The affect of globalization on China Literature review

The affect of globalization on China - Literature review Example Globalization is a significant but not a new economic phenomenon. World Bank throws out that there were three main globalization waves since 1870 where the global economy, capital flow and migration have been increasing dramatically. China is the fastest growing country among all the developing countries and dominates an important role in the most recent globalization wave. From the figure 1, we can see that the GDP of China has been significantly increasing to an unprecedented rate and the rate has maintained 12% growth annually in the global economic integration decade. The rapid economic growth in China captures the world’s attention especially after the economic reform and openness policy in 1978 as the Trade, exports and imports have enormously gone up (Refer to Figure 2). Perhaps like other developing countries, China has been experiencing an increase in economic inequality accompany with the global economic integration. As shown in figure 3, the Gini coefficient from 19 78-2008 presents that the inequality within the country has been highly raised. Growing on the intra-country inequality not only affect the stability of the country, but also hamper the potential economy growth. Moreover, the inequality problem is quite complicated in China as the wage inequality, uneven income distribution and regional disparity are all needed to take into account when we concern about the economic inequality of a country. The following chapter will briefly review the current literature to see what scholars have discovered on this topic and how they argue about the story. In chapter 3, the empirical model will be constructed and displays the details of data resource, data description and OLS assumptions. Chapter 4 will access the tests for the model to check its validity, and then find out the relationship between the four independent variables and the dependent variable. Critical analysis about the globalization impact on the inequality in China will also applied in Chapter 4. The conclusion will be drawn in Chapter 5 to summarize what evidences have been found from

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) - Essay Example The second research paper titled ‘Corporate social responsibility brand leadership: a multiple case study’ has been directed towards using existing research and studies that provide frameworks for the analysis of CSR as a tool for brand leadership strategy. The existing literature is supported by a qualitative study of five UK based firms that have a significant market share, successful brand strategies and a very active CSR. The paper is organized in two parts where each part is dedicated to one research paper. The analysis is organized as presenting the research strategy, methods, findings, assumptions, and overall quality of the research paper. The analysis also makes suggestions for improvement after the analysis. The main argument of this research paper is to critically analyze the two research papers based on qualitative studies and suggest drawbacks that could be improvised for a more comprehensive study. The paper uses Grunig’s situational theory of publics for the purpose of analysis of cases presented within the paper (Byrd, 2009). The framework within the theory helps in creating a single case study with three different aspects of analysis. The research is conducted by way of exhaustive interviews conducted with the senior counselors of each of the two American companies that are under analysis. The primary document analysis is focused completely on the communication of the progress reports presented to the global compact unit on a semiannual basis by each participating member. The secondary analysis is conducted by way of materials and documents produced by the agencies which also include speeches, articles and presentations for the purpose of business publication. The key research question is to find out the dynamics that were responsible for company realization that such coalition was for the benefit of the organization. The second

Overview of Brazils macro environment

Overview of Brazils macro environment Being one of the members of the Big Four BRIC countries, Brazil experienced the economic downturn and bust and has been hampered by excessive indebtedness and high inflation in the past. Since 1990s, Brazil has implemented numerous policies with government and authorities support to launch the reform. Brazils economies started to growth rapidly after policies and stabilization plan were implemented. Moreover, the ongoing sound marco-economic and social policies have extended the period of stability, growth and social gains (WorldBank, 2010). Thus, the continuous development of its interior for hosting the World Cup and Olympic Games in 2014 and 2016 respectively can pursue industrial and agricultural growth. With the vast natural resources, labor pool and trading opportunities to other foreign countries therefore significantly increased in Brazil and more foreign investors were attracted. Nowadays, it has become a regional leader with leading economic power of South America that is one of the first in the area to begin an economic recovery (InvestorPlace, 2010). Overview of Brazils macro-environment In this section, it is going to overview Brazils macro environment by applying PEST analysis and the few aspects are being discussed as follow. PEST Analysis PEST analysis is analyzing the external environment which is analyzing the factors of Marco-environment. It includes Political factors, Economic factors, Sociological factors and the Technological factors (Jobber, D., 2004). Political Factors Refer to Figure 2.1, Brazil has the stable political climate which under the leadership of the communist party. The legal system of it is based on the Roman Codes (CIA, 2010). Brazil has 26 administrative divisions and the government is divided into executive branch, legislative branch and judicial branch (CIA, 2010). In addition, it perceived the corruption problem as ranked 75th position out of 180 nations of the transparency Internationals 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index (Transparency, 2010). In addition, Brazil involved within the free trade agreement that is signed by the United States, Central America and Dominican Republic which benefited Brazil for trading opportunities (BusyTrade, 2010). Furthermore, it launched the Growth Acceleration Plan in 2007 to develop and steady the economic growth (WorldBank, 2010) Being one of the emerging economies in the world, Brazils economy is growing at a moderate but steady level with continuous growing GDP. Refer to Figure 2.2 which is figured out that the GDP of Brazil is constant growth during 2000 to 2007 significantly.and maintained the sustainable growth to 2008. From Figure 2.3, Brazil weathered the global financial downturn with relatively minor impacts.  The country was one of the last to fall  into recession in 2008 and among the first to resume growth in 2009. With the large growth in agricultural, manufacturing and mining, it ranked highest among the South American countries with the strong position in the global economy (Tradingeconomics, 2010). Brazil is the largest national economy in Latin America, the worlds tenth largest economy at market exchange rates and the ninth largest in purchasing power parity (PPP), according to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. It has large and developed agricultural, mining, manufacturing and service sectors, as well as a large labor pool. Thus, the expanding of its presence in international financial and commodities markets can help Brazils economic keep on growth Refer to Figure 2.4, the interest rate in Brazil is kept on declining as to attract more foreign direct investment. The government lowered down the interest rate, in consequence, to lower the inflation rate. From Figure 2.4, Brazil suffered serious inflation rate in 2008. However, it declined during 2009. The latest inflation rate is 4.6% in July of 2010 which means the prices measured against the standard purchasing power is still high. According to Figure 2.6, about currency convertibility, Brazil allows its currency to adjust in value in foreign exchange markets so long as the fluctuations in value. From Table 2.7, the mid-year population is 201,103 thousands and ranked 5 out of 238 countries (CIA, 2010). Brazil was one of the largest population countries in the world. The growth rate of 2010 is 1.2 which was lower than 1995 and 2005. The nationality of Brazil was Brazilians (CIA, 2010) and the religions were mainly Roman Catholic (CIA, 2010). The languages of Brazilians were Portuguese (CIA, 2010). From Figure 2.8, Brazil does not suffer from aging problem. And the birth rate was maintained from 2009 that 18.43% in Figure 2.9 (UNICEF, 2010). Together with longer life expectancy with the index of life expecting at birth in 2008 is around 71.99 years old as maintained (UNICEF, 2009). The labour force is 101.7 million in 2009 that ranked 6th out of 228 countries (CIA, 2010). The unemployment rate is kept on dropping in these 2 years as refer to Figure 2.10. The role of female and male are vary by social classes (EveryCulture, 2010). Most of the Brazilian women had jobs outside home and employed in low-skill or low paying jobs (EveryCulture, 2010). It meant that there was no gender equality in that society. Source: Tradingeconomics, 2010 Despite the poverty ratio is decreasing as refer to Figure 2.11, Brazils inequality levels remains among the highest in the world. Many people still live in poverty with social exclusion is quantitatively and qualitatively pronounced and structurally ingrained (WorldBank, 2010). Technology Factors Brazil is a leader in science and technology in South America and in some fields as a global leader. About the technological research is largely carried out in Brazil which is mainly supported by government. Furthermore, the Brazilian information technology market is the largest in Latin America and the spending on IT product and services is expected to increase positively. Together with the expending economy lifting millions into middle class for whom computers are no longer beyond reach. Brazils IT services market is expected to continue to grow strongly in 2010, with total spending of around US$9.4bn as the economy continues to bounce back from recession. For a developing market, the percentage of Brazil IT market revenues generated by services is high at around 38%, which corresponds more to developed market levels. Brazil government supported the technology development by providing the funding as it was the leader of science and technology development in South America. Refer to Figure 2.12, Brazils research and development is keen on innovation of technology infrastructure. Ideological Factors Brazilians had the strong national ideology that they called their land as the racial democracy (EveryCulture, 2010). They were seldom judge on the black and white people but classified racially depend on the social classes (EveryCulture, 2010). As a result, it meant that Brazilians were having heavy concepts on the social classes. Brazils Trade, Investment and Migration Pattern Brazil is in Group 4 which is the nearly new industrialised economies with the average growth rate in pass decades (Thompson, G., 1998). Agricultural was playing an important role in Brazil. However, Brazil is turning from agricultural to industrialization. Agricultural should be a critical role to Brazil (Balassa, B., 1998). As a result, in order to develop the economics, Brazil needed to import the industrialization subsidiaries such as machinery and equipment. By the trade theory, the comparative advantage of the nation is determined by factor endowments (Thompson, G., 1998). During the process of industrialization, the structure of comparative advantage shifts from simple, labor-intensive product to sophisticated capital and technology-intensive product (Thompson, G., 1998). As a result, Brazil as the latecomer industrialization (Thompson, G., 1998) begins to import the products from the advanced nations such as United States. The following are the indicators of imports and exports by values. From Figure 3.1, Brazils value of exports and imports is sustainable growth during 2007 to 2008. As the brought down by weaker economic activity and lower global commodity prices drive the total exports fell by 22.7% (in US dollar terms) and imports by 26% as economic recession (CIA, 2010). Furthermore, Brazils export major commodities are transport equipment, iron ore, soybeans, footwear, coffee, autos is ranked 26th when compare to the universal. And import major commodities are machinery, electrical and transport equipment, chemical products, oil, automotive parts, and electronics (CIA, 2010). Investment pattern In Latin America, Brazil is the largest recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) as Brazil is open to and encourages foreign investment. Only generate the domestic savings is not sufficient for sustainable long-term growth in Brazil (Investorplace, 2010), thus must continue to attract FDI. Together with the legislation promoting public-private partnerships and infrastructure development program known as the Growth Acceleration Program can boost Brazils economic. From Figure 3.2, the foreign direct investment climate was not stable during 2002 to 2009. There are undulated changes during 2007 to 2009 because of low labour cost and rich natural resources, hence, many foreign direct investments were attracted to invest in Brazil. For many foreign direct investors, the most attraction point was the growing local market and policies that encourage the foreign investment (Hubpages, 2010). The largest single source of the foreign investment in Brazil was the United States, then Germany, Japan as follow (Hubpages, 2010). Moreover, the biggest foreign direct investment activities were invested in manufacturing (Hubpages, 2010). In 2014 and 2016, it is going to held World Cup and Olympics encourage the investment through tourism sector (InvestBrazil, 2010). Migration pattern As economic growth, Brazilian started to move to urban to have a better living environment. There were two factors driven the movement, push and pull factors (Thompson, G., 1998). Push factor was Brazilian to avoid poverty and poor living standard. Pull factor was Brazilian to improve the living environment. As a result, there is now 88% of population is classified as urban (CIA, 2010). Only a few percent were still living near the coast. The net migration rate was -0.09 migrants/1,000 population (CIA, 2010). Relationship between Brazil and the international environment Political Factors In 1990, Brazils government has radically changed the framework conditions for industrial development accompanied by technology and industrial policy programs. Moreover, Brazil is gradually opening the market to foreign competitors that remarked few regulations on trade and investment from foreign countries, thus creating an environment that requires international competitiveness and thereby forces companies to attain international levels of quality and efficiency (BrazilGov, 2010). There are a number of implications that Brazil is implementing to control the Foreign exchange rate of currency with the policies and action programs. Moreover, the presence of legal and regulatory trading protection for foreign investor doing business in Brazil. As refer to Figure 4.1, Brazil was ranked 73th out of the 183 best practice economies countries (IFC, 2010). Together with foreign direct investment and government support that has mobilized a significantly large amount of capital to upgrade the infrastructure of interior (FloridaBrazil, 2010). Economical Factors Despite the economic crisis, Brazils GDP showed continued growth through 2007-2008 while other regional countries GDP declined (Worldbank, 2010). In addition, the steady growth with strong consumer spending and job creation that stability of living forming a healthy economy, hence, Brazil certainly attract the foreign investors to catch up the business opportunity (Obelisk, 2010). Brazil with large growing in agricultural, manufacturing and mining, thus, Brazil is keen on performing its potential to being emerging market. As a result, Brazil ranks among the 10th richest nations of the world by GDP and has maintained the lowest external debt when compared to other regional countries (SloanCenter, 2010). Sociological Factors Brazil is one of the countries that has the largest population of the world with around 102 million labor force that ranked as 6th when comparing to the world as shown in Figure (CIA, 2010). Ideological Factors Brazilians had strong sense of national ideology that proud of their countrys natural resources and diverse culture (EveryCulture, 2010). Besides, Brazilians are welcome the foreigners to travel and invest in such robust emerging market (FloridaBrazil, 2010). Foreign Relations Brazil is a community leader in Linter American with collective security efforts in economic cooperation of Western Hemisphere (BrazilGov, 2010). Moreover, as a member of Organization of American States and Inter American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance that can figure out that Brazil has potential to expand relations with its neighbors (BrazilGov, 2010). In addition, Brazil is a founding member of the Latin American Integration Association and Union of South American Nations that has been a leader of G-20 group of nations (BrazilGov, 2010). In 2009, Brazil not only became a creditor country that trading with United States, Western Europe, and Japan, but also China is a growing market for Brazilian exports. Characteristics and Challenges of macro-environmental factors towards the trade, investment and migration patterns of emerging markets Main drivers for doing business in Brazil Brazil is the 5th largest economy with population of 198 million. Many local companies are undervalued and in need of restructuring, capital and technology Growth potential and consumer market Broad industrial base and infrastructure, and a diversified economy Creativity and flexibility of labor force, coupled with its competitive cost basis Abundant agricultural, mineral and energy resources and potential Established transportation networks (railways, highways, ports) and distribution channels in most industrialized areas Privatization in late stages and follow-on transactions still in development Inflation under control in the last 10 years Increasing globalization and international trade, with Government policies favoring exports Foreign investors are eligible for most available fiscal incentives Goodwill generally tax deductible New regulations favoring minority shareholders Improvement in local capital and debt markets Main Challenges of doing Deals in Brazil Complex tax and employee related regulatory environment, with high taxes and social charges on payroll, sales and income Multiple taxes with fast changing legislation affecting business plans and increasing risks of contingencies Economic environment still considered volatile as compared to more stable economies Fast-changing business conditions Lack of local financing coupled with high real interest rates Quality of historical financial information affected by fluctuations in exchange rates and Generally Accepted Accounting Principles differences Complex transfer pricing and foreign capital registration rules Difficulties in reorganizing companies quickly, including high costs for employee terminations Important cultural peculiarities, including a different perception of the due diligence process Sometimes the  ³know-who ´ is more important than the know-how in the local market Considerable bureaucratic rules and regulations for certain businesses and industries High demand for investments in the distribution channels and infrastructure Semi-skilled and unskilled labor in certain developing areas Social extremes with unequal distribution of wealth a significant portion of the Population not participating in the consumer market Justification of selection of Brazil There are many reasons of choosing Vietnam and going to identify its economic future as emerging market. First, Brazil has strong commitment that has made significant progress in developing a sustainable investment market over the last decade and rightly deserves its reputation as the leader among emerging economies in this regard. These achievements can proofed that foreign investors are tend to doing business in Brazil as refer to Figure 6.1, 6.2. Second, the evolution of a sustainable investment market by Brazil has led other emerging markets to focus on the same issues and goals. Third, Brazil has strong business case that importance of sustainability in business and investment in Brazil that provide stable political climate and facilitated rules and regulations that maintained the economy steady growth. Finally, Brazil demonstrated impressive courage, determination, flexibility, and creativity in sustainable future. Together with Brazils stable economic and political environment that liberal investment and governments commitment to economic reform can direct Brazil being success. In order entering into Brazil, 4P is playing an important role to guide the investors as refer to Figure 7.1. Product Product is a key element in the overall marketing offering. (Armstrong, G. Kotler, P., 2007). From Figure 7.2, there are three levels of products which are core benefits, actual product and augmented product. In order to evaluate the product element in Brazil, it is important to understand their lifestyle, habit and their consumption behaviour. Nowadays, Brazilian demand more IT products such as mobile phone, computers and software. Moreover, as Brazilian are becoming more wealthy, the demand of housing and transportation are increasing (Laposte, 2010). Most Brazilian including the low-income population is loyal to brands. Those people with the upper-middle classes are pay attention on the quality and the value-added services such as the warranty or after-sales services. They will not reject the foreign goods although they have the national pride (Laposte, 2010). As a result, based on the three levels of product, in order to design the product to enter into Brazil, it is recommended that import the convenience, shopping and specialty products to satisfy both low and high income group. For the low income group, the core benefit of the product should be high quality commodities with low price such as toothpaste. For the high income group, the core benefit of the product should be strong brand preference such as luxury goods. Price Price is the amount of money charged for a product or services (Armstrong, G. Kotler, P., 2007). As there is a wide gap of rich and poor in Brazil, the price setting should based on the target segment which is the segmented pricing. Segment pricing is selling products or services at two or more prices which difference in price not differences in costs (Armstrong, G. Kotler, P., 2007). If the target segment is the low-middle class, the price setting should be lower. If the target segment is the high-middle class, the price can be higher as they are less price-sensitive. Place (Distribution Channel) Marketing channel is a set of independent organization that help make the product or service available for use or consumption by the consumer or business user (Armstrong, G. Kotler, P., 2007). When enter into Brazil, producers cannot sell the goods directly to the final users. As a result, the intermediaries are playing the important role to bring the products to the markets. In Brazil, supermarket is becoming more important for the distribution channel as it made 80% of sales (Laposte, 2010). There are several large local wholesalers and retailers in Brazil. When entering into Brazil, it can choose the major wholesaler as the intermediaries to help bringing the foreign products to Brazilian. Promotion Promotion mix is the specific mix of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing that a company uses to persuasively communicate customer value and build customer relationships. (Armstrong, G. Kotler, P., 2007). In order to make the effective promotion in Brazil, it is going to discuss on the media environment in Brazil. Television has the lowest average Advertising Index in the world (Anonymous, 2006). However, it was the most effective promotion tools to Brazilian. Refer to Table 7.1, TVs penetration is 97.4% which was dominant. Brazilian watched television over five hours per day. As a result, the promotion should mainly focus on television which has a high coverage. Moreover, there is another new opportunity to promote in Brazil which is direct e-marketing such as telemarketing, e-mail etc. These can be used as the promotional tactics but not to maintain the relationship between the customers and companies (Laposte, 2010). The most effective way of the promotion strategy should be the pull strategy which spends a lot on advertising to create customers demand on products (Armstrong, G. Kotler, P., 2007). In addition, the promotional message on advertising should be reflecting Brazils culture such as Brazilian is enthusiasm. Conclusion Brazil has steadily improved macroeconomic stability, building up foreign reserves, reducing its debt profile by shifting its debt burden toward real denominated and domestically held instruments, adhering to an inflation target, and committing to fiscal responsibility. Brazils potential can be maintained and sustained in future of development.

Nuclear Power Plant :: essays research papers

New form of Energy for Capetown   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Capetown is considered to be the largest city in South Africa, having a population of over 2,727,000 inhabits. The energy form used in Capetown at the moment, is Gas Turbine, wich provides most of the city ´s electricity. The use of electricity in Capetown is very low compared to western countries, for example there is only one TV for almost ten people, the energy consumption per inhabit a year is about 4000 kWh, wich is 2550 kWh less than the energy consumption per inhabit a year in Paris, France.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Our plan is to built the most effective, cheap also inviromentaly friendliest way to produce energy for the 1 575 000 inhabits of Capetown, we came to the solution: BUILT A NUCLEAR POWER PLANT. ? Picture of Loviisa, Nuclear power plant We explain our solution by the following facts: ? If we built other forms of plants we would need:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  3  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Coal power plants or   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  12  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hydro power plants or   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  7  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gas turbine power plants or   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  173  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Solar power plants or   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  4792  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wind power plants. but we only need one nuclear power plant to provide enough electricity for 1 575 000 people. Inviromental facts that concerned us:   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  A nuclear power plant may sound nasty and dangerous, from the naturistic point of view, but that is not a fact. A very good example of this is, the amount of fuel that a 900 MW nuclear power plant needs, wich is about one van of uranium per year, but a coal   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  power plant with same capacity needs about 140 tons of coal per hour, and it also polutes the air by carbon dioxide wich is released when coal’s stored energy is been transformed into heat energy. The carbon dioxide wich is been released in the prosess causes greenhouse effect, wich is the main cause of increased temperature of world. A hydro power plant does not need fuel, but it polutes the sights of a beautiful current river, because of it size, sometimes whole villages have to be moved from the reservoir area, it also effects the biosystem of both up-and down stream for quite a long distance from the location of the dam. A wind power plant is a good solution but it needs space, ev en one turbine needs about 100x100m space to work properly, if a malfunction appears in the turbine, it can fall down or the blades might break, and fly for thousands of meters. The industry producing the turbines polutes the inviroment, The turbines also cause some problems in TV and radio links.

Shadowing Report

Shadowing Report Interview Date: 04. 08. 2012 Interview Time: 1:00pm Shadowing Date: 04. 12. 2012 Shadowing Time: 8:30am – 2:00pm The person I chose to shadow for this assignment is John Smith who is a friend of mine. He, himself has been in the management profession for the past 4 years or so starting at Pizza Hut. According to him, he worked at Pizza Hut for about six years and was originally hired as a driver. Due to a car accident, the management opportunity fell into his lap and he began training as a shift manager.He moved his way up quickly to become the acting Store Manager, although he says his official title was Assistant Store Manager. He worked for Pizza Hut for a total of 6 years with half of those years in the management position before finally pursuing another job in another city. That job was with Mighty Taco, Inc, which I'm sure you have heard of because the restaurant is a staple to the Buffalo area. He then packed up himself and his family from the Rochester area to move here to accept the position.I asked him why he made that move and he said it was so his wife could get help with their newborn daughter while she went back to school. He said that it was actually his wife who found the listing for the job in the newspaper and encouraged him to send in his resume. Because of his experience with management when working at Pizza Hut, he was essentially hired after one interview. He has now worked for Mighty Taco as a Manager for almost a year and he works with other Managers, including Shift Managers, Managers and General Managers, and crew members.Mighty Taco, Inc, as I mentioned before, is a staple to the Buffalo area that was founded in 1973. The almost 40-year old company describes itself as being synonymous with fast, delicious, Buffalo-style Mexican food and has about 20 different locations. The first Mighty Taco opened up in Buffalo, NY at 1247 Hertel Ave on August 31, 1973, and although that location is no longer around, the compa ny has made its name for itself within the Buffalo community. The restaurants have what you would expect from a fast-food Mexican chain in that they primarily sell tacos and burritos, but with a twist.They have specials such as the â€Å"Roastito† which consists of chicken breast or steak in a tortilla with roasted peppers and onions, cheese and sour cream, the â€Å"El Nino Burrito† which has half a pound of ground beef in it and the â€Å"Mighty Fish Taco† which consists of a battered fish filet, lettuce, tomato cheese and tartar sauce or salsa. One of the things that I believe makes the company so unique is there unusual advertisements. I remember when I first moved to this area a decade ago and saw my first Mighty Taco commercial on the TV.I must say that it weirded me out, but the advertisements have grown on me over the years and I appreciate their uniqueness. From the chanting of â€Å"Mighty Taco, Mighty Taco, Mighty Taco† to â€Å"Buf-Mex at its Best† the company has won the hearts of all within this area. One might think that working in a fast-food restaurant that education and training may not be necessary but I learned very quickly that this is far from the truth. While this may be true to be a crew member, being a manager in this industry requires the manager to be fully prepared and equipped for anything that comes to them, including training and education.When asked about such training, Steve explained that he received most of his training at his previous job at Pizza Hut. There were many training seminars and programs that he had to go through, including mock role plays and information on how to deal with various paperwork. An example of a mock role play he gave was a customer coming in complaining they found a foreign object in their food and how they would handle it. This later came into real life when one day at Mighty Taco a customer actually came up to him with a complaint of a foreign object found in the ir food.He said it was kind of ironic but he handled the situation by the book. He apologized profusely to the customer and offered to remake their order as well as throw in a free bag of chips and cheese. He also filled out the proper paperwork associated with the issue including the batch number of the food, time, date, etc and sent it all the main office. The customer left satisfied and the company was able to address the issue. Another situation in which he put his training in mock role play to use was with a situation with an employee. Employee subordination is something no manager likes to deal with.In fact, Steve said it is one of the more challenging part of his job because no one wants to be a disciplinarian. In this situation, an employee was directed to do dishes before he left for the day by the manager on duty to which the employee refused. The manager on duty again directed the employee to help with the dishes and again the employee refused so Steve was brought in to d eal with the situation. He explained that he sat the employee down and explained to him what would happen if he refused to do the work he was assigned one more time.It would be considered insubordination and there would be repercussions of suspension or even termination. The employee still vehemently refused to do the dishes and Steve had no choice but to write up the employee and suspend him pending termination. The next day the employee was terminated. In this situation, both managers agreed that they handled it by the rule book and sadly it ended up with a non-ideal resolution. These are just many of the items that the training seminars prepare the management for.Since working for Mighty Taco, the only difference he says is that he had to re-certify his food safe certification due to more and more restaurants in the industries making the switch from Prometric to Servsafe. Managers for Mighty Taco typically work a 45 hour work week with at least 5 hours of overtime guaranteed but no more than 7 hours. They get compensated for that overtime with the typical time and a half pay. Steve says that the summer months and Christmas time tend to be busier so he more often than not pushes to the 47 hour mark during those times.The managers typically work one of two shifts, either the opening shift which is 8:30am – 5:30pm or the closing shift which is 5:00pm – 2:00am. While he does not directly work on the schedule, he does have training in making schedules due to his experiences with Pizza Hut. He is trained in making the schedules while complying with various laws associated with schedule making, like scheduling minors. In terms of choosing his work week, he says he typically just rolls with what schedule is given to him but he also gets the days he requests off without an issue.Apparently as long as he works a Monday morning inventory shift every 3 weeks and works a certain amount of open and closing shifts per period, he is free to work whenever, as long as he works 45 hours a week. When it comes to the salary ranges for the various positions within the store, it seems that Mighty Taco, on average, pays higher than other places within the field. He states that the crew members at Pizza Hut only started at minimum wage whereas the crew members at Mighty Taco start at $8 per hour, almost $1 more per hour. The Shift Managers at Mighty Taco start off at about $9. 0 per hour and the Managers start off at about $11 per hour. The General Managers get paid a salary wage that is set by Mighty Taco based upon experience and time with the company. Not only do the employees with Mighty Taco generally get paid higher, but Mighty Taco has some great benefits. For example, the Managers and General Managers get full medical insurance and the General Managers get full medical insurance for their families as well. The only thing Steve has to pay is the co-pays. â€Å"Health insurance is rare enough in the food industry, but to get it paid in fu ll? That's amazing! Steve says. He also receives a week of vacation after being with the company for a year with the maximum going to 4 weeks. Employee evaluations are something that is common to every business and Mighty Taco is no different. Raises within the company are earned through 6 month reviews. Steve explains that his second review is actually coming up because, like previously mentioned, he has been with the company for almost a year. The raises for managers is a percentage based system based upon how the store is doing, how the manager personally does and various other factors.After explaining to me how the performance evaluations are done, I quickly realize that he is talking about a Graphic Rating Scale Method that I learned about in my Human Resources class. A Graphic Rating Scale Method is the most common type of evaluation method which lists a number of traits and a range of performance for each field. Some of the various traits Steve is scored upon include time man agement, training and development of employees, organizational know how, communication, teamwork, etc. According to Steve, teamwork is one that he always scores high on due to his ideals on the importance of teamwork.He believes that in the service industry,your work is also dependent on other people and goes on to say, â€Å"one man cannot do the job alone and it requires teamwork to accomplish any goals for yourself and the company. † The supervisors in the company who conduct these evaluations are the General Manager of the store and the District Manager. Being a manager is something that Steve enjoys with his favorite part pertaining to the management of the employees and helping to improve them as well as himself through the hard work and effort put into the job.He, in particular, really likes working for Mighty Taco because he feels like the company respects all their employees. He says that at his previous job, he did not feel like he or the other employees received an y of the respect they deserved. Being respected is key in maintaining moral and motivating employees. Although he does enjoy it, the job of a manager can be stressful at times. It is the big stuff he dreads, like the before-mentioned issues with crew members, but the little stuff is easy to deal with.Things like not having enough crew members during a busy shift or running out of a particular food or customer complaints. He says the best thing is to remain focused and to try and not let it get to you. He says that as a manager, he cannot let the stress get to him because he is the example to the crew members and must remain professional. However, once he gets home, he relieves stress by spending time with his family, specifically his 10 month old daughter, and playing video games like any typical male in their 20's. Steve would like to stay with the company as long as he can due to the opportunities it has given him.His ultimate goal is to be a District Manager for Mighty Taco, in p articular the one for the new restaurants opening up in Rochester, where he is originally from. He then jokes and says that he'll settle for being promoted to a General Manager position for now. Overall he really likes Mighty Taco as a company and hopes to stay with them for a long time. I shadowed Steve on Thursday, April 12, 2012 during an opening shift from 8:30am to 2:00pm. This is what happened while I was there: Upon entering the store, the alarm was shut off and the ovens were turned on.From there the lights were turned on and he clocked into the system. At this point, he is the only employee in the store and arrived approximately 10 minutes before his shift started. The next employee didn't arrive for about 15 more minutes and he is the cook, hence the ovens being turned on. His next step is to goes into the office to check the manager logs for any important information left by the previous shift's manager. This manager log, he informs me, includes any employee interactions and write ups, and any pertinent information like any cleaning jobs that have to be done today.He tells me that one of these cleaning jobs includes cleaning out the freezer, which is not done very often. From there he pulls all the paperwork and starts to go over any checklists, like the opening checklist. He gets the sales from the previous night and how over or under it is from forecast as well as the labor yield and the cost of sales of food. With all that information written down, he then calls it in to his District Manager. The next thing he does is check all the emails for any customer complaints that came in overnight and anything that may have come in from the main office.Today in the emails, he received a complaint about missing an item on his order and he informs me that this is pretty commonplace. The next big thing he does has to deal with the money in the safe. He made sure that the deposit from the previous night is there and make sure it adds up. He also counted the c hange in the petty cash and called the bank with an order for more change. Once making sure that all the money is there, he then ensures that all of his other employees arrive before going to the bank. Once three more employees arrive, we go on over to the bank at about 9:00am to deposit the money and to get the coin order.Upon returning to the store, he then writes down all the information about the deposit including the credit card log. He then faxed that information over to the office. After the money is situated, he then helped the crew members with setting up the line and making sure everything is in order for the morning. He set up the soda machines, and made fun of me for saying soda rather than pop, he filled up the food wells in the line for the employees and just went around seeing what the employees needed help with. He did this until about 9:45am where he then puts the cash drawers into the register.I ask him if he prefers to work on the line or to work in the office and he tells me he'd prefer to be in the thick of things but he has to the his managerial duty. At 10:00am, he finished the checklist and essentially opens up the store for the customers. Now the day officially begins and it is quite interesting to see everyone working together in this environment. As soon as the store opens, a customer immediately comes in and I ask if this is a normal occurrence. I'm told by Steve and the employees that more often than not, customers do not start showing up until closer to 11:00am.Also at 10:00am, another employee comes in and Steve immediately directs him to do a lot check, which he tells me includes sweeping and emptying the trash outside. At 11:00am, two more employees show up and I ask Steve what is the role of all these employees. Because to me it seems there are a lot of employees but then again, I am not used to this line of work. As it stands right now there are 8 employees plus Steve and he tells me what each of their jobs are. There is a co ok for the morning, but he eventually goes on to register or line depending on where he is needed.There are two employees on register up front, there are two employees on headset/cash-out on drive-thru, there are two employees dedicated to drive-thru line and two employees dedicated to the front counter line. The employees on line are broken down into wrappers and grill. I ask Steve which of these jobs he prefers to help out on and he informs me he prefers wrapping on the front counter line. He also then informs me that when the lunch rush happens at 11:30am, that I need to stay out of everyone's way. I can only describe the lunch rush as being organized chaos.While it is extremely busy, Steve directed all his employees efficiently based upon their strengths and weaknesses. He helped out wherever he was needed and kept up morale and motivation by joking with his employees. The banter back and force is amusing but at the same time questions are being asked about appropriate conduct. For example, questions about what went on a particular taco were often shouted out as well as questions confirming what the customer wanted. Even at the store's busiest moment while I was there, Steve kept his cool when dealing with both employees and customers alike.It seemed to me that everyone worked together efficiently in this environment, bringing about a sense of teamwork. After the lunch rush was over, which was about 1:30pm, we had a moment for me to ask him some questions about his day. I asked him how he prioritized his responsibilities during the day. He explained that there are 5 priorities set by Mighty Taco: customer service, cleanliness in customer area such as the dining room, cleanliness in the kitchen area in customer view, food preparation and food maintenance, and other cleanliness duties.He explains that anything he does throughout the day, he first takes into account the customers because he believes they are one of the most important aspects of his field. I t hen ask him how he decides who gets assigned to which job. He says its based upon their knowledge, skill level, time allotment and willingness to learn. He says that employees that are only there for a short time he more often than not will direct them to do a simple and quick cleaning or preparation job. I also asked him what is the most dangerous thing that has ever happened to him during his time as a manager.I got a startling response that I didn't expect. He started off laughing and saying that he was robbed at gunpoint one time when working at Pizza Hut. Apparently one night close to closing time, a man came in following an employee demanded all the money in the register. In this situation, one that he hopes no one ever has to go through, managers are taught to comply with any and all demands of the perpetrator. Procedure states that in such an event, the police should be called as well as the immediate supervisor and District Manager and the store should be shut down.Sadly th e perpetrator was not found but no one was harmed, which is the main goal in a situation like that. On that scary note, the shadowing was over and I thanked him profusely for allowing me to shadow his job and told him I would contact him with any further questions. Throughout this entire experience, I learned quite a bit of things. I have never worked in a management position before even though that is what my major is. Prior to coming back to school I have only ever worked in the Accounting world, from being a bookkeeper to working in Accounts Payable.While I would still like to stay in that section of the business world, this experience has taught me the hard work that goes into management. I hope to take these experiences and use them to further my career after I graduate, hopefully getting a position as an Accounts Payable Manager. Steve Nadig left me with some good advice for the eventuality of me becoming a manager of some sort which basically was to keep all my paperwork as o rganized as I can. He says that's his least favorite part of the job and he works hard on keeping all his paperwork in order.He also states that I should try to be as unbiased as possible, which I will take to heart because I know first hand what its like to have bias get in the way of a good management decision. Overall I found this to be a wonderful experience and I'm happy for getting the chance to do so. Works Cited â€Å"What Types of Behavior Indicate Insubordination? † Small Business. 21 Apr. 2012 . â€Å"Mighty Taco. † Mighty Taco. 21 Apr. 2012 . Dessler, Gary. â€Å"Chapter 6 Performance Management and Appraisal. † A framework for human resource management. Boston: Prentice Hall, 2011. 174.

Information Theory Essay

Information theory is a branch of applied mathematics and electrical engineering involving the quantification of information. Information theory was developed by Claude E. Shannon to find fundamental limits on signal processing operations such as compressing data and on reliably storing and communicating data. Since its inception it has broadened to find applications in many other areas, including statistical inference, natural language processing, cryptography generally, networks other than communication networks — as in neurobiology, the evolution and function of molecular codes, model selection in ecology, thermal physics, quantum computing, plagiarism detection and other forms of data analysis. A key measure of information is known as entropy, which is usually expressed by the average number of bits needed to store or communicate one symbol in a message. Entropy quantifies the uncertainty involved in predicting the value of a random variable. For example, specifying the outcome of a fair coin flip (two equally likely outcomes) provides less information (lower entropy) than specifying the outcome from a roll of a die (six equally likely outcomes). Hearst Tower (New York City) The six-story base of the headquarters building was commissioned by the founder, William Randolph Hearst and awarded to the architect Joseph Urban. The building was completed in 1928 at a cost of $2 million and contained 40,000 square feet (3,700 m2). The original cast stone facade has been preserved in the new design as a designated Landmark site. Originally built as the base for a proposed skyscraper, the construction of the tower was postponed due to the Great Depression. The new tower addition was completed nearly seventy years later, and 10,000 Hearst employees moved in on 26 June 2006. The tower – designed by the architect Norman Foster, structurally engineered by WSP Cantor Seinuk, and constructed by Turner construction – is 46 stories tall, standing 182 meters (597 ft) with 80,000 square metres (860,000 sq ft) of office space. The uncommon triangular framing pattern (also known as a diagrid) required 9,500 metric tons (10,480 tons) of structural steel – reportedly about 20% less than a conventional steel frame. Hearst Tower was the first skyscraper to break ground in New York City after September 11, 2001. The building received the 2006 Emporis Skyscraper Award. Citing it as the best skyscraper in the world completed that year. treehugger. com Processes In philosophy and systems theory, basic processes, or logical homologies as they were termed by Ludwig von Bertalanffy, are unifying principles which operate in many different systemic contexts. For example, feedback is a principle that figures prominently in the science of cybernetics. Natural and industrial processes utilize basic processes such as feedback. Turning torso HSB Turning Torso is the tallest skyscraper in Sweden and the Nordic countries, situated in Malmo, Sweden, located on the Swedish side of the Oresund strait. Upon completion, it was the tallest building in Scandinavia, the tallest residential building in the EU and the second tallest residential building in Europe, after the 264? etre (866 ft) Triumph Palace in Moscow. A similar, taller skyscraper featuring a 90Â ° twist is the Infinity Tower, currently under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Prior to the construction of Turning Torso, the 86? metre (282 ft) Kronprinsen had been the city’s tallest building. It was designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and officially opened on 27 August 2005. The tower reaches a height of 190 metres (623 feet) with 54 stories. The vision of HSB Turning Torso is based on a sculpture called Twisting Torso. The sculpture is a white marble piece based on the form of a twisting human being, created by Santiago Calatrava, a trained sculptor, architect and engineer. In 1999, HSB Malmo’s former Managing Director, Johnny Orback, saw the sculpture in a brochure which presented Calatrava in connection with his contribution to the architectural competition for the Oresund Bridge. It was on this occasion that Johnny Orback got the idea to build HSB Turning Torso. Shortly thereafter he traveled to Zurich to meet with Calatrava and ask him to design a residential building based on the idea of a structure of twisting cubes. The turning torso officially started to be built on Feb. 14, 2001. en. wikipedia. org Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems in general, with the goal of elucidating principles that can be applied to all types of systems at all nesting levels in all fields of research. The term does not yet have a well-established, precise meaning, but systems theory can reasonably be considered a specialization of systems thinking, a generalization of systems science, a systems approach. The term originates from Bertalanfy General System Theory (GST) and is used in later efforts in other fields, such as the action theory of Talcott Parsons and the system-theory of Niklas Luhmann. Arkit Eco studio Australian architecture studio Arkit will construct a full scale eco studio prefabricated house as part of Melbourne’s annual state of design festival. the home measures 50m square and will host different events during the festival. To begin, two people will be living in the eco studio full time, working from it in the day and sleeping there a night. Inside, the home has a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, living space and an adaptable services hub. On top a green roof provides insulation and greenery. Arkit constructs a variety of sustainable prefabricated homes using their modular system. All their structures feature multi compartmental wall panels that provide insulation and rigidity. Sustainably harvested western red cedar and hoop pine are used inside and out, while water-saving technologies help further reduce the home’s environmental impact. It took 6 years of internal r&d prototyping and 1 year of environmental analysis by ghd to create the eco studio.

Easy and Completely Edible Slime Recipe

Easy and Completely Edible Slime Recipe Most slime recipes are non-toxic, but there are only a few you can eat and none that taste as good as this one! Heres how to make edible slime. Edible Slime Ingredients 14 oz. can of  sweetened condensed milk1 tablespoon of cornstarchfood coloring (or you could add a little unsweetened powdered drink mix)couple of drops vanilla or other flavoring, if desired Make the Edible Slime In a saucepan over low heat, stir together the milk and cornstarch. Stir and heat until the mixture thickens. Remove from heat.Stir in the coloring and any flavorings. Allow the slime to cool.Enjoy! When you are finished playing with this slime, store it in a sealed plastic bag in the refrigerator. Refrigerated slime is good for a day or two. You can clean up the edible slime with warm soapy water. If you added food coloring or drink mix, keep the slime away from surfaces which could be colored, such as carpet or upholstery.