Paper Products Corporation Essays (543 words) - Marketing

Paper Products Corporation Mary Miller is the marketing manager for Paper Products Corporation and she has to decide whether she should allow her largest customer to buy some of Paper Products' file folders and market them under their own name, (Natcom Inc.) rather than the File X's brand, used by Paper Products. Mary is afraid that if she doesn't accept the offer, the customer will find another file folder producer. Mary really only has two options; accept or refuse the offer from Natcom. There is a certain degree of risk involved with either option and she needs to decide which option is the safest for Paper Products Corporation. If Paper Products refuses the offer they are putting themselves in a position to possibly lose 30 percent of their business, approximately 12 million dollars per year. Even if Natcom continued purchasing their other supplies from Paper Products, and only quit purchasing file folders, the business would lose approximately 4.2 million dollars per year. If Mary decided to take the offer from Natcom, and allow them to sell Paper Products' file folders with their name, she would be going against company policy and it would not be easy to change this policy. It would be very easy for Paper Products to Accommodate Natcom's offer because they have excess capacity. If they turn down the business, Natcom could go to another producer and cut into Paper Products' sales at Natcom stores. Another benefit of this offer is that Paper Products would not have to spend any marketing dollars to acquire this new business. Natcom came to them with this offer and it did not cost Mary Miller, or Paper Products anything. According to the marketing concept, Mary should accept the offer from Natcom. As marketing Chris Phillips 293-78-3538 04/28/2000 manager, Mary should identify what the customer needs, and make Paper Products Inc. the best company at satisfying those needs for a profit. In this case the customer is Natcom and they obviously need to market a line of file folders with their name attached. This need should be clear to Mary because her customer has now approached her three times with this request. Mary will need her expert marketing skills when she tries to sell this idea to Bob Butcher, Paper Products president. Mr. Butcher is primarily interested in the development of new products but he will most likely be interested in this proposal since it deals with his companies' biggest customer. There will have to be a policy change for Paper Products Inc. concerning the corporate policy of refusing dealer-branding requests. Paper Products implemented this policy because they wanted the success of their products to depend on the quality rather than just a low price, but only 40 percent of their file folder products are in a specialized line while the other 60percent are relatively homogeneous shopping products. The success of the homogeneous file folders will be very dependent on the price rather than the quality, therefore this policy depending on quality rather than low price needs to be revised. Mary should also approach Mr. Butcher about using some more of the company's available money for the promotion of their existing brands. Paper Products needs to pull some of their money out of new-product development and attempt to achieve some market penetration. Although 60 percent of the current market does sound appealing, they may be able to grab some of the remaining 40 percent with some good promotions and market penetration.

Free Essays on Wal-mart Brazil

Wal-Mart Operations in Brazil Professor Masaaki Kotabe of The University of Texas at Austin Graduate School of Business and Kleber G. de Godoy and Moacir Salzstein of Fundaà §o Getà ºlio Vargas, So Paulo, Brazil, prepared this case as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective management of a situation described, 1997. Copyright  © 1997 by Masaaki Kotabe Introduction In September 1994, Brazil was experiencing a new thrust in its economy. After several years of hyperinflation, the "Real Plan", implemented in March, 1994, an economic stabilization program that indexed the Brazilian currency to the U.S. dollar, began to reduce inflation to reasonable levels. In February 1994, a monthly inflation rate was 40%, whereas by September it was a relatively low 3%. Lower inflation rates would help improve the purchasing power, particularly of the lower socioeconomic segment of the population. The optimistic scenario encouraged many foreign companies to make new investments in Brazil. If Brazil is the leading economy in Latin America, with a population of more than 150 million, why not invest there, now that a better business horizon lies ahead in this continental country? Wal-Mart Stores, the world leader in retailing, announced on May 9, 1994 that it had decided to invest heavily in Brazil, through a partnership with Lojas Americanas, Brazil's leading department store chain. Wal-Mart Stores would own 60% of Wal-Mart do Brasil, whereas Lojas Americanas would retain the remaining 40%. The North-American "giant" was known to provoke a market revolution in every country it decided to enter. Wal-Mart not only announced the decision to enter the market with Supercenters (stores with 20,000 m2 of area and more than 50,000 different items) and Sam's Club stores (a buyers' club, founded in 1976 in the U.S.). Brazilian competitors had good reasons to be concerned. Wal-Mart was known ... Free Essays on Wal-mart Brazil Free Essays on Wal-mart Brazil Wal-Mart Operations in Brazil Professor Masaaki Kotabe of The University of Texas at Austin Graduate School of Business and Kleber G. de Godoy and Moacir Salzstein of Fundaà §o Getà ºlio Vargas, So Paulo, Brazil, prepared this case as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective management of a situation described, 1997. Copyright  © 1997 by Masaaki Kotabe Introduction In September 1994, Brazil was experiencing a new thrust in its economy. After several years of hyperinflation, the "Real Plan", implemented in March, 1994, an economic stabilization program that indexed the Brazilian currency to the U.S. dollar, began to reduce inflation to reasonable levels. In February 1994, a monthly inflation rate was 40%, whereas by September it was a relatively low 3%. Lower inflation rates would help improve the purchasing power, particularly of the lower socioeconomic segment of the population. The optimistic scenario encouraged many foreign companies to make new investments in Brazil. If Brazil is the leading economy in Latin America, with a population of more than 150 million, why not invest there, now that a better business horizon lies ahead in this continental country? Wal-Mart Stores, the world leader in retailing, announced on May 9, 1994 that it had decided to invest heavily in Brazil, through a partnership with Lojas Americanas, Brazil's leading department store chain. Wal-Mart Stores would own 60% of Wal-Mart do Brasil, whereas Lojas Americanas would retain the remaining 40%. The North-American "giant" was known to provoke a market revolution in every country it decided to enter. Wal-Mart not only announced the decision to enter the market with Supercenters (stores with 20,000 m2 of area and more than 50,000 different items) and Sam's Club stores (a buyers' club, founded in 1976 in the U.S.). Brazilian competitors had good reasons to be concerned. Wal-Mart was known ...

Physical Descriptions Put Readers in Your Place

Physical Descriptions Put Readers in Your Place Physical Descriptions Put Readers in Your Place Physical Descriptions Put Readers in Your Place By Mark Nichol Writers deliver their stories fiction and nonfiction alike to readers more effectively when they use appearances of people, places, and things to help drive the narrative and illuminate personalities. Consider these ideas: People Some writers omit or minimize description of physical characteristics, considering them peripheral details, but revealing details about a person’s appearance can be a valuable narrative tool, especially when the description up-ends expectations. Helping readers picture a diminutive authority figure or a sturdy, six-foot-plus word nerd, for that matter lets them know that the tale isn’t going to be trite. Practice by jotting down notes about people you know or have seen in person or in images, but take care not to write as if you’re filling out a police report. Instead of describing someone as extremely tall, note how they have to duck their head to walk through a doorway. Rather than using a pedestrian word like huge or petite, use formidable or bantam. In describing hair or eye color, avoid â€Å"lustrous raven locks† and â€Å"limpid azure pools of light† phraseology (unless you’re penning a romance novel), and reach for unusual imagery like â€Å"hair like a tangle of copper filaments† or â€Å"milky-green eyes open wide in an attitude of perpetual astonishment.† Places For locations, employ the same strategy: Rehearse your writing by explaining the feel of a room, a street, or a park. Is it expansive, or economical? Friendly, or foreboding? Clean, or chaotic? What do your other senses tell you? What is the noise level? How does it smell? What are the textures like? Is it easy to walk through or along, or to otherwise navigate, or do obstacles interfere? If your story takes place in a natural landscape, describe the terrain and what associations it has based on whether it conjures a sense of grace, harmony, and peace or whether it is full of bleak, harsh, jagged features. How does the presence of vegetation, or bodies of water, contribute to the feel of the terrain? What effect does the weather produce? Place your characters in the context of their locations by showing, without telling, whether they are at home in their setting or whether the environment is alien to them, and how they respond to their feelings. Things Objects may seem devoid of interest, but even everyday devices can resonate and can be integral to a story. The way belongings are displayed and arrayed can say much about the personality of their owner, as can whether they were bought at a dollar store or from an upscale online catalog. Things can exude an aura, or can be imbued with qualitative or quantitative value. The ubiquity of an electronic device can convey how essential it is to its user, or how integral it is to that person’s self-perception because it (to their mind, at least) awards status. A possession can foreshadow an event or otherwise be key to a plot: A tech-dependent person, one who smugly employs a GPS but can’t read a map, is lost in the wilderness without either. An adored stuffed animal conceals a weapon or a treasure. An innocuous object regarded off-handedly but often ultimately becomes the linchpin (or is a MacGuffin). Even in nonfiction, descriptions of objects can be used to great effect. An account of an interview with a powerful person who fidgets with tchotchkes, for example, can reveal them as nervous or insecure without saying so in so many words. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Fiction Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:20 Types and Forms of HumorThe Parts of a WordWood vs. Wooden

Molecular Basis of Disease Lab Report Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Molecular Basis of Disease - Lab Report Example Staining is one of the techniques used in the characterization of cancer cells. The most commonly used staining methods and Hematoxylin and Eosin staining. Generally the two methods have been used to differentiate between the nucleus and the cytoplasm of cells. Hematoxylin stains the nucleus purple while Eosin stains the cytoplasms pink. Cancer cells can also be stained particularly to differentiate them from other cells. However, it is imperative to note that there are preparation processes that should take place in order for tissue staining to be specific and relevant (Ahmed, 2007, p.490). Histopathology is a technique that involves the studying of disease development in tissues at the microscopic level. In medicine histopathology refers to the examination of tissue biopsies that have already been prepared through histological techniques and placed on glass slides. The histological techniques used in sample preparation are tissue harvesting, fixation, embedding, mounting and staini ng of the tissue sections. Tissue harvesting: it involves the surgical removal of the tissue followed fixing to ensure that the tissue is stable and that it does not decay. Fixation: two methods are used; chemical fixation and freeze fixation. Chemical fixation is done using formalin while freeze fixation is done using cryo-protectants such as OCT, TBS or Cryogel before freezing. Mounting: Tissues are placed in paraffin before being sectioned using a microtome before they are stained. Staining: The processed tissues are stained for viewing under a microscope. Objectives I. To prepare low and high power drawings of normal skin, breast and colon tissues. II. To prepare low and high power drawings of one diseased skin specimen or one diseased colon specimen. III. To prepare low power diagrams of all three diseased breast tissue specimens IV. To answer the relevant questions in the practical manual Materials I. Light microscope. II. Blank plain paper. III. Pencil IV. Specimens: a) Colon - Normal human - Polyposis b) Skin - Normal human - Basal cell carcinoma - Malignant Melanoma - Squamous cell carcinoma c) Breast - Normal human - Lobular hyperplasia - Fibrodenoma Methods Human Colon The slide was held up to the light and the darker purple staining layer of the gastric mucosa (inner most layer of colon) identified. The slide was then place on the stage so that the inner layer of the colon was on top. The upper edge of the specimen was then focused under low power magnification of the microscope (X40) and the following areas identified: gastric mucosa, muscularis mucosa, sub-mucosa and muscularis. After the major layers had been identified, the following layers were labeled: mucosa, colonic glands, gastric pits, sub-mucosa, muscularis mucosa (inner and outer layers) and blood vessels. A high power drawing of the gastric mucosa was the prepared and the following labeled: surface epithelium, colonic glands, goblet cells and lymphoid follicles. The same procedure was repeated for diseases colon cells and the differences between tissue specimens identified. Human Skin The slide was held up to the light to identify the outer layer of the skin. The slide was then placed on the stage so that the surface of the skin was positioned on top. The upper edge of the specimen was focused under low

Measurement and Instrumentation LVDT sheet Lab Report

Measurement and Instrumentation LVDT sheet - Lab Report Example The device consists of a primary winding (P) and two secondary windings named S1 and S2. Both of them are wound on one cylindrical former, side by side, and they have equal number of turns. Their arrangement is such that they maintain symmetry with either side of the primary winding (P). A movable soft iron core is placed parallel to the axis of the cylindrical former. An arm is connected to the other end of the soft iron core and it moves according to the displacement produced. The LVDT is also used as a secondary transducer in various measurement systems. A primary transducer is used to convert the measurand into a displacement (Scholey et al.,1995). The LVDT is then used to measure that displacement. Examples are: The graph above shows the plot between the resulting voltage or voltage difference and displacement. The graph clearly shows that a linear function is obtained between the output voltage and core movement from the null position within a limited range of 4 millimeter. The results showed that there is linear relationship between displacement and voltage and this relationship continues till the maximum displacement of 40 mm, after that output voltage was decreased drastically towards negative side. The results revealed that there is very strong repeatability in LVTD as show in fig. (2). There is almost no difference in output voltage when the experiment was replicated second time. These results are supported by the findings of other researchers who reported the similar results. (Tariq et al., 2002 ; Wu et al., 2008 and Drumea et al., 2006). It is evident from the data that the instrument has high sensitivity, resolution and repeatability. Maintains a linear relationship between the voltage difference output and displacement from each position of the core for a displacement of up to 40 millimeter. Scholey, G. K., Frost, J. D., Lo Presti, D. C. F., & Jamiolkowski, M. (1995). A review of instrumentation

The price of gold has increased in the Indian markets Essay Example for Free

The price of gold has increased in the Indian markets Essay The gold prices have been constantly increasing in India due to the spot demand before the marriage season, currency movements and the traditional investment patterns. The constant depreciation in the Indian currency and a change in government policies are supporting a steady rise in the price of gold. Earlier, there was a flat rate of Rs. 300 for 10g on gold. But now, due to the change in the government policy on import duties, 2% is charged on 10g of gold. This change in the government policy will increase the import duties on the metal to nearly a double, increasing its prices. Gold is denominated in US Dollar; change in the value of US Dollar will hence reflect the price of gold. The steady depreciation in the value of US Dollar due to the ongoing recession has led to a weak trend in gold in the global markets. If the price of gold is valued higher in any other currency, it shows us that the demand for gold is high and hence increasing its value. The below graph shows the depreciating value of gold due to the depreciation of US Dollar. http://www.kitco.com/LFgif/au0365nyb.gif Even though there is a weak trend in global markets, the price of gold has increased in the Indian markets due to the high pick up on spot demand ahead of the marriage season. The price of gold has gained Rs. 25 from Rs. 28, 245 per 10 grams. ETF in India saw the highest net outflows in last 52 months. Investors observe recovery in stock markets which helped gold prices increasing. This high trend of gold in the Indian market can be explained as an exception to the law of demand i.e. the increase in the price of gold is increasing the demand for the metal. Indians are the biggest buyers of gold in the world. Gold imports reached 958 tons in 2010, and in 2011 gold imports were still high despite the increase in prices. Gold can hence be considered a Veblen good. A Veblen good is one whose demand continues to rise in spite of an increase in its price level. Therefore the normal law of demand is not applicable here. Such goods are known as goods of conspicuous1 consumption because people regard them as status symbols and there is an inherent passion towards this precious metal. A normal demand curve slopes left to right downwards. But as shown in the diagram above, the demand curve slopes upward, and when the price of increases from P to P1, the quantity demanded increases from QD to QD1. Hence, gold can be considered as a Veblen good. Although, the prices of silver is facing a weakening trend in both the Indian and the global markets due to the same ongoing recession. Silver has fallen by Rs. 800 from Rs. 57,700 per Kg in the Indian market and by USD 6.70 from USD 1704.60 in the global market. The below graph shows a fall in the prices of silver in the global market. In the Indian market, silver doesn’t have high value status as much as gold. This is because people do not have a high inherent passion towards silver. Almost all electronics are configured with silver. The precious metal is used in everything from automobiles to alternative energy needs. But due do the reduced off take by industrial units, silver is facing a fall in both demand and its prices. http://www.kitco.com/LFgif/ag0365nyb.gif Even though the weak trend in silver, the demand for silver coins has been the same as the people in India buy these coins for good luck and prosperity. In conclusion, gold and silver are both facing a weakening trend in the global market due to the world economic uncertainties. But, in the Indian Market, gold is having a high trend whereas silver has a weak trend. As gold is continued to be purchased high in India due to its snob value status. A Tighter Regulation 1. Gold and silver are the two most popular commodities traded on Indian commodity bourses. 2. FMC may ask exchange to tighten monitoring and receive weekly data on trade volume. 3. National commodity exchanges say such measures will help strengthen investor trust in the market. 4. The only downside of stricter regulation is that it may reduce bullion trading volumes.

Explore the ways in which the opening of an inspector calls sets the :: English Literature

Explore the ways in which the opening of an inspector calls sets the scene and prepares the audience for the downfall of the Birlings and Gerald Croft I am going to start my essay by looking at the way in which plays were written and what theatrical genres were about in J.B Priestley’s day, as this is likely to give an indication as to which genres influenced him. In Priestley’s day, there were four main genres that were performed at the theatre, these include glamorous musicals, Shakespearian tragedies, detective thrillers and serious drama like that of George Bernard Shaw and T.S Eliot. I think that the detective thrillers influenced Priestley to write â€Å"an inspector calls†. Most detective thrillers, in those days involved one body, six suspects and an inspector, they then try to find out who done it. These types of plays are called morality plays. J.B Priestley fought in World War I and had experienced life in trenches, which where hell, and was a victim of a gas attack. This might have been what formed his socialist view. He was not the only writer to have socialist views after WWI; there were others such as George Bernard Shaw. Priestley must have realised that if we don’t care for each other and take responsibility for our actions there will be more wars, so he wrote the play to send across the message that people they have to take responsibility for their actions. The class your family was in, in Edwardian times was very important and Priestley makes it obvious that this family is an upper class family from the very detailed stage directions at the beginning of the play. â€Å"The Dining room of a fairly large suburban house, belonging to a prosperous manufacturer. It has good solid furniture†. From this quote we can tell that Priestley wants the family to look well off because he describes their house as fairly big, and calls Mr. Birling a Prosperous manufacturer which means he is a wealthy person and that he has a well established business. He also describes their furniture as good and solid. People in them days could not normally afford solid furniture, so shows again this family’s wealth.

Nathan “Songs of Silence” Essay

The chapters of Songs of Silence hold together as a chorus of songs from one community, but shaped by the recollections of a narrator whose perspective ranges from the innocence of childhood to the maturity of a young adult who emerges unbroken from a failed relationship. One such chapters is ‘Nathan’ and here the narrator is the reflective adult with a sophisticated notion of the wide range if meanings ‘silence’ holds. Through the character of Nation she is able to present some aspects of this theme, which runs throughout the text in many different ways. Nathan acts strategically without words, but with potent meaning – revenge (poking Tony’s eye). Silence is a characteristic feature of Nathan’s personality, which is deep and profound even though he uses few words. The absence of words can mask/hide a great deal (still waters run deep). Nathan’s deep and profound silence was evident even from his birth and the close connection he had with his sister, the narrator – ‘†¦soulmates, welded together by our common need for silence.’ They both started speaking late. However, her silence was different from his – ‘he was a man of dark blue silences,’ while hers ‘hers was a silence of moons.’ Here the narrator suggests that contrary to the saying ‘silence means consent’, silence does not always mean ‘consent’ or agreement nor are all silent people to be treated the same. The ‘manna manna manna mahkita’ game establishes the communication between the narrator and Nathan. It has unspoken personal meaning for them and suggests that its ritual is saturated with almost religious or spiritual significance. It shows that codes of communication which may appear insignificant or meaningless to others looking on, may be a way of expressing connections that (known) words cannot express. The different silences of the siblings allow them to explore, define and find their own authentic selves in their own ways. (E.g. The narrator and the ants, Nathan and his tightfistedness with money). Silence, like money, can express identity.

Life Cycle Costing Finding

In management accounting, there are various costing methods applicable to use in practice. Some of practitioners are familiar with Job order costing, process costing and activity based costing. The key idea is to apply the right costing method in the right situation. Life cycle costing (LCC) offers another choice to the user. It is usually found in manufacturing, construction, software companies and product development. As we know, consumer and manager need to make decision on the cost of acquisition and cost of ongoing use of many different assets like equipment, motor vehicle, plant and other.As it seems, the key factor to influence the decision of acquisition on assets is the initial capital cost. In addition, the unrealized cost such as ongoing operation and maintenance cost should be considered before the decision making is made. Life cycle Costing is a process to determine the sum of all the costs related with an asset throughout its life which include acquisition, installation , operations, maintenance, renovation and disposal costs.For example, if the managers want to buy the motor vehicle for the purpose of company. They are needed to consider the whole life cycle costing such as their maintenance, their peration, their initial acquisition, and other factor which can give more information to decision maker to make the better decision. This report sets out to address what LCC, why LCC, when LCC, how LCC use on the manufacturing industry. The aim is to provide a clear understanding toward life cycle costing in theory and practise.FINDINGS 1 Life Cycle Costing Life cycle costing is estimates and accumulated costs over a product's entire life cycle in order to determine whether the profits earned during the manufacturing phase will cover the cost incurred during during the pre- (upstream) and post- (downstream) stage. By understand on how to identifying the cost incurred during the different stage of product life cycle, it might help the manager to manage t he total costs incurred throughout its life cycle.In addition, life cycle costing is also helps managements deeply understanding the cost consequences of developing and making a product and to identify area in which may cost reduction effective. The process of Live Cycle Costing involves: l. Assessing costs arising from an asset over its life cycle. Asset life cycle consist of various phase which are planning, acquisition, managing, distribution, and disposition. Though the asset life cycle, all the cost arising from each phase must be estimated at the earlier stage to facilitate in the cost reduction.The acquirer should consider all relevant cost because it is not only about the initial investment and acquisition cost, but all cost occurred over the anticipated life cycle of the assets. II. Evaluating alternative that have an effect on the cost of ownership. The comparisons of asset alternative whether it is at the concept or detailed design level should be evaluate in order to ach ieve better outcomes from the assets. Each alternative may have different pros and cons. Selecting unfriendly alternative may affect all the cost incurred during the period of ownership.Therefore, a thorough evaluation shall be made to avoid unwanted circumstances. For example, the mobile phone industry such as Nokia, Samsung, HTC and other is a fast moving product. Life cycles are short, mobile phone manufacturers spent lots of money on R;D and they have to recover these costs in a short period of time. This explains why newly released mobile phones are sold at such high prices. 1. 2) Reason for use Life Cycle Costing l. Comparison of asset alternatives to achieve better outcome from asset. Each asset lternatives should be evaluated so that it will assess the risk and benefit on every alternatives.A strategize development and implementation of plans and programs for the assets should be done to ensure that the assets operational objectives are achieved at optimum cost. II. Essentia l in determination of cost in the asset management process. It is important to identifying the cost in the asset management process whether the asset should be acquired, upgraded, maintained, or disposed of. It will serve a framework on how the asset will be acquired; planning for the upgrade and maintenance and disposal process will be managed. Ill. As managers' tools in asset.An effective asset manager' tools will help in delivering company objective effectively and efficiently. In addition, the manager's tools will be helps by systematic tools like economic appraisal, financial appraisal, value management, risk management and demand management in weighing up the costs and benefits, risks, objective, revenues and expenditures. ‘V. Enables the decision maker to balance the performance, reliability, maintain abilities and other goals against life cycle costs. In order to achieve the outcomes that reflect performance, reliability and ability, the proper planning, allocation of ogether. . 3) It can be used in three stages Life cycle costing should be applied when there are three stages: l. The conceptual stage: This is the stage when the initial proposal for investments is being considered. It is to estimate the future cost and provision to be made over the life of the assets. For example, the different type and designs of machine to increase the sales production for the manufacturing industry. II. The acquisition stage. This is the stage where the supplier for the assets is being assessed. It is to assist in the selection of the most cost-effective option. Ill. The service stage.The stage of decision making on whether to maintain, improve or dispose of the assets. It is to improve the cost effectiveness of the production as well as to improve the specification of future assets. For example, when automotive manufacturing products their car product, they are improving their quality of car. So that to ensure the customer still keeps loyalty to buy their car for future. 1. 4) Estimate Life Cycle Costing The formula to calculate the life cycle costing: Life Cycle Costing = Capital Cost + Life Time Operating Cost + Life Time Maintenance Costs + Disposal Cost – Residual Value Product Life Cycle PhasesFigure 1 illustrates the relationship between costs committed and costs incurred in the life cycle costing. It involves three stages of a product's life cycle, the planning and design stage, the manufacturing stage and the service and distribution stage. Committed or locked-in costs are costs have not been incurred currently but that will be incurred in the future after the decision basis has been made. Costs are incurred when a resource is sacrificed or used. A system of costing is the record cost only had been done when they have been incurred.Furthermore, the costs that have been committed are difficult to be alter. The pattern of cost commitment and incurrence will vary based on the industry and specific product introduced. During t he planning and design stage, the cost management can be most effectively exercised compared to the manufacturing stage when the product design and processes have already identified and costs have been committed. At the post sales service and distribution phase, its focus more on cost containment than cost management. 1. 4. 2) Life Cycle Costing Model The information should be obtained before selecting a model.This is to ensure that the analysis can be made. Evaluation should be made in considering the applicability f all cost factors, empirical relationship, constants, elements and variables. Life cycle costing model should: l. Represent the characteristic of the asset being analyzed. It includes the intended use environment, maintenance concept, operating and maintenance support scenarios and any constraints and limitations. II. Comprehensive to include and highlight the relevant factors to the Life Cycle Costing asset. Ill.Easy to understand in order to permit timely decision mak ing, future updates and ‘V. Evaluate the specific Life Cycle Costing elements independently of other costing elements. 1. 4. ) Life Cycle Costing Breakdown into Asset Cost Some element need to be identified in Life Cycle Costing. This is because it requires the breakdown of the asset into its part of cost elements over time. The elements that should be considered are: l. Significant amount of cost that generate components of activity. II. Time in the life cycle when conducting the activity. Ill.Resources cost categories that relevant such as material, labor, overhead, transportation and others. 1. 4. 4) Benefits of Life Cycle Costing The benefits the manager can gain from Life cycle costing are: I. Planning and analysis of alternative solutions. It is to serve a framework to document and compare the alternatives to achieve significant cost benefits. Life cycle costing concept will give earlier actions to produce revenue or to lower costs. II. Selection of preferred alternative s. The decision maker can use the information for the selection process with the life cycle costing analysis.Better decision should follow from more realistic and accurate assessment of cost and revenue. Ill. Securing funding. The comparison between the alternatives that have different cash flow patterns over time is important. This is because there are corporate cash lows issues that need to be considered. Life cycle costing analyses provide a basis for projecting cash requirements. ‘V. Review. The life cycle costing can serve confirmation of the reliability of the life cycle costing model. Besides, the credibility of future life cycle costing plans can be achieved. . 4. 5) Life Cycle Costing Process Life cycle costing involves six stages which are: Stage 1: Plan Life Cycle Costing The documentation of the plan needs to be done at the beginning to serve a framework of life cycle costing. This plan must be review to ensure the plan has been interpret correctly and address clea rly. Stage 2: Select or Develop Life Cycle Costing Model All relevant categories of cost that will happen in phases of life cycle should be identified. Select a method for estimating the associated cost and develop the estimates.Stage 3: Apply Life Cycle Costing Model Life cycle costing model need to be validated and obtain the model results from each relevant combinations and support scenarios defined in the analysis plan. Stage 4 : Document and Review Life Cycle Costing Results The documentation of the results should be done to ensure the users understand clearly the results and affects of the analysis along with the constraints and Stage 5 : Prepare Life Cycle Costing Analysis Life cost analysis used to control and manage the ongoing costs of assets or part thereof.It involves review and development of the life cycle costing model asa cost control mechanism. Stage 6 : Implement and Monitor Life Cycle Costing Analysis Life cycle costing should have a continuous monitoring of the a ctual performance of an asset during its operations and maintenance and to provide feedback for future reference. 1. 4. 6) Application to industry For pharmaceutical products, the product life cycle is becoming shorter and shorter s new products keep being developed for the market demand purposes.It is not surprising that new drugs are being sold at very high prices. For example, drugs which are used to fght cancer in targeted therapy can cost a patient on average RM 20,000 to RM 200,000 per month. Again, the life cycle is short (or uncertain), and pharmaceutical companies need to pay back the initial costs in R&D in a short period making high prices necessary. You can imagine how much the companies need to pay for a team of top tier scientists who have been working in the laboratory day and night for many years while developing the drug.Finally, as a short revision on life cycle costing, suppose a new cancer curing drug XXX is expected to have sales of 100,000,000 units in the comi ng 10 years. The selling price is targeted at RM 1,000 per unit. R&D is RM 10,000,000,000, design cost is RM manufacturing cost RM marketing RM distribution costs another RM 100,000,000 and finally customer service RM 50,000,000. Find the life cycle profit for XXX as follow: RM Millions Sales Design Manufacturing Distribution Marketing Customer service Life cycle profit 1 oo,ooo (10,000) (500) (1000) (100) (50) 88,250 The life cycle profit is RM 88,250 million (or RM 88,250,000,000).It is for 10 years and thus on average every year the profit is RM 8,825 million which is quite normal for leading pharmaceutical companies. It can be seen that the total life cycle cost is RM 11,750 million and RM 10,000 million (or 85. 1%) spent on R&D. Life Cycle Costing can be conclude as key asset management tool which takes into account the whole of life implication on the asset starting from the cost planning, acquiring, operation maintaining and disposing. It assist in analyse not only the cost o f acquiring an asset but also the costs over an asset's life like long-term operational nd maintenance costs.In addition, it will be the guidance on how long term strategic planning process, analysis, evaluation and decision making process towards the asset managements. The best expected outcome can be managed if all the relevant cost and benefits over life span of an asset is taking into account. Lastly to overall cost involve in owning, operating and maintaining an asset from the initial planning up till disposal. Thus, selecting the best alternative in order to minimize the possible cost incurred and maximizes the potential savings that can be made.

Two theories of motivation Essays

Two theories of motivation Essays Two theories of motivation Essay Two theories of motivation Essay Motivation is an intangible human plus which acts as a driver that pushes worlds to be willing to execute certain actions. In merely about everything we do there is something that moves us to execute the action which involves some motive leting us to execute undertakings or actions which produces some type of personal benefit as a consequence. The general theory would be that, the greater the personal addition in executing the undertaking for the person, the more motivated they are to seek at the undertaking to accomplish the best result. Motivation is normally stimulated by a privation where there is a addition to be had as a consequence of executing a certain undertaking. As Todes, McKinney, Ferguson, Jr. ( 1977 ) p.223 provinces, A individual is a desiring being he ever wants, and he wants more. Therefore if there is nil that an single wants, there would be no demand for them to execute a certain undertaking as there is nil they can derive from it. Over c lip there have been many motivational theories developed to seek and research what motive is and how different degrees of motive can be achieved with different inputs. Two of the most widely recognised motivational theories come from Abraham Maslow ( hierarchy of demands ) and Fredrick Herzberg ( two factor theory ) . Directors in concerns would utilize these theories in an effort to actuate staff to supply them with occupation satisfaction and in return receive better undertaking public presentation. Through extended research Maslow and Herzberg developed their ain theories which are now used in concerns all around the universe. Both differ in how they are applied but in the modern universe they are seen as being wholly true by many although they should be perceived as being an interesting debatable set of observations about what motivates people ( Finchman A ; Rhodes, 2005 ) p.199. This is due to the deficiency of grounds to state that they are wholly true despite using to the overall bulk. Each is really similar in the manner that there are certain demands that must be fulfilled earlier high degrees of motive can be obtained. Abraham Maslow sets out a hierarchy of importance where human demands are arranged in a series of degrees ( Todes et al. 1977 ) . Like Herzberg s two factor theory, the demands in Maslow s hierarchy can be split into two degrees. The first set being the basic demands, incorporate physiological and safety demands. The 2nd set can be seen as the incentives dwelling of societal, esteem and self actualizing demands. In comparing to Herzberg, basic demands would be the equivalent of hygiene demands dwelling of: salary, co-workers, supervising, policies and environment. Herzberg s 2nd set ( incentives ) includes: acknowledgment, publicity, accomplishment, duty and intrinsic occupation facets, all of which are separately rather self-explanatory and reasonably interlinked ( Finchman A ; Rhodes, 2005 ) . As the construction of Maslow s hierarchy suggests, the higher incentives are harder to accomplish than the old and there is an order to which they must be acquired. If the old incentive ha s non been moderately satisfied so there will be no desire to seek and obtain the following. The physiological demands are reflected in the human demand to eat, breathe, remainder, drink and engage in active enterprises ( Todes et al. 1977 ) p.244. These demands can be seen as necessities for endurance doing it logical to be topographic point at the underside of the hierarchy and as the lowest incentive ( Todes et al. 1977 ) . Safety needs come in the signifier of experiencing secure in the occupation that you have which means that there is a demand of: shelter, a strong feeling of occupation security and as Todes et Al. ( 1977 ) provinces, a demand for protection against physical dangers along with the demand to gain a just wage that can fulfill a given criterion of life which is an component in Herzberg s list of hygiene factors. A director would be able to carry through the basic demands by giving suited sum of clip for interruptions in which the physiological demands can be eas y met. Safety would deduce from supervising and policies of the company where they act as a usher, assisting the employee s advancement giving them a feeling of being good supported. The environment that they work in would besides assist with employees experiencing safe every bit long as there is the turning away of physical dangers. Besides there is the struggle of whether or non salary is a incentive. Directors may believe that employees would work harder for a rise whereas others believe it is uneffective. Although necessary, hence it being placed in the hygiene factors and incorporated in the safety needs, it is non a incentive. The ground for this may be that although one receives more money for what they do, they will non needfully work harder holding acquired the rise. This therefore links salary to the incentive, publicity which would be the ground for why there is a sudden addition in an persons income. The incentives, get downing with societal demands, ( Maslow s 3rd demand which could be seen as being at the base of the motivational hierarchy ) can non be achieved unless the basic needs anterior to it are in topographic point and adequately satisfied. Social demands can be seen as the desire for interaction, credence and a sense of belonging with associates and personal familiarities ( Todes et al. 1977. With Herzberg, it can be argued that the societal incentive is split between both the categorical factors beliing Maslow s perceptual experience of it. As the hygiene factors of co-workers and to an extent, supervising, carry through the societal demand for interaction, the incentive acknowledgment would take to run intoing the demand for credence and belonging. Herzberg s incentive of acknowledgment combined with publicity, duty and possibly accomplishment would besides be linked with Maslow s 4th demand, respect. This, a more personal, possibly narcissistic demand, is much harde r for a director to integrate into the on the job environment due to the managerial tendency of cut downing most occupations to their lowest degree of occupation content ( Todes et al. 1977 ) . Bing noticed for good public presentation through congratulations and acknowledgment, which could take to the accomplishment of a publicity where duty is increased, can all be subscribers towards carry throughing regard but neer efficaciously fulfilling it wholly. Even if it does, it will merely be temporarily and possibly non plenty for the peak demand of self-actualisation to get down being met. It hence acts as a changeless incentive to work harder or go on working to run into the higher demands ( Finchman A ; Rhodes 1977 ) . Self-actualization is where an single grows towards a house apprehension of their abilities and utilises these accomplishments at an optimal degree ( McGregor. 1964 ) . This concluding demand nevertheless, is seldom met, hence it being at the top of the hierarchy as the thought of: as you progress up the hierarchy, the extremum of each demand that must be passed is higher than the demand before it. Not merely is this an of import factor, there is besides the demand that the old demands, although less dominant in focal point, must stay active and tolerably satisfied before the following factor can be of any involvement to the person ( Krech, Crutchfield A ; Ballachey cited in Todes et Al. 1977 ) . Due to this and the general fact that self-pride is satisfied in little measures and non on a regular basis, it does non do geting self-actualization an easy undertaking due to the antecedently described theory regulation. Although Herzberg s theory operates likewise, there is non as rigoro us an order to follow as to whether a specific factor must be met before another one can go of any involvement other than working on the footing that all hygiene factors must be adequately satisfied before any incentives can get down to be of any relevancy to the person. In this facet the theoretical account is more indulgent and due to non holding a rigorous order of how they must be met, any factor within their several classs can be acquired in any order doing it easy and ready to be tested. Not merely this but each factor is really much interlinked and regards one another in the manner that when one is achieved, other factors can be acquired in speedy sequence. Directors could so integrate this into the manner that undertakings are delegated so that when an employee completes one undertaking they obtain a certain sum of demand satisfaction. On the following undertaking performed, more demands could be fulfilled and unwittingly, employees would be come oning through the fulfilment of either Maslow or Herzberg s demands where they attain either more self-actualisation or occupation satisfaction. What needs to be kept in head is that although the two are really similar, Maslow s hierarchy can be applied about any state of affairs with the purpose of researching psychological patterned advance. Whereas Herzberg s theory outlines more of what factors must be in topographic point before occupation satisfaction can be achieved associating more specifically to motive and its impact within the work topographic point ( Finchman A ; Rhodes. 2005 ) . The intrinsic occupation facets would be the closest incentive related to personal achievement as this demand involves the employees feeling that through working they are profiting and developing as an person. This therefore means that a director would necessitate to seek and place which of the two theories they think would be most effectual and accomplishable in developing employee motive. Do they desire their employees to get occupation satisfaction through Herzberg s incentives or to be self realizing being more willing to work unders tanding themselves and what they are capable of. A combination of the two could be possible in Maslow s basic demands and Herzberg s hygiene factors but the acquisition of both does non needfully intend that motive or occupation satisfaction would be obtained, it merely means that occupation dissatisfaction would be probably to develop without it ( Finchman A ; Rhodes 2005 ) . Another point to retrieve is that non all persons are the same in what they want hence the theoretical accounts non being universally accurate. A state of affairs where either theoretical account would non be to the full applicable is where 1 is happy with their current place and the undertakings that they perform. As a consequence of the fulfilment of an unwanted demand such as publicity, that peculiar employee may underachieve as they have lost the occupation satisfaction they had prior to the acquisition of that motivational demand. Whereas another who may hold wanted such a demand would be discouraged due to them non having the publicity and as a consequence de-motivated the employee. As mentioned, everyone is different in their degrees of satisfaction and motivational precedences, some of which would be unknown to the person. Even if known they may non cognize what to make to obtain them. From this a director would hold to happen a manner of being able to match the demands of people with appropriate inducements ( Todes et al. 1977 ) p.165. Of class for a director to carry through all these demands they would hold to be able to associate to the motivational demands of the employees beneath them and integrate them into their scheme so that employees would be able to accomplish them through the undertakings they perform. As these motivational demands are met, employees may be more motivated to work and unwittingly develop other motivational demands that are fulfilled through the director s undertaking apparatus. A really of import factor for a director to retrieve harmonizing to Finc hman A ; Rhodes ( 2005 ) p.266, is that the rule of behavior that is rewarded tends to be repeated and that which is punished, avoided. From this, it can be seen that directors have a strong ability and influence on their employees behaviour. Therefore both motivational theories are non entire antonyms of each other but are in fact really similar. Both focal point on the incentives as being subscribers to psychological growing and development ( Finchman A ; Rhodes, 2005 ) . Each has certain demands which must be met before person can come on onto accomplishing motivational demands, such as in Maslow s instance the basic demands and the hygiene needs in Herzberg s both are seen as being needed to be in topographic point before there can be any patterned advance onto the following set of incentives. This besides expresses how both are similarly split into two groups. A large difference would be how Maslow s theory can use to any state of affairs but Herzberg s is more applicable in the workplace and set out in a manner that made it easy to turn out correct, whereas it was more hard with the former despite being taught as true ( Finchman A ; Rhodes, 2005 ) . Directors could efficaciously integrate the motivational techniqu es into developmental schemes by planing a work environment where employees would be able to develop personally as they work, in bend they could unwittingly get motive ( Todes et al. 1977 ) . This manner employees would be more willing to execute their undertakings and develop demands promoting them to work harder, going more motivated to run into these new demands. But possibly the most obvious and of import similarity is that although they are taught as being true, a director would necessitate to maintain in head that they are non. Even though they apply to the bulk, different people have different demands and degrees of satisfaction therefore either theoretical account can non be wholly relied on for a director to seek motivate employees ( McGregor. 1964 ) . Reference List: Finchman. R A ; Rhodes. P, Principles Of Organisational Behaviour, 2005 P.199, P.233 McGregor. D, The Professional Manager, 1964 P.11, P.75 Todes. J.L, Mckinney. J, Ferguson Jr. W, Management A ; Motivation, 1977 P. 165, P. 223-227, P.244

Definition and Examples of Lowercase Letters in English

Definition and Examples of Lowercase Letters in English In the printed alphabet  and orthography, the term lowercase  (sometimes spelled as two words) refers to small letters (a,b,c . . .) as distinguished from capital letters (A,B,C . . . ). Also known as  minuscule  (from Latin  minusculus, rather small). The writing system of English (as in most Western languages) uses a dual alphabet or  bicameral scriptthat is, a combination of lowercase and uppercase letters. By convention, lowercase is generally used for the letters in all words except for the initial letter in  proper nouns  and in words that begin sentences. (For exceptions, see Names With Unusual Capitalization, below.) Origin and Evolution of Lowercase Letters Originally, lower case letters stood by themselves. Their forms derived from the penned Carolingian minuscule. The upper and lower case letters received their present form in the Renaissance. The serifs of the capitals, or upper case letters, were adapted to those of the lower case alphabet. The capitals are based on an incised or chiseled letter; the lower case characters are based on a pen-written calligraphic form. Now the two kinds of letters appear together. (Jan Tschichold, Treasury of Alphabets and Lettering. Norton, 1995)Upper and lower case? The term comes from the position of the loose metal or wooden letters laid in front of the traditional compositors hands before they were used to form a word- the commonly used ones on an accessible lower level, the capitals above them, waiting their turn. Even with this distinction, the compositor would still have to mind their ps and qs, so alike were they when each letter was dismantled from a block of type and then tossed back into t he compartments of a tray. (Simon Garfield, True to Type: How We Fell in Love With Our Letters. The Observer, October 17, 2010) Names With Unusual Capitalization Several coinages provide a new look to English spelling, especially with names. We have never seen anything before quite like the use of a lower-case initial for a brand-name, as in iPod, iPhone, iSense and eBay, or airline companies such as easyJet and jetBlue, and it is not yet clear how to handle them, especially when we want one of these words to begin a sentence. There are precedents for introducing a capital in the middle of a word (as in such names as McDonalds and chemical substances such as CaSi, calcium silicate), but brand names have hugely increased its everyday visibility, as seen in AltaVista, AskJeeves, PlayStation, YouTube and MasterCard. (David Crystal, Spell It Out. Picador, 2012)Brand names or names of companies that are spelled with a lowercase initial letter followed by a capital letter (eBay, iPod iPhone, etc.) need not be capitalized at the beginning of a sentence or heading, though some editors may prefer to reword. This departure from Chicagos former usage re cognizes not only the preferred usage of the owners of most such names but also the fact that such spellings are already capitalized (if on the second letter). Company or product names with additional, internal capitals (sometimes called midcaps) should likewise be left unchanged. (​The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed.The University of Chicago Press, 2010)  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹ Xerox or xerox? The dropping of the capital letter of the trademark is one piece of certain evidence that the trademark has indeed become generic...The OED [Oxford English Dictionary] lists XEROX both as capitalized, and in lower case, as well as a trademark and generic term: a proprietary name for photocopiers . . . also used loosely to denote any photocopy (20: 676). This definition points out clearly that xerox, either capitalized or in lower case, is used throughout the population as both a proper adjective and as a noun. (Shawn M. Clankie, Brand Name Use in Creative Writing: Genericide or Language Right? in Perspectives on Plagiarism and Intellectual Property in a Postmodern World, ed. Lise Buranen and Alice M. Roy. SUNY Press, 1999)A good rule to follow is that most trademarks are adjectives, not nouns or verbs. Use trademarks as modifiers as in Kleenex tissues or Xerox copiers. Similarly, trademarks are not verbsyou can copy on a Xerox machine, but you cannot xerox anything.(Jill B. Treadwell , Public Relations Writing. Sage, 2005) Pronunciation: lo-er-KAS Alternate Spellings: lower case, lower-case

Managing human resources in business context Case Study

Managing human resources in business context - Case Study Example Although intense rivalry between the top brands is important to be taken care of, the emphasis for tobacco manufacturers should now be on dealing with the people. Anti-Smoking campaigns, new laws and the gaining public awareness about the harms of smoking is decreasing the annual consumption of cigarettes. This is definitely a de-motivating feature for the company and its employees. However the thing tobacco industry has kept going in its favour is the addictive nature of cigarettes. This fact however presents the company with serious corporate social responsibility issues and therefore British American Tobacco should keep these issues in mind when developing a new human resource management strategy as proposed in this paper. British American Tobacco is the most globalization brand in the world. The brand has millions of diverse customers across the globe, with access to over 180 markets globally, and makes the best quality tobacco products. The brand commits its customers to always be indulged in principles of corporate social responsibility, a practice kept running through out the group. (http://www.British American Tobacco.com/) With the exception of the Chinese state tobacco monopoly, UK holds the 3 of the top 5 tobacco companies within its boundaries. Philip Morris leads the market with 18% share, BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO follows with 11%, while Imperial Tobacco and Gallaher hold fourth and fifth position in the global tobacco pie. The missing third spot belongs to Japan Tobacco. Cigarette and Tobacco Pie Share in UK Market share In UK, the cigarette and tobacco market is predominantly captivated by Gallaher and Imperial Tobacco; the two firms enjoy an 80% hold in the market. BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO has its manufacturing facilities in UK but exports most of its production. (Cullum and Pissarides, 2004) (Action on Smoking and Health, Fact sheet no.18) Rank Brand Name % share of UK cigarette market Manufacturer 1 Lambert & Butler KS 13.5 Imperial Tobacco 2 Benson & Hedges Gold 7.3 Gallaher 3 Mayfair King Size 7.1 Gallaher 4 Richmond Superkings 6.6 Imperial Tobacco 5 Richmond King Size 4.9 Imperial Tobacco 6 Marlboro Gold King Size 4.4 Philip Morris 7 Regal KS 3.5 Imperial Tobacco 8 Royals King Size Red 3.4 BAT 9 Superkings 3.3 Imperial Tobacco 10 Silk Cut Purple 3.2 Gallaher Top 10 UK cigarette brands: 2004 Recent Developments at BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO Recently, BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO has strengthened its position in the Tobacco world market with different moves. As per the most recent developments, to expand their reach farther, BRITISH AMERICAN TOBACCO is in process of acquiring small firms internationally so as to have extended access to the markets, and to have stronger position at the same. The group is also quite close to the completion of purchasing House of Prince (HoP).