Egyptian Pyramids Essays (815 words) - Ancient Egyptian Architecture

Egyptian Pyramids When most people think of Ancient Egypt they think of Pyramids. To construct such great monuments required a mastery of architecture, social organization, and art that few cultures of that period could achieve. The oldest pyramid, the Step-Pyramids, grow out of the abilities of two men, King Djoser and Imhotep. Djoser, the second king of 3rd dynasty, was the first king to have hired an architect, Imhotep, to design a tomb (Time-Life Books, 74). Imhotep was known as the father of mathematics, medicine, architecture, and as the inventor of the calendar (White, 40). He had a great idea of stacking mastabas until they reached six tiers, a total of 60 meters high and its base 180 meters by 108 meters (Casson, 118). A glistening costing of limestone was added to the mastabas that made them shimmer in the sun. The main feature of the pyramid was its 92-foot underground shafts and burial room lined with pink granite. It was the first time that this feature appeared (White, 41). Imhotep surrounded Djoser's pyramid with a number of funerary courtyards and temples. He then, surrounded these complexes with a mile long protective wall (Time-Life Books, 74). Another pyramid was Khufu's Great Pyramid. It is the largest tomb every built. It was the height of a forty-story building, and its base was the average size of eight football fields. The pyramid contains about 2,300,000 stone blocks. The limestone was covered with a layer of polished stone to add a shine. Deep inside the pyramid are the tomb chambers, one for the king and another for the queen. Narrow shafts lined with granite lead the way to the tomb chambers (Time-Life Books, 75).Social organization was another key factor in creating such a grand monument. Imhotep was the man that brought forth this sense of organization. He assembled one workforce to quarry the limestone, another to haul the two and half ton stones to the site, and one more to carve the blocks and put them in place (Casson, 129). Just to move one block took the work of forty men. The daily life of the workers constructing the pyramids was one of immense toil spanning over a long period of time. The quarrymen toiled away with soft copper chisels that hardly made a dent in the limestone. Another team dug a network of canals to transport the stones and food for the workers. Finally, another team of workers would haul the massive blocks on wooden sleds and put them into position (Casson, 130-137). This great social organization became the force that knit the country together. Another important group was the artisans. They were the people who decorated the inside of the pyramids. The artisans, also, brought a sense of social organization by the many processes it took to produce a work of art. For instance, the actual sculpting of a statue was not considered a single process, but as on process among many. The quarrymen had to quarry the stone with soft copper chisels, and it was transported to a sculptor. After the sculptor was finished with it, the sculpture was sent to another artisan. This artist would cut hieroglyphs in the statue. The hieroglyphs were about the life of the person that the statue represented. Then, they would send it to a metal worker who inserted the eyes and other details. Finally, the statue was sent to a painter to be painted (White, 153-154). These sculptures were placed in the tomb of a deceased king, as a ka piece. A ka is considered the life force of the deceased king. One can see how exhausting it would be to have a sculpture made, and how much organization was required to produce it. The life of Ancient Egyptian painter was somewhat similar to the life of a sculptor. They both had their share of work. A painter had to learn the important skill of making brushes out of reeds and mixing paint (White, 156). The paint that they used was like tempera paints that we use today. It was a mixture of pigment and water with wax or a kind of glue as a binder (Casson, 125). The painter went through the exhaustive course of draftsmanship lasting many years. They were taught to paint figures the scale (White, 160). The Ancient Egyptians were one of the first people to develop such well-proportioned figure. The Egyptian painter painted murals inside of the pyramids depicting the things that the pharaoh accomplished in his life (Cannon, 50). In conclusion, to create such

Greenwich Alternatives Investments Essay Example

Greenwich Alternatives Investments Essay Example Greenwich Alternatives Investments Essay Greenwich Alternatives Investments Essay Overall, the total return of the SP 500 TR Index may be greater than the Opportunistic but the risk of the index is much higher than the Opportunistic. Furthermore, the April 2012 return of the Opportunistic was greater than the SP 500 TR Index, so the Opportunistic is the best method for investors. Secondly, the following part will examine and make a comparison of the total return and the risk between the Macro strategy, the SP 500 TR Index and the FTSE 100 Index. The chart 4 shows the deference of the total return of April and March 2012, YTD, 3 month and 1 year between the Macro, the FTSE 100 Index and the SP 500 TR Index. Chart 4: The total return of the Macro, FTSE 100 Index, SP 500 TR Index Source: Greenwich Alternatives Investments8 According to the chart, the April 2012 return of the Macro was 0. 8% greater than both the indexes. Furthermore, the March 2012 return of the SP 500 TR Index was the highest with 3. 3% compared to -0. 7% of the Macro but the total of the FTSE 100 Index was the smallest at -1. 8%. If almost of types return of the Macro were bigger than the FTSE 100 Index, there was a change with the YTD return. In addition, the YTD of the Macro was 2. 6% while the rate of FTSE 100 Index got 3% and the highest YTD return was belong to the SP 500 TR Index with 11. 9%. The 3 month return of the Macro was 1. 3% less than the amount of SP 500 TR Index with 7. 1% but it was taller than the FTSE 100 Index (1%). The 1 year return of the Macro was lower than the SP 500 TR Index again when it was 0. 7% compared to 4. 8%. However, there was a huge decrease of the FTSE 100 Index over the same period as it got only -5. 5%. In order to have an overview of the risk of the Macro, the FTSE 100 Index and the SP 500 TR Index, the chart 5 illustrates the standard deviation of 3 and 5 year annualised. : The rate of the Macro is the smallest compared to both the indexes. In addition, the 3 year annualised standard deviation of the SP 500 TR Index and FTSE 100 Index are 15. 6% and 14. 7% much bigger than the Macro with only 3. 8%. Moreover, the 5 year annualised standard deviation of the Macro is 4. 8% while the rate of the SP 500 TR Index and FTSE 100 Index are 19% and 17% over the same period. Therefore, the investors can reduce the risk with the Macro strategy. Chart 5: The Standard deviation of 3 and 5 year annualised of the Macro, FTSE 100 Index, SP 500 TR Index Source: Greenwich Alternatives Investments9 Overall, almost historic return of the SP 500 TR Index were greater than the Macro but the investors could choose the Macro strategy in the future to invest because the April 2012 return of the Macro increased clearly and the risk of the Macro is lower. All hedge fund strategies have different advantages but they allow investors developed their portfolio variegation profits. The strategy weights show the average of each hedge fund strategy in the portfolio. The percentage of the Macro strategy on March 2012 is 8. 2% (takes around 31. 17% in the growth of the Directional Trading Group) when the development of the Opportunistic is 8. 5% on the same period (occupies approximately 21. 63% in the percentage of the Long-Short Equity Group). However, the investors have to face some risks with strategies. For example, some macro problems can produce risk for the Macro. More specifically, the changes in global economies will impact to the governments policies; therefore, the interest rate will have modification. As a result, it affects all majors in the market, such as, bonds, equities. The movement increase the risk of the Macro. Furthermore, the IPOs events, hostile bids and other event-driven opportunities can impact to the Opportunistic because the events make an interim earnings disappointment. Hence, the investors can lose their trust and the Opportunistic have a lot of risk suddenly. In conclusion, there are many methods that investors can develop their portfolio, such as, the hedge funds strategies, some indexes but it is not easy to choose the best investment way. In order to make decision, the investors need to make a comparison of the historic returns and the risk of all methods. It can help them predict the trend of markets, minimize the risk and look for the best opportunity. In the paper, the historic returns of the two hedge fund strategies are not really greater than the SP 500 TR Index and FTSE 100 Index but their risks are much lower than both the indexes. Therefore, in my opinion, the investors should use the hedge fund strategies because they can decrease risk more strongly than the indexes.

Education 12 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Education 12 - Essay Example The parent should also make the effort of establishing the child’s behavior in school by talking to the teachers and other school staff. They should also attend meetings and follow up on their children’s academic performance. The parent should also attend any parent-teacher conferences organized. The teachers and parents have to discuss together the student’s grades in class, his or her behavior as well as other accomplishments (Bennett, Finn & Cribb, 2000). According to the article Playing Their Parts: Parents and Teachers Talk About Parental Involvements in Public Schools, parents should follow up with their children especially when they realize that the children are having trouble with their academics. Parents should also make sure that their children are doing home-works and other assignments given to them. For any improvement to be realized on the child, the parent must take part. Some parents don’t prepare their children well for school and neither do they teach them basic manners and etiquette. Probably parents need to have knowledge on how to treat their school-going children. They should be taught on the basic routines that will keep them informed about their children’s progress in school and their academic performance. Parents should also learn how to establish whether their children are probably having trouble in school and be able to talk them through it or offer any necessary support. Most of the time, parents tend let children under the guidance of their teachers without making any follow up (Bennett, Finn & Cribb, 2000). Mrs. Youngsmith is my most memorable teacher. After moving from California to Florida, she made sure that I adjust well in this new environment without much trouble. She made this period a great learning experience for me. She was an effective caregiver because she would stay before and after school and help me with homework, tutorials and class

A paper about change management and organizational leadership- Case Study

A paper about change management and organizational leadership- situation and how to deal with it using a style of leadership- collegue sample included - Case Study Example Good leaders are those who can dexterously handle the paradoxes associated with the organization, and steer the organization to heights unimaginable. However, many managers always attest to the fact that handling changes can sometimes be challenging. Research show that it is the methods employed in handling implementation that sometimes are not suitable for the prevailing circumstances in a particular organization, and thus the imminent failure witnessed in such situations. Consider a case in an organization, say ABC, in which the management wants to give an overhaul to the current humanistic values. As is the case with humans, change is never something that they are ready to welcome. This necessitates the need for a better approach that will not stir rebellion from the employee. Nickols (2010) for instance, presents an analysis of four strategies that are vital to managing change in any organization. He centers his argument on a number of aspects regarding the nature of change. These aspects include the extent of the change i.e. more radical and transformative changes require a strategy that is environmentally adaptive, and which might fail when dealing with a less radical change. The other aspect is the stakes that the change has, for instance, a change with high stakes requires the application of almost all the four strategies, while moderate stakes are totally against an approach such as the power-coercive strategy. The degree of resistance the cha nge is bound to encounter is another aspect, strong resistance favors the use of power-coercive and/or environmental-adaptive strategy while a weak resistance is more receptive to either or a combination of rational-empirical strategy and normative-re-educative strategy. Another aspect of great importance is the period within which execution of the change is to take place. Here, he notes that Short time changes require power-coercive strategy to execute, while long-term changes thrive well

Starbucks Company Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Starbucks Company Paper - Essay Example As a company, Starbucks has various strengths that have seen it make such great achievements. Starbucks is a large international company, which has expanded its operations in 58 countries globally. This expansion on the global arena has allowed the company become one of the most profitable, generating a revenue in excess of $5000 million in 2004 (Goldman, 2007). The other strength associated with the company is the well and already build brand name, which is well known globally. The company’s brand name is well recognized and is associated with quality products, allowing the company to be very competitive in the market segment that it serves. Another strength associated with the company is that it is one of those companies that respects and greatly values their employees. In the year 2005, the company was ranked among the top 100 companies most coveted by employees (Eicher, 2006). The company is recognized for its culture of rewarding its employees, while providing them with a very conducive working environment, rating as one of the most respected employer. More to the strengths of the company is its ethical values, mostly focused towards environmental preservation and conservation, as it undertakes its business. Lastly, the company has diversified its range of products offer, including within its offers hot and cold drinks, snacks and entertainment such as music, films, and books (Sull, 2007). However, there are some weaknesses associated with the company. Though it is well known for its innovation in product range offers, the innovation of the company is in doubt, regarding its sustainability (Goldman, 2007). The expansion strategy of the company is the other of its weakness. The company is known to be the most expanding companies, more so in the 1990s, having an average of a new branch open every single day. Such expansion strategy poses a threat in the management of the company. Lack of portfolio risk spreading is yet another weakness associated with the company. Over a third of the company’s stores are located in the USA. This dependence on the home market is not in the very best interest of the company’s future, which needs to seek a number of other portfolio countries, to make it possible for the company to spread its business risks (Charles, 2006). The comoany is mostly dependent on a single product range, coffee. It only engages in the sale of other products at minimal levels, specializing in coffee products as its main product offering. This reduces the economies of scale of the company, while at the same time increasing the business risks involved with a single line of product offer for a business (Sull, 2007). The company has been able to capitalize on opportunities that come its way, such as diversifying to the entertainment sector, where the customers can access music, films and books, while at the same time enjoying the coffee and snacks offered by the company (Eicher, 2006). The company has other oppor tunities, which it can take advantage of, such as the diversification to fair trade products, which will integrate well with its entertainment and beverage offering, owing to its wide customer base and the well-built company’s brand name (Goldman, 2007). The company has another great opportunity, of collaborating and co-branding with other manufacturers, to increase its sources of revenues, through taking the advantage of its well-known brand name to

Market and Company Analysis of Nestle

Market and Company Analysis of Nestle Nestlà ©, the worlds leading food company, produces nutritious food and is conscious of the importance of informing the consumer about the link between nutrition and health. A healthy diet contributes significantly to the overall quality of a good life. 2.2 Nestle Ghana LTD **Note: Please REPHRASE and COMBINE this section; its taken WORD BY WORD from the available source. Source 1: Marketing Information and Research Task 1and 3.pdf Source 2: Nestle Pure Life Drinkng Water.pdf Nestle Ghana limited is a private company operating in Ghana. Its activities include condensed and evaporated dairy products, beverages, coffee, tea, and chocolate and confectionary. The company employs four hundred and seventy two work forces. Nestle started business in Ghana in 1957 under the trading name of Nestle products Ghana limited with the importation of nestle products such as milk and chocolate. In 1968, it was incorporated as Food Specialties (Ghana) limited to manufacture and market locally well known Nestle brands. The company became nestle Ghana limited in 1987. In 1971 the production of two products, Ideal Milk and milo started at the factory in Tema, the port city. The factory has since been further developed and now also produces carnation milk, Chocomilo, Chocolim, Cerelac, Cerevita and Nescafe 3 in 1. These products are not only produced for Ghana but also exported across West Africa. In 2003, Nestle Ghana limited invested in a new warehouse named the Central Dist ribution Centre, located next to the factory in Tema. The company runs sales offices with warehouse in Kumasi, Takoradi, Koforidua and tamale, all in Ghana. The business activity of Nestle Ghana limited is a direct contribution to the economy of Ghana. For all these and other endeavours, nestle Ghana limited has been recognized by the Government of Ghana and other bodies as a responsible corporate citizen. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Nestlà © Ghana Limited started business in Ghana in 1957, with the importation of Nestlà © products such as milk and chocolates. The company built its factory at Tema in 1971 and started the production of IDEAL Milk and MILO. In 1987 Food Specialties Ghana Limited became Nestlà © Ghana Limited. Since then, the product portfolio has increased with the additional production of CARNATION, CARNATION TEA CREAMER, CHOCOLIM, CHOCOMILO, CERELAC (Maize, Wheat, Wheat Bean, 3 Fruits, Honey, Rice and Banana), NESCAFÄ’ Crem 3 in 1 and NESQUIK, which is produced for import. Other products like NESCAFÄ’ and MAGGI are imported from Cà ´te dIviore. Nestlà © Ghana Limited continues to thrive in business because great importance is placed on value creation for our stakeholders and customers. Ensuring long term profitable growth and sustainability has been achieved by building on the companys strengths and balancing the portfolio on three (3) sound pillars: milk, cocoa beverag e, and culinary. As a member of the Central and West Africa region (CWAR), Nestlà © Ghana aims to be an efficient and competitive inter-company supplier: using and contributing to CWAR synergies by becoming a sound manufacturing base for Ghanaian exports like cocoa beverage; aiming to increase Nestlà © Ghana exports from ten percent (10%) to thirty percent (30%) of annual turnover. To achieve this, Nestlà © Ghana is diligently improving processes through capacity usage and working capital optimization, such as the introduction of environmentally friendly equipment, and upgrading information systems, with the introduction of GLOBE (SAP). The advent of these changes enhances and enforces Nestlà © Ghanas determination develop Nestlà © employees. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= In 2003, Nestlà © Ghana Ltd invested in a new warehouse, the Central Distribution centre, located next to the factory in Tema. The company also runs sales offices with warehouses in Kumasi, Takoradi, Koforidua and Tamale. The business activity of Nestlà © Ghana Ltd is a direct contribution to the Ghanaian economy. For all these and other endeavours, Nestlà © Ghana Ltd has been recognized by Government and other bodies as a responsible citizen. Since its establishment, Nestle Ghana limited has significantly stimulated the Ghanaian economy with a dynamic, well trained dedicated work force, manufacturing and marketing well-known brands such as: Ideal Full Cream Evaporated Milk, Carnation Filled Milk, Carnation Tea Creamer, Milo, Chocolim, Chocomilo Cerevita porridge, Cerelac Maize Milk And Cereal Wheat / Milk. Nestle Ghana also imports and distributes brands such as: NIDO milk powder, lactogen infant formula, NAN infant formula, Nescafe soluble Coffee, and Maggi Bouillons and cold sauces. Nestle Ghana Ltd. is now seeking to capitalize on the goodwill enjoyed by it brand chocolim, by introducing chocoless, a brand extension, aimed at generating growth for the company. ANALYSIS Industry Analysis Industry of Cocoa in Ghana Cocoa beans were first introduced to Ghana in 1878 by Tettah Quarshie. Thereafter, the cultivation of cocoa increased steadily until Ghana became the worlds largest cocoa producer, supplying more than one-third of world production by the mid-1960s. By the early 1980s, production was less than half that of two decades before; market conditions were aggravated by a drop of nearly 75% in world cocoa prices between 1977 and 1982. In 1983/84, cocoa production totaled 158,000 tons, the lowest since independence; by 1999, production had rebounded to about 409,000 tons (second highest after Cà ´te dIvoire). The Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board purchases and (at least in theory) exports the entire cocoa crop, as well as coffee and shea nuts. Cocoa smuggling was made punishable by death in 1982. [http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Ghana-AGRICULTURE.html#ixzz1DlAhbER2] Since the introduction of democracy in Ghana in 1992, the cocoa beverage industry has shown considerable growth. Total number of players is estimated around five. Difficulties in discovering this number arise due to increasing of imported product by unauthorized company. The advent of a democratic government has led to a more business friendly environment and privatization policies have led to an increase in the size of the private sector in the country. Leading Businesses in the Industry Cocoa beverage industry in Ghana is highly fragmented, with the presence of multinationals, domestic and foreign companies. Except in categories where domestic players are protected by legislation, multinationals usually dominate. Notable players include Cadbury (Ghana), Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) and NABB Brothers. It is common for large international companies to form alliances with Ghanaian companies, to repackage and/or market their products in Ghana. This lowers the risk of market entry, as well as enabling the international company to benefit from the existing marketing and distribution capabilities of the Ghanaian company. Factors That Affect Growth Economically, Ghana was in the lower tier of developing countries and classified as a least developed country (LCD) by international development agencies because its per capita annual income was US$400 [textbook]. A positive outlook is forecast for consumer goods in Ghana. One of the main contributory factors will be the countrys political and economic stability. Higher disposable incomes and increasing company advertising are expected to boost value growth. The average Ghanaian will spend more on packaged food, especially on items previously regarded as luxuries. Value growth will also benefit from the increasing sophistication of Ghanaian consumers and improving product quality. Food items that are fast and convenient, such as pasta and noodles, will continue to post dynamic value growth. The sector faces many challenges caused by the environment in Ghana such as poor infrastructure, poor standards of education, and high levels of corruption and a generally low level of disposable income of the population. There is little manufacturing for export, but a significant activity exists in the manufacture of fast moving consumer goods aimed at the domestic market. In recent years, multinational corporations have increased their investment in physical plants, information technology and staff training with a view to improving their operational performance. The consumer goods sector is a major part of the manufacturing sector in Ghana. And like all other manufacturers, the consumer goods industry is characterized by low valued added production. What we see are processors who process imported raw materials into finished products, with very little value added. Multinational companies operating in this industry hardly add value because they import concentrates from their parent companies, which they convert into finished products with minimal value added. The industry is dominated by wholesalers and distributors. In fact, distributors and wholesalers account for over 50% of total sales within the industry. Their dominance is as a result of fragmentation nature at the retail end of the market. The retail end lacked adequate supermarket and glossary stores. They mainly comprise of roadside kiosks, stores, and small sized restaurants, whose sales volumes are generally low. Distribution to the retail market is hampered by huge investments required for delivery trucks general bad road network. Marketing Strategy -What types of marketing strategies are prevalent within the industry? -Determine current operational/management trend within the industry? Neslte Creating Shared Value (Source: Nestlà © Creating SharedValue Report 2009.pdf) care about the people water treatment Water treatment Because good water quality in the areas surrounding our plants has direct benefits for our business, society and the environment all our water is treated in wastewater treatment plants. Our preference is to use municipal wastewater plants to ensure we return only cleaned water back into the environment, but where these are insufficient, we invest in our own on-site facilities (approximately 292 to date, including our latest in Tema, Ghana). We remove 97% of the organic load of the water leaving our factories before it is returned to the environment. In 2009, we discharged 91.34 million m3 of water, a decrease of more than 5% on 2008, with an average level of organic load of 91 mg COD/l (Chemical Oxygen Demand per litre). During 2009, we have reviewed this KPI and have determined that figures for previous years were underreported. Competitor Analysis Nestle Ghana was facing a direct competition and indirect competition. Their direct competitors are Cadburry Schweppes Ghana Ltd, NABB Brothers, Cocoa Processing Company, Allied Cocoa Products Ltd and Kings Cocoa Processing Company Ltd (KCPCL). All those competitors are manufactured and marketed cocoa products. Cadburry and NABB Brothers are multinational companies which have wide experience in international marketing. The rest are local companies which plant cocoa and manufactured cocoa products for Ghanaian. Multinational companies which enter Ghana earlier than Nestle is Cadburry Schweppes Ghana Ltd entered Ghana on 1910 for its own benefit. It was 100% owned by Cadburry Schweppes (UK) with 120 employees. NABB brothers is imported cocoa products to Ghana, there are the leading distributor of supermarket products. The earliest local company which produced cocoas product is Cocoa Processing Company Limited established in 1965 and situated in the picturesque port city of Tema in Ghana. The company comprises three factories (2 Cocoa Factories and a Confectionery Factory). Kings Cocoa Processing Company Limited is a limited liability company incorporated in Ghana on November 30, 1981. The shares of the company are publicly traded on the Ghana Stock Exchange. Allied Cocoa Products Ltd was serving Ghana since 1998. Kings Cocoa Processing Company Limited is a private limited liability company which was incorporated in 2000 to take over the cocoa processing business of the parent company, Luki Investments Limited, which has been trading since 1992. Furthermore, Nestle Ghana was facing indirect competition as well. In Ghana, Milo and Chocolim were marketed for cocoa products by Nestle. They have to compete with other products which are not cocoa products because Ghana also planted tea, coffee and else and can be manufactured into variety products. Cocoa might be chosen by children and teenagers but not elders. Competition by Product Cocoa is the largest cash crops in Ghana since 19th century. However, the earliest local company serving cocoa products for citizen is Cocoa Processing Products in 1965. Cadburry Schweppes entered Ghana on 1910 while Nestle started in Ghana on 1957. This time frame show us that even though Ghana have plant cocoas for a long time but they only manage to produce it on 1965 because they are classified as a least developing country (LDC). Their products are chocolate drink and Golden Tree chocolate bars. The Cocoa beverage market is divided into three categories based on the product: The Premium Segment, Mass Market and Institutional Market. Nestle had a strong market in Premium and Mass Market segment. The Institutional Market is for products that contain basic unsweetened cocoa powder supplied to school, hospitals, the armed forces, and so on. Nestle pulverized cocoa drink consisted of  Milo and Chocolim. The major brand Nestle which manufactured Milo was the leader in the premium category, while state owned Cocoa Processing Company manufactured Golden Tree Vitaco was the strongest in the Institutional Company. As we can se here, all of the companies were marketed cocoas products. Bournvita and Richoco which manufactured by Cadburry Schweppes Ghana Ltd, imported Ovaltine which marketed by NABB Brothers, Golden Tree Vitaco Instant Drinking Chocolate which made by Cocoa Processing Company, Broma which made by Allied Cocoa Products Ltd and Kings Cocoa Processing Company Ltd (KCPCL). All those competitors are manufactured and marketed cocoa products. Competition by Price Ghana has a long history of government-controlled prices for consumer goods and people were quiet sensitive to price changes and were said to have long-term negative perceptions of companies that were perceived to engage in price gouging. These happened because Ghana was in the lower tier of developing countries and classified as a least developed country (LDC) by international development agencies because its per capita annual income was US$400. Nestle (Ghana) needs to develop products that are affordable to the common people because they are dealing with a developing country which has a   low per capita income of US$400. Nestle perceived better quality products were sold at premium of 5% to 10% over competitors. The products were becoming less affordable with waning real incomes. There was also increasing price pressure from imports that were flooding the market as a result of import liberalization. People in developing countries look for affordable products and do not pay attention to the eminence of the products thereby Nestle (Ghana) should not have its products above the average price of  similar products in the market. Thus, Nestle (Ghana) should make its products more affordable to the common people. The disadvantage for Nestle (Ghana) is the external economic environment was increasingly hostile and risky with the rapid increases in inflations; high interest rates and the high level of currency instability were leading them to increase the prices. Competition by Promotion Nestle also operated its own sales outlet and largely distributed through supermarkets and departments. Nestle had 100 regular distributors nationwide and the biggest distributor was Unilever s G.B. Ollivant subsidiary. Nestle used an amalgamation of media advertising and sales promotions targeted at the youth for Milo. The company sponsored highly popular youth soccer leagues, sponsored tennis tournaments and marathon race for all ages. Sales promotion technique of wet sampling (free drinks) was intended at promoting the sales. Media advertising promoted the themes of good health, growing up, and success as closely related and linked to drinking Milo. Nestle s strategy in Ghana was to ensure high awareness of its brands, widespread distribution and quality of its products which helped trounce its competitors in the cocoa beverage market. The statistics shows that only 35.8% of the population of Ghana lives in urban areas, the rest 64.2% of the population lives in rural areas where there are low levels of consumer durable ownership such as telephone, television, house, radio and low circulation of print media. Such setbacks in rural areas mean that mass promotion was viable primarily in the urban areas. The main drawback is that companies have to use large investment in promotion of product into the rural areas to exploit 64.2% of the population. As an alternative of spending 150 million cedis (about US$150,800) on sales promotions in urban areas on non media promotion of 60% and 40% covered media expenditure, Nestle can utilize the investment to aggressively promote the product in rural areas. It will help Nestle (Ghana) to venture into the majority of the population and take control of the market from both sides. Competition by Market share Nestle pulverized cocoa drink consisted of Milo and Chocolim. The two products were quite similar with sixty percent of the company s powdered sales from Milo and forty percent from Chocolim. Chocolim was aimed at rural areas and low-end urban market while Milo was the premier brand and was targeted to the high-end of the market. Nestle brands were sold at premiums of 5% to 10% over competitors because if its perceived better quality in the market. The Cocoa beverage market was divided into three segments: Premium Segment, Mass Market and Institutional Market. Nestle managers estimated their share of 80% in the cocoa beverage market; other observers believed Nestle share was closer to 55%. Major competitors for Nestle were Bournvita and Richoco, manufactured by Cadbury (Ghana) with an estimated 20% to 40% market share. Cadbury (Ghana) was 100% owned by Cadbury Schweppes (U.K) and had 120 employees. Another entrant, though on a much smaller scale, was state-owned Cocoa Processing Company (CPC) which made Golden Tree Vitaco Instant Drinking Chocolate. In the institutional market CPC was the strongest market. An additional category of competition came from imports, the most prominent of which was Ovaltine, marketed by NABB Brothers, a leading distributor of supermarket products. Milo was the leader in the premium category, while Golden Tree was the strongest in the Institutional Market. Richoco was believed to lead Chocolim by about 5% to 10% market share in the mass market. http://www.goldentreeghana.com/thecompany.html http://www.alibaba.com/member/lumor/aboutus.html http://www.scn.org/rdi/kw-coc.htm http://business.everythinghana.com/index.php?option=com_mtreetask=viewlinklink_id=48Itemid=26 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bean-to-bar_chocolate_manufacturers http://alliedcocoa.com/index.asp Definition of Population growth rate: The average annual percent change in the population, resulting from a surplus (or deficit) of births over deaths and the balance of migrants entering and leaving a country. The rate may be positive or negative. The growth rate is a factor in determining how great a burden would be imposed on a country by the changing needs of its people for infrastructure (e.g., schools, hospitals, housing, roads), resources (e.g., food, water, electricity), and jobs. Rapid population growth can be seen as threatening by neighboring countries. SWOT Analysis Strengths Global food producer, located in over 100 countries. Consistently one of the worlds largest producers of food products, Global sales in 2008 topped $101 billion. Nestlà © provides quality brands and products and line extensions that are well-known, top-selling brands. Successful due in part to their unquestionable ability to keep major brands consistently in the forefront of consumers minds (and in their shopping carts) by renovating existing product lines, keeping major brands from slipping into saturation/decline and having superior access to distribution channels. Weaknesses Growth in their organic food sales division was flat in 2008, even though the industry grew 8.9%. Nestle Ghana lack of rural market promotion Products are not affordable by common people Opportunities In todays health conscious societies, they can introduce more health-based products, and because they are a market leader, they would likely be more successful. Provide allergen free food items, such as gluten free and peanut free. They launched a new premium line of higher cocoa content chocolates dubbed Nestlà © Treasures Gold, in order to cash in on the recession economy in which consumers cut back on luxury goods, but regularly indulge in candy and chocolate. Opened Nestlà © Cafà ©s in major cities to feature Nestlà © products. Nestle strategy in Ghana was to ensure high awareness of its brands, widespread distribution and quality of its products which helps trounce its competitors in the cocoa beverage market with its theme of good health, growing up and success as closely related to its products. Expand to Institutional Market Nestle (Ghana) needs to develop products that are affordable to the common people because they are dealing with a developing country which has a low per capita income of US$400. Threats Any contamination of the food supply, especially e-coli. Raw chocolate ingredient prices are soaring; dairy costs alone rose 50% in 2008, this cuts heavily into their profit margins and often gets passed on to consumers, by shrinking the packaging in a way that is almost unnoticeable-therefore the consumer is paying the same prices for less product. They have major competitors, like Cadburry Schweppes Ghana Ltd, NABB Brothers, Cocoa Processing Company, Allied Cocoa Products Ltd and Kings Cocoa Processing Company Ltd (KCPCL) The external economic environment was increasingly hostile and risky with the rapid increases in inflations; high interest rates and the high level of currency instability were leading them to increase the prices. RECOMMENDATIONS We would suggest Nestlà © (Ghana) should make products affordable to the common people. By developing Nestlà © (Ghana) products that are affordable to the common they can reach majority of the population because they are dealing with a developing country which has a low per capita income of US$400. Nestlà ©s perceived better quality products can help it market in rural areas if the product is affordable. It will help Nestlà © (Ghana) also exploit 64.2% of the rural population and take control of market from both the sides. It will also help Nestlà © expand into new market segments like the Institutional Marketing. People in developing countries look for affordable products and dont pay attention to the eminence of the products thereby Nestlà © (Ghana) should not have its products above the average price of similar products in the market. Nestlà © (Ghana) can make maximum profits from a developing country like Ghana and exploit to every side of the population, urban and rural.

Financial Modelling

Financial Modeling Discipline – Guiding Principles A good financial analyst has the discipline of adhering to a list of guiding principles to help ensure that the development of the financial model achieves the desired results. By following these simple steps, a financial  analyst should be able to build a financial model that is simple, accurate and most importantly consistent, to help build confidence in a financial decision making process. Financial Modeling Discipline can be acquired in all 3 stages of the financial modeling process: †¢ Specification Stage Design Stage †¢ Build Stage Specification Stage 1. Be very clear on the effort involved and the dependencies before committing to deadlines –  the financial modeling exercise is usually on the critical path! 2. Get the algebra right — make sure all revenues, cash flow inwards and assets are positive while expenses, cash outflows and liabilities are negative. This will ensure that we rarely use the minus sign in formulae and can use the sum() function. 3. Avoid all calculations that will cause circular references. Design Stage 1.Ensure that each assumption is input only once in a financial model. 2. Define scenario variables clearly in a separate â€Å"Scenario manager† section or worksheet in the financial model. 3. Define the time unit that is to be used consistently throughout the financial model. 4. Group all assumptions and inputs into one sheet and state units clearly in the financial model. 5. Avoid executing complex calculations in the â€Å"Output section† of the financial model. 6. Build an Interface sheet if you are working with a financial model with multiple workbooks.Build Stage 1. Always note all assumptions, sources and calculation methods in the financial model for future reference. 2. Avoid complicated macros in the financial model if possible – macros make it difficult to follow logic, spot errors or amend the financial model, besid es bloating the file size. 3. Lay all financial model calculations in chronological order – Avoid having calculations in one row refer to calculations in lower rows. 4. Do not try to do too much in one cell with a large complex calculation formula. Break the calculation into blocks.Lay the financial model calculations out in blocks, to enable copying formulae across columns or down rows saving time in developing and reviewing financial models. 5. All financial model calculation and output sections should be locked to avoid inadvertent data entry therein. 6. Include charts in the output section for easy understanding, analysis and auditing of the financial model. 7. Always keep back-ups preferably on separate disks and leave the ‘autosave’ option on for your financial model workbook. 8. Stick to a consistent version labelling system eg â€Å"company xyz_2/2/09_V02_DC†.Save several versions of your financial model each day and retain old versions. 9. Avoid j umping to conclusions / sharing results based on preliminary financial model results. Common Mistakes in Financial Modeling While reviewing and auditing financial models, a good financial analyst should be alert to the common types of errors that often plague financial models. These are often less due to errors in Excel or other financial model applications you may be using, and more because of human error in formulating calculations or conversions in a financial model. Common Errors in Financial Modeling: 1.Conversion factors (kilobytes to megabytes, monthly to annual, millions  to thousands, etc). 2. Range included in totals (certain rows not included). 3. Calculation formula not replicated  across columns. 4. Wrong row references in calculation formula. 5. Wrong column references in starting  time period  (each column should typically contain references only from that column). 6. Change in cell references in formulae referring to other workbooks. 7. Algebraic errors (wron g use of brackets, plus/minus errors). 8. Range limits not set (eg, having negative  number of customers or negative distributor commission payments). . Hard coded dummy numbers / assumptions perpetuating in the financial model due to oversight. 3 Golden rules for Financial Analysts to Avoid Errors in Financial Models: 1. Be diligent when building the financial model, a little concentration and attention to detail early on will save you a lot of time and work later.2. Ask another person not in the financial modeling team to conduct a detailed audit, very often a fresh pair of eyes may spot errors then are’nt obvious to someone who’s been looking at the same spreadsheet for days or weeks on end. . Perform sanity checks on outputs through benchmarking exercises, always use your common sense and business knowledge to ensure that the results of your financial model (e. g. individual product revenues or cost items, etc) are realistic and aligned with what you may expect t hem to be. Designing a Financial Model – Making it Idiot Proof Always design a financial model for people who did not build it and for people with limited understanding of financial modeling and analysis techniques.This will help you ensure the usefulness and relevance of the financial model, and preserve its longevity long after you have completed the financial modeling exercise. In each financial model workbook, you will typically need some or all of the following worksheets: 1. Administration and documentation 2. Assumptions 3. Major blocks such as marketing or capital expenditure (CAPEX) 4. Calculation of revenues, costs, balance sheets, ratios, cashflows 5. Scenario managers and displaysTo enable modular team working, clarity in use and easy auditing, use a standard financial model design template and color codes developed specifically for your company, and ensure that everyone gets familiar with the standardized format. In that way, the entire company will have a single approach to formatting financial models. All users, be they senior executives or junior financial analysts, will then be able to differentiate between cells in the financial model that are hard coded, calculations or outputs, and intepret different financial models from different teams without ambiguity.

ACA Paper

Therefore, I will give some my personal inspirations, which earn from this course, to illustrate these deficiencies in the AC. Finally, I will present a brief conclusion about evolution of laws, which will influence the future. Five Provisions of the AC The five provisions are related to the humans rights and people daily life. I choose these five provisions, because I think they have good aspects, which can embrace American spirit and value rights of humans, but they have some deficiencies, which need to be innovated. Some of them are the most popular topic in nowadays, and others have great impacts in people future life.Therefore, I want to choose them, and clarify my personal views of them, which I will present following. Provision 1. My first provision is Sec. 1555. â€Å"Freedom not to participate in Federal health insurance programs†( PACE, 201 0 This provision illustrates that â€Å"everyone in America has a right to choice whether if participate in federal insurance c are program, and who opt out federal insurance care program will not be PACE, 2010 According to this provision, I firmly consider that everyone can choose to out of Beamer without penalty.In my personal point of view, really admire this provision. I always considered everyone should join Beamer before, but now, I know it is not mandatory. This provision can absolutely represent the spirit of America. When I originally knew America, I learned that freedom, democracy, and equity are the essential America spirit. Sec. 1 555 completely embodies human rights. Individuals have right to freely decide their own affairs, no one can enforce them to do anything illegally. Provision 2.My second provision is individual mandate provision. † individuals who are not covered by a healthcare insurance will be charged an annual tax penalty f $95, or up to 1% of income over the filing minimum, this provision takes effect on January 2014, but this fee will be more greater, this fee will rise to a minimum of $695 (SO,085 for families), or 2. 5% of income over the filing minimum, on 2016. This fee is prorate, if individuals are not covered by a minimum insurance in half a year, they should pay half of $695 ($2,085 for families).Moreover, exemptions are permitted for religious reasons, or for those for whom the least expensive policy would exceed 8% of their income, and US citizens who qualify as residents of a foreign county under the IRS foreign earned income exclusion rule†( The Individual Shared Responsibility Provision, 2014 In my perspective, I believe that this provision has a reasonable aspect, but some explanations, in individual mandate provision, are inconsiderate. First of all, this provision gives poor people who incomes can not afford the extra taxes. Think it is beneficial to poor people and release their financial burden.It also gives US citizens who live and work in a foreign country this exemption. In addition, exemption for religious reason also can emb race a humankind idea. However, this provision is unreasonable in total. According to Sec. 1 555, people should not get a penalty for opting out of minimum health insurance, but this provision seems to like exchanging the penalty to extra tax. This point is inconsiderate, because it enforces everyone to participate Beamer, otherwise people will be punished. The government should not use such a means to compel citizens participate health insurance program, even though health insurance is good for them.As I have mentioned above, I always consider America is an equal country, but an extra tax breaks my belief. In my personal view, government would take a moderate provision. Government should help people get health insurance through health education. Let people know the importance of health insurance, make people have a long-tern view of their own health. In this way, people will join in insurance consciously. Just like the Florida smoking ban. Florida is the first state which sues toba cco companies, and using compensations to educate people keep away from cigarettes.According to this case, I firmly believe that let people know always more rational than penalties. Provision 3. † Protecting young adults and eliminating burdens on families and genuineness, which is a beneficial provision to all young people who under 26- year-old. These young adults are permitted to remain on their parents health insurance programs, even if they on long live with their parent, are married, are not dependent on parents' tax return, or are not students†( Young Adults and the Affordable Care Act: Protecting Young Adults and Eliminating Burdens on Families and Businesses,201 0). Horology believe this provision is beneficial to all young adults and children. As know, the cheapest bronze level of health care insurance is approximately 5500 per year, and this level insurance, in my opinion, is very limited to utilization. If parents have higher level health insurance, their chi ldren also get higher protection, and families will save more money. Therefore, young people can remain on their parents' insurance not only reduce costs of families, but also will enhance their own health condition.Moreover, I also think, for extending health insurance coverage of young people, some actions can be implemented. Comparing with China, the government gives all school funds to support students buying their health insurances. Young people on school will get a discount for their lath insurances, which means students only need pay few fees to have their own health insurances. Furthermore, companies buying insurance for their employees is also compulsory. Therefore, America government can diversify the way of extending coverage of insurance of young people to lead more of them join in the benefits of insurances. Provision 4. Medicaid Drug Rebate Program also benefits to society, drug manufacturers will get rebates from states, which including, innovator drugs will obtain 23 . 1% of average manufacturer price per unit, blood clotting factor drugs will again 17. % price rebates per unit, non-innovator or multiple source drugs will get 13% average manufacturer price†( Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, 2014 ). According to Medicaid Drug Rebate Program, all people can buy these drugs cheaper, which means people are affordable for some daily drugs and some special diseases' drugs. In my perspective, this provision lets poor people are affordable to their drugs. Ally think it can improve people's health conditions. However, a problem should be defined that not every drug will get a rebate. As a consequence, drug manufacturers in this program will eve a risk to barely manufacture these drugs which can get rebates. Therefore, some useful drugs will not be produced for out of the program. It will cause these non- rebate drugs to merge a market shortage, and people will terribly hard buy these drugs. Therefore, the government should also balance the ratio of re bate drugs and non-rebate drug, and improve drug market condition.Provision 5. † Health Care Education Reconciliation Act of 201 0 has a provision that Chain restaurants and food vendors with 20 or more locations are required to display the caloric content of their foods on menus, drive-through menus, ND vending machines. Additional information, such as saturated fat, carbohydrate, and sodium content, must also be made available upon request†( Federal Health Care Reform, 2010 This provision is available for the customers to distinguish their foods' ingredients, through this way, customers can judge a food whether if good for their health.According to a report, â€Å"more than one-third ( 34. 9% or 78. 6 million ) of U. S adults are obese†( Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2014 ). Obesity has been the most popular disease in America and will cause a lot of subsequent diseases, including hypertension, hyperglycemia, and cardiograph. Therefore, the governm ent who regulates chain restaurants and other big food companies to illustrate their foods' calorie and other ingredients, which ingest excessively will result to obesity, is a good way to improve the health situation of individuals.In my personal point of view, although the government's action is reasonable, it is very limited to realistic circumstance. People know the way of calculation necessary caloric for daily life, bur sports and diets are proper means to keep health. Government need to educate their people to recognize lately life and improve their diets. However, this is an extremely difficult way to improve persons' health, because adults have accustomed their foods and their living habits.Therefore, how to initiate a new health education for a new generation and tell them good diets and living habits become significant. In conclusion, good health care is not to treat patient, it is reasonable to prevent ills from humans through improve their behaviors and thoughts. Regula tions of the AC The three regulations are enacted by executive agencies for supplementation of the AC. The three regulations are all related to people's health and their lily life. In my opinion, the first regulation, which will mention, is a good sample for the government instructing humans in a healthy life.The second regulation also protects people who cannot afford their healthcare fees. The third regulation is close to people work and safety. Nevertheless, I believe that the government should modify these three regulation continuously to provider citizens a better situation. Regulation 1. The first regulation is just existing on September 2014, which is â€Å"Guidance for Industry Reporting Drug Sample Information Under Section 6004 of the Affordable Care and Drug Administration, 2014 In my perspective, this regulation has 2 praiseworthy points.Firstly, manufacturers need report information of drugs on the internet. This is very convenient for the ETC supervising quantity and category Of drugs and assessing these drugs demand and supply. In this way, the F-DC can indicate a commercial tendency of these drugs, and accordingly the FDA forecasts what diseases will be happened. This is cheaper than paperwork. Secondly, These drugs reported by manufacturers, which usually have side effects or dangerous ingredients. Therefore, monitoring these drugs is necessary for people's health safety.For example, We know some medications have an ingredient named ephedrine is used for manufacturing methamphetamine, also called ice drug. Some lawbreakers use these medications to extract ephedrine. Therefore, for preventing this case happening, drugs reporting is mandatory. Nevertheless, this regulation need to be consummated. Electronic reporting is a reasonable way to record information, but 2 shortages must be considered. Electronic information leakage has been a serious problem now, although HAIFA has enacted the data breach notification rules. The information safety sys tem should be reinforced.In addition, supervising manufacturers reporting correct information is requisite. Whatever these manufacturers hide information for financial reason or unintentional mistake. These producers need to be audited. Regulation 2. The second pending regulation is † the State Medicaid HIT Plan, Planning Advance Planning Document, and Implementation Advance Planning. In the regulation, SMS wants to invite tenders from the public to design a health information collection software, which can reduce paperwork and collect arsenal health information efficiently.In this regulation, SMS has defined some detail requirements of this software, which includes information of fingerprints Of people, suspension Of Medicaid Payments and re-screening Of Medicaid and chip providers every five years†( Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services, 2014 These details are reasonable, also deem that an electronic tool is not only convenient for government using and collecting basi c data, but is also useful to people recognize their health information. Person just need a cellophane to manage their own physical condition data.However, mom important rules do not cover in this regulation, and this regulation also has its own deficiencies. Think two managements are required in this regulation. The first of all, there is a possible issue that some information cannot be matched from different software, when they are sent to each other. SMS should make a identical standard in order to all collecting data in diversified health data software can be commonly handled. Finally, for information abusing and breach, SMS should through HIPPO to monitor data of health of software providers and improve the system for safety of data ace ritzy Regulation 3.The third regulation has been exiting, which is† people applies healthcare insurance, and the insurance needs to take effect in ninety days. All insurance companies cannot delay applicants' insurances beyond ninety days with any excuse. However, this period can only be amended by the government. This is the Ninety-Day Waiting period Department of Health an Human Services, 2014 I firmly believe that the regulation will be admired by all people. This regulation gives people a safeguard, because people may have some accidents when they wait their insurances taking effect.Therefore, the sis of accidents will be reduce by this regulation, whatever people on working or daily life. However, I think the waiting period can be shorter. On the one hand, ninety-day means three months that people will be out of insurance. If the government can cut the waiting time, the risk can be smaller. On the other hand, some insurance companies, for financial concern, will delay people insurance until the deadline. Therefore, if the limitation can be shorter than three months, it also can spur the work efficiency of insurance companies, and let people obtain their insurances as soon as they can. TheConstitutionality of the AC These two cases including the National Federation of Business v. Sublime and Barbell v. Hobby Lobby ,which greatly impact the constitutionality of AC. According to these cases, I clearly realize the main deficiencies of AC and it constitutional process. National Federation of Business v. Sublime In this case,† Twenty-six States, several individuals, and the National Federation of Independent Business brought suit in Federal District Court,challenging the constitutionality of the individual mandate and Medicaid expansion, the U. S. Supreme court judge this case with following mints.Firstly, the U. S. Supreme court considers that the individual mandate takes a penalty to people, who dose not have health insurance, is unreasonable, but penalty can be regarded as a tax which imposes on people who dose not buy health National Federation of Business v. Sublime, 201 0 ). In my personal point of view, I agree with the statement that people should not be taken a penalty fee for out of health insurance. However, I think that changing this penalty as a tax, which is somewhat far- fetched, because, it just changes an explanation to enforce people join in health insurance programs.No matter this tax influences peoples' action to buy insurance or not, the government has no right to compel its persons to purchase a product, which they do not like it. Moreover, † U. S. Supreme court decides that states will lose their Medicaid funds, which compels Medicaid expansion, and this is unconstitutional ( National Federation of Business v. Sublime, 201 0 † I firmly agree this decision. I learned that America is the federal state, every state of U. S. Has right to administer itself. Furthermore, every state also has right to depart from U. S. , if its people agree. Rule insider the state government has equal status with the federal government. Therefore, the federal government can not exploit their right or threatens them to agree Medicaid expansion. As the case mentioned that † When a court confronts an unconstitutional statute, its endeavor must be to conserve, not destroy, the legislation†( National Federation of Business v. Sublime, 201 0 ). For some rational reason, it is right to preserve AC and tear out Medicaid expansion. However, I quite sure the constitutionality need to be cautious and considerate. In AC it still has some unconstitutional acts and rules.Although conserving AC is better than destruction, AC passes too fast to inspect by congress. Therefore, constitutionality is a long-term process, AC still need to be carefully checked by congress and society. Barbell v. Hobby Lobby In this case, the Supreme Court holds three main points. † At the first, the Supreme Court considers that the government has failed to satisfy the least- restrictive-means standard of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. HAS has not shown that it lacks other means of achieving its desired goal without imposing a substantial burden o n the exercise of religion.This decision follows the Religious Freedom Restoration Act in 1993. Secondly, the Supreme Court deems that, according to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, no conceivable definition of a person includes natural persons and non-profit corporations, but not for-profit corporations, which is different from He's defined action. Finally, the Supreme Court declares that only the contraceptive insurance can be picked out of the insurance mandate, and only closely held companies are suitable for this decision†( Barbell, Secretary of Health and Human Services V.Hobby Lobby Stores, 2014 Without a doubt, firmly Greer the first and second decisions of Supreme Court. Religions, beliefs, and religious actions should be respected. Moreover, for-profit companies also is including the scope of the person. Think HAS cannot support more evidences to demonstrate Hobby Lobby and others violate the RAFF and for- profit companies also need to be regarded as non-profit companies in this case for religious reason. Therefore, these two decision can embrace justice and equity for treating religion and religious companies.However, I concern that the third decision is partial. I have three points to illustrate my perspective. Firstly, it is partial to women who work in religious companies, because these women have no right to obtain contraceptive insurance comparing with other women who work in non-religious companies. Firmly consider that this partiality can be regarded as discrimination of women. Managers cannot deprive a right from employees, which should be reasonably procured, even for a religious reason. Secondly, the exemption only for closely held corporations and its religious reason, which is not rational.I firmly believe some companies will intentionally change their status to closely held corporations for avoiding contraceptive insurance. The last but not least, the Supreme Court has exempted religious reason for the declination of contrac eptive insurance currently, in the future, have reason to believe that some companies will utilize religious reason to avoid more mandate insurances. All in all, in this case, the Supreme Court fails to predict potential imparts, which will make more difficult for congress to enforce the laws.Actually, this decision makes harder to force employers to provide health insurance. Therefore, it really influences both implementation and constitutionality of AC badly. The conclusion I believe that, in total, AC is enacted for innovating the health environment of people. It covers all aspects of human daily life and wants to affect quickly. Indisputably, related agencies and congress are best effort for consummating and renewing AC. I can see that they want to regulate all behavior and rule all possible situation. This is an extremely huge work.

Customer Service Resume -How to Write the Perfect One (Examples)

Customer Service Resume -How to Write the Perfect One (Examples) If you’ve ever worked in customer service, you know that it’s a job that may not be glamorous, but is totally necessary. People will always need help with a product, with a product that goes wrong, with a product they haven’t yet received, or their feelings about a product. Being a customer service rep involves a lot of skills and it is sometimes hard to fit it all in. Here are guides to writing the perfect customer service resume. First up is Margo, who is a recent grad looking for a job in customer service.  Download this ResumeMargo Lane 54 Prince Street Minneapolis, MN 65656 (111) 222s)How to Write a Perfect Occupational Therapist ResumeHow to Write a Perfect Physician Assistant Resume (Examples Included)How to Write a Perfect Receptionist Resume (Examples Included)

Case Analysis of Coca Cola India Crisis Essays

Case Analysis of Coca Cola India Crisis Essays Case Analysis of Coca Cola India Crisis Paper Case Analysis of Coca Cola India Crisis Paper Case analysis of the Coca-Cola India Crisis 1. What are the key problems that Gupta should focus on in the short term and in the long term? In looking at the situation, hindsight is always 20/20. Gupta would have benefited from the eight steps of crisis management. Step 1: Get control of the situation. Gupta needed to define the real problem, use reliable information, and a measurable communication objective for handling it. Step 2: Gather as much information as possible: Gupta quickly reacted to the situation without taking a fair and objective look at the facts in the statements being made. Gupta’s reaction was emotional and attacked the credibility of the Center for Science and Environment ( hereafter CSE). Step 3: Set up a centralized crisis management center: As Gupta was gathering the right information from the right people he should have made arrangement for creating a crisis center for the constituents, that is, media, employees, customers, and government. Creating a crisis center would have made Coke India look more sympathetic and human. Instead, Gupta went on the attack and published a letter that was callous and focused only on the potential impairment of business; not the safety of lives. Step 4:Comminicate early and often: Gupta should have made a plea in person especially since the crisis involved the threat to lives. He could have avoided any panic by hiring a public relations firm to assist him during this process. He should have expressed concern for the public safety rather than focus on profits and conspiracy theories. Step 5:Understand the media’s mission in a crisis: Gupta should have created an alliance with certain member’s of the media. A public relations firm would have been an asset. Step 6: Communicate directly with affected constituents: Gupta needed to communicate directly to his employees the position of Coke during this crisis. The employees were the mouthpiece to the community and the media. Everyone one needed a consistent story. Half-truths and rumors would only inflame the situation. Gupta also needed to consider which constituents were the top priority. Communicating with these constituents would filter the information that would be published. In this case, I believe he should have been communicating not only with the media but also with the government as well as any customers affected by the crisis. Step 7: Remember that business must continue: At this point Gupta needed to take a step back and look at which areas of the company will be most affected by the crisis. Are there certain divisions that are short handed because the impromptu crisis management team had taken them away from their usual duties? Did they need to start thinking about a promotional campaign to rebound from the situation? Did they have an exit and re-entrance strategy? Step 8: Make plans to avoid another crisis immediately: Gupta should have been somewhat prepared for this crisis because Coke has had similar incidents in the past such as the Belgium incident. They should have followed the lead of Coke Belgium by not only implementing an aggressive public relations campaign, but also put a crisis management plan and team in place while the motivation was still high to learn from mistakes. Long Term:Gupta needs to integrate the eight steps of crisis management into a crisis policy. This policy should include a campaign to assure customers of continuous safety monitoring, as well partnering with the CSE, government and other evaluators, and regulatory organizations. Together they could create and implement a consumer safety policy. They should also have set up a public relations campaign that highlights combined efforts to exceed safety and environmental standards of excellence within the industry. Short Term: Immediately there should have been a press conference with Gupta stating that they are doing everything imaginable to isolate contaminated bottles for consumer safety until further testing could be done. This would show that Coke puts public safety before profits. Pepsi and Coke did a good job of showing a united front, however, there should have been more emphasis on the effort to provide safety as well as investigating the contamination claims. 2. How would you evaluate the crisis? As the number one brand in the world, Coke has defined excellence in quality and marketing. Vilifying Coke is like vilifying Disney World or Hershey’s Chocolate. With all the resources that Coke has, there was no concentrated effort by Corporate Coke (America) to rally behind India. In my opinion, it seemed that if Coke had presented a global united front, emphasizing public safety, then some of the repercussions (Michigan State’s Coke boycott) could have been avoided. The initial plan to â€Å"deny, deny, deny† and â€Å"attack, attack, attack† showed an uncaring and unsympathetic face to the world. The public perception was that the soft drink industry was more interested in profits and maintaining their brand positioning rather than aggressively investigating the claim and recalling the product. The outright assault on the validity of the CSE’s findings was a mistake. It would have been better to cooperate with the CSE in order to get third party testing done. The CSE, was a respected organization. It generates awareness of consumer health and well-being. Coke immediately criticized the validity of the CSE testing results. . Their initial efforts of the myth versus fact website was effective. However, in my opinion, when Coke and Pepsi united for the press conference, it seemed that it was big corporation versus public safety advocacy groups. Though showing solidarity was effective, the companies should have put more emphasis on the public safety. Crisis is not new for Coke. The Belgium debacle should have given them an outline of how to deal with the crisis. Coke Belgium issued an immediate recall and a public statement that emphasized that safety came first. Hiring an independent toxicologist to test and report on findings would have been more effective. 3. How well prepared was Coke India to deal with the CSE’s allegations? Gupta should have been prepared by the Kinley water crisis. The Center for Science and Environment had evaluated the product. They reported evidence of pesticides in Kinley Water which was a Coke brand. The Center for Science and Environment further stated :â€Å"if what we found in bottled water was correct, then what about soft drinks? † This is a direct statement indicating the soft drinks were next on the list. The Company turned a blind eye to this impending disaster. Coke essentially ignored the Kinley water controversy and luckily it faded away before any real impact was made. Furthermore, there had been no regulation of the soft drink industry at the time when the reports were published. With no regulation in the soft drink industry there was fertile ground for controversy. What is surprising is that the company had excellent record of corporate social responsibility policies. Coke had dedicated itself to environmental responsibilities in India, which included ground water surveys before selecting the sites. Maybe they were too over confident in the environmental assessment of the sites. Coke’s initial and quick response was to deny any and all allegations of tainting and fire back accusations of faulty science. Coke’s assurance that the product was safe was secondary to their claim of misleading and unaccredited data. 4. What is your recommendation for Coke’s communication strategy. Who are the key constituents? Communicate early and often! Coke now has to restore confidence in its key constituents: customers, employees, investors, government and non-government organizations. The first recommendation would be to create an internal chain of communication. Communication about their crisis management plan needed to be sent out to all employees to reassure them that they are taking the necessary steps to correct the issue. The employees likely would talk to their families, neighbors and perhaps the press. There needs to be a consistent message from Coke within the community. It would be advisable to have team meetings and crisis updates to make sure that everyone has a consistent message. There should also be an internal website with a directory of the crisis management team. The website would allow employees to share what they are experiencing or hearing from the community. The next recommendation would be to set up a press conference and partner with the media to assure them that Coke is doing everything possible in regard to testing for safety and removing any contaminants from the water supply before manufacturing. They need to be more forthcoming and transparent with information. There should be a toll free hotline and a website for communications to update the public and questions and answers. There should be a link on this website to an emergency medicine website, hotline with tips and helpful health information for the community. There should be an interface with the government. Coke needs to create standard of excellence program that exceeds the PML , EPA and EED standards. Since Coke already has a good social responsibility policy, they should increase their environmental protection programs to concentrate on the Indian community. It should coincide with their marketing of â€Å"Think local, act local†. Their marketing should emphasize Coke employees working in the local community to improve environmental conditions and quality of life in the local community. There should be an attempt to put together a think tank of scientists, Coca Cola members, Center for Science and Environment members, and government. This think tank would monitor and work to improve the pesticide levels in the environment. Finally Coke needs to put together a website for investors to keep an accurate account of sales stock prices. This would provide updated information about Coke India and their quality control. This website should include photos and videos of Coke helping to restore value in the community by their environment efforts, and progress of the think tank with regard to the pesticide levels. 5. Could Coke India have avoided the crisis? Coke also had the Belgium example to follow. Belgium’s plan of action was swift and decisive. If Coke had responded quickly and adequately to the Kinley water crisis, this could have been avoided. Steps should have been taken to immediately to correct the Kinley water situation and subsequently he soft drinks. This would have been a perfect time to partner with the CSE to review the safety findings. An alliance with the CSE would have gone far for Coke’s public image. The steps that I proposed in question 1 should be taken. 6. What should Gupta do now? This is an opportunity for Gupta to publicly increase and exceed standards. This is a chance to generat e awareness about the company’s focus on environmental issues. Coke should create a campaign to work with other environmental organizations and create a cleaner India and a greener Coke. Gupta should focus most of his efforts in committing to public safety and improving the local community in India. Once faith is restored in the brand, the momentum will increase sales and thus investor confidence. Coke should not only implement a crisis management plan but also set up a strategic alliance with the CSE and other NGO’s to initiate a caring Coke campaign. Gupta should put together a transparency policy with the public. Coke should continue its efforts to build social programs with emphasis on education, environmental and water safety and public health initiatives.

Intradermal Injections Traditional Bevel Up Versus Bevel Down Article Lab Report

Intradermal Injections Traditional Bevel Up Versus Bevel Down Article Critique - Lab Report Example This is a traditional technique and widely accepted. Thus, the authors in this paper studied if the comfort levels vary in the two techniques. The authors use students with no experience what so ever as nurses in this study. They claim that it is important to have un-experienced candidates as nurses as they do not have any preferences towards the bevel up or bevel down technique. They call these nurses as having no "psychomotor skills". Is it a good idea to have nurses with no skills to test the technique The authors do not discuss on the effect of the technique on the cause itself. A bevel down injection might result in the medicine flowing into the lower layer of the dermis. Thus, a bevel up injection may be better as it is important to get the medicine deposited in the upper layer of the dermis. It might not have any effect but still some discussion on the effect of the technique on the cure would have helped. One of the most important factors of the experiment was to measure the size of the wheal. The reason is that it is a scientific factor to evaluate the effectiveness of a given technique. The size of the wheal probably correlates with the effectiveness of the technique. May be the wheal is not at all necessary for the effect to take place. This is necessary in-order to evaluate the results better. Page 2Page 278 "Please rate on a scale of 1 to 5 your comfort when receiving the intradermal injection, with one (1) being no discomfort and five (5) being 'hurts a lot'." Below this sentence was a row of five numbers with "no discomfort" above the "1" and "hurts a lot" above the "5." The subject circled a number. The form was then taken by the investigator, and the subject was given a second form with the same content for the second injection. In addition, it asked "Which injection was better" followed by" This is more or less the procedure used to analyze the technique. i.e., psychological analysis to differentiate between the two scientific methods - bevel up and bevel down methods of intra-dermal injections. This should have been the title of their paper. Apart from the psychological analysis, the authors should have evaluated the technique based upon some scientific tests. Unfortunately, they have not even mentioned any such experiments. This is a major draw back of the paper. Page 278 ".45 administered the intra-dermal injection bevel up the first time and 53 of them used the bevel-down technique the first time." And then on the page 279 "Subjects administered the bevel-up injection

Analysis of The Secret Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analysis of The Secret - Essay Example The film explicit that human mind is full of negative and positive thoughts. However, in the overall thinking process either positivity or negativity gets complete hold of the mind. If the mind is under the control of positive attraction then things that people plan to achieve are acquired easily (â€Å"The Secret†, n. p.). This concept of positive attraction has actually played a significant role in my coming to the college such that all through my childhood and early teenage I heard and saw people enjoying their college life and building successful careers. Since then onwards I developed an entirely positive thinking about getting into the college. As it is explained in the film that internal positivity attracts external positivity (â€Å"The Secret†, n. p.), the same thing happened with me. I began to make friends who were also fond of getting into college with the similar positive thoughts and intensity. Since through the initial point I had concentrated on the posi tive attributes of college therefore ultimately I ended up in gaining positive outcomes. Visualization, affirmation and law of attraction can be explained as the core principles leading towards a successful and contented life (â€Å"The Secret†, n. p.). Let’s consider visualization, whatever I will be thinking about in my college life that I will visualize in my mind throughout that period. For instance, I can use this principle to be a competent student in my college through visualizing its positive and long lasting outcomes. Moreover, I can visualize myself as the best student of the year so as to remain motivated, to strive more and learn more. The second principle talks about affirmation which is actually correlated with the principle of visualization. For instance, in order to be a successful student and later a successful professional I will have to be affirmative upon my visualization such that whatever my mind is thinking about is all attainable and achievable. Building affirmation is slightly more difficult than visualizing what you want and therefore it must be supported by positive and highly acknowledgeable individuals who have already attained what I am striving for (â€Å"The Secret†, n. p.). This will significantly help me in affirming my visual thinking while simultaneously aligning all the academic goals and objectives of my life with my thoughts. Last is the law of attraction, as discussed in the film visualization and law of attraction play an equivalent role in a person’s life since I will visualize things towards which I am actually attracted (â€Å"The Secret†, n. p.). For instance, I like seeing people getting high grades and having good academic records; therefore, I am always attracted to higher grades and visualize the same for myself. Since our attractions are also attracted towards ourselves due to positive emissions therefore I will be careful in building attractions towards different things in my college life so as to eliminate all those elements of the college environment which are not consistent with my academic goals. For further explanation following are the examples of how I will use all three principles in order to achieve success in my college life. Visualization: I can use this principle through imagining that I have got the best college teachers. In addition to this I can imagine having highest grades in college while maintaining good record of extracurricular activities. Affirmation: Affirmation of what I am visualizing is the most important part of the overall process which