodies a comprehensive account of the rules of monastic discipline framed for the conduct and guidance of Bhikkus and Bhikkunis.Buddha personally supervised the Bhikkus and Bhikkunis for 20 years without any specific rules and framed rules only when the numbers increased and rules became necessary. Buddha at Parinibbana nominated no successor and directed that whatever Dhamma and Vinaya was preached by Him, that will be the Teacher. All the rules were recited with reference to their subject, background and application and codified as the Vinaya Pitaka at the 1st council. The VP is divided and sub-d ivided in the following manner : 1. Sutta Vibhanga a)Maha Vibhanga (Bhikku Vibhanga) b)Bhikkuni Vibhanga 2. Kandhaka a)Mahavagga b)Cullavagga 3.Parivara Sutta Vibhanga contains the Pratimoksha Sutta (Principal rules of Discipline) which is the nucleus of the Vinaya. Rules are framed in the form of offences and failures to observe norms of conduct. Sikkhapada rules (220 for Bhikkus & 304 for Bhikkunis) are classified according to their seriousness under different categories in the following manner : CategoryNo. for BhikkusNo. for Bhikkunis Parajika48 Sanghadisesa1317 Nissagiya pacittiya3030 Aniyata20 Pacittiya92166 Patidesaniya48 Sekhiya7575 220304 Adhikarana samatha77 (Disciplinary action procedures) †¢Parajika are the most grave offences and are inexcusable.The offending monk is expelled from the sasana. Sanghadisesa offender can be restored after he has undergone certain penalties and maintained good behaviour. Other offences can be excused after making a confession. Sekhiya rules are norms of conduct for a descent life and are not treated as offences. Mahavagga opens with a historical account of the development of the Buddha sasana from Buddha’s enlightenment up to the conversion of Kolita and Upatissa (chief disciples) and deals with the following subjects in the other chapters. (a)Procedures for the fortnight assembly (uposatha kamma) b)Residence during the rainy season (vassana and pavarana) (c)Rules for ecclesiastical acts (vinaya kamma) and for personal hygiene. Cullavagga is a continuation of the Mahavagga and deals with the following subjects : (a)Punishment for violation of rules (b)Hospitality towards visiting monks from other monasteries (c)The dissention caused by Devadatta (d)Establishment of the Bhikkuni order (e)1st and 2nd Buddhist councils. Parivara is the 5th volume of the VP and is of secondary importance. This text is believed to be a compilation made in Sri Lanka after the introduction of Buddhism to Sri Lanka.

Influence of Music vs. Books Essay

Music and books are active ingredients in our lives. They possess so much influential power which we use those influences everyday of our lives without even realizing it. We all have a favorite book that we read in elementary school or high school that taught us a lesson or that we related to. With that comes this influence that stays with us throughout our lives, we are able to take that influence and turn it into the reason we are the way we are or why we tend to make the decisions that we make. Most of us also have a favorite song or artist that sings a song that can take us to a certain place in our lives that was a happy time or even a sad time. We relate words and melody in a song to those influences we let take hold of us and frame our mind set in similar situations that make us so fond of the song or a particular type of music. Whether it be books or music, we are influenced by these two things, but which is the most beneficial? Books will challenge us and force an influence that is more positive than what music can bring to the table. Not all is bad in the music and books world. Let’s face it, we can learn tons from both of these forms of art. When it comes to music, just like books, there is a wide variety to choose from. The scope of books The different styles of books and music vary from person to person and not one style is better that the other. Music has many genres; rap, hip hop, r&b, country, sould, classical, jazz, blue grass, alternative and more. Books has many genres as well; mystery, western, teen, childrens and more. They both possess the power to bring out many emotions. Books have been developing over the years and the stories have gotten more intense and diverse. Music has also come a long way throughout time and so much has developed with the music scene. Certain types of music, as well as books, can reach people of all different ages and bring something out in them that nothing else can. Music today, that is most popular, has all sorts of curse words and disgusting messages in the song lyrics. Books can only convey so much. A book that a child would read in high school would have less of an influence for the simple fact that I don’t think many kinds like to read anyways. There is so much going on with the popular music scene, as far as it shaping the way that our kids dress nowadays to the decisions that they choose to  make. A child can tell you what the latest gossip is about their favorite musical artist is, rather than the title of the last book they read. If they were given an assignment to read in school, most would probably tell you that they have never really read a book completely that they were assigned to read in school. Most of the time it is the work of SparkNotes, a website most kids trust to tell them the summary of chapters of a particular book, that does the reading for them. So the influence of music has such a greater effect than a book would on a child. In conclusion books force an influence that is more positive that what music can bring to the table, but how does any of it mean anything if we have no control over those influences? Music can be a lovely thing for us to learn from but where does it end and where does it begin? Books contain so many lessons to be had and adventures to be made, but how can we take hold of them and all of the influence there? It is up to the reader and the love of music to decide what will influence them today, and the difference it will make tomorrow.

Alices Adventures in Wonderland: Hunger, Dominance, and Undesirability

Hunger, Dominance, and Undesirability Lewis Carroll’s fairy tale, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, written in 1865, fuels the stereotype of how girls are required to be petite, feminine, and submissive to men through Alice’s eating habits, the contrast between young Alice and older women characters, male control, and Alice’s behaviour at the end of the story. This influences the minds of young audience members who read Carroll’s work instills the idea that in order to be beautiful, a girl must control her desire to eat and never overpower the men they associate with.In Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the author targets the importance of a woman’s size and how food consumption influences femininity and desirability. During the story, Alice is exposed to various situations involving food and beverages. Carroll’s first introduction on the emphasis on Alice’s size, is when she is falling down the rabbit ho le and she sees a jar labelled â€Å"Orange Marmalade†. When she grabs the jar, she finds that there is nothing inside. This is an early indication that unless Alice is instructed to satisfy her hunger,she must not indulge her desires or her level of perfection will decrease.Throughout the story, Alice is then exposed to bottles and foods that are labelled â€Å"Eat Me† or â€Å"Drink Me. † Without hesitation, she ingests the products with labels. Alice’s petiteness, and thus her beauty, come directly from her eating and drinking habits. Only when she is allowed to eat, does her body undergo positive Brewer 2 changes. These positive changes lead her to experience new adventures and improve her education, which is another noticeable attribute in the tale.Anna Helle-Valle and Per-Elinar Binder argue that â€Å"the body is central to self-experience† and to Alice, the size of her body determines what she is able to do and how she sees herself (Helle-V alle and Binder 4). The Caterpillar in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, offers insight into the ideal of size. The extreme changes in size damages one’s self identity. Alice shares her confusion with the Caterpillar during their first meeting: â€Å"I’m not myself, you see-being so many different sizes in a day is very confusing† (81).The Caterpillar forces her to say who she is, but because of her recent changes in size, she is not able to say who she believes herself to be. Size is critical to one’s understanding of the self, and Carroll’s Alice struggles with understanding that a small size is important. In a societal context, Alice represents what a girl should be: petite and feminine. However, she expresses her concern for her small size during a conversation with the Caterpillar. The Caterpillar is the male authoritarian figure in the section and is furious with her concern. He then informs Alice that three inches is, in fact, a †Å"good height to be† (84).The Caterpillar forces Alice to be comfortable with herself, for being any larger causes her to be less desirable to her new found dominant male figure. The Caterpillar’s statement offers no argument, and Alice’s perfect and submissive attitude cause her to listen to the dominant with no complaint. In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is the idea that female sexuality consists of the importance of curiosity and politeness, and a submissive attitude: this is due to Carroll’s desires and the Victorian beliefs. In the story, Alice’s character is that of an ideal girl, and her curiosity often leads to find new and exciting ventures in Wonderland.The reason that Alice is able to experience Wonderland is because of her curious nature that led her to tumble down the rabbit Brewer 3 hole. Jennifer Geer contends that Alice’s manners, as well as the want to impress the creatures in Wonderland, comes from the moral implic ation of Victorian literature (Geer 2). The literature in the 1800s centers on politeness and manners, which Alice offers to all of the creatures and people in Wonderland. One of the most positive attributes that female sexuality should possess is a submissive female attitude.Through the fairy tale, mature female sexuality is portrayed as â€Å"frightening and destructive† (Garland 2). This is evident through the Queen of Hearts and her influence on the King of Heart’s behaviour. The Queen in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, is in direct opposition of Alice’s character. Where Alice is the ideal, polite and petite, the Queen is aggressive and large in stature. The ‘suit’ of hearts, that the Queen has cloaked herself in, is in no coincidence the colour red, for this is often associated with a tumultuous and confident sexuality.In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the colour red is given a negative connotation by the Queen’s negat ive attitude. She often thunders the expression â€Å"off with their head†, and Garland explains that this is the Queen’s desire of male castration (Garland 8). The dislike for female domination is evident in the literature of the time, as well as the ideas of Sigmund Freud. The Queen’s concern with castration would be comparable to the worry of female authority in society. The Queen, once again, expresses undesirability by her heavy weight and yearning for tarts.It affects her personality, and makes her become evil and arrogant, thus making her unwanted and a threat to male competence. Her desire for male subordination and ugly nature, is the author’s way to sway female readers to keep their aggressiveness at bay. An aggressive female not only creates shame for manhood, but does not correspond with the ideologies of those living in Mid-Victorian times when Carroll wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The effect of a dominant female is shown in the King of Hearts. The Queen of Brewer 4Hearts’ husband is constantly being forced to carry out her will and listen to her often violent demands. The King of Hearts, because of his treatment by the Queen, is weak and submissive and thus, has nothing to offer. The ideal for male dominance is expressed by the male superiors that control Alice. When she is instructed to take food or beverages, it is either done by no director or a male authoritarian figure. The King would never offer instruction to a female and simply just follows demands made by the Queen. In Mid-Victorian times, the latter was not acceptable behaviour.Geer claims that in the Victorian era, the adult world belongs to the male whereas a woman’s world should be entirely dedicated to motherhood (Geer 14). In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Carroll chooses the Duchess to be the antagonist to this position. The Duchess is characterized as a mother who continually causes harm to her child due to her aggressive nature and desire to eat. She often brings food into situations where it is not applicable, and in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, it is directly linked to why she is a neglectful mother and horrible woman.The ideas that women lose their desirability and femininity when they are not submissive to their male counterparts and when their lives are not dedicated to the raising of a family are shown through the aggressive nature of the Queen and the Duchess, and ultimately Alice’s fall into barbaric womanhood. Throughout Carroll’s story, Alice is everything that a mature woman should be. She is polite, kind, submissive, and has control over her desire to eat. She would take direction from the Mouse, the Caterpillar, the Queen and the Duchess without hesitation.However, during the trial scene of the tale, her fate of womanhood is foreshadowed. During the trial, Alice begins to Brewer 5 take notice of the food that was in the jury room. She immediately beg ins to feel herself becoming larger. When her name was called to take the stand during the trial, the King politely informs Alice that she will not be able to take her seat due to her enlarged size. However, she refuses to entertain the meek King’s instruction. Alice continues to grow and becomes more arrogant and the Queen is forced to order her execution.In the beginning of the fairy tale, Alice is a petite and beautiful girl, but the desire for food turned her into a rude and undesirable woman. Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland not only is influenced by the beliefs of the people living in the Mid-Victorian era, but also by the belief that eating causes inferiority. In the twenty-first century, the image of beauty is causing women of all ages to be concerned with becoming large and undesirable, and Carroll’s story only encourages the overwhelming concern by idealizing petite Alice, creating a grotesque image of large women, and how male authori tarianism should control womanhood.Alice’s fall from grace as she grows larger reinstates that belief and influences readers that to be feminine, one must never become too large and forget the role that Carroll had wanted for women in society. Brewer 6 Work Cited Carroll, Lewis. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Sam’l Gabriel Sons and Company New York, 1916. Electronic. 02. Nov. 2012 Garland, Carina. â€Å"Curious Appetites: Food, Desire, Gender and Subjectivity in Lewis Carroll’s Alice Texts†. Lion and the Unicorn 32. 1 (2008): 22-39.Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Oct. 2012. Geer, Jennifer. â€Å"All Sorts of Pitfalls and Surprises: Competing Views of Idealized Girlhood in Lewis Carroll’s Alice Books. † Children’s Literature 31 (2003): 1-24. Professional Development Collection. Web. 30. Oct. 2012. Helle-Valle, Anna and Per-Elinar Binder. â€Å"In Wonderland: A Phenomenological, Developmental and Self Psychological Analysis of a Child’s Playful Encounter with a New Reality. † Nordic Psychology 61. 2 (2009): 16-28. PsycARTICLES. Web. 30. Oct. 2012.