Rise and Fall of Standard Pricing

Rise and Fall of Standard Pricing The Rise and Fall of Standard Pricing and Its Effect on Everyday Operations For European and American Firms The overall purpose of this paper and study is to investigate cost or lean accounting within the operations management realm and how its unpredictable rise and fall allow organisations to continuously learn and utilize knowledge management as a core value. It was also important to use a larger organisation that has history of outstanding operations and customer centered focus upon services. This investigation will require an in-depth study of work processes, communication and leadership with regard to knowledge management as a value within the team construct while looking at how this reflects leaning accounting principles. What tools are available and what kind of evolution is Nestle undergoing in order to remain competitive in a changing economy? How does this change knowledge management and communication company wide? What this study argues is that accounting practices are changing due to the evolving business plan. This is a movement toward modern accounting and it is important to see the relationships between costing accounting, its fluctuations and how they impact the health of the organisation as a whole with regard to productivity and job satisfaction. How an organisation applies methods of costing into its framework for accounting of expenses and its direct rise and fall over the time period of the product life cycle, directly influences the production, operation, distribution and employee retention of the global company. In fact changes in accounting practices have led to many tried and true business models to no longer exist. Costing and its rise and fall can have a direct relationship with success and competitive advantage in the market place. However the purpose of this study is to explore and reflect upon how accounting practices change operations management and the supply chain management model as a tool of managers and team members alike. Really it is how accounting practices have changed business practices because of new legislation focusing on global companies in Europe and the United States. Accounting costs, expenses and losses reflects the health of the organisation and with change comes confusion. This study argues th at with such changes comes a lack of defining the company’s value within the market but also the value it has for its employees, as they become active participants and investors. GENERAL OVERVIEW How corporate accounting is handled is changing worldwide. How each expense is accounted for within an organisation’s financial sheets has been evolving. Such a proposal for change has received much commentary from not only the financial community and corporate America but also key members of Congress, European union leaders and the public. Such a response results from the uncertainty that such change will benefit businesses and economic growth. It is feared that such change will have the opposite effect and cause world leaders to lose its competitive edge in the global market. Still this has not stopped the fuel of the fire as the American Financial Accounting Standards Board (also referred to as FASB) has struggled for an answer to such a dilemma. The urgency for a solution has only been stressed recently in light of such debacles like Enron and Tyco. It is believed that companies do need to account honestly for expenses but at what price to its employees, the public and the economy? Part of the issue with current legislation to change the practice of accounting for employee stock options is that there is no real way to value their worth. This creates an unsettling feeling among investors and employees struggling to understand this benefit. ACCOUNTING OVERVIEW What this truly means for any corporation functioning globally or even locally this that effective cost accounting because a volatile issue for management to consider. One could argue that such rise and fall of how costing/pricing pays a part in the entire operation has a negative effect upon how the company’s valuation is seen on the open market. Costing at every step of the product life cycle plays a huge part in how this valuation is decided from inventory at the shop floor level, to everyday operations management, to an employee’s value with the company and their net worth personally. Changes within the global economy in the recent years the disappearance of tried and true business models leaves many with a poor taste in their mouths because one must understand how efficiency, affordability and effective leadership come into play. Effective pricing or costing of routine operations and corporate behaviours must be tracked and studied in order to carve the fat. This s tudy aims to look at exactly what the rise and fall of pricing or costing means to a global organisation conducting business on many levels. For the purpose of proving the argument that such changes in accounting practice has a negative effect on the organisation, one will look at examples from the shop floor to the employee’s estimated value with the company in the form of job satisfaction. Accounting for such expensing and pricing correctly is what makes the organisation strong but also accurate in valuation. With this in mind, traditional business models like Wal-Mart and Nestle are discussed because these are globally operating corporations. Debates about whether or not the fair value of the employee and the company stock options should be expensed on the income statement continue to rage among industry representatives, politicians, and pundits. Expense recognition of stock options can have significant impacts on net income and earnings per share, so this is a debate worth having. But many of those who analyze companies consider operating cash flow a better performance metric than income. One reason is that operating cash flow is thought to be free from the infection that makes income grossly weakened. In the case of employee worth and stock values, however, there is proof that this assumption is flawed. Option exercise affects operating cash flows in ways that analysts need to understand. Repurchasing shares to fund option exercise also results in financing cash outflows. The net cash flow impacts of options are often negative, but can be quite volatile from year to year. LITERATURE REVIEW STANDARD PRICING AS ACCOUNTING PRACTICE It can be difficult to assess why a product has a certain cost or price to the consumer. How is it that companies arrive at certain amount for a product or service? What are the factors that play into this amount and do they change over time while in the market? Mish defines clearly, price as being â€Å"the value or worth; the quality of one thing that is exchanged or demanded in barter or sale for another† (2004, p. 985). A mistake that happens to many companies is they allow the market to manage the price of the product and avoid strategic management of pricing in general. What is usually done according to Nagle is â€Å"they list the prices based on their own needs and then adjust transaction prices to based on what customers say they are willing to pay. Only a few companies question why someone is willing to pay no more that a particular amount or how that willingness could be changed† (2002, p. 1). In order to be strategic in pricing, a company must confident and understand that â€Å"pricing involves managing customers’ expectations to induce them to pay for the value they receive† (Nagle 2002, p.1). Fortunately, when it comes to financial products, many customers remain in the dark about product and services. Sometimes a service oriented company such as the Bank of England can take advantage of such undulation but as more information becomes available due to the Internet, it is becoming increasingly more difficult for a company to set the pace this way. More than not, more companies especially financial ones that rely on customer relationships, allow for a value-based price structure that is contingent on the customer paying when value is delivered. This type of pricing system relies heavily on segmentation of the demographic when it comes to offering promotions and incentives to buster customer loyalty. Much of this applies to financial type products that are well defined for the consumer either through education or these pr oducts are a must in life like the credit or loan product. Keeping this in mind, many financial products consist of high quality products and add-ons that when offered by one company allows that company to diversify and establish the price. The table here below aids in illustrating this point. Table 1: Pricing Strategies (Anderson Bailey 1998, p. 2) It is also important for a company to keep in mind demand for the product or service. This is why diversification and globalization are quickly becoming elements of strategy as companies look for new ways to target consumers and enter new areas where their original product has a new life cycle. This is a matter of economics but important for understanding marketing strategy with regards to cost switching or price switching. â€Å"The greater the price elasticity, the closer the company can price products to similar competitive products and vice versa† (Allen 2002). In an industry like the mortgage industry where homeownership is more prevalent in Western nations, elasticity is high and therefore, it is fair to remain competitive with other companies. Also a company like Nestle can bet that charging less may lead to more food products created as customers find they get more service for less money. In this respect elasticity can work either way. It really depends on degree of ri sk one company is willing to take. Still it remains to be found if such a tactic even works when it comes to customer loyalty, as this will be explored in greater detail later. However, it remains to be seen if price loyalty does exist. It seems â€Å"the key to effectively competing for loyalty is ensuring the quality of the customer experience, not the quantity of customer rewards or discount prices† (Compton 2005, p.1). However, the price needs to be adjusted for what the customer expects. It can be a cycle that changing continuously depending on the product or service. Carmona, and et al (2004), writes of the origin of activity based costing method of accounting or ABC that came into vogue in Europe during the 1920s. What ABC does specifically as Carmona, and et al (2004) speak of Vollmers’s work as: Deployed significant efforts to account for distribution and marketing costs, which ‘tend to be ignored today.’ This first event is then taken as record of the origin (both in terms of time and space), from which the new practice mainly spread both temporally and spatially. (p. 36) This is the start of a movement toward the double entry system and this saw delay and many weaknesses because it did not present a clear, complete picture of accounting. Its weaknesses were found in inefficiencies with charges and discharges. As a result, early double-entry systems were seen as unreliable and not useful to big business. It would not be until later that advanced book keeping procedures would take into account advanced operating processes in production. Carmona, and et al (2004) found these systems although not perfected were used in England and the Colonies as early as 1760 (p. 37). It seems this was the trend as no real streamlined, conforming system would be adopted until modern business practices came into place in the United States. Move to a global arena and model of production purposes and a more refined system is needed because a lot more is at stake. Global business is all about the details. It became common practice more investment applied, the more generally accepted accounting practices became as a diffusion of new technology. Accounting practices became more generally accepted behaviours as businesses became bigger and more prominent in communities across the world. Practices are implemented as Abu-Raddaha, and et al (2000) surmises the following: The information provided by accounting should facilitate international trade and capital flows, not hamper them. It should inform, not just report. More importantly the information demands of both domestic and international financing and other commercial relationships, have to be satisfied. (p. 19). Everything must remain in balance or presented as a well-oiled machine. How does an organisation get to this point of transformation with its accounting practices? Modern accounting asks for more participation and optimisation from the start to finish by the corporate accountant. The actions of the corporate accountants must change as the movement toward lean functioning continues to take place. It should not be a painful process but one of creativity, flexibility and growth. There is a concern that lean accounting requires one to turn off creativity and be boxed into one function or thought process. This will be explored late as a post-modern viewpoint of business where each person has a function within the total quality management or TQM perspective. Modern business may use this as a framework but the modern business model has evolved beyond this fixed view. The truth of the matter is that modern accounting practices could not be further from this view of being boxed in but rather goes beyond breaking the box and creating a different mindset where thin king is seen differently than before. Accounting is seen differently as not having finite possibilities but infinite reasoning. Traditional methods are flawed as proposed by Van Der Merwe and Thomson (2007), â€Å"the direct costing approach doesn’t absorb any overhead or even fixed costs†¦resource consumption accounting or RCA makes no arbitrary assignments at all† (p. 29). A lean, effective method allows for a more detailed account of capacity costs and a basic approach to data collection. Modern times call modern values and thought processes with regard to business seamless behaviour across the production floor. The lean method maintains a â€Å"one-touch flow system† (Van Der Merwe Thomson 2007, p. 29) for information diffusion across the life cycle. This one-touch flow system can be integrated with a supply chain easily and reflects this value added element as a method for better, honest accounting. OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT A most important factor for facilities management to recognize is the use of Total Quality Management (TQM) or a variation of TQM. TQM according to David Steingard is â€Å"a set of techniques and procedures used to reduce or eliminate variation from the production process or service delivery system in order to improve efficiency† (Steingard 2002, p. 2). TQM fits with the facilities management way of doing things as many of their functions require repetition or constant monitoring of daily, weekly and monthly items. Because this is a modernist concept and the modernist movement believed in certainty and static methods of looking at the world, there is not much room for the uncertainty that change creates in today’s workplace using strictly TQM. Therefore either change in this environment must be controlled change or a variation of TQM must be used for the process to work and involve new technologies. Otherwise, TQM alone invents a work environment reminiscent of Franz L ang’s Metropolis and dehumanizes the employee. A variation TQM can be used in facilities management to aid defining team member responsibilities as it sees the whole team as a â€Å"machine creates a system of interlocking parts each with clearly defined use, centralized authority and high degrees of worker discipline culminating with the goal of routinised, efficient and predictable system performance† (Steingard 2002, p. 2). Each team member plays a role in the functioning of the machine. Still much like today’s business environment where change is constant, this system requires continued adjustment, modification improvement of function. TQM as way of defining a work process cannot operate entirely in today’s global market because it succeeds at the expense of innovation and the growth of the employee. It also does not leave room to incorporate change and new ways of improving functions. Still a memory of pure TQM feeds the â€Å"modernist machine of c onsumer capitalism which encourages over-consumption, planned obsolescence, ecological damage and depletion of natural resources† (Steingard 2002, p. 4). This memory has also burdened management as the obsession for perfection, control, consistency, productivity and efficiency increases over time. In today’s facilities team, there must be a healthy medium to not only use past methods for increased productivity and efficiency but also to include modern tools and equipment to make the job easier. In order to remain competitive, technology cannot be ignored, the systems it provides must be implemented in order for logistics to remain seamless and keep up with demand and customer expectation. For instance failure to embrace logistics and technology results in inventory costing a company more money to store than it is worth. McCullogh writes, â€Å"Right now sitting around the globe is a bunch of inventory (worth an estimated) United States $1 trillion—United States $1 trillion of boxes of stuff is just sitting around a warehouse† (‘Warning: Don’t Snub Logistics’, p. 1). This has the potential to represent about 60 percent of the average company’s working capital. This is capital in limbo that is not maximizing its investment potential. A sign of successful shop floor operations is reliance on very little warehousing. In other words, warehousing is measured as the amount of days per month a product sits in the warehouse and if logistics is implemented effectively, this number will decrease and stabilize. The retail average storage of inventory is 26 days of investment not being utilized, profit being lost and daily expenses being incurred in an endless holding pattern. In order to reduce the amount of days inventory sits means companies must create tighter relationships with suppliers via the web or perfect a system of communication between resources to cut out warehousing all together. Instead of inventory remaining stored because of wireless communication and data collection, the product can go straight from the supply source to the retailer’s shelves via a distribution centre that acts much like mail sorting centre. This can work because technology enables a retailer to send data immediately to the supplie r of products that are moving off the shelves with a click of a button. From this electronic message, the supplier knows what the retailer needs, what products are popular, how much and sends then instantly to the retailer’s distribution centre. In organisations the size of Nestle or Wal-Mart, logistics strategy requires much forethought and planning, as there are many branches and divisions that are involved in the process. The idea is to reduce expenses and increase value to the organisation by making the company more productive and efficient. This needs to be done as seamlessly as possible to continue brand loyalty and customer relations while maintaining market share and competitive advantage. In many ways, implementation of this strategy creates a delicate balance. In order to have better Business to Business or B2B relationships, one must understand the connection. Robert Thierauf and Hoctor (2003) explain, â€Å"B2B is about connecting shared businesses and information processes of the extended trading networks, planning, shipping and logistics, inventory management and customer retention to name a few† (Thierauf Hoctor, p. 181). In other words, an optimized planning process can save millions dollars and allow a multination corporation to carry out its objective and gain market share. This means applying advanced technology such as i2 used by Dell Computers and typical ERP vendors. In today’s act of doing business, B2B exchanges are based on supply chain management or SCM technologies (Thierauf Hoctor, 2003, p. 182). This will mean considerable investment in such technology but the benefit of market share will prove it to be a valued investment over the long-run (Burn Hachney 2002; Scerbo 1999). Running these centres effectively certainly poses a challenge of management. Manufacturers must develop new skills and confront channel conflicts with dealers, distributors and independent operators. Leaders in these positions must have an understanding of managing the conflicts in these channels. But well-managed distribution centres would more than justify the risks, as it would save the organisation a significant amount of overhead. With operating expenses as the main cost, it is possible to make the distribution venture essentially self-funding. Facilities can be rented on short-term leases and surrendered if the location isnt successful within a year or two. The cost of goods and labour can be managed as volume grows. Companies should remember that a manufacturers original warranty work usually accounts for about half of the labour expenses and for as much as 20 percent of the total value of services rendered, but these costs are typically charged back to the business unit rather than borne by the company’s distribution. In markets poorly served by local dealers or other distributors, for instance, a centre should gear itself to its company’s end users or consumers by choosing a high-traffic retail site. Profits at these locations are generated largely through the sale of accessories and optional services to walk-in or mail order customers; outlets thus need appealing product displays or sales pr esentations. Different kinds of retail distribution centres pursue different economic models. Although gross margins on sales to end-users are higher, orders tend to be smaller. Locations that focus on distributors can achieve scale faster and be just as profitable. The largely similar economics of service centres vary only according to which customer segment is best served at each location. Companies run their own centres and tie management bonuses to profit and growth goals at each site. Either way, some support functions, such as marketing, human resources and information and financial systems, are best managed at the corporate level. Warehouses and distributions centres are caught in a squeeze between customer service demands and cost drivers. The challenge for most organisations is create a network that can deliver on customer demands while keeping costs down. This is the number challenge in supply chain management. Supply chain management presents a huge undertaking when it comes to overhead operating costs. Many of the tools have come down in price because usability has gotten easier. As a result, more and more companies are adopting a supply chain management philosophy for distribution and are re-evaluating its effectiveness every two years as opposed to before at every five years. Management members are interested to see if the efficiency of the centre matches its service level provided. Research has found a direct relationship between the number of distribution points, transportation costs and customer service targets. The network and its design are driven by improvements so that the cost of transportation can be offset. This may include reviewing an organisation’s transportation arrangements. Loading patterns should also be examined to find ways to cube out containers and trailers (Trunick, p. 1). What possibilities can be used to have a cost-effective outcome for the distribution centre? Does this mean consolidating shipments or a move to parcel and less than truckload shipments? Can shipments be combined to make greater use of truck cargo space? Can the organisation hire rail or air as better shipping alternatives to using company trucks over longer distances? In addition to examining loading can the routes used by the trucks be adjusted to be add to cost-efficiency? An organisation would benefit using their state’s transportation management system or a department of transportation, DOT to map out distribution volumes and patterns. This would help in providing dynamic routing options that can be flexible to change distribution needs in the network. This can benefit the fleet by reducing fuel supply needs and help control costs and usage. These efficiencies would result because the routes would decrease in mileage and also wear/tear on the vehicles and insurance costs. Efficiency inside the four walls of the distribution centre can also be improved. Relatively speaking the size of the average distribution centre has grown from 300,000 square feet to one million square feet (Trunick, p. 2). This is simply due to operating space needed to move inventory from point a to point b. But the real reason the distribution centre is larger today is mainly because organisations have seen the need to put all operations under one roof. By putting multiple facilities into one larger distribution centre improves the time it takes to transport inventory. Still the larger centre is made possible because of improved transportation systems but also implementation new technologies that not only enhance a brick and mortar store but also a virtual one. Plus, the organisation has the manpower under one roof. The company only rents one building and keeps the inventory in one place rather than moving it from warehouse to warehouse. This allows the company to provide better service to the consumer. Because of these factors, information systems are critical to the success of the larger distribution centre. Data has the need to travel from one area to another and that is why more and more companies are investing in radio frequency terminals both handheld and vehicle mounted. Investment of these RFID systems is not inexpensive and many retailers such Wal-Mart and Target are looking for ways to enrich the present technology and systems without implementing a whole new infrastructure into the walls of the centre. By being able to enhance present systems proves to be cost effective because not only is an upgrade cheaper but also it is easier to train employees to run. It is a company’s ability to effectively handle investment of new technologies that allows the centre to run better. Still as Trunick writes, the concern is not found in hardware but in data. â€Å"Databases have traditionally been structured to feed a number of different systems, but that’s not a long term architectural solution† (p. 2). Part of the problem a distribution centre faces with data storage is being able to provide the data in real time and allowing the data to remain clean and not crowd. As a result many companies are searching for better solutions than using RFID in supply chain management. It has not proven to be productive in the distribution centre setting not like 8 percent in the warehouse setting (Trunick, p. 2). One new technology that was introduced to the Nestle facilities management team in 2006 was the use of a computerized tracking system for client user orders. This system was implemented to better track the status of job orders among the team members. This system acted to alert a team member of potential deadlines and current job load status. It also allowed management to better track individual and team progress. This resulted in a monthly recognition program to signify when quotas had been met or when a team member received a client user compliment. This system also had the capability to record the negative such as being late to a service call or failing to complete monitoring of weekly items for inspection. The system would then e-mail the team member and the direct supervisor if such conduct occurred (Facilities Training Group 2007, p. 11). This system replaced the old process of â€Å"tracking† client user orders that consisted of logging each order into a spiral notebook. With the advent of the company’s intranet site, management hoped to improve communication between the facilities team and the client user by offering an electronic request system. This would reduce the amount of time the facilities team spent fielding phone called requested and allow for multi-tasking of various jobs. What management had hoped the system implementation would result in, did not happen mainly due to team member lack of communication and resistance to change due to a pre-existing TQM elements within the old process of handling client user orders. Management had hoped as the Business Open Learning Archive details, â€Å"automation would exploit available technology to speed up operations, make them more reliable and to reduce unit costs and their risks and costs. This would bring flexibility to the system already in practice† (Operations Technology 2005, p. 1). This type of new technology or just-in-time or JIT technology requires careful handling and extensive training. What facilities management team leaders had not prepared for was the team member response. Many of them despite being competent, responsible employees did not have knowledge of computer systems. Many of the team members had been with the company over twenty years and had been hired to the division. Many of thes e types, fall into the category of being older but also having a specific specialization in which they were in the field most of the time (Facilities Training Group 2007, p. 24) not requiring any other extensive skills. Another factor management had not anticipated was a considerable language barrier as many team members who had worked together for years, continued working in their native tongue of Spanish. A final aspect of the mixed response for the team had more to do with timing than anything. Management provided a three-day training session and then allowed two weeks for the new system to be adopted. The transitional period was too short and was met with much resistance from many members of the team. Many did not accept the change or completely understand the new system. Many did not check their email or use the tracking component. Finally, despite company wide advertisement of the new online request feature, most client users did not use it and continued to phone in requests. This resulted in not a decrease in time spent on the phone but due to the new system’s lack transition and rejection by some of the team, the group received three times as many calls in one week (Facilities Training Group 2007, p. 33). The team had to hire a temporary employee to aid in taking calls while team leaders provided on the job training and supervised walk-through of the new process. The period of six weeks it took the team to get back up to speed resulted in not only miscommunications among team members but also time lost to better serving the client users. As a result, many of the circulation systems did not receive their weekly maintenance and this negatively affected the climate control performance for the building’s seventh floor northwest corner (Facilities Training Group 2007, p. 39). With time the team members adjusted to the new technology with few still relying on the hand-written method. Still the process of introducing the system was not handled e ffectively and resulted in a period of adjustment where many processes met with negative results. OPERATIONS LIFE CYCLE Wal-Mart became a textbook example of managing rapid growth without losing sight of a companys basic values. In Wal-Marts case, the basic value was, and is, customer service. Still it was Wal-Mart’s ability to focus on multiple values that lends to its current success. As technologies changed, American social needs became more immediate d

Human Evolution :: The Future of Human Evolution

For centuries, man has been curious about his origins and the origins of the life surrounding him. Countless explanations have been formulated using â€Å"evidence† that â€Å"proves† the story to be true. However, in 1859, Charles Darwin published a monumental theory in his book called The Origin of Species. In his book, Darwin outlined his theory of evolution by natural selection (Darwin, 1859). Although complex, this story is extremely useful in explaining the origins and history of life as we know it. Today, however, man questions not only his past, but also his future. Based on Darwin’s theories of evolution, man can actively postulate his existence in the upcoming centuries. Do complex civilizations and advancing technologies give man the ability to outsmart evolution? Or will our technological advances doom us in the end? In order to begin to answer these questions, it is important to understand the basics about Darwin’s theories on evolution. First, Darwin stressed that populations and organisms are variable (Darwin, 1859). Without variation, evolution would not be a viable explanation for the progress of life. Although Darwin was aware that variation occurred because of his extensive observations of different populations, he was never able to pinpoint where this variation came from. The answer lies in genetic material; heritable genes play a huge role in the evolutionary process. Genes are the medium through which variation is passed down through generations and can be affected by several different forces. Mutation, gene flow, genetic drift, non-random mating, and genetic recombination are all ways in which genes can be altered within a population (Mayr, 2001). Darwin understood that organisms are variable, but for a long time he lacked a mechanism, or a driving force, of evolution. Natural selection, or a complex natural process of elimination, turned out to be one of Darwin’s most ingenious contributions to evolutionary thought (Mayr, 2001). Natural selection is the process by which genetic variation is sorted through and selected for through the organism’s ability to survive. Selection may be due to environmental conditions, competition with other species, or reproductive success. Those organisms that survive can then go on to reproduce, and their offspring then carry the successful traits.

Dying for Love in Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez E

Dying for Love in "Of Love and Other Demons" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez Based on part of the XVIII century, when the prevalent times of the Spanish Inquisition dominated the powers of the society and the people was ruled by an orthodox way of thinking, Gabriel Garcia Marquez gives birth to "Of Love and Other Demons". According to The American Heritage Dictionary, Inquisition was a former Roman Catholic tribunal established to suppress heresy. The term Heresy originally meant a belief that one arrived at by oneself (Greek hairesis, "choosing for oneself"), and it is any religious doctrine opposed to the dogma of a particular church, especially a doctrine held by a person professing faith in the teachings of that church. Surrounded by many cities, such as Lima, Portobelo and Veracruz, "Of Love and Other Demons" takes place in Cartagena-Colombia, a small city on an island formed by shallow extension of the harbor, and surrounded by a 12 meters (40 ft) thick wall. This city still is a cultural relic, which nowadays preserves some of the stone-built structure s characteristic of the era. "Of Love and Other Demons" reflects how differences in cultures affect people's thoughts as well as what effects it may cause to the society when ruled by a major power. Garcia Marquez, winner of the Nobel of Literature of 1982, has a certain kind of power over the readers. He involves them in a very visual and fantastic space, where the expressiveness and dominance of the language makes the reader stay on his or her way to the end of the story. In a place such as Cartegena, a typical South American town where the popular siesta, the hammock and the huerto of los naranjos, bring up the life of the natural environment; the author relates the story ... ... personalities were shared, since in the time of inquisition, they were ruled by religious and Catholic thoughts that were nothing else that a mirror of non-free life that all citizen should follow. Both the Marquis and Bernarda die turning crazy on each corner of their lives, but the love that the Marquis tried to give once will remain alive although his daughter is not aware about it. Sierva Maria was not possessed by the demons, since at the end of the novel, Garcia Marquez specifies that she dies of love, pulling the grapes off not one by one but two by two, hardly breathing in her longing to strip the cluster of its last grape. Desperation is following her everywhere she goes within her mind, and love and demons cannot pertain to each other, cultures can. Works Cited: Garcia Marquez, Gabriel. Of Love and Other Demons. New York: Penguin Books, 1995.

Gender in Society as portrayed in Mary Wollstonecrafts A Vindication o

In this essay I am going to show you how things like education, job and relationship between men and women have changed and things like support are still the same since Mary Wollstonecraft and D. H. Lawrence write about them. In the essay 'A Vindication of the Right of Woman' by Mary Wollstonecraft, the author urges women to reject their conventional image of weakness. Mary Wollstonecraft uses her style of diction to convince the reader of her ideas. D. H. Lawrence, in his essay, 'Give Her a Pattern' sketches some of the patterns imposed on women by men from eighteen to 21st century. Wollstonecraft and Lawrence, they both write about the positions of men and women in society in their respective times. Wollstonecraft writes in Victorian Age and Lawrence writes in late eighteenth, early ninetieth century. But if these two writers could rise from the dead and go to see a movie or watch a television show today, they would definitely see evidence that some of their ideas about society ha ve changed such as career options, while few others such as the idea of ?the woman behind man? have remained the same. According to Lawrence, women are trying to live up to men?s expectations of what a woman is. He writes that, the eternal secret ideal of men [is] the prostitute? (D. H. Lawrence 182). The author could see his thoughts reflected in the movie ?Pretty Woman?. In this film, he can see how a man treats a woman by buying her nice clothes and doing things for her all the time. But actually it?s not for her, it is for his own pleasure. This ?gifts? and actions satisfy his needs to be with a woman that is not going to fall in love with him. Lawrence can see all of his ideas about the modern man who doesn?t know what he wants a... ...he world. This show is all about how single women can be high in society without men. They have good jobs and a lot of money. There are lots of women like them in this modern society. If she watched that television show, she will realize that women are capable of living without men. Our generation has been changed in different ways, but there are still some things that do not change over time. Those things are the same as Wollstonecraft and Lawrence thoughts. Some of them like career options, which includes job and education have changed a lot more and probably will keep changing in the future, too. They are changing in good way and in a way woman can be proud and live equal to men. I believe that those things staying the same, such as what the men expect the woman to be and to produce the best ideal of her, may remain in this order many centuries after this one.

Motivating Employees Case Study Essay

In order to be productive at work or at home an individual must be motivated to complete their task. There are two main forms of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is the desire to do the task right out of the satisfaction of a job well done without any ‘rewards’. Extrinsic motivation comes from external sources such as incentives programs. Both can be equally effective in the right situation. SAS Institute has gained a high reputation for their ability to motivate its employees with a balance of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. How Does SAS motivate its employees? The SAS Institute has long since set the standards for the ideal workplace. Focusing on both intrinsic and extrinsic motivational methods, SAS strives to ensure its employees enjoy what do and continue to stay interested in their work. SAS also encourages their employees to occasionally switch areas of expertise, gaining additional training if it is required. Using this approach, SAS keeps their employees from getting bored and losing interest in their job. In addition, â€Å"The SAS Institute also cares about its employees and their families’ well-being both on and off the job.†(George, Jones 2012) At its headquarters in Cary, North Carolina, SAS Institute also offers employees and their families 200 acres of luxuries activities as well as on-site childcare, healthcare and many other fitness and recreational benefits. What factors are likely to contribute to intrinsic motivation at SAS? The intrinsic motivation at the SAS institute can be attributed to many work and pe rsonal related factors. As quoted in the text, Bev Brown from external communications states: â€Å"Some may think that because SAS is family-friendly and has great benefits that we don’t work hard†¦. But people do work hard here, because they’re motivated to take care of a company that takes care of them.†(George, Jones, 2012) The SAS institute works hard to  keep their employees happy and motivated with generous benefits such as unlimited sick days and flexible schedules. As mentioned earlier, SAS offers on-site healthcare, childcare and many other benefits that not only benefit the employees but their families as well. Another factor that may contribute to the intrinsic motivation at SAS is the option to change jobs within the company. SAS offers additional training, if necessary, to employees who wish to switch fields. This keeps their employees interested in their work and productivity at a maximum. What factors are likely to contribute to extrinsic motivation at SAS? The managers at the SAS Institute are of the firm belief that employees need to feel that the work they do is making a difference within the company. SAS offers many incentive bonuses that are based on work performance. Employees can also take advantage of services offered such as massages, dry cleaning, car detailing and many recreational activities that include swimming and golfing. How might SAS’s long-term focus affect employee motivation? James Goodnight, long time CEO and co-founder of the SAS Institute, has implemented a long-term focus comprised of developing their software from scratch and setting up a long line of research and development projects. Not only does this approach help SAS when the economy takes a downward turn, but it serves as purposeful motivation for its employees. Firstly, employees don’t have to worry about getting laid off based on an economic crisis. Creating software from scratch also helps employees get creative. They get to design every nook and cranny of the software from the brainstorming process to the completed project. Overall, the SAS institute has a long history of happy and productive employees. SAS’s turnover rate is at an incredible 2%, while the rest of the software industry holds around 22%. SAS has maintained its status on Fortune Magazines â€Å"100 Best Companies to Work for in America† for 13 years in a row, ranking first in 2010. This is only possible by motivating its employees intrinsically, extrinsically, and therefore giving them a reason to produce great work. Reference George, J. M., & Jones, G. R. (2012). Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior (6th ed.). Prentice Hall.

Csr on Chevron and Kellogg’s

Introduction In business world companies are interested in how to maintain or increase shareholder values and profit. So, in order to give something back to the general public, those companies have to assume their responsibilities by being aware of the effects of their activities in the community and take measures to control them because this can affect the community and the environment by polluting the air, destroying the ecosystem, over using natural resources and so on.CSR is often called corporate citizen which means that companies should be good neighbors of the community not to work against it but collaborate with the citizen or the society in order to increase their welfare, to make a community a better place to live. (catalyst consortium, july 2002) What Corporate Social Responsibility is all about? In the other hand companies have to limit the excess damage on the environment, and help people in the economic development this is a way of behaving ethically in a business, coop erate with loyal spirit, ethical values, global measures and develop a general positive impact of the business on the society. hen a company choose to be socially responsible they better be prepared to go through some difficulties and critics about the way they operate, and the goals they want to achieve and must not forget the main purpose of the business which is making profit, Development: Chevron’s background: * CHEVRON is an American second oil company which has been founded in 1879 by an American group of explorers since then chevron has changed its name more than once but it took its name â€Å"chevron† in 1984 and it has worked with many other oil companies like Texaco and many more, the company now have 58,000employees and 4,000 service station employees. chevron, 2011) * KELLOGG’S is a company which produce product comes from cereals the company has started in 1906 by W. K KELLOGG’S in USA, it started with 44employeees but now it has become one of the big company in the world which sell its products in about 180 countries around the world (kellogg's, 2011) So now we are going to see how these companies operate in social responsibility in environment and community its work in As chevron company which produce oil, it has a huge responsibility to defend its activities for it to keep a good impression from the society so this is how it operate in CSR:Environment| chevron| Kellogg’s| | * protect environment in Indonesia include animals in a park by providing it energy and support guards * Promote agriculture and help farmers in that same region * Water treatment : like clean a pond into fresh water so that people can use the former pond in agriculture * Create committee called ESHIA (environment, social and health impact assessment), in charge of studying a project prior to execution to ensure if is not a threat or a danger to the environment so that the ESHIA can see how to avoid it or reduce the negative consequences i t have on the environment(chevron, 2011)| * its aim is to decrease the quantity of GHG they send into the atmosphere * new system of environment protection called K-CAPP (cares about people and planet) in supervising every Kellogg’s factory in context of avoid danger * prevent lack of water: reduce water consummation of their product where they replace the former method of cleaning their crops with dry technique to the wet system of cleaning * packaging recycle : the statistics shows that 93% of Kellogg’s waste is recycled and the 7% is used in nursing animals and producing energy (kellogg's, 2010)|CHEVRON and KELLOGG’S are both involved in the conservation of the environment and try to limit the damages caused by their activities on the ecosystem and guaranty the safety of the people who are using their products, it comes to wonder if what companies tell us is real . For example the consequences of CHEVRON’s operations in Ecuador’s Amazon where th ey have intentionally threw 18. 5 billion gallons of toxic waste have caused cancer, birth defects, death and damages to the surrounding of the city dwellers. And what’s more the recent case of oil spillage which caused serious problem to the environment in Brazil. (Rain forest action network, 2010). Another example of a company which their report is not the same as their activities on the field is the British oil company called BP.Indeed they say that they are doing the CSR based on what their former president said â€Å" we want to operate in a friendly environment in order of renewable and lasting energy with a genuine concern for the environment â€Å" but this is different of what happened these past years , as a matter of fact in 2010 the release of oil in the gulf of Mexico damaged almost everything near the coast , people lost their jobs, some of the species who were living there died, and still now there is a problem of cleaning the water in the gulf because it has been pollute. So based on this example we can ask ourselves if there is a real CSR in BP and CHEVRON’s operations when they cannot control the dangerousness of their activities and be more careful about their effects on people and the environment. ommunity| Chevron | Kellogg’s| | * promote small enterprises where it invest about 25$million * create new jobs and train employees, like in Luanda (Angola) about 143 new jobs were created in 2010 * In education , 2000 students got entrepreneur courses and provide trainings to teachers but in partnership with UNESCO and UNICEF * chevron and bank of Angola collaborate to facilitate people to get loan for their business development * with the partnership of a project called PROAGRO they assist farmers to increase their productivity * provide vaccination in Angola and Congo to eradicate a disease called polio chevron and its partners invested about 29million $ in medical training in 20 past years (chevron, 2011)| * provide brea kfast to school’s children around the world so that program cost about $400,000 no profit * donate cashes and kellogg’s product to assist people in Japan , Haiti, Australia caused by the disaster, when in 2010 * in 2011 it donate $500,000 to the American cross to give their hand in Japan during the disaster ,and also it intervene in Chile after 1month in Mexico * 165 children received scholarship for them to continue their studies * Encourage children to practice sport when it sponsors schools in Sweden . (kellogg's, 2010)| KELLOGG’S show us their involvement in community welfare but we still find some customers complaining about the ingredients of their products , which is increasing obesity among people in USA (Robinson, 2010) and there are other companies such as NIKE , where employees work in a bad condition , children working in their factories ,over time work and all of that they just earn a miserable salary which doesn’t match on the efforts they p ut into the manufacturing of the product which the company will sell at high price.But they defend themselves by saying that there are not implied in this situation because they design the product and retailers produce them so they pretend there are not involved in the manufacturing process therefore, not linked to the situation they are accused for ,even if they are indirectly implied they have to control every single thing which is done under their name and which could affect their reputation, so this is a lesson to other companies that social responsibility starts within the organization with their employees before it spread out to the community , because those employees are one of the most reliable advertising tool of the company . So they have interest to treat them well for them to insure the confidence of customers and employees (stephen p. , 2003) CSR is not only community which benefit from it but also companies ,when there are doing CSR this is a kind of advertising or sav e their reputation , and attract more confidence from their customersConclusion: we can’t blame all companies which are not doing CSR or to do it wrong, because it’s not always about managers of the company who don’t want to do it but there are shareholders who don’t want to spend their money in CSR all they want is to insure the maximization of their profit and there are those which avoid criticize or being treated as hypocrisy and always be compared to others, try to please the community by doing CSR, (KARNANI, 2010) but also increase their profit and social responsibility and still reducing dangers of their operations ,because there are those companies which think that doing CSR is about spending money which will give them more expenditures by participating in for example charitable activities . (two tomorrows, jun 2009) and manager don’t know how to differentiate till now , a social responsibility and social responsiveness , which is make a pra ctical decisions about the societal actions in which it operate for its to satisfied some expressed social needs because is guided by social norms , because manager focus just on things which increase profits, and this is most of the time because of some shareholders who don’t want to spend their money in CSR , yes, is all businessman want but they can just try to do good hings to the society not just economic but also socially, by starting with their employees they work with by facilitate them and give them some opportunities. So if all all companies , instead of using a lot of money in advertising , to use it in charities this can be a good advertisement by doing good also to the society and the environment they work in ,and for those which do it already, they need to improve their way of doing CSR not only to advertise and restore the reputation, This is not only about doing things ethically or to fill their CSR report but also conduct the business in a responsible manner not because there are required to do it but because it’s their duty. (baker, jun 2004) . o do like KELLOGG’S, CHEVRON, BP , NIKE and many others are doing, because they owe it to the society and the environment ,for example by improving working condition of their employees ,expanding employees rights and increasing job security, building schools to develop education ,in case of health also distribute medicines and construction of hospitals, and offer opportunities their employees and let people who are in same area take advantage of their presence by offering them jobs or constructing infrastructures,†¦ (businessdictionary. com, 2011) People don’t just need words or CSR report on their website , they just want to see proof of what companies are capable to do for the society not only economically but also socially because developing a place while it’s environmentally dying doesn’t mean any sense ,so companies have to see how to improve their CS R in those sector.

Living Facades Can Be Grown Environmental Sciences Essay

The existent construction of populating frontages varies between providers, with a battalion of different patented systems out at that place. However, there are three chief structural systems that most living frontages will adhere to, each with their ain advantages and disadvantages. Modular Panel System Panels of pre-planted flora are fitted on to a support system that provides construction and a mechanical lacrimation system. Pre-planting means that an instant green consequence can be achieved upon completion. Composition of the faculties will change depending on the demands of the flora, but will necessitate to incorporate foods and stuff for the roots to keep. Soil can be used, but due to its weight it can merely realistically be of usage for little graduated table walls. ( see figure 1 ) Man-made Felt Pioneered by Patrick Blanc, this system uses man-made felt as a base for the flora, with H2O and foods provided automatically. A metal frame is used for the construction, with a 10mm PVC bed riveted to it and the felt stapled to this. The metal frame allows the construction to be attached to a frontage leting an air spread between the two beds which prevents flora from impacting the edifice structurally while helping the thermal and acoustic belongingss of the frontage. The PVC bed prevents wet get awaying and provides rigidness to the full construction. The polymeric amide felt layer consists of two overlapping sheets with assorted pockets that secure the workss. The pick of stuff is determined by its opposition to decompose and a high capillary action leting H2O and foods to be distributed good. This frontage has the benefit of merely weighing 30kg per meter squared. ( see figure 1 ) Container and Trellis A series of containers house the workss with trellis mediate, leting the flora to mount and make an uninterrupted face of flora. Water and foods can once more provided automatically with either a man-made or dirt based turning medium. ( see figure 1 ) ( Figure 1. Different Populating Facade Structures, 2008 ) Positive Effectss The bulk of the positive effects of life frontages are environmental, although aesthetic, societal and economic benefits can besides be identified. Air Quality It has long been recognised that indoor workss can assist better the air quality in offices and an internal life wall can supply a similar consequence and assist rejuvenate ‘sick ‘ edifices. The workss absorb C dioxide and other particulates sublimating the air. The external air quality can besides be improved by a life frontage as it is able to absorb the C dioxide and pollutants from traffic. It has been shown that a life frontage can hold a major impact on the degrees of Nitrogen Dioxide ( NO2 ) and particulate affair ( PM ) in urban countries in which there are street canons ( tallness of edifices exceeds distance between them ) . The street canons cause the air to twirl and purl around the flora enabling increased degrees of atoms to be absorbed. A survey carried out by Lancaster University found a decrease in street flat concentrations of up to 40 % for NO2 and 60 % for particulate affair. With NO2 and particulate affair doing up a big measure of air pollutants, a decrease in concentrations of this magnitude would hold a positive consequence on air pollution in urban countries. Thermal Performance The thermic effects of life frontages are really similar to those of green roofs. Internet Explorer, decrease in surface temperatures due to shadowing from flora, evapotranspiration and increased thermic mass can take to: a ice chest internal clime a decrease in urban heat island consequence However, surveies have shown that populating frontages may be more effectual than green roofs in these countries. Building Performance The surface temperatures and hence the internal temperature of edifices can be affected in many ways by the presence of life walls and flora: The flora shades the solid wall behind it, forestalling solar additions. Vegetation absorbs radiation hence cut downing contemplation. The increased thermic mass of the flora and infrastructure reduces flow of temperature through the edifice tegument: ice chest inside in summer and heater in winter. Transpiration: the consequence of H2O loss from flora by vaporization. Heat is carried off in the signifier of H2O vapor. Protection from cold air currents A 2010 survey by the National University of Singapore found that the surface temperature of life walls was significantly reduced compared to a concrete control wall, with decreases of 6 to 10 grades recorded. Analysis of the consequences concluded that shadowing and transpiration seemed to be the chief subscribers to this lessening. In another survey at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, decreases in both external and internal wall temperatures were found when a concrete wall was clad with vegetated facing. Urban Heat Islands An Urban Heat Island is the localized addition of temperature in urban Centres as opposed to environing rural countries due to a profuseness of heat retaining surfaces. It is thought that the decrease in surface temperatures due to populating frontages could assist cut down the temperatures in urban countries. A computing machine theoretical account based analysis at the University of Cardiff found a important decrease of the temperature in urban canons when the edifice envelopes are to the full ‘greened ‘ . A similar decision was reached in a survey by the University of Manchester, who found that an addition in green screen of 10 % in urban countries could take to a decrease in maximal temperatures. Biodiversity It is thought that populating frontages may lend to an addition in biodiversity in urban countries by supplying a home ground for insects and birds. Although specific proving on the biodiversity of life frontages has non yet been exhaustively undertaken, there are illustrations of wildlife such as birds utilizing populating walls as their place. Any study would hold to admit the possible disadvantages of increased biodiversity on a edifices frontage. Acoustic Control Vegetation is widely used to cut down the noise degrees from busy roads or railroad lines and it is thought that populating walls may be used to command the acoustics of edifices. A survey at the National University of Singapore found that life walls had a higher sound soaking up coefficient than many regular edifice stuffs and that the noise decrease was besides important. However, the survey pointed out that these consequences varied greatly depending on the frequences used, types of works, per centum screen of wall and type of substrate. Further proving on existent edifices is needed to set up the true acoustic virtues of life frontages. Aestheticss Bing in consequence a perpendicular garden, the aesthetic qualities of a life frontage are obvious and there are many illustrations where the primary aim is aesthetic consequence. Some of the ocular benefits include: Rejuveinating bland frontages Softening of the urban landscape and leting edifices to look more ‘natural ‘ Changing aesthetics with season Light: softening and diffusion of visible radiation can heighten infinites ( when used in concurrence with glazing ) . Social The effects of flora in urban countries on well-being are good documented and surveies have found that people view verdure as really of import in these countries. Economic Although full cost analysis is yet to be done for a edifice with a life frontage, it is possible that populating frontages could hold a good economic impact on edifices. The countries these benefits could be found are: cut downing warming and air-conditioning costs added commercial value to the edifice increased productiveness Negative Aspects Lack of surveies and research into populating frontages means that the true benefits and negatives are yet to be discerned. Of the few surveies available, most are either computing machine theoretical accounts or proving is carried out in controlled environments. To genuinely understand the effects of life frontages, proving demands to be carried out long term on edifices. However, since the construct of life frontages is reasonably new, there is presently really small informations available and most living frontages are still reasonably immature. Populating walls can necessitate a high degree of care depending on the system chosen, and at that place have been documented jobs with: Root putrefaction Plants deceasing Need for paring Future/Incorporation with Sustainability There are many other countries of sustainability that populating walls have the possible to be integrated with. These thoughts are still at the experimental phase, but could practicably work: Integration with air purification and airing eg Queens University Biowall Vertical agriculture/farming: veggies or fruit could be grown on life walls and so harvested, increasing the surface countries available for agribusiness. Water re-use: since life walls rely on automatically supplied H2O, there is the chance to utilize rain H2O or gray H2O as this supply. The systems can be attached to a H2O butt. Code for Sustainable Homes and BREEAM Planing governments can see developments of populating walls as positive and they may even number towards local be aftering marks. Due to populating facade engineering being rather new, at present there are no specific mentions in the sustainable codification or BREEAM. However, populating walls may be able to lend towards other countries of the codification, assisting to gain credits. Sustainability Code/BREEAM: Combined with a rainwater crop armored combat vehicle – Wat /W01 Native species planted – Eco 2 ( ecological sweetening ) /LE05 If important country of belongings covered – Eco 4 ( alteration of eco value ) Possible betterment of thermic public presentation – Ene1 ( Brooding Emission Rate ) /E1