Unintended Consequences by Edward Conard Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Unintended Consequences by Edward Conard - Essay Example "Unintended Consequences" by Edward Conard Some think it is random and based on America's entrepreneurial culture, but he argues it is based on the availability of risk financial capital. Is it one or the other or both? In my opinion, innovation in America is based on both America’s entrepreneurial culture and the availability of financial or risk of financial capital. Innovation is described as using knowledge to create changes in both the technical and organizational departments to create economic advantages for the said countries organizations incorporating it. It involves conducting new research into different field to create new products or enhance the quality of the already existing ones. America as country used the knowledge provided by innovation to obtain their desired productivity growth through such channels like developing new technologies, and absorbing and enhancing on both external and internal knowledge. America had the will, desire; spirit and vision which contributes to innovation making them explore different avenues of opportunities within the country. These were directed towards the economic, cultural and social sectors, and in the process they were able to develop resources and abilities that stimulated their growth into a first world country. Moreover, they used their ideas in transforming ideas, services and financial resources they use in sponsoring and conducting different projects across the country. The availability of financial or risk of financial capital significantly contributed towards the development of America’s entrepreneurial culture. Innovation as a process entails trials and mistakes that require financial risk and resources. Capital plays a significant role in the production of goods and services and without it; the process of production is incomplete. America as country was blessed with capital availability and accessibility thus its innovation process was simplified as they used the capital in purchasing for raw materials and resources that were needed to finish the different innovation processes they were conducting in different sectors within the country. The country was has also been successful because of the financial risk they have taken in their innovation sector. The sources of this finds were diverse like revenues and bank financing. This enabled America to acquire new ideas and enhance them into suitable good and services for their own use and benef it. Question 2 What is Conard's argument that the U.S. trade deficit is a good thing because it provides the U.S. with plenty of risk-adverse short-term financial capital? On the other hand, he thinks this is a problem because that money is difficult to use to support innovation and therefore financial institutions should be able to buy government insurance(rather than get it for free). Explain what he means by all of this. Trade deficit refers to a situation where a country imports more good than those which she exports. It significantly affects the country’s balance payment. According to Conard’s argument, the U.S trade deficit is a good thing because a rising trade deficit is associated to growth in the U.S economy. The deficit leads to a balance of trade in any economic situation. Deficit in trade allows for country to export more products to other neighboring countries and in the process creates new jobs for the unemployed and also creates a demand for a good or a product. Moreover, price competition is promoted by trade deficit and

Operations & Technology Management Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Operations & Technology Management - Case Study Example This is part of Peter Salisbury's move to reorganize and decentralize. His program "Return to Recovery Program" tried to centralize 77% of tasks in the UK for easy control and communication. He was successful in accelerating the design-to-store lead-time. He also came out with a trendy line for clothing labeled "Autograph" the "real clothes for women." Despite all these efforts and a 20Million advertising campaign, M&S failed. It could not compete with Inditex and its brand Zara. Zara who does not spend on advertising but relies solely on window displays, proper positioning of stores, giving the people what they want and at the fastest possible time. Zara has its designers combing streets and asking the people what they want. It has a machinery that can produce a copy of a competitor design in a week and make new designs every two weeks. Zara is able to this and still pass the product to the consumer at reasonable costs. According to Merrill Lynch, M&S failed because it did not chang e the root causes of poor performance which is, "heavy organization, limited flexibility and over centralization."

Privacy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Privacy - Essay Example ual’s wish to remain obscured or relatively unnoticed from the public and security which can also be achieved by privacy in reference to the protection of information. Its importance has also been an issue that has been discussed on a large scale with relevance to how important it is for the existence of privacy within the society (Wack, 2010). An invasion of privacy refers to the intrusion of ones personal matters or the revelation of information to the public that an individual would have rather kept secret or away from the public eye. This invasion of privacy is the main opponent that individuals face in the fight to withhold information that they may not want others to know. There are a number of scenarios where privacy is upheld and it does not just deal with an individual on a personal level. There are different types of privacy that ca n be considered according to the particular situation that is being faced at that particular time. The types of privacy include: Personal Privacy – This type of privacy refers to an individual on a personal level where it is one person is involved. This usually has to do with the exposure of a person’s body to others. For example, a person usually prefers to be alone in certain situations such as taking a bath or changing their clothes because they would not like a person to see them in a state of undress (Solove, 2009). This can also be referred to as personal modesty. There is also the issue of privacy in terms of living conditions and relationships with those who may live next to you. This can be seen in the walls and fences that are erected around an individual’s personal property in a bid to maintain their coming and goings private (Wack, 2010). There is also the concept of curtains that are erected on windows to prevent people from being able to see inside a house. Personal privacy has always been in existence since the formation of societies as individuals have always wanted to keep certain aspects of their

Local Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Local Policy - Essay Example (Ulin,2002) They believe that a diverse group of people fosters an environment conducive to creativity, productivity and high performance that affords each individual the opportunity to reach their fullest potential. Proper facilitation and administration provides leverage to the diversity of America as a competitive advantage in the global aspect that they face and to make America a better place to live and prosper for immigrants such as the Irish. Diversity in the workforce has contributed to the emergence of awareness and acceptance of employees from different races, ages and gender. Women are now more involved in different sectors and has made notable contributions as well. The traditional notion that women should be limited to the four corners of the house with the ultimate position as a housewife is now long gone. Single or married women, with or without kids, are continuously striving to flourish their own career profiles for their self-fulfillment and also to help in the financial capacity of the household. Gender discrimination can still be an issue but not as progressive as it previously was. However, working women are still subject to stereotypes and biases for some of them may be possible victims of prejudice and bias. Most companies have the tendency to hire and retain working women w... Most companies have the tendency to hire and retain working women who are still single and without any kids. Ideally, they believe that these single women have fewer responsibilities to fulfill for they are free from the familial problems that arise from arguments with husbands or kids getting sick. This can be an issue for this notion is somewhat subjective and does not really apply to all for there are still working mothers and wives who are able to do their jobs very well. Being a mother is already a huge responsibility and being a wife in another tedious task. However having multiple roles to perform outside the workplace may hinder or permit these working women to perform and stay at par with the single women in the workforce. The City of Los Angeles shall work toward implementing the principles of CEDAW to ensure the protection of human rights, including the elimination of discrimination against women and girls. (Willard, 1991) The impact on the criminal justice system is that in undertaking the enforcement of this Ordinance, the City of Los Angeles is assuming an undertaking only to promote the general welfare. It is not assuming, nor is it imposing on its officers and employees, an obligation, the breach of which creates any liability in money damages to any person who claims that the breach proximately caused injury. This ordinance does not create any private cause of action. (Ordinance 175735). The Commission on the Status of Women developed guidelines regarding gender analysis. Each department reports annually to the Commission on the Status of Women, in accordance with the established guidelines, on how it is implementing the provisions of CEDAW and

Burka’s book Essay Example for Free

Burka’s book Essay On the surface ‘procrastination’ is an ideologically and psychologically fixed term it is presumed that procrastination is definitely bad and is to be avoided. Thus there exists a whole plethora of books which seek to cure this tendency of ‘delaying. ’ And as far as such efforts go, this book is no exception, rather her book like so many others in its category systematically prescribes how to overcome what the ancients like St. Augustine called ‘acedia’ (depression leading to inordinate delays in doing anything within a time frame. What Burka misses is that it may be fine to procrastinate on doing one’s laundry over writing a thesis; to delay shaving over finishing a novel started from last night. Burka’s book suffers from giving equal importance to every work and an overt tendency to pre-plan everything. This need to plan and work towards goals is a recent phenomenon in self-help literature. Time – management books especially hinge on the setting of goals. There is a fear that by over-regimentation they kill all spontaneity and joy from life and make us automatons. But if one argues that the book is intended for clinically malefficient procrastinators then one ought to point out that self-help books are hardly written for those who need mental help. There is another point regarding this book. It is definitely a secularization of the concept of procrastination. In the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries and even later, ‘delaying’ was inevitably associated with the cardinal sin of sloth. This book opens up the issue for humanistic debates, albeit their humanism is rooted in the ontogeny of Freud. Burka and Yeun devote a whole chapter to the interrogation of procrastination as a formed infantile reaction to clinically significant psychological events. Fear is seen as the source for the ultimate interiorization of chronically delayed work habits. They list many different fears the fear of losing, the fear of being humiliated, etc. Ultimately it is seen that all the various phobias are just related to the process of self-actualization and Jungian individuation. In a very interesting and significant paper Jennifer M. Kosmas1 gives a similar phobic-oriented account of procrastination. Whereas she and other experts in the field are highly technical and do not try to see how the tendency to delay can be prevented; Burka and Yeun posit a reductive approach to problem solving and thus, delay negation. In this they follow the beaten path, not merely of psychiatrists but of self-help gurus and time management experts like the legendary Stephen Covey. Covey in his The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People asks us all to problem-solve by breaking the problem into parts and then working towards the solution within fixed time frames. All this is traditional and time-tested but the real problem for true procrastinators in not to only know the cause of their disease but rather for them, it is a mortal combat against the inertia caused by time itself. This is where the book fails. It falls short of giving any really effective formula to any reader which would impel him or her to just get up and doing a thing. One can plan and write all sorts of goals and have strict time frames; this book creates a programme of two weeks for procrastination de-addiction; but at the end one might just refuse to go running according to the planned start of any exercise regimen. In the final analysis, this book is a clearly written and popular account of procrastination but it fails miserably as a serious book with any real clinical significance. Innumerable studies have shown that procrastination is often psychosomatic and related with depression. The authors, in spite of being practicing psychiatrists, do not really tackle these issues. The parable like examples strewn throughout the book are just Chicken Soup (the popular series) sort of stories. The more serious sort of reader and patient will do better to study the original Freudian works on infantile hysteria and then read Stephen Covey’s books.

The Structure Of British Airways Management Essay

The Structure Of British Airways Management Essay British Airways is the largest international airline in the United Kingdom and is assigned in the operation of international and domestic carriage of cargo and mail, and the auxiliary services The British Airways Group comprises of British Airways, British Airways Holidays Limited, BA Connect Limited, Deutsche BA, and British Asia Airways, amongst others. Since privatization in 1987, British Airways have persisted to develop as competition in the market becoming the worlds first airline to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to let passengers to print online boarding passes. Structure of British Airways: As explained British airways flat structure encourages the company to have a corporate culture which can be described by applying the McKinsey 7S s model which includes Staff, Skills, Style, Shared Values, Systems and Structure and strategy. Before the privatization, British Airways had a more formalized bureaucratic structure with rules and procedures, as a result of its size and its activities. But a main change in the last years has been the decrease of its management levels and it now has a formal structure with responsibilities across different functions. Therefore the structure of British Airways is flat type because it has only one level of hierarchy that separates managing directors at the top of bottom-line employees. The organization has segregated management-level positions into ten departments and each department has own subordinates. British airways structure is shown in figure 2 in which its departments include Planning, Investment Alliances, Commerce, Ground Operation, Engineering, Flight Operation, IT, Finance, Law, and Human Resource. (British Airways, 2010) Figure 2: British airways organization structure, (British airways 2010) Description: Management structure diagram Sources: www.britishairways.com However market influences created a leaner, structure at the top of the management. As illustrated in figure 1, British Airways have a flat hierarchical structure that needs them to cooperate within all the levels of as strategic where the board of directors take a decision on the long term objective the information which flows to the managers in the tactical who furnishes the information to the operational level and the operational level (front office staff, flight stewards etc.) drives the data into meaningful messages to be operated conveniently and efficiently. Culture of British Airways: Mission Statement:                   To be the most exclusive and first choice airline for all airline travelers We recommend a new mission statement after a consultation process involving our group members. The mission statement can replace an existing statement, which had been drawn up in 1997 in the run-up to privatization, and many employees have received training in its meaning for their particular jobs. Their mission statement clearly shows that in every persons mind the first thing to come from traveling by air should be British Airways. Whatever it is called, a vision, mission or strategic intent, its purpose is to provide a guiding light for the future. Companies without a mission are prone to opportunistic. A unifying mission is especially important in large companies where staff and managers are expected to take decisions themselves, without constant referral back to headquarters or to their seniors. Aims: British Airways is to become the worlds first global airline Objectives: Like all businesses one of their objectives was to maximize profits however after September 11th they had to change their aim of having an increase in   security as this was the main issue globally and they needed to keep their customers safe after the horrific terrorism attacks in the USA. Objective:    To increase security to combat terrorism Specific To increase security for the safety of passengers and staff Measurable Hand luggage of passengers was reduced to a plastic bag, stop and search was also put into place and metal detectors as well as a regular anti-terrorism drills Achievable More security staff will be in place and they have the finances to do so. Realistic This objective is realistic as terrorism is a threat and they also have the finances to do so to ensure that all passengers and staff are fully protected. Objective: To increase profits by the end of the tax year 2009 Culture: The organizational structure of a company reflects its culture, its management style and its leader attitude in addition to the environment in which it has to operate. . British Airways have a more formalized structure with precise rules and procedures, due to its size and the global scope of its activity. A major change in the last years has been the reduction of its management layers, between the chief executive and the front line who interface with customers, from nine to five. It now has a small ad hoc group working in parallel with the formal structure, with responsibilities that cut across different functions, or in any case duplicated these functions. Corporate culture The organizational culture consists of the deep basic assumptions, beliefs, values and norms which are shared by members of an organization, arise from the organizations history and tradition and are modified by contemporary events. Management style and leadership at British Airways As clearly stated above, British airways had been bureaucratically, between functions and hierarchies. It has changed to a style of employees empowerment. This means management gets help from employees outside the formal structure and across functions. British Airways used to have a more autocratic style but at the moment company is delegating responsibility directly to key individuals. The management at all levels mutually responsive to relationships created with customers and stakeholders. In other words company is experiencing democratic leadership style. Interrelationships of functions with processes: The business process is a collection of interrelated activities and tasks that will create a service as well as products for the consumers of business. There are three types of business processes involve in British airways and they are management process, operation process and supporting processes. The management process of British Airways is all about the operation of a system which includes the strategic management and the corporate governance. Strategic planning in management process is very important because it includes business plans, risk assessment, risk management, financial objectives, management responsibility, continuity planning, quality control, IT threat, contingency plan, disaster recovery, and fulfillment. Operations: Another type is the operational process which is the most essential among all the types of the business processes. It generally comprises the core business of British airways which is transporting passengers fast, safely and comfortably. In addition to this, it also generates the primary value stream. Purchasing, sales, manufacturing and marketing functions are usually included in its operational process. These three types of business processes of British airways have their own distinctive attributes which add value to its service delivery process. SUPPORT ACTIVITIES FIRM INFRASTRUCTURE Structured hierarchy permits BA to build a massive amount of specialist knowledge in order to get a competitive advantage over economized firms. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Invested in the expansion of customer service training in 2007 drawing attention of the best employees. Speak Up view survey persuades employees to offer feedback (British Airways, 2008). TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT BA has included value in this group over smaller companies by reason of lack of resources that can be employed to create the service in an innovative way. (e.g. Individual LCD screens). PROCUREMENT As a result of the size and chronological business relationships and alliances, BA is able to influence suppliers and during economies of scale make efficiencies where competitors may fall short. PRIMARY ACTIVITIES: INBOUND LOGISTICS: Stock Control High quality training given by City the Guilds (British Airways, 2008). A continuous relationship with suppliers (e.g. Gate Gourmet. OUTBOUND LOGISTICS: Customer Service Large database of airport slots facilitates passengers to contact the majority of destinations from preferred airport. MARKETING SALES Marketing communications to all stakeholders. Brand consenting to for large budget to be spent in this field. POST SALE SERVICE The loyalty club card is offered. Bringing up to date communication on other services Interrelationship between the processes and functions of British Airways British Airways is one of the worlds largest aviation companies. Its portfolio of aviation transportation in which it is a global leader in air transportation The companys aviation operation and extensive airplanes of growth projects are located in all over the world, South America, Australia, North America and Asia. The purpose of the organization is to set out in a mission statement. To be the leading global aviation company through the operational excellence of world class assets in the most attractive commodities and a resolute commitment to safe and sustainable air transportation. In 2008 there was a downturn in world economic activity. This resulted from a loss of confidence in the world financial system. The downturn has led to a steep fall in aviation travelling prices such as airfares. By late 2009 these prices started to rise again as demand for aviation transportation increased. Sustainability Although Airline companies are affected by changes in economic activity, aviation is a long-term investment business. Firms like British Airways have to take a long term view of the business. This involves creating more routes which is a sustainable way over a long period of time. The company focuses on those routes in which it has a favorable position. It concentrates on various routes where sales of air tickets will be possible for many years into the future. It also looks at aviation projects where costs can be kept to a minimum but where there are opportunities to expand operations. There are several issues of sustainability facing British Airways. Key ones are: Securing energy supplies, such as airplanes and resources including fuels, for the future Managing emissions to minimize harm. British Airways uses large quantities of energy in its operations. It also generates the potential for energy, e.g. by purchasing the very latest planes which are eviromental friendly. A key aim of the company therefore is to do more with less. It must achieve maximum efficiency with minimum waste. British Airways believes that by operating in innovative and socially responsible ways it can do things better than its rivals. Doing things better in business is referred to as competitive advantage. Social responsibilities are those duties to all the stakeholders of a business, not just the shareholders. Embedded within social responsibility is the concept of sustainable development. Sustainable development involves using resources so that: Resources are available to meet the needs of people now Resources can be available to future generations The needs of the natural environment are respected. The success of British Airways is the best value comfort service provides for its passengers. And to build up this solid foundation in the marketplace, British airways utilizes its resources effectively and efficiently. In that manner operations management of British Airways plays an important role in transforming inputs (labor, capital, equipment, land, buildings, materials and information) into outputs (goods and services) that offer superior value to customers.

Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) :: e-commerce Internet IPO Essays

Initial Public Offerings (IPO's) The term "IPO" slipped into everyday speech during the tech bull market of the late 1990s. Back then, it seemed you couldn't go a day without hearing about a dozen new dot-com millionaires in Silicon Valley cashing in on their latest IPO. The phenomenon spawned the term "siliconaire," which described the dot-com entrepreneurs in their early 20s and 30s who suddenly found themselves living large due to IPOs from their Internet companies. So, what is an IPO anyway? How did everybody get so rich so fast? And, most importantly, is it possible for mere mortals like us to get in on an IPO? All these questions and more will be answered in this tutorial. Before we continue, we suggest you check out our stock basics tutorial as well as brokers and online trading if you don't have a solid understanding of stocks and how they trade. IPO Basics: What is an IPO? Selling Stock IPO is an acronym for Initial Public Offering. This is the first sale of stock by a company to the public. A company can raise money by issuing either debt (bonds) or equity. If the company has never issued equity to the public, it's known as an IPO. Companies fall into two broad categories: private and public. A privately held company has fewer shareholders and its owners don't have to disclose much information about the company. Anybody can go out and incorporate a company: just put in some money, file the right legal documents, and follow the reporting rules of your jurisdiction. Most small businesses are privately held. But large companies can be private too. Did you know that IKEA, Domino's Pizza, and Hallmark Cards are all privately held? It usually isn't possible to buy shares in a private company. You can approach the owners about investing, but they're not obligated to sell you anything. Public companies, on the other hand, have sold at least a portion of themselves to the public and trade on a stock exchange. This is why doing an IPO is also referred to as "going public." Public companies have thousands of shareholders and are subject to strict rules and regulations. They must have a board of directors and they must report financial information every quarter. In the United States, public companies report to the SEC. In other countries, public companies are overseen by governing bodies similar to the SEC. From an investor's standpoint, the most exciting thing about a public company is that the stock is traded in the open market, like any other commodity.