Religion and Commerce in Early Modern Europe Essay -- European History

Class discussions about religious history inevitably turn to the question of whether religious ideals throughout history remain absolute or are relative to the social, political and economic trends of the time. For example, students are sometimes disturbed to learn that in early Christian history, conversion was often in response to economic or political benefits rather than religious fervor. Naturally, at the Catholic prep school where I teach, students want to believe religious ideals and rhetoric are absolute. Yet, when studying the role of religion in shaping societies, one cannot help but be struck by the fluidity of religious rhetoric. Although such a discovery may be obvious to some, it is important for students to understand that we still live in a world where people make important social and political decisions based on moral absolutes, with an insistence on traditional and unchangeable religious values. It is essential, therefore, that teachers of religious history promote discussion on the possible flexibility of religious ideologies: is religious rhetoric part of an unwavering, scriptural tradition, or do those who practice religion create the rhetoric? Moreover, do human self-interest and socio-economic change always trump religion? Are social ideologies always stronger than religious tradition? After studying the creation of a modern industrial economy in Europe for these five weeks, I am convinced that analyzing the evolution of religious rhetoric in early modern Europe, which is such a transitional phase of history, can illuminate how social, political, economic and cultural change can guide or completely alter the morals and ideologies of a society. Eric Hobsbawm and Keith Wrightson both argue th... ...New Press, 1999. Lynn, Martin. â€Å"British Policy, Trade, and Informal Empire in the Mid-Nineteenth Century.† In The Oxford History of the British Empire, the Nineteenth Century, vol III, edited by Andrew Porter, 101-121. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. More, Thomas. Utopia. Translated by Paul Turner. London: Penguin Books, 2003. O’Brien, Patrick. â€Å"Inseparable Connections: Trade, Economy, Fiscal State, and the Expansion of Empire, 1688-1815.† In The Oxford History of the British Empire, The Eighteenth Century, vol. II, edited by P.J. Marshall, 54-77. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. ____. â€Å"Mercantilism and Imperialism in the Rise and Decline of the Dutch and British Economies 1585-1815.† De Economist 148, no. 4 (2000): 469-501. Wrightson, Keith. Earthly Necessities. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2000.

Adult/Youth Nonformal Vocational and Technical Education Essay

In 1974 the Ministry of Education developed nonformal vocational programs to serve out-of-school youths and adults. In respect of policy measures and institutional reforms, the purpose of adult/youth and nonformal education is to provide an opportunity to those who were unable to avail themselves of formal educational opportunities. The objective is to provide vocational training, along with basic literacy and numeracy skills, so that each individual can participate and contribute more effectively to his/her well-being, and to society. Such adult/youth and nonformal vocational technical education is conducted on a nonformal basis through programs offered by Rural Education Centers, School of Appropriate Farm Technology, Manzini Industrial Training Center, to name a few. The following comprise some of the major adult/youth nonformal vocational and technical education training centers. Manzini Industrial Training Center-Emakhonweni As a result of the pressing need for vocational and technical skills training as an alternative form of education, Manzini Industrial Training Center (MITC) was established with the aim of giving its trainees useful and practical skills in a trade or craft which may help them find a job upon completion. The MITC provides skills training for unemployed youth between the ages of 18 and 25 years. These are out-of-school youth who are at risk. Fundamental to the program is the acquisition of basic vocational skills which will enable a young person to earn his/her own living whether by self- or waged employment. In most of the courses offered at the Center, upon completion of the two year course in basic skills, the trainees take the relevant Swaziland Government Trade Test-Grade III with the intention of going on to Government Trade Test level-Grade II. This enables those who have not had the opportunity to complete high school (grade 12) to obtain a qualification which is recognized for pay purposes, in the wage employment sector. However, for those trainees whose desire is to become self-employed, they can apply for placement in the Business Management Extension Program (BMEP), a one year course which offers facilities and training, under the â€Å"sheltered workshop concept,† to prospective entrepreneurs. The MITC has an enrollment of over 200 trainees receiving skills training in 13 areas. Agriculture, Sewing, and Upholstery are one year courses in duration whereas Building, Carpentry, Electrical, Metal Work, Motor Mechanics, Plumbing, Printing, Panel Beating, Small Engine Repair, and Spray Painting are two years in duration. The approach employed in the training utilizes a combination of on the job training and theory lectures. Remaining as the principal training approach is â€Å"Training through production† (Manzini Industrial Training Center, Annual Report 1990/91). Business Management Extension Program In 1986 the management of Manzini Industrial Training Center (MITC) established the Business Management Extension Program (BMEP). BMEP is an indigenous small enterprise development project set up to combat the problem of unemployed youth who have already acquired vocational technical skills. With a grant from United States Agency for International Development (USAID), an administration building, warehouse, and eight workshops were built. BMEP is a unique institution in Swaziland that fills a specific niche: training and technical assistance for small and microbusinesses and the development of new enterprises (Gamedze, 1993, Personal interview). BMEP’s mission is to promote small enterprise development by providing trade and business skills training, individual business consultancy, and financial assistance to persons who are matured, have job experience and vocational skills, work for themselves full-time, and exhibit entrepreneurial traits. The mission statement contributes to the goal of increasing employment generated by Swazi-owned and/or managed section of the economy and expand the Swazi-owned or managed small business sector. (Gamedze, 1993, Personal interview). The primary goal of BMEP is to assist its clients in transforming income generating activities into small business enterprises which are operated as viable economic entities. In doing so, BMEP seeks to improve its clients’ ability to produce quality products/services and to effectively manage their business activities. BMEP is governed by a Board of Directors; however the day to day operations are the responsibility of the Director assisted by a program manager responsible for training and extension, and a finance manager who oversees the functions of the organization and administration of the loan scheme. BMEP extension officers are serving a total of 94 clients. They provide business assistance to 47 clients who also have received loans, 16 clients who are receiving business assistance only, and 31 clients who are in the assessment phase. BMEP is providing business assistance to 7 tenants in the BMEP â€Å"sheltered† workshops (Gamedze, 1993). BMEP has established relationships and linkages with other organizations that are involved in some kind of economic/business activities, and therefore identified areas of specific need for BMEP’s assistance. BMEP has formed strong linkages with other organizations involved in both urban and rural economic/business activities. These include among others: Women in Development (WID), Rural Education Centers (REC), Swaziland Farmers’ Development Foundation (SFDF). BMEP has established good relationships with financial institutions (e. g. , commercial banks) in which their representatives participate in BMEP training sessions and workshops as resource persons (Gamedze, 1993). Nhlangano Agricultural Skills Training Center The Nhlangano Agricultural Skills Training Center is an institution with an agricultural focus but supported by four other technical training programs, namely, Carpentry, Building and Construction, Motor Mechanics, and Metal Work. The Center had its first intake in 1992/93. When the Center is in full swing, a business management program to develop entrepreneurial skill will be put in place. Aimed at the youth usually referred to as â€Å"street kids† who are at risk, which includes the underprivileged, the unemployed, the educationally and socially disadvantaged, and school dropouts; the Nhlangano Agricultural Skills Training Center (NASTC) has given the youth of Swaziland another lease on life (Malan, 1992). This recently constructed skills training center offers training over a duration of two years. Modeled after the Manzini Industrial Training Center (MITC), the Nhlangano Agricultural Skills Training Center (NASTC) has the objective of training people toward self-employment or earning a wage in the agricultural sector of the economy. The establishment of such a center that provides â€Å"on-the-job training† in Swaziland is of significance in that it plays a major role in promoting self-sufficiency among young people. On the other hand, the underprivileged young persons, those with limited formal education, are catered for in so far as skill acquisition is concerned (The Swazi Observer, 1992). Table 7. Manazini Industrial Training Center Enrollment, 1990/91 | Trainee | Course | Male | Female | Agriculture | 9 | 7 | Building | 28 | 0 | Carpentry | 21 | 0 | Electrical Repairs | 10 | 0 | Metal Work | 20 | 0 | Motor Mechanics | 21 | 1 | Panel Beating/Spray Painting | 9 | 0 | Plumbing | 6 | 0 | Printing | 4 | 5 | Sewing | 0 | 28 | Upholstery | 5 | 3 | | 133 | 44 | Upgrading trainees to Trade Test | | | Grade II level | 14 | 0 | Total | 147 | 44 | School of Appropriate Farm Technology. The School of Appropriate Farm Technology (SAFT) is a nonformal and vocational agriculture school that targets secondary/high school leavers and drop-outs who cannot proceed to formal postsecondary education for one reason or another. The aim of SAFT is to provide high school leavers with relevant vocational agricultural skills and experiences to enable them to increase agricultural production at home in their local communities, and also earn an income from sales of produce (Sibisi, 1981). The school leavers catered to by this School are those with little or no prospect of getting a job in the formal labor sector. This is a rapidly growing segment of the population of unemployed youth who may soon dominate the total population in numerical terms (Cousins, 1983). Entrants to the School need a minimum of education in the sense that they are expected to have completed primary school (Grade VII), at least. However, those responsible for admissions have stressed motivation toward farming as one major requirement. The enrollment of the School averages 20-25 students, the majority of whom are boys. The age range of students is 18-25 years. The School has a capacity to enroll 40 students. Although the applications may range from 100 to 200 and admission may approximate the full capacity of 40 students, after the Preentry course of two weeks duration, students dropout as they experience difficulty coping with the practical demands of the course. Rural Education Centers. In pursuance of the policy on the improvement of the quality of life and the general standard of living of the rural people, the Government of Swaziland established eight Rural Education Centers in 1978. Aiming at improving the socio-economic status of the rural people in Swaziland, the Rural Education Centers were established with the following specific objectives in mind (Ministry of Education, n. d. ):  · To provide formal schooling to rural youth, and non-formal instruction to adults and unemployed school leavers.  · To instruct in vocational education through training in appropriate skills which may lead to self-employment and self-reliance.  · To assess needs and initiate projects; to coordinate services, resources, and activities of Government and Non-Governmental Organizations involved in rural development.  · To serve as a community resource center where educational, economic and social activities may be developed and focused providing facilities that may be used for non-formal education purposes. Seven of the Rural Education Centers (RECs) were built at secondary schools whereas the 81 was built at a primary (elementary) school. In practice, REC programs have primarily served rural women, especially in training of skills for income generation. The direct beneficiaries, in the main, have been rural women, and also some men, and school leavers, who enter vocational training courses and participate in community projects (Ministry of Education, 1988). Bosco Skils Center Bosco Skills Center is a Youth Enterprise Scheme for Self-Employment with the goal of (a) providing suitable workshop space for the development of small businesses, and (b) offering suitable training in trades and business skills primarily for those neglected and forgotten and at-risk young people who wish to be self-employed. The small business person (the experienced entrepreneur) joins the Skills Center to operate and improve his/her business, and for the use of the Skills Center’s facilities, he/she makes a contribution by training a maximum of three young persons (trainees) for self-employment over a two year period. In addition to the training provided by the experienced entrepreneur, the trainee business person attends afternoon classes in basic Mathematics, English and Business Management Skills. Mathematics and English are each taught two hours a week whereas, Business Management Skills is taught one hour a week by the Business Management Extension Program (BMEP) (McDonnell, Personal Interview). The Skills Center has 60 small business trainees for its first group of intake who undergo vocational skills training under 21 experienced entrepreneurs. The trainees, who must be 18 years upon admission, are given three months to decide whether this kind of vocational training is suitable for them, and during this period they also work in close cooperation with the Center’s Training Coordinator. The admission process entails interviews conducted by the experienced entrepreneurs who, select three young trainee businesspersons to train. Once admitted, the trainee receives E10. 00 (about US $3.30) a week to cover off-pocket expenses drawn from the trainees Fund to which the experienced entrepreneur, for operating his/her own business at the Center, has made a contribution as part of the agreement to use the Skills Center workshop and facilities. The fee for one year is E150. 00 (about US $50. 00) payable in three installments of E50. 00 ($16. 66) by the trainee business person (McDonnell, 1993). The Skills Center has eight workshops, and offers vocational skills training for self-employment in the following areas:  · Motor mechanics  · Auto electrical  · Panel beating and spray painting  Ã‚ · Upholstery  · Carpentry  · Welding/metal work  · Plumbing  · Dressmaking and tailoring  · Sewing  · Pottery  · Refrigeration repair  · Radio and T. V. repair  · Printing  · Hairdressing. Upon joining the Skills Center the experienced entrepreneur takes on the following financial commitments:  · Contribution to the cost of electricity  · Contribution to the cost of water  · Contribution to the salary of the show/display room manager  · Contribution to a trainee fund  · Payment for telephone use  · Payment for transport use Currently each experienced entrepreneur makes an agreed contribution of E165. 00 (about US $55. 00) a month to cover the above costs. The amount to be paid for the above costs is established by the Executive of the Skills Center Management Committee which reports to the Bosco Center Board, the top policy making body. Unlike the Manzini Training Center or the Nhlangano Agricultural Skills Training Center (NASTC) whose target population group are school leavers with a Junior Certificate (grade 10) or there about, Bosco Skills Center reaches out for the young people with much less formal education who have no hope of anything else. They constitute the very bottom population group of young people with very little schooling. They are educationally deprived, socioeconomically disadvantaged and â€Å"are at-risk of not achieving the goals of education, acquiring the knowledge, skills and dispositions to become productive members of society† (Natriello, McDill, & Pallas, 1990, p. 8). They comprise the majority of the young and unemployed whose hope for making living lies in self-employment since their formal schooling leaves them with little or no prospect of getting a job in the formal labor sector of the economy. Powered by greenstone3 Background Mercy Corps in Somaliland is implementing the Somali Youth Leaders Initiative (SYLI). Component Two of the SYLI focuses on workforce development and building the technical and managerial capabilities of Somaliland youth to engage technical and vocational training and related livelihood business. These activities complement SYLI’s other components by increasing the number of Somali youth with the right skills and training. Generally, the main challenge with Vocational Educational schools/centers in Somaliland is to make their teaching relevant to the current needs of the local job market. There are a lot of things that constrain their ability to do this – including poor education levels of Vocational Education students; outdated and overly theoretical curricula, lack of incentives to connect students to the job market; and lack of connections between the Vocational Educational staff and current industry needs. The Vocational Training and Non-Formal Education Specialist should assist in making curricula dynamic and practical to the current needs of the job market and design programs and incentives to link students and their teachers to growth areas of the Somaliland work force and the economy. Component Summary The Vocational Training and Non-Formal Education Specialist will provide expertise in a number of areas, including new approaches to training, including in-service courses, internships, work-study, apprenticeships, and use of ICT etc. Development of appropriate curriculum and innovative training methods to provide the skills for new entrants into commercial business will be a key outcome. It is important that all curricula developed by the project be gender sensitive and socially inclusive to appropriately transfer relevant knowledge to a variety of audiences. Furthermore, provide technical support to stakeholders and partners in the sub sectors. Key duties and Responsibilities. The Vocational Training and Non-Formal Education Specialist will undertake a number of innovative non-traditional approaches to gender sensitive and socially inclusive knowledge transfer and workforce development. The Specialist will ensure that interventions that are implemented to improve the performance of vocational educations schools are sustainable; by continually obtaining Somali stakeholders input from the various organizations engaged in training. The Specialist will work to sustainably build Somali capacity to provide the right kind of training, in the right place and time and tailored to Somaliland. SYLI’s interventions will enhance the capacity of the selected vocational colleges to become Centers of Excellence [COEs] in vocational education and outreach, using the COE as a model for other schools/centers to follow. The Specialist will be responsible for devising programs to attract more ladies/women into these institutions and will work with the Ministries of Youth and Sport, Labour and Education to build upon the accomplishments of the USAID’s other Education programs, EU’s vocational education program, etc to expand adult education opportunities particularly to women and to youth. http://reliefweb. int/node/489716.

Young People Have More Want Than Needs. What Are Your View?

Young People Have More Wants than Needs. What do you think? This materialistic world produces enormous amount of goods and services to satiate our wants more than our needs. The attitude of satisfying one’s wants has almost always preceded one’s needs. This new wave of attitude is especially obvious in young people who have endless desires to have what they want instead of what they actually need. Consequently, nowadays, we have often heard the phrase â€Å"I want† and rarely get to hear â€Å"I need† from young people.This is especially evident in the things young people are seeking today. No doubt, good education is part of it and it is indeed necessary. However, some have become so obsessed with achieving better grades that they are willing to spend a fortune on getting additional help beyond their school for the sake of beating their classmates in academic results. Wanting to achieve their objectives, some have hired a few personal tutors to help them out. Instead of relying and making good use of what is already provided to them, such ones have taken things for granted.They do not see that their needs have actually been fulfilled but focus too much on their wants, which is getting better results to perhaps outshine their peers. Regrettably, this kind of obsession would mean that their parents’ hard-earned money is spent wastefully or even unwisely. For what, for satisfying their wants when their needs have actually been met. Additionally, the pursuit of keeping up to date with fashion is all too common in young people.These things are not bad in themselves but to maintain one’s closet with the latest fashion means that young ones may often spend beyond their means simply for the purpose of satisfying their wants. Even for those without the means to possess the latest, they may even try to get what they want through illegal channel such as doing part time as escorts. Sadly, this has been happening in recent years. A pparently, the trend has taken root because young people often fail to differentiate clearly their wants from their needs.Not to be overlooked is the desire to pace up with the epoch of technology in terms of mobile phones. Gone are the days of owning a phone just to make calls and sending short text messages. Our generation has become extremely sophisticated with the advancement in technology. Unfortunately, we have been witnessing the massive production of smart phones that keeps flooding the market with infinite choices and temptations to have to own one. Ironically, we are seeing young people wning the latest smart phones more than adults who are supposed to be the more likely group of people to own these things. So the question is how on earth do our young people get the financial means to purchase these gadgets? Apparently, their main sponsors are their parents. As a matter of fact, quite a large number of young people are often seen pestering their parents to buy them or equi p them with the latest products. This has also evidenced itself when parents are being demanded to trade good examination results in return for getting what their children want.To make matters worse, young people sometimes threaten their parents, who may not be wealthy enough, to buy the latest smart phones for them. To sum it all up, I must say that young people have more wants than needs. If only they could exercise a little more of their thinking ability, they would definitely be able to discern for themselves that wants will always be endless but needs are very few and necessary but the latter must precede the former.

Unilever Business Project

Unilever is a company that operates all over the world. They produce a wide range of products, concerning all sorts of food, detergents and etc. For a large company like Unilever to be successful, they have to implement a certain strategy and to have vision and mission. For this assignment we are focusing on the UK market. The brand we chose is Carte D’or. To start with the overall vision of Unilever. They are looking at developing new ways of doing business for the future, to increase the benefits for the company, as well as to reduce their environmental impact on the nature by Unilever`s activities.Their mission, is to make their business more sustainable. For example, Unilever`s plan has over fifty targets to achieve. Most of them are focused on helping people to improve their well-being and health, reduce the pollution of their products and source the agricultural raw materials sustainably. Sustainability and fair trade are Unilever`s main goals, which are influencing the whole corporation. Regarding the changing weather conditions and scarcity of usable agricultural supply. Unilever introduced a Sustainable Living Plan, that will enable them to source only sustainable materials.According to Unilever, it is also of vital importance to have the suitable people with the right talent, skills, creativity and education to support the growth of the enterprise. As part of the `Sustainable Living Plan`, the company is looking at healthy and motivated workforces, which would provide them with the right employees. In order to make this plan become reality, they are arranging better work places, which means reducing work injuries, industrial accidents and provide variety of stimulus's. Nowadays, Unilever is struggling to create shared values with its customers to provide stability and growth.Companies can meet social needs while at the same time serving existing markets, accessing new markets and lowering costs through innovation. Unilever has chosen the path o f innovations, as well as improving quality, quantity, cost, and reliability of inputs and distribution. While at the same time the company is acting as a steward for essential natural resources and drive economic and social development. As stated above, their mission is: â€Å"We work to create a better future every day. We help people feel good, look good and get more out of life with brands and services that are good for them and good for others.We will inspire people to take small, everyday actions that can add up to a big difference for the world. We will develop new ways of doing business with the aim of doubling the size of our company while reducing our environmental impact. † (source: http://www. sustainable-living. unilever. com/news-resources/news/inspiring-sustainable-living/) The above comes back again in Unilever’s report. For instance, their ambition is to double the size of the company while reducing the environmental footprint.Furthermore, they have a sustainable living plan; Unilever wants to grow without damaging the environment and increase the social benefits arising from Unilever’s activities. This plan has been set in 2010 and has 3 major outcomes, as can be read on page 20 of Unilever’s annual report of 2010: * Helping more than a billion people improve their health; * Halve the environmental impact of the production and use of Unilever’s products; * Enhance the livelihood of people in their supply chain. A good example is COMFORT ONE Rinse fabric conditioner. Many customers in developing countries do their laundry by hand.COMFORT ONE needs only one bucket of water for rinsing instead of three. In this way, consumers save time and money. The reason why Unilever is performing this plan, can be summed up in a few points: * More and more consumers want products that are sustainably sourced; * Retailers have their own goals for sustainability and Unilever can work with them; * New products and packaging ca n be developed as part of the sustainability plan; * Half of Unilever’s sales take place in developing countries, so these countries represent a huge future market for the company.These countries face the greatest sustainability challenges; * Managing sustainability saves money for Unilever and the consumer. Below we will show Unilever`s structure on both Multinational and Business level. Multinational Level: Source (http://www. theofficialboard. com/org-chart/unilever-1) Business Level: Source: http://www. theofficialboard. com/org-chart/unilever-ventures) In order to explain the process of creating values when making ice-cream, we are going to use Porter`s value adding chain to support the explanation. PRIMARY PROCESSES:SUPPORTING PROCESSES: ————————————————- Primary processes Inbound logistics: Carte D`Or buy ingredients for the ice-cream production from a variet y of suppliers. In order to improve its efficiency the exclusive brand can start performing business procurement. In this way Carte D`or can use purchasing function to reduce its costs and improve their long-term strategic planning techniques to deal with the outgoing costs. Using strategic purchasing would enable them to negotiate for the supply of milk, sugar, cream and ect.In this way the procurement approach would increase the CM (contribution margin). Processing: The processing stage would start with the fulfilment of the ordered ingredients in the procurement department. Later on all the ingredients are get together into the assembly process. The Carte D`Or`s recipe is prepared and the ice-cream is prepared. In this press, Carte D`Or can take an advantage by integrating the JIT method. This would help them always have fresh ingredients and not going to keep too ingredients inventory.This can be implemented by ordering smaller quantities of ingredients and increasing the supply frequency. Outbound logistics: In this process of Carte D`Or brand is concerned with the storage of the made ice-cream. The ice-cream package is quite important for keeping the product fresh, protect it during storing, warehousing, transporting as well as to protect the environment form the ice-cream package from the ice-cream package that would be used. So, sustainable packaging would be a major factor in the outbound logistics of the Carte D`Or brand.Packages, which are more eco-friendly and recyclable can take place as well as packs with improved durability. The durability factor can reduce waste, of cracked or broken packs. Marketing ;Sales: Creating a good image for the product might be of vital importance for brand. As, Carte D`Or are producing luxurious ice-cream with a premium quality they need to bind their brand and customers. Carte D`Or would add value to their products by detailed research and development, using Customer Relationship Management.Collaborating closely wit h the CRM department would give the information about customers’ needs, wishes, expectations and even tendencies. Due to the usage of this technique the Carte D`Or brand set their customers as a starting point for all their products development and concepts. Services: ————————————————- The Carte D`Or brand provides their customers with a range of services, as: customer care, direct ordering of bigger quantities, B2B and B2C SCM. In addition to that the brand adds value, by applying the differentiation approach.They provide to their customers special fan website, with the full range of products and a TV show with one of the top chiefs in the world. What is more there is a special line for problem solving callings to Carte D`Or cusromer service. ———————————————â₠¬â€- Supporting processes: Infrastructure: Carte D`Or brand adds value with an efficient assembly line, which gives a high production level during the whole manufacturing process. Production safety and durability is another aspect that may put emphasis on preventing waste.HRM: Carte D`Or brand is quite focused at the sort of working force they use, because they are promoting exclusive ice-cream with top quality. They put emphasis on employees suitable skills, efficiency and job enrichment, in order to stimulate the working force. Technological development: An approach thag Carte D`Or adds value in this sector of value chain would be leverage, as maximizing production and effectiveness without any investments increase. Their top goals are effectiveness and efficiency due to decreasing the expenditures and increase profit.Procurement: Procurement in is very important for Carte D`Or brand because this Is a sector where huge expenditures can be significantly reduced. Negotiating for ra w materials, auxiliary materials and etc. Carte D`Or has a special customer call centre for questions regarding procurement. Relevant systems that facilitate the primary processes in the value chain: ERP(Enterprise Resource Planning) is a relevant system in the primary processes in the value chain, because ERP is developed to facilitate the flow of information between all business functions.It will optimize the communication and information flow between inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing ; sales and service CRM is also relevant because it is designed for managing customer service, marketing and operations. MIS stands for Management Information Systems. This system provides the management with the right information to manage an organization effectively ; efficiently. The system analyzes the primary processes with the goal to optimize them. Why would a company adapt their packaging of ice cream? For a company like Uniliver that wants to be more sustainable, a reason can e to produce a environmental friendly packages. To comply with that, the packages have to be adopted according to the new standards: reduced waste, being recyclable and re-usable. Other reasons can be to optimize the space available, lower costs or get the attention of customers with new and improved packaging. There are multiple departments involved when changing a packaging like the Research ; Development department to design this new packaging. But also the marketing department; is involved to do the promotion and management finally makes the decisions.Changes in packaging automatically lead to changes in the value chain. Because machines have to be re-programmed, marketing ; sales have to use a different promotion strategies (introduction of the product). But also inbound and outbound logistics will change. New materials will be imported so new routes have to be created. Also the company will have to examine which type of transportation is the most efficient in the n ew situation. It will make a huge difference if a package is round or square if you consider transport and storing.Also customer behaviour will change, if a customer recognize a problem he or she will go to different phases before actually purchasing a product. First they search for information; a new package can have an influence on commercial sources. Also the selective perception process will be influenced because the perception on the promotion message will change and this can lead to a different interpretation. Perhaps the evaluation will also change because consumers feel that the products offers more benefits. If the new package requires new materials the suppliers will be examined if they are capable to deliver these new materials.If not they need to look for other suppliers. The stakeholders and NGOs can be a threat to the company for example the new package is less environmental friendly than it might happen that they do not longer want to invest in de company. Unilever sh ould pursue a Research ; Development policy that focuses on sustainability. They can do this by using recycled plastic for the packages and recycled paper within their offices. Use biological milk and fair trade ingredients such as chocolate. They can also make use of green energy and transport as environmental friendly as possible.The Research ; Development department has the most influence on the structure. As we have seen the entire value chain will be affected with a change in for example the packaging. The method that we used to come to a package innovation was idea capture internally because of the limited time and resources. But there are other methods appropriate for Unilever like customer focus groups for problem detection while pre-testing to prevent future failure, external idea contest to get to know the customers wants and needs. Last consult partners and vendors to make sure that everyone is reading from the same page.Process descriptions As shown below, there are a nu mber of steps taken in the process of creating ice cream. (source: http://www. foodsci. uoguelph. ca/dairyedu/icmanu. html) When there’s a new product packaging, there will be a small change in the primary process. First of all, when ice cream is stored it is done so in temperatures below -18 Celsius; so the packaging has to be able to withstand such a temperature. This is important for two reasons: * The prevention of growth of micro-organisms; * Maintaining the texture of the product. When using new kind of packaging, the process can be changed.For instance, if the new kind of packaging can withstand a temperature of below -18 Celcius, packaging can be done before storing the ice cream in the freezer and thus saving plastics, waxed paper or cardboard containers since these are used as temporary packaging. There are many activities involved when producing ice cream. Blending, aging, pasteurization etc. Below we will present which activities are involved when producing ice cr eam. To do so, we used a RASCI-Matrix, a process chart for sustainable activities (the green one) and finally a department-transcending table. RASCI-Matrix:Column1| Column2| Column3| Column4| Column5| Column6| Task /Role| CEO| Financial Director| Logistics Manager| Marketing ; Sales manager| Process Manager| Support employees| Strategic Planning| Accountable| Informed| Informed| Informed| Informed| Informed| Financial Planning| Responsible| Accountable| Informed| | | | Buying ingredients| Responsible| Consulted| Accountable| | Responsible| | Marketing ; Sales| Responsible| Consulted| Informed| Accountable| | | Warehousing| Responsible| | Accountable| | | Responsible| Transport| Responsible| | Accountable| | | Responsible| Storage| Responsible| | Accountable| | | Responsible| Services| Responsible| | Consulted| Responsible| | Responsible| Supporting services| Responsible| | Consulted| Responsible| | Responsible| Analyzing results| Responsible| Accountable| Informed| Informed| Informe d| | Maintenance| Responsible| | | | | Responsible| R ; D| Responsible| Informed| Consulted| Consulted| | |The above RASCI-Matrix show the different roles and tasks. The purpose of this matrix is to show the relationship between the actors and their responsibilities. The abbreviation RASCI stands for: R=responsible, A=accountable=support, C=consulted, and I=informed. Flow-Chart ; Transcending-department table: Above we have shown the whole production process of Carte D’or ice cream. Starting with blending of the ingredients and ending with the packaging. During this process value is constantly added. Package: after the freezing procedure the ice-cream is placed into its package. This is the step where a company would be able to take a competitive advantage over its rivals.It can be done in a variety of different ways: In particularly for Catre D`Or there might be: Package size: turn into a production a variety of smaller packages, which are relatively more suitable for daily usage: The shape of the package may play a major role: for example the company can safe cost if they use square or rectangular form of the package. In this way they may improve efficiency of logistics as more packs would be able to place into a box. In this way efficiency and sustainability would be improved as more packs of ice cream can be transported within the same use of space; Sustainable materials: materials used for producing the packaging also might be an important factor. In recent years the interest in products which are environmentally friendly has risen.An example of would be a package that is going to be recyclable or bio-degradable as the harm at the environment would be significantly reduced. Hardening: The packaged ice-cream is placed into a blast freezer at -30 ° to -40 ° C where most of the remainder of the water is frozen. Below about -25 ° C, ice cream is stable for indefinite periods without danger of ice crystal growth; Storage: storage of the produced i ce-cream can be sustainably improved, due to a new package shape. With a new package shape, Carte D`Or would be able to reduce its storage costs and to improve logistics efficiency. This approach would enable to leverage the logistics process. There would be the same storage expenses, although the packs of ice-cream would me increased.Steps in the process| Activity| Transport| Check| Wait| Inventory| time (hours)| | | Blending of the ingredients| X| | X| | | 30mins| | | Pasteurization| X| | X| | | 30mins| | | Homogenization| X| | X| | | 1h| | | Aging| | | X| X| | 12h| | | Freezing| X| | X| | | 15mins| | | Hardening| X| | X| | | 15mins| | | Storage in the freezer| | | X| | X| 60mins| | | Packaging| X| | X| | | 20mins| | | This table shows the average throughput times of each activity. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Our mission. (nd). Retrieved 02 16, 2012, from https://www. unilever. com/ aboutus/ourmission/ Paper&Board – Unilever Sustainability. (sd). Opgeroepen op 02 13, 2012, from http://www. sustainable-living. unilever. com/the-plan/sustainable-sourcing/pape

Fundamental of Finance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Fundamental of Finance - Essay Example In our case, proposal A takes 4 years to recover the investment and proposal B takes only 3 years for the recovery of such investment. Accordingly the proposal B is ranked above the proposal A. The limitation in this method is that it does not consider time value of money. Net present value is a discounted cash flow approach to capital budgeting. â€Å"If the present value of future cash flow is greater than the initial cost, the project is worth undertaking. On the other hand, if the present value is less than the initial cost, a project should be rejected because investor would lose money if the project were accepted.†(Angelico A. Groppelli and Ehsan Nikbakhat, page 159)ii Assessing from this point of view, both proposal have a positive net present value. But as the net present value of proposal A is more than that of proposal B. Accordingly NPV method ranks proposal A ahead of proposal B. There are various shortcomings in methods of evaluation of capital projects that do not consider time value of money. It is generally felt that discounted cash flow methods provide a more objective basis for evaluating and selecting investment projects. These methods take account of both the magnitude and the timings of expected cash flows in each period of project’s life. Internal rate of return, like net present value method, is such a method that uses the discounted cash flow criteria to evaluate different capital projects. â€Å"The IRR for an investment is the discount (interest) rate that will make the present (or discounted) value of the cash flows from the operation equal to the initial outlay of the investment. An IRR above the minimum rate of return specified by management (called hurdle rate) is considered acceptable. When mutually exclusive projects are being compared, the project with highest IRR will be preferred.† (Ralph S.

Question answer Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Question answer - Assignment Example Appropriate strategies to deal with the volatility of the risks could help the business survive and sustain in the long run. The effective risk management structure of the company focussing on restructuring of its operations, implementing risk mitigating procedures would help the company to deal with hazards. Executive Summary In our discussion, we have considered the operations and spread of markets of Howden Joinery Group. Howden Joinery Group. is a leading supplier of kitchens and joineries. Annual reports and financial statements have been analysed. The major risks identified for the company are the interest rate risk, counterparty risk and foreign currency risk. The company can hedge the interest rate risk by investing in hedging securities which would offset the devaluation of some securities due to change in interest rates. Counterparty risk which the company may incur due to default of payment obligations of the counterparties may be hedged by selecting counterparties above a certain credit rating. Foreign currency risk may be hedged by entering transactions at spot rate. Based on past experience, annual reports, Howden Joinery Group Plc must prepare appropriate strategies for risk management in order to align the business with market conditions and to maintain adequate cash flows and liquidity. Annual report for three years from 2009 to 2011 The Annual Reports are given below for the company under consideration, i.e. Howden Joinery Gr. Plc. The data given below represents the consolidated Income Statement, Cash Flow Statement and Balance sheet for the above-mentioned years followed by a comparative study of the performance of the company from 2009 to 2011. For the year 2009, the consolidated cash flow statement of the company is given. For the year 2009, the consolidated Income statement of Howden Joinery Group Plc. is given (Howden Joinery Group Plc, 2013, p.1). For the year 2009, the consolidated Balance sheet of Howden Joinery Gr. Plc. is given. For the year 2010, the consolidated Income statement of Howden Joinery Gr. Plc. is given. For the year 2010, the consolidated Cash Flow statement of Howden Joinery Gr. Plc. is given below. For the year 2010, the consolidated Balance sheet of Howden Joinery Gr. Plc. is given below. For the year 2011, the consolidated Income statement of Howden Joinery Gr. Plc. is given. For the year 2011, the consolidated Cash Flow statement of Howden Joinery Gr. Plc. is given. For the year 2011, the consolidated Balance sheet of Howden Joinery Gr. Plc. is given. A comparative study of the performance of the company from 2009 – 2011 is given below. Based on the financial statements of the Annual Reports of Howden Joinery Gr. Plc. the following aspects have been described. Different sources of risk and nature of those risks Some of the different sources of risk for Howden Joinery Gr. Plc. are - a) Interest rate risk b) Counterparty risk, and c) Foreign currency

Benefits of Stem Cell Research and Parkinsons disease Proposal

Benefits of Stem Cell and Parkinsons disease - Research Proposal Example Since immuno-rejection is the major complication in transplantation medicine, scientists are keen to create patient-specific donor cells using the therapeutic potential of induced pluripotent stem (IPS) cells for neural cell replacement that could reduce inherent risks of stem cell therapy. Advancement in science and technology made us capable of new discoveries and is creating wonders through replicating nature and with the successful cloning of sheep 'Dolly", we are at the threshold of human cloning. Isolation and culture of human embryonic stem cell (hES cells) and human embryonic germ cell (hEG cell) was first reported in 1998. It was a milestone in the history of stem cell research, because hES cells are considered to be the most fundamental and extraordinary of the stem cells, which has the potential for differentiation into a diverse cell type. Stem cells are the foundation cells for every organ, tissue and cell in the body" that are "blank", "self sustaining, and "can replicate themselves for long periods", which could develop into specialized tissues and organs under proper conditions. (Frequently Asked Question on stem cell research: What are stem cells). Stem cells are believed to be the "reservoirs of repair cells" that could replace degenerated cells and t issues of an organism, which make them suitable in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Though various types of stem cells have diverse properties, their capability of "self-renewal and also of differentiation into specialized cells. Some stem cells are more committed to a particular developmental fate than others." This makes stem cells appropriate for therapeutic purpose in regenerative medicine. (Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research, p.15). Parkinson's disease (PD) is caused by the progressive degeneration of dopamine neurons in the nucleus of mitochondria. Principal symptoms for diagnosing Parkinson's Disease are involuntary shaking of limbs; stiffness of joints and rigidity of the limbs; "bradykinesia" (slowness in all voluntary movements), "hypokinesia" (poverty of movement), and postural instability (difficulty adjusting to changes in body position). (Clarke, C E, p.441-445). Parkinson patients develop problems like dementia, motor control problems, depression, anxiety, and sleep disturbance. Since pharmacological therapy (primarily levodopa, dopamine agonists, or monoamine-oxidase-B inhibitors) and surgical treatment for "subthalmic stimulation" is not fully effective in controlling the progressive dopamine decay, it is hoped that recent advances in stem cell transplantation has the ability to replace degenerated neurons and reduce the sufferings of Patients ailing from Parkinson Disease patients (Clark, 2007). Since the number of people requiring transplants are far more than organ donors, it is considered that the unique characteristics of stem cells to replicate and regenerate themselves to specialized tissues and organs, under proper conditions, are considered to be beneficial in the treatment of debilitating diseases like Alzheimers, Parkinson's disease, heart disease, burns, etc. Stem cells can be obtained from embryo, bone marrow, umbilical cord of a newborn baby, amniotic fluid, and some tissues of the brain, of which embryonic stem cells are referred to as pluripotent