ORGANIZATIONAL SUCCESS Essay

Inadequate skills is present if the problem is the employee’s lack of certain skills, a supervisor should see that the employee gets the necessary training. Talent management is the automated end-to-end process of planning, recruiting, developing, managing, and compensating employees throughout the organization. Lisa needs to set up a mentoring and coaching programs that will advises, counsels, and guides her current employees. Both coaching and mentoring skills are needed for appraising employees, but appraising and assessing refer to rating an employee. While employers have long â€Å"managed their talent† without computerized systems, talent management today is usually information technology–based. Several software providers offer specialized talent management suites. The suites include and integrate underlying talent management components such as e-recruiting, e-training, performance reviews, and rewards. For example, talent management software includes e-rec ruiting software, employee performance management, a learning management system, and compensation management. Among other things, this program relieves the stress of writing employee performance reviews by automating the task and ensures â€Å"that all levels of the organization are aligned—all working for the same goals (Dessler, 2011).† Lisa and the CFO have sufficiently investigated whether training is really called for through the control process. A manager should continuously gather information about each employee’s performance. This is an ongoing activity, not something the supervisor saves to do when filling out appraisal forms. Ways to gather information include keeping regular performance records (such as a work team’s output or the customer calls handled by each employee), saving customer notes of complaint or praise, writing a summary whenever an employee is observed doing something exceptional, and encouraging employees to keep track of their accomplishments. This record keeping may seem time-consuming, but it is essential. Lisa and other supervisors need to make sure employees know and understand what is expected of them. To do this, they should make sure that objectives for the employees are clear, and he or she should communicate them effectively. Employees are most likely to  understand and be committed to objectives when they have a say in developing them. More and more firms now require that supervisors and employees together set mutually acceptable performance goals. Hospitality Skills/Training Guide for Valet Attendant Set your property apart from the competition with this excellent job-specific training program for valet attendants. This binder is divided into 6 tabbed sections: This guide provides the basis of a six-day training course for new employees and current employees. The Employee Knowledge tab includes: †¢Quality Guest Service †¢Bloodborne Pathogens †¢Personal Appearance †¢Emergency Situations †¢Lost and Found †¢Recycling Procedures †¢Safe Work Habits †¢Manager on Duty †¢Your Property’s Fact Sheet †¢Employee Policies †¢The Americans with Disabilities Act Employee Skill tab contains: †¢Follow the Property’s Valet Posting Positions †¢Maintain Clear Drive-up/Drop-off Area †¢Welcome Guests and Offer Assistance †¢Load and Transport Luggage Using Luggage Cart †¢Valet Park Guest Vehicles †¢Retrieve Vehicles That Have Been Valet Parked †¢Provide Storage for Guest Luggage †¢Assist With Luggage for Group Arrivals and Departures †¢Use the Guest Information Directory †¢Prepare Maps and Provide Directions †¢Arrange for Services Requested by Guests †¢Handle Guest Service Problems †¢Arrange for or hail Taxis for Guests †¢Arrange Limousine Services †¢Provide Courtesy Transportation †¢Report Vehicle Accidents †¢Clean the Drive-up, Entrance, Valet Stand, and Luggage Carts †¢Assist Guests at Check-out †¢Respond to Situations Requiring First Aid †¢Handle Cash Payment and Tips †¢Assist in Rooming Guests †¢Assist Guests During Room Changes The Hotel Paris’s competitive strategy is â€Å"To use superior guest service to differentiate the Hotel Paris properties, and to thereby increase the length of stay and return rate of guests, and thus boost revenues and profitability.† HR manager Lisa Cruz must now formulate functional policies and activities that support this competitive strategy by eliciting the required employee behaviors and competencies. References: Dessler, G. (2011). Human Resource Management. (13 Ed.).Upper Saddle River,NJ: Prentice Hall

Most Effective Form of Power

In Chapter 13, we have learned about Power. In section 3. 1, there is a discussion regarding the 6 bases of power. Which type of power do you feel is most effective? Do you possess any of these powers? Please feel free to draw from outside of the business world if you would like. There are six different types of power to include legitimate power, reward power, coercive power, expert power, information power, and referent power. Upon studying the lesson from Chapter 13, I believed the most effective type of power is referent power, â€Å"the ability to attract others, win their admiration, and hold them spellbound† (Bauer & Erdogan, 2012). Unfortunately, I was studying the material as if each individual only holds one type of power. Throughout my research on this topic, I came across an article by Harold Fuqua, Jr. , Kay Payne, and Joseph Cangemi who state, â€Å"an effective leader rarely depends on only one source or base of power† (n. d. ). With this, I discovered the most effective type of power is actually a combination of expert, reward, and referent power. Based on my personal experiences, I have come to the following conclusions regarding the three different types of power that are the most effective when combined. Expert power is â€Å"power that comes from knowledge and skill† (Bauer & Erdogan, 2012). Expert power is important because those who look up to you â€Å"will be dependent on your wisdom and knowledge to help them succeed† (Exforsys Inc. , 2006). In addition, people must not only believe it but must see it so it is imperative for a leader to ensure their â€Å"actions speak louder than their words† (Exforsys Inc. , 2006). I personally find this to be true. In the legal field, expert witnesses are used during courts to testify as to validity of certain evidence. Past experience working with the panel members (equivalent to civilian jury) shows they put more credibility into an expert witness who speaks in terms of science verse an expert witness who tries to dumb it down regardless of their actual knowledge level. Reward power, â€Å"the ability to grant a reward, such as an increase in pay, a perk, or an attractive job assignment† (Bauer & Erdogan, 2012), at first glance seem to be the most effective type of power. Most people will strive to complete a job if there is something in it for them at the end. However a 1999 survey of performance-based work/life programs showed only â€Å"66. 8% of the respondents determine the impact of this type of program would improve employee satisfaction† (Prudden, n. d. ). This statistic shows although it might sometimes be an effective type of power, it is not necessarily the most effective. In addition, Liz Prudden points out several potential pitfalls to a reward program, one of which stood out in my mind as the largest downfall, to â€Å"match the reward and recognition to the recipient† (Prudden, n. . ). I find this to be true because if you have two individuals’ working toward a specific goal number, but one individuals’ tasks are more difficult and time consuming, the easier tasked worker has a higher chance of reaching the goal first and therefor obtaining the reward. Finally, referent power is â€Å"power that stems from the personal characteristics of the person such as the degree to which we like, respect, and want to be like them† (Bauer & Erdogan, 2012). Referent power is important because â€Å"Power is the individual’s capacity to move others, to entice others, to persuade and encourage others to attain specific goals or to engage in specific behavior; it is the capacity to influence and motivate others† (Fuqua, Jr. , Payne & Cangemi, n. d. ). To truly have somebody follow a leader, they need to like or respect the leader. As an example, I previously had a supervisor that I hated. I followed her orders and direction because I had to, but no additional effort was made to go above and beyond. However, I now work for a supervisor that I admire and strive to be like. Now I find myself working harder and am more productive than I was with my prior supervisor. There is no perfect single type of power and rarely will life require only one type of power to truly motivate others. It is imperative to have multiple types of power in order to effectively motivate others in all situations and scenarios. I personally have achieved expert power and referent power. I have expert power in my job because I have been doing the job for eight years, more than most paralegals as many others transfer in nd out while I have only done paralegal work. As such, I have worked extensively in all areas of our career field and am normally the one assigned to train others. I know I have referent power because I have attorneys vying to have me be placed on their team. I have others striving to constantly have a good attitude and smile like I do (so I have been told). These two areas that I have gained some power in, but I have a lot to strive for in the future to obtain more power options. References Bauer, T., & Erdogan, B. (2012). Organizational behavior. (Version 1.1, Ch. 13). Irvington, NY: Flat World Knowledge Inc. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.apus.edu/login?url=http://ebooks.apus.edu/MGMT311/Bauer_Ch13-15.pdf Exforsys Inc. (2006). The importance of using expertise to lead. Retrieved from http://www.exforsys.com/career-center/leadership-skills/the-importance-of-using-expertise-to-lead.html Fuqua, Jr., H., Payne, K., & Cangemi, J. (n.d.). Leadership and the effective use of power. Informally published manuscript, Western Kentucky University, Retrieved from http://www.nationalforum.com/Electronic%20Journal%20Volumes/Fuqua,%20Jr.,%20Harold%20E.%20Leadership%20and%20the%20Effectives%20Use%20of%20Power.pdf Prudden, L. (n.d.). Reward and recognition. Retrieved from http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/arossett/pie/Interventions/incentivesrewards_1.htm

I need a review of the movie Go Tell The Spartans

I need a of the Go Tell The Spartans - Movie Review Example The men are inexperienced and have no real sense of what the war will entail. They are badly outnumbered by Viet Cong troops and there are reports of fighting in the area. Their commander is named Barker, and he is the heart and soul of the film. Barker has fought in many wars and is world-weary and wise. He knows his men are foolish and outnumbered. He does everything he can to teach them to prepare themselves for battle. But the men at Muc Wa are just one cog in a larger wheel. We see how the bureaucracy of the American armed forces slows things down and prevents soldiers from showing initiative. Even after numerous complaints, Barker is still undermanned. In a sense, he is only awaiting his own death. In order the fully understand this excellent film, it is important to understand America's role in Vietnam during the period. Unlike the Second World War, where the purpose of the U.S. was clear, and its vital interests at stake, the Vietnam War had an unclear objective. Americans ha d trouble understanding why it was in their national interest to send hundreds of thousands of soldiers to this far-away land. Some of the actions taken by their own soldiers ashamed them, and the losses of life were enormous. Many aspects of the war in retrospect seem surreal.

Literary Criticism on The Star by H.G. Wells Research Paper

Literary Criticism on The Star by H.G. Wells - Research Paper Example They made a mysterious and previously inaccessible world of space friendly and interesting for everyone. They gave people the stars and heavenly heights. The two greatest world fantasy writers were H.G. Wells and Arthur C. Clarke. Who was not absorbed in the childhood by their exciting novels and short stories? Both of them along with Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback, have been referred to as "The Fathers of Science Fiction". They have always been at the forefront of scientific thinking, they challenged the traditional and conservative views of many people who rejected the advanced and innovative research ideas and stubbornly followed old, outdated conceptions of the universe, the origin of man and the so-called â€Å"higher divine power.† In this work we will make at attempt to reflect the points of view of the both writers to the power of human thought, the role of science in the modern world, as well as the growing conflict between traditional religious beliefs and progressiv e scientific views. The objects of this essay are the novels â€Å"The Star† by H.G. Wells and â€Å"The Star† by Arthur C. Clarke. â€Å"The Star† by H.G. Wells is an apocalyptic short story written in 1897. ... A famous master mathematician publishes his calculations according to which â€Å"the star would either hit Earth or pass by at close proximity, which would lead to apocalyptic ecological consequences† (Wells). The terrible prognoses come true and soon the whole planet is overwhelmed with earthquakes, ice-melting, floods, tsunamis causing â€Å"the devastation across the world. Most of human population perishes, and its works remain unusable, cities, cathedrals, farms, etc. and when it seems that nothing can save the humanity the killing star suddenly slightly changes its orbit about the Earth to a more distant one† (Wells). According to Martian astronomers the Earth’s survival was a real miracle â€Å"despite the huge havoc that has been brought upon its surface† (Wells). The star did much hard to the planet and the humanity: Extensive areas of Greenland lost its ice cover and turned green and favorable for inhabiting, the Earth’s climate has great ly changed and now people have to settle close to poles where it is much warmer than in other regions. The author underlines that these significant and terrible changes which caused millions of deaths all around the world, were just a small and minor event for the Universe where thousands of planets and stars perish every day â€Å"Which only shows how small the vastest of human catastrophes may seem, at a distance of a few million miles†(Wells). Another strong idea placed in the center of this story is non-divine nature of the universe in general and our planet in particular. The author vividly shows that all the events occurring in the world whether it is death of a civilization or some minor accidents can be scientifically grounded and

Proposal for a dessrtation about (Company analysis and valuation) Essay

Proposal for a dessrtation about (Company analysis and valuation) - Essay Example 1.6.3 Sampling Technique Due to the nature of data to be collected, which are mostly secondary data, there shall not be any sampling techniques in place. Rather, the researcher shall use purposive sampling technique to select four petrochemical companies as well as to select the sources of data. Purposive sampling is when the researcher selects participants according to his discretion. It is a non-probability sampling technique. It will be useful in this situation to give the researcher access to his preferred companies and sources that he deems contain the most appropriate data he wants to work on. 1.6.4 Data Analysis There shall be both qualitative and quantitative data analysis of data collected. Quantitatively, figures from documents and websites shall be analyzed using tables, cross tabulation, percentages, pie charts and bar charts. There shall also be qualitative data analysis of the discretional views and interpretations made by the research on the data collected about the fo ur companies. Editing Process 1.6.2 Types and Sources of Data The major type of data to be collected will be valid and official financial statistics and statements of the companies. These shall be sampled from sources such as audit reports, financial statement, financial reports, error logs, and business plans of the companies. Useful and authentic internet websites such as websites of the World Bank, IMF and other authoritative business sites such as MarketLine and Global Insight shall be used. Because the researcher may not have direct interaction with the companies because they are spread abroad, he shall use financial database such as Euromonitor, Datamonitor, Datastream and OSIRIS to gather official data about the companies. 1.6.3 Sampling Technique Due to the nature of data to be collected, which are mostly secondary data, there shall not be any sampling techniques in place. Rather, the researcher shall use purposive sampling technique to select four petrochemical companies as well as to select the sources of data. Purposive sampling is when the researcher selects participants according to his discretion. It is a non-probability sampling technique. It will be useful in this situation to give the researcher access to his preferred companies and sources that he deems contain the most appropriate data he wants to work on. 1.6.4 Data Analysis There shall be both qualitative and quantitative data analysis of data collected. Quantitatively, figures from documents and websites shall be analyzed using tables, cross tabulation, percentages, pie charts and bar charts. There shall also be qualitative data analysis of the discretional views and interpretations made by the research on the data collected about the four companies.

Do the reading and answer the 7 question below Coursework

Do the reading and answer the 7 question below - Coursework Example The older Chinese in our families opposed the discussion and asserted that women are fixing problems that do not exist. Definitely, this increased the ire of the more hot-headed members of my ingroup. She managed to control her anger, but I could see that she was enraged with her red face and nearly-tearful eyes. In this example, two groups competed over the power to influence the youth, wherein power is a limited resource that cannot be easily shared, as in the Realistic Conflict Theory. The outgroup wants females to remain submissive and perform largely domestic roles, while the ingroup desires gender equality, including equal roles and responsibilities in their home and work lives. 2. b. Indicate the vitalities of these two groups (high/medium, low, etc.) by comparing their relative positions on the main vitality factors separately -- as well as their overall relative vitalities. Importantly, how did you arrive at these sets of judgments? Since we are now in the United States of America, the outgroup mentioned in #1 has medium vitality compared to when they are in the rural areas of China. In China, many people continue to have gendered ideas about women’s and men’s functions and social status, especially when their culture and religion teach gendered values. Here in the U.S., we have high vitality in terms of mass media, education, government services, industry, religion, culture, and politics, especially when it comes to the discussion of gender issues. However, if I will analyze the same aspects that give our ingroup the vitality, they are not completely promoting gender equality. Mass media, for instance, sends mixed messages regarding traditional and non-traditional female roles and functions. Education continues to teach that some jobs are more appropriate for males than females because of the continuation of burden for females to take care of their families, so they rarely have

PPE Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

PPE Report - Essay Example The wide category of specialized health services; is in sharp contrast to the generalized services offered by other health facilities like clinics. The hospitals have effective organizational structure. The top management of the hospital comprises the Board of Directors, the Chief Executive Officer, and the Head of Departments. The middle management of the hospital comprises Sectional Heads. The sectional heads are specialists in their professions. This management structure ensures proper reporting relationships between the hospital staffs and the management. Hospitals have the Institutional Ethics Committee. This committee comprises an interdisciplinary team made up of community representatives, non-medical practitioners, and healthcare professionals. The main purpose of the committee entails community education, case consultation, intra-institutional communication, and policy development; during the health policies or decisions which arise during healthcare. Health facilities have job division practices, which depend on hospital sections and departments. The cancer specialists mainly operate in the cancer centre; however, they can consult other hospital staffs from other departments for effective service delivery. Likewise, the eye specialists operate in the Eye Surgery Centre. This separation of staffs according to specialization is referred to as job division. The unique hospital features enables provision of superior health services. Hospitals utilize an effective Health Information System to oversee proper decision making. Team members share vital information through the system when offering services to patients. This enhances collaboration of the health staffs. Patients can also find and request for a suitable doctor, through the health

Biologicaly-active peptide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Biologicaly-active peptide - Essay Example Besides, Meisel, Frister and Schlimme (2009, pp. 268-275) point out that bioactive peptides have been determined as digestion products of various food proteins. Inside the polypeptide chain of the larger protein all the biologically active sequences are hidden in an active state. A rich source of bioactive peptides is milk proteins, for example exorphins, immunopeptides, antithrombotic, opioid, antihypertensive, anti-microbial, and phosphopeptides as well as cholesterol-lowering peptides. These proteins are discharged during the intestinal digestion of whey proteins and caseins. They may also be involved in regulating entry of nutrients and affect the postprandial metabolism through stimulation of the secretion of hormones. In addition, they also lead to a stimulating effect on the immune system. Furthermore, Sharma, Singh and Rana (2011, pp. 224-225) argue that biologically active peptides have already been used as dietary supplements and as pharmaceutical preparations. Milk protein s have the core role of supplying nitrogen and amino acids to the young mammals and comprise of a crucial part of dietary proteins for the adults. Additionally, milk proteins haven been found to have physiological importance; they assist in the uptake of various crucial nutrients, for example, trace elements and vitamins and include a group of proteins which provide protective function. Numerous bioactive peptide fragments according to Kamau et. al (2010, pp. 389) can be got through hydrolysis of whole milk by the digestive enzymes. This forms a hypothesis of the existence of such peptides in the GIT after consuming milk. Opioid peptides The peptides exist in dairy products which play an active role in the nervous system. Opioid peptides are also having pharmacological similarity to opium. They are opioid receptor ligands with antagonistic or agonistic activities and are characterized by distinct N-terminal sequences. The opioid peptides are actually short sequences of amino acids t hat are copy the influence of opiates in the brain. These opioid peptides can also be referred as peptides like enkephins that have both affinity for opiate receptor and opiates which actually inhibited by naloxone. The opioid peptides all originate from three precursor proteins; endorphins, proenkephalin and prodynorphin. The result of these aforementioned peptides is different, although they all resemble the opiates. The opioid food peptides are characterized with the lengths of typical 4-8 amino acids. The opioid peptides are produced in the body. The opioid peptide systems are known to affect attachment behavior, emotion, motivation, and response to stress and pain (Teschemacher, Koch & Brantl, 1997, pp.101-114). All the typical opioid peptides have similar N-terminal sequence. The opioid peptides portray their activity by binding to particular receptors of the target. The individual receptors are accountable for certain physiological effects, such as the m receptor for suppress ion of intestinal motility and emotional behavior. The opioid antagonists have also been found in human k-casein and bovine. The opioid peptides that are derived from milk proteins have been shown to have physiological significance in the female organism. Moreover, opioid peptides t

Managing Diabetes Mellitus Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Managing Diabetes Mellitus - Essay Example This hormone often regulates the duration of glucose release when it enters into the bloodstream after one has eaten by emptying the stomach.Amyotrophy: it is a form of Neurotherapy that elicits weakness, pain, and wastage of muscles.Exercise: It is recommended that a patient undertakes at least one hundred fifty minutes of exercise in a week to enable the body manage the levels of glucose in the blood suitably.Effect of Implementing NICNIC would make the interventions that nurses make in various situations standard since it lays out the steps that practitioners must follow when making interventions. NIC seeks to establish a standard way of dealing with certain medical scenarios with the aim of improving various aspects of nursing practice such as documentation. After implementing NIC, the documentation would be as per the laid taxonomy, which would result in electronic standardized documents (Rutherford, 2008). One of the key advantages would be standardization of documentation and interventions. It would also be easier to make sense of shared electronic medical records due to the standardized way of presenting medical information. Nurses may be unwilling to implement such a system because of the general reasons that are associated to change. The nurses may be uncertain of the real intentions of the implementation, which can be dealt with through timely communication. Most of my colleagues would embrace such a system since it would be a step forward in the quest to improve nursing practicing.

Lease versus Buy Essay Example for Free

Lease versus Buy Essay When an individual is trying to decide whether or not to lease or buy, he or she needs to know the purchase cost, the lease cost, as well as the interest rate of a loan that will be used to purchase the item. The residual value of the item also must be known up front to help determine if leasing is the better option. When determining whether to lease or buy, the cash flow for both should be compared so the best decision can be made. Below is a chart on lease vs buy. (www.smartcomputing.com; Retrieved November 6, 2006) Lease/Buy Cash Flow Usually better from a short-term cash flow perspective. Frees up cash for other purposes while you generate income to pay the leases. You pay less overall but need to have available cash. Financing as an alternative costs more than a lease. Tax Treatment If properly structured, a lease may give your company a larger expense write-off than a purchase. Consult your tax advisor. Depreciation write-off is based on IRS rules for the type of equipment that you are buying. Consult your tax advisor. Upgrades- Many lease companies let you upgrade to newer equipment during the term of the lease without renegotiating. If you need newer equipment, you are on your own. However, simple upgrades (RAM, hard drive, etc.) cost you only whatever the upgrade is. Equity- At the end of a lease, you dont own the property, and you will need to replace it or buy it from the lease company.You own the equipment and can do with it whatever the needs of your business dictate. Disposal The lessor is responsible for whatever it costs to dispose of the equipment. You are on to your next set of computers. You can use the equipment for a different purpose within your company, sell it, or pay someone to recycle it for you, but disposal is up to the owner of the equipment. The first scenario is an organization called Bonnesante Research based out of Irvine, California. Bonnesante is set up with Venture Capitalist (VC) Funding. Bonnesante major focus is asset acquisition, which is why the Chief Financial Officer has to weigh the pros and cons of leasing vs buying. Bonnesantes is trying to determine if purchasing or leasing is the better option for a mainframe computer. I chose to lease the mainframe computer because the loan options have a higher outflow whereas the lease option of 18 months with no down payment has the lowest present value of cash outflows. Because the Mainframe would not be used through its entire economic life, it was better for the organization to lease the mainframe. If a loan was acquired to purchase the mainframe, the organization would have to record the purchase on the balance sheet and the depreciation and the interest payments would be recorded as expenses. If the organization was taxed then purchasing the mainframe would be beneficial because the depreciation and the interest payment would lower the outflows. In the second scenario Bonnesante Research is tasked with finding the best option to acquire a spectrometer. The options Bonnesante Research is faced with are: Operating Lease Capital Lease Loan After evaluating all the information, buying the spectrometer would be the best option for Bonnesante. Buying the spectrometer is beneficial because it is considered to be a long term asset with no threat of becoming obsolete. The spectrometer can be used for its entire economic life. An operating lease would not be beneficial because an operating lease is considered when equipment is to be acquired on a short term basis. The capital lease was another option but was not chosen because the 60 month capital lease would have cost more in present value terms than what the loan amount would have  been to purchase the spectrometer. If the organization had cash flow issues, then the capital lease might have been a better option. Whether the company pursued a capital lease or received a loan to purchase the spectrometer, both options can be recorded on the balance sheet so the organization can reap the benefits of depreciation. The final scenario is Bonnesante Research has been in operation for 6 years and wants to acquire a manufacturing facility. Bonnesante Research already has a facility in mind but that facility will require an upgrade. Bonnesante Research has the options of a capital lease or Bonnesante can purchase the facility by obtaining a loan. Also, Bonnesante Research has to keep in mind the organization is having a cash flow crisis that needs to be resolved. The challenge Bonnesante was faced with was to acquire the facility at the lowest cost possible and to resolve the cash flow shortage. Although the buy option was more expensive than the lease option, it gave Bonnesante more flexibility to upgrade the facility and to carry out a sale and leaseback transaction. Due to the leaseback transaction, Bonnesante was able to resolve the cash flow crisis. The leaseback option was more beneficial to Bonnesante rather than the bridge loan. The bridge loan is a short-term loan with a higher interest rate compared to long term borrowing. A bridge loan would have been more costly to Bonnesante Research and the organization could not afford to go with this type of loan. A sale and leaseback is beneficial to any organization that has a cash flow shortage. Selling the asset can bring forth a large amount of cash and the organization can retain use of the asset by leasing it back hence the name sale and leaseback. The risks involved with lease vs buying depends on an organizations financial status. Whether or not an organization decides to lease or buy is determined by what option is more beneficial to the organization. An organizations attitude toward acquiring assets and financial strength all affect the decision on leasing vs buying. Whether an organization leases or buys, the organization needs to make sure the asset that is being acquired will add value to the organizations capital budget. The advantage of computing present value considers all factors such as  inflation and forgone interest on money. That is, account must be taken of the fact that utilizing capital in investing in equipment could result in the loss of income that would have been earned if it were invested elsewhere. To properly evaluate the alternative cash flows, it is necessary to discount them and express them in terms of their present values, to determine their net present values. In summary the Net Present Value calculation determines todays value of future cash flows. (www.pngbd.com Retrieved November 6, 2006). When determining when to lease vs buy, an organization should take into account the financial and non-financial issues. When considering the financial aspect, it should include the cost to acquire an asset; if there will be a tax advantage, cash flow, and the benefits to the organizations balance sheet. The non-financial issues that should be considered are asset-management and the cost to dispose of obsolete equipment. In conclusion, under certain circumstance leasing is the better way to go rather than purchasing a capital item outright and vice versa. By leasing, it gives an organization a way to acquire up-to-date equipment while maintaining cash flow. By maintaining cash flow through leasing, an organization can use the cash flow for more pertinent renovations such as office expansion or research and development. Leasing has less of an impact on an organizations budget whereas purchasing an item outright has more of an impact on an organizations budget. Overall, leasing is a way for an organization to recognize operational savings and production improvements in a timely manner. Reference: Smart Computing; Lease vs Buy; Executive Decisions; March 2004, Vol. 8 Issue 2 Page(s) 55-57. (www.smartcomputing.com) Papua New Guinea Business Tourism; Making Capital Expenditure Decisions-Leasing vs Buying vs Borrowing; (www.pngbd.com Retrieved November 6, 2006).

Reviews Related To Readmission To The Hospital Nursing Essay

Reviews Related To Readmission To The Hospital Nursing Essay This chapter deals with the related literature review which aids to generate a picture of what is known and not known about a particular situation. Geri LoBiondo-Wood et al (2011), stated that Review of literature is an organized critique of important scholarly literature which supports a study and a key step in research process. Jahn P et al (2010) conducted a cluster randomized multicenter trial among 24 patient who were diagnosed with malignancy and having pain more than 3 days in California. A trans institutional multi modular nursing intervention protocol was administered to the patients. The study result revealed that the patients who received multi modular structured intervention had less patient related barrier and a better self management for cancer pain. Bonnema (2009) conducted a cohort study to assess the impact of different adherence levels to the Enhanced Recovery after Surgery Protocol (ERAS) and the effect of various enhanced recovery after surgery elements on outcomes following major surgery in France. 953 patients with colorectal cancer were selected. It was found that following an increase in preoperative, perioperative adherence to the ERAS protocol both postoperative complication (

Bestowed Existence :: essays research papers

<a href="http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/">Sam Vaknin's Psychology, Philosophy, Economics and Foreign Affairs Web Sites Knives and forks are objects external to us. They have an objective - or at least an intersubjective - existence. Presumably, they will be there even if no one watches or uses them ever again. We can safely call them "Objective Entities". Our emotions and thoughts can be communicated - but they are NOT the communication itself or its contents. They are "Subjective Entities", internal, dependent upon the existence of one observer - us. But what about numbers? The number one, for instance, has no objective, observer-independent status. I am not referring to the number one as adjective, as in "one apple". I am referring to it as a stand-alone entity. As an entity it seems to stand alone in some way (it's out there) - and be subjective in other ways (dependent upon observers). Numbers belong to a third category: "Bestowed Entities". These are entities whose existence is bestowed upon them by social agreement between conscious agents. But this definition is so wide and all encompassing that it might be considered useless. Religion and money are two examples of entities which owe their existence to a social agreement between conscious entities - yet they don't strike us as universal and out there (objective) as numbers do. Indeed, this distinction is pertinent and our definition should be refined accordingly. We must distinguish "Social Entities" (like money or religion) from "Bestowed Entities". The latter - in stark contrast to the former - are not universal, they re dependent on the society, culture and period that gave them birth. Not so with numbers. Numbers are Platonic ideas which come into existence through an act of conscious agreement between ALL the agents capable of reaching such an agreement. While conscious agents can argue about the value of money (read, about its existence) and about the existence of God - no rational, conscious agent can have an argument regarding the number one. Apparently, the bestowed entity category seems to free itself from the eternal dichotomy of internal versus external. It is both and comfortably so. But this is only an illusion. The dichotomy does persist. The bestowed entity is internal to the group of consenting conscious-rational agents - but it is external to any single agent (individual). In other words, a group of rational conscious agents is certain to bestow existence on the number one.

Depictions of gender roles in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is virtually banished from the Puritan society because of her crime. She was guilty for adultery with the town’s minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. However, the reader is kept in the dark that Dimmesdale is the child’s father until latter part of the novel. Although Hawthorne’s novel accurately depicts the consequences that Hester and Dimmesdale suffer from their sin, the novel does not accomplish the task of reflecting upon the 17th century Puritan gender roles in Hester and Dimmesdale. For one, the mental and physical states of Hester and Dimmesdale are switched. Hester takes on the more courageous role throughout the novel whereas Dimmesdale takes on the more sensitive role. In addition, Hester is examined in accordance to the gender roles set for today’s American women. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is written in a manner that accurately depicts 17th century Puritan so ciety, but does not accurately show gender roles. To begin, typical Puritan society during the 17th century was â€Å"painfully stern and somber; it was founded on the strictest, unmollified Calvinism,† (Puritan†¦). In other words, their society was very restricted and confined to religion. Civil law also played a role in the citizens’ business and social relations. Law impacted how they dressed, their religious affairs, and even their family relations. In terms of education, Puritans prospered. In fact, in Massachusetts, they required every township of fifty families to employ a teacher to educate the children. Their government was also structured upon religion because religion served as their only method of life. In terms of gender roles, the men were responsible for earning bread for... ... Letter." Ghent University Faculty of Arts and Philosophy. Ghent University, July 2008. Web. 12 Jan. 2012. . Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 1989. Print. Gannon, Andres. "The Puritan Influence in Contemporary American Society." The Puritan Influence in Contemporary American Society. Damien High School, 2008. Web. 12 Jan. 2012. . Tyson, Lois. "Feminist Criticism." Critical Theory Today: a User-friendly Guide. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print. "Puritan Laws and Character." History of the USA. Web. 17 Jan. 2011. .

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

A Streetcar Named Desire From the beginning, the three main characters of Streetcar are in a state of tension. Williams establishes that the apartment is small and confining, the weather is hot and oppressive, and the characters have good reason to come into conflict. The South, old and new, is an important theme of the play. Blanche and her sister come from a dying world. The life and pretensions of their world are becoming a thing of memory: to drive home the point, the family mansion is called "Belle Reve," or Beautiful Dream. The old life may have been something beautiful, but it is gone forever. Yet Blanche clings to pretensions of aristocracy. She is now as poor as Stanley and Stella, but she cannot help but look down on the humble Kowalski apartment. Stanley tells her that she'll probably see him as "the unrefined type." The differences between them, however, are more complex and volatile than a matter of refinement. Desire is central to the play. Blanche is unable to come to terms with the force of her own desire. She is clearly repelled and fascinated by Stanley at the same time. And though she stayed behind and took care of the family while Stella ran off to find a new life, Blanche is both angry and jealous of Stella's choice: she seems a bit fixated on the idea of Stella sleeping with her "Polack." Stella has chosen a life built around her powerful sexual relationship with Stanley. Blanche is both repulsed by and jealous of the choice. . The play is haunted by mortality. Desire and death and loneliness are played off against each other again and again. The setting is one of decay; the dying Old South and the dying DuBois family make for a macabre and unsettling background. Blanche's first monologue is a rather graphic description of tending to the terminally ill. There is also the specter of Blanche's husband, who died when they were both very young; indeed, Blanch still refers to him as a "boy." Another symbol is the meat: Stanley enters carrying a package of bloody meat, like a hunter coming home from a day of work. Stanley is a superb specimen of primitive, unthinking, brutal man. The meat-tossing episode is seen as humorous by Eunice and the Negro Woman, who infer a sexual innuendo from the incident. Apparently, it is obvious to the neighbors that the sexual bond between Sta... ...us line is full of terrible irony. It is true that Blanche has often depended on the kindness of strangers, but all of them have abused and abandoned her. In the end, even her own sister has betrayed her. Her fragility, her inability to fend for herself, and her self- deception have brought her to madness. The representative of the new man, Stanley, is more ape than knight. But Blanche's line is earnest in that it shows her terrible loneliness. For so long, she has known only strangers; young girl in a house full of the dying, and then a woman losing her looks seeking protection from callous men. Her tragedy will for the most part be forgotten. Stella is crying, but she has nonetheless decided to stay with Stanley. She also will have to busy herself with caring for the baby. The other men have callously chosen to go on with their poker game on this day, denying Blanche the dignity of being taken away in private. The Old South dies, and the New South does not mourn her passing. Everyone is going to move on: as the play ends, Steve is already dealing a new hand. Sources:Streetcar Named Desired by Tenesse Williams Northon Anthology www.Sparknotes.com www.classicnotes.com

Common Law Essay

a)Â  In a letter dated 14/02/2011, the manager (Dave) of Excellent Foods (EF) outlined conditions in writing to the manager (Ben) of Safe Foods (SF) in relation to the purchase of EF. These conditions were that SF must pay the valued amount of EF, which totaled $120,000, $30,000 more than the original amount that SF had been prepared to pay and stipulated during earlier negotiations. At the time of the earlier negotiations, SF also had set a purchase requirement, which was that EF’s sales must increase by 20% over the next two months and if this requirement was met, SF would be prepared to pay the $90,000. After earlier negotiations, EF had their business valued at $120,000 and notified SF of the valuation and that they now required this amount, not the $90,000 that SF had offered. SF did not reply to EF. Whilst EF met the sales increase target and forwarded the record of sales to SF along with the transfer of business contract as well as a new condition of the contract being that EF require 10% of the 120,000 within 14 days, SF responded in writing stating they no longer were interested in purchasing EF. It would appear that EF are no longer interested in purchasing SF due to the $30,000 price increase and the term that they would now need to pay 10% within 14 days. An important aspect in forming a legally binding contract is giving and receiving the acceptance of an offer. The requirement of acceptance with every binding legal contact is tied closely to the concept of unqualified mutual assent. Only when both parties have given their mutual consent does the law consider a binding legal contact to have been formed. Hence, if the offeree remains silent, their silence cannot constitute an acceptance.[1] Another important aspect when creating a legally binding contract is that the acceptance of the offer must exactly mirror the terms and conditions of the offeree and vice versa. If there is even a slight difference, this will most likely not constitute a valid acceptance. If an offer is made that does not mirror the terms of the original offer, than this is considered a counter-offer, which now negates the original offer. An example of this is demonstrated in the case of Hyde v Wrench (1840) where Wrench offers to sell his land to Hyde for the price of 1200 pounds of which Hyde declined to accept. Wrench responded with a counter-offer of 1000 pounds and Hyde responded with another counter-offer of 950 pounds. When Wrench declined the counter offer, Hyde decided he would accept the earlier offer of 1000 pounds, however Wrench decided he would no longer sell his land to Hyde for this amount. As Hyde had made another counter-offer after the earlier offer, the offer of 1000 pounds was now destroyed. Hyde sued Wrench for breach of contract claiming that the earlier offer was not withdrawn however the court found that Wrench did not need to withdraw the offer of 1000 pounds as it was destroyed when the counter-offer of 950 pounds was made.[2] In this case, SF made an offer to EF, being $90,000 if sales increase by 20% in two months. EF later responded with a counter-offer of $120,000, which then destroyed the earlier offer of $90,000. SF did not respond to this counter offer, therefore not accepting the new offer. EF also added terms to the offer that were not previously discussed with SF, which also did not mirror the terms of the earlier offer of which the court considers being a strict requirement for full and unequivocal assent.[3] Excellent Foods cannot commence an action for breach of contract against Safe Foods as the counter-offer negates the original offer of which Safe Foods did not respond to and therefore is not considered as an acceptance of the terms. b)Â  Promissory estoppel is an equitable action, which is designed to enforce promises made from one party to another where the promises are not supported by consideration. The doctrine of promissory estoppel can only be applied if a clear promise was made from the promisor to the promisee, if the promisse has suffered a significant loss from the promiser now going back on its promise, if the promiser acted unconscionably, and if the promisse undertook certain acts (or refrained from undertaking certain acts) due to the promiser’s initial promise. A leading case which illustrates the purpose of promisary estoppal is Waltons Stores v Maher where Waltons negotiated with Maher over the grant of a lease of property that Maher owned. Maher agreed to demolish a building in order to make way for a new custom designed building to be occupied by Waltons. Changes and agreements were made by both parties over the following months. Waltons later decided that they no longer required the building after Maher had already informed then that they were proceeding with the demolition and despite being aware of this, advised their solicitors to ‘go slow’ in informing Maher of their reservations. Due to Maher having initially received a clear promise, suffered considerable loss and completed many acts under the belief that Waltons would go ahead with the promise as well as Waltons acting unconscionably against Maher in ‘going slow’ in informing Maher of their true intentions, Maher was able to rely on promisary estoppel and therefore won on first instance and later at the appeal.[4] In this case, Excellent Foods did not suffer any considerable loss from Safe Foods not following through with the business transfer. Whilst there was an initial promise made by SF to EF, EF later requested 10% of the transfer price of $120,000 within 14 days– a term that had not previously been negotiated. It may be because of this term that SF does not wish to continue with the transfer in which case they have not acted unconscionably. EF informed SF in writing that they did not wish to continue with the transfer.

Innerbeauty vs Outer beauty Essay

It is natural that God made some people naturally beautiful than others in face, color, body and in physical appearance but this is only the outer beauty that can attract anyone by its features while Inner beauty is some thing inside a person or a body, most of the times it does not show up but it exists in person’s heart and soul. Its something inside a person. For most people, outer beauty is easily created by means of a temporary camouflage of creams, scents, ointments, styles, and various kinds of outer wrappings. And although each one of us is entitled to look and feel as attractive as we choose, it is important to also understand that Outer Beauty, by itself, is only one minuscule aspect of our Divine Nature. If we rely upon Outer Beauty alone when we present ourselves to others, this amount do nothing more than creating a false and temporary illusion of who we truly are. The true beauty of a person is not in the face, it is the light in the heart. â€Å"True beauty shi nes through, for the wise can see through the superficiality of perfect skin, or hidebound social judgments.† Inner beauty for a person is to know their strengths and live with them. Confidence is a natural consequence. But it is also inspiringto see the beauty in life itself. Outer beauty is something one is born with, while innerbeauty is a gift to one’s self. We may not be able to ‘see’ inner beauty in a person, but wecan definitely ‘feel’ it. A person with an inner beauty always touches people aroundthem. I nner strength is reflected in this inner beauty which comes from unconditional faith in god, courage of conviction, positive attitude and a spirit that refuses to get flattened out by the ups and downs of life. What you are when you are just being yourself, that is inner beauty. It is reflected in how one talks to members of your family or your domestic help. It is your concern for people, your understanding of them, and your sensitivity to their feelings. A person who comes close to embodying these qualities is the one who is really beautiful. One should constantly try to be a ‘beautiful’ person, reinventing one’s self through life’s manifold experiences. Where as if you rely upon the appearance of Outer Beauty alone in their interpersonal relationships, usually have very little, if anything else, to bring into their relationships. And once their  temporary and fleeting illusion of Outer Beauty finally vanishes, their unfulfilled and limited true character is all that they have left. Inner Beauty is an Untarnishable and permanent truth. It is the purest expression of beauty that the soul has to offer. While Outer Beauty is but a temporary and fleeting illusion, Outer Beauty can be used to gain instant and temporary gratification in the physical realm, Inner Beauty is Spiritual Magic which enables the person who possesses it to enjoy permanent contentment in all realms: physical, mental, and spiritual. Inner Beauty is a warm and hypnotic â€Å"glow† which radiates from a magical ember that burns deep within the person who possesses it. Inner Beauty is a Divine Essence which cannot be manufactured. And, it is amazing how Inner Beauty can make an â€Å"average looking† person radiate with a magnetic glow and a heart-stopping presence. It is a permanent Quality which makes this individual interesting, desirable, trustworthy, and welcome. Conclusion Then we come to the conclusion â€Å"what’s beautiful? To be yourself-deeply and totally- is the essential. Not to disfigure yourself in the name of ‘beauty’ because everyone else is doing so. How can you know who you are, if you look like everyone else? Inner beauty implies that is just not outward beauty, but a kind of aura- call it spiritual or otherwise- that you have that affects you and people around you. And eventually, if you love yourself truly, you will look beautiful. What you are on the inside reflects on the outside.

Causes of the English Civil War

Causes of The English Civil War In this assessment I will be analysing the many causes and roots of the English Civil war which broke out in 1642. The English civil war was a long chain of conflict and rivalry, which was set between two very powerful forces, who consisted of The Royalists (King Charles I, and his supporters), and the Roundheads (Parliament, and their supporters).The feud erupted on the 22nd of August 1642, and lasted for 7 years, when its final action took place in 1649. There were many reasons for this intellectual battle, including political arguments, economical arguments and also religious arguments, which will be categorised and stated in this essay. To begin with, one of the fundamental causes of The Civil War includes a religious argument, about James I’s and Charles I’s dedication to the ‘Divine Rights of Kings’.The Divine Rights of Kings was a religious doctrine, which states that a monarch is to have no authority to the will of hi s/her people, deriving the right to rule directly from the will of only God. James and Charles were both very firm, believers of The Divine Rights of Kings especially that, as to begin with James expected a great amount of attention from Parliament, by letting him make his own decisions, and did not expect any of his decisions to be argued with.However at this time, Parliament consumed a major advantage over James, as parliament contained a great amount of money, whereas James was constantly short of it. It was from his father that Charles acquired to also be a very strong devotee to the Divine Rights of Kings, as he realised the damaged relationship which was left between his father and Parliament, and blamed this action entirely on Parliament. This led to a complete ignorance with the Parliament, from Charles, and set his Godly rights to do as he pleased.But this action was considered a huge shock to Parliament, during this time, as parliament had experienced to be more powerful u nder the period of the Tudors, and anticipated current Kings and Queens to listen and abide by their commands, just like Elizabeth I had done, by being a succeeding sovereign, listening wisely to the Parliament, and standing by their rules. But the actions of Charles meant that the power of Parliament had been undertaken by the monarch, and their reputation continued to weaken. Because of this parliament now despised Charles very much. All these actions shows that TheDivine Rights of Kings is implied as a very significant reason to foundation of the civil war, as it is considered as the main reason for the start of the whole dispute and disagreement between the Royalists and Roundheads. This whole feud continued to develop, as parliament were increasingly getting more frustrated, with the fact that James I and Charles I, were acting even more foolishly upon idiotic decisions they made. An important political reason for this is that both Charles I and James I, thoughtlessly and carel essly, choses the most unhelpful advisors for themselves.James I choose the Duke of Buckingham, for the most idiotic reason; because he was good looking. James thought that the Public would be attracted to this reason, but unfortunately were not, as Buckingham came out to be very stupid and a waste of choice. Charles also foolishly chose his advisor, by selecting his best friend the Earl of Strafford, which was a he mistake as he public hated him, which led to a bad impression on the king. Another action that Gave Charles a bad impression was the amount of money that was wasted by him, by spending a hefty amount on insignificant things, such as cloths, parties and palaces.But this meant that Charles was continuously losing his money, and therefore, always ended up asking Parliament for more money. Charles found other ways to get more money, as he also need money for a war taking place against Spain at the time. One way Charles’s used was asking Parliament to increase taxes, s o that he could gain the money he needed, but unfortunately this didn’t happen as Parliament refused to give the money to Charles, as Parliament had a list of demand to get more power off the King.But Charles did not take any of this, as he would not allow his power to be destroyed and taken away by Parliament, and in a terrible rage of anger he made the simple decision to shut down Parliament in 1629 for 11 years, which changed England politically, as it meant that there was now less control over England, to guide its path! making this decisions also lead to consequences, as now that Parliament was gone, he needed to depend another resort to get more money.In 1635, Charles decided made a very important economic decision to resort to the ancient custom of demanding ship money. Ship money was an ancient tax, when kings were able to order coastal towns and villages to pay for the expenses of the navy and ships. However, Charles demanded more ship tax the following year, and int ended to ask for it every year. But this gained Charles a vast amount of complaints. Especially when in 1637, a man named John Hampden was prosecuted for refusing to pay ship tax. This made people very angry. And eventually in July 1641 ship tax was abolished.

Emotional Functioning And Social Competence

This article is more of a research paper and review on previous studies than new experimental findings. This paper tries to make a connection between emotional functioning and social competence (popularity) of a child. The definition used in this paper of social competence is â€Å"the ability to be effective in the realization of social goals. † This can also be viewed as the ability to influence peers and their activities. Peers of the children were chosen as the source of competence evaluations. This research was based on six different emotional functions and abilities. Children’s understanding of emotions, their identification of their own emotions, emotion regulation, practice of emotion display rules, their sympathetic response, and their mood states. Understanding of emotions seems very closely correlated to peer social status of a child. The ability to understand emotions also implies the ability to judge the social context in many situations, allowing the child to make â€Å"relevant comments and [engage] in group-oriented behavior. † This ability allows the child to â€Å"engage successfully in cooperative play for sustained periods of time. † There was no direct evidence that the ability to identify one’s own emotion has an impact on social competence of a child. However, it is logical that being able to identify one’s own emotions would help understand the emotional states of others. Emotion regulation also seems to play a key role in the social competence of a child. Most children realize that they are in charge of their emotions and that emotions can be altered. As children get older, successful play will require more self control because there will be many situations where â€Å"negotiation of conflict† is necessary. Children who are able to display more self-control will be perceived as a more desirable play partners. It has also been found that â€Å"social popularity is inversely related to overt anger incidents. † It seems that the more popular children are better at coping with anger inducing situations. The concept of emotional display rules is similar to emotion regulation. Emotional display rules are the rules that are followed so as to keep the peace and balance in a social setting. Certain emotions are not appropriate for some situations. It is difficult to quantitatively assess how well a child uses emotional display rules, but it follows logically that a child who is well liked by his peers will be able to properly display or mask his emotions in a given situation. Since sympathy requires one to be â€Å"other-oriented,† meaning understanding the distress of others from their point of view, it would require some emotional control. Both teachers and peers describe popular children as more cooperative and helpful than the average child, and rejected children as less helpful. However, there was no direct evidence for concluding that social status can be predicted from sympathetic responding. Mood states of a child can also be a factor in whether that child is a desirable playmate or not. Children who routinely display positive moods are better liked by their peers. Moody children tend to be disliked by their peers. However, it is difficult to determine cause and effect of this. From this article, a child’s social status and popularity has great correlation to the emotional functionality of that child. We do not always know, as with many other psychological studies, what the cause is and what the effect is. This seems to be the case with the mood states of the children. However, in all the other cases, the cause seems to be the emotional functionality of the child and the effect is popularity. So should we teach our children to be more emotionally stable and functional? Should we make our children conform to society’s standards to be â€Å"popular? † I see nothing wrong with it. We can make our society more utopian by making sure that our children are emotionally functional and that all the children are accepted by each other. As those children grow to be adults, they can be more cooperative and productive, making a overall better society.

Rights Affecting the Restaurant and House Essay

Rights Affecting the Restaurant and House - Essay Example The tenants are in fact the ones who have been enjoying possession of the property. J has then to note that J's continued failure to take possession of the property may prevent him from claiming ownership of it now. What he ought to establish is whether there is any current dispute between J and his former tenants. 1 (2) Right to enforce the covenants- The neighbour N has the right over the covenants that he had agreed between himself and J, the property owner. The covenant was that the whole premises were never to be used for the sale of food and drinks. But now, J together with her husband, it has converted the shop into an Italian restaurant, whose purpose it to sell foods and drinks. The general rule of covenants is that, they run with property i.e. each person in possession of the property at different time is entitled to enforce the covenant as that one before him. The covenant does not cease to exist with the exit of one tenant of A enters into covenant with B and B later sells the property to C, C has a right to enforce the covenants with A even though he was not privy to the contract that gave rise to the covenant. In this respect therefore it is important for J to recognize and respect N's rights over the covenant. He cannot lawfully carry out the business of running a hotel/ restaurant. 2 (3) Ri(3) Right to non-conveyance of a registered owner: - Any person who has registered his title over his property needs not to prove conveyance. Conveyance is the act of transferring title/ interest of property from one person to another. However, for this to happen he must claim title by adverse possession and also satisfy the chief land registrar. Technical difficulties can be overlooked by the Land Boss. P then ought to know that it is possible for J to have innocently possessed the households fraudulently because of these simple procedures through registration. If this would however be realized at a later stage, difficulties would be experienced in case the property is to be re - transferred. But if in case P incurs losses in the transaction he is entitled to be indemnified by the Land Registry. However, for him to succeed he must have acted in good faith i.e. without knowledge of the defects in title If title to both restaurant premises and the house had remained unregistered, restrictive covenants can be enforced in equity against J. they will still bind P. But conveyance might not be automatic to P because J may be perceived not to be having a better title of the freehold property - The principle of nemo dat quod non habet i.e. "You cannot sell what you don't have". But before the equity principles came into play, purchases of such property could not enjoy such rights as the right to enforce restrictive covenants. (4) Restrictive covenant on leased property: - There is a restrictive covenant between J and T that T that T should lease the above for 5 years. By letting P expand the restaurant onto the first floor of the property, J would be going against her earlier agreements with T. P cannot therefore legally succeed in evicting T as the covenant/ agreement between J and T binds him as well. For variation of the terms of a lease to be effective, a notice must be given which should be forwarded to the chief Land Registrar. And until such a step is taken by J, the variation of terms and

LOGISTICS & OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

LOGISTICS & OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT 2 - Essay Example There are a wide range of definitions based on main logistics functions within organizational and production processes. Taking into account business definition, "logistics is defined as a business planning framework for the management of material, service, information and capital flows. It includes the increasingly complex information, communication and control systems required in today's business environment " (Logistix Partners Oy, Helsinki, FI, 1996, cited What is logistics 2005). Another definition reflects overall purpose of logistics and states that: "Logistics means having the right thing, at the right place, at the right time" (What is logistics 2005). The latter definition is more appropriate for today's business environment because it reflects the nature of business itself and customers expectations typical for present day economics. For many years, production inefficiencies have been criticized and scrutinized in order to increase productivity. There has been little close examination of possible savings in the area of physical distribution, now known as logistics. There is a movement towards a closer analysis of all aspects of logistics. This is particularly important where selling and distribution costs are high (Barnett, 1996).

Law and Practice of International Organizations Research Paper

Law and Practice of International Organizations - Research Paper Example This is a classic opinion which reflects the intention that the Assembly is merely a parliamentary advisory body with the binding decisions being taken by the Security Council. The GA is characterized an international forum and the meeting of the Member states. As a general rule, GA does not have the power to legislate and its resolutions cannot have the binding effect of laws which are enacted by the national parliament. The resolutions do not have a legal and binding effect and does not create a legal or moral obligation among member states. However, recommendations from the Member states can address important issues of global concern and foster cooperation among states. Malanczuk and Akehurst (1997 p. 53) has concluded that the International Court of Justice in the Nicaragua case has ruled that resolutions of international organizations as a source of law. However, a resolution passed in a meeting of international organization is never conclusive as evidence of customary law. Thus , the mere statement of what a law is supposed to be is not sufficient in evidence, but nothing more an attempt on the part of the states to clarify their position. GA resolutions, even if they may not be binding have a normative value, which means that in certain circumstances, they provide important evidence in establishing the existence of a rule or the emergence of opinion juris. It is necessary to look at the content and the conditions of its adoption to weigh its normative character. These resolutions of international organizations are sometimes known as the â€Å"soft law†, in the sense that the guideline of conduct are not strictly binding norms of law and operate in a grey zone between law and politics, which lack a legally binding quality( Malanczuk and Akehurst, 1997 p. 53). Therefore, the client is not expected to follow the resolution issued by the UN General Assembly because it does not create a legal obligation to the client. The client will also not be subject ed to any sanction even if it complies with its contract with Israel because the resolution issued by the Assembly is merely recommendatory and generally has no legal and binding effect. Hambro (1977, p.250) reported that there is a fundamental difference between the decisions made by the SC which are binding on all member States, while recommendations made by GA are not binding on the states per se, except to those states which have accepted them. However, Dugard, Bethlehem and Du Plessis (1997. P. 34) suggested than an accumulation of resolutions, a repetition of recommendations on a particular subject, may amount to evidence of collective practice on the part of the States. However, the answer will still be different if the arms embargo to Israel was ordered by the Security Council on the basis of Article 41 of the Charter. In this case, I will advise the client to obey and follow the order of arms embargo of the SC to avoid being sanctioned. â€Å"Unlike the UN General Assembly , the Security Council has the competence to adopt resolutions under Articles 24 and 25 of the UN Charter which is binding among all Member States of the organization†(Shaw, 2008, p 116). Therefore, it is mandatory upon the client to strictly follow the resolution of the Security Council. Shaw (2008, p. 411) has concluded in his report that a person who commits a crime within the jurisdiction

Employment and Law of Tort Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Employment and Law of Tort - Essay Example In our scenarios, it is seen that the first case deals with the aspect of tort law dealing with emotional distress caused by the employer. It must be noted that in order to establish the occurrence of intentional emotional distress, the plaintiff or the person inflicting the tort should show any of the four patterns as indicated by Biotech.law.lsu.edu (1983) Moving onwards to the second scenario, a trick played by the chef resulted in physical injury to the cashier thus breaking his wrist. This is a clear example of assault and battery. Stender and Steele (2009) mention in their study that according to the Restatement (Second) of Torts  § 18 (1965), â€Å"one is subject to liability for battery if: (a) he acts intending to cause a harmful or offensive contact with the person of the other or a third person, or an imminent apprehension of such a contact; and (b) a harmful contact with the person of the other directly or indirectly results†. Bestattorneysonline.com (2012) describes the tort of assault as the fear of the plaintiff whereby he is of the idea that the defender might cause him physical harm. In other words, the injury has not been inflicted but rather a threat has been made or action showing the intention of causing hurt has been done. On the other hand, battery is labeled as the harmful act itself, i.e. the injury has been inflicted with direct and intentional force to cause harm or damage to another person. Bestattorneysonline.com (2012)  Legal Articles - What is the Difference Between Assault and Battery? [online] Available at: http://www.bestattorneysonline.com/articles/makhsudul-islam/what-is-the-difference-between-assault-and-battery/368/ [Accessed: 17 Dec

Masco Corporations Strategic Planning Case Study

Masco Corporations Strategic Planning - Case Study Example The company has successfully developed its product lines for faucets by establishing faucet manufacturing units with advanced business model. In 1986, Masco Corporation developed its vision statement, which reflected its desire to become "Procter & Gamble of consumer durables" (Harvard Business School, 1998). The very vision statement has propelled the company to diversify its business into other consumer durable goods. Alongside, the company has also extended its tentacles to enter the market of oil-field equipments, drilling tools and transport related products like gear shift levers, engine exhaust system etc. The company has even restructured its organizational structure and implemented other methods to reduce its overall cost of production. However, the primary obligation of the company is to enhance its research & development, and manufacturing ability so that the above stated concerns are addressed to. For acquiring technological breakthrough, the company has entered into contracts with research firms like MTI. For optimising the productivity of each manufacturing division, the company has developed formal organiza tional chart aimed at facilitating communication and exchange. In order to reduce the cost associated with its R&D various cost reduction programs were undertaken. This coupled with innovative working procedures and methodologies have helped the company to produce high quality innovative products at a lower cost. Masco's resources The resources of Masco Corporation can be categorized into two types i.e. tangible and intangible. Since its inception, the company has been constructing its manufacturing units in numerous locations that produce a wide range of consumer durable products. This attest the fact that the company is well equipped with necessary plants, machineries, inventories etc. Its intangible resources include its expertise in metalworking. The company has a sound experience in technology, driven by proficient technicians that constantly strive to design and create new products. With its existing resources, Masco can easily enter the $14 billion household furniture industry. The company has already curved out a niche in the mind of its customers by virtue of its quality products. Hence it is expected that the products manufactured by the company will find a ready acceptance. Another vital resource of the company is its high profitability. The company can use its retain-earnings for investments purposes in the furniture industry. Masco's Strategy for entering the furniture industry Before entering the furniture industry, Masco Corporation must implement only those strategies that match with the organizational structure and compatibility. It is of paramount importance for the company to analyze the internal and external factors. The internal factors include the strength and weaknesses of the country whereas the external factors include Porter's five forces of competition and macro-environmental factors like economy, demography, legal etc. Only when the company has successfully scanned these factors, it will develop its strategy focusing on particular areas.

An assessment of the role of personality in the development of Essay

An assessment of the role of personality in the development of leadership qualities - Essay Example After that, in the age of information, leadership is seen as shared decision making and consulting. Leadership role is argued to be derived from a certain set of attributes that reflect the willingness and motivation of an individual to lead in an organization. The personality attribute of leadership is supported by Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) model designed by Schneider (B.M. Bass and R. Bass, 2009; Mumford, 2009; Ciulla, 2008). This model has argued that due to different mixes in the attributes of personality, individuals are seen to be differentially attracted towards the organization and career. This study focuses on the role of personality in the development of leadership qualities among the individuals. Research Objective Deciding on the objective to be accomplished by the research plays a vital role in the study. If the objective of the research is clearly defined, then it will be easier for the researcher to plan the study and accomplish the objectives within a speci fied time frame. The main objective of this research is to unearth the role and contribution of personality in developing leadership qualities in an individual. ... For instance, meta-analysis, in order to determine the relationship between emergence of leadership effectiveness and Big Five traits of personality, had found that all the four factors, except ‘Agreeableness’, share a robust relationship with the leadership outcome of an individual (Judge, et al., 2002). In recent times, a meta-analysis that was conducted to determine relationships between specific individual differences such as, energy, self-monitoring, self-confidence and need of power and effectiveness in leadership, concluded that these personality traits hugely support the effective outcome of the leaders (Hoffman, et al., 2011). Though there is huge amount of literature related to the impact of personality on leadership, there is limited amount of literature related to the influence of personality on the changes in the effectiveness or development of leadership over time. Leadership development involves changes in the patterns of behaviour, perception, competencie s and motivations of the individuals in the leadership position, so that they can function more efficiently in their present roles. These changes can be achieved in both formal and informal manner which may involve several years or even few minutes. Although there are several literatures that stress on the fact that the rate of leadership development differs from one individual to another, many of these literatures have ignored the importance of personality as a moderator of this change (R. Hogan, J. Hogan and Kaiser, 2010). Certain personality traits are associated with the rate of leadership development such as, uncooperative individuals, who are seen to be less eager to change their behaviour as a response to the

Where will healthcare be in the next five years Term Paper

Where will healthcare be in the next five years - Term Paper Example What is the future of health care in America? This piece seeks to address some of those questions in detail. I believe that health care reform in the United States is still going to be a hotly-contested issue, especially when it comes to the complaints that will be heard by: doctors; insurance companies; and small business owners, especially when it comes to issues like long-term care, walk-in clinics, hospitals, and health care reform bill issues. Doctors are not going to like the new health insurance plan. Since doctors are going to have to treat everyone from now on, regardless of whether they can pay or not, obviously this is going to have a huge effect on how doctors do business. Doctors cannot now turn away patients. They must be willing to see anyone who comes to them with a problem because now everyone will have insurance in order to pay for their doctors’ visits. Doctors are going to most likely be upset with health care reform because of several reasons. Doctors are going to be more in demand now more than ever because they will have to treat so many new patients. They can’t charge whatever they want—they are going to have to receive whatever payment the government gives them. This may upset many doctors because, before now doctors could control much of what their salary was when they regulated the prices for their visits. Since health care is going to be mandated, many doctors will have to receive subsidies from the government for seeing people on the public health care plan, and they are not going to like this establishment for long-term care. Walk-in clinics are most likely going to be overwhelmed. Doctors in hospitals will have to treat whomever walks through their doors, for the most part. They must now treat everyone, regardless of people having had pre-existing conditions. Now doctors must treat whoever comes to them for help; they cannot pick and choose. â€Å"Like insurance companies, physicians and hospitals will

Peace and Conflict Essay Example for Free

Peace and Conflict Essay While the term conflict generally is associated with negative encounters, conflict itself is neither inherently good nor inherently bad. In fact, engaging in conflict can have positive effects on relationships and organizations. Conflict among people, institutions, organizations, nations and in all relationships are a normal, natural and inevitable part of life. In itself, it is to a great extent a necessary tool that enhances development and can be regarded as normal and a prerequisite under certain conditions. In view if this, this paper will labor to clearly examine the conditions in which peace is said to be a normal phenomenon. The term conflict will exhaustively be defined from different school of thoughts and its kinds or types outlined, followed by cited conditions that advocate for the presence of conflict as being normal. Thereafter, a comprehensive conclusion will be drawn from the entire discussion. Conflict can be defined in many ways and can be considered as an expression of hostility, negative attitudes, antagonism, aggression rivalry and misunderstanding. It is associated with situation that involve contradictory or irreconcilable interests between two opposing groups. The term conflict is derived from a Latin word that means to clash or engage in a fight. It is a confrontation between one or more parties aspiring towards incompatible means or ends, Miller (2005). ‘’Conflict is a multi-dimensional social phenomenon which is an integral feature of human existence, essential to the ongoing processes of history, to social change, and transformation,’’ International Alert et al. 1996, 3). Swanstrom and Weissmann (2005) define conflict as being the result of opposing interests involving scarce resources, goal divergence and frustration. This is outside the traditional military sphere and is based on behavioral dimensions. The process begins when one party perceives that another party has negatively affected, or is about to negatively affect, something that the first party holds in great esteem or importance. In the same sense three forms of conflict have been identified. This implies that it has levels to influence namely; Interstate, which is the disputes between nation-states or the violation of the state systems of alliance; Internal conflict, is type of dispute that happens within a given society or part of the given society such as territorial disputes, and civil and ethnic wars; and State-formation, this is the battles over control of government. These are internationally recognized as challenges, which to some extent have been classified as a normal phenomenon as people are heterogeneous in their interests and desires, Wallensteen (2002). Differences in interpretation of the conflict result from different orientations in an effort to resolve and overcome conflicts. One thing that different approaches agree on is that conflicts are essentially clashes among people. These clashes arise from differences of values and interests of opposing parties, those parties being individuals, groups or entire organizations, (Adler, 2002). Conflict also has a positive dimension as normal forms of social interaction which may contribute to the maintenance, development, change and overall stability of social entities. Many social scientists hold that periods of change, be it economic growth or decline, political transitions, or social innovation are associated with conflict. A Dutch scholar by the name of Bonger, believed that theirs is a causal link between conflict and economic and social conditions. Existing institutions come under pressure and may be unable to control or integrate new forces, demands, and collective actors. Change is likely to be uneven and to create a sense of relative deprivation, injustice, and threat among the losers. A recent example is the pressure mounted on the government of Chad in ensuring there is proper accounting procedures in the management of the country’s oil revenue. The activities of these organizations have been both positive and negative. From the positive side, they have been able to curb some of the excesses of governments in many developing countries, (African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes [ACCORD], 2008). Traditional human rights theories seldom took conflict theories to exam the conflicts between different rights and social movements. Under conditions that human rights are violated or a particular class in society feels their rights are not fully being exercised, conflict can be seen as a normal phenomenon. In 1997, the Taiwan feminism movement was separated by the sex worker’s issue. The major feminism groups denied sex could be seen as a right to work, but more tended to see it as a product by exploitation. To those support sex workers, they addressed sex workers have their rights to use sex or body as a work, and even further claimed that sex work is a radical sexual movement, (Ho, 2005). In such a situation, conflict is normal and beneficial as it acts as a podium of debate and its advantages of fostering an awareness of problems that exist and leading to better solutions is clearly seen. Above all the norms of society are readjusted. The more diversified and heterogeneous a society becomes, the greater the probability of more frequent conflict as subgroups who live by their own rules break the rules of other groups (Best, 2004). Conflict is a natural part of relationships. While relationships are sometimes calm and predictable, at other times events and circumstances generate tensions and instability. This phrase suggests that life gives us conflict, and that conflict is a natural part of human experience and relationships. Rather than viewing conflict as a threat, the transformative view sees conflict as a valuable opportunity to grow and increases our understanding of others and ourselves. Conflict helps us stop, assess and take notice. South Africa for example has a multiracial and multiethnic population. â€Å"Blacks constitute 77% of which the Zulu make up 22. % of the overall population,† (ACCORD, 2008, 15). The liberation struggle during the years of white minority rule cemented the Blacks, Asians and coloured people together. The unity forged by the blacks, Asians and colored people under white oppression collapsed when state power was to be competed for by all groups. The conflict of power here is seen as a means of uniting these different groups for the purpose of achieving a common goal, (ibid, 2008). Furthermore, conflicts with some groups bring about fraternity. It maintains and revises the balance of power among antagonists. When conflict breaks out, the former accommodation between the parties involved is rejected, the relative war of each group is tested and a new equilibrium can be established. Such arrangements in the balance of power thwart any one group from being dominant over other groups. As long as their power is continually challenged, members of the ruling group will be blocked from exclusive control of the social system. In most African states where the fight for independence was intense, most ethnic groups worked together to secure independence. Conflict continually creates new norms and modifies old ones. It bringing about situations to which the usual rules do not apply, conflict stimulates the establishment of appropriate guides to action. Moreover, the threat of attack, preparation for war or any hostile challenge from outside can strengthen a group’s solidarity and cohesiveness (Galtung, 1990). Conflict within and between social groups disturbs habits of thought and behavior and creates an atmosphere for innovation and creativity. This is another positive attribute of conflict that can be regarded as normal is that it facilitates the ovement or flow of one generation to the next. This is achieved in that society evolves over a period of time as values and norms of people continue to class and oppose each other within society. The changes may be positive hence benefiting humanity at large though in most cases these benefits are unanticipated and long-term. Finally, Weber contended that it will always exist, regardless of the social, economic, or political nature of society, and that it was functional because of its role in bringing disputes into the open for public debate. Even though individuals and groups enjoying great wealth, prestige, and power have the resources necessary to impose their values on others with fewer resources, Weber viewed the various class divisions in society as normal, inevitable, and acceptable (Curran Renzetti, 2001). However, it must be noted that if conflict is not managed, it pauses a great danger to humanity. If conflict is to be accepted as a normal phenomenon, it has to be managed or resolved quicker and more efficiently than letting it fester. For Mial and Wood House (2001), by conflict resolution, it is expected that the deep rooted sources of conflict are addressed and resolved, and behavior is no longer violent, nor are attitude hostile any longer, while structure of the conflict has been changed. Desmond Tutu, the Anglican Archbishop emeritus of South Africa, is reported to have commented from within the situation of social revolution in South Africa that â€Å"without reconciliation, there is no future† (Wustenberg, 1998, 5). It is therefore now right to conclude that peace is a normal phenomenon but not when it is poorly managed or resolved. Issues such as the rearrangement of the balance of power, readjustment of group norms and the maintenance of group unity have been examined as the product of conflict even though conflict can be destructive in nature. Contemporary understanding of conflict represents a belief that conflict is not only a positive force of one group, but it is also absolutely essential for achievement of the efficiency of the group.

Political Cartoon Assignment Essay Example for Free

Political Cartoon Assignment Essay The political cartoon that I chose mainly aims towards people who are concerned about the environment and people who are against The American Clean Energy and Security Act. An every day citizen may not get the entire meaning of the cartoon if they do not know the motive behind it or do not follow politics and environmental news. The cartoon is political because it clearly states two things that weigh heavily on the minds of the public right now: tax and the environment. While this doesn’t typically necessarily mean that a cartoon would be political, the word â€Å"bill† on the page in the man’s hand points in the direction of political. The cartoon effectively shows two sides of the issue: one where the public is being told that the bill would cause a tax increase that the American consumers would ultimately have to deal with and another side where the environmentally-conscious person is saying that it’s just a scare tactic and that it would cause more good than harm for the country. At first glance, the cartoon was humorous, but the more I looked at it and began to understand what it was talking about, my thoughts began to change. Although it’s still funny, the cartoon carries a deeper meaning than just entertainment. The main thing that I felt was slight irritation that people could think that there are only two ways of looking at the issue and that people could be so concerned about taxes that they don’t even think about the environment that we’re living in. Although what is being shown is comical, the emotions behind what the artist is trying to show the viewer is not. Even if he shows that there are two sides of the issue, he still wants you to realize that economists are using the current state of the economy to play on your emotions and try to convince you that you’re ultimately hurting yourself by supporting the bill. Whether or not the artist was successful in the attempt to persuade the viewer into a way of thinking is up to the interpretation of each individual person. For me, it was successful. I was able to see the two different sides of the issue and while I understand both, I was able to draw my own conclusion and say that there needs to be some sort of middle ground. In part, the artist wants you to see how you’re being manipulated by the economists and the people that are against the bill to believe that the bill will have more of an impact on your bank account in terms of more taxes rather than having a good impact on the environment. Although I’ve always known that there are people who are against the bill, before seeing it in cartoon form, I never really realized that they really might be just a way of making people choose one or the other; the environment or your money. In terms of opening my eyes, the artist was successful.

SWOT Analysis of Fischertechnik

SWOT Analysis of Fischertechnik ABOUT THE COMPANY The name fischertechnik comes from an original construction toy brand, which was invented by Artur Fischer in 1964. Initially, this brand was intended to be a Christmas novelty gift in Germany for industrial client level engineers and buyers.It proved to be a massive success and thus, the company introduced its first building block construction toy in 1965. From there on, there has been no looking back. The official name of the whole group of companies is fischerwerke GmbH Co. KG. It is based in Waldachtal near Stuggart Germany and started operations officially from 1965. Fans usually refer to the company as FT or ft. The total turnover of the entire fischer group of companies is over 545 million Euros with over 3,800 employees worldwide. fischertechnik is one of the divisions in the group of companies, concerned with the design and manufacturing of innovative engineering based construction toys. The company has its operations spread over many countries in the world, 33 to be precise, in which the most significant ones in terms of presence therein, are United States of America (USA), Japan, and of course, the home country Germany. The company has production centers in 16 countries and distribution in over 100 countries. It is currently headed by Klaus Fischer (59), who is the owner and CEO of the entire fisher group. fischertechnik claims to produce world-renowned engineering-based construction toys, so as to foster interest in these subjects among the young which is why it is no surprise that the companys tag line is building blocks for life. Building blocks refer to the pieces or parts of the complete toy, which are usually marketed in a disconnected form. Such toys are called construction toys, since the purchaser of the product is expected to connect the parts in a logical manner so as to construct the complete model. This sort of marketing is very attractive, especially for young kids, who derive a sense of accomplishment from constructing such toys. And it definitely does kindle a scientific interest and encourage creativity in the minds of youngsters. In the following paragraphs, only the fischertechnik division of the fischer group of companies is discussed, and all the facts, figures, strategies and suggestions provided in the text are related only to this division. Product History and Present Scenario As mentioned earlier, the basic line of fischertechnik is the creation of construction toys, which consists of building blocks that can be connected together to form a certain toy model. However, this is a grossly incomplete description of the gigantic range and types of products that the company produces. Initially, the company started off with the basic construction toy model, invented by Artur Fischer. However, in the 1970s, the company started manufacturing on a large scale, models with large number of pieces or building blocks, of channel and groove design, in which pegs protruding from the sides of the blocks could be used to connect to other blocks and construct the complete model. Of course, original models were completely of a mechanical nature, with no electrical or electronic elements to perform any automatic control tasks. Soon, the company started producing sophisticated mechanical models such as trains and bridges, and even included relatively simple measurement devices to calculate various relevant parameters related to the toys such as angles and distances. These toys used mostly hard nylon as material for the pieces or building blocks. As time moved on, the company started manufacturing automotive vehicle models such as tower cranes, and included electric motors, power sources and gears to mobilize the same. These products were used primarily by engineers to simulate and teach industrial robotics. These products were further advanced by the incorporation of electrical and electronic components of the likes of micro-switches and photocells for the purpose of position sensing and feedback control. Later, the company launched its first basic electronic block called the Grundbaustein, which consisted of Op-Amps and Schmitt Triggers, so that Delay Line circuits could be built. In the later part of 1970s, electronic binary-logic modules such as OR, NOR, AND, NAND, Flip-Flops were also included so as to provide means for making elementary branching decisions. Around the late 1980s, CPU modules that could perform process-control were also included so that sequential movements could be pre-programmed. This was first execute d using the Lucky-Logic (LLWIN) software, developed by the company. Today, the company uses all state of the art technologies that the engineering and scientific world has produced in the fields of process control and automation, in a variety of its products. These products include ROBO TX Explorer kit and Robo-pro software (which is the successor to LLWIN), amongst many others. COMPETITION The major world-wide competitor of fischertechnik is Lego, which is far more popular and easily available in USA and even Europe. Although initially in the three major lines, namely Expert, Technic and Mindstorm, Lego was unable to match the technical and flexibility level of fischertechnik, but soon after the launch of Lego Mindstorms NXT in 2006, the former surpassed the latter in a number of technical areas such as color sensing. After this, Lego overtook fischertechnik in the production of the most advanced construction toy models in the world and the latter moved down to the production of less technical, simplified and fun toys, primary for educational purposes. However, on its own, fischertechnik is a huge brand and has a strong presence in the construction toy market all over the world and is much bigger than any other brand apart from Lego. ENTERING UAE: ADVANTAGES It is well known that UAE is one of the most prosperous countries of the world, and for the past few years, has been developing at a lightening pace. This pace continues to increase by the day. In general, the people in UAE are wealthy and have tremendous monetary resources, ready to be tapped and mobilized. Not only is the wealth tremendous, but the total population especially in the metropolitan cities like Dubai and Abu Dhabi is also very large. Thus, demand for all sorts of products in UAE is huge. This makes UAE an attractive market for a number of multinational corporations. A number of world famous brands have set up operations of production as well as distribution all over UAE, to tap this huge demand. And as time passes, more and more companies would continue to enter. Due to this huge monetary reserve in the hands of the common people, and a ready demand for all kinds of products, as mentioned earlier, a new trend amongst corporations working in all spheres of business has come about. This is, to start a new enterprise (for new entrepreneurs) or to launch a brand (for existing corporations) in UAE. This is no surprise, since the early sales figures of products of such is very large, and creates an impression in the minds of consumers everywhere in the world. Thus, UAE has become an extremely attractive location for the launch of new companies or products of existing ones. The aforementioned reasons are enough to imply that a brand, especially one as big as fischertechnik does not need to think twice before entering UAE. Of course, there are a number of pre-requisites and formalities that need to be fulfilled before business can be setup in the country. This is discussed in the next section. In the present section, we limit our discussion to the specific advantages and constraints attached to entering UAE. Regarding this, we discuss the kind of demand that is likely to be there in UAE by analyzing the present demand and import scenario in the toy industry, the kinds of consumers that can be targeted, and the kind of problems that the company would be likely to face. Due to the huge amount of developmental activities, migration has been tremendous in the UAE. Thus, there has been a population explosion in the UAE in the past decade or so. This is particularly true in the case of bigger cities such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The growing economy of the country has led to a fast increasing population rate, which has in-turn led to a huge increase in the demand for all kinds of products, which is the case with construction toy products as well. The total import of toys, which includes baby accessories in Dubai alone, was valued over 603 million Dirham in 2009. There has been an increasing demand for toys, as mentioned earlier, due to the great population in the country for the past few years, and this has led to a corresponding steady increase in the total import of toys in the country. It is interesting to note that in 2007 alone, the total rise in the import of toys was 16%. Another important indicator of the increase in demand for toys in UAE is the rapid decrease in the re-export of toys. However, what is significant to note here is that a major part of the demand for toys is met from import only, as there are hardly any local toy manufacturers in UAE. Companies like Lego and Toys R Us, have been selling their products in UAE, to take advantage of this deficit in local demand and supply. Thus there is great scope for foreign companies exporting into UAE. A smarter exercise, however, for such foreign companies would be to set up local production facilities, such as industrial plants, so that products could be produced domestically to avoid extra costs incurred during export of goods. This applies most appropriately to fischertechnik, because it is a very progressive company with a good financial standing and also because it has very little presence or popularity presently in the UAE. This lack of presence could be used as an advantage by fischertechnik, through, say for instance, a mega initial launch. However, a discussion of the implementation of this strategy is presented in detail later. Another very important point to be noted here is that presently most of the toys are imported by UAE from Asian countries like China, and a small portion is from Europe, USA and Canada. The total share in terms of import is approximately 90% from Asia and 10% from others. On top of this, there is presently, a great deal of diffidence in the minds of consumers towards purchasing Asian goods, since the quality and safety of such goods has been in question in the recent days. This further provides a good opportunity for foreign companies especially from Europe such as fischertechnik to enter the UAE markets, to establish themselves and beat a dying, or at least falling competition from their Asian counterparts. An analysis of the type of consumers who are most likely to purchase products of companies like fischertechnik is an extremely important pre-requisite for beginning or expanding operations into a new country. As mentioned earlier, the high population of UAE provides a huge pool of kids who are potential consumers of toys. However, there is a specific advantage connected to UAE in this regard. UAE is at the zenith of its development, and in the days to come, there will be a huge requirement of engineers and scientists in the country. Of course, it is best for any developing country, if this requirement is fulfilled domestically itself. Most parents in UAE, along with the government understand this present and future need, which is clearly exemplified from the fact that a number of excellent centers of technical education are have been set up over the years in the country. However, it is well known that simply providing good higher education is not enough. Kids have to be nurtured from a very young age, if this demand has to be met. For most parents, it is a dream to see their child become an engineer or a scientist because, and this is particularly true in UAE, they know that it would prove to be a prosperous career. This emotion can be utilized by fischertechnik for its expansion, the strategy for which is discussed later. Thus, to reach the ultimate consumers, i.e., young children, a route through their parents needs to be exploited. Thus, strategies have to be devised so that parents can be induced into buying the toys for their children. Another class of consumer consists of industrial level engineers and teachers who can use high-tech simulation type toy models, to provide for their employees and students respectively, better insight into the working of practical machines. For instance, teachers in a mechanical engineering class could use vehicle simulation toy models for showing the students the real working of such machines. This would make learning more effective and at the same time more enjoyable. Even for big companies, project relate discussions can be made more effective through simulation as well as modelling of the final project, for instance a model of a building when a construction project is being discussed. The existence of Free Trade Zones is a great advantage for any foreign company to setup operations in UAE. Many companies in various sectors such as networking, communications etc have already setup their business centers in UAE. These Free Trade Zones provide access to over 1.5 billion consumers in various countries of Africa, Asia and Europe, since ports in UAE are big trading centers and lie on many of the important trade routes of the world. This allows a great scope of future expansion of companies to nearby nations. However, this is just a secondary advantage of setting up operations in UAE. The Free Trade Zones have one hundred percent corporate tax exemption, zero taxes applicable on personal income, whether domestic or foreign, and no commercial levies. For a company having 51% domestic ownership there is no import duty applicable, however, companies having full foreign ownership are subjected to a 4% import duty. But this can be avoided through a collaborative setup or even through the setup of production centers within the country itself. There are no foreign exchange control or currency restrictions either. Apart from this, there is one hundred percent repatriation of capital as well as profit for foreign investors, which allows them to transfer their entire funds without any hassles. Such great incentives have been provided to foreign investors to speed up the process of development of the country through entry of huge amount of foreign capital. All these can be easily exploited by fischertechnik for its businesses in UAE. The legislative framework within the country is also very favorable for foreign investors. So, setting up of new businesses becomes an extremely simple process for most people. The laws regarding formal aspects of business setup or even expansion are very client friendly, which makes UAE an attractive location for new entrepreneurs since they do not have to face any obstacles. An example of the favorable laws is that companies can operate 24 hours a day, unlike those in most other countries. Plus, the regulation of businesses is extremely efficient which aims to protect the interests of all investors. Apart from the above, another huge advantage of expanding business into UAE is that the banking sector is very sophisticated and provides state of the art services and schemes to their clients. Such an ultra-modern and progressive banking sector has developed due to easing of laws are regulations for speeding up developmental activities in the country. The banking sector is highly confidential which ensures that all high risk financial matters are private. Also, the financial sector of UAE is extremely modern and provides all the best available products for corporations to use. For instance, corporations have easy access to modern financial instruments such as futures and options that can be used to hedge any risks arising in business. On top of this, a number of top financial consultancy firms and hedge funds have setup their offices in UAE, and provide services to other corporations. Thus, financial services of the best possible kind are easily available to companies. The stock mar kets in UAE are also extremely developed and provide easy access to all financial instruments and cheap and effective trading. Moving on to the infrastructure facilities available to companies, it is well known that UAE provides excellent and most diverse infrastructure available anywhere in the world. There are extremely sophisticated communication facilities available to companies. Apart from this, the security related services provided to corporate firms are also very advanced. All of the aforementioned advantages of expanding into UAE make it obvious that fischertechnik must enter the UAE markets as soon as possible, seeing the great benefits that it offers and the fact that till now these advantages have not been fully exploited by similar countries yet. FORMAL PRE-REQUISITES For performing business related activities in the UAE, any company needs to acquire a license. This license can be of three types namely, commercial, which is for all kinds of trading activities, industrial, which is for production or manufacturing activities and lastly, professional, for professional services and craftsmen. However, with regard to fischertechnik, only the first two types are of significance, since a major strategy for expansion would be to setup production and manufacturing activities in UAE, for which trading activities for purposes of hedging etc would be indispensable. Apart from this, the ownership of companies within UAE can be of two types. The first is partnership type of company, in which 51% of the ownership of the company is with a UAE national and the rest 49% is owned by the investor. Thus, for setting up such a company, fischertechnik would have to for a collaborative alliance with a domestic company in UAE. The second type of ownership is called Sole ownership, in which the investor has full control over the company. For this, the company has to setup its business within a Free Trade Zone only. There are, however, some restrictions on the type of business transactions that can be done outside the designated Free Trade Zone. For fischertechnik, a combination of the two ownership types would be most beneficial. For its production activities, it could form a joint venture company with another UAE based corporation, which performs a related business, while for its marketing activities, it could use the Sole Ownership type of company setup, and distribute its products through authorized dealers, since companies having Sole Ownership cannot directly sell their products in domestic markets. This sort of a combination would help fischertechnik in marketing its own brand, while maintaining steady production in collaboration with another company. SWOT ANANLYSIS OF FISCHERTECHNIK The SWOT analysis of fischertechnik is presented as follows: Strengths: fischertechnik has much significant strengths which are presented here one by one. Firstly, it is a huge brand, renowned all over the world, in the field of construction toys and is the best known brand specifically for constructions toys for educational purposes. It has an excellent record of financial performance in the past and has ownership of huge amount of monetary resources, which can be channelized into production and marketing related activities in business in UAE. This financial record gives fischertechnik excellent credit rating, which in-turn can help it to obtain local financing from domestic banks in UAE in the form of loans, very easily. This can help in hastening the start of business by quick setup of industrial and manufacturing plants as well as corporate offices. fischertechnik is the second biggest company in the field of construction toys, second only to Lego, thus it would not face competition from any other company in the area. Since Lego has very l imited operations presently in UAE, it would make fischertechnik an unsurpassable brand once it begins operations. It should be noted that although fischertechnik is next to Lego but the difference between the two is very less and if the former is able to establish a good image in UAE first, then the latter would not be able to overcome this image by entering the UAE market afterwards. Also, it is important to mention that fischertechnik is a very old company, 45 years to be exact, and thus has a pool of experienced and skilled staff possessing excellent technical expertise in the field of process control, which includes aspects of electrical, mechanical, electronics and computer engineering. The company uses the most sophisticated technologies in engineering and specifically in process control in its products, and the technical department, consisting of both experienced engineers as well as innovative minded freshers, who are recruited through an excellent selection process, of fis chertechnik continuously work towards discovering new technologies and incorporating innovative ideas into its products. Apart from these, the company produces a wide range of products for many all age groups including children and adults. Lastly, it is relevant to mention that the company has tremendous managerial expertise and organizational stability. Weaknesses: Although fischertechnik has very few weaknesses, it is relevant to mention them here. Fischertechnik has very small presence in UAE. Its business operations in UAE are very limited and in the inaugural phase. Although its small presence can be used as an advantage, this discussion is presented in the next section. However, limited presence can prove to be disastrous if business operations are not established speedily. This means that if a company like Lego which is the major competitor of fischertechnik senses the slowness in establishment of business operation of the latter, through speedy operation it can surpass and destroy the competitive advantage of the limited presence of the same. Since fischertechnik is a German company, the core employees of the same may not be able to adjust easily to the corporate practices and consumer behavior of the domestic markets of UAE. As a solution to this, the company would probably resort to the recruitment of local staff. Another r eason for recruitment of local staff is that it is mandatory for foreign companies to maintain a certain percentage of local employees within the total workforce. However, this local staff would face difficulty in adjusting to the corporate practices of a foreign company. Of course, this problem would need to be solved through an effective Human Resource Management strategy on the part of the company, which is definitely not an insurmountable task for a company of the likes of fischertechnik. Opportunities: As mentioned earlier, due to the huge amount of developmental activities in UAE, there has been a population explosion in the country. This automatically implies that there is a huge demand for consumer goods such as construction toys, due to the existence of a large number of families. Apart from this, because of setting up of a large number of institutes of higher education in the recent past, the demand for simulation models as educational tools would also be high. This means that fischertechnik has huge scope of revenue generation by supplying this huge demand. Again, setting up of new businesses and expansion thereafter is very simple in UAE, due to the liberal trade policies followed by the government. This is because UAE is a liberal economy and is extremely committed to free trade. Thus, these provide significant opportunities to fischertechnik to begin its operations at an appropriately fast pace. Also, as given in detail in the next section, the limited prese nce of fischertechnik in UAE presently can be used as a significant advantage. Threats: The most important threat is that if fischertechnik is slow in setting up its initial operations, no matter how sound its business plan may be, its rival competitor Lego can detect its main intentions and adopt strategies to work fast and finish the competitive advantage of the former. This is also because Lego already has some presence in UAE and for expansion it would take less time as compared to the time fischertechnik would take to establish itself from scratch. Another major threat that fischertechnik is likely to face is that the core employees of the company, who are mostly German, would find it difficult to adapt to the local conditions and similarly, the local staff would not be able to adapt to the corporate practices of the company. This problem is extremely significant and if an effective Human Resource Management strategy is not adopted, it could destroy all scope of existence of the company in UAE. PESTEL ANALYSIS OF FISCHERTECHNIK The PESTEL analysis of fischertechnik is as given below. It consists of all the macro-economic factors that affect the growth of fischertechnik in UAE. Political Factors: The present political environment of UAE is conducive to the growth of any company, and fischertechnik is no exception to the rule. The company should take full advantage of the liberal regulatory setup, which promotes the development of the economy, which automatically implies the growth of the company as well. As mentioned earlier, various tax exemptions which include exemption on corporate as well as personal earnings, free trade zones etc clearly exemplify this pro-development attitude of the UAE government. Fischertechnik, being a huge company would obviously receive a warm welcome and special treatment from the government of UAE, since its presence in the market would greatly increase the overall development of the country. Economic Factors: The great financial record of fischertechnik would undoubtedly help its initial setup. The overall consumer attitude in UAE is excellent from the point of view of any company, and consumers are always looking to buy products of companies which are reliable and have a good past record. The worldwide brand image of fischertechnik would help it to take advantage of such consumer attitude. If the company pays attention and highlights that it uses local resources, generates employment and works in a manner keeping sustainability, the confidence of consumers is greatly increased. fischertechnik needs to use such a marketing strategy to promote itself so as to strongly setup its business operations in UAE. Social Factors: The population of UAE is diverse, especially due to the great amount of developmental activities going on in the country. Thus, the population consists of all types of consumers. But in general, the populace of UAE is pro-development and if the company keeps in mind not to delve into controversies that affect the religious or spiritual aspects of the life of the people of the country, a rapid growth rate is virtually assured. Technological Factors: Again, due to the tremendous amount of developmental work going on in the country, a number of companies have set themselves up in UAE. This has resulted in a near perfect competition in the domestic markets of UAE. Such competition always promotes the use of latest technology and to an extent, healthy sharing of technologies between companies engaged in the same business. With such a scenario in the market and with the strong technological experience of the fischertechnik, which is known to be a company that perpetually comes out with new and innovative products, there is no doubt that the company would be able to establish itself in UAE within no time. Legal Factors: As mentioned earlier, the pro-development attitude of the UAE government has resulted in a relaxed set of laws and regulations governing the corporate sector. In the past, fischertechnik has not been involved in any controversies that involve legal issues and need to maintain such a record during its operations in UAE. With many Asian toy companies facing legal problems presently, in light of allegations from various entities within UAE that the goods they have exported to UAE are not safe, it is the perfect opportunity for fischertechnik to once and for all destroy its competition by promoting itself as a safe toymaker. Environmental Factors: fischertechnik needs to adopt a pro-environment attitude that promotes sustainability. As a company that promotes science and engineering, it has already established its technological dominance over many companies in the same business. However, a business setup that keeps in mind the environment, which includes green building for its corporate offices and manufacturing facilities that have reduced carbon emissions etc, on the part of fischertechnik can go a long way in the growth of the company in UAE. WAYS TO ENTER: STRATEGIES After the completion of the pre-requisite formalities, the following strategies would be most effective for fischertechnik for its expansion in UAE. fischertechnik should begin its operations by setting up multiple manufacturing facilities and industrial plants at various locations in UAE. The number of corporate offices should be kept low and distributional activity should be outsourced to a large number of authorized dealers and distributors. Such a strategy for the initial setup of business would be very effective because it would remove any scope of import duty and the cost incurred in movement of goods from outside the country would be avoided. This has not been done by any of the toy companies including Lego in their operations in UAE and thus they have to incorporate the extra cost in the prices of their products. Therefore, fischertechnik products would be priced lower compared to others and this would provide a definite competitive advantage to the company. Complete financing should not be from the personal savings of the company and a large part of the financing should be obtained in the form of loans from banks and other financial institutions. This is because corporate savings need to be retained for payment of dividends etc and to take care of any sudden cash payment liabilities that may arise. Also, since UAE has an extremely sophisticated and well established banking system, the loans for setting up business are offered at lower rates, and are usually coupled with attractive and profitable schemes. This should definitely be exploited. The initial target locations should be the metropolitan cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. This is because they have the highest population density and thus the biggest pool of prospective consumers. Through multiple authorized dealers for distribution, the volume of products supplied to the cities should be high from the beginning itself. This would generate high revenue from the beginning and would also provide valuable information about the consumer behavior in the domestic market of UAE. After this initial phase, the subsequent targets should be smaller cities which include the capitals of the seven Emirates of UAE amongst others. Next, the strategy to be used to take advantage of the limited presence of fischertechnik in UAE currently is presented. The first aim should be the organization of multiple mega-launch events simultaneously across various parts of the two metropolitan cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. This includes large scale exhibitions and sale offers. For such events, special attention needs to be given to the ambience of the same, through the use of attractive banners, posters and pamphlets. This should be coupled with an attractive exhibition of toys, which would include the best products of fischertechnik. Special toys, exclusively for consumers of UAE could also be prepared. A good looking inaugural event is very important to make an impression in the minds of consumers. This effect is much more effective on kids, who would be the ultimate consumers of fischertechnik products. To cater to the special needs and demands of the consumers, a survey should be conducted before these events to find ou t the same, so tha SWOT Analysis of Fischertechnik SWOT Analysis of Fischertechnik ABOUT THE COMPANY The name fischertechnik comes from an original construction toy brand, which was invented by Artur Fischer in 1964. Initially, this brand was intended to be a Christmas novelty gift in Germany for industrial client level engineers and buyers.It proved to be a massive success and thus, the company introduced its first building block construction toy in 1965. From there on, there has been no looking back. The official name of the whole group of companies is fischerwerke GmbH Co. KG. It is based in Waldachtal near Stuggart Germany and started operations officially from 1965. Fans usually refer to the company as FT or ft. The total turnover of the entire fischer group of companies is over 545 million Euros with over 3,800 employees worldwide. fischertechnik is one of the divisions in the group of companies, concerned with the design and manufacturing of innovative engineering based construction toys. The company has its operations spread over many countries in the world, 33 to be precise, in which the most significant ones in terms of presence therein, are United States of America (USA), Japan, and of course, the home country Germany. The company has production centers in 16 countries and distribution in over 100 countries. It is currently headed by Klaus Fischer (59), who is the owner and CEO of the entire fisher group. fischertechnik claims to produce world-renowned engineering-based construction toys, so as to foster interest in these subjects among the young which is why it is no surprise that the companys tag line is building blocks for life. Building blocks refer to the pieces or parts of the complete toy, which are usually marketed in a disconnected form. Such toys are called construction toys, since the purchaser of the product is expected to connect the parts in a logical manner so as to construct the complete model. This sort of marketing is very attractive, especially for young kids, who derive a sense of accomplishment from constructing such toys. And it definitely does kindle a scientific interest and encourage creativity in the minds of youngsters. In the following paragraphs, only the fischertechnik division of the fischer group of companies is discussed, and all the facts, figures, strategies and suggestions provided in the text are related only to this division. Product History and Present Scenario As mentioned earlier, the basic line of fischertechnik is the creation of construction toys, which consists of building blocks that can be connected together to form a certain toy model. However, this is a grossly incomplete description of the gigantic range and types of products that the company produces. Initially, the company started off with the basic construction toy model, invented by Artur Fischer. However, in the 1970s, the company started manufacturing on a large scale, models with large number of pieces or building blocks, of channel and groove design, in which pegs protruding from the sides of the blocks could be used to connect to other blocks and construct the complete model. Of course, original models were completely of a mechanical nature, with no electrical or electronic elements to perform any automatic control tasks. Soon, the company started producing sophisticated mechanical models such as trains and bridges, and even included relatively simple measurement devices to calculate various relevant parameters related to the toys such as angles and distances. These toys used mostly hard nylon as material for the pieces or building blocks. As time moved on, the company started manufacturing automotive vehicle models such as tower cranes, and included electric motors, power sources and gears to mobilize the same. These products were used primarily by engineers to simulate and teach industrial robotics. These products were further advanced by the incorporation of electrical and electronic components of the likes of micro-switches and photocells for the purpose of position sensing and feedback control. Later, the company launched its first basic electronic block called the Grundbaustein, which consisted of Op-Amps and Schmitt Triggers, so that Delay Line circuits could be built. In the later part of 1970s, electronic binary-logic modules such as OR, NOR, AND, NAND, Flip-Flops were also included so as to provide means for making elementary branching decisions. Around the late 1980s, CPU modules that could perform process-control were also included so that sequential movements could be pre-programmed. This was first execute d using the Lucky-Logic (LLWIN) software, developed by the company. Today, the company uses all state of the art technologies that the engineering and scientific world has produced in the fields of process control and automation, in a variety of its products. These products include ROBO TX Explorer kit and Robo-pro software (which is the successor to LLWIN), amongst many others. COMPETITION The major world-wide competitor of fischertechnik is Lego, which is far more popular and easily available in USA and even Europe. Although initially in the three major lines, namely Expert, Technic and Mindstorm, Lego was unable to match the technical and flexibility level of fischertechnik, but soon after the launch of Lego Mindstorms NXT in 2006, the former surpassed the latter in a number of technical areas such as color sensing. After this, Lego overtook fischertechnik in the production of the most advanced construction toy models in the world and the latter moved down to the production of less technical, simplified and fun toys, primary for educational purposes. However, on its own, fischertechnik is a huge brand and has a strong presence in the construction toy market all over the world and is much bigger than any other brand apart from Lego. ENTERING UAE: ADVANTAGES It is well known that UAE is one of the most prosperous countries of the world, and for the past few years, has been developing at a lightening pace. This pace continues to increase by the day. In general, the people in UAE are wealthy and have tremendous monetary resources, ready to be tapped and mobilized. Not only is the wealth tremendous, but the total population especially in the metropolitan cities like Dubai and Abu Dhabi is also very large. Thus, demand for all sorts of products in UAE is huge. This makes UAE an attractive market for a number of multinational corporations. A number of world famous brands have set up operations of production as well as distribution all over UAE, to tap this huge demand. And as time passes, more and more companies would continue to enter. Due to this huge monetary reserve in the hands of the common people, and a ready demand for all kinds of products, as mentioned earlier, a new trend amongst corporations working in all spheres of business has come about. This is, to start a new enterprise (for new entrepreneurs) or to launch a brand (for existing corporations) in UAE. This is no surprise, since the early sales figures of products of such is very large, and creates an impression in the minds of consumers everywhere in the world. Thus, UAE has become an extremely attractive location for the launch of new companies or products of existing ones. The aforementioned reasons are enough to imply that a brand, especially one as big as fischertechnik does not need to think twice before entering UAE. Of course, there are a number of pre-requisites and formalities that need to be fulfilled before business can be setup in the country. This is discussed in the next section. In the present section, we limit our discussion to the specific advantages and constraints attached to entering UAE. Regarding this, we discuss the kind of demand that is likely to be there in UAE by analyzing the present demand and import scenario in the toy industry, the kinds of consumers that can be targeted, and the kind of problems that the company would be likely to face. Due to the huge amount of developmental activities, migration has been tremendous in the UAE. Thus, there has been a population explosion in the UAE in the past decade or so. This is particularly true in the case of bigger cities such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The growing economy of the country has led to a fast increasing population rate, which has in-turn led to a huge increase in the demand for all kinds of products, which is the case with construction toy products as well. The total import of toys, which includes baby accessories in Dubai alone, was valued over 603 million Dirham in 2009. There has been an increasing demand for toys, as mentioned earlier, due to the great population in the country for the past few years, and this has led to a corresponding steady increase in the total import of toys in the country. It is interesting to note that in 2007 alone, the total rise in the import of toys was 16%. Another important indicator of the increase in demand for toys in UAE is the rapid decrease in the re-export of toys. However, what is significant to note here is that a major part of the demand for toys is met from import only, as there are hardly any local toy manufacturers in UAE. Companies like Lego and Toys R Us, have been selling their products in UAE, to take advantage of this deficit in local demand and supply. Thus there is great scope for foreign companies exporting into UAE. A smarter exercise, however, for such foreign companies would be to set up local production facilities, such as industrial plants, so that products could be produced domestically to avoid extra costs incurred during export of goods. This applies most appropriately to fischertechnik, because it is a very progressive company with a good financial standing and also because it has very little presence or popularity presently in the UAE. This lack of presence could be used as an advantage by fischertechnik, through, say for instance, a mega initial launch. However, a discussion of the implementation of this strategy is presented in detail later. Another very important point to be noted here is that presently most of the toys are imported by UAE from Asian countries like China, and a small portion is from Europe, USA and Canada. The total share in terms of import is approximately 90% from Asia and 10% from others. On top of this, there is presently, a great deal of diffidence in the minds of consumers towards purchasing Asian goods, since the quality and safety of such goods has been in question in the recent days. This further provides a good opportunity for foreign companies especially from Europe such as fischertechnik to enter the UAE markets, to establish themselves and beat a dying, or at least falling competition from their Asian counterparts. An analysis of the type of consumers who are most likely to purchase products of companies like fischertechnik is an extremely important pre-requisite for beginning or expanding operations into a new country. As mentioned earlier, the high population of UAE provides a huge pool of kids who are potential consumers of toys. However, there is a specific advantage connected to UAE in this regard. UAE is at the zenith of its development, and in the days to come, there will be a huge requirement of engineers and scientists in the country. Of course, it is best for any developing country, if this requirement is fulfilled domestically itself. Most parents in UAE, along with the government understand this present and future need, which is clearly exemplified from the fact that a number of excellent centers of technical education are have been set up over the years in the country. However, it is well known that simply providing good higher education is not enough. Kids have to be nurtured from a very young age, if this demand has to be met. For most parents, it is a dream to see their child become an engineer or a scientist because, and this is particularly true in UAE, they know that it would prove to be a prosperous career. This emotion can be utilized by fischertechnik for its expansion, the strategy for which is discussed later. Thus, to reach the ultimate consumers, i.e., young children, a route through their parents needs to be exploited. Thus, strategies have to be devised so that parents can be induced into buying the toys for their children. Another class of consumer consists of industrial level engineers and teachers who can use high-tech simulation type toy models, to provide for their employees and students respectively, better insight into the working of practical machines. For instance, teachers in a mechanical engineering class could use vehicle simulation toy models for showing the students the real working of such machines. This would make learning more effective and at the same time more enjoyable. Even for big companies, project relate discussions can be made more effective through simulation as well as modelling of the final project, for instance a model of a building when a construction project is being discussed. The existence of Free Trade Zones is a great advantage for any foreign company to setup operations in UAE. Many companies in various sectors such as networking, communications etc have already setup their business centers in UAE. These Free Trade Zones provide access to over 1.5 billion consumers in various countries of Africa, Asia and Europe, since ports in UAE are big trading centers and lie on many of the important trade routes of the world. This allows a great scope of future expansion of companies to nearby nations. However, this is just a secondary advantage of setting up operations in UAE. The Free Trade Zones have one hundred percent corporate tax exemption, zero taxes applicable on personal income, whether domestic or foreign, and no commercial levies. For a company having 51% domestic ownership there is no import duty applicable, however, companies having full foreign ownership are subjected to a 4% import duty. But this can be avoided through a collaborative setup or even through the setup of production centers within the country itself. There are no foreign exchange control or currency restrictions either. Apart from this, there is one hundred percent repatriation of capital as well as profit for foreign investors, which allows them to transfer their entire funds without any hassles. Such great incentives have been provided to foreign investors to speed up the process of development of the country through entry of huge amount of foreign capital. All these can be easily exploited by fischertechnik for its businesses in UAE. The legislative framework within the country is also very favorable for foreign investors. So, setting up of new businesses becomes an extremely simple process for most people. The laws regarding formal aspects of business setup or even expansion are very client friendly, which makes UAE an attractive location for new entrepreneurs since they do not have to face any obstacles. An example of the favorable laws is that companies can operate 24 hours a day, unlike those in most other countries. Plus, the regulation of businesses is extremely efficient which aims to protect the interests of all investors. Apart from the above, another huge advantage of expanding business into UAE is that the banking sector is very sophisticated and provides state of the art services and schemes to their clients. Such an ultra-modern and progressive banking sector has developed due to easing of laws are regulations for speeding up developmental activities in the country. The banking sector is highly confidential which ensures that all high risk financial matters are private. Also, the financial sector of UAE is extremely modern and provides all the best available products for corporations to use. For instance, corporations have easy access to modern financial instruments such as futures and options that can be used to hedge any risks arising in business. On top of this, a number of top financial consultancy firms and hedge funds have setup their offices in UAE, and provide services to other corporations. Thus, financial services of the best possible kind are easily available to companies. The stock mar kets in UAE are also extremely developed and provide easy access to all financial instruments and cheap and effective trading. Moving on to the infrastructure facilities available to companies, it is well known that UAE provides excellent and most diverse infrastructure available anywhere in the world. There are extremely sophisticated communication facilities available to companies. Apart from this, the security related services provided to corporate firms are also very advanced. All of the aforementioned advantages of expanding into UAE make it obvious that fischertechnik must enter the UAE markets as soon as possible, seeing the great benefits that it offers and the fact that till now these advantages have not been fully exploited by similar countries yet. FORMAL PRE-REQUISITES For performing business related activities in the UAE, any company needs to acquire a license. This license can be of three types namely, commercial, which is for all kinds of trading activities, industrial, which is for production or manufacturing activities and lastly, professional, for professional services and craftsmen. However, with regard to fischertechnik, only the first two types are of significance, since a major strategy for expansion would be to setup production and manufacturing activities in UAE, for which trading activities for purposes of hedging etc would be indispensable. Apart from this, the ownership of companies within UAE can be of two types. The first is partnership type of company, in which 51% of the ownership of the company is with a UAE national and the rest 49% is owned by the investor. Thus, for setting up such a company, fischertechnik would have to for a collaborative alliance with a domestic company in UAE. The second type of ownership is called Sole ownership, in which the investor has full control over the company. For this, the company has to setup its business within a Free Trade Zone only. There are, however, some restrictions on the type of business transactions that can be done outside the designated Free Trade Zone. For fischertechnik, a combination of the two ownership types would be most beneficial. For its production activities, it could form a joint venture company with another UAE based corporation, which performs a related business, while for its marketing activities, it could use the Sole Ownership type of company setup, and distribute its products through authorized dealers, since companies having Sole Ownership cannot directly sell their products in domestic markets. This sort of a combination would help fischertechnik in marketing its own brand, while maintaining steady production in collaboration with another company. SWOT ANANLYSIS OF FISCHERTECHNIK The SWOT analysis of fischertechnik is presented as follows: Strengths: fischertechnik has much significant strengths which are presented here one by one. Firstly, it is a huge brand, renowned all over the world, in the field of construction toys and is the best known brand specifically for constructions toys for educational purposes. It has an excellent record of financial performance in the past and has ownership of huge amount of monetary resources, which can be channelized into production and marketing related activities in business in UAE. This financial record gives fischertechnik excellent credit rating, which in-turn can help it to obtain local financing from domestic banks in UAE in the form of loans, very easily. This can help in hastening the start of business by quick setup of industrial and manufacturing plants as well as corporate offices. fischertechnik is the second biggest company in the field of construction toys, second only to Lego, thus it would not face competition from any other company in the area. Since Lego has very l imited operations presently in UAE, it would make fischertechnik an unsurpassable brand once it begins operations. It should be noted that although fischertechnik is next to Lego but the difference between the two is very less and if the former is able to establish a good image in UAE first, then the latter would not be able to overcome this image by entering the UAE market afterwards. Also, it is important to mention that fischertechnik is a very old company, 45 years to be exact, and thus has a pool of experienced and skilled staff possessing excellent technical expertise in the field of process control, which includes aspects of electrical, mechanical, electronics and computer engineering. The company uses the most sophisticated technologies in engineering and specifically in process control in its products, and the technical department, consisting of both experienced engineers as well as innovative minded freshers, who are recruited through an excellent selection process, of fis chertechnik continuously work towards discovering new technologies and incorporating innovative ideas into its products. Apart from these, the company produces a wide range of products for many all age groups including children and adults. Lastly, it is relevant to mention that the company has tremendous managerial expertise and organizational stability. Weaknesses: Although fischertechnik has very few weaknesses, it is relevant to mention them here. Fischertechnik has very small presence in UAE. Its business operations in UAE are very limited and in the inaugural phase. Although its small presence can be used as an advantage, this discussion is presented in the next section. However, limited presence can prove to be disastrous if business operations are not established speedily. This means that if a company like Lego which is the major competitor of fischertechnik senses the slowness in establishment of business operation of the latter, through speedy operation it can surpass and destroy the competitive advantage of the limited presence of the same. Since fischertechnik is a German company, the core employees of the same may not be able to adjust easily to the corporate practices and consumer behavior of the domestic markets of UAE. As a solution to this, the company would probably resort to the recruitment of local staff. Another r eason for recruitment of local staff is that it is mandatory for foreign companies to maintain a certain percentage of local employees within the total workforce. However, this local staff would face difficulty in adjusting to the corporate practices of a foreign company. Of course, this problem would need to be solved through an effective Human Resource Management strategy on the part of the company, which is definitely not an insurmountable task for a company of the likes of fischertechnik. Opportunities: As mentioned earlier, due to the huge amount of developmental activities in UAE, there has been a population explosion in the country. This automatically implies that there is a huge demand for consumer goods such as construction toys, due to the existence of a large number of families. Apart from this, because of setting up of a large number of institutes of higher education in the recent past, the demand for simulation models as educational tools would also be high. This means that fischertechnik has huge scope of revenue generation by supplying this huge demand. Again, setting up of new businesses and expansion thereafter is very simple in UAE, due to the liberal trade policies followed by the government. This is because UAE is a liberal economy and is extremely committed to free trade. Thus, these provide significant opportunities to fischertechnik to begin its operations at an appropriately fast pace. Also, as given in detail in the next section, the limited prese nce of fischertechnik in UAE presently can be used as a significant advantage. Threats: The most important threat is that if fischertechnik is slow in setting up its initial operations, no matter how sound its business plan may be, its rival competitor Lego can detect its main intentions and adopt strategies to work fast and finish the competitive advantage of the former. This is also because Lego already has some presence in UAE and for expansion it would take less time as compared to the time fischertechnik would take to establish itself from scratch. Another major threat that fischertechnik is likely to face is that the core employees of the company, who are mostly German, would find it difficult to adapt to the local conditions and similarly, the local staff would not be able to adapt to the corporate practices of the company. This problem is extremely significant and if an effective Human Resource Management strategy is not adopted, it could destroy all scope of existence of the company in UAE. PESTEL ANALYSIS OF FISCHERTECHNIK The PESTEL analysis of fischertechnik is as given below. It consists of all the macro-economic factors that affect the growth of fischertechnik in UAE. Political Factors: The present political environment of UAE is conducive to the growth of any company, and fischertechnik is no exception to the rule. The company should take full advantage of the liberal regulatory setup, which promotes the development of the economy, which automatically implies the growth of the company as well. As mentioned earlier, various tax exemptions which include exemption on corporate as well as personal earnings, free trade zones etc clearly exemplify this pro-development attitude of the UAE government. Fischertechnik, being a huge company would obviously receive a warm welcome and special treatment from the government of UAE, since its presence in the market would greatly increase the overall development of the country. Economic Factors: The great financial record of fischertechnik would undoubtedly help its initial setup. The overall consumer attitude in UAE is excellent from the point of view of any company, and consumers are always looking to buy products of companies which are reliable and have a good past record. The worldwide brand image of fischertechnik would help it to take advantage of such consumer attitude. If the company pays attention and highlights that it uses local resources, generates employment and works in a manner keeping sustainability, the confidence of consumers is greatly increased. fischertechnik needs to use such a marketing strategy to promote itself so as to strongly setup its business operations in UAE. Social Factors: The population of UAE is diverse, especially due to the great amount of developmental activities going on in the country. Thus, the population consists of all types of consumers. But in general, the populace of UAE is pro-development and if the company keeps in mind not to delve into controversies that affect the religious or spiritual aspects of the life of the people of the country, a rapid growth rate is virtually assured. Technological Factors: Again, due to the tremendous amount of developmental work going on in the country, a number of companies have set themselves up in UAE. This has resulted in a near perfect competition in the domestic markets of UAE. Such competition always promotes the use of latest technology and to an extent, healthy sharing of technologies between companies engaged in the same business. With such a scenario in the market and with the strong technological experience of the fischertechnik, which is known to be a company that perpetually comes out with new and innovative products, there is no doubt that the company would be able to establish itself in UAE within no time. Legal Factors: As mentioned earlier, the pro-development attitude of the UAE government has resulted in a relaxed set of laws and regulations governing the corporate sector. In the past, fischertechnik has not been involved in any controversies that involve legal issues and need to maintain such a record during its operations in UAE. With many Asian toy companies facing legal problems presently, in light of allegations from various entities within UAE that the goods they have exported to UAE are not safe, it is the perfect opportunity for fischertechnik to once and for all destroy its competition by promoting itself as a safe toymaker. Environmental Factors: fischertechnik needs to adopt a pro-environment attitude that promotes sustainability. As a company that promotes science and engineering, it has already established its technological dominance over many companies in the same business. However, a business setup that keeps in mind the environment, which includes green building for its corporate offices and manufacturing facilities that have reduced carbon emissions etc, on the part of fischertechnik can go a long way in the growth of the company in UAE. WAYS TO ENTER: STRATEGIES After the completion of the pre-requisite formalities, the following strategies would be most effective for fischertechnik for its expansion in UAE. fischertechnik should begin its operations by setting up multiple manufacturing facilities and industrial plants at various locations in UAE. The number of corporate offices should be kept low and distributional activity should be outsourced to a large number of authorized dealers and distributors. Such a strategy for the initial setup of business would be very effective because it would remove any scope of import duty and the cost incurred in movement of goods from outside the country would be avoided. This has not been done by any of the toy companies including Lego in their operations in UAE and thus they have to incorporate the extra cost in the prices of their products. Therefore, fischertechnik products would be priced lower compared to others and this would provide a definite competitive advantage to the company. Complete financing should not be from the personal savings of the company and a large part of the financing should be obtained in the form of loans from banks and other financial institutions. This is because corporate savings need to be retained for payment of dividends etc and to take care of any sudden cash payment liabilities that may arise. Also, since UAE has an extremely sophisticated and well established banking system, the loans for setting up business are offered at lower rates, and are usually coupled with attractive and profitable schemes. This should definitely be exploited. The initial target locations should be the metropolitan cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. This is because they have the highest population density and thus the biggest pool of prospective consumers. Through multiple authorized dealers for distribution, the volume of products supplied to the cities should be high from the beginning itself. This would generate high revenue from the beginning and would also provide valuable information about the consumer behavior in the domestic market of UAE. After this initial phase, the subsequent targets should be smaller cities which include the capitals of the seven Emirates of UAE amongst others. Next, the strategy to be used to take advantage of the limited presence of fischertechnik in UAE currently is presented. The first aim should be the organization of multiple mega-launch events simultaneously across various parts of the two metropolitan cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. This includes large scale exhibitions and sale offers. For such events, special attention needs to be given to the ambience of the same, through the use of attractive banners, posters and pamphlets. This should be coupled with an attractive exhibition of toys, which would include the best products of fischertechnik. Special toys, exclusively for consumers of UAE could also be prepared. A good looking inaugural event is very important to make an impression in the minds of consumers. This effect is much more effective on kids, who would be the ultimate consumers of fischertechnik products. To cater to the special needs and demands of the consumers, a survey should be conducted before these events to find ou t the same, so tha