Despite Proctors Essay

Another character introduced in Act two is Mary Warren. She is extremely important to the Act as she is what makes the connection between village life and the sentencing that is happening at the courts, and with the proctor household. She is the one who tells us that there have been thirty-nine arrests. When she first arrives in Act two we find that she has defied the orders of John and Elizabeth by going to the court. When told that she must not return she rebels using the excuse â€Å"I am an official of the court†. This is a fine example of how the hysteria of witchcraft has affected the everyday life in the community of Salem. Mary is a servant within the proctor household; she is paid nine pounds a year to ‘keep the house’. She is not in a position to rebel against the word of Elizabeth or John, and under normal circumstances would not do so. We know that this is peculiar behaviour because of Elizabeth’s reply to Proctor, when asked why she had let Mary go to the court. Elizabeth says ‘She frightened all my strength away †¦ I forbid her to go, and she raises up her chin like the daughter of a prince and says to me, ‘I must go to Salem, Goody Proctor’. It is clear to us now just how much the affair between Proctor and Abigail influences the current events and the events that are to follow. Mary also plays another role within Act two; she portrays to us the amount of hate that Abigail holds for Elizabeth. When she reveals that she saved the life of Elizabeth in court, as her name had been mentioned among the accused. ‘I saved her life today’. She refuses to say by whom, ‘I am bound by law, I cannot tell’ but it is obvious to the reader and to Elizabeth that Abigail Williams is the accuser. This shows Abigail’s malicious hate as by accusing Elizabeth she is striving towards an eventual execution. Elizabeth who is a smart woman anticipates this intense hate long before she discovers she has been accused and she says to John referring to Abigail ‘and thinks to kill me, then to take my place’. Another reason that proves Mary’s importance to Act two is that she illustrates to us the extremity of power that Abigail and the girls have. Throughout Act two Mary’s speech and stage directions imply a weak and feeble character. ‘With a trembling decaying voice’ ‘she has been edging towards offstage’. It is apparent that she is constantly subject to the bullying of Proctor and that she gives into his bullying one hundred percent of the time. Yet in the last few pages of Act Two, Proctor, using violence is trying to persuade Mary to testify in court against Abigail to save his wife. Despite Proctors violent advances ‘grasping her by the throat as though he would strangle her’ Mary sobs ‘I cannot, I cannot’. This shows Mary’s new changed belief that Abigail and the girls are more powerful and fearful than the man she has worked for and feared for so long. This event also marks the start of the loss of power John Proctor suffers from throughout the rest of the play. ‘The Crucible’ plays host to many themes. The theme of tyranny (when a situation or person controls how you are able to live in an unfair way) is shown mainly by Abigail’s power over the girls, and their power over the people of Salem. By confessing to witchcraft, and publicly announcing their sudden devotion to God, and desperation to do his will, they give themselves great power over society. Abigail’s word becomes unassailable as does the word of the other girls. With this power they were able to control the rest of the Salem by fear. Another way in which Tyranny is shown is Proctors initial control over Mary. As she enters the scene she is greeted by Proctor with the words ‘I’ll whip you if you dare leave this house again’. Mary is undoubtedly afraid of Proctor as he appears an extremely violent man to her. At the end of the Act Proctor uses violence yet again to get his own way, we know from Act three that she eventually does go to the court and testify. Another theme that is apparent in Arthur Millers ‘The Crucible’ is fear. Every character in ‘The Crucible’ is subjected to fear at some point within the story line, not just those who are accused. Those who are not accused fear that the sins of their friends and associates may taint their names and cause them to be found guilty of witchcraft: A key example of this is Parris’s fear that the actions of Abigail and the rumours of witchcraft that surround his daughters coma will cost him his title as reverend. Those who are accused must face the fear, of being hung, they must also decide whether their fear of being hung, is greater than their fear of breaking one of the Ten Commandments by lying to save themselves. The different characters show their fear in various ways; the most interesting would be Proctor, whose fear is not for himself but for his wife. This differs from the fear of Francis Nurse and Giles Corey who’s wives are also accused, as Proctor is having to balance the fear of the death of his wife, with the fear, or more the realisation that the death of his wife could be on his hands as she stands accused because of the malicious jealousy aroused within in Abigail when he finished their affair. He is also under pressure as he knows that he can put a stop to the girls’ accusations and save his wife by blackening his own name and admitting his lechery with Abigail. Proctor expresses this pressure with his line to Mary, ‘My wife will never die for me! I will bring your guts into your mouth but that goodness will not die for me! ‘ Another character subject to fear is the wife of John Proctor, Elizabeth. Elizabeth fears for her relation with John. Though they love each other very much their relationship has been scarred by the affair between Abigail and Proctor. She like Mary is also frightened of the power that Abigail possesses. As she knows that it is enough to condemn her to death. When she is taken by Cheever and Herrick we know she is scared as John says to her ‘Fear nothing Elizabeth. ‘ and her next line is said (as indicated by stage direction) ‘with great fear’. Another character who is apparent to fear is Mary. From the moment she enters the scene she is subject to fear. First the fear of John as he violently question’s her and makes to whip her ‘I’ll whip the devil out of you’. Next the fear of incriminating herself or Elizabeth when Cheever and Herrick turn up at the house and she is called downstairs for questioning, and finally when she is once again being bullied by proctor to testify in court: here she is not only scared of Proctor but of what the girls and Abigail will do if she does turn on them. ‘(in terror): I cannot, they’ll turn on me’

Importance of Historical Perspectives Essay

The organised use of labour or Management as we now call it, is as old as time. However it was only in the 19th century that management and the idea of management thought emerged as an important element of political, economic and social development. I believe that historical perspectives have been critically important to the development of management thought through the centuries. Management ideas have been developed out of social and cultural circumstances, over time the social and cultural circumstances have radically changed and developed but the principle of management and management thought has been slow in keeping up with these developments. From my reading, I would argue that there have been three main phases that have fundamentally shaped management thought since ancient times. These phases are; the early autocratic management approach, the change in management thought following the reformation and thirdly, the new work practices required to support the industrial revolution. From my research, it is evident that major historical events have also had an important role to play in the development of different management styles and structures. In ancient times, management of people was purely autocratic. Many of the work force in these times were slaves. This early practise of management seen in ancient Egypt, continued through to feudal times. It was very effective in supporting some of the great construction projects which ancient Egypt is famous for, such as the building of the pyramids, the irrigation of the Nile and the building of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. Similarly in ancient China, the building of the Great Wall of China. These great works provide us with evidence of a very organised and autocratic approach to the use of labour and also project management skills . This early autocratic period of management was heavily dominated by cultural values such as; fear of punishment, fear of god, where people had no sense of individual achievement and they could only look forward to a better life after death. This form of management continued through the middle ages and in these non-industrialised circumstances there was no â€Å"no need to develop a formal body of management thought†(Wren & Bedeian, 2011: 37) As long as society was dominated by fear and oppression this form of management was sustained. As long as Christianity and the divine right of kings maintained their hold on society, management thought could not evolve and develop. However, these feudal times where religion was invincible and demanded total subservience ere coming to an end. The crusades were a major catalyst for change in these times and by weakening the strength of the catholic church they were the beginning of a cultural rebirth which led to the protestant reformation. With the reformation came the protestant work ethic which I would argue has transcended the history of management and has fundamentally changed work practises opening the door to completely different and new management styles and structures. Prior to this commerce was viewed as an evil that corrupted peoples’ minds and the idea of trade could undermine the obedience demanded by the catholic church. Max Weber in â€Å"the protestant ethic and spirit of capitalism† urges strongly that the spirit of capitalism grew out of Protestantism and the protestant work ethic. (Wren & Bedeian, 2011: 26) It is clear that the transformation in attitudes in society due to the reformation brought with it the need for new management structures which would support creativity and competitiveness. These changes did not happen quickly, but they were pivotal in the fundamental shift to the organisation of labour being managed by many people and many different types of people rather than the autocratic few. These new managers began to think about personal gain and had to consider the best ways to achieve these gains. The shift to personal gain was accompanied by the strengthening of national economies in Europe and further afield as new countries and colonies were being discovered and established. The scene was being set for the industrial revolution. Historical perspectives were changing and along with them, new principles in management thought were emerging. Adam Smith was one of the evangelists of management thought during the early stages of the industrial revolution. One of Smith’s new thoughts on management was that the market economy would be se self regulating, that is to say that the market would be ruled by the â€Å"invisible hand†(Wren & Bedeian, 2011: 34). His other contribution were his thoughts on the division of labour culminating in the substantial productivity that the use of technology brought to replace human man power. Smith’s principles are fundamental to modern management thought. The industrial revolution brought with it the move from agrarian life to urban living. Production became large scale and the increasing number of factories coming into production demanded more managers who would have to be capable of successfully organising and managing all aspects of these new work places. There is no doubt that historical perspectives have been mportant in bringing about great changes for the better in management thought as evidenced by the evolution of the three phased covered herein. However I would conclude, that despite the advantages of having historical perspectives, society and the management of society does not really learn from these perspectives. I think this is well summarised in Will Durant’s quote in â⠂¬Å"the story of civilization part 1† where he states that â€Å" a nation is born stoic and dies epicurean†(Durant, 1935: 259). There is no clearer example of this than in Ireland today. We have spent centuries struggling against the autocratic management of Irish society both by the catholic church and by British rule. The adversity of these times was eventually replaced by the development of new management structures bringing with them creativity and competiveness. However, as with many developing societies and civilisations, with this development came affluence and opportunism which in turn undermined the integrity of these management structures. Like the Epicureans, poor thought was given to how this would impact tomorrow. So as in Greece and Rome, the lack of long term prudent management and the lack of learning from the historical perspectives on management thought have meant that we have not escaped the Epicurean death blow that has been rendered to Ireland.

Acquisition is a High Risky Strategy

In the literature, several motives for takeovers have been identified. One is the desire for synergy. That is, similarities or complementarities between the acquiring and target firms are expected to result in the combined value of the enterprises exceeding their worth as separate firms (Collis and Montgomery, 1998). A second motive involves the expectation that acquirers can extract value because target companies have been managed inefficiently (Varaiya, 1987). A third motive is attributed to managerial hubris the notion that senior executives, in overestimating their own abilities, acquire companies they believe could be managed more profitably under their control. Agency theory motive is the anticipation that firm expansion will positively impact the compensation of top managers since there tends to be a direct relation between firm size and executive pay. Contemporary specialists contend that managerial ownership incentives may be expected to have divergent impacts on corporate strategy and firm value. This premise has been recognized in previous studies. For instance, Stulz (1988) has examined the ownership of managers of target companies and has proposed that the relationship between that ownership and the value of target firms may initially be positive and then subsequently become negative with rising insider ownership. Moreover, Shivdasani (1993) empirically shows that the relationship of the ownership structure of target companies with the value of hostile bids is not uniformly positive. McConnell and Servaes (1990) have likewise analyzed the relationship of equity ownership among corporate insiders and Tobins q. Their results demonstrate a non-monotonic relation between Tobins q and insider equity stakes. Wright et al. (1996: 451) have shown a non-linear relationship between insider ownership and corporate strategy related to firm risk taking. Ownership Incentives and Changes in Company Risk Motivating Acquisitions An agency-theoretic motive for acquisitions has been used to explain managerial preferences for risk-reducing corporate strategies (Wright et al., 1996). The implication is that both principals and agents prefer acquiring target companies with higher rather than lower returns. In that, shareholders and managers have congruent interests. The interests, however, diverge in terms of risk considerations associated with acquisitions. Because shareholders possess diversified portfolios, they may only be concerned with systematic risk and be indifferent to the total variance of returns associated with a takeover. Senior managers may alternatively prefer risk-reducing corporate strategies, unless they are granted ownership incentives. That is because they can not diversify their human capital invested in the firm. In the literature, it has been argued that agency costs may be reduced as managerial ownership incentives rise. The reason is that, as ownership incentives rise, the financial interests of insiders and shareholders will begin to converge. Analysts conjecture, however, that such incentives may not consistently provide senior executives the motivation to lessen the agency costs associated with an acquisition strategy. Inherent is the presumption that the nature of executive wealth portfolios will differently influence their attitudes toward corporate strategy. The personal wealth portfolios of top managers are comprised of their ownership of shares/options in the firm, the income produced from their employment, and assets unrelated to the firm. Presumably, as senior executives increase their equity stakes in the enterprise, their personal wealth portfolios become correspondingly less diversified. Although stockholders can diversify their wealth portfolios, top executives have less flexibility if they own substantial shares in the firms they manage. Hence, if a significant portion of managers wealth is concentrated in one investment, then they may find it prudent to diversify their firms via risk-reducing acquisitions. In the related literature, however, takeovers and risk taking have been approached differently from the described approach. Amihud and Lev (1999) have contended that insiders employment income is significantly related to the firms performance. Thus, managers are confronted with risks associated with their income if the maintenance of that income is dependent on achieving predetermined performance targets. Reasonably, in the event of either corporate underperformance or firm failure, CEOs not only may lose their current employment income but also may seriously suffer in the managerial labor market, since their future earnings potential with other enterprises may be lowered. Hence, the risk of executives employment income is impacted by the firms risk. The ramification of Amihud and Levs (1999) contentions is that top managers will tend to lower firm risk, and therefore their own employment risk, by acquiring companies that contribute to stabilizing of the firms income, even if shareho lder wealth is adversely affected. Consistent with the implications of Amihud and Levs arguments, Agrawal and Mandelker (1987) have similarly suggested that managers with negligible ownership stakes may adopt risk-reducing corporate strategies because such strategies may well serve their own personal interests. With ownership incentives, however, managers may be more likely to acquire risk-enhancing target companies, in line with the requirement of wealth maximization for shareholders. The notion that at negligible managerial ownership levels, detrimental risk-reducing acquisition strategies may be emphasized, but with increasing ownership incentive levels, beneficial risk-enhancing acquisitions may be more prevalent is also suggested in other works (Grossman and Hoskisson, 1998). The conclusion of these investigations is that the relationship between insider ownership and risk enhancing, worthy corporate acquisitions is linear and positive. Some experts assert that CEOs personal wealth concentration will induce senior managers to undertake risk-reducing firm strategies. Portfolio theorys expectation suggests that investors or owner-managers may desire to diversify their personal wealth portfolios. For instance, Markowitz (1952: 89) has asserted that investors may wish to diversify across industries because firms in different industries. . . have lower covariances than firms within an industry. Moreover, as argued by Sharpe (1964: 441), diversification enables the investor to escape all but the risk resulting from swings in economic activity. Consequently, managers with substantial equity investments in the firm may diversify the firm via risk-reducing acquisitions in order to diversify their own personal wealth portfolios. Because they may be especially concerned with risk-reducing acquisitions, however, their corporate strategies may not enhance firm value through takeovers, although managerial intention may be to boos t corporate value. The above discussion is compatible with complementary arguments that suggest that insiders may acquire non-value-maximizing target companies although their intentions may be to enhance returns to shareholders. For instance, according to the synergy view, while takeovers may be motivated by an ex-ante concern for increasing corporate value, many such acquisitions are not associated with an increase in firm value. Alternatively, according to the hubris hypothesis, even though insiders may intend to acquire targets that they believe could be managed more profitably under their control, such acquisitions are not ordinarily related to higher profitability. If acquisitions which are undertaken primarily with insider expectations that they will financially benefit owners do not realize higher performance, then those acquisitions which are primarily motivated by a risk-reducing desire may likewise not be associated with beneficial outcomes for owners. Additionally, it can be argued that shareholders can more efficiently diversify their own portfolios, making it unnecessary for managers to diversify the firm in order to achieve portfolio diversification for shareholders. Risk Associated with HRM practices in International Acquisitions There are a number of reasons why the HRM policies and practices of multinational corporations (MNCs) and cross-border acquisitions are likely to be different from those found in domestic firms (Dowling, Schuler and Welch, 1993). For one, the difference in geographical spread means that acquisitions must normally engage in a number of HR activities that are not needed in domestic firms such as providing relocation and orientation assistance to expatriates, administering international job rotation programmes, and dealing with international union activity. Second, as Dowling (1988) points out, the personnel policies and practices of MNCs are likely to be more complex and diverse. For instance, complex salary and income taxation issues are likely to arise in acquisitions because their pay policies and practices have to be administered to many different groups of subsidiaries and employees, located in different countries. Managing this diversity may generate a number of co-ordination and communication problems that do not arise in domestic firms. In recognition of these difficulties, most large international companies retain the services of a major accounting firm to ensure there is no tax incentive or disincentive associated with a particular international assignment. Finally, there are more stakeholders that influence the HRM policies and practices of international firms than those of domestic firms. The major stakeholders in private organizations are the shareholders and the employees. But one could also think of unions, consumer organizations and other pressure groups. These pressure groups also exist in domestic firms, but they often put more pressure on foreign than on local companies. This probably means that international companies need to be more risk averse and concerned with the social and political environment than domestic firms. Acquisitions and HRM Practices: Evidence from Japan, the US, and Europe In contemporary context, international human resource management faces important challenges, and this trend characterizes many Japanese, US and European acquisitions.   From the critical point of view, Japanese companies experience more problems associated with international human resource management than companies from the US and Europe (Shibuya, 2000). Lack of home-country personnel sufficient international manage ­ment skills has been widely recognized in literature as the most difficult problem facing Japanese compa ­nies and simultaneously one of the most significant of US and European acquisitions as well. The statement implies that cultivating such skills is difficult and that they are relatively rare among businessmen in any country. Japanese companies may be particularly prone to this problem due to their heavy use of home-country nationals in overseas management positions. European and Japanese acquisitions also experience the lack of home country personnel who want to work abroad, while it is less of an impediment for the US companies. In the US acquisitions expatriates often experience reentry difficulties (e.g., career disruption) when re ­turning to the home country: This problem was the one most often cited by US firms.   Today Japanese corporations report the relatively lower incidence of expatriate reentry diffi ­culties, and it is surprising given the vivid accounts of such problems at Japanese firms by White (1988) and Umezawa (1990). However, the more active role of the Japanese person ­nel department in coordinating career paths, the tradition of semi ­annual musical-chair-like personnel shuffles (jinji idoh), and the continu ­ing efforts of Japanese stationed overseas to maintain close contact with headquarters might underlie the lower level of difficulties in this area for Japanese firms (Inohara, 2001). In contrast, the decentralized structures of many US and European firms may serve to isolate expatriates from their home-country headquarters, making reentry more problematic. Also, recent downsiz ­ing at US and European firms may reduce the number of appropriate management positions for expatriates to return to, or may sever expatri ­ates relationships with colleagues and mentors at headquarters. Furthermore, within the context of the lifetime employment system, individ ­ual Japanese employees have little to gain by voicing reentry concerns to personnel managers. In turn, personnel managers need not pay a great deal of attention to reentry problems because they will usually not result in a resignation. In western firms, reentry problems need to be taken more seriously by personnel managers because they frequently result in the loss of a valued employee. A further possible explanation for the higher incidence of expatriate reentry problems in western multinationals is the greater tendency of those companies to implement a policy of transferring local nationals to headquarters or other international operations. Under such a policy, the definition of expatriate expands beyond home-country nationals to en ­compass local nationals who transfer outside their home countries. It may even be that local nationals who return to a local operation after working at headquarters or other international operations may have their own special varieties of reentry problems. Literature on international human resource practices in Japan, the US and Europe suggest that the major strategic difficulty for the MNCs is to attract high-caliber local nationals to work for the company. In general, acquisitions may face greater challenges in hiring high-caliber local employees than do domestic firms due to lack of name recognition and fewer relationships with educators or others who might recommend candidates. However, researchers suggest that this issue is significantly more difficult for Japanese than for US and European multinationals. When asked to describe problems encoun ­tered in establishing their US affiliates, 39.5% of the respondents to a Japan Society survey cited finding qualified American managers to work in the affiliate and 30.8% cited hiring a qualified workforce (Bob SRI, 2001). Similarly, a survey of Japanese companies operating in the US conducted by a human resource consulting firm found that 35% felt recruiting personnel to be very difficult or extremely difficult, and 56% felt it to be difficult (The Wyatt Company, 1999). In addition to mentioned problem, Japanese acquisition encounter high local employee turnover, which is significantly more prob ­lematic for them due to the near-total absence of turnover to which they are accustomed in Japan. The US, European and Japanese companies admit very rarely that they encounter local legal challenges to their personnel policies. However, in regard to Japanese acquisitions large   amount of press coverage has been given to lawsuits against Japanese companies in the United States and a Japanese Ministry of Labor Survey in which 57% of the 331 respondents indicated that they were facing potential equal employ ­ment opportunity-related lawsuits in the United States (Shibuya, 2000). Conclusion This research investigates whether corporate acquisitions with shared technological resources or participation in similar product markets realize superior economic returns in comparison with unrelated acquisitions. The rationale for superior economic performance in related acquisitions derives from the synergies that are expected through a combination of supplementary or complementary resources. It is clear from the results of this research that acquired firms in related acquisitions have higher returns than acquired firms in unrelated acqui ­sitions. This implies that the related acquired firm benefits more from the acquirer than the unrelated acquired firm. The higher returns for the related acquired firms suggest that the combination with the acquirer’s resources has higher value implications than the combination of two unrelated firms. This is supported by the higher total wealth gains which were observed in related acquisitions. I did however, in the case of acquiring firms, find that the abnormal returns directly attributable to the acquisition transaction are not significant. There are reasons to believe that the announcement effects of the transaction on the returns to acquirers are less easily detected than for target firms. First, an acquisition by a firm affects only part of its businesses, while affecting all the assets (in control-oriented acqui ­sitions) of the target firm. Thus the measurability of effects on acquirers is attenuated. Second, if an acquisition is one event in a series of implicit moves constituting a diversification program, its individual effect as a market signal would be mitigated. It is also likely that the theoretical argument which postulates that related acquisitions create wealth for acquirers may be underspecified. Relatedness is often multifaceted, suggesting that the resources of the target firm may be of value to many firms, thus increasing the relative bargaining power of the target vis-a-vis the potential buyers. Even in the absence of explicit competition for the target (multiple bidding), the premiums paid for control are a substantial fraction of the total gains available from the transaction. For managers, some implications from the research can be offered. First, it seems quite clear from the data that a firm seeking to be acquired will realize higher returns if it is sold to a related than an unrelated firm. This counsel is consistent with the view that the market recognizes synergistic combinations and values them accordingly. Second, managers in acquiring firms may be advised to scrutinize carefully the expected gains in related and unrelated acquisitions. For managers the issue of concern is not whether or not a given kind of acquisition creates a significant total amount of wealth, but what percentage of that wealth they can expect to accrue to their firms. Thus, although acquisitions involving related technologies or product market yield higher total gains, pricing mechanisms in the market for corporate acquisitions reflect the gains primarily on the target company. Interpreting these results conservatively, one may offer the argument that expected gains for acquiring firms are competed away in the bidding process, with stockholders of target firms obtaining high proportions of the gains. On a pragmatic level this research underscores the need to combine what may be called the theoretical with the practical. In the case of acquisitions, pragmatic issues like implicit and explicit competition for a target firm alter the theoretical expectations of gains from an acquisition transaction. Further efforts to clarify these issues theoretically and empirically will increase our understanding of these important phenomena. Bibliography Sharpe WF. 1964. Capital asset prices: a theory of market equilibrium under conditions of risk. Journal of Finance 19: 425-442 Markowitz H. 1952. Portfolio selections. Journal of Finance 7: 77-91 Grossman W, Hoskisson R. 1998. CEO pay at the crossroads of Wall Street and Main: toward the strategic design of executive compensation. Academy of Management Executive 12: 43-57 Amihud Y, Lev B. 1999. Does corporate ownership structure affect its strategy towards diversification? Strategic Management Journal 20(11): 1063-1069 Agrawal A, Mandelker G. 1987. Managerial incentives and corporate investment and financing decisions. Journal of Finance 42: 823-837 Wright P, Ferris S, Sarin A, Awasthi V. 1996. The impact of corporate insider, blockholder, and institutional equity ownership on firm risk-taking. Academy of Management Journal 39: 441-463 McConnell JJ, Servaes H. 1990. Additional evidence on equity ownership and corporate value. Journal of Financial Economics 27: 595-612. Shivdasani A. 1993. Board composition, ownership structure, and hostile takeovers. Journal of Accounting and Economics 16: 167-198 Stulz RM. 1988. Managerial control of voting rights: financing policies and the market for corporate control. Journal of Financial Economics 20: 25-54 Varaiya N. 1987. Determinants of premiums in acquisition transactions. Managerial and Decision Economics 14: 175-184 Collis D, Montgomery C. 1998. Creating corporate advantage. Harvard Business Review 76(3): 71-83 White, M. 1988. The Japanese overseas: Can they go home again? New York: The Free Press. Bob, D., SRI International. 2001. Japanese companies in American communities. New York: The Japan Society.

Impact of the European Union on France Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Impact of the European Union on France - Essay Example From this discussion it is clear that  the European Union (EU) is a political and economic federation comprising 27 member countries, and all of them design same policies for different areas. In 1993 the EU was formed with the signing of the Maastricht Treaty, but later there was a great contribution from multiple European organizations, which led to the development of European Union. This represents an effort to bring forth unity in Europe encompassing various attempts of establishing unity through armed forces. France was one of the member nations involved in European Union. There were several criteria associated with joining the Union which were evaluated by the European Council country-wise.  This paper outlines that the major benefit of EU was that it focused on a stable democracy where one nation would not be unduly harmed by other nations. One European currency and economic integration proved to be primary goals of European Union. The research question for this particular study is – â€Å"what is the impact of Euro and EU on France in economical, social, political and cultural context.† This study will help to evaluate the positive and negative impacts created on France by European Union.  In the economic context the impact of EU and Euro on France would be analysed on the basis of GDP components, productivity, public finances, external trade and labour market. EU possessed GDP of 11,600 billion Euros and a total population of 500 million in 2006.

Business Strategy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Business Strategy - Essay Example This is more important in the present day business scenario in which business organizations are breaching geographical boundaries in an attempt to capture a share of market. This calls for the need to ensure greater competency and efficiency in their business operations. Hence is important not only to generate a brand image but also to create competitive advantage in the present competitive market. The business strategy is driven by certain significant factors. One major influential factor is the competence of the enterprise to drive the business strategy. The ultimate goal of the organisations is to identify one exclusive core competence which can help them to differentiate from the competition. However, this is not easy to do as the evaluation of own capabilities may not be so effortless; it demands honest assessment with an appropriate understanding of the customer requirements. Favourable business strategies are those that are evolved by using the capabilities of the firm to addr ess the consumer requirements in a way leading to sustainable competitive advantage. The competitive advantage is required to be addressed logically by a careful analysis of the business processes of the organization. Any business strategy should define the foundation of competition, the stage for changes to happen and the way the competitive strategies would be built upon this changing business environment. The aspect of sustainable competitive advantage has been a matter of debate among the strategists and management thinkers alike. When one thinks back in the 1980s, the top executives were judged on their ability to reorganize, and reform their corporations. Then in the 1990s, they would be assessed on their ability to identify, encourage and take advantage of the core competencies promoting the organisational growth (Prahalad & Hamel, 1990, p.1-2). However, with the changing business environment, the management must re-evaluate the core competencies of the organisation to fetch success in the long run with a sustainable growth rate. In short run, an organisation’s competitiveness relates to the present performance of the company’s products and services. However, in long run, the competitiveness would be derived from the ability to develop with cost effectiveness and rapid pace using the core competencies initiating introduction of wide range of products. A company can have various sources of competitiveness including human resource, operational processes, management ability and technology. In most of the cases, the key sources of competitive advantages are found in the ability of the organisation’s management to consolidate the wide spread technologies and organisational production skills into the firm competencies which would allow the individual business organizations to adapt successfully with the turbulence in the business markets. This makes it essential for management strategists to rethink their claim regarding the inability to establish the core competencies. It may be tough for the large corporations to build up one core competency, but that may not impossible given that the core competencies can be established in the individual business units. The business units are required to be strongly established with nourishment, sustenance and stability in the core competence. Core competency is a highly specific term and is widely different among different organization depending on their business process. The core

Responses Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Responses - Assignment Example It is time for our laws to be changed for the better and place some confidence in the parents. Traditionally, researchers like Cook and Kopko (2014) have discouraged this practice. Possibly, you should look into the benefits of allowing parents this right! I recommend researching the question â€Å"What can be done to stop drug abuse among teenagers?† Although the topic has been researched before and there is plentiful research reporting the causes, effects, and strategies for prevention of drug abuse among teenagers, yet the sensitivity and gravity of the issue demands more research and knowledge-creation. However, if you want to specifically research ways of discouraging teenagers from consuming prescription pills as drugs, the question should be focused at prescription pills’ abuse rather than drug abuse in a general sense. Teenagers, their parents, nurses, and doctors are some categories of people whose input you must take for the data. Hall et al. (2010) is one of the sources you may consider to find out what all is known about the abuse of prescription drugs so

Global Warming Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Global Warming - Research Paper Example Global Warming There are three main ways in which human activities lead to an escalation in the total amount of the greenhouse gases; burning of fossil fuel, deforestation, and agricultural as well as industrial activities. During the combustion of fossil fuels, large amounts of carbon dioxide are produced. Fossils get burnt in order to aid in production of energy that can help in transportation, cooling, heating, and electricity generation. 80% of the total carbon dioxide added in the atmosphere comes from burnt fossil fuels (Spellman & Whiting, 2006). In addition, land use change for example; clearing lands for ranching, agriculture or logging contributes positively in the increased levels of carbon dioxide. Plants contain carbon which gets emitted as carbon dioxide when plants decay or burn. In addition, ozone gas and chlorofluorocarbons results to an increase in the levels of green house gases in the atmosphere. Ozone gas is present in the troposphere, and it emerges from industries. Most of untreated industrial wastes contain methane. Chlorofluorocarbons found in refrigerators and air conditioners also deplete stratospheric ozone layer. However, there are some scientists who dismiss the fact that, global warming is as a result of human activities. Abdussamatov for instance, has come up with a theory that dismisses the idea of greenhouse gases as the leading cause of global warming. He argues that greenhouse gases have minimal influence on earth’s temperature (Pasachoff & Filippenko, 2007). ... During the  combustion  of fossil fuels, large amounts of carbon dioxide  are produced. Fossils get burnt in order to  aid  in production of energy that can help in transportation, cooling, heating, and electricity generation. 80% of the total carbon dioxide added in the atmosphere comes from burnt fossil fuels (Spellman & Whiting, 2006). In addition, land use change  for example; clearing lands for ranching, agriculture or logging contributes positively in the increased levels of carbon dioxide. Plants contain carbon which gets emitted as carbon dioxide when plants decay or burn. In addition, ozone gas and chlorofluorocarbons results to an increase in the levels of green house gases in the atmosphere. Ozone gas is present in the troposphere, and it emerges from industries. Most of untreated industrial wastes contain methane. Chlorofluorocarbons found in refrigerators and air conditioners also deplete stratospheric ozone layer. However, there are some scientists who dismi ss the fact that, global warming is as a result of human activities. Abdussamatov for instance, has come up with a theory that dismisses the idea of greenhouse gases as the leading cause of global warming. He argues that greenhouse gases have minimal influence on earth’s temperature (Pasachoff & Filippenko, 2007). Variation of temperature takes place mostly on Earth and Mars. He, therefore, believes that Carbon dioxide has no influence in Mars. Furthermore, he believes that, if greenhouse gases were to be absent, there would be no life on Earth. Instead, the whole planet would just be a ball of ice. He, however, says that the global warming is due to wobbles in Earth’s

Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 36

Personal Statement Example I have now decided to follow my heart and complete my medical program from the University so that I can continue to serve the people who would benefit from my professional expertise. Apart from the objective of ensuring good education for my children, I am a self-driven person who would like to reach the highest level of professional excellence, both in terms of gaining knowledge and attaining high status in society as a medical professional. I would also like to contribute constructively to the society which has been so helpful in my years of adjustment within a new culturally different environment when I had moved from Armenia to America. My American friends and neighbours and my friends from Armenia have always encouraged me to remain optimist. After 14 years of running a restaurant successfully, I now realize that my medical experience needs to be applied for the wider welfare of the society which has given me so much. Thus, I believe that the American degree in medicine would equip with necessary knowledge and skills so that I can re-start my practice as a dentist in America. Throughout my career as a medical professional, I have been proactively involved in the well-being of my patients as well as with the students of medical programs and community groups. I have extensively participated in the medical seminars and conferences which have greatly benefitted students and young medical professionals. I have been invited as guest speakers in many of the conferences organized at the Medical University of Yerevan, Armenia which has also recognized my contribution by awarding me the certificate of ADA (Armenian Dental Association). I have also held educational and clinical seminars for medical students where they got hands-on experience in the clinical setting. The various activities that involved medical fraternity and the

The abuse at abu ghraib happened because of basic socio-biological Essay

The abuse at abu ghraib happened because of basic socio-biological drives because humans are naturally prone to treat people who are not considered of their own - Essay Example In the United States who is the self-proclaimed protector of human rights and a country which has a multicultural society, discrimination is still a huge problem within this society. In this country hate crimes are an epidemic and a real solution towards preventing them are currently not viable since the society is not ready to transform itself and truly accept people who are different from the status quo. In 2004 an unfortunate event occurred at Abu Ghraib in which Iraqi prisoners were abused by American soldiers and civilian subcontractors. This paper describes this event and proposes that the reason the abuses at Abu Ghraib occurred is because of the basic social-biological drives of humans which makes them naturally prone to treat people who are not considered of their kind inhumanely. On April 2004 the entire globe learned about serious violation of human rights and abuse that American soldiers committed against Iraqi prisoners stationed in a correctional facility in Iraq called Abu Ghraib. The acts committed by the Americans were truly inhumane and included things such as rape, physical abuse, taking naked pictures of prisoners in extremely revealing positions, urinating on them, and sodomization with batons among other despicable abuses. The story was revealed by the media when insiders in the prison revealed the photographic evidence of the horrific things happening at Abu Ghraib. The person claimed that the army was ready to cover up the event and was going to secretly deal with the matter. The scandal created hysteria throughout America especially within governmental officials. US government officials acknowledge that the event at this prison violated the Geneva Convention which prohibits torture and cruel treatment of war prisoners. The army reported that 2 7 people are accused of being associated with abuses at Abu Ghraid, including 23 soldiers from a military intelligence

Vascular Access in Continous Renal Replacement therapy Essay

Vascular Access in Continous Renal Replacement therapy - Essay Example 24). CRRT uses diffusion (haemodialysis), convection (haemofiltration) or combines these two methods (heamodiafiltration) in order to achieve solute removal from the blood. Small molecular weight substances like potassium, urea and creatinine are efficiently removed through haemodialysis (Kellum, Mehta, Angus, Palevsky and Ronco, 2002, p.1858). For larger solute molecules, heamofiltration is the most efficient method of their removal in comparison with dialysis. In haemofiltration, filtration of plasma through the semi-permeable membrane is caused by hydrostatic pressure. In addition, solutes cross the membrane alongside the plasma which results in convective solute transport flowing in the same direction as water (Medve, Preda and Gondos, 2010, p. 104). Therefore, haemofiltration needs the use of replacement fluid to avert excessive removal of fluid, electrolyte depletion as well as iatrogenic acidosis. Since the plasma solute concentration is the same as that of the removed filtrat e, concentration of the solutes in the blood plasma remaining need to be diluted using substitution fluid. The use of combined convective and diffusive clearance as well as haemofiltration is effective for removal of large and small molecular weight solutes (Joannidis and Oudemans-van Straaten, 2007, p. 219). Modalities The several modalities of CRRT available are continuous veno-venous haemodiafiltration (CVVHDF), continuous veno-venous haemofiltration (CVVH) and continuous veno-venous haemofiltration (CVVHD). In terms of solute clearance rate, CRRT is lower in comparison with IHD (Intermittent haemodialysis treatments). However, balance clearance within the 24 hr period that CRRT is undertaken is much higher. Moreover, fluid elimination during CRRT is much slower and requires continuous use of anticoagulants which risks bleeding (Uchino, Bellomo, Morimatsu, Morgera, et al. 2007, p. 1567). Continuous veno-venous haemodiafiltration (CVVHDF) There is counter-flow of blood and dialysi s solution within the dialysis filter Blood flows at a speed of between 100 and 200ml/min Dialysis solution speed is between 1 and 2 l/h Optimisation of the ultrafiltration speed is dictated by convective transport of dissolved substances and volume loss. The removal of solutes is done simultaneously by both diffusion and convection Substitution fluid is used to replace lost fluid Continuous veno-venous haemofiltration (CVVH) Removal of solutes occurs via convective transport Ultrafiltrate which is produced must be replaced using a substitution solution Removal of ultrafiltrate may cause patient’s volume loss Continuous veno-venous haemofiltration (CVVHD) There is counter-flow of blood and dialysis solution within the dialysis filter Blood flows at a speed of between 100 and 200ml/min Dialysis solution speed is between 1 and 2 l/h The administration of fluid is not routine Solute removal occurs through diffusion Principles and Indications Membrane characteristics must be cons idered when choosing treatment modalities of CRRT. These characteristics include; biocompatibility, solute removal and water permeability (Fall and Szerlip, 2010, p. 583). In general, efficiency of small molecules in CRRT is largely depended on

Impact upon the offender Essay Example for Free

Impact upon the offender Essay The offender gets a new lease of life, and gets a chance to redeem himself or herself in the eyes of law as well as the society. Although the lawbreaker will have to continuously be doing the correct thing so that people or the police do not pick him or her again for any further offences in the future. They get a chance to contribute to society and at the same time maintain ties with their near and dear ones. Parole decisions for an individual depends on several factors which includes the offenders offense, the number of violations done at the institutions, past criminal history, personal interviewing, behavioral educational development during prison sentence, plans on released information that is available from fiends, family and victims. The main impact for the offender would be the restoration of Civil Rights, which can be completely or partially. This giving the offender the freedom to return to a normal way of life which every human being would want to come back to. Social impact upon society. According to John Howard Society of Alberta (1998), corrections give the lawbreaker a chance to come back to the society as productive and valuable members for society. Although there is evidence that Canadian citizens can be interested in community corrections, but the New Brunswick incident has shown that people want to go through the correctional system and are also willing to listen to discussions about how things work. But many still do feel that the present correctional system is a failure and people are willing to go through other alternatives to community corrections. The research done in the article shows that more information that is available to the public more is their degree of understanding and acceptance of not only the circumstances and the case but also of the sentence itself. So that the offenders get a chance to be accepted into society and the community as much as possible, so that they can aptly contribute to the society. Every year there are thousands of offenders that are released, which forces the police to take public safety very seriously. So that not only does the offender have a smooth transition into society but also so that the society accepts the rehabilitated offender. The cost for such programs is very expensive and therefore there needs to be some cost affective ways of managing with limited resources so that offences of the type do not happen again. There needs to be solutions and programs that can be put into place so that programs and people can be corrected with better strategies. Fiscal impact upon society Due to these corrective institutions and communities there has been a serious overcrowding in the community and institutions, leading to â€Å"stifling fiscal constraints† on the services and providers (McCarthy.C, Lincoln. R and Wilson. P, 2000). The paper also says that these have found to be cheap â€Å"alternative to prison†, but there is a continuous growth in prison population while the treasury has been forced to spend a lot of money to face the â€Å"pressures of overcrowding†. All this is because there is a lack of purpose and more over lack of funding. Harding (1994) and Kleinwort Report (1989) did mention that there needs to be better â€Å"public sector management† even though there is pressure and competition. What is required is to create worthwhile â€Å"benchmarks, fiscal justification and budgetary restraint†. Although privatization questions whether it is correct to privatize even though there is a possibility fiscal and other benefits (DiLulio 1989), although such resistance will need to be overcome if we need to countenance the â€Å"privatising of community corrections†. Conclusion Institutional and community corrections are done so that outcome of the criminal judicial system and their intervention with these offenders may ensure that the public is safe. Over the years criminal justice lawmakers have tried their best to come up with the most effective methods that will help in achieving the goal and also the affect it will have on the strategies in the management of the offender. There have been many ways of management inside the system itself for the judges and the offenders so that sentences that are given out is fair and just, which leads to safe and secure lives for the offenders keeping in mind the society, the offender, victims, friends and family. Communication correction is one of the main reasons that the offenders are returned back to the society as able and responsible citizens. The main goal of institutional and corrective measures is public safety through reduced means of recidivism by the effective management of offenders inside the community and institutions, wherein both need to work together as partners, so that the common goal can be achieved. To make this a success it is also important to use additional resources such as an integrated case management system all over the country, interaction between professional in the field of criminal judiciary and corrective institutions and communities, to promote the offenders success rate. References Justice Solutions, Inc. (2005) American Probation and Parole Association. Institutional and Community Corrections-sponsored Community Service Projects to Benefit Crime Victims In Conjunction With National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. February 2005. http://www. appa-net. org/announce/aaa_summary. pdf Robinson, P. H and Darley, J. M (2003). Role of Deterrence in the Formulation of Criminal Law Rules: At Its Worst When Doing Its Best, The Georgetown Law Journal. http://findarticles. com/p/articles/mi_qa3805/is_200306/ai_n9292674 Sherman. L. W and Strang. H (1997). Reintegrative Shaming Experiments (RISE). Restorative justice and deterring crime. ISSN 1328-3006 ; ISBN 0 7315 2803 4 Australian National University, Canberra RISE Working Papers, no. 4 April 1997 John Howard Society of Alberta (1998). Community Corrections. http://www. johnhoward. ab. ca/PUB/C29. htm McCarthy. C, Lincoln. R and Wilson. P, (2000) . Privatising Community Corrections. http://epublications. bond. edu. au/cgi/viewcontent. cgi? article=1048context=hss_pubs. Harding, R. (1994) Models of Accountability for the Contract Management of Prisons in Moyle, P. (ed) Private Prisons and Police: Recent Australian Trends, Pluto Press, Sydney. Kleinwort Report (1989) Investigation into Private Sector Involvement in the NSW Corrective Services, Kleinwort Benson, Sydney. DiLulio, J. (1989) The Duty to Govern: A Critical Perspective on the Management of Prisons and Jails in McDonald, D. (ed) Private Prisons and the Public Interest Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick NJ.

The Nurture Assumption Essay Example for Free

The Nurture Assumption Essay I have always held the belief that Nature v Nurture is not a zero-sum game. To steal a line from T. S. Elliot’s The Hollow Men, I believe humans are born into this world a â€Å"shape without form. † That shape, of course, is our nature; the sum of our genetic make-up and natural tendencies based on some combination of predisposition and innate sense of self. The form, then, necessarily reflects our experiences and the way those have restructured our ‘self. ’ The nurture of our mind, particularly at a young age, is instrumental in providing depth and context to our natural shape. Both aspects of our ‘self’ are complimentary. Just like we are unable to understand shape without the context of form, we are similarly unable to understand humans without an understanding in the dynamic of both nature and nurture expressed through our behavior, desires, and interactions. Raising a virtual child did not change my initial thoughts on the collaborative importance of nature vs. nurture. However, I was curious to see what my child, Chase, would be like at 18, and so I answered each question thoughtfully based on what would be best for him. The feedback about Chase provided substantial evidence to backup my nature vs. nurture belief. The influence of nature on Chase’s development was evident in several life stages throughout the program. To begin, the assessments in Chase’s life revealed above average performances in multiple subject areas. This advanced state in development is a common result of a psychological perspective called the Core Knowledge Perspective. This states that infants are born with innate special purpose knowledge systems, which results in rapid early development. In the virtual child program, Chase was, â€Å"advanced in his gross and fine motor skills and seemed to have little goals that involved two steps of planning ahead. † On the flip side, after the positive feedback in specific areas, nurture highly influenced additional development in those areas. By choosing answers like, â€Å"encourage Chase to point to toys that are out of reach so you can get them for him, and encourage Chase to keep trying when there is an obstacle you know he can overcome†, his development is influenced by my decisions and nurturing. Chase was also above average in the language development area. Multiple early childhood development specialist assessed Chase and they determined that he was at a higher level in language development than his fellow peers. Some of their notes included statements like, â€Å"Chases language skills are developing rapidly† and â€Å"he scored in the above average range on tests of language comprehension and production, and provided unusually complete and grammatically mature sentences â€Å"he seems to know an unusual number of names for things. † Chase’s language development can be characterized by a psychological study called, Multiple Theories of Language Development. The combination of the Interactionist Theory and Behaviorist Theory combine the following influences on language development: inner capacities, the environment, and social context. Therefore, I can conclude that Chase’s advanced language development is a result of influences from both, nature (inner capacities), and nurture (environmental social). Chase showed signs of attachment to me and I immediately began several intervention strategies in order to prevent a serious attachment issue in the future. Attachment is an innate survival mechanism and is a system used to control things such as proximately, security, and emotional regulation. Thus it is obvious that attachment is determined through nature. However, studies have shown that children subject to feelings of attachment often have long term effects on behavioral characteristics like personality and communication. Chase was showing signs of attachment by reacting negatively in situations of separation. He was â€Å"hesitant to part with†¦Ã¢â‚¬  both, my â€Å"partner† and I, and he â€Å"started crying† immediately after the handover at the daycare. Moreover, this behavior is linked to the sensitivity and responsiveness of the mother/caregiver and is collinear to the influence of nurture. Lastly, Chase had a â€Å"larger than life† personality; he was very outgoing, and had a natural curiosity about him. His personality was influenced by the mutualistic relationship between nature and nurture. A specific focus on the science behind Chase’s temperament revealed a foundation of nature. The genetic contributors can be described as the â€Å"Biological Basis for Temperament. † Chase is characterized as uninhibited and outgoing, which is determined by obtaining qualities such as: positive reactions and approach to new stimuli, low heart rates, stress hormones and symptoms, and higher left hemisphere frontal cortex activity. In addition, temperament is also influenced by nurture. Therefore, his outgoing personality is the result of many factors like, his environment, relationships with family members, non-family peers, and etc. He was described as, â€Å"very outgoing and friendly with new people†, having â€Å"several good friends and gets invited to parties†, and â€Å"one of the most outgoing and popular seniors at the school. † I tried to choose answers that introduced Chase to new situations and people. Consequently, nurture also played a significant role in shaping Chase’s outgoing temperament. In conclusion, my previous thoughts about the influence of nature vs. nurture on human development go unchanged. As mentioned above, both aspects of our ‘self’ are complimentary. Just like we are unable to understand shape without the context of form. The only change that may have occurred from the Virtual Child program is the reinforcement of my initial understanding of nature vs. nurture.

Supply Chain Management in PepsiCo Pakistan

Supply Chain Management in PepsiCo Pakistan Pepsi was founded in 1898 by Caleb Bradham, a new Bern North Carolina, druggist who first formulated Pepsi-Colyeah book followed supply chain k three decisions phir push pull cycle view phr stages phr demand phr drivers phr distribution and recommendations are at the end a. Today Pepsi has expanded at a large scale and has a portfolio of beverage brands that includes carbonated soft drinks, juices and juiced drinks, humara link basically pepsi co sey b nae hai kyunki riaz bottlers are its suppliers aswell as maunfacturesr and they give that via transportations to the retailers( stores hotel etc) then it goes to customers .they have warehouses storage sites production sites.its located in gulbergso riaz bottler are everythihumara link basically pepsi co sey b nae hai kyunki riaz bottlers are its suppliers aswell as maunfacturesr and they give that via transportations to the retailers( stores hotel etc) then it goes to customers .they have warehouses storage sites production sites.its located in gulberg so riaz bottler are everything Ready-to-drink teas and coffees, isotonic drinks, bottled water and enhanced water. PepsiCo has well known beverages such as Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi, Tropicana Pure Premium, Aquafina, Tropicana Juice Drinks, Tropicana Twister , MIRINDA and much more. PepsiCola markets Frapoccuino ready-to-drink coffee through a partnership with Starbucks. PEPSI CO PRODUCT: the product we are taking for the project of supply chain management is MIRINDA. RIAZ BOTTLERS: Riaz Bottlers (PVT) Limited (RBL) incorporated in Pakistan as a private limited company in 1976. RBL is the franchise holder of Pepsi Cola International with seven brands. Like PEPSI, PEPSI MAX, 7UP, MIRINDA and MOUNTAIN DEW etc. They have recently launched Aquafina and are in process of moving towards some other products. RBL today is one of the best National Companies in Pakistan. At RBL, they believe that Our existence and success is more than just meeting our business objectives and we are proud of the success that the company has achieved. Together our people provide the skills, knowledge and expertise to deliver the quality of service that our customers expect and upon which our reputation depends. RIAZ BOTTLERS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: RBLs primary functions are to demeanor a methodical manufacturing and supply of the product without any tactical and strategic flaws. Backed by a powerful competitive strategy and empowered by some effective supply chain strategies, the group has been managing an effective supply chain through out the region. It has set up a urbane manufacturing and storage plant in Lahore with production units and huge production capacity. RBL has different management departments dealing with specialized Marketing, HR, IT and Supply Chain Processes. In this report we conducted the process of the basic supply chain management functions of RBL for MIRINDA by Pepsi co. COMPREHENSION OF MIRINDA SUPPLY CHAIN: The goal of every supply chain is to maximize the overall value generated. The value of a supply chain generates is the difference between what the final product is worth to the customer and the costs the supply chain incurs in filling the customers request. (Chopra, Meindl 2006) DECISION PHASES IN SUPPLY CHAIN OF MIRINDA SUPPLY CHAIN DESIGN OF MIRINDA: A proper decision regarding how to structure the supply chain over next upcoming years have been made and the short term aswell as the longterm decisions have been made by the company in regards to location and capacities of production and warehousing facilities, the products to be manufactured or stored at various locations, the modes of transportation to be made, information systems and so on. Their supply chain design is very expensive to alter on short notice and supports the companys strategic objectives. In order to ensure a good supply chain strategy, Riaz Bottlers plans one to two years in advance. It has several contracts with manufacturers, and receives raw material on a convenient basis. The company also decides where production plants are to be placed. RBL has production plants at Lahore. The production process is 80% automated. The company has to provide and manage transport for the delivery of products as well as the arrangement of third party services for the procurement of products. The shipping department handles orders and the transport department decides the vehicles for safe delivery. Material planning and sourcing is carried out as well. Sources of supply of raw material both local and foreign are identified and terms and conditions are negotiated. Capacity planning is also done at this stage. Sales forecasting and production planning depends upon the capacity of the organization with respect to: Production. Storage: Raw and packing. Storage: Finished goods. Riaz bottlers Lahore has a procurement budget of nearly Rs 10 billion. Approved suppliers cannot go beyond this budget. The supplier is audited by the most cost efficient quality control department. Distributors are also decided by the company, keeping in mind past performances. The company has increased its distribution capacity from one to ten filling lines during the last few years lending it a competitive edge over Coca Cola. FIGURE 1 SUPPLY CHAIN PLANNING OF MIRINDA: After RBL set the design of their supply chain they do the planning which increases their surplus in supply chain and thats their goal too. The planning launches and make them set their constraints over some span of time according to the demand of Mirinda. Pepsi co carries out sales forecasting for local demand as well as for export purposes to countries such as Afghanistan etc for Mirinda. The annual sales target is conveyed to the supply chain department of RBL. Planning is carried out on a monthly, weekly and daily basis for order planning allocation , warehousing ,production scheduling inventory planning and optimization. at RBL. images.jpg FIGURE 2 SUPPLY CHAIN OPERATION OF MIRINDA: In RBL , the production , sales and supply chain departments get united to decide the inventory on weekly basis. There is always less uncertainty about the demand . the operation process includes customer orders in the best possible manner. During this RBL , allocate inventory or production to individual orders, set a date (which is always according to the will of customers and they dont get disappointed) that an order is to be filled, generate a proper pick lists at a warehouse in gulberg , allocate to shipping, set delivery and so on. PROCESS VIEWS OF MIRINDA SUPPLY CHAIN The processes in a supply chain are divided into a series of cycles each performed at the interface between two successive stages of a supply chain. CYCLE VIEW OF SUPPLY CHAIN: scm12 FIGURE 3 Supplier / manufacturers: The suppliers to Pepsi Co are franchise operative (RBL) as well as company operative (LAYS chips) system and are located in eight cities of Pakistan. The cities are Lahore, Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar, Hyderabad, Sukkhar, Gujranwala and Faisalabad. PepsiCo has its Plant , Factory ,Workshop and Warehouse at the same place in Lahore . the Address is : Guru Mangat Road, Gulberg Lahore Distributors: They are located throughout the country; every city has its distributors. The distribution done on direct and indirect ways that would be discussed in the distribution section of the report. Retailers : retailers outlets are all sort of shopkeepers, malls , hotels etc to whom the distributors provide the stock via transportation i.e. trucks etc which carries distribution from point to point in different allocative routes. Customers: Its customers are all sort of target markets from social class A to C and range within all demographical and pyschographical parameters. PUSH AND PULL VIEW OF MIRINDA SUPPLY CHAIN: The push process implementation is commenced in anticipation to a customer order. MIRINDA has a seasonal demand. Just in time concept is pertinent in non-seasonal period and not pertinent in seasonal period. All processes that are part of the procurement cycle, manufacturing cycle, replenishment cycle, and customer order cycle are push processes. MIRINDA Sales order and processing: The Shipping Manager receives sales order from Sales Team, distributors through telephone, fax email one day before dispatch. The sales are made to base distributors on advance payment against orders then shipping manager plans according to the demand of distributors on daily basis. fig1107 FIGURE 4 COMPETITIVE AND SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES: There are three major sustainable advantages that give PepsiCo a competitive edge as they operate in the global marketplace: Big, muscular brands. Proven ability to innovate and create differentiated products. Powerful go-to-market systems. PepsiCos ( Mirinda) overall mission is to increase the value of shareholders investment. They do this through sales growth, cost controls and wise investment of resources. They believe their commercial success depends upon offering quality and value to their consumers and customers; providing products that are safe, wholesome, economically efficient and environmentally sound; and providing a fair return to their investors while adhering to the highest standards of integrity. A customer while purchasing a bottle of Mirinda will consider product quality, price and availability of the product. Thus, Mirinda in Pakistan particularly focuses its competitive strategy as to producing sufficient variety, reasonable prices, and the availability of the product. SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGIES STEP ONE: THE CUSTOMER AND SUPPLY CHAIN UNCERTAINTY. Identifying customer needs : RBL needs to understand the customer needs for each targeted segment and the uncertainty the supply chain faces in satisfying these needs. As RBL deals with beverages, which are a fast moving consumer good, it knows the requirements of consumers. Mirinda is considered as a drink which is refreshing during summer, and taken regularly during winter, with demand hiking around festivals such as Eid and occasions such as weddings. RBL caters to both cities and rural areas. It understands the needs of both. As demand for beverages is seasonal, the quantity of product needed for each lot is taken care of with past demand in mind. Consumers generally require a small response time, high service level, reasonable price and some variety (for example mirinda has apple flavor too now). Demand uncertainty and implied demand uncertainty: Demand for Mirinda varies by product. For example there is a greater demand for Mirinda as compared to Mirinda Apple, which is sort of new. Hence, Mirinda has a low demand uncertainty as compared to Mirinda Apple. The product Mirinda is approaching its maturity stage in the PLC whereas Mirinda Apple is in the introductory stage. Mirindas implied demand uncertainty varies with the product type as well as the customer needs. Due to decreased lead time (the customer may purchase its competitors product if Mirinda is not available at that time such as Fanta, Gourmet cola, Amrat cola ), need for greater variety and higher level of service, implied demand uncertainty increases. This is true for cities where unmet demand by Mirinda is met by Coca Cola Company, Gourmet Cola and other such competitors. Supply uncertainty is also affected by new products. New products have higher supply uncertainty. Uncertainty for the capability of the supply chain: After determining the demand uncertainty it takes a look at the uncertainty resulting from the supply chain. Mirinda is not a new product and its market is going towards maturation. The company does not have many difficulties in delivering a product and has a fixed delivery schedule (on daily basis). Mirinda hence has a predictable supply and somewhat uncertain demand depending on market conditions. STEP TWO: UNDERSTANDING THE SUPPLY CHAIN CAPABILITIES: The efficiency and responsiveness varies according to the consumer needs, implied demand uncertainty, product type and market segments. In remote areas Pepsi Co ( Mirinda) focuses on being somewhat efficient as other modes of transportation could turn the product to be highly expensive. According to the company it does not deal with distributors who do not have 20 to 25 vehicles, therefore as the company has focus on cost reduction, uses slow and inexpensive modes of transportation, the demand is certain, and uses economies of scale in production, the product Mirinda is more inclined towards being somewhat efficient. In cities, the company focuses its attention on being highly responsive as Mirinda has to meet short lead time, meet a high service level, handle a large variety of products and respond to wide ranges of quantity demanded especially at the retail stage. Highly efficient somewhat efficient somewhat responsive highly responsive In towns MIRINDA In cities FIGURE 5 STEP 3: ACHIEVING THE STRATEGIC FIT: The Mirinda supply chain assign different roles to its different stages, the company has to decide either to transfer the responsiveness to the manufacture stage or to the retailer stage as making one stage more responsive allows the other stage to focus on being more efficient. While discussing the Mirindas supply capability it is seen that Mirinda tends to be more responsive in the cities and a bit less in towns. Therefore, transferring the responsiveness to the retailer and distributor, allowing them to face the higher implied demand uncertainty. This in return allows the manufacturer and supplier to be more efficient. At the same time, multiple beverage types contribute to a broader product portfolio causing RBL to adjust its strategies accordingly; tailoring the supply chain to best meet the needs of each beverage demand. SUPPLY CHAIN DRIVERS AND METRICS: Bonding drivers with Product Life Cycle (PLC) Supply chain strategy: Mirinda mainly follows a combined cost effective responsive supply chain strategy in lahore. The intensive supply of the product is being ensured throughout the city market with the help of RBL distributors. Mirinda has been able to reach out to all market segments without any delays because of its business maturity and comparative business strength. It has the normal beverages sales volumes as compared to any other cities . Although there is an overwhelming stability in the product market yet there are some remote areas where there are conditions for a possible stock out due to their remoteness. For addressing this risk Mirinda has financed different whole sellers in those areas to respond immediately. Mirinda in Lahore and in most parts of Pakistan can be rightly placed into the category of an ever growing mature business. Responsiveness: In case of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) that target a huge segment of market, responsiveness is a deciding factor for the organizational success. In a typical Pakistani market, quick response enables supply chains to meet the customer demands for evershorter lead times, and to synchronize the supply to meet the peaks and troughs of demand. Mirindas supply chain has been able to reinforce a greater response to the uncertain and unpredictable market behavior only because it has multisided processing facilities and corresponds to a systematic production network with both dedicated and multi-product facilities. The major focus is to determine the processes that are to be integrated in the supply chain network with their corresponding suppliers, distribution centers and the associated transport links between them. The major considerations in the design are the supply chain responsiveness and profitability. Framework for Structuring Drivers: FIGURE 6 The framework is based on a motive to create strategic fit between the competitive and supply chain strategy. Mirinda Competitive strategy stands to provide a large variety of products very quickly; simultaneously the supply chain strategy stands to materialize the availability of that variety of products. Mirinda mainly follows a responsive supply chain strategy. Alignment of mirindas business strategy to a corresponding supply chain strategy is achieved through proper deployment of supply chain drivers. Mirinda has to deal with different set of market segments simultaneously. Most of the time the approach needs to be responsive enough to grow substantially to be able to compete with uncertain demand, while in many areas demand is certain and very much predictable, so there it incorporates an efficient supply chain strategy. THE FACILITY DRIVER ROLE , LOCATION AND CAPACITY : In RBL the Mirinda is stored, assembled and fabricated at gulberg Lahore..Mirinda has established a flexible and a product-focused production facility in order to respond effectively to the variability in demand.The storage facilities are designed in order to provide maximum possible capacity for the inventory. It has franchising holding bottling operations. OVERALL TRADE OFF ( RESPONSIVE) : In order to ensure the responsive strategy implementation, the role of facilities is of prime importance in the supply chain of RBL The large amount of excess capacity allows the facility to be very flexible and to respond to wide surges in demands placed on it. In alignment with the responsive supply chain strategy the facilities have been geographically located close to the market. FIGURE 7 FIGURE 8 THE INVENTORY DRIVER ROLE , LOCATION AND SEASONAL INVENTORY: RBL has established a comprehensive plan to ensure the sufficient inventory levels to keep up with the market demand effectively. The inventory type is seasonal .For this purpose the main inventory storage has been established within the main plant area maneet road gulberg Lahore inside RBL. It has the storage capacity of 200,000 Sq Ft and the area is being utilized both horizontally and vertically. The shipping department is in charge for storage and subsequent displacement of the product orders. The inventory capacity is being utilized and maintained in coordination with the production department and is based on the term production estimates. OVERALL TRADE OFF (RESPONSIVE): Increasing inventory makes the supply more responsive to the customers. At RBL, managers bear a high inventory cost to ensure maximum levels of inventory and to reduce the production and transportation costs. inventory.jpg FIGURE 9 THE TRANSPORTATION DRIVER DESIGN AND CHOICE OF TRANSPORTATION MODE: PTN is providing transport to PEPSI CO( mirinda) in the form of big large trucks.Faster transportation of the products allows RBL to maintain sufficient levels of stock on the shelves.RBLs transportation network is the collection of routes, modes and locations along which the product can be shipped. With the help of distributors the product is being supplied to the market. There are multiple supply and demand points within the city which cater to the market demand. RBL decides and selects different modes of transportation having different characteristics with respect to the speed and size of shipment. OVERALL TRADE OFF ( RESPONSIVE): The transportation network has been designed with a view to ensure responsiveness and boost the availability of the product. For RBL using fast mode of transport increases responsiveness as well as the transportation cost but lowers the inventory holding cost. Transportation driver has a large impact on the responsiveness of the business. THE INFORMATION DRIVER COMPONENTS OF INFORMATION DECISIONS: Connects all the supply chain stages effectively allowing them to coordinate and maximize total supply chain profitability. It is also crucial to the daily operations of each stage in the supply chain. The unit manager utilizes the production scheduling system that is based on information on demand to create a schedule that allows RBL to produce the right amount of product. The warehouse in charge uses this information to create visibility of the warehouses inventory items. They dont have any enabling technologies such as EDI, ERP and RFID OVERALL TRASE OFF (RESPONSIVE): Information sharing helps these firms improve its responsiveness within the market. It helps to accurately forecast demand and realize frequency of updates, measurements of the effects of seasonal factors influencing the production, measurements of variances from the plan and the ratio of demand variability to order variability. Timely and accurate information enables the distribution managers to fix potential stock out or oversupply problems. FIGURE 10 THE PRICING DRIVER FIXED PRICING VERSUS MENU PRICING: Mirinda keeps its pricing strategy with the comparison of its competitors for example FANTA. And the demand is seasonal so during the season on period the pricing is done on the fixed basis i.e. summers. And during winters which is the off season period the pricing is done on menu basis for example Rs 2 to Rs 5 ruppees off per 1.5 litre bottle etc. THE SOURCING DRIVER: OUTSOURCED, SUPPLIER SELECTION AND PROCUREMENT: Pepsico has outsourced decisions in its supply chain as RBL is an outsourced company for it. They think that it was best to outsource Mirinda and other beverages aswell because the growth in total supply chain is significant with little additional risk. The responsive components are outsourced such as the PTN aswell which provides transportation to Pepsico ( Mirinda). It has number of suppliers within Lahore and all districts of the country. Both procurement in direct aswell as indirect ways are doneand they have a good coordination between its suppliers and buyers. images.jpg FIGURE 11 DISTRIBUTION NETWORK OF MIRINDA Direct distribution: Delivery of post mix cylinders handling of key accounts: The key accounts are different wholesalers, restaurants and hotels like Pizza Hut, KFC, Metro which serve as a place for key sale. These are known as national key accounts and are very important in terms of competition. Export Parties. Indirect distribution: Through Base market distributors Through Outstation distributors Before delivering the product some certain guiding principles are followed for the assessment of distributors capability by RBL. Applicant must have 30 to 40 vehicles (depending on the area). Applicant must have 40,000 cases of empty bottles. Applicant must deposit Rs.5, 000,000 as a security. RBL uses light and heavy vehicles for safe delivery of goods to the distributors for timely delivery. It follows the just in time concept which is applicable in Non-seasonal period and not applicable in the seasonal period. REVIEW AND REVISE DISTRIBUTION: This is usually done through taking over key revenue areas. If the distributor does not achieve its sales target, the distribution is taken back and an addition of new distributor is done. Therefore MIRINDAS supply is low supply uncertainty. Some of its supply source capabilities are: Less breakdowns High quality Flexible supply capacity Mature production process FACTORES INFLUENCING DISTRIBUTION NETWORK DESIGN: At the highest level, performance of a distribution network should be evaluated along two dimensions: 1. Customer needs that are met 2. Cost of meeting customer needs While customer service consists of many components we will consider those measures that are influenced by the structure of the distribution network for Mirinda . Response Time: For Mirinda is minimal as the direct customers for it are the retailers and then the consumers. So with over 30 to 40 delivery trucks in Lahore , it is readily available to every retailer within 30 minutes or an hour max . Lahore has 12 warehouses from where the supply to the market is done through trucks provided by PTN. Product Variety: They have made their place in the market with their unique product line ranging from Mirinda to Mirinda Apple with refreshing taste and great quality. Customers Desire: customer desire more for mirinda instead of apple mirinda .Recently, the sales for 250 ml bottles has increased and 1.5 litre bottle decreased but they are trying to increase it as it gives the company higher profits. Availability: The product is always available in stock whenever an order arrives. Whenever the distributors feel that after one loading there could be a stock out they place an order to RBL in advance just to keep the floor with enough stock in hand. The Distributors have 3 days stock as back up with them in order of any malfunctioning of the plant or other such external factors. Customer Experience For Mirinda has always been positive as they receive the product with ease and on time. The retailers are the direct customers as they place an order to the distributors. There has never been a shortage or a delay for mirinda in Metro or Pizza Hut which are the key accounts for the company. Order Visibility They are not really an electronic phenomenon where you can track your order through computer. It is more of person-to-person contact and one can easily track down their orders through the designated staff in each sector of Lahore or for that sake all over Pakistan. Returnability: Pepsi Co ( mirinda) has always been very strong in a sense that unsatisfactory items can be returned and changed on the spot. This is true for both the consumers and the retailers. They have laid down a system through which they can effectively manage this requirement. The retailers are told to take down the comments and the address or phone numbers from the person who is returning the bottle. It seems at first that a customer always wants the highest level of performance along all these dimensions, in practice however this is not always the case. DESIGN OPTION FOR DISTRIBUTION NETWORK:: Distributor Storage with Carrier Delivery: In Pepsi Co ( mirinda) inventory is not held by the manufacturers at the factories but is held by distributors/ retailers in intermediate warehouses and package carriers are used to transport the products from the intermediate location to the final customer. This requires distributor storage to keep high levels of inventory because distributor/retailer aggregates demand uncertainty to a lower level than the manufacturer. Transportation costs for Pepsi are somewhat lower because an economic mode of transportation (e.g. truckload) can be employed for inbound shipments to the warehouse, which is closer to the customer. Facility cost is high because of a loss of aggregation and often end up with higher processing costs. The information structure needed is not that complex. The distribution warehouse serves as a buffer between manufacturer and customer. Real time visibility between customers and warehouse is needed whereas as visibility between customer and manufacturer is not required. Response time is also reduced. Customer convenience is high and order visibility with manufacturer storage becomes easier. Distributor storage is well suited for medium to fast moving goods and it can also handle higher level of variety than retail stores FIGURE 7 VALUE OF DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM: There are basically two components of distribution: Storage Distribution The storage facilities of RBL are designed in order to boost the timely availability of the product. For this purpose the distributors are fully equipped with facilities that are needed to ensure intensive supply of the product. The storage facilities are designed to contain the maximum possible inventory items that are needed at any given time. RBL has established several storage units nearer to the market in order to boost availability. Transportation conducts inventory movement from point to point in supply chain of RBL. It incorporates a combination of modes and routes at different stages. Transportation choices have a large impact on the responsiveness strategy of the business. RBL has several contracts with several distributors with multiple transport facility that ensure the maximum possible transport of inventory within a short period of time. The distribution does not work between specific supply chain components but it performs a basic function of integration amongst all supply chain components. The Pepsi Co distribution system linked the entire supply chain for all product categories. The distribution centers and its information network play a key role in that regard. The major object is to carefully track sales of items and offer short replenishment cycle times. The distributors offer stored deliveries too many retail outlets in the twin cities. Different products are being delivered conveniently on pre-orders. The distribution system is flexible enough to alter delivery schedule depending on customer demand. The Territory Distributor Managers maintain a contact with the retailers in order to book and place the orders. Whenever a store places an order it is immediately transmitted to the supplier through the distribution manager. Now RBL receives orders from all distribution centers and the shipment department delivers the orders. At the distribution centre, products from the manufacturer are delivered into different trucks and each truck makes deliveries to multiple retail stores. The number of stores depends upon the sales volume. The system works on trust and does not require the delivery person to be present when store personnel scan the delivery. This reduces the delivery time at each store. Each truck has a capacity of 1572 cans.The distribution department is in direct contact with the manufacturers and keeps updating inventory levels. They keep in stock spare three days stock to combat external uncertainty. The distribution department is responsible for all the variety of the products in their portfolio. PepsiCos overall distribution network spreads throughout Pakistan connecting the remotest of places and providing great customer service. Globalization has increased the competition that the company for its products like mirinda is constantly coming up with new projects, campaigns and distribution. RECOMMENDATIONS: RBL doesnt have proper enabling technologies such as EDI , ERP , RFID and EDD . they should be having that for the better performance of its supply chain activities. These engagements would

Disconnection Essay -- essays research papers

When people are feeling down or there is something wrong with them they tend to disconnect from the world and go into one of their own. In this place they find comfort and safety and it is somewhere that no one can bother them for the time being. I myself find comfort just lying in my bed staring at the ceiling and drifting off in thought. For artists though, they are able to find this comforting place in music. Blink 182, Linkin Park, and NAS are some of the famous artists that are able to disconnect from the world through their songs. They are able to get all of there thoughts out through music and the world has a chance to hear them. In NAS’ song "Hate me Now" he feels disconnected because there are people in the world that hate him for what he has and they are jealous. This must affect him in such a way that he has to express it. "Don't hate me, hate the money I see, clothes that I buy, ice that I wear, clothes that I try, close your eyes†¦". He expresses in this lyric that he doesn’t feel the need for people to hate him as a person. He feels that just because he has a lot of money people don’t like him, but they do not even know him at all, just that he has money. Because of all these people hating him he feels the need to disconnect in lyrical form and express it to the world. Linkin Park is a group that is able to disconnect from the world as one. "I tried so hard and got so far, but i...

why everyone should own 1 punk cd Essay -- essays research papers

Outline for Persuasive Speech Topic: Why everyone should own one Punk CD. 1. a. By a show of hands I would like to see how many of you listen to Punk Rock. Today I’d like to talk to you about this genre of music that was created in reaction to other forms of music, and hopefully influence you to check it out and maybe even buy a CD. i. I’ve been listening to punk since as early as the 5th grade. â€Å"Punk† (make quote sign) is a term applied to a child or teenager who acts in an antisocial way. Punk music is a form of rebellion, and it turned against all other musical forms and influences at its time of creation. Punk music is as much cultural as it is musical. It is anarchic, against society, and against everything in established order. ii. I’d like to give you a brief history, the philosophy behind the music, and how what you hear today on the radio isn’t quite the same. I’ve included a few of the bands that I like to give you an idea what I’m talking about. Punk rock is much more than just music as music is just expressions of what people hold dear to them. Transition statement: But since I don’t have all day to talk lets go to a brief history. A LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY Most of the first wave of British punk were born from art schools. Members from The Clash, Sex pistols, Damned, Wire, Adam and the ants, and Siouxsie and the Banshees had all come from such places in and around London. A large contingent came from in and around the Kings road area of west London, and a lot of the first wave knew of each other first hand- Tony James (Gen X), Mick Jones (Clash). Topper Headen (Clash) and Keith Levine (Clash, Public Image) had all been in the London SS, a Proto-punk band featuring the aforementioned all-star line-up. Shortly after The SS split, Tony James went to form Chelsea with future Generation X member and MTV pop star Billy Idol. In addition they recruited future Damned Guitarist and leader Brian James. The Clash's Leader, Joe Strummer had been plying his trade in the pub rock scene, which was instrumental to the rise of punk, with his previous band the 101'ers. As soon as he saw the Pistols, he knew his band was outdated. Strummer was actually an ex public schoolboy, and his dad was a worker in the national treasury of some sort. Other bands, such as the UK subs had also evolved from pub rock- Charlie Harper was in the marauders prior to forming the sub... ...e people its all about who out punk or be more hardcore than the next punk. People who disregard other punks for the type of punk they listen to. The most disregarded punks are the ones who listen to some commercialized music. This in general to me is ok to a certain degree. If you love the music and it means something to you it is ok with me, but if you are just listening to it because other people do or you are just radio oriented for any band I dislike it. Punks shouldn't deem those who listen to some commercial music and love it posers. That is wrong to me. Everyone knows that for how many punks there are in an area there are usually just as many posers. The people who I think qualify as posers are radio oriented, do things or listen to a band just because other true punks are and have no love for it, people who just do it for the style, and people with a punk attitude with no beliefs to back it up. You will never see a person listening to rap or techno listening to punk musi c, but as a punk, we are taught to be more open to different styles of music, because punk is not a contest, it is unity, love for the music, an attitude, a lifestyle, and many other things to be true to.

Joseph-Louis Lagrange Essay -- essays research papers

Joseph-Louis Lagrange   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Joseph-Louis Lagrange was born on January 25, 1736 in Turin, Sardinia-Piedmont (which is now known as Italy). He studied at the College of Turin where his favorite subject was classic Latin. After reading Halley’s 1693 work on the use of algebra in optics Lagrange became very interested in mathematics and astronomy. Unfortunately for Lagrange he did not have the benefit of studying with the leading mathematicians, so he became self-motivated and was self-taught. Then in 1754 he got the opportunity to publish his first mathematical work, which was an analogy between the binomial theorem and the successive derivatives of the product functions. Lagrange sent some of his works to Euler and impressed him greatly. Euler was so overcome that by his work that he appointed Lagrange professor of mathematics at the Royal Artillery School in Turin. Then in 1756 he was elected to the Berlin Academy. This then led Lagrange being a founding member of what would eventually become the Royal Academy of Science in Turin. In 1766, Lagrange accepted Euler’s position as the director of the Berlin Academy. While director of the academy Lagrange produced some of his greatest work. In 1772 he shared a prize with Euler on the three body problems. Two years later he won a prize on the motion of the moon, and then in 1780 he won a prize on perturbations of the orbits of comets by the planets. Lagrange was made a member of the committee of the Academi...