Tides Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Tides - Essay Example (Enchanted Learning, 2008). The ability to accurately predict tides has a variety of important implications, including coastal navigation. (Wikipedia, 2008). Because tides have such important implications, it is important and useful to examine the processes by which changing tides occur. There are two high tides and two low tides every day, with about "12 hours and 25 minutes between the two high tides." (Cooley, 2002). The exact time the high tide occurs depends on the relative location of the moon to earth. The distance between the earth and the moon is a crucial factor in determining tides and tidal range. Two words that are helpful to understand in examining the distance between the earth and moon are "perigee" and "apogee." When the moon is at perigee, or its closest to the earth, the tidal range is increased. When the moon is at apogee, or its farthest distance from the earth, this range is decreased. (Whipple, 2007 & Wikipedia, 2008). The reason that the distance of the earth from the moon has such a profound effect on tidal range is because of gravitational pull. Although the mass of the moon is much less than the mass of the earth, the moon still pulls the earth towards it by means of its gravity. This gravitational pull causes two bulges in the surface of the ocean on opposite sides of the earth, and the spinning of the earth on its axis creates tides as the bulges change location. (Frances, 2005). Because water is always in motion and isn't stuck to the earth, water on the earth is most affected by the moon's gravitational pull. On the side of the earth that is near the moon, water is pulled toward the moon, but on the other side of the earth, there is also a bulge of water. This is because the earth as a whole is being pulled toward the moon by the side that is close to the moon but the water on the other side of the earth is not. (Cooley, 2002). One type of tide is called a spring tide. A spring tide refers to the occurrence of the greatest range in a tide's low and high. In other words, during this tide there will be the greatest distance between how high the water gets and how low the water gets. This happens when there is a syzygy. A syzygy refers to the lining up of the sun, earth, and moon. (Wikipedia, 2008). The reason that the tidal range is greatest during a spring tide is because the gravitational pull of the sun and moon combine to produce the highest highs and lowest lows of the bulging water. (Cooley, 2002). It is also interesting to note that Spring tides occur around the time of new and full moons. (Wikipedia, 2008). When there is a new moon, the moon is in between the sun and the earth. When there is a full moon, the The Proxigean Spring Tide is an especially high tidal range that occurs once about every one and a half years. It happens when the moon is new and is at proxigee. Proxigee refers to when the moon is at its closest perigee to earth. (Cooley, 2002). The opposite of a spring tide is a neap tide. A neap tide refers to the occurrence of the smallest range in a tide's low and high. Neap tides occur when th

The Coca-Cola Company Essay Example for Free

The Coca-Cola Company Essay The Coca-Cola Company is the world’s largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands. The company and bottling partners are dedicated to the 2020 Vision, a roadmap for doubling system revenues this decade, focused on five key areas—profit, people, portfolio, partners and planet. Vision It represents what they need to accomplish in order to continue achieving sustainable, quality growth. People: Be a great place to work where people are inspired to be the best they can be. Portfolio: Bring to the world a portfolio of quality beverage brands that anticipate and satisfy peoples desires and needs. Partners: Nurture a winning network of customers and suppliers, together we create mutual, enduring value. Planet: Be a responsible citizen that makes a difference by helping build and support sustainable communities. Profit: Maximize long-term return to shareowners while being mindful of our overall responsibilities. Productivity: Be a highly effective, lean and fast-moving organization. Living their Values Their values serve as a compass for their actions and describe how they behave in the world. Leadership: The courage to shape a better future Collaboration: Leverage collective genius Integrity: Be real Accountability: If it is to be, its up to me Passion: Committed in heart and mind Diversity: As inclusive as our brands Quality: What we do, we do well Focus on the Market Focus on needs of their consumers, customers and franchise partners Get out into the market and listen, observe and learn Possess a world view Focus on execution in the marketplace every day Be insatiably curious Work Smart Act with urgency Remain responsive to change Have the courage to change course when needed Remain constructively discontent Work efficiently Act Like Owners Be accountable for our actions and inactions Steward system assets and focus on building value Reward our people for taking risks and finding better ways to solve problems Learn from our outcomes what worked and what didn’t Be the Brand Inspire creativity, passion, optimism and fun FOCUS ON CONSUMER Responding to consumers` needs with innovation Consumer needs and demands are constantly evolving throughout markets. In order to remain relevant to their consumers they establish clear category and brand priorities and define focused objectives. They drive innovation by continuously building on their strong family of brands and introducing new flavors and packages in specific markets. Part of their innovation process,  they are launching existing brands in new markets and re-launching or reinvigorating existing brands where appropriate. In many of the markets where adults are a growing segment of consumer base, they have launched several product innovations to ensure they meet their expectations and their increased interest in reducing their sugar and calorie intake. In 2008, they launched Coca-Cola Zero, a full-flavor no calorie Coca-Cola beverage highly popular among adult consumers, which is available in 20 out of 28 markets. They have progressively reformulated Fanta, Sprite and Nestea so they now contain up to 30% fewer calories than in 2010. This has been a gradual process to enable the consumers to adjust to the reduced sugar content. The average calorie content of beverages is now 31Kcal/100ml, representing a 16% decrease since 2011 and supporting their commitment to promoting healthy lifestyles. They are also innovating in the use of natural sweeteners, Stevia, a plant-based extract that has zero calories. In 2012, they launched Sprite with Stevia in Switzerland, and it’s mainly used in Nestea range available in 12 markets. Nutritional labelling information Key nutritional information is on front-of-pack labels of bottles and cans. In Europe, they have pioneered the use of Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs) on front-of-pack labels since 2009. These show calorie, sugar, fat, saturated fat and salt content in absolute values and as a percentage of daily intake. These are reported per serving and as a proportion of a healthy diet, the most important piece of information needed to control weight. Additionally, no- and low-calorie beverages are clearly labelled on front-of-pack, so that consumers can identify them more easily. In 2012, they were one of 12 companies that signed up to the new EU Regulation on Food Information to Consumers, a voluntary framework for labeling of Guidelines Daily Amounts. Making packaging more sustainable While the content and origin of products are the basis, their packaging in a range of sizes and material types is also vital in meeting consumer needs. Packaging comprises an average of 22% of the cost of goods sold, a percentage they aim to reduce through minimizing raw materials used. They focus in particular on reducing the amount of packaging, known as light-weighting and on increasing the recycled and renewable content of  cans and bottles. They also work with suppliers to increase the recycled content of packages as using recycled instead of virgin material reduces the carbon footprint of packages. Recycling of metal and glass is already well established, with recycled content accounting for around half of the material in cans and bottles. Their focus is on the recycled content of our PET bottles. In 2013, their use of recycled PET rose by 23%. They also use refillable packaging, equating to 10% of volume. As well as recycled content, The Coca-Cola Company advances plant-based packaging innovation for the Coca-Cola System. For example, a plant-based PET – Plantbottleâ„ ¢ – developed by The Coca-Cola Company, was the first fully recyclable PET bottle made with up to 30% plant-based material( the bottle of Dorna in Romania). Marketplace execution Five core principles: Availability means placing the range of products within easy reach of consumers in the right package, in the right location, at the right time. Affordability means offering a wide variety of desirable, premium quality products, in packages appropriate for the occasion, at the right price. Acceptability means supplying an extensive and growing range of products that meet the highest quality standards in each country, enhancing their acceptability to consumers. Activation means motivating consumers to choose their products by improving product availability and attractiveness at the point of purchase and by building brand strength in their local markets. Attitude is about the way sales representatives and their people behave every day in their interactions with customers ensuring that they meet their needs with an objective to become the preferred supplier of choice. Customer care centers They established customer care centres that provide a single and efficient point of contact between the customers and themselves leading to improved satisfaction scores. To track the overall performance, they have employed the independent external organization GfK to provide a measure of customer satisfaction across markets. Hellenic Good Morning Meetings The ‘Hellenic Good Morning!’’ meetings enhance execution in the marketplace  whereby the sales force teams in each country meet on a daily basis, set key targets for each day, review results from the previous day and reward best performers. Marketing and merchandising They develop strong relationships with customers by focusing on execution of customer marketing promotions and merchandising at the point of sale. They support it by conducting regular customer satisfaction surveys and by developing innovative materials for retail sales activation, including new racks, point-of-sale visuals and sales aids for customers. They also conduct market analyses to better understand unique shoppers and purchase occasions in different trade channels. This information is used to develop all of non-alcoholic ready-to drink beverage categories at every point of sale. They sponsor significant sporting, cultural and community activities across all countries. They seek to integrate consumer marketing and sponsorship activities with retail promotions. In conjunction with the global sponsorship of the Olympic Games by The Coca-Cola Company, which dates back to 1928, they engage in a range of promotions. The Coca-Cola Company’s association with international sporting events such as the Olympics, the Football European Cup and the Football World Cup also enables them to realize significant benefits from the unique marketing opportunities of some of the largest and most prestigious sporting events in the world. PERPETUAL INNOVATION Joe Tripodi, Chief Marketing and Commercial Officer of The Coca-Cola Company laid out his company approach to brand reinvention and the strategy it adopted to winning over â€Å"Millennials†, those crucial consumers born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s. Millennials are digital natives, having been born into a world dominated by the Internet. According to Tripodi, â€Å"They expect unlimited choice, personalized and delivered through multiple channels at maximum speed.† Millennials are striving to change their world to align with a new set of values. In this new world order the spark of an idea can ignite a flame across an entire region in seconds, thanks to modern technology. The individual has incredible power to sway opinion, start a movement, and even topple governments. The key to any brand staying relevant  is to constantly innovate and evolve by being nimble and progressive, and to share the same values that Millennials respect. There are 5 specific areas where Coke is focusing on innovation: Packaging, Partnerships, Products Equipment, Consumer Provocations, and Cultural Leadership. Innovation at Coca-Cola means that good ideas and best practices can be scaled globally and can travel. This is not easy in a huge multinational corporation, with a market cap of $175 billion, but it is possible. Creativity, asserts Tripodi, is essential to drive innovation, as is courage, risk taking, and reinvention. This is not limited just to how Coke goes to market. It means having to reinvent the company and the way it’s it is structured and networked internally and externally. â€Å"It is our ability to adapt, to participate in, and even lead in culture, that will allow us to achieve our business goals†, he says. And those business goals are extraordinarily ambitious. Coke’s goal, known as its 2020 Vision, is to double its business by the end of the decade or, in other words, to double what it took 125 years to create! 1. Packaging For Coke, packaging has been a defining aspect of its essence and a key part of its engagement strategy. The contour-shaped Coca-Cola bottle will be 100 years old in 2015. Its shape is iconic, and totally synonymous with the brand. Coke has experimented, and had success, with a variety of packaging innovations over the years, but when sales and brand equity suddenly declined in Australia a couple of years ago, Coke needed to find relevance with Millennials. The solution was an ingenious, if risky, packaging idea: Customizable packaging by replacing the â€Å"Coke† branding with Australia’s most popular Teen first names. Instead of a â€Å"Coke† you could order and drink a â€Å"Mike†, â€Å"Dave† or â€Å"Suzy.† This was hugely successful Down Under: Sales spiked, with an incredible amount of social media impressions and expressions. Customized packaging has now been activated in 30 countries so far. In Japan, where customizing packaging by names could not be done, Coke found another ingenious way to deliver the idea. It partnered with Sony so its customers could download free songs that were tied to their birth year. 2. Partnerships Coke looks at its partners as co-creators of its Portfolio of Innovation. It  dynamically manages the partnerships as assets and Tripodi emphatically states, â€Å"We’re better and stronger with the capabilities of our partners.† 3. Products equipment Critical to Coke’s future is keeping its pipeline full. This past year it introduced over 500 new beverage products around the world. One exciting innovation is the FreeStyle machine, a new generation of fountain dispenser. Offering over 100 products, it enables any kind of flavor mix, creating new and unique flavor combinations. It’s a big shift: out of manufacturing and into equipment innovation to enable consumer co-creation and customization. The individualized consumer experience with the products is a key Millennial expectation. A new mobile app lets consumers save all their blends, so any Freestyle machine will know their favorite flavor combo. Data based on user feedback on the Freestyle, combined with technical monitoring which provides Coke with insight on product, consumer engagement and new dispenser opportunities. It is real-time consumer co-creation with the potential to develop completely new markets for the company. 4. Consumer provocations Part of Coke’s engagement strategy, he explains, is to move away from being a brand that promotes happiness, to a brand that provokes happiness. The heart of Coke’s engagement program is social platforms that provokes experiences through stories that are sufficiently powerful and share worthy to fuel conversations with many. 5. Cultural leadership As the most recognized brand in the world, it is a known fact that Coke has a position in the global cultural consciousness. To stay relevant in a marketplace that is being reordered by Millennials, it has to engage itself in active conversations with this generation. And sometimes those conversations can be awkward, but they are important to take on. Like, for example, the subject of obesity. To that end, Coke has developed what they have termed a 360 degree Engagement Plan, that includes low and no calorie beverages, transparent nutrition information, inspiring well-being and encouraging people to get active and moving by supporting physical activity programs, together with a commitment of not advertising to children under the age of 12. The manager warns that marketers should not be seduced by  technology alone. Without creativity, a strong story, one can’t make a strong connection. Using all of the tools of innovation and storytelling gives Coke the opportunity to spread their brand of happiness around the world and stay relevant. MARKETING MIX Segmentation Market segmentation is the process of portioning market into groups of potential customers with similar needs and/or characteristics who are likely to exhibit similar purchase behavior. Objective of such a process is to analyze and understand market, identify opportunities and use or develop competitive edge to capitalize on those opportunities. The Coca Cola Company segments the customers based on the following criteria: Geographic segmentation: Coca Cola has segmented the worldwide market on the basis of geographies. There are various divisions created for major regions of the world and heads of each division report to the parent company. Lot of autonomy is given to each division to run the operations. Place of consumption: Coca Cola segments the market on the basis of the place of consumption of the beverage. Most of consumption takes place on premises such as bars, restaurants, cinemas etc, while the rest takes place in homes. Product type: Coca Cola segments the market on the basis of the type of products bought by customers. The market is divided into Cola products and non cola products. Cola products currently provide majority of the revenues, but the proportion of non cola products is increasing. Demographics: The segmentation is done on the basis of age, as well as income. Targeting Coca Cola targets different segments with different ads. Primary market is represented by young people, aged between 12 and 25 years old, with people from 25-40 comprising the secondary market. Cola products are targeted towards people who want strong flavor, while Diet Coke and its variants are targeted towards the sub segment that is health conscious. The health conscious segment of the market is targeted also by the non cola beverages. Some of the products, such as Sprite, specifically target teens and college students, while others, such as Limca, target young working population. Positioning Coca Cola positions its products as refreshing and thirst quenching. The products are said to bring joy: Open Happiness. The products are associated with having a good time with friends and family and enjoying everyday life. They are also marketed as consistent and of high quality. ROMANIAN MARKET Coca-Cola HBC Romania is the biggest company in the non-alcoholic beverage industry in the country and is a franchised bottler of The Coca-Cola Company. Coca-Cola HBC Romania (410 billion Euro turnover in 2013) started operations in Romania in 1991 and now it employs 1,700 people. They operate three bottling plants across the country and channel products through 14 warehouses and distribution centers. The product portfolio consists of: leading brands Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite local brands such as the natural mineral waters: Dorna, Dorna Izvorul Alb, Poiana Negri brands licensed by other companies, such as Nestea and Illy. ADVERTISING Share a Coca-Cola campaign For the 1st time in brand’s history, Coca-Cola offered its logo to its consumers and told them to surprise the loved ones offering them a Coca-Cola bottle with their own name on it. The campaign was firstly launched in Australia in 2011 with the purpose to bring back the consumers` interest. The result was a 7% increase in the consumption among young people. From that moment on, the campaign expanded in more than 80 countries. The idea proved to be very successful on the Romanian market too, where it was launched in 2013. Andrei, Ana or Maria had their own Coca-Cola bottles because during that period, the most popular 150 Romanian names replaced the known brand logo. Also, Coca-Cola let its consumers share with friends also, with â€Å"Share a Coca-Cola with a gamer† or â€Å"Share a Coca-Cola with a biker†. The cans and bottles of Coca-Cola also included a series of other words used to define someone like â€Å"lover†, â€Å"your half†, â€Å"the sexy girl†, â€Å"VIP†, â€Å"Diva†, ‘Star† and so on. Say it with a song campaign The idea of having your bottle personalized was continued in 2014 through music. During summer, the Coca-Cola logo was accompanied by the lyrics of  famous songs. Besides lyrics, the bottles had on their labels a QR code, which could be scanned, allowing the consumers to listen to a fragment of the chosen song, before sending it to friends. Moreover, the initiative encompassed a smartphone application through which the consumers could make new friends by identifying people with the same musical preferences in their proximity. Banner Duet Campaign Launched in July 2013, Coca-Cola Banner Duet Campaign is one of the most innovative digital campaigns of last year: the campaign offered users the opportunity to record a personalized digital duet with Adi Despot, the famous lead singer of „Vita de Vie† rock band. In banners across the web, the musician invited the users to call him using their phones. Once they call the number shown, the banner recognizes the call, Adi answered and offered to sing the famous song Praf de Stele together in a duet with him. Adi sang in the banner and the users used their phone as the microphone, and all the singing voices were recorded as a personal duet with him. Besides being part of a unique experience, the users had the chance to win tickets to one of the most important music events in Romania BESTFEST and a meet and greet with the artist. In the 2nd stage of the campaign, all the participates that recorded duets with Adi, were rewarded for the effort: Best voices got a personal YouTube video of their duets On MTV, voices of the recorded users were integrated in the official clip of Praf de Stele At B`ESTFEST, Adi Despot shared the stage with all the voices recorded, and played them as his chorus connecting his fans from digital to the ones from the event. Let`s eat together campaign (2013) The beverage brand combined live tweets with pre-recorded spots in an effort to help people rediscover the happiness of eating meals together. In fact, a whopping 60% of Romanians do not eat meals together, instead opting to live a solitary culinary life in front of their TV sets. Coca-Cola Romania enlisted MRM Worldwide to help Romanians rediscover the happiness of sharing a meal together, of course in hope of associating it with a Coke. They ran a typical ad showing family and friends coming together with the help of  Coca-Cola. However, unlike any other spot ever created, this one integrated live tweets on national television. At the bottom of the ad, there was a text bar that hosted tweets from fans featuring the hashtag #LetsEatTogether. MRM live-edited the tweets as they flowed in and chose up to seven tweets to show each time the ad was played. Most of the tweets were addressed to specific people, with friends inviting friends to have a meal together and enjoy each other’s company. As a result, Coke’s Twitter base in Romania increased 15% and the ad garnered over 1 million social media impressions. Placing live Twitter mentions into a pre-recorded ad presents an incredibly innovative way to combine traditional advertising formats with today’s social media, and proves that you can really invite someone over for a meal through your TV. Radar for good App Campaign (2014) As part of the Crazy for Good initiative, a global project dedicated to people doing good for random strangers, Coca-Cola Romania via MRM Bucharest created Radar For Good, the first mobile platform for close range volunteering, to support the people who want to do good in the society right now. The app shows you where, near you, you can do something good at the moment. This is a good use of locational data for a specific cause. A spokesperson at McCann lets us know: The campaign generated much buzz in Romania, converted over 21.000 volunteers. Also, over 130 NGOs enrolled their causes in â€Å"Radar for Good† and reported an increase in volunteering numbers to up to 50%. CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSABILITY Improving water efficiency In their bottling plants, they closely monitor water sources, minimizing the amount of water they withdraw. By incorporating water saving technologies in their production lines, they have managed to improve the efficiency with which they use water. For example, in Romania two new technologies have been implemented in recent years: †¢ dry lubrication technology eliminates substantial water consumption as gel instead of water moves the beverages along the conveyors on their PET production lines †¢ ionized air technology washes PET bottles, instead of water. Working in partnership â€Å"The Green Danube† is their most longstanding partnership. Together with the  International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, they conduct conservation and awareness-raising activities in Romania and nine other countries lying in the river basin. These include annual Danube Day celebrations, which see the participation of tens/hundreds of thousands of people. In 2008 and 2009, â€Å"Tasuleasa Social† and â€Å"Mai Mult Verde† organizations conducted a large-scale reforestation event in Vatra Dornei and a cleanup of the Siret riverbanks from Vatra Dornei to Galati, including nine cities. At the same time, 200 children from 65 high schools in the area participated in multiple training sessions on volunteering and civic responsibility, leadership, project management, survival skills and first aid. 250 training hours were made possible thanks to volunteer specialists and public figures such as Marcel Iures, Ada Milea and Catalin Stefanescu. SMURD, Romania’s Mobile Emergency Service for Resuscitation and Extrication, joined the program and offered first aid and survival trainings, alongside the volunteers at the Siret river banks clean up. An additional 2,500 teens participated. As part of the â€Å"Adopt a river from its spring to its mouth† (Golden Award at European CSR Awards 2013), water protection and conservation platform, they set up a â€Å"Water Educational Center† in one of their former plants in Dorna Candrenilor. Here local teenagers can learn about biodiversity, pollution and ways to address it, responsible tourism, best practices in volunteering. The project was carried out in partnership with the Romanian Ministry of Environment and Forests, Calimani National Park and Tasuleasa Social organization. At the center and through a series of other educational and ecological campaigns developed over time in Dorna Candrenilor, they are contributing to the long-term protection and conservation of natural riches and water resources in the area where their mineral waters spring. The results of the â€Å"Adopt a river from its spring to its mouth† integrated program, from north of the country, where they bottle the mineral waters to the Danube Delta are: 32,500 trees planted, 70 tonnes of waste collected, 2.5 million euros accessed by local authorities for sewage system and filtering stations for Dorna inhabitants, adopting a law for forbidding the industrial fishing, adopting the urbanism plan in Danube Delta. Energy and climate protection They are accelerating their efforts in the parts of the business that use the most energy: the bottling plants, fleet and cold drink equipment. In bottling plants, they are building combined heat and power units. They are also expanding energy-savings programs. In their fleet, they are exploring and expanding the use of hybrid vehicles and alternative fuels. They are also changing driver behavior with the Safe and Eco-Driving program. Their new energy-efficient cold drink equipment emits up 50% less CO2 emissions than 2004. Packaging and recycling They are working to reduce the environmental impacts of their packaging at every stage of its lifecycle. The integrated approach includes: Reducing the amount of packaging they use Increasing recycled content Promoting recycling and recovery Sport and physical activity Approximately 1,900 people actively participate in their sports and fitness activities each year: The Red Bike contest and tour. Promoting the Active Lifestyle principles is one of the many ways Coca-Cola HBC in Romania brings together its two major commitments: towards people and towards the environment. â€Å"Go green with the Red Bike!† was an event whose concept was launched by Coca-Cola HBC Romania and Green Revolution under the patronage of Bucharest City Hall and the Romanian Cycling Federation. The main objective of this program is to encourage Bucharest’s citizens to adopt a healthy lifestyle. For the second consecutive year, over 1,200 Bucharest citizens have gathered in Izvor Park to take part in the biggest cycling tour for amateurs, the â€Å"Red Bike†. CONCLUSIONS Coca-Cola†¦More than a Product? In fact, it’s not just about the product any more. It’s about stories, memories, associations, and human connections (although of course, these connections would have been very carefully and deliberately engineered by talented marketers over many years and countless board meetings). This is something that Coca-Cola have been the masters of for over 100 years. Even if you duplicated the entire Coca-Cola production process and produced a drink that tastes identical, (or better for that matter!), you could not duplicate the memories people have of the brand, and therefore their connection to it. The secret recipe of Coca-Cola may no longer be secret. It may not even be unique any more. But the memories associated with the brand are, and that is what makes the brand so much more valuable than other colas. Tangible and intangible assets combine to create financial brand equity. This equity is derived from people’s willingness to pay a premium for the brand and an unwillingness to accept substitutes. Like the Tiffany bracelet, people would rather pay more for the recognized brand due to the (deliberately engineered) feelings and identity they associate with it, which have been nurtured by the company over many years. Coca-Cola’s marketing strategy has always been to associate happiness, positivity and the good life with their products, from 1906’s rather officious and puritanical ‘The National Temperance Beverage’ slogan, to 1971’s slightly more idealistic ‘I’d like to buy the world a Coke’, which despite not actually being the official slogan, became so successful that it’s still remembered fondly to this day. Their secret is the focus on: stories, memories, connections, events, positive associations, positive experiences. Without these, a brand will forever remain just one of many options. Coca-Cola have a history of fascinating the public with their marketing campaigns. Except Coca Cola don’t call marketing campaigns ‘marketing campaigns’, rather a â€Å"system wide collaborative effort to engage with consumers in a meaningful and effective way†. An example of this attempt to increase the romantic associations with the brand is the recent ‘Share a Coke’ campaign. This was an attempt to create positive connections between people with Coke at the center that according to their figures created an increase in volume of sales, household penetration and brand love scores. Having such a dominant brand that it eclipses any other in general conversation and becomes synonymous with that particular product provides the strongest possible competitive advantage and is the holy grail of brand equity.

Critical Review of Milk Age-Thickening

Critical Review of Milk Age-Thickening Robert Adi Nugraha The phenomenon known as age thickening refers to the event of viscosity rise just before the formation of gel and loss of fluidity. It is described by Snoeren et al (1982) as structural build-up through weak interactions between casein micelles which could be disrupted through mechanical shear. This effect is observed more on concentrated milk than the single strength milk. (Datta Deeth, 2001) In addition, the type of milk may have a part as well in determining the susceptibility to age thickening. It was found that skim milk samples were more susceptible to age thickening than regular milk. This is because fat had a protective effect against age thickening, perhaps through the interaction with casein micelles. (Harwalker et al, 1983) Age thickening is also a major limiting factor of shelf life for ultra high temperature (UHT) milk. (Datta Deeth, 2001) According to Datta Deeth (2001), there are 4 stages of age thickening. The initial step is the thinning of the product. There is not much change in viscosity observed in second step. The third step should display the sudden change of viscosity and gel formation. The last step is where the separation begins and gel started to appear. This gel that formed has been characterised by the whey proteins (in particular ÃŽ ²-Lactoglobulin) interacting with casein (mainly ÃŽ º-casein) of the casein particle and forming a three dimensional matrix of protein. Thus, this resulted in the formation of ÃŽ ²-Lactoglobulin-ÃŽ º-casein complexes during the heat treatment process involved in production of UHT milk products. Moreover, further changes occur during storage which involve the ÃŽ ²-Lactoglobulin-ÃŽ º-casein complexes being released from casein micelles and cross linking proteins interactions. This resulted in the formation of three dimensional protein network and can be observed as the milk thicken and then gel. (Datta Deeth, 2001) There are several factors that affect age thickening in milk which are: mode and severity of heat treatment, proteolysis, microbiology quality factor, storage temperatures, and fat content. These factors are related to the degree of the three processes which lead to age thickening or gelation which are 1) ÃŽ ²-Lactoglobulin and ÃŽ º-casein interaction, 2) the ÃŽ ²-Lactoglobulin-ÃŽ º-casein complex release from the casein particle, and 3) the cross linking of the ÃŽ ²-Lactoglobulin-ÃŽ º-casein complexes and proteins. (Datta Deeth, 2001) There are several additional factors suggested by Walstra et al (2005) that involve the effect of age thickening in condensed milk. The factors added are the stage at which sugar is added (the latter in the process, the less the age thickening) and the concentration factor (the higher the concentration, the more the age thickening). The effect of heat treatment on preventing age-thickening in cold-stored evaporated milk was looked at by Harwalker et al (1983) and showed that heat treatment was not effective at all. The idea behind their research was because of some changes in casein micelles which resulted from cold storage could be reversed from heating. Thus, the same concept was looked at for application in similar way, but they could not find evidence that the treatment worked. On the other hand, several researches have found that the introduction of UHT heating whether that direct or indirect differentiate the susceptibility of the milk samples to age thickening effect. McKellar et al (1984) found that an increase in viscosity was observed between 6-10 weeks at 20Â °C of directly heated UHT milk compared to the no apparent rise in viscosity during 30 weeks storage at the same temperature for the indirectly heated UHT milk. They suggested that the different heating severity where the indirect heating have higher heat load was the crucial factor that caused this result to be seen. Similar researches were carried out by increasing the temperature or time of heating and the same effect could be observed where the milk samples exposed to higher temperature or longer heating time tend to last longer without age thickening effect observed. (Samuelson Holm, 1966; Zadow Chituta, 1975) The reasoning behind this was suggested through the research of Manji Kakuda (1988) where they proposed that the resistance to age thickening effect observed in more severely heat treated milk samples was due to the increased level of denatured whey protein. The result from this research showed that start of the age thickening effect is factored by formation of denatured whey proteins and casein complex. Some studies have investigated the role of proteolysis of caseins in age thickening of milk. This was accredited to natural milk proteinase (plasmin) and heat stable proteinase produced by contaminants psychrotrophic bacterial. (Datta Deeth, 2001) During storage, the quantity of plasmin in milk may increase because of the endogenous plasminogen activators which convert plasminogen into plasmin and may cause gelation. Plasminogen is more heat stable than plasmin and thus if proteolysis and subsequently age thickening need to be controlled, denaturation of plasminogen must be targeted. In a study specifically designed to look at the effect of proteolysis in age thickening, serine proteinase inhibitors were added to UHT milk to inhibit plasmin and the result after storage for 9 months at 20Â °C was that no proteolysis and gelation occurred. (de Koning et al, 1985) As for the heat stable proteinase produced by psychrothropic bacteria, a Pseudomonas fluorescens strain was isolated from raw milk. The presence of this bacteria led to age thickening gelation over time with the time dependent on the bacteria growth prior to heat processing. (Law et al, 1985) Therefore, both bacterial proteinases and plasmin displayed their abilities to initiate proteolysis and thus age thickening effect in UHT milk. Harwalker et al (1983) tested the microbial quality of the raw milk used for preparing the evaporated milk, but they did not find any significant relation between the age thickening effect and this microbial quality. They proceeded to look at the microbial growth during storage to see if there was a relationship or not. In this part of their research, they did not find evidence to support relationship between an increase in standard plate count of microorganism with age thickening effect. The samples they were testing had an increase in standard plate count to millions, but the viscosity change was less than the samples which had much lower increases in standard plate count. The age thickened samples also showed no microorganisms which are capable of growth with the conditions. (Harwalker et al, 1983) The addition of additives to milk, such as sodium phosphate and sodium citrate, may speed up the age thickening effect, whereas the addition of polyphospates (e.g. sodium hexametaphosphate) could delay this effect. (Datta Deeth, 2001) The age gelation protection provided by polyphosphates increases with chain length and concentration with the most effective one being at 4.8 phosphorus atoms per chain. (Leviton et al, 1963) Furthermore, cyclic phosphates are more effective than the corresponding linear polymers in delaying the effect of age thickening. This is because cyclic phosphates are stable against hydrolysis and thus unable to form complexes with calcium ions which also posses anti-gelation activity as well compared to the linear polyphosphates which are converted slowly into orthophosphate that accelerates age thickening effect. (Leviton et al, 1962) Oxidising conditions such as aeration and peroxide treatments accelerated age thickening, but reducing conditions such as antioxidant treatments tended to delay but not prevent this phenomenon. (Harwalkar et al, 1983) This research also found that age thickening was also accelerated when evaporated skim milk was cold-stored before sterilisation. In relation to commercial practice, the age thickening problem happens to be a seasonal problem and it is more frequent in the early spring. (Hardham, 1996) Storage temperature is an important factor in age thickening effect as well. As noted by Datta Deeth (2001), age thickening takes place most easily at room temperatures (20-25Â °C) compared to the low (4Â °C) or high temperatures (35-40Â °C). Moreover, Harwalker et al (1983) concluded that age thickening may not pose a huge problem if cold storage of concentrate milk before sterilisation could be avoided. However, they noted that it is simply not possible in practical term because of the increasing volume of milk processed in combination with shorter working weeks. Datta Deeth (2001) summarised ways of controlling age gelation in their paper which will be discussed here. These methods are based on minimising proteolytic activity, delaying dissociation of ÃŽ ²-Lactoglobulin-ÃŽ º-casein complex from casein micelle, and inhibition of crosslinking or protein network formation. The first and foremost important way is by using raw milk of high quality in combination with low temperature storage for the least amount of time. In this way, the growth of psychrotrophic bacteria and the proteinases generated from bacteria in milk is minimised before thermal processing. (Datta Deeth, 2001) The second method proposed is heat treatment during preheating and sterilisation. This method needs to achieve the denaturation of most ÃŽ ²-Lactoglobulin and complex formation of the aforementioned denatured whey proteins with casein. In addition, the heat treatment would also inactivate plasmin. Indirect heating is more encouraged rather than direct heating to produce gelation stable milk. (McKellar et al, 1984) The drawback from this method is that it may give cooked flavour which would be a negative attribute for consumers. (Datta Deeth, 2001) The third method suggested in the literature was reported by Barach et al (1976) which is the low temperature inactivation of heat stable enzymes in milk using T=55 Â °C and extended holding time of 30-60 minutes. It was suggested that the proteinase undergoes a conformational change, and then the altered proteinase aggregates with casein, and thus an enzyme-casein complex was formed which inactivate the enzyme. However, this method is flawed in the way that the effect of this low temperature inactivation treatment varies between different milk batches and also some proteinases showed resistance to the temperature-time combination treatment proposed above. (Datta Deeth, 2001) Last method proposed is the addition of additives such as sodium hexametaphosphate to retard age thickening effect. This method was based on Kocak Zadow (1985) experiment which suggests that polyphosphates (sodium hexametaphosphate in particular) stopped the second phase of age thickening gelation which invol ves coagulation of protein. The drawback is that the consumer reaction to additives being added to milk product may be unfavourable. In addition, ultrasound have emerged as a possible method to manage the milk age thickening phenomenon. (Zisu et al, 2012) In the study, they used high intensity ultrasound with frequency of 20 kHz to control the rate of age thickening and reduce the viscosity of concentrated skim milk. (Zisu et al, 2012) This study found that the ageing effect could be reversed which was observed by the reduction of viscosity to similar values that of the starting material. However, they did also note that the ultrasound technique could not prevent age thickening once the process was started (especially if it is already at the advanced thickening stage), they rather delayed the thickening rate. (Zisu et al, 2012) The study concluded that if the ultrasound was to be utilised during the whole evaporation process, the effect on the early stage thickening stage could be prevented. (Zisu et al, 2012) In conclusion, milk age thickening poses a problem for the dairy industry as it could limit the shelf life of products. There is much to be learned of this phenomenon in order to solve this problem. Novel methods such as the ultrasound technique mentioned last are much needed and may arise as more research being focused on the causes of this age thickening effect. The expectation is that more ways would be suggested and researched to prevent this effect from happening and finally resolving the problem. In the mean time, there are few alternatives methods already available or suggested to minimise or delay the age thickening effect.

Pleasantville Essay -- TV Shows Pleasantville Essays

Pleasantville If you think about it, today’s world is not such what we call â€Å"user-friendly† place. Unemployment, severe diseases, global droughts and other dreadful natural disasters that are about to happen to our lives. Even better, the more time passes, the more chances you get to face them in the future. But what the heck, everyone will eventually face all of those problems one day. Danger, devotion, abomination, curiosity, and alterations are always present in our lives. You might think that Pleasantville is pleasant. Well do I have some news for you: nope. The name â€Å"Pleasantville† is just a simple irony that’s all. In Pleasantville, everyone is so empty in their minds. For instance, every character always did the same thing over and over. It’s like everything falls into the right way that it should be. The basketball players always score, the wives are always cooking and taking good care of the husbands and children. Husbands are working, children are little precious angels who never get in any kind of trouble. No worries, no problems, just plain good stability. There is no wrong for them because everything was in sync. It would be really tough to adjust to that kind environment where everything becomes dull and unbearable. No color, no fire, nothing exciting except the way Bud made every shot to the basket without even trying to. No changes what’s so ever. As soon as the characters saw changes, everything was getting completely different....

The Definition of Institutionalize Racism

United States of America is not a country for one specific group of people such as French, China, or Angola. Instead, many of these people come to United States to live. Under one roof, all these different groups have to coexist for this country to function properly. As a result of interaction between groups of different background, race, tension develops. Soon, it becomes a personal dislike from one member of one group for members of another group. While these feeling are unavoidable and sometimes understandable, it is unacceptable to institutionalize these feelings and make it an acceptable part of society. Yet, this has existed and prospered in the social fabric of America since the day of slavery. Black Americans, victims of this institution of racism, have tried to change the system through legal means, and protest. The government has responded through legislation such as Civil Right Act of 1965 and Affirmative Action. These policies have faced opposition from some white Americans, but Justice Blackmun said, â€Å"In order to beyond racism, we must take account of race. † The institution of racism has targeted minority Americans as its victim by denying them the opportunity that everyone else have such as making a living. Those policies address this problem by using race, rightfully, to identify who is the victim of racism, and discrimination. Racism has plagued the public education system long before Brown vs. Board of Education. Segregation has led to underfunded school that has no tools to teach children in black-dominated area. State and local government use property tax to determine the amount of fund a school gets. However, properties in black-dominated area are either run-down, or have low value. As a result, underfunded schools lead to underfunded education that gives black students no skill to make a living. Very few of them will be able to get out of the poverty cycle that has plagued their parents. After Brown vs. Board of Education, mandatory busing has tried to bring black students to white dominated neighborhood school, and also bring white students to urban school. This policy has given black students access to school that has better facilities and equipment. It has forced states and locals government to give more funds to urban school. Many white parents have refused to send their children to urban school for countless reason. They have a valid claim that busing violates their personal freedom. The court has to decide between two conflicting interests, whether to give equal access to one group at the expense of one individual's personal freedom. After deciding in favor of equal opportunity, the court has tried to enforce the decision by mandatory busing, and it has even used the National Guard to escort black students to white school. However, it did not require states to change their school overnight. State and local government then began to have gradual mandatory busing. However, gradualism has watered down the effort of true integration. Juan Williams, Thurgood Marshall's biographer, has said on C-span that Marshall has regretted for not having demanding more aggressively for rapid integration. Today, due to the court keep chipping away part and part of Brown vs. Board of education, school integration and busing remain far and few. State and local government have almost stopped funding for mandatory busing. As a result, public school has become as segregated as ever and the accomplishment of Brown vs. Board of Education has vanished. In its place are programs such as magnet, school choice, voluntary enrollment, or voucher. However, these programs fall far short the goal of equal access, and integration. Magnet, school choice, or voluntary busing promise to bring diversity to school. However, these programs only bring children from urban school into suburban school. White parents will not risk sending their children to urban school for reasonable fear of drugs, crime, or lack of educational equipment. Suburban schools will end up getting more money, and urban schools will keep losing money and students. Since these programs have a quota of how many student can enroll, the majority of students cannot enroll. These unfortunate ones will have to settle for a school that lacks money at their neighborhood. So, these programs only allow a selected few to have an opportunity that students in suburban schools have. Another program is voucher that promotes to give poor minority students a chance for quality education at a private school. However, voucher works much better for a middle class white family trying to get into an exclusive private school than a poor black family. The voucher system determines how much to give by looking at the property tax of a family. If a family is poor, the voucher for that family will not have much worth. Since poor family cannot put much more money into their voucher, voucher program eliminates poor minority families as its recipients, contrary to what it promotes. While voting is considered by many as a personal choice, special interest groups working to ensure representation for minorities have dominated the election process. Sometimes, this helps minorities but can also hurt them. The common method for ensuring minority representation is racial districting. White Americans had used racial districting method such as â€Å"cracking† or â€Å"stacking† to eliminate black votes at first (Swain 426). These methods give minorities no representation or hope of electing a candidate that is friendly toward minorities. Since court has ruled against â€Å"stacking† or â€Å"cracking†, racial districting has appeared of the form â€Å"packing† in recent years (Swain 426). Even though packing surely gives minorities representation, it has diminished the voting power of minorities. In 1991, 15 of the 27 seats held by black politicians have a black population of over 50 percents (Swain 423). This packing of black voters has led to poor turnout and poor performance. For example, one 13 percents of black in Major Owen's district vote in 1986 (Swain 423). Poor performance also contributes to the problem due to an automatic reelection of a black politician in a black majority district. So packing has its benefit in term of ensuring black representation but it also wastes the vote of black Americans. Major Owen surely would have won his district even if it were only 40 percents to 45 percents black. The remaining black voters should move to another district where they can vote for another candidate that will work for their interest. Ironically, the Republican Party appears to be benefited from packing. It has been very supportive of packing that involves large black district. Even if it ensures the election of a black Democrat, it allows the Republican to compete at the new district that has been drained of black Democrats (Swain 405). This makes the election more racially polarized. So the symbol of democracy, the Congress, will also be the most segregated as Republican tries to portray Democrat as a party of black's interest. Swain names the two most promising alternative method for packing are black representation in majority white district and voting for white candidates that can represent the interest of blacks (Swain 431). There has been many doubts that black candidates cannot win in a majority white district. However the election of Governor Wilder, Mayor Bradley, has proved otherwise. Black politicians has proved that they can both represent racial interest and their white constituent such as Louis Stokes (Swain 430). Black voters must not forget there are white politicians that can be as good a black politician such as Gephardt, Kennedy. Minority voters can only benefit from these two methods. First, it allows black politicians to look beyond the House of Representative for a higher office such as the Senate or may be the presidency. Second, it fosters a coalition with other racial and ethnic group (Swain 433). This will expand the representation of Black Americans. These two methods go beyond blaming white people or society for racism by reaching out to white people to combat it. Black and minorities need the help of white politicians and activist who are in a position to make a difference. Only then, the goal of racial equality will be achieved. Racism has tried to exclude minorities from public school and voting. Now, it has turned to another target, the college system in America. Public colleges in America have always used Affirmative Action to determine admission. This program has given minorities an opportunity to seek higher education. It does not promote under-qualification but instead, it will level the playing field for people who are capable of taking the advantage of opportunities that has denied them because of their gender or ethnicity (Patterson 443). When Affirmative Action is examined alone in term of college admission, it has mixed success. For example, the number of Asian students at Berkeley is half of the student body, whereas blacks and Hispanics continue to stagger. This program has come under the attack of conservatives who label it as reverse discrimination. Justice Scalia call it as â€Å"racial preferences appear to even the score† (Siegel 458). Conservatives have completely overlooked the fact that being white is a privilege that other minorities do not have. White men control 99. percents of all the important top position in this country, so what they do from hiring employee, or drafting policy will tend to benefit white people. This is just a normal pattern of human behavior (Patterson 449). Affirmative Action's goal is to correct this problem but it is on the verge of extinction because of proposition 209, or Hopwood vs. Texas. As a result, black admission drop from 65 to 11 in the year following the court case Hopwood vs. Texas. We have seen that effect spreads to UCSD where the number of black students can be measured by finger counting. Opponent of Affirmative Action in college admission has called for using a class-based initiative to determine college admission. They have claimed Affirmative Action not only hurts whites but also Asian Americans. A class based initiative can only help with diversity and does not have the reverse discrimination element that Affirmative Action appears to have. Nonetheless, research has shown Asian American enrollment will increase, white will stay the same, black and Hispanic will decrease if socioeconomic status is used to determine admission (Omi and Takagi 438). The result shows the University of California will be more racially polarized if this plan is implemented. It will generate hostility toward Asian Americans from whites and other minority groups because this plan clearly give Asian American an advantage, unlike Affirmative Action. For a plan that promise diversity, it will end up hurting the diversity makeup of University of California because it deletes race as a factor for consideration. Therefore, minority groups beside Asian American will be denied from an opportunity for higher education. To promote diversity and equal opportunity, race must be taken into consideration because it allows us to identify the victim of racism, who has been denied the opportunity he is entitled to. Without race, how do we know who or where is the victim? Justice Blackmun has said â€Å"to get beyond racism, we must take account of race†. This signifies a shift from protecting individual to protecting a certain group. As a result, race based policies such as Affirmative Action and school desegregation was created. They have helped protecting minority from racism and leveling the playing field. They have forced the public sector and private sector to give minorities equal opportunity because minorities do not have the privilege of being white. The white establishment, without government intervention will extend it hands only to those similar to its. Those policies remedy this preference. Critics of race based policies claim these policies practice reverse discrimination. They want a colorblind policy to be implement instead. However, colorblind policy assumes society to be free of racism and discrimination toward minorities. Statistics have shown otherwise from the low college enrollment of black to the lack of minority in the top position. Colorblind policy will give the control back to the white establishment. Then, discrimination, intentionally or unintentionally, will be directed toward minorities will be much more visible similar to the pre-Civil Right period. In this case, racism cannot be blamed because the people in the establishment are â€Å"colorblind†. It is ironic that a colorblind policy, the goal of the civil right movement, will end up nullifying the legacy of the civil right movement because colorblind is a policy ahead of its time.

The Meaning of Life Essays - Philosophy Of Life, Meaning Of Life

The Meaning of Life Essays - Philosophy Of Life, Meaning Of Life I believe the meaning of life is to give life a meaning. Throughout my entire life, I have wondered what the purpose is. Why am I and every other human being even on this planet in the first place? That brings me to my next question. Is there a God? If there is, why did he put us here? Any Christian asked will say our sole purpose is to serve God. First of all, what does that even mean? And second, I must ask why? Why would a supernatural being place us strategically on this planet strictly to serve him? That sounds pretty selfish to me. There has to be something more. Something concrete. Something greater. How could there not be? All my life I have worked hard to succeed. I have challenged myself and fought to do better than my best. Why? I asked myself. Why stress so much when Im only going to die in the end? Pessimistic, I know. Finally, I thought, maybe the meaning of life doesnt have to be so complex. Maybe the meaning of life is whatever we want it to be. Maybe the meaning of life is to give life a meaning. I do what I do because I want to do it. Its that simple. I do it because it means something to me. Everyone adds their own meaning to life. The meaning of life is never universal. The meaning of life is never complex. The meaning of life is actually quite simple to think about. Many people help the needy. Others play sports. Both activities add meaning to those lives involved. Purposes change, but the overall meaning of life will always stay the same. The meaning of life is simply to give life a meaning. This I believe.

DNA essays

DNA essays I am going to write about if Law Enforcement should team up with doctors to try and make society a safer and better place. There are three main things I am going to talk about proving a good idea: although Mary Faith ( A professor of Kansas medical center) had to say it was bad, getting DNA on newborns, therefore why would it be wrong to know your medical history. First I would like to write about how its a good idea for doctors and law enforcement to team up. Look at the potential DNA has to offer in solving a crime it is unbelievable. With the little amount needed to prove the conviction of a guilty party. There is nothing wrong with taking DNA from a criminal and keeping it on record, even if its from just a violent offender. There isnt anything immoral, or unethical if you are truly rehabilitated. Also with all knowledge of a sexual predator to be public knowledge to be known, according to Megans Law. Next I would like to put my emphasis on how good of an idea it is to take DNA from a newborn, unlike Mary. Whats wrong with taking DNA from a newborn and keeping a database, maybe and hopefully, it could deter and slow down crime in the United States. I mean DNA is everywhere in a crime scene a piece of hair, drop of blood, a piece of skin under the victims fingernails, or the semen of a male taken from a female. Its a good idea in my opinion to get a jump-start to stop crime in the next generation. Also I would like to talk about even if it was possible, which its not according to Charles Tindall, to know of a disease or a paternity result. What would be wrong with that? Personally I would like to know whom my father and or child is, or if I could have any chance of dying anytime soon. It would be great knowledge to know this kind of information in a pure society. this is a good idea it has its advantages that out way the disadvantages from the article, to ...

The eNotes Blog Education Testing123

Education Testing123 Does more equal better?   When it concerns students essay scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SATs), that may well be the case. Milo Beckman, a fourteen-year-old student at Stuyvesant High School in New York conducted a study among his peers after becoming frustrated with the scores he received on the exam. Beckman took the exam twice, and to his surprise, discovered that his second test scored higher than the first, although he deemed the first attempt to be superior in quality. The second essay he wrote was considerably longer, but not, in the students opinion, as well written. Beckman then polled 115 students who had taken the exam in his school, asking them to count the number of words they had written. The students who wrote lengthier essays almost always received a higher score, despite the quality of the content. Beckmans results were confirmed by MIT professor Les Pereleman. (Read the full story as first reported by Elisabeth Leamy of ABCs Good Morning America here.) In other testing news, it is not just students who are being graded. Increasingly, teachers are being held accountable for the performance of their students. Houston, Texas is the latest city to announce that teachers jobs will no longer rely solely on evaluations by their principals. Until this year, 99% of teachers received satisfactory performance scores based on personal reviews. However, now student test scores will play a much greater role in deciding who is hired and fired.

My personal Future plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

My personal Future plan - Essay Example My educational background and these skills ensure that I have the analytical abilities to address issues that arise along my career. I am passionate about science, and it will ease my fitting into the Engineering department. The engineering department needs employees that are thinkers, adore teamwork and are effective communicators. Given the commonly large workload in these departments, employees should be organized so as to save time in duty execution while achieving efficiency. Through my skills, I can develop reliable and dependable communication skills that would facilitate a peaceful coexistence with other employees. Effective communication is essential to an organization’s performance, and I can facilitate it through developing relevant presentation tools. My ability to interact with others will also ensure that we can work together with my colleagues in developing efficient coordination. Though I am an active team player, I possess the initiative to perform on personal tasks while ensuring that deadlines are met. In handling meetings, the opinion of every individual count and with this skill, I will influence fellow employees. My initiative is developed through confidence and the interest to challenge my abilities in achieving required success. The engineering department needs reliable individuals, and the flexibility I have ensures that I am available whenever the organization needs my services. I am also highly organized, a critical factor to the success of any engineer and employees in the

Human Resource Managers, Stress and Work Performance Research Paper

Human Resource Managers, Stress and Work Performance - Research Paper Example Most highlighted factors include job stress, work load, de-motivation and low satisfaction. Literature Review: Job stress is a term used to define the stress related to work that is the outcome of the struggle made by an employee in order to yield high efficiency and performance by accomplishing its tasks, assignments and targets within the due time. This occupational stress may affect the performance of an organization (Weiss, 1983). It has been noted that job stress is becoming a growing concern for majority of organizations and particularly, for the human resource management (Dewe, Driscroll, & Cooper, 2010). Over the years, numerous researches and studies have been conducted in order to understand the importance of stress management. It was concluded that with the advancement in technology and industrialization job stress is increasing rapidly. Job stress has not only effected the mental health and well being of the employees but it has also becoming a growing concern for the emp loyers to deal with the various problems occurred as an outcome of job stress (McGowan, 2006). The Effects of Stress in a Job: Different researches have indicated that numerous health-related issues can emerge due to stress. There could be different factors that would contribute in raising the job stress such as de-motivation and job dissatisfaction. According to Weiss (1983), job dissatisfaction can lead to job stress which can adversely affect the working capacity and the performance of an employee. As a result, this would make the entire organization suffer from low performance and growth. The Impact of Stress on Performance: A clear relationship has been observed between job performance and the job stress. It should be remembered that job performance involves the efforts and struggle of an employee to accomplish its tasks within a specific time. On an account, according to different researches that have been conducted it is concluded that there are four types of relationships be tween the job stress and the job performance. These relationships include negative linear relationship in which stress is responsible for lowering the productivity. In positive linear relationship the performance can be increased by increasing the stress. On the other hand, curvilinear relationship gives rise to mild stress which becomes responsible for elevating the productivity but as the employee faces the stress, the productivity restore to its previous state. However, in the fourth relationship, one factor decreases with the decrease in other factor (Smith and Sainfort, 1989). Factors that Result in Job Stress: There could be number of factors resulting in job stress such as: 1- External factors: External factors include the organizational and family-related conflicts. 2- Internal Factors: These include all the internal factors within an organization. Stress Management in a Work Place: Workplace stress is becoming a concern for all the organizations around the world. It is dire ctly affecting the mental health and the well being of all the human beings suffering from stress. It has been observed that ineffective dealing with stress management could affect adversely, however; managers can implement different techniques to encounter job stress.

Professional Development IP 5 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Professional Development IP 5 - Research Paper Example From the three strengths, you would also choose one of the strengths that you elaborate more about from your previous workplace, and it should be related to the current position that you are seeking. While answering such a question you should demonstrate a high level; of confidence so as to convince the panel that you are the most-suitable candidate and that you deserve that job (Stein, 2003). Another question that you should be prepared to answer is why you would wish to leave your current workplace? The response to this question should be very brief. The respondent should not create a poor picture of the previous employment and show that the move was a personal decision. Honesty plays an important role since your new employer can contact your previous place of work. In some cases, the respondent can also be asked of the salary he/she expects.it is important that the respondent has information about the market value of the target position. The respondent can quote the salary received in the previous place of work and give a figure within the same range if selected. If not stated in the advertisement, you can quote a salary that is up to 20% higher. In some cases, the question of competencies may arise. Due to the constantly changing market the key factors that should be evident in the answer should include flexibility that will allow shifting from one the specified duties to another or from one team to another. Adaptability is key here where you should be able fit to a new environment and work in many departments within the company. The interviewee should also demonstrate high problem-solving skills so as to be able to solve emerging challenges in the course of duty. The ability and willingness to learn should also be brought out as employees will be required to attend workshops and seminars frequently. Some interviewers may ask about your previous accomplishments. In such a question, you would give the most-challenging circumstances that you encountered in

Individual Week 9 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Individual Week 9 - Essay Example They make the participants go through activities that train them to think and act with purpose. Moreover, the programs also teach the participants the importance of teamwork. They try to show the participants that the latter should be excellent team members to make an effective team. A look at the statement shows that the Boeing development of teams and leaders program, in my opinion, is also lacking in try to establish companywide criteria for ethics education and awareness programs. 3. I have worked in a team that can be classified under three of the types of teams according to Hellriegel and Slocum (2010). These three types are functional as well as problem-solving and global. The team I belonged to was in charge of delivering online English classes to non-native speakers. It was functional because each member was responsible for their online lessons, but everyone had to do well to be the best team. The best team was recognized monthly and received rewards. The team could also be a problem-solving one because each member was involved in discussing and finding solutions to a problematic lesson (i.e. unresponsive student, technical issues, etc.) We were in contact with each other through Skype and we had our problem-solving sessions through chat. We also had to be global team because each member was located in different parts of the world, but we were all doing individual tasks to achieve one common goal. 4. Based on my answers, the team I belonged is very empowered for meaningfulness and impact. They know they working to help people speak better and they know a successful lesson will mean a lot to their students’ lives. However, additional training is needed to empower them for potency because some teachers find it hard to teach non-native speakers. They do not have the patience at times or the proper technique to address specific needs of the students. 8. There are five stages of team

Law in a changing society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Law in a changing society - Essay Example This can be put forward as an ideal solution to solve legal issues. Parties involved in the process, therefore, take it upon themselves to conduct a thorough and conclusive investigation on which they will base their argument during the trial process. Whereas, this has always been an ideal solution there are factors that should be considered. The assumption made by the legal system that all parties involved in a case have equal resources to carry out investigation may not always be correct (Parkinson 2009, p.46). The system is, therefore, likely to lock out necessary evidence on account of insufficient resources to provide this evidence. The system further fails to recognize parties that may be disadvantaged by factors such as disability and race. The law governing residential tenancies in Australia does not include boarders and lodgers. This means that when faced with a legal challenge, they can only seek justice in the Supreme Court. At the Supreme Court, they will have to argue their case through the traditional adversarial process. The cost of filing a case currently is $894. This considered, the process becomes too expensive for a person who wanted to seek justice. Over the last 30 years, the Australian legal system has sought to adopt some of the aspects of the inquisitorial system. In the section of anti-discrimination law, the Australian law now provides that there should be an investigation by an independent body. This can be done before the disputing parties get brought together to solve their disputes (Parkinson 2009, p.48). The law can be seen to have adopted some of the aspects of the inquisitorial law in the western countries. At the state and territory level, the law provides that the decision making body for allegations of discrimination should be a tribunal. The tribunal looks for evidence that is relevant to the case. The tribunal manages to go beyond the evidence

Environmental analysis case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Environmental analysis case study - Essay Example It starts by outlining a brief historical background of the organisation in question for the sake of easier understanding then followed by an analysis of the above mentioned tools for scanning the environment in which the organisation operates. Environmental scanning plays a pivotal role in helping the marketing managers of an organisation to be better positioned to know the situation obtaining on the ground for them to be able to gain a competitive advantage especially in view of the competition that exists. Background According to Datamonnitor (2004) â€Å"Tesco PLCTesco is the largest food retailer in UK, operating around 2,318 stores worldwide. It operates around operates around 1,878 stores throughout the UK, and also operates stores in the rest of Europe and Asia. Tesco.com is a wholly-owned subsidiary offering a complete online service, including tescodirect.com and tesco.net. The company also offers a range of both online and offline personal finance services. Tesco is headq uartered in Hertfordshire, UK.† Against this background, this essay seeks to outline the organisation’s PESTEL analysis, Porter’s five forces model as well as the value chain. Kotler (1999) posits to the effect that PESTEL analysis is a powerful tool in determining as well as understanding the market forces that affect the growth of business. In other words, it determines the direction for operations in any given business. PESTEL analysis for Tesco PESTEL stands for factors which may affect the operations of business such as political, economic, social, technological, environmental as well as legal factors (Lancaster & Reynolds 1999). This is a very useful tool in analysing the environment in which an organisation operates. It can be noted that there are various factors that affect the operations of any given organisation and these have to be taken into consideration by the senior management so as to achieve a competitive advantage by the organisation. Any given organisation is guided by certain factors that so as to ensure that it does not violate the needs and interests of the consumers as well as the other stakeholders. Political In UK and Europe at large, there are policies that govern the operations of all retail stores. There are laws that govern monopolies as well as competition and these are some of the main political factors that affect the operations of Tesco. It can be noted that Tesco’s success is owed to the observation of these policies where protection of the consumer interests is take as a virtue. Consumer law in UK is effective and under the EU law, every big organisation like Tesco is expected to protect the needs and interests of the customers. Continuous scanning of the political environment greatly helps Tesco to gain a competitive advantage over other rival competitors. On the other hand, it can be noted that the current political environment prevailing in the EU is not exploitative which is seen as the reason w hy Tesco is able to keep pace with the demands of the market. The government in the UK determines the value of the currency as well as the exchange rates and it can be noted that the success of Tesco is greatly owed to compliance with these rules and regulations promulgated by the government. The Competition Commission for instance suggests that a supermarket should not account for more than 25% of the national market and these are som

Individual Week 9 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Individual Week 9 - Essay Example They make the participants go through activities that train them to think and act with purpose. Moreover, the programs also teach the participants the importance of teamwork. They try to show the participants that the latter should be excellent team members to make an effective team. A look at the statement shows that the Boeing development of teams and leaders program, in my opinion, is also lacking in try to establish companywide criteria for ethics education and awareness programs. 3. I have worked in a team that can be classified under three of the types of teams according to Hellriegel and Slocum (2010). These three types are functional as well as problem-solving and global. The team I belonged to was in charge of delivering online English classes to non-native speakers. It was functional because each member was responsible for their online lessons, but everyone had to do well to be the best team. The best team was recognized monthly and received rewards. The team could also be a problem-solving one because each member was involved in discussing and finding solutions to a problematic lesson (i.e. unresponsive student, technical issues, etc.) We were in contact with each other through Skype and we had our problem-solving sessions through chat. We also had to be global team because each member was located in different parts of the world, but we were all doing individual tasks to achieve one common goal. 4. Based on my answers, the team I belonged is very empowered for meaningfulness and impact. They know they working to help people speak better and they know a successful lesson will mean a lot to their students’ lives. However, additional training is needed to empower them for potency because some teachers find it hard to teach non-native speakers. They do not have the patience at times or the proper technique to address specific needs of the students. 8. There are five stages of team

Environmental analysis case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Environmental analysis case study - Essay Example It starts by outlining a brief historical background of the organisation in question for the sake of easier understanding then followed by an analysis of the above mentioned tools for scanning the environment in which the organisation operates. Environmental scanning plays a pivotal role in helping the marketing managers of an organisation to be better positioned to know the situation obtaining on the ground for them to be able to gain a competitive advantage especially in view of the competition that exists. Background According to Datamonnitor (2004) â€Å"Tesco PLCTesco is the largest food retailer in UK, operating around 2,318 stores worldwide. It operates around operates around 1,878 stores throughout the UK, and also operates stores in the rest of Europe and Asia. Tesco.com is a wholly-owned subsidiary offering a complete online service, including tescodirect.com and tesco.net. The company also offers a range of both online and offline personal finance services. Tesco is headq uartered in Hertfordshire, UK.† Against this background, this essay seeks to outline the organisation’s PESTEL analysis, Porter’s five forces model as well as the value chain. Kotler (1999) posits to the effect that PESTEL analysis is a powerful tool in determining as well as understanding the market forces that affect the growth of business. In other words, it determines the direction for operations in any given business. PESTEL analysis for Tesco PESTEL stands for factors which may affect the operations of business such as political, economic, social, technological, environmental as well as legal factors (Lancaster & Reynolds 1999). This is a very useful tool in analysing the environment in which an organisation operates. It can be noted that there are various factors that affect the operations of any given organisation and these have to be taken into consideration by the senior management so as to achieve a competitive advantage by the organisation. Any given organisation is guided by certain factors that so as to ensure that it does not violate the needs and interests of the consumers as well as the other stakeholders. Political In UK and Europe at large, there are policies that govern the operations of all retail stores. There are laws that govern monopolies as well as competition and these are some of the main political factors that affect the operations of Tesco. It can be noted that Tesco’s success is owed to the observation of these policies where protection of the consumer interests is take as a virtue. Consumer law in UK is effective and under the EU law, every big organisation like Tesco is expected to protect the needs and interests of the customers. Continuous scanning of the political environment greatly helps Tesco to gain a competitive advantage over other rival competitors. On the other hand, it can be noted that the current political environment prevailing in the EU is not exploitative which is seen as the reason w hy Tesco is able to keep pace with the demands of the market. The government in the UK determines the value of the currency as well as the exchange rates and it can be noted that the success of Tesco is greatly owed to compliance with these rules and regulations promulgated by the government. The Competition Commission for instance suggests that a supermarket should not account for more than 25% of the national market and these are som

Ratio Analysis of Hcl Tech Essay Example for Free

Ratio Analysis of Hcl Tech Essay It provides software-led IT solutions, remote infrastructure management and BPO services, focused mainly on transformational outsourcing. The company leverages its extensive offshore infrastructure and global network of offices in 31 countries to deliver solutions across selected verticals including financial services, retail and consumer, life sciences, aerospace, automotive, semiconductors, telecom, media publishing and entertainment. HCL takes pride in its philosophy of â€Å"Employees First, Customers Second† which empowers their 84,403 employees to create a real value for the customers. HCL Technologies, along with its subsidiaries, had consolidated revenues of US$ 4. 5 billion, as on 31st March 2013. HCL Leadership team 2. Objectives of Study Development of industries depends on several factors such as financial, personnel, technology, quality of product and marketing. Financial aspects assume a significant role in determining the growth of industries. All the company’s operations virtually affect its need for cash. Most of these data covering operations area are however outside the direct responsibility of the financial executives. The firm whose present operations are inherently difficult should try to makes its financial analysis to enable its management to stay on top of its working position. In this context I am undertaking financial ratio analysis of HCL Technologies to examine and understand financial performance of the company. Using ratio analysis this project will provide the insights of – * The growth and development of HCL Technologies for last 5 years (FY 08-12) * The behavior of liquidity and profitability of HCL Technologies * The factors determining the liquidity and profitability of HCL Technologies Scope The scope of the study is limited to financial data published in the annual reports of the company every year. The analysis is done to suggest possible solutions for financial growth of the organization. This study is carried out for 5 years (2008-2012). Also data provided by external agencies are used for analysis of future predication. 3. Concept of Financial Statement amp; Ratio Analysis 2 3. 2 Financial Statement To understand the information contained in financial statements with a view to know the strength or weaknesses of the organization, to make forecast about future prospects and thereby enabling the management and external parties to take different decisions regarding the operations. Fundamental analysis has a very broad scope. One aspect looks at the general (qualitative) factors of the company. The other side considers tangible and measurable factors (quantitative). This means crunching and analyzing numbers from the financial statements if used in conjunction with other methods, quantitative analysis can produce excellent results. Ratio Analysis Ratio analysis is the method or process by which relationship/group of items in the financial statement are computed, determined and presented. Ratio analysis is an attempt to derive quantitative measure or guides concerning the financial health and profitability of business enterprises. Ratio analysis can be used both in trend and static analysis. Purpose of several ratios depends on the objective of analysis. A financial ratio measures a company’s performance in a specific area. For example, you could use a ratio of a company’s debt to its equity to measure a company’s gearing. By comparing the gearing ratios of two companies, you can determine which company uses greater debt per equity. You can use this information to make a judgment as to which company is better investment risk. However, you must be careful not to place too much importance on one ratio. You obtain better indication of the direction in which a company is moving when several ratios are taken as a group. Ratios are worked out to analyze the following aspects of an enterprise: a. Solvency: i. Long term ii. Short term iii. Immediate b. Profitability c. Operational Efficiency d. Credit standing e. Effective utilization of resources f. Investment Analysis 3. 4 Significance of Ratio Analysis in Financial Statement Ratio analysis is very important in revealing the financial position and soundness of the business so used by various parties * Management: The group that has the most interest in financial statement analysis is management. Management needs to discover quickly any area of mismanagement so that corrective action can be quickly taken. It mainly helps in: * Decision making: Ratio analysis helps in making decision from the information provided in these financial Statements. Financial forecasting and planning: Planning is looking ahead and the ratios calculated for a number of years a work as a guide for the future. * Communicating: The financial strength and weakness of a firm are communicated in a more easy and understandable manner using ratios. * Co-ordination: Better communication of efficiency and weakness of an enterprise result in better co-ordination in the enterprise * Control: The weaknesses are otherwise, if any, come to the knowledge of the managerial, which helps, in effective control of the business. * Investors or Shareholders Investors are interested in financial statements to evaluate current earnings and to predict future earnings. Financial statements influence greatly the price at which stock is bought and sold. * Lenders: Bankers before granting loans usually require that financial statements be submitted. Whether or not a loan is made depends heavily on a company’s financial condition and its prospects for the future. * Employees: Employees are mainly concerned about the profitability. Their salaries and increments are dependent on the profit made by the company. * Government:

Enron Scandal: Impact on Accounting

Enron Scandal: Impact on Accounting Accounting for Enron 1. Why is accounting being blamed for the losses sustained by investors as a result of the collapse of Enron? Is this criticism fair and do financial accounting and reporting practices need to be reformed? Accounting has been blamed for the losses sustained by Enron, as it allowed the company to hide details of its dealings from its investors, until the company’s financial situation was so bad that the firm was forced to go bankrupt almost overnight. Enron’s downfall has been characterised as â€Å"excessive interest by management in maintaining stock price or earnings trend through the use of unusually aggressive accounting practices.† (Healy, 2003) As part of this, Enron used â€Å"‘mark-to-market accounting’ for the energy trading business in the mid-1990s and used it on an unprecedented scale for its trading transactions.† (Thomas, 2002) Under mark-to-market accounting practices, companies with outstanding derivative contracts or purchases on their balance sheets when accounts are being prepared must adjust them to â€Å"fair market value† (Thomas, 2002) As a result, predicted long term gains or losses on these contract are applied to the company’s profits immediately, similar to depreciation, or asset write downs. The main difficulty encountered when doing this for long-term futures contracts in energy markets is that â€Å"there are often no quoted prices upon which to base valuations. Companies having these types of derivative instruments are free to develop and use discretionary valuation models based on their own assumptions and methods, as Enron did.† (Healy, 2003) Another accounting technique Enron used to hide significant debts was the use of special purpose entities (SPEs), which Enron took to â€Å"new heights of complexity and sophistication, capitalizing them with not only a variety of hard assets and liabilities, but also extremely complex derivative financial instruments, its own restricted stock, rights to acquire its stock and related liabilities.† (Thomas, 2002) Enron also used these SPEs to hide details of assets which were excessively declining in value, thus avoiding having losses from asset write down and depreciation charges on the company books. This practice was applied to â€Å"certain overseas energy facilities, the broadband operation or stock in companies that had been spun off to the public.† (Thomas, 2002) The accounting treatments around SPEs meant that the losses sustained on these asset write downs would not appear on Enron’s accounts. Enron promised share issues to the investors in the SPEs to co mpensate them for taking these assets on but, as the value of the assets fell even further, Enron found itself unable to meet these commitments from share issues. These creative accounting techniques began to be suspected by investors in October 2001, when Enron several new businesses failed to perform as well as expected. Enron was hoping these new businesses would cover its losses on the SPEs but, in October 2001 the company was forced to announce a major series of write-downs of its own assets, including â€Å"after tax charges of $2.87 million for Azurix, the water business acquired in 1998, $180 million for broadband investments and $544 million for other investments.† (Healy, 2003) These write downs amounted to twenty two percent of the capital spent by Enron on developing its business between 1998 and 2000. In addition, Enron sold Portland General Corp., the electric power plant it had acquired in 1997, for $1.9 billion, at a loss of $1.1 billion over the acquisition price. (Healy, 2003) The losses incurred as a result of this caused investors to question whether Enron’s strategy was feasible in the long tem, and in market s other than derivatives. In summary, whilst the accounting concepts and strategy underlying the gas derivatives trading was a reasonable attempt to produce value for investors, â€Å"extensions of this idea into other markets and international expansion were unsuccessful.† (Healy, 2003) However, whilst the mark to market and SPE accounting techniques used by the company helped hide this fact from investors, the stock markets as a whole were guilty of â€Å"largely ignored red flags associated with Enrons spectacular reported performance† (Thomas, 2002). This aided and, in the eyes of the management at Enron, vindicated the company’s expansion strategy by allowing Enron access to plenty of capital cheaply and easily. As such, accounting cannot be entirely blamed for the losses sustained by investors, as the investors themselves simply assumed that the value Enron appeared to be generating â€Å"would be sustained far into the future, despite little economic basis for such a projection.â €  (Thomas, 2002) As a result, whilst accounting made it easier for Enron to mislead its investors, the facts show that investors themselves were more concerned with Enron’s reported profits and growth, than analysing the roots causes and business model. 2. Does it matter what accounting policies are adopted by a company as long as they are adequately disclosed? A â€Å"very confusing footnote in Enrons 2000 financial statements† (Thomas, 2002) described the transactions in question one, however according to analysts, â€Å"most people would be hard pressed to understand the effects of these disclosures on the financial statements, casting doubt on both the quality of the companys earnings as well as the business purpose of the transaction.† (Thomas, 2002) By early 2001, several market analysts had begun to question the clarity and transparency of Enron’s disclosures. One analyst was quoted as saying, â€Å"The notes just dont make sense, and we read notes for a living.† (Thomas, 2002) Enron publicly denounced and abused these analysts however, because of these actions, investors began to view Enron’s accounting policies, and disclosures, with greater and greater scepticism. Indeed, despite the fact that Enron’s disclosures were adequate in the regulatory framework, they were still not in the spirit of managerial responsibility to shareholders. In another example of inadequate disclosure policies, Satava et al (2003) examined the celebrated Royal Mail Case and the implications of the case for the accounting practice today. Satava’s arguments claimed that the case was â€Å"not about the utilization of secret reserves, but about the non-disclosure of repayments by the Inland Revenue of over provisions for tax, and that defence counsel for the auditor succeeded because of the weak factual case presented by the prosecution.† (Satave et al, 2003) In summary, the duty of accountants to adequately disclose their accounting policies can often conflict with attempts by the same accountants to use these policies to benefit the company. As a result, these conflicts of interest often result in only materially adequate disclosures of substandard accounting policies. 3. To what extent did Enron use off balance-sheet financing in its operations? Were these transactions appropriately treated and adequately disclosed in the financial statements of the company? What consequences did the accounting treatment of these transactions have for Enron and its investors? The main way Enron used off balance sheet financing was in its extensive use of SPEs to give it ready access to finance without having to report any debts it incurred in its accounts. The company contributed assets, and debt secured against those assets, to an SPE in exchange for control of the SPE, and the SPEs then borrowed large amounts of capital which was used to finance Enron, without any debt or assets showing up in Enron’s accounts. Enron also sold assets to the SPEs at above market value, and thus reported profits on these sales. Enron used huge numbers of SPEs in this way, the most well known of which were LJM Cayman LP and LJM2 Co-Investment LP. â€Å"From 1999 through July 2001, these entities paid Enron managers more than $30 million in management fees, far more than their Enron salaries, supposedly with the approval of top management and Enrons board of directors.† (Healy, 2003) The SPEs in turn created yep more SPEs, known as the Raptor vehicles, which enabled Enron to invest heavily in a bankrupt broadband company, Rhythm NetConnections, during the dotcom boom. To finance this investment Enron made a share issue worth $1.2 billion. However, in order to complete this deal, Enron increased shareholders’ equity to reflect this transaction, which has been claimed to violate accounting standards and principles. Additionally, accounting rules actually meant that Enron should have included information from the LJM and Raptor SPEs in their accounts, rather than continue to use them as off balance sheet financing. (Healy, 2003) In addition to these minor violations, Enron revealed in October 2001 that several other SPEs had violated the accounting standard that required at least 3 percent of the entities to be owned by other investors, with no interest in the parent company. Again, by ignoring this requirement, Enron kept the financing it obtained from these entities off its balance sheet, enabling it to understate its liabilities and losses on this source of financing. However, on October 16, 2001, Enron announced that â€Å"restatements to its financial statements for years 1997 to 2000 to correct these violations would reduce earnings for the four-year period by $613 million (or 23 percent of reported profits dating the period), increase liabilities at the end of 2000 by $628 million (6 percent of reported liabilities and 5.5 percent of reported equity) and reduce equity at the end of 2000 by $1.2 billion (10 percent of reported equity).† (Thomas, 2002) In addition to the accounting failures, Enron only disclosed the minimum amount of details on its investments in the SPEs, and the amount of financing it had gained from them. The company claimed that it had hedged some of its investments using special purpose entities, but failed to inform investors that Enron shares were being used as part of this hedge. Moreover, Enron allowed several of its senior managers, including its chief financial officer Andrew Fastow, to become partners of the special purpose entities. Thus, these employees were able to make large amounts of profit, in both cash and shares, from the off balance sheet financing provided by companies they partly owned. (Thomas, 2002) This was a clear failure to fulfil their fiduciary responsibility to Enrons stockholders, and contributed to the extent of the company’s downfall. 4. Would similar treatment of off balance-sheet transactions be permissible in the UK? Tollington (2001) is one of the foremost academics claiming that financial accounts no longer provide a true and accurate representation of the value of a business, due to the widening between the values accounting policies place on assets, and the market values of said assets. His paper argues that â€Å"the definitional requirement for ‘transactions or events’ appears to restrict their recognition,† and therefore disclosure on balance sheets, which enables similar off balance sheet transactions in the UK. Equally, ‘white-collar crime’ has massively increased in recent years, with some estimates stating that over half a trillion pounds of criminal proceedings are laundered through the world’s financial markets each year. (Mitchell et al, 1998) The majority of this is moved in large quantities, and this cannot be done successfully without willing accountants, who can use creative accounting to hide any money laundering outside the scope of company accounts. However, new money laundering regulations mean that accountants, and related professionals, are now supposed to report any fraud or money laundering wherever they find it, and this applies as much to illegal activity the UK as to anywhere else. Whilst securitization, which incorporates the use of SPEs for off-balance-sheet financing, has been extensively reviewed in recent years, there are still concerns over the extent to which off balance sheet financing can be abused, both in the UK and abroad. The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) recently introduced new standards, and modified their existing standards, in order to more rigorously define the acceptable accounting treatments for securities. (Satava et al, 2003) Whilst some accountant and analysts are still hoping to move towards a single, global, set of accounting standards, this is likely to take several times. Other jurisdictions are also keen to create a globally accepted set of standards, and in the UK the Accounting Standards Board (ASB) is converging with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), commonly referred to as IAS, to minimise the extent to which off balance sheet financing can be practiced. Two other factors have combined with the restructuring of financial and other industries in a way that has placed additional stress on the corporate governance function, and off balance sheet transactions: greater complexity of business structures and greater emphasis on stock prices. In the last decade or so, business has experienced a surge of fluid organizational arrangements as well as a routinisation of complex transactions, with alliances, joint ventures, multifaceted sale arrangements and hybrid, structured finance arrangements becoming commonplace. (Monks and Minow, 2003) The net effect is the economic boundaries of the firm have become ambiguous and extremely fluid, a phenomenon reflected in the wonderfully euphemistic phrase â€Å"off balance-sheet financing,† where the firm structures transactions and relationships to avoid their explicit recognition in traditional accounting displays. A typical example is a firm that holds a portfolio of mortgages. It places the po rtfolio in a free-standing legal entity with distinctly limited scope, a Special Purpose Entity, but continues the transaction processing and possibly provides credit enhancements. In different variations, inventory, research and development or even rights to future revenue cash flows are parked in Special Purpose Entities (Griffiths, 1995). Reporting regulations allow the Special Purpose Entity to be kept off of the firms formal financial statements; as long as it is disclosed, provided substantive risk has been shifted to an independent third party. (Nelson, 2003) General Electric, an aggressive purveyor of these arrangements, for example, reports sponsored Special Purpose Entities with assets in excess of $50 billion in its 2001 financial report. The â€Å"independent third party† must have (among other things) a minimum of 3 percent ownership of the Special Purpose Entity’s equity and debt, although the Financial Accounting Standards Board in the US has recently tightened these requirements to resemble that of the UK. (Demski, 2003) However, Special Purpose Entities are only one aspect of this wave of organizational and financial innovation. This greater degree of complexity has interacted with a corporate governance environment that has been placing heightened emphasis on shareholder value (Nelson, 2003), including an explosion in the use of option-based compensation. A substantial portion of the greater complexity appears to be motivated by a concern for financial presentation, for example, â€Å"beautifying† ones balance sheet In some cases, the effect may be as simple as a matter of timing: for instance, the timing of selected expenditures and shipments can affect current period financial results, just as can the time at which a sale is formally booked or a loan is consummated. With the assistance of hybrid financial and organizational transactions, a lease can be structured so it does, or does not, show up on the lessees balance sheet, thereby affecting the total debt that a firm reports, through other methods than off-balance sheet financing. However, fundamentally, Enron, used Special Purpose Entities to di sguise significant amounts of debt as commodity prepay transactions. Through a series of circular or round-trip prepaid transactions, this Special Purpose Entity was the centerpiece in â€Å"allowing† Enron to borrow money but to record the amount borrowed as cash generated by operations, because prepaid commodity contracts are generally booked as trades, not loans, a distinction which would have been clearer in the UK (Deminski, 2003). 5. Are principle based types of accounting standard like FRS 5 more effective in dealing with accounting abuses than the more rule based standards of the US? Although the foundation of financial accounting and auditing has traditionally been based upon a rule based framework, the concept of a principle based approach has been periodically advocated since being incorporated into the AICPA Code of Conduct in 1989. Enron and similar events indicated that the accountants and auditors involved have followed rule based ethical perspectives, however these rule based standards have failed to protect investors from accounting abuses. Satava et al (2003) thus described how â€Å"rule based traditions of auditing became a convenient vehicle that perpetuated the unethical conduct of firms such as Enron and Arthur Andersen.† They presented a model of ten ethical perspectives and briefly described how these ten ethical perspectives impact rule based and principle based ethical conduct for accountants and auditors, concluding by identifying six specific suggestions that the accounting and auditing profession should consider to restore public trus t and to improve the ethical conduct of accountants and auditors. Their conclusions showed that principle based standards were less open to abuses that rule based standards, provided the principles were well defined. Indeed, the publication of a recent amendment to Financial Reporting Standards (FRS) 5 by Great Britains Accounting Standards Board, sought to clarify how to account for SPEs and similar entities, with emphasis on how the principles of the FRS 5 will apply to transactions conducted with these entities. Accountancy (2004) claimed that by publishing an amendment to FRS 5, the United Kingdom Accounting Standards Board was attempting to stop the flow of off balance sheet accounting, despite concerns expressed surrounding the amended FRS 5. The article provided information on an amendment to FRS 5, â€Å"Reporting the Substance of Transactions†, namely the addition of â€Å"Application Note G, Revenue Recognition†. The note has been prepared in response to the need for clarity in respect to questions that arise concerning the treatment of revenue and, in particular, the treatment of turnover. The amendment was published as an Exposure Draft in February 2003 for public comment and, in finalizing the document; the Accounting Standards Board took into consideration the comments received in response to the draft and has consulted interested parties. In FRS 5, in the list of contents immediately preceding the summary, the list of Application Notes is extended by adding at the end, G Revenue Recognition and sets out basic principles of transaction and revenue recognition which should be applied in all cases This thus has increased the extent to which the principle based accountancy legislation in the UK can control the extent of off balance sheet transactions, and correspondingly increased the necessary amount of disclosure. (Accountancy, 2004) However, it has been argued by some theorists that the reform efforts may have been unwise (Culp and Nickanen, 2003), due to a need to recognise that accounting is retrospective, and Enron’s problems were evident to investors if they used more forward looking information. The share price was declining long before the disclosures, quick surveys of four issues: the state of wholesale electric markets before and after Enron, the state of regulation of wholesale electric markets before and after Enron, online trading before and after Enron, and whether swaps need regulation, shows that accounting abuses must still have an underlying business reason. It has also been argued that Enrons use of special entities for off-balance-sheet financing is a perversion of a useful, and often appropriate, accounting technique and such perversions can equally be applied to other techniques under principle-based standards. Equally, it has been recognised that the latitude inherent in principles, or concepts, based standards can be a double-edged sword. â€Å"Such latitude allows managers to choose accounting treatments that reflect their informed understanding of the underlying economics of transactions.† (Nelson, 2003) This latitude, however, also permits managers to â€Å"advocate reporting treatments that do not reflect the underlying economics of a transaction.† (Maines et al, 2003) Both managers and accountants must have strong ethical principles in order for their accounting under principle based standards to reflect the true value of their business, especially in difficult times Both the SEC and the Auditing Standards Board in America support this view with their focus on the quality, as opposed to simply the acceptability, of financial reporting, as well as placing strong emphasis on â€Å"the need for expert judgment and unbiased reporting† (Maines et al, 2003) Concepts-based standards have the potential to promote the financial reporting goals of the regulatory bodies in ways that rules-based standards cannot. However, in order for this to happen, individuals must possess a conceptual framework for financial information in order to use this information appropriately in decision making. Principle-based standards reflect a more consistent application of conceptual framework, and thus enhance individuals’ understanding of the frameworks. Thus, a concepts based approach is consistent with the FASBs stated goal to â€Å"improve the common understanding of the nature and purposes of information contained in financial reports.† (Maines et al, 2003) Also, principle-based standards are consistent with the stated goal of the FASB to promote convergence of accounting standards worldwide. The European Commission has recently proposed that the U.S. abandon GAAP in favour of the more flexible IAS, which emphasizes ‘substance over form’ in auditors inspection of the accounts. (Ampofo and Sellani, 2005) As a result, a concepts-based approach likely will lead to greater agreement in standard setting between the FASB and IASB and thus will also promote international harmonization. (Maines et al, 2003) 6. What has been the overall impact on corporate reporting of Enron and other recent financial scandals? The events surrounding the demise of Enron have led to corporate reporting procedures being called into question all over the world. It resulted in critics questioning how adequate the disclosure legislation was at the time, and also to query how a major accounting firm could conduct independent audits of a firm they were engaged in major consulting work for, when the audit fees were tiny in comparison to the consulting fees. The â€Å"scandal threatened to undermine confidence in financial markets in the United States and abroad; and the accounting profession and regulatory bodies were forced to act.† (Swartz, 2005) In a characteristic move, the SEC and the public accounting profession were among the first to respond to the Enron crisis. In a piece for the Wall Street Journal, the SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt called the outdated reporting and financial disclosure system the financial â€Å"perfect storm.† (Thomas, 2002) He stated that â€Å"under the quarterly and annual reporting system in place at the time, information was often stale on arrival and mandated financial disclosures were often, ‘arcane and impenetrable’† (Thomas, 2002) In order to reassure investors and restore confidence in financial reporting, Pitt called for â€Å"a joint response from the public and private sectors to strengthen regulations and prevent a recurrence of these events.† (Thomas, 2002) As a result, since the Enron debacle, the global corporate reporting regulators were quick to move to stem the rising tide of public interest against their profession, displaying the banner â€Å"Enron: The AICPA, the Profession, and the Public Interest† on its Web site. (Shwarz, 2005) It announced the imminent issuance of an exposure draft on a new audit standard on fraud, the third in five years up to 2002, providing more specific guidance on corporate reporting standards than was found at the time in SAS no. 82, ‘Consideration of Fraud in a Financial Statement Audit.’ The Institute also promised a â€Å"revised standard on reviews of quarterly financial statements,† (Thomas, 2002) as well as the issuance, in the second quarter of 2002, of an exposure draft of a standard to improve the audit, transaction reporting and disclosure process. The major piece of legislation to come out of the Enron scandal was the Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) report, which was passed by the U.S. Congress in 2002 in response to the demise of Enron and the WorldCom scandal. SOX requires firms to vouch for accounting controls and disclose weaknesses to shareholders, and almost all concerned parties have agreed that the SOX was a necessary and useful piece of legislation, that helped restore faith in U.S. companies and their financial statements. (Swartz, 2005) However, whilst no one disputes the benefits, business leaders have often complained that â€Å"the costs associated with Section 404 compliance are much higher than expected, and are an undue burden on most companies.† (Swartz, 2005) Many major companies, and some analysts, have criticised the large increases in auditing expenses, as these expenses create no direct value for businesses, and act to remove money from the economy which would otherwise be invested. Business lobbyists have a lso begun lobbying government bodies in the major financial centres, claiming that SOX slows business expansion and the growth in the number of available jobs (Swartz, 2005) The level of complaints from companies about the increased costs associated with the new corporate reporting standards prompted U. S. auditing regulators, in May 2005, to move to ease the auditing expenses companies were forced to engage in, however regulators also said that the law has greatly benefited investors and there is no need for the U.S. Congress to change it at this time. (Swartz, 2005) Despite the obvious benefits that the increased level of reporting and disclosure provides to investors, many companies have complained that the compliance costs are too high, and that auditors force them to go through expensive corporate reporting procedures that accomplished little than to line the auditor’s pockets. 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