Operation management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 4

Operation management - Assignment Example Moreover, operation management enhances the quality of services and hence develops the acceptance of the organisation among the consumers. Furthermore, operation management helps in monitoring the services and develop the same to enhance the standard leading to consumer satisfaction (Kleindorfer & et. al., 2005). With this regard, the paper elaborates on the operation management prevalent in the Intercontinental Hotel Groups. Operation management is observed to be crucial for the group as it helps in enhancing the level of services and consumer satisfaction at a global domain. The hotel group started operating in the year 1946 and has been successfully developing its global consumer base across culture. Moreover, with the elite class services and luxurious offerings the hotel has been successfully developing its image among the consumers, planning for luxurious destinations. With its elegance and distinctive styles that is distinguishable from the other hotels makes it ultimate travel destinations for tourists. However, the hotel needs to monitor their present situations to develop their quality in order to enhance their consumer base. This would help in developing the different approaches of the hotel services to meet with the elated needs of the consumers. The paper would also focus on dev eloping the different environmental changes that has been initiating the organisation to manage such changes and increase their consumer services with the help of operation management (1IHG, 2013). The performance objectives support enhancement of different approaches of an organisation by providing guidelines that would help in developing the services. This aspect would enhance the organisational ability to meet with the elated needs of the consumers. It provides with the development of different approaches and helps in assessing the same to enhance the

Bad Lending Leading to the East Asian Crisis In 1990s Essay

Bad Lending Leading to the East Asian Crisis In 1990s - Essay Example Bad Lending Leading to the East Asian Crisis In 1990s The East Asian economic crisis was later analysed as caused by several external and internal stimuli such as improper maintenance of financial market activities, inadequate foreign borrowing and absence of inducements towards risk management among others (Dullum & Kulkarni, 2005). Considering this aspects, this essay will describe how different activities resulted in high lending activities in East Asian economies causing a crisis situation. The objective of the essay is to analyse and describe the main economic problem that triggered the economic crisis in East Asian nations. Hence, the rationale for choosing this topic is to understand various facets which can lead to bad economic crisis with the aim to gain knowledge regarding measures which can be implemented to avoid such circumstances. Major Features of Asian Economic Crisis In the year 1997, when the financial crisis was identified, International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported that the situation was fundamentally caused due to t he inefficiency of East Asian financial markets to manage its foreign debt as well as lending policies. As soon as this crisis hit, IMF assigned that it was the responsibility of East Asian capitalism. This occurrence was further observed to have created a significant impact upon the Asian financial markets including Indonesia, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines. In these nations, bank lending dues on private organisations had increased remarkably before and during the crisis situation. For instance, in Philippines, credit to private organisations surpassed 40% growth from 1993 to 1996. The amount of liabilities also ascended from 8.8% of GDP in 1995 to 21% of GDP in 1997 in Philippines. In Korea, the amount of foreign liabilities of banks had been observed to gain growth in almost two-folds, i.e. from 4.5% of GDP in 1993 to 9.5% of GDP in 1997. Only in Indonesia, even though the credit growth was recorded at a modest level within the national financial structure, the private organisations were engaged in borrowing openly from foreign sources. The most risky circumstance was observed in Thailand where the aggregate amount of foreign liabilities of banks had increased rapidly to almost 28% of GDP in 1995 (Radelet & et. al., 1998). This huge amount of liabilities can further be observed as the result of weak regulatory measures taken by governments and poor financial structure of different East Asian nations. This huge amount of liabilities imposed a degree of negative impact on the economic performances of these East Asian nations, as most of the foreign creditors began extracting their capital from these countries as well as the other nations in the East Asian region. Due to deep capital outflow, the currency exchange rates came under strong burden. It can be observed that in 1997, the currency exchange rates of Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand had reduced by more than 20%. The collapse of economic conditions in these nations triggered the feeling among investors that other nations in the East Asian region will soon fall under economic crisis. The major rating organisations slowly demoted the nations in East Asian region, causing more capital extraction by the creditors. Furthermore, as exchange rate depreciated,

Establishment Notions of Englishness Essay Example for Free

Establishment Notions of Englishness Essay In what ways did the iconography, the music, the lyrics and the performances and behaviour of punk rock acts present a challenge to ‘establishment notions of Englishness’ in 1976-77? The early roots of Punk rock were appearing in the form of The Velvet Underground in 1965, closely followed by The Stooges and MC5 in 1969, but it wasn’t until the early 1970s that punk began to globalise, hitting Australia in 1972 with The Saints. Within a year, legendary Punk club CBGB’s opened it’s doors for the first time, becoming a constant dwelling for the up and coming acts of the 70’s, and more importantly, providing a regular crowd of punk kids to listen to them. Britain in the early 70s, according to Spicer, was filled with ‘political frustration, surging unemployment and a gag-reflex to the patriotic froth generated by in celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee, giving punk’s raw noise a particular spice and vigour. The UK had either been in decline, recession, stagflation or worse since the end of the swinging sixties.’ (Spicer, 2006: 3). ‘Eight years later when the idealism of the 60s had well and truly faded, the strategies and rhetoric of street protest were still going strong. So when mainstream politics wouldn’t even listen to what was driving the kids insane, the Sex Pistols’ cry of â€Å"Anarchy in the UK† seemed like a viable alternative.’ (Spicer, 2006: 5) ‘Punk came with a philosophy that was influenced by the anti-establishment turmoil reverberating from the 60’s.’ (Spicer, 2006, Page 4), so in a time when the youths of Britain were so ignored and undervalued as a part of society, it seemed like a natural outlet to make the government and the authorities stand up and take notice of what they were saying. Renowned Manchester based punk journalist and singer John Robb stated that ‘Punk Terrified the establishment’ (Robb, 2006: 3), suggesting this outcry for non-conformism was having an impact and the message of challenging the government was being heard. Despite this, however, critics are still divided about whether the punk phenomenon was in fact a significant cultural shift. ‘Was it just another youth craze (with a hairstyle calculated to drive the parents crazy), or did it offer a real challenge to the  complacency of the times? A Challenge that was more than just musical and sartorial, but p olitical as well?’ (Spicer, 2006: 2). Hebdige stated that ‘the punks were not only directly responding to increasing joblessness, changing moral standards, the rediscovery of poverty, the Depression, etc., they were dramatizing what had come to be called â€Å"Britain’s decline† by constructing a language which was, in contrast to the prevailing rhetoric of the Rock Establishment, unmistakeably relevant and down to earth (hence the swearing, the references to â€Å"fat hippies‟, the rags, the lumpen poses). The punks appropriated the rhetoric of crisis which had filled the airwaves and the editorials throughout the period and translated it into tangible (and visible) terms’ (1991: 87). A significant part of the construction of the punk rock movement in the British media was the fashion of the stars, which was later emulated by the fans, with the iconic style quickly becoming a obligatory staple of â€Å"being punk†. According to Paul Gorman, speaking in Punk: The Whole Story, ‘Almost every element of punk’s style, attitude, politics, musical tastes and even personnel emanated from two tiny clothes shops on Chelsea’s King’s Road 30 years ago.’ (2006: 84) These two shops were Acme Attractions and SEX, both in London. Don Letts, ex-employee of Acme, and later member of Big Audio Dynamite said in Punk: The Whole Story, ‘Acme was more than a shop. It was a club, a lifestyle, a forum for talent. It reflected the way London was going – it was about multi-culturism’ (2006: 84). I think this really exemplifies the importance of the fashion and self-representation of the punk movement, even at the beginning. Robb recalls, ‘I saw photos of punk rockers in the papers, and I knew instantly what they sounded like. Never had a music and its threads been so closely associated’ (2006: 2). Hebdige also observed, ‘The various stylistic ensembles adopted by the punks were undoubtedly expressive of genuine aggression, frustration and anxiety. But these statements, no matter how strangely constructed, were cast in a language which was generally available – a language which was current’ (1991: 87). I feel this rings true in a big way, especially when you contrast another artist of ’74 with the way, for example, the Sex Pistols presented themselves. In image one, we see the Sex Pistols wearing typical punk style  clothing, however, in image 2, The Who, another British band making music in 1974, are seen to be sporting a much more reserved fashion, that could be classed as smart/casual, due to the tailored trousers, tucked in shirts and sports jackets, and even be called patriotic, with the presence of a union flag jacket. In contrast, while the Sex Pistols are also wearing union flag attire, however, it seems to be done so in a satirical, ironic way. The flag is cut into and is covered in holes, which could suggest the way that the punk youth saw the state of the government, or at least what they thought of it. Similarly, there is also a sports jacket being worn, however, it is teamed with a punk print T-shirt, which could easily be seen as a rebellion against the notion of looking presentable and dressing in your Sunday best. Ruth Adams discusses Hebdige’s notion of punk fashion being a bricolage, and states ‘Bits and pieces of both officially sanctioned and popular English culture, of politics and history were brought together in a chaotic, uneasy admixture to form a new culture’ (2008). I feel this accurately describes the way punk took what it wanted from English culture and used it as a way to challenge the established notions of â€Å"Englishness†. Icons such as swastikas were often wore as a fashion statement , however, ‘for punks like Siouxsie and Sid Vicious it became just one more ingredient in the imagery of offence – not devoid of meaning, but mainly a way of getting up the noses of the straight and the narrow’ (Spicer, 2006: 4). You can imagine that this explicit and in your face approach to fashion and iconography would starkly contrast with the dreary fashion of the 70’s. Spicer states that ‘as the decade that saw beige, brown, orange and gold recommended as a desirable colour scheme for the home, the 70’s had little going for it stylistically either’ (2006: 3). I feel that this contrast in style would have made punks even harder to ignore, insuring that someone was always looking at them and listening to what they had to say. ‘Punk rock lyrics are typically frank and confrontational; compared to the lyrics of other popular music genres, they frequently comment on social and political issues’ (Laing, 1985: 27). An obvious example of this would be â€Å"God Save The Queen† by the Sex Pistols (1977, Sex Pistols). At the time of  release, the song was highly controversial, mainly for the fact it was explicitly ‘anti-monarchy’, implying that the Queen was a part of a fascist regime, as shown by the lyrics ‘God save the queen, the fascist regime’, and also for quite blatantly writing England off as being bleak and without any hope, shown in the lyrics ‘There is no hope in England’s dreaming’ and ‘There’s no future, no future, no future for you’. This contrasted significantly with the jingoistic ideals that were being put forward in the wake of the Queen’s silver jubilee. Savage stated, ‘â€Å"God Save the Queen† was the only serious anti-Jubilee protest, the only rallying call for those who didn’t agree with the Jubilee because [†¦] they resented being steamrollered by such sickening hype, by a view of England which had not the remotest bearing on their everyday experience’ (2001: 352-353). Laing speculated that ‘Punk was a total cultural revolt. It was a hardcore confrontation with the black side of history and culture, right-wing imagery, sexual taboos, a delving into it that had never been done before by any generation in such a thorough way’ (1985: 27). I feel this really sums up the ideology at play with ‘God Save The Queen’, as it was a total revolt of the dominant ideology at the time it was released. Punk rock is not known for its musical ingenuity, its creativity, or even its skill. John Robb described punks as ‘The DIY brigade fumbling with musical instruments, trying to make sense of the world with three chords learned last week on second hand guitars’ (2006, Page 3). I feel this expresses the rebelling of the establishment in a way that goes above lyrics or fashion. Here we can see that punk was not about pleasing people or making everyone happy, it was about doing what you wanted because you could, and not caring if people liked it or not. This directly challenged the English ideology of the 1970s, which was predominantly all about keeping a stiff upper lip, being polite, and being, for lack of a better word, nice. Rock journalist Caroline Coon wrote about the Sex Pistols live performances, stating that ‘participation is the operative word. The audience revels in the idea that any one of them could get up on stage and do just as well, if not better than the bands already up there’ (1982: 98). This again draws on the angry, challenging, do-it-yourself attitude attached to the punk genre. Machin describes the discourse of the melody of â€Å"God Save The Queen† by the Sex Pistols in a way that epitomises the ideology of the genre. ‘Here [image 3] we can see that much of the melody remains on the first note. There is therefore very little outward giving of emotion or positive energy. This means that there is something very contained about the way it is sung. In fact, the vocalist sings the song generally at a high pitch which conveys emotional intensity. Yet in this intensity there is no emotional outpouring or pleasure. There are only short sharp occasional outbursts on the 4th note. This is fitting of the punk discourse of nihilism and cynicism.’ (Machin, 2010: 105) Philip Auslander proclaimed that ‘we may not usually think of musical performance, apart from opera and musical theatre, as entailing characterisation in the conventional dramatic sense. Nevertheless, we must be suspicious of any supposition that musicians are simply ‘being themselves’ on stage’ (2004: 6). Auslander goes on to quote Frith, who states that musicians are ‘involved in a process of double enactment: they enact both a star personality (their image) and a song personality, the role that each lyric requires, and the pop star’s art is to keep both acts in play at once’(2004: 6). I feel that this observation directly applies to the punk rock era, as it exemplifies the explicit and hyperbolic style of the genre. This can be exemplified by Sex Pistols front man, John Lydon (aka Johnny Rotten). In the public eye he is an anarchist punk rebel who is not scared to speak his mind and does not care who he offends, however in real life he is a man who was bullied as a boy for having an English accent while at his grandparents’ home in Cork, Ireland. This performance persona is a prime example of the way that punk challenged the notion of Englishness, as everything about â€Å"Johnny Rotten† was anti-establishment. This is typified with the quote from Rotten himself, stating Id listen to rock n roll, but I had no respect for it. It was redundant and had nothing to do with anything relevant†. Here, he is dismissing everything that already exists in England as not being relevant or influencing him in any way, suggesting that he was the change that England needed. Auslander later goes on to discuss that ‘both the line between real person  and performance persona and the line between persona and character may be blurry and indistinct, especially in the case of pop music performers whose work is heavily autobiographical’ (2004: 7). Again, I think this is extremely relevant to the analysis of the performance of John Lydon as Johnny Rotten, as punks felt this allegiance with him through his work as he was them while he was on stage. He was also a working class, angry young person with no money who resented the royal family and the government. Al Spicer asked the question, ‘was it just another youth craze (with a hairstyle calculated to drive the parents crazy), or did it offer real challenge to the complacency of the times?’ (2006: 2) and I think the answer to this would have to be that they really did challenge the system, in every possible way. Punk as a movement intended to shock and defy the norm of 1970s England, to rebel against the complacent and austere ideals of the time and radically confront the patriotic notions of Englishness put forward by the royal Jubilee, and I think that they succeeded. Instead of merely writing protest songs, punk bands were a protest. Every fibre of their existence protested, whether it was scandalous lyrics, deplorable fashion choices or unrestrained, extroverted stage personas who would say what they thought, and never care about the repercussions. Punk was one vast protest across England and the notion of English ideals. Bibliography Machin, David. (2010) Analysing Popular Music: Image, Sound, Text, London: Sage. Spicer, Al. (2006) A Rough Guide To Punk, London: Rough Guides. Blake, Mark (Editor) (2006) Punk; The Whole Story, London: Dorling Kindersley. Sabin, Roger (Editor) (1999) Punk Rock, So What?, London: Routledge. Robb, John (2006) Punk Rock; An Oral History, London: Elbury Press. Adams, Ruth (2008) â€Å"The Englishness of English Punk: Sex Pistols, Subcultures and Nostalgia.†Popular Music and Society, 31.4, P. 469–488. Hebdige, Dick (1991) Subculture: The Meaning of Style. London: Routledge. Savage, Jon (2001) England’s Dreaming: Sex Pistols and Punk Rock, London: Faber Faber. Laing, Dave (1985) One chord wonders: power and meaning in punk rock, Milton Keynes: Open University. Auslander, Philip (2004) Contemporary Theatre Review, Vol. 14, London: Routledge. Boyd, Brian (2010), The Making of a Rotten Public Image, The Irish Times: 08 Aug 2010 Issue. Coon, Caroline (1982) The New Wave Punk Rock Explosion, London: Omnibus Press. IMAGE 1: http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2008/12/30/1230675664257/Sex-Pistols-in-1978-001.jpg IMAGE 2: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDWf6XHFD3iaaoLKWH6ZMWHJqOZXQ4-7fiax__UI0bhw6UpI3kMi41c-Gloo4QmKD2XWGDR3EdQEbvvx3ua9JSiyF7Z7m_l9dEN1P0awNMo7XjKr3IwbQ7qZV2Oh6Kd-CB6GDexr8ECig/s1600/The+Who.jpg IMAGE 3: Machin, David. (2010) Analysing Popular Music: Image, Sound, Text, London: Sage. Page 104.

Literary Analysis of Romeo and Juliet

Literary Analysis of Romeo and Juliet Passage one is the prologue to Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet. The prologue to Romeo and Juliet is a significant piece of text in the play as both its form and content introduces and gives a rather detailed insight to the viewer about events that are to follow in the play and essentially prepares and establishes the viewer/audience for the two hours traffic on our stage which is and gives meaning to the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. The entire prologue is spoken by the Chorus to the intended audience and eludes the viewer to the problems that arise throughout the play, as well as acknowledges existing problems prior to the ones that will eventuate. The location of the scene is established through the phrase in fair Verona where we lay our scene, as well as indicates central themes to Romeo and Juliet by mentioning themes of anger and revenge through the ongoing feuds of the two households, both alike in dignity and the central theme of love and tragedy, through the mentioned fatal loins of these two foes and star-crossed lovers being Romeo and Juliet. The passage may also be seen as significant as it depicts what is going to happen on the stage, creating a somewhat cathartic sense, as pity becomes greater if the viewer knows of the tragic events that will eventually occur in the play. The last lines of the prologue repeat the message that the lovers will die, and through this the feud is annulled. Unlike most traditional prologues, the one initiating Romeo and Juliet is in the form of a sonnet. It consists of 14 lines-following a crucial aspect of this structure, ABAB rhyming pattern within the initial 3 quatrains and a CC couplet at the end allowing it to be in iambic pentameter. Unique in form, poetic techniques are used cleverly as the sonnet breaks usual conventions of a love poem. Perhaps because the play is centred on love, Shakespeare wrote the prologue in this form in order to emphasise this concept within the play as well as the intimate relationship between Romeo and Juliet. In this sonnet, the 14 lines are divided up into 3 sections of 4 lines and the last section is made up of 2 lines. The sonnet uses 3 different ways to divide the sections from one another: punctuation, change of topic and the use of rhyming couplets. The first three sections begin and end as sentences lines 1-3 use commas then to close the section there is a full stop indicating the next. Once there is a full stop, the new sentence begins a new topic essentially guiding the audience through the plot in order to avoid confusion of the storyline. The ending pattern of the prologue, however, is different in comparison to other lines within the passage which in some regards reflects how the storyline of the play is structured. The two rhyming lines at the end of the prologue are typical of a traditional sonnet and are effective examples of combining form and content together in a simple enough form for the audience to understand and get meaning from the prologue and indeed the rest of th e play. When observing the prologue, it is evident where Shakespeare intended to put emphasis through the stressing of certain syllables such as fair, and star-crossed- these two particularly as they are crucial to the central themes associated with the concept of love and marriage. The crossd in star-crossd refers to the fact that their love suppressed, frustrated and eventually defeated. Such will be the love of Romeo and Juliet, because of the stars- implying that destiny causes the misadventured piteous overthrows within the play. It can also be noted that violent words are not stressed throughout the duration of the prologue. Aggressive words such as mutiny, blood and rage are unstressed in the sonnet possibly may because even though it is a story surrounding issues of conflict, it is love and Romeo and Juliet who are the central meaning behind the play. Within lines seven and eight Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Doth with their death bury their parents strife informs the audience that it required a tragedy to stop the families from feuding and to make them realise what they had been doing. In line 8 of the prologue, there is noticeable use of alliteration with the d and th sounds, which are repeated to make the line appear more noticeable and also contains its own rhyming section using doth with their death, using the th sound to make it rhyme. Metaphors such as the word bury, represents reconciliation between the Montagues and Capulets and that the burial of their past grudges has only come about due to the burial of their children. Meaning is created through these techniques as it poses the question to the audience of whether or not their ancient grudges and feuding are worth what will inevitably become the death of Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare also uses other literary devices within the prologue to draw the viewer/audien ces attention within this sonnet. In line 4, it is important to note the repetition of the word civil and its implications throughout the storyline. Civil blood can be seen as a paradox as the Montagues and Capulets engage constantly in civil wars which shed civil blood, which in turn would not really occur if they were civil in the first place. As the two sides share the grudge, they also share the guilt, both sides mutiny against the peace of the town, making their civil hands unclean. Repetition of words throughout the prologue such as civil, introduces alliteration to the text. Shakespeare decides to use the repetition of a particular sound in the next line, creating alliteration. Alliteration in line 5 has not only the repetition of f sounds but of bold words for example from forth the fatal loins of these two foes which contains words that begin with f as well as forth that tends to be used as a word of initiative in which Shakespeare could be playing upon the idea as mentioned previously that possibly, the storyline is already set and must go forth as it is destined to happen. A line full of harsh sounding fs and words of antagonism are pushed up against line 6 and seem to be more woeful than harsh which tells the viewer/audience of the predictable death of the lovers who were initially supposed to be enemies. Finally, enjambment in the prologue embraces the nature of the play being conflict and violence paralleling with love and inevitable tragedy. Form and content are significant aspects within any text as the combination of both inevitably produce the final meaning of the text. Meaning cannot be derived if there is no content in which to base a story on and a series of literary techniques such as those present in the prologue of Romeo and Juliet, place an emphasis on this particular content in order to convey the underlying message that Shakespeare is presenting to the audience. In the case of Romeo and Juliet, it is evident that Shakespeare intended the play to be a tragedy based on love, and the prologue spoken by the chorus depicts this clearly. The strong use of literary techniques engages the audience allowing them to become part of and understand the meaning of the storyline and allow empathy for what is happening on stage.

Government: Less is More Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Government: Less is More      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Land of liberty, land of freedom, a land by, for, and of the people. Have you honestly ever affected one word the government has spoken? Do you do anything in daily life without the subtle involvement of Uncle Sam? Everything you see and use is government approved, or else it is illegal to use it.    There are many groups adamantly protesting, or rather complaining, about the amount of control the government has. I am not of the belief that the government is out to get us and we should buy as many weapons as possible to fight them off. I also don't believe we should not obey laws because we are not happy with them. I do feel, however, we need to become aware of the problems we face because of this excessive control. Let's look at some of these problems.    First of all, our government knows more about us than we know about ourselves. They have access to virtually any information they could ever want. There is no apparent harm in this, but why is it necessary? And if it is, maybe we should change our programs so it's not. There is a potential, a highly unlikely one I will admit, for our government to take advantage of that information to our detriment. Why take the chance?    Most of the areas our government has too much control over involve money. For example, the welfare system in our "free enterprise" society is simply the government taking our money, whether we want to give it or not, not to mention how much of it they want, and distributing it as they feel best. I can understand the need for welfare during the depression. It was a plan of action for a time of crisis, and it worked. We have been out of that crisis for seventy years. I think it's time to change. Our curr... ...y, yes. Respectfully, of course. Nonviolently, absolutely. But when told how to think or how to behave we don't. We disobey social protocol that stifles and stigmatizes personal freedom. I learned the awesome power of disobedience from...every great man who led those with right against those with might." (Heston) Works Cited    Belz, Joel. "Wrong Without a Remedy." World. Nov. 20-27, 1999 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "Major Provisions of the Welfare to Work Legislation." CBPP Web Page. Cbpp.org/609wtw.htm, URL#325298, 6-9-98. De La Rocha, Zach. "Snack Charmer." Evil Empire. Sony Entertainment 1996. Heston, Charlton. "Winning the Cultural War." Speech given to Harvard Law School Foru. Feb, 16, 1999 Orwell, George. 1984. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983 Thomas, Cal. "Outlaws and Their Guns." World. Nov. 20-27, 1999.

The Power of Prayer Essay examples -- Religon Praying Essays

The Power of Prayer Introduction There is a great deal of anecdotal evidence about the efficacy of prayer in healing. As mentioned at the beginning of chapter eight in our text, many people have friends or relatives who recovered from illnesses when someone was praying for them, or who can attest to the power of prayer in other affairs. This makes scientists wonder. Can prayer help heal the sick? Do meditations for the recovery of an ill person, based either on religious faith or on belief in psychokinesis, have any real effect on health? Can science test the power of prayer? Though it requires putting aside the Bible’s warning not to test God, several scientists have designed experiments to try to determine if prayer has an effect on patients with serious long-term diseases. Using many of the statistical tools we learned about in our biostatistics course, scientists have designed experiments to compare the health records of patients who receive standard medical care to those who receive prayer as wel l as standard care. In our presentation, we looked at two studies of this sort. These studies wanted to test the power of prayer as such, and not the psychological effect of a patient feeling that his loved ones are concerned or believing that God will heal him. Accordingly, these experiments were designed using remote intercessory prayer, where the patients were prayed for at a distance by people they did not know. Both tests randomly sorted patients into control and experimental groups – though in one case, the computer matched patients into pairs with similar medical conditions, then randomly assigned the members of each pair. Both tests were designed to be fully blinded, so that the patients did not know i... ...bborn. Many of Leibovici’s proponents have made tried to explain the effects of retroactive intercessory prayer by asserting the non-linear nature of time, which most scientists find ludicrous. The criticisms of these studies make clear that correlation does not imply causation and that scientists will be skeptical of data until reasonable explanations are proposed. Until we can find how prayer works, its â€Å"effects† cannot be strongly linked to it, and until we have more data supporting the effects of prayer that has been properly collected and analyzed, the scientific community will not give much consideration to the claims of a few enthusiasts. In thinking about the goals, methods, and problems of these studies, we wonder if a â€Å"perfect† study could be devised, and if such a study returned significant results, what it would â€Å"prove† about the power of prayer.

ALPES case anlysis Essay

CONTENT Part One 1. Key Issue Charles Rivers Laboratories (CRL) is evaluating a joint venture proposal that a Mexican company creates a state-of-the-art specific pathogen-free (SPF) egg for the vaccine. If the proposal is approved, CRL is going to invest 2 million dollars to the Mexican company. However, CRL must consider the potential risks of cooperation. Part Two 2.Internal Analysis: VRINE ANALYSIS 2.1VALUE Charles River Laboratories has a large variety of customers more than 15 countries, which means CRL is already capable to expand overseas market. The demand of SPF eggs is very high due to making flu vaccine. More than 100 million SPF eggs were consumed for influenza vaccines each year. The demand even exceeds its supply between 5 to 10 percent worldwide. Accordingly, the operation margin will be improved around 20 percent and revenue will be doubled in four years. Therefore, joint venture is valuable. 2.2RARITY The rarity of normal eggs switching to SPF eggs is relatively high. First, Charles River Laboratories is still using standard eggs to produce influenza vaccines. Many franchisees haven’t totally changed to cultivate SPF eggs. They still use old chicken farm, This goes to show that the traditional eggs haven’t been replaced and new eggs are rare. Second, most companies don’t intend to take an adventure to try new products due to political instability and corruption. However, SPAFAS took long time to do sufficient research on APLES. It means the rarity exists because not many companies decide take advantage of new eggs. 2.3Inimitable & Non-Substitutability The degree of inimitable and Non-Substitutability is medium. Even though not many companies start to produce vaccine by SPF eggs, there are still some like APLES working on it. Therefore, technology might be imitated by several companies to some extent. As far as APLES, it is the only company producing SPF eggs in Mexico. The popularity and loyal customers are strong so substitutes are hard to enter. However, other companies can still use the current standard eggs to make vaccine instead of higher price SPF eggs. 2.4Exploitability The degree of joint venture exploitability is high. According to high demand and double revenue prediction in the case, cooperation of CRL and ALPES could increase production of SPF eggs and highly benefit from sales to both of them. 3.External Analysis: PESTEL ANALYSISA The most highly used method when conduct the external analysis of a company is PESTEL Analysis, which includes political, economic, sociocultural, technological, environmental and legal aspects. 3.1Political Analysis Politically, in 1994, The North American free trade agreement came into effect, which allowed the free trade between USA, Canada, and Mexico. This political alliance benefited the economic development. The flow of capital, goods and services became more smooth and swift among these three countries. Due to the concerns from strong competition some business quit. Whereas, increased demand of vaccine production from U.S. and Canada led to the increased supply in Mexico. 3.2Economic Analysis Economically, as the case implied, demand for specific pathogen-free (SPF) eggs had exceeded available supply by five to ten percent across the globe. Furthermore, after the M&A, SPAFAS more than doubled its annual revenues while improving its operating margin to nearly 20%. To support the growth, CRL continuously invested capital in expanding domestic SPF egg production capacity. Alpes is the sole supplier in Mexico, which makes it more instrumentally beneficial from the production. Yet, problems such as endemic corruption, economic instability and unstable currency hinder the development of business in Mexico. 3.3Socialcultural Analysis Social and culturally, without being vaccinated against Salmonella and Campylobacter, poultry are easily got contaminated which excreted severe human health risk to people who were fed with these. Frankly, the recognition from the public of importance of vaccination would benefit the business like CRL and ALPES in the long run. Additionally, the bond the friendly relationship between the two family-style director boards has been combined successfully. 3.4Technical Analysis Technologically, having been founded in 1947, CRL was the global market leader in the commercial production and supply of laboratory animal models for use in discovery and research and the development and testing of new pharmaceuticals. CRL has taken the leadership position in SPF eggs production after the acquisition of SPAFAS. Additionally, Alpes was the only franchisee in Mexico. Given that production capacity is less than needed and highly sanitary standards are expected to be met, challenge still exist. 3.5Environment Analysis Environmentally, the old informal â€Å"handshake agreement† can be still influential when joint venture is functioned. And then, the market needs more production which means demand is more than current storage supply. The business opportunity is huge ever. Board directors are divided into two piles, one is supportive of the proposal and another is more objective to this business move. The freezing situation stands between Alpes and CRL: Alpes is in urgent need of capital investment, while CRL claims the acquisition. 3.6Legal Analysis Legally, Asian and European vaccine regulations are getting more and more strict and high-quality standard and tend to be more preferable to the vaccine industry. It is quite a challenging move prior to export products to theses countries. 4.Porter’s 5 Forces – Industry Analysis: 4.1Rivalry While Alpes supply eggs to the tow biggest buyers in the industry, there are  just two providers of the SPE eggs beside them. Furthermore, IDISA has a chance to make capital and compete in different area in the industry due to the 4 different companies that make profit in different research areas. As a result rivalry degree is comparatively (low). 4.2 Threat of Substitutes ALPES has the largest market comparing by other competitors in the same field. Actually, mice are the only threat they use, but this threat is has not too much influence and not strongly effective. Also, because of the expensive if this area buyers try to find another options. So, substitutes within the industry are (low). 4.3 Threat of New Entrants The threat of substitutes degree is from (medium to low) because of the difficulty of success they face due to the specialized in pharmaceuticals. But expertise in this area can find some of the facilities in less expensive areas easily. Furthermore, it is hard to the new entrant getting into industry because that needs a very high level requirement. SPF has a small market share in pharmaceutical and the lack of facilities prevent agriculture company supporting. ALPES has large market share because it is a provider to the two largest producer of vaccine. 4.4 Bargaining Power of Buyers: Power of buyers is low. Supplier of eggs has option to increase the prices due to the highly demands one of this demand is the tow biggest companies ALPES made further research into SPF eggs, which is between 5 and 10 percent. And this increasing in prices justified that the revenue in the first four years was almost doubled. 4.5 Bargaining Power of Suppliers There is little agriculture company that provides SPE eggs by facilities with high prices that’s why the power of suppliers is (high). Moreover, its hard to make high quality of good under the industries regulation and it is highly cost and expensive. Part Three 5.FINANCIAL ANALYSIS Ratio Analysis Indicators Year1 Debt-to-Equity 0.128 Current Ratio 8.903 Quick Ratio 7.901 From the table above, we can see that the Debt-to-equity ratio is very low. It shows that ALPES has a potential to use more debt to earn revenue. However, the current ratio and Quick ratio are quite high. A current ratio that higher than 1 means the company is able to pay off its obligations, as this ratio is 8.903, we are sure ALPES is in a very good condition. Much similar to Current ratio, if a Quick ratio is higher than 1, then the company is able to meet their short-term liabilities. As this ratio is 7.901, we can say ALPES has no doubt to meet its obligations. Forecast after joint venture Indicators Year1 Year2 Year3 Year4 Year5 Profit Margin 2.757% 15.802% 19.005% 21.110% 22.752% Gross Margin 18.867% 27.401% 29.270% 30.520% 31.489% Operating Margin 2.899% 15.914% 19.104% 21.200% 22.836% We can see from the chart above that, after joint venture, all of the profit margin, gross margin and operating margin will have an increase trend between year1 and year 5.The net profit margin indicates how much out of each dollar of sales a company actually earns. In year 5, the company will keep $0.23 in earnings for every dollar of sales. The gross margin represents the proportion of each dollar of revenue that the company retains as gross profit. In year 5 the gross margin will be 31.49%, therefore the company may retain $0.32 from each dollar of revenue generated to pay off liabilities. Operating margin gives us a view of how much a company’s operation can make on each dollar of sales. The company’s margin is increasing so it is earning more per dollar of sales. In year 5 the operating margin is 22.84%, this means that the company’s operation makes $0.23 for every dollar of sales. 6.Decision Criteria Decision making by CRL whether invest up to $2 million in ALPES to built a joint venture in Mexican has to consider tow criteria: expected profit and facing risk. 7.Alternatives 7.1Alternative 1 The joint venture with ALPES is a good option for Charles River Laboratories. CRL invest up to $2 million to APLPES joint venture to create a state-of-the-art specific pathogen-free (SPF) egg farm in Mexican. Mexico’s  trade policy implements the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) so it is open and welcome to foreign investment. Pros: Joint venture can overcome entry barriers in a foreign market Save transaction costs Provide new expertise and share resources, including specialized staff and technology Risks sharing with a venture partner Cons: Invest $2 million is not a small name. Investment itself is a kind of risk. It takes time to build partnership with foreign business. ALPES is a small family company. The different between U.S. and Mexico in culture and management style is a problem. Mexico currency is unstable and Mexico is an uncertain market. 7.2Alternative2 The following chart is the pros and cons of alterative two which is reject the proposal and no joint venture. As for this alternative, the pros can be illustrated in 3 aspects: CRL does have to invest extra 2 million capital into this project and avoid the loss and risk this performance may bring about. Cons can be elaborate in 3 aspects as well: if CRL declines to invest this joint venture, meaning giving up this opportunity and even worse leaves it to rivals and in a long run, maybe will jeopardize the benefit of the organization as a whole. Pros Cons No invest risk Discard opportunity to develop Spare 2 million capital Create a chance for competitors Avoid loss Less benefit for CRL in long run 8.Recommendations Growth about 12% and 15% annually and entire business by 20% is the strategic objective of Charles River Laboratories. Joint Venture can increase the sale, which helps CRL get this goal. Join a new market is a risk, but after  visit members of Romero family. It can be seen that this family has knowledge, government influence, and trust. ALPES believes that this corporation should be successes. Invest in Mexico presents opportunities as well as challenges. But Mexico’s trade barriers have reduced by the implementation of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The business environment should be friendly. 9.Implementation Firstly, visit Mexico to get more information about ALPES and Romeros’ family. Both the CEO and the board of directors believe that this project could be trusted and this joint venture would serve profit. Secondly, this joint venture company is 50%-50% equity share. The profits also go halves SPAFAS would invest $2 million cash and ALPES would contribute their knowledge-existing SPF and commercial egg assets to the joint venture company. Thirdly, the direction of the investment: $1.5 million should be used to increase the SPF egg production capacity of the joint venture. $250,000 would be used to establish a pre-incubation facility; the left $250,000 would be used for ALPES to do some activity to build good social image and complete the services. 10.Contingency Plan Charles River Laboratories (CRL) has to prepare a contingency plan for the certain events may interrupt normal business operations. CRL has to build a team to follow up operation of this joint venture to make sure the profit from $2 million investment.