The Responsible Leader and Manager Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Responsible Leader and Manager - Essay Example Among the managers are Stacey Miguel, Kathy Buttimer and Annama Schaeffer. They are, respectively, district manager in Indiana, recruiting manager in Rhode Island and investor relations manager. The district manager oversees all the operations of the district including customer satisfaction and preparing stakeholders’ reports. The recruiting manager is responsible for getting qualified and competent staff to drive the business’ success. The investor relations manager ensures the stakeholders’ interests are taken care of while updating them on the company’s progress. This paper will explain how the managers can use their personal, interpersonal and societal values to manage the stakeholders. It will also show how they demonstrate their awareness of social issues and corporate citizenship responsibilities. Stakeholders Stakeholder management is the process that promotes a company’s strategic goals by influencing internal and external environments to c reate beneficial relationships between the company and its stakeholders (Bolman & Deal 1995). This is achieved through management of the agreed objectives and expectations. Among the stakeholders of Limited Brands are the customers, corporate shareholding companies and suppliers. By the end of 2012, Janus Capital Management LLC had 22.8 million shares, representing a 15.9 percent shareholding in Limited Brands. It is the duty of the managers to integrate their personal values and corporate values in order to ensure the success of the business and encourage stakeholders to invest more. Apart from Mr. Leslie Wexner, the owner, Janus Capital Management is the next largest shareholder. Customers The customers are among the key stakeholders, and the company instills the value of the customer being king to all managers. The managers at Limited Brands know that the business cannot survive without its customers. Even after bringing quality products to the market, the customers’ choic e to buy or not can determine the business’ fate (Chappell 1993). It is, therefore, significant to portray themselves as a company that focuses on excellence driven by customer satisfaction and motivational leadership on top of giving value for money in their products. In mirroring their customers’ values, the recruiting manger, district manager and investor relationship manager bring out their humility in a bid to empower women and improve children’s education. All the managers possess personal values of reaching out a helping hand to the needy. They themselves must possess values of honesty and integrity so as to enroll into the programs genuinely deserving students and women. In light to aiding talented students who need to gain experience before venturing into the employment world, the company offers internships and the successful applicants receive firsthand 10 weeks of immersion experience. They get to learn how products, brands and customer experiences ar e built and delivered. Some are even enrolled into accounting or systems support positions. The managers ensure, through their values of sharing knowledge and opportunity, that the interns learn in the best environment and they can share their experiences with the general public, and customers, upon completion. They subject the interns to the actual and challenging experiences of the working field. The interpersonal values of the managers help the interns to build and develop networks of relationships with other managers and the broader customer base by introductions and recommendations. This gesture serves to attract, build and maintain loyal customers who ensure that business flourishes. With retail stores in 49 states in the US and over 700 products, the interns also stand a better chance of being taken up

The Industry Averages and Financial Ratios Essay Example for Free

The Industry Averages and Financial Ratios Essay In today’s market business really look at what the others in their competitive market are doing to compare how they are doing as a business or corporation. They do this by evaluating the industry averages and the financial ratios. When corporations and financial advisors look at the industry average and the ratios it helps them identify the industry strengths, weaknesses and the overall health of the financial standings of the organization. The automotive and transportation industry with a focus on General Motors (SIC:37110000) is what our group as chosen to examine for our comparison. General Motors was started in 1908 by William Durant by the combination of over 17 independent companies in to one general company, thus eliminating his competitors of the industry. This increased the overall average of the industry and increased the company’s financial health. That was then, now General Motors in number 3 in the market as it shows in Bloomberg Business week graph. The purpose of comparing the rate of General Motors and the Industry is to rate their performance in solvency, profitability and efficiency. General Motors ratio improved in profitability from 2011 to 2012 and 2012 to 2013 the assets and liabilities ratio was 1.31 that means in profit earned relatively to sales and total assets. In the Industry that means GM did pretty well in assets and sales compared to the Industry. In solvency the ratio was 13.19, it has more than 202,000 employees supporting the companies’ production and distribution. In efficiency it total a ratio of 9.00 in 2012 to 9.70 in 2013 which they did better in quality, receivables and efficiency of assets control compared to the industry. General Motors has a reasonable balance on overall performance. It has a higher payables  compared to the industry but lower receivables 16.9 to 6.9 , that indicates that theres a higher cash coming in and less cash going out. In 2011 GM Company achieved staggering turnover of 150.3 billion US. Dollar and net income of 7.6 billion compared to the industry. Below our group as compared the ratios with the industry as a whole and the company General Motors to see where and how the company is doing within the industry. References Bloomberg Businessweek. General Motors Co (GM:New York) (Dec.22, 2014). Retrieved from http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/financials/ratios.asp?ticker=GM Dan Bradstreet Key Business Ratios. (2014). 3711 Motor Vehicle and Car Bodies. Retrieved from Dan Bradstreet Key Business Ratios, FIN370 website. General Motors Co. (2014). Market Watch. Retrieved from http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/gm/financials/balance-sheet Magloff, David. General Motors Co. Growth, Profitability, and Financial Ratios for (GM) from Morningstar.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Dec. 2014

Reinforced Concrete Frame Structure Advantages

Reinforced Concrete Frame Structure Advantages Reinforced concrete is one of the most widely used modern building materials. Concrete is artificial stone obtained by mixing cement, sand, and aggregates with water. Fresh concrete can be molded into almost any shape, which is an inherent advantage over other materials. Concrete become very popular after the invention of Portland cement in 19th century. However, its limited tension resistance prevented its wide use in building construction. To overcome this weakness, steel bard are embedded in concrete to form a composite material called reinforced concrete. Developments in the modern reinforced concrete design and construction practice were pioneered by European engineers in the late 19th century. At the present time, reinforced concrete is extensively used in a wide variety of engineering applications. The worldwide use of reinforced concrete construction stems from the wide availability of reinforcing steel as well as the concrete ingredients. Unlike steel, concrete production does not require expensive manufacturing mills. Concrete construction, does, however, require a certain level of technology, expertise, and workmanship, particularly in the field during construction. In some cases, single-family houses or simple low-rise residential buildings are constructed without any engineering assistance. The extensive use of reinforced concrete construction, especially in developing countries, is due to its relatively low cost compared to other materials such as steel. The cost of construction changes with the region and strongly depends on the local practice. As an example, a unit area of a typical residential building made with reinforced concrete costs approximately $100/m ² in India, $250/m ² in Turkey, and $500/m ² in Italy. With the rapid growth of urban population in both the developing and the industrialized countries, reinforced concrete has become a material of choice for residential construction. Unfortunately, in many cases there is not the necessary level of expertise in design and construction. Design applications ranges from single-family buildings in countries like Colombia to high rises in China. Frequently, reinforced concrete construction is used in regions of high seismic risk. Introduction Steel reinforced concrete is a specific type that has had strong steel rebar or fibers added to it while wet, creating a very strong type of concrete that is able to withstand almost anything when it has dried. Because the result of using steel reinforced are so good for the strength of the building, most modern building today use steel reinforced concrete in the construction process. By adding thin steel bars to concrete can increase the strength of the concrete, making it better to use in variety of application. Today, many of the buildings located nations use reinforced concrete to make the buildings stronger and better able to in industrialized withstand the ravages of time and the weather. Reinforcing the concrete that will be used on the buildings add tensile strength to the concrete, making it much stronger and more flexible that regular concrete, which helps prevent cracking and breakage. Steel reinforced concrete can be used in a number of building applications, including fl oors, beams, supports, walls, and frames. Steel reinforced concrete is a concrete in which steel reinforcement bars, plates or fibers have been incorporated to build up a material that would otherwise be fragile. If a material with high strength in tension, such as steel, is placed in concrete, then the composite material, reinforced concrete, resists compression but also bending, and other direct tensile action. A reinforced concrete section where the concrete resists the compression and steel resists the tension can be made into almost any shape and size for the construction industry. Reinforcing Steel Before placing reinforcing steel in forms, all form oiling should be completed. As mentioned earlier, oil or other coating should not contact the reinforcing steel in the formwork. Oil on reinforcing bars reduces the bond between the bars and the concrete. Use a piece of burlap to clean the bars of rust, scales, grease, mud or other foreign matter. A light film of rust or mild film is not objectionable. Rebars must be tied together for the bars tore main in a desired arrangement during pouring. Tying is also a means of keeping laps or splices in place. Laps allow bond stress to transfer the load from one bar, first into the concrete and then into the second bar. Advantages Behaviour Materials Concrete is a mixture of cement, stone aggregate, and small amount of water. Cement hydrates from microscopic opaque crystal lattices encapsulating and locking the aggregate into a rigid structure. Typical concrete mixes have low tensile strength. Steel, is placed in concrete, then it will not only resists compression but also bending, and other direct tensile actions. Steel also made the bonding of the aggregate in a concrete better. Physical characteristics of steel reinforced concrete: The coefficient of thermal expansion of concrete is similar to that of steel, eliminating internal stresses due to differences in thermal expansion or contraction. When the cement paste within the concrete hardens this conforms to the surface details of the steel, permitting any stress to be transmitted efficiently between the different materials. The alkaline chemical environment provided by calcium carbonate causes a passivating film to form on the surface of the steel, making it much more resistant to corrosion than it would be in neutral or acidic conditions. Common Failure Modes of Steel Reinforced Concrete Conventional steel reinforced concrete can failed due to inadequate strength, leading to mechanical failure, or due to a reduction in its durability. Corrosion and freeze may damage poorly designed or constructed reinforced concrete. When rebar corrodes, the oxidation products expand and tends to flake, cracking the concrete and unbonding the rebar from the concrete. Typical mechanisms leading to durability problems are as below: Mechanical failure Steel reinforced concrete may be considered to have failed when significant cracks occur. Cracking of the concrete section cannot be prevented. However, the size and location of the cracks can be limited and controlled by reinforcement, placement of control joints, the curing methodology and the mix design of the concrete. Cracking defects can allow moisture to penetrate and corrode the reinforcement. This is a serviceability failure in limit state design. Cracking is normally the result of an inadequate quantity of rebar, or rebar spaced at too great a distance. The concrete then cracks either under excess loadings, or due to internal effects such as early thermal shrinkage when it cures. Ultimate failure leading to collapse can be caused by crushing of the concrete matrix, when stresses exceed its strength by yielding of the rebar or by bond failure between the concrete and the rebar. Carbonation Carbonation or neutralisation, is a chemical reaction between carbon dioxide in the air and calcium hydroxide and hydrated calcium silicate in the concrete. The water in the pores of Portland Cement Concrete is normally alkaline with a pH in the range of 12.5 to 13.5. This highly alkaline environment is one in which the embedded steel is passivated and is protected from corrosion. The carbon dioxide in the air reacts with the alkaline in the cement and makes the pore water more acidic, thus lowering the pH. Carbon dioxide will start to carbonate the cement in the concrete from the moment the object is made. This carbonation process will start at surface, then slowly move deeper and deeper into the concrete. If the object is cracked, the carbon dioxide in the air will be better able to penetrate into the concrete. Carbonated concrete only becomes a durability problem when there is also sufficient moisture and oxygen to cause electro-potential corrosion of the reinforcing steel. Chlorides Chlorides, including sodium chloride, can promote the corrosion of embedded steel rebar if present in sufficient concentration. So, only use fresh raw water or portable water for mixing concrete. It was once common for calcium chloride to be use as an admixture to promote rapid set-up of the concrete. It was also mistakenly believed that it would prevent freezing. Alkali Silica Reaction This is a reaction of amorphous silica sometimes present in the aggregates with alkali, for example from the cement pore solution. The silica reacts with the alkali to form a silicate in the Alkali silica reaction, this causes localize swelling which causes cracking. The conditions are: aggregate containing an alkaline reactive constituent, sufficiently availability of alkali ions and sufficient moisture. This phenomenon referred as concrete cancer. This reaction occurs independently of the presence of rebar. Conversion of High Alumina cement Resistant to weak acids and especially sulfates, this cement cures quickly and reaches very high durability and strength. However, it can lose strength with heat or time, especially when not properly cured. Sulfates Sulfates in the soil or in groundwater, in sufficient concentration, can react with the Portland cement in concrete causing the formation of expansive products which can lead to early failure of the structure. Corrosion and Passivation of steel reinforcement Exposed steel will corrode in moist atmospheres due to differences in the electrical potential on the steel surface forming anodic and cathodic sites. Concrete as an environment The environment provided by good quality concrete to steel reinforcement is one of high alkalinity due to the presence of the hydroxides of sodium, potassium and calcium produced during the hydration reactions. The bulk of surrounding concrete acts as a physical barrier to many of the steels aggressors. In such an environment steel is passive and any small breaks in its protective oxide film are soon repaired. However, the alkalinity of its surroundings are reduced, such as by neutralization are able to reach the steel then severe corrosion of the reinforcement can occur. This in turn can result in to staining of the concrete by rust and spalling of the cover due to the increase in volume associated with the conversion of iron to iron oxide. Factors affecting corrosion rates of steel in concrete The permeability of the concrete is important in determining the extent to which aggressive external substances can attack the steel. A thick concrete cover of low permeability is more likely to prevent chloride ions from an external source from reaching the steel and causing depassivation. Alternatives for the reinforcing phase Where an adequate depth of cover is difficult to achieve due to design considerations or where aggressive environments are expected such as in marine structures or bridge decks, additional protection may be required for the embedded steel. This may take many and varied forms and commercial interest in this field is strong. The steel reinforcement itself may be made more able to maintain its passivity by providing it with a protective coating. In extreme circumstances, solid stainless steel may be used, although the perceived additional cost restricts its use in all but the most specialized applications. The ideal situation There can be little doubt that the most effective way of protecting steel which is embedded in concrete is to provide it with an adequate depth of cover by high strength, low permeability concrete free from depassivating ions such as chlorides. However, in the real world, concrete is laid by the tone in all weathers and environments, exposed to industrial atmospheres, de-icing salts and seawater. The real situation Contaminated materials and poor workmanship are hard to avoid completely but by understanding the often complex chemical and electrochemical conditions that can exists it should be possible to develop ways of producing structures which will last long into the next century. Deterioration mechanisms The majority of reinforced concrete around the world performs adequately and gives few problems. A minority of structures have deteriorated due to either the action of aggressive components from the external environment or incompatibility of the mix constituents. Problems can arise as a result of incomplete or inaccurate site investigation, poor design, badly specified concrete, poor workmanship and a range of other factors. Stages of deterioration The mechanisms of deterioration are primarily chemico-physical in nature and occur in three discrete stages which are initiation, propagation, and deterioration. Modes of deterioration Deterioration may occur due to a number of mechanisms on which a large body of literature already exists. These include: Corrosion of reinforcement due to chloride ions, carbonation and change in the rebar reinforcement. Sulphate attack of concrete Salt recrystallisation Soft water or acid attack of concrete Alkali aggregate reaction Thermal incompatibility of concrete components Shrinkage Frost damage Depth of cover Inadequate cover is invariably associated with areas of high corrosion risk due to both carbonation and chloride ingress. By surveying the surface of a structure with an electromagnetic covermeter and producing a cover contour plot, the high-risk areas can be easily identified. A cover survey of newly completed structures would rapidly identify likely problem areas and permit additional protective measures to be taken. Cracked cover It should be remembered that reinforced concrete is intrinsically a cracked material because the steel stops the structure failing in tension but the brittle concrete cracks to the depth of the reinforcement. Only those cracks above a critical width which intersect the steel are liable to assist the corrosion processes. Cost Incurred After a period of unprecedented growth in prices during 2004, early date for 2005 indicates that the constructional steel market faces greater stability in the year ahead. Despite the price increases, demand for steel in the UK market remained at a very high level in 2004. One of the principal concerns for steel users was the availability of material, but the year ended with more steel in the supply chain than there had been at the beginning. Structural steel frame costs The leading benchmark cost unit for structural steelwork is its unit cost per tonne which includes the steel and the following elements: Connection design, detail drawing, fabrication, testing, treatment and delivery, offloading, erection These are calculated against the overall estimated tonnage for the building to generate an overall frame cost. Unit costs per tonne can vary enormously as there are a combination of factors that influence the overall cost. Care should be taken in considering each projects characteristics in arriving at a tonnage rate. This can be calculated either on the number of beams and column in a building or a weight per m ². The relative costs of each element will vary depending on the nature of the project. The tonnage rate could be divided as follows: Materials 30% Engineering 5% Fabrication 35% Priming 8% Delivery 2% Erection 20% The costs assume that the structural steelwork contractor will provide their own crane for all the projects with the exception of office buildings, for which the main contractor provides a tower crane. The early involvement of structural steelwork fabricators is the most effective way to value engineer cost savings into steelwork frame. For example, using more substantial and therefore more expensive steel columns in a design could remove the need for stiffeners. The steel may cost more but it is cheaper overall than paying for labour to fabricate and weld stiffeners to the column. If this value is adopted early enough in the project across the whole frame design, significant cost savings can be achieved. The cost of a frame system alone should not dictate the choice of frame for a project. Rather it should be just one of a number of issues that should be considered when making the choice of frame material. The recent rises in reinforcement and steel prices have increased frame costs but the difference between steel and concrete frame costs remains insignificant. A 50% increase in European steel prices during 2004 has left many in the construction industry reviewing design solutions that have a heavy reliance on steel. The impact of the steel price rises and found that the whole project costs for concrete framed buildings are marginally less than for steel framed buildings. Foundation costs The foundations typically represent approximately 3% of whole project initial cost. For the heaviest reinforced concrete solutions, the foundations will be more expensive, but this represents only a small cost and can be offset by using post-tensioned slabs, which are typically 15% lighter. Cladding costs The thinner the overall structural and services zone, the less the cladding costs. Given that cladding can represent up to 25% of the construction cost it is worth minimizing the cladding area. The minimum floor-to-floor height is almost always achieved with a concrete flat slab and separate services zone. Partitions Sealing and fire stopping at partitions heads is simplest with flat soffits. Significant savings of up to 10% of the partitions package can be made compared to the equivalent dry lining package abutting a profiled soffit with downstands. This can represent up to 4% of the frame cost. Services co-ordination/ Installation/ Adoptability The soffit of a concrete flat slab provides a zone for services distribution free of any downstand beams. This reduces coordination effort for the design team and therefore the risk of errors. It permits flexibility in design and allows coordination effort to be focused elsewhere. Services installation is simplest below a flat soffit. This permits maximum off site fabrication of services, higher quality of work and quicker installation. These advantages should be reflected in cost and value calculations. Indeed, ME contractors quote an additional cost of horizontal services distribution below a profited slab of up to 15%. Flat soffits also allowed greater future adaptability. Fire protection For concrete structures fire protection is generally not needed as the material has inherent fire resistance of up to four hours. This remove the time, cost and separate trade required to attend the site for fire protection. Vibration The inherent mass of concrete means that concrete floors generally meet vibration criteria at no extra cost and without any extra stiffening. For more stringent criteria, the additional cost to meet vibration criteria is small compared to other structural material. Exposed soffit A concrete structure has a high thermal mass. By exposing the soffits this can be utilized through fabric energy storage to reduce initial plant costs and ongoing operational costs. Furthermore, the cost of suspended ceilings can be reduced or eliminated. Conclusion As a conclusion, the majority of reinforced concrete structures show excellent durability and perform well over their design life. Adverse environments or poor construction practice can lead to corrosion of the reinforcing steel in concrete. The major mechanisms for corrosion are atmospheric carbon dioxide ingress and chloride attack from cast-in or diffused chlorides. The corrosion and deterioration mechanisms are essentially the same for both carbonation and chloride attack. Proper choice of materials, adequate cover to reinforcement, good quality concrete and attention to the environment during construction will enhance the durability of reinforced concrete structures. For cost incurred, concretes range of inherent benefits including fabric energy storage, fire resistance and sound installation means that concrete buildings tend to have lower operating costs and lower maintenance requirements. For structure subjected to aggressive environments, combinations of moisture, temperature and chlorides may result in the corrosion of reinforcing and prestressing steel, leading to the deterioration of concrete and loss of serviceability. One preferred solution which has assumed the status of cutting-edge research in many industrialized countries, is the use of fiber reinforced polymer rebars in concrete. Fiber concrete is also becoming an increasingly popular construction material due to its improved mechanical properties over non-reinforced concrete and its ability to enhance the mechanical performance of conventionally reinforced concrete. DEFINITION OF FIBRE REINFORCED POLYMER Fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP), also known as fibre-reinforced plastic) are composite materials made of a polymer matrix reinforced with fibres. FRPs are commonly used in the aerospace, automotive, marine, and construction industries. FRPs are typically organized in a laminate structure, such that each lamina (or flat layer) contains an arrangement of unidirectional fibres or woven fibre fabrics embedded within a thin layer of light polymer matrix material. The fibres, typically composed of carbon or glass, provide the strength and stiffness. The matrix, commonly made of polyester, Epoxy or Nylon, binds and protects the fibers from damage, and transfers the stresses between fibers. TYPES OF MATERIAL USED Polymer There are two main types of polymer used for resins: thermosets and thermoplastics. The thermosetting polymers used in the construction industry are the polyesters and the epoxides. There are many thermoplastic resins used in composite manufacture: polyolefins, polyamides, vinylic polymers, polyacetals, polysulphones, polycarbonates, polyphenylenes and polyimides. Fibre A wide range of amorphous and crystalline materials can be used as the fibre. In the construction industry the most common fibre used is glass fibre (there are 4 types of glass fibre: E-glass, AR-glass, A-glass and high strength glass). Carbon fibre, of which there are 3 types (Type I, II, III) can be used separately or in conjunction with the glass fibre as a hybrid to increase the stiffness of a structural member or the area within a structure, so that the stiffness exceeds the value possible using only glass fibre. Aramid fibres can be used instead of glass fibres to give increased stiffness to the composite. Today each of these fibers is used widely in industry for any applications that require plastics with specific strength or elastic qualities. Glass fibers are the most common across all industries, although carbon fiber and carbon fiber aramid composites are widely found in aerospace, automotive and sporting good applications. Additives For structural applications it is mandatory to achieve some degree of flame retardant. Fire retardants are usually incorporated in the resin itself or as an applied gel-coat. Fillers and pigments are also used in resins for a variety of purposes, the former principally to improve mechanical properties and the latter for appearance and protective action. APPLICATIONS OF FRP IN CONSTRUCTION There are three broad divisions into which applications of FRP in civil engineering can be classified: applications for new construction, repair and rehabilitation applications, and architectural applications. NEW CONSTRUCTION FRPs have been used widely by civil engineers in the design of new construction. Structures such as bridges and columns built completely out of FRP composites have demonstrated exceptional durability, and effective resistance to effects of environmental exposure. Pre-stressing tendons, reinforcing bars, grid reinforcement, and dowels are all examples of the many diverse applications of FRP in new structures. REPAIR AND REHABILITATION One of the most common uses for FRP involves the repair and rehabilitation of damaged or deteriorating structures. Several companies across the world are beginning to wrap damaged bridge piers to prevent collapse and steel-reinforced columns to improve the structural integrity and to prevent buckling of the reinforcement. ARCHITECTURAL Architects have also discovered the many applications for which FRP can be used. These include structures such as siding/cladding, roofing, flooring and partitions. DESIGN CONSIDERATION The strength properties of FRPs collectively make up one of the primary reasons for which civil engineers select them in the design of structures. A materials strength is governed by its ability to sustain a load without excessive deformation or failure. When an FRP specimen is tested in axial tension, the applied force per unit cross-sectional area (stress) is proportional to the ratio of change in a specimens length to its original length (strain). When the applied load is removed, FRP returns to its original shape or length. In other words, FRP responds linear-elastically to axial stress.   FRP allows the alignment the glass fibers of thermoplastics to suite specific design programs. Specifying the orientation of reinforcing fibers can increase the strength and resistance to deformation of the polymer. Glass reinforced polymers are strongest and most resistive to deforming forces when the polymers fibers are parallel to the force being exerted, and are weakest when the fibers are perpendicular. Thus this ability is can be an advantage or a limitation depending on the context of use. Weak spots of perpendicular fibers can be used for natural hinges and connections, but can also lead to material failure when production processes fail to properly orient the fibers parallel to expected forces. When forces are exerted perpendicular to the orientation of fibers, the strength and elasticity of the polymer is less than the matrix alone. In cast resin components made of glass reinforced polymers such as UP and EP, the orientation of fibers can be oriented in two-dimensional and three-dimensional weaves. This means that when forces are possibly perpendicular to one orientation, they are parallel to another orientation; this eliminates the potential for weak spots in the polymer. COST With the rising cost of nickel, FRP has become a very competitive material of construction. It is very competitive with acid brick or rubber-lined carbon steel and much less expensive than alloy-clad carbon steel. It is generally more expensive than resin-coated carbon steel but has a longer service life in most applications. Because FRP does not require insulation, FRP ductwork is actually less expensive than resin-coated carbon steel. ADVANTAGES OF FRP Composites offer the designer a combination of properties not available in traditional materials. It is possible to introduce the fibres in the polymer matrix at highly stressed regions in a certain position, direction and volume in order to obtain the maximum efficiency from the reinforcement, and then, within the same member to reduce the reinforcement to a minimal amount at regions of low stress value. FRP products are a cost effective alternative to steel in many of the harshest industrial environments. The advantages of FRP products over other materials include: Corrosion Resistant Fibre Reinforced Polymer materials are designed to operate in aggressive environments. Little or no coating or treating required. Low maintenance requirements Designed and engineered to last, composite structural materials are virtually maintenance free. Impact resistant Inherent flexibility allows products to resist impact and failure. Non-conductive and Non metallic FRP constructions provide additional safety by stopping sparks and potential electrical hazards. Fire Retardant FRP has a low flame spread index when tested under ASTM E-84 and meets self extinguishing requirements of ASTM D-635. High strength-to-weight ratio The strong, but light weight alternative where heavy lifting or access is an issue. Reduced installation time and cost FRP products are easier and lighter to install. Normal hand tools are used to make adjustments. Therefore FRP offers greater efficiency in construction compared with the more conventional materials. DISADVANTAGES OF FRP Structural failure can occur in FRP materials when tensile forces stretch the matrix more than the fibers, causing the material to shear at the interface between matrix and fibers, tensile forces near the end of the fibers exceed the tolerances of the matrix, separating the fibers from the matrix and tensile forces can also exceed the tolerances of the fibers causing the fibers themselves to fracture leading to material failure. A serious matter relating to the use of FRPs in civil applications is the lack of design codes and specifications. For nearly a decade now, researchers from Canada, Europe, and Japan have been collaborating their efforts in hope of developing such documents to provide guidance for engineers designing FRP structures. FRP plastics are liable to a number of the issues and concerns surrounding plastic waste disposal and recycling. Plastics pose a particular challenge in recycling processes because they are derived from polymers and monomers that often cannot be separated and returned to their virgin states, for this reason not all plastics can be recycled for re-use, in fact some estimates claim only 20% to 30% of plastics can be material recycled at all. In addition, fibers themselves are difficult to remove from the matrix and preserve for re-use means FRP amplify these challenges. FRP are inherently difficult to separate into base a material that is into fiber and matrix, and the matrix into separate usable plastic, polymers, and monomers. These are all concerns for environmentally informed design today, but it must be noted that plastics often offer savings in energy and economic savings in comparison to other materials, also with the advent of new more environmentally friendly matrices such as bioplastics and UV-degradable plastics, FRP will similarly gain environmental sensitivity. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CONVENTIONAL STEEL REINFORCED CONCRETE AND FIBRE-REINFORCED POLYMER (FRP) CONCRETE No. Conventional Steel Reinforced Concrete Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Concrete 1 Definition: Steel reinforced concrete is a specific type that has had strong steel rebar added to it while wet, creating a very strong type of concrete that is able to withstand almost anything when it has dried. Definition: FRP concrete is composite materials made of a polymer matrix reinforced with fibres and typically organized in a laminate structure, such that each lamina (or flat layer) contains an arrangement of unidirectional fibres or woven fibre fabrics embedded within a thin layer of light polymer matrix material. 2 Corrosion of steel reinforcement: Exposed steel will corrode in moist atmospheres due to differences in the electrical potential on the steel surface forming anodic and cathodic sites. Corrosion Resistant: Fibre Reinforced Polymer materials are designed to operate in aggressive environments. Little or no coating or treating

Teachers Education Essay -- Educating Teachers Teaching Technology Es

Teachers' Education Not only do the rapid growth of technology changed the way we live, from the way business is conducted to the way we communicate with each other, technology advancements are also affecting the way we teach and learn. According to the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), new skills needed in the workplace are catalysts that spur technology use in the classroom. It is clear that the business world demand schools to prepare educated workers who are skilled at working in teams, can effectively solve problems, are able to process and apply information, and who can use technology effectively in the global market place in order to maximize productivity. Thus, the challenges and educational goals for schools should focus on creating appropriate learning environments that integrate technology as well as foster the needed skills to empower students. This paper describes the characteristics of teacher-centered classrooms and student-centered learning environment. In addition, this paper will explain the significance of teacher education for the effective implementation of technology as well as student-centered learning environment in K-12 classrooms. In the traditional teacher-centered classroom, teachers are expected to be the subject matter experts. They present the information in textbooks and when students asked questions, it is the job of the teacher to guide the students to think in such a way that they arrive at ‘correct’ answers (Carter, 1997). Students are also expected to learn factual-based knowledge and assessment is often based on the information they delivered from their rote skills. In the 21st century classroom, the role of teachers is to facilitate learning by coordinat... ...e: Developing technology goals for a college of education. Journal of Teacher Education, 47(4), 300-306. International Society for Technology in Education (1997). National educational technology standards. Retrieved June 19, 1999 from the World Wide Web: http://www.iste.org/Resources/Projects/TechStaamdards/NETS/ Malone, M. N. (1998). Make them believers. Technology & Learning, 18(7), 44-45. National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (1997). Technology and the new professional teacher: Preparing for the 21st century classroom report. Retrieved May 26, 1999 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ncate.prg/projects/tech/TECH.HTM Norman, K. (1997). Teaching in the switched on classroom: An introduction to electronic education and hypercourseware. Retrieved September 28, 1999 from the World Wide Web: http://www.lap.umd.edu/SOC/sochome.html

Leaders Make a Real Difference in an Organisation’s Performance Essay

Within these qualities over history great leaders have developed detailed theories that are constantly being utilized within successful corporations today. Amongst these are Trait theory, Behavioural theories and also the Situational contingency theories that were used to represent successful leadership qualities. Great leaders become highlighted in times of oppression, utilizing their talents to move forward and have solid control of their organisations, in turn developing positive organisational performance. Through past generations leadership had developed to the ultimate success it is today. Through multiple theories, leadership has moved to the point where it now has a factual impact on organisations performance. The contemporary management theories are used in numerous ways of motivating, creating opportunity providing inspiration and resulting in a definite increase in organisational performance. This is evident in today’s society, through a minimal view of coaching sporting teams to the operations of large corporate groups such as Wesfarmers. Creating opportunity, Throughout history, it has been clearly evident that a great leader’s input shall reflect with a great performance output, thus developing opportunities for individuals to accomplish their maximum potential. â€Å"Leaders create opportunity for individuals within their sphere of influence† (urbanfoot. ca, 2009), opportunity being a set of circumstances that makes it potentially possible to achieve anything from extrinsic to intrinsic rewards. This creation of opportunity manifests itself across the globe in large and small organisations. In contemporary society it is shown by leaders within sporting clubs, the success of the best AFL clubs are built on a hierarchy of leaders, club captains, coaches, and trainers. They are all striving to create opportunity for young potential players. Essendon football club’s great success over the past numerous decades have been because of the major influential leadership role James Hird has played within the club. James Hird leading his club by being captain through two premierships and is now today still leading the club by coaching. His career of captain assisted with the creation the opportunity for the club leaders today and now he is continuing his leadership role by coaching the team, it is evident with his club involvement there is a definite outcome of organisational performance. As well as leading through creating opportunity, great leaders strive to inspire others within their environment. Inspiration, Leaders aim to inspire individuals within their vicinity to pursue the outcome of organisational performance. This constant attempt to provide inspiration is strongly shown by our world’s best leaders that are driving the powerhouse of our world’s economy. Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, Phil Knight, founder of Nike and Richard Branson founder of Virgin Group, these individuals are amongst many others that are part of the world’s most inspirational leaders. These people have founded some of the world’s biggest corporations by their profound ability inspire. Richard Branson went from developing a school newspaper called Student to operating one of the world’s most complex conglomerates know as Virgin Group. Branson’s life motto is to ‘have fun’ this is reason to his positive eccentric personality that reflects to inspire others around him. Lead by example† this phrase is used throughout human life to portray inspiration on others, through creating an inspiration on others leaders are assisting to motivate. Motivation, Motivation is a key part of a great leader’s success in achieving organisational performance. Motivation is referred to as â€Å"the forces within an individual that account for the level, direction and persistence of effort expended at work† (Wood, J. et al, 2010). Motivation on individuals is reflected by successful leaders, through multiple different theories. Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory identifies high order needs and low order needs† (Wood, J. et al, 2010) this details a pyramid that highlights the work motivational needs of individuals, including psychological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualisation. This research has contributed to the success of leaders in motivating and achieving ultimate organisational performance across large contemporary organisations. In many of today’s organisations leaders commonly motivate employees through the use of offering extrinsic rewards, â€Å"positively valued work outcomes† (Wood, J. t al, 2010), this may range from Christmas bonuses to simply allowing the use of a company car. Through the use of extrinsic rewards individuals are motivated to produc e their maximum performance. It is evident in KPMG, one of the world’s largest consulting firms; the use of leaders providing employees with extrinsic rewards motivates employees to achieve their full potential. KPMG provides employees with an annual bonus fluctuating on the employees yearly work effort. In doing so employees are determined to work to achieve a high constant overall organisational performance. Individuals that utilize the use of their leadership talents; creating opportunity, inspiring and motivating individuals will evidently result in reaching an optimum level of organisational performance productivity. Throughout history within these abilities leaders have developed several theories to manage the way it is put into practice. Through the past centuries leaders have always played a pivotal role in the triumph of groups, from the times of Genghis Khan, Napoleon and even Hitler, their efforts have exemplified how great leaders can make a major difference to organisations. All leaders tend to have different styles when it comes to commanding their subordinates and as time has progressed they have been categorized into different approaches and theories. The first theory to be thought up was known as the trait theory, and as the years moved on different studies and research was conducted to the point where different types of leadership are studied. Trait Theory, The trait theory which identifies different traits between leaders and followers, and assumes that leaders are born not developed. The trait theory takes into account physical and mental attributes of people that appeared to be more successful leaders. This theory took into account things such as height, weight and personality, and rather than study each of those in detail, these characteristics were recognised in effective and ineffective leaders. Therefore people could be able to predict if a person was a worthy or unworthy leader, although due to the studies being conducted as early as 1900 there was never any real recording s of evidence. Also there were never any real set of traits that defined a good leader, in other words there was no benchmark, which made it difficult for people to understand the theory as there were great leaders that had different characteristics. For example Hitler had different traits and characteristics to Nelson Mandela, Hitler was considered hard and persistent whereas Mandela was a visionary. Although it is certain that the trait theory set the trend for years to come. Behavioural Theories, The trait theory laid the foundations for what was later known as the behavioural theories; this included the Michigan and Ohio State studies. The behavioural theories compliments the flaws of the trait theory as it is more action based rather than only taking natural aspects into consideration. The Michigan studies showed that there are two types of leaders, employee-centred supervisors and production-centred supervisors. Employee-centred supervisors are leaders who look out for their workers and try to keep them emotionally happy by showing genuine interest in the wellbeing. Whereas production-centred employees are mostly concerned about getting the work done and meeting figures, rather than looking out for the welfare of their workers. Research has shown that employee-centred managers were found to have more efficient and effective groups than production-centred supervisors. The Ohio State studies which are very similar to the Michigan studies showed that leaders had two main dimensions, consideration and initiating structure, which can be related to employee-centres supervisors and production-centred supervisors respectively. Although the results from this study showed different results as the supervisors who received the best output from their employees showed a high amount of consideration and initiating structure. Situational contingency theories, The next sets of theories to be developed were the situational contingency theories, which came about in the 1960’s. These theories involve leaders that can adapt to the situation they are place in, for example Fiedler’s theory predicts work group effectiveness and how it depends on a match between the leader’s technique and the difficulties of the situation. Fiedler also considered the amount of situational control a leader has, which is how well a leader can determine the result of a groups actions and the course the will take on the way. Of course Fiedler was not the only person to come up with situational theories, there was also; Robert House, Paul Hersey, Kenneth Blanchard, Steve Kerr and Jonathon Jermier, but for the purpose of not repeating similar information they will not be discussed. It is fair to say that over the years leadership theories have changed with the times. The trait theory was effective for organisational performance as it helped identify leaders before they even took on a leading role, and although today that might seem politically incorrect, it’s what was suitable for the times. The behavioural theories in the late 1940’s had a great effect on organisational performance because people started to take into account the actions of their leaders and the different effect that certain actions would obtain. The Situational theories took another step into understanding the effect that good leaders can have on organisational behaviour by interpreting the how leaders manage the situation and whether or not they can mould to new and different challenges. As leadership theories have evolved, only the strong have survived, and the recent global financial crisis has provided great challenges for leaders to portray their successful qualities. Leadership is a quality that has grown in human culture over thousands of years and within the past century economies have taken significant falls highlighting the choices great leaders have made to sustain organisational performance through this time. Two significant downturns in history shook the world economy, the great depression of the 1930’s, Franklin D Roosevelt’s leadership qualities particularly exceled through this period and the global financial crisis saw absurd leadership talents ChemChina. These flairs in leadership talent depicted the difference it can asset on organisational performance. Global Financial Crisis – ChemChina In 2007 the world economy fell into the deepest trough in decades, this is known as the global financial crisis, it was considered the worst financial crisis since the great depression in the 1930’s. The global financial crisis saw the collapse of multiple investment banks across the United States of America and developed a ripple effect that was felt by economies across the globe. Great leaders stood out through this period powering their companies without feeling the effect of the economic down turn. One company in particular that continued a sustainable growth in organisational performance is ChemChina. While millions of companies were collapsing and on the verge of insolvency ChemChina’s prime operating income multiplied seven times, total assets increased by 133. 4 billion Yuan and total profits escalated an increased 12 times over, Ren Jianxin the president of ChemChina’s outstanding leadership qualities were the main motive behind the relentless accomplishment. The massive operational increases in production were due to major â€Å"innovations in organisation, institutions and technologies involving changes in their way of thinking, philosophies and producti on technologies and processes†. (Ren Jianxin, 2009) All this required an overall development in their way of leadership, in turn a successful corporate transformation thus organisational performance. 930’s Great Depression – Franklin D Roosevelt The great depression which hit the world through the 1930’s affected the world on a scale that had never been seen before. The depression started in America when stock prices started to fall, and on October 29, 1929 the stock market crashed and the effect spread globally. The effect this had on the world was far worse than anyone could have ever imagined causing people to commit suicide, die of starvation and start their lives over in a new world. Out of this came one of the world’s greatest ever leaders, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who dragged America and the rest of the world out of the depression. Roosevelt took over as president in March of 1933 and re instilled hope back into the American people by promising action and in his first address to the people he said one of today most famous quotes, â€Å"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself†. Roosevelt decided that to get the country out of the position they were in he had to adopt policies that were frowned upon, such as creating deficit budgets, which for the times were unheard of. When Roosevelt pulled the American economy back to its feet he was rewarded by being elected for four successive terms. Roosevelt proved how one great leader can have a major effect on a group of people and that it is not impossible to come back from the dead. Financial crisis’s at any time cause a great amount of angst in the around the world, and it takes very special people to lead corporations, governments or even countries out of these fatal situations. ChemChina and Roosevelt were both innovative in their styles and led their respective organisations either to new great heights or just simply out of a great depression. Throughout the times Leaders have always come under scrutiny from their critics, although one does not attain criticism without achieving. Without Leaders providing their qualities to inspire, create opportunity and motivate, organisations would have a lack of soul and would be forever falling in a negative style.

Term Paper Writing Help

Term Paper Writing Help Term Paper Writing Help Term Paper Writing Help As a college or university student, you have to complete writing assignments of numerous courses in economics, science, technology, management, etc.   Every tutor has his own rules and instructions for term paper writing.  However, if you are assigned to write a literary term paper, for example, the first thing you should remember is that your paper should be focused on a specific text.   Your task is to conduct a research and find out what the critics say about the text you have chosen and the author of it.   The main purpose of term paper writing is to conduct a research and find out supporting information to prove your assumptions and ideas.   While writing a literary term paper, you should use approximately 10 sources in addition to primary text.   Nevertheless, the number of secondary sources depends on term paper topic and the requirements of your tutor.   Once you have collected all necessary sources, you need to write a literature review. While writing a term paper body, you should discuss and analyze the topic.   Keep in mind that analysis is not a summary of the main points.   You should include opinion of different authors and include information from relevant studies and experiments.   If you are writing a term paper on literary text, you should dissect the text and find interesting points for discussion.   Most of the tutors prefer usage of MLA writing and referencing style.   While writing a term paper, you should cite all of the sources used and cited for term paper writing.   Make sure to follow the required citation format.   Include works cited page at the end of the paper.   Works cited list should include all of the sources cited in term paper.   Do not forget that all of the sources should be arranged in alphabetical order. Term Paper Writing Help Some tips on term paper format: It should have one-inch margins on all sides. Paragraphs must be indented half an inch. Term paper should be double-spaced. It should include quotations, notes, and the list of works cited. The title page isn't necessary for academic term paper. Type your name, your instructor's name, the course name and number, and the date at the top of the first page. Term Paper Writing Service If you are not sure how to start writing your term paper, you may ask our writers for assistance and we will write an impressive term paper for you.   to write a good term paper on any topic and of any academic level.   Do not hesitate to place an order and you will be very impressed with the high quality of our writing services!

Stanford Prison Experiment

Stanford Prison Experiment Introduction The unsettling aspect of the experiment was that it seemed to prove the pervasive behaviour of the prison guards and prisoners was due to an aspect of human psychology, deeply embedded in the human nature, rather than an acquired ill reasoning. However, there are arguments as to whether the experiment used the right procedure and parameters to obtain objective results.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Stanford Prison Experiment specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The guidelines violated The study violated the ethical guidelines of any experiment involving human beings since it did not have any ethical acceptability. The set APA standards require that any experiment, including those investigating psychological issues, be free of any kind of torture. If the guards had stuck to the recommended course of action when handling the prisoners, the experiment could have resulted in outcomes that were more ob jective. The researchers disregarded the subjects’ welfare, which is against the APA guideline requirements. Moreover, the experiment planners failed to consider the gravity of the events if the anticipated risks turned into a reality. The APA guidelines require the experimenter to structure the experiment in such a way that the risk is not too detrimental to the physical and emotional wellbeing. The leader of the team, doctor Zimbardo, was also the person who conducted the analysis of the course and the results of the experiment. According to the accepted standards in modern research, the leader of the team flawed the experiment by acting as an observer while disturbing the process. This violated another guideline, which advocates for minimum disturbance. Zimbardo’s personal opinion and feelings exposed the experiment to distortion. The experiment’s validity was questionable since before the commencement of the process all actions in the prison were anticipated . The guards had premeditated inflicting torture and curtailing the subjects’ freedom contrary to the APA guidelines on experimentation (Blass 235). There were no admissible criteria of equating the experimental prison’s conditions to those of a real prison. The experimental conditions could have been far much worse than the real conditions of an average prison. Furthermore, some conditions in real prison are necessary while experimental conditions were deliberate efforts to inflict mental stress. The researchers altering the Study Although there was no way to modify the experiment to reflect a real prison in totality, the team could have adopted measures that ensured the experiment stayed within the admissible criteria of practical experimentation.Advertising Looking for research paper on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The experiment would have obtained better results if the prisoners and the guards were subjected to the procedure without being guided on how to react to various situations. The decision to instil mental strain on the prisoners distorted the experiment. On the contrary, gradual, automatic, and natural mental strain on the guards and the prisoners was a more appropriate approach. Another measure that could have been useful to the experiment was the random selection of the prisoners with the freedom to request release. In a real prison, the prison community is composed of individuals with random backgrounds. In this essence, the experimental team should have been composed of a random collection of individuals picked in a non-discriminatory way. An independent observer would have been useful in ensuring that the participants in the experiment did not have any interest in the experiment’s outcome. This would facilitate the most accurate natural response of the experiment’s subjects to the conditions in their undisturbed environment. Furthermo re, the participants in such an experiment must have only limited information regarding the issue in question. This ensures that the subjects are not subconsciously aware of the aim of the experiment while deciding on each of their moves (Huggins et al 263). Cognitive dissonance Cognitive dissonance is a phenomenon where individual are attracted to do things that require more effort or responsibility rather than take on the easier options. This trend is evident in the Stanford experiment among the prisoners and the gaurds. The guards strive to ensure that the prisoners suffered for no particular reason. Moreover, the prisoners had no cause to rebel if the guards maintained a professional stance in the experiment. However, the guards opted to oppress the prisoners and later deal with the ensuing crisis. This evidence of cognitive dissonance in the prison community seems to confirm in a limited manner, the existence of a substantial negative psychological part in the comprehensive hum an nature (Festinger 32). The prisoners had clear characteristics of cognitive dissonance. They chose to flout the prison’s regulations and then later endure the repercussions although there were no clear benefits of their actions. In addition, the prisoners chose a more difficult relationship with the prison authorities with the intention of creating a conflict. These actions implied that the trait is a natural tendency of the human being to choose to confront the more challenging situations rather than the easier procedures (Cooper 42).Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on Stanford Prison Experiment specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Conclusion The study produced substantial evidence to prove the existence of cognitive dissonance in human beings. Although the experiment’s procedure breached major guidelines on experimentation, the results contain details that objectively point to the natural tenden cy of the human beings to take on more challenging options. Blass, Thomas. Obedience to authority current perspectives on the Milgram paradigm. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000. Print. Cooper, Joel. Cognitive dissonance: fifty years of a classic theory. Los Angeles [u.a.: SAGE Publ., 2007. Print. Festinger, Leon. A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 19621957. Print. Huggins, Martha Knisely, Mika Fatouros, and Philip G. Zimbardo. Violence workers: police torturers and murderers reconstruct Brazilian atrocities. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002. Print.

Strategies firms can use when entering foreign markets

Strategies firms can use when entering foreign markets Foreign manufacturing: Under certain conditions, many organizations find it inappropriate to distribute their domestic products to foreign markets. Transporting large products is always expensive hence many companies produce their products close to the market.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Strategies firms can use when entering foreign markets specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Additionally, custom charges can also make the products to be less competitive. A country’s preference for their locally produced goods can prevent an organization from entering a foreign market (Benjamin, 2006). Other factors like availability of ready market, less production costs and financial motivation can make a business organization produce its products in the foreign market. Assembling: This is the cooperation between exporting and foreign production. Organizations locally produce components of its products and transport them t o foreign markets where they are assembled as a final product. This strategy is cost effective as companies will spend less money in transporting the components and paying for the custom tariffs. Moreover, local workers can be used to ease the amalgamation of companies in the foreign market. Licensing: This is another appropriate strategy used by a number of companies when entering a foreign market. The strategy is not only considered to be less risky, but also involves larger tasks for domestic producers. There is a slight difference between licensing and franchising. In franchising, companies tend to take part in the development and management of the marketing plan. A global licensing firm provides the licensee with patent rights on goods. Consequently, the licensee will be able to manufacture the licensor’s products and market them within a given boundary (Yenne, 2005). Foreign public authorities prefer this type of agreement since it comes with a number of technological a dvancements into their country. Conversely, this strategy can only work for a short duration of time because many foreign companies tend to start their own production after obtaining the know-how. Joint ventures: Foreign joint ventures are similar to licensing except that most of the international companies in joint ventures are involved in the management of foreign firms. When a foreign company forms partnership with the home-country firm, a new organization is always formed. Therefore, international companies are not only able to manage their operations, but also obtain important information on the local market. In addition, an international company will not be at risk of being taken.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Strategy used by Intel in their global expansion Intel is an international company with its headquarters in America. Besides, the company is conside red to be one of the leading producers of motherboard chipset around the world. Intel Corporation used joint venture strategy to enter into various foreign markets. For instance, the company was able to form a joint business enterprise (IM Flash Technologies) with Micron Technology. IM Flash Technologies produces flash memories which can be used as detachable storages (Alkhafaji, 2001). Consequently, this provided them with a wider market. They are also able to effectively compete in the local and international market with other companies producing similar products. Strategy used by McDonalds in their global expansion McDonalds majorly used franchising strategy to enter into foreign markets. Therefore, they have managed to expand their operations to approximately 120 countries globally. The company has set up policies which the franchisees are expected to obey in their restaurant management. For instance, McDonalds expect their franchisees to follow their menu, cooking techniques an d staffing rules respectively. Consequently, this forms a large section of McDonalds successful strategy. They have also reduced their operational costs while maximizing their profits. Strategy used by Goya Goya is a food producing company with branches in many countries including America and Spain. It uses foreign manufacturing strategy to enter into the competitive local and international markets. Therefore, they have been able to reduce their transportation costs thus making a lot of profit (Miltenburg, 2005). For instance, they had previously constructed a multimillion distribution center in Doral (Florida). From here, they are able to manufacture their products and distribute them locally to their customers. Strategy used by Boeing Boeing is an international aerospace and defense company. This company used joint venture strategy to enter in various foreign markets. Together with Aviation Industries Corporation, they formed Tianjin Composites Company. Consequently, they have obt ained important information regarding china’s local market. Strategy used by Coca-Cola Company Coca-cola Company used assembling strategy during their global expansion. The company transports some of their unfinished products like syrup to foreign markets. Therefore, the rest of the work (manufacture of containers and addition of water) is done by local bottle companies (Tielmann, 2010).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Strategies firms can use when entering foreign markets specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Strategy used by Nokia in their global expansion Nokia succeeded in venturing into foreign market through the application of assembling strategy. The company has assembly plants in various countries including Finland and Mexico. Nokia and Siemens also used a joint venture strategy to enter into foreign markets. For instance, they were able to form Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) as their joint business enterpr ise. Company which has experienced an evolution of strategies Coca-Cola Company has experienced an advancement of strategies since it started its expansion into the foreign market. Due to high demand, the company decided to change from assembling strategy to foreign manufacturing strategy. Instead of transporting their unfinished products, Coca-Cola Company has set up firms in various countries where they are able to manufacture their own products. Consequently, this was done to reduce high transport costs. References Alkhafaji, A. F. (2001). Corporate transformation and restructuring: A strategic approach. Westport, Conn: Quorum Books. Benjamin, L. K. (2006). Market entry strategies of foreign Telecom companies in India. Wiesbaden: Dt. Univ. Verl. Miltenburg, J. (2005). Manufacturing strategy: How to formulate and implement a winning plan. New York: Productivity Press. Tielmann, V. (2010). Market Entry Strategies: International Marketing Management. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH. Y enne, B. (2005). The story of the Boeing company. St. Paul, MN: Zenith Press.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More

Stakeholders Theory Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Stakeholders Theory - Case Study Example Basis of determining business relationships: As per the shareholder's theory, corporate relationships are determined by legal or implied contracts. Thus, it recognizes accountability towards those parties with whom an explicit legal agreement has been entered into. This vastly limits the scope of accountibility.On the other hand the stakeholders' school of thought Escalation in value of shareholding: the shareholders theory endorses the objective of generating higher returns to the investment of the shareholders. Whereas the stakeholders' take is that, the corporation should strive to yield higher social returns to all the parties involved with it. Objective of wealth creation: escalation in the value of shareholding will result in greater wealth creation; therefore, it is consistent with the traditional corporate objective of profit maximization. The proponents of the shareholders theory maintain this. However, the other view is that, when the interest of the stakeholders is taken into consideration then there shall be fairer distribution in addition to wealth creation, which will promote the general welfare of society. The Tinged Shareholders theory contains a reconciliation of the main ideas of the two schools of thought. It makes allowance for moral and social obligations and at the same time retains the director's fiduciary duties and holds them responsible to the shareholders. The conflicting grounds of the normative and instrumental approaches are blurred in this theory. The traditional profit-maximizing objective of the shareholders theory is maintained, while incorporating the corporate social responsibilities as well, therefore it is consistent with moral duty. c) I find the stakeholders theory rather convincing. The recognition of commercial pursuits and social obligations appeal to me. The stakeholder's theory can justifiably claim to be superior because it upholds the interests of the owners without neglecting social welfare. If a company is profitable but its employees are a harassed lot, or its suppliers are bleeding dry because of the constant pressure of cutting costs, it defeats the purpose of corporate social responsibility. Singular motive of wealth creation can be ruthless if fair distribution and social welfare are neglected. A company owes responsibility towards it's employee's for improving their quality of life as much as it owes to it's customers for rendering quality at reasonable prices. .Wal-Mart is a case in point. This example demonstrates that commercial quests should not be divorced from social responsibilities.Wal Mart is the largest retailer in the world with a 20% market share in America and a formidable presence in retail in most parts of the world. It has gone overboard in its attempts to cut costs and increase profit margins. Recently exposed practices include locking overnight workers in its stores, allowing Wal-Mart maintaince contractors to use illegal immigrants as janitors. It is also known

Apple Computers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Apple Computers - Essay Example Yet, as we look forward to a happy ending, earnings taper off and it appears as though the saga may be over after all. However, a feeling of quiet confidence gradually takes over the observer, as both Apple Computers and Jobs negotiate through each downturn with aplomb. Must a company's journey through time be so turbulent This document tries to draw lessons from the Apple experience and to suggest stable ways for commercial firms to manage their planning and operational processes. There are two over reaching factors that seem to have influenced strategic change at Apple Computers. The first is the frenetic pace of technological change. No other industrial sector has witnessed the continuous and rapid improvements in processor speeds, storage capacity, transmission options and software development. This has been a source of strength and an opportunity for the entrepreneurial culture of Apple Computers, but it has proved to be a handful for people such as Sculley who labored so hard to bring a semblance of order and discipline to the highly individualistic style of functioning to which die-hard company employees have become accustomed. A second factor which has affected strategy in this company has been the tumultuous and disorderly change of guard at the top. There is no precedent for such a striking founder to leave his creation while remaining in the business. Even more unusual has been the return of Jobs as a mere consultant to the company which he once owned. These moves, and indeed the manner of Sculley's departure have posed special challenges for the company. Strategy Review Systematic and regular environmental scanning seems to be a lacuna in the planning process at Apple Computers. Every enterprise needs a deep understanding of the values that its products and services deliver in an environment of global competitiveness (Ohmae, 1991, 61-74). The success of Jobs to see the opportunity in the graphic user interface which Xerox apparently missed, did not repeat itself when the company invested resources in Newton. It leads one to suspect that iPod may have come about by chance more than by a designed set of steps to understand dynamic customer needs. Environment scanning is an important and integral part of formulating strategy. We do not know if Apple Computers made the effort to reach out across the world, as for example IBM has always done, to weave market realism and new trends in consumer needs in to they way it thinks and works as an organization. The genius of Jobs could have been a drag for the company he founded, for he is clearly a person who th inks way ahead of his time. The story of Apple's strategy could be seen in the light of essential differences between a University Research Department and the function in a pharmaceutical concern which creates solely for profit. Jobs seems to have erred in mixing business and more visionary roles in a manner that continued to haunt the company long after he had left. We do know from the case that Sculley tried hard to rectify matters, but perhaps his 'sugary water' background prevented him from managing the environmental scanning process with the technological orientation it deserved. This is reflected in IBM and even prime rival Microsoft making good business use of some key Apple innovations! Overall, every business needs sound and

Organizational Behavior Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Organizational Behavior - Research Paper Example It describes that the individuals and groups of employees do offer any influence over the organizational working environment. It is entirely concerned with the varied rising realities in an organization (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2009). Moreover, OB is also described as a human technique, which is utilized to analyze individual employee behaviors in a specific organization. It entirely concentrates on the understanding, forecasting and controlling human behaviors in an organization. OB is the key facet which is utilized to maintain and to enhance the level of relationship among the employees of an organization. It helps in proper sharing of diverse facts and information with one another resulting in enhancement of their technical knowledge and skills. It also enhances the devotion and commitment of the employees leading to augmentation of productivity and profitability of the organization. Hence, it helps in improvement of efficiency and effectiveness of both the employee and the organizat ion (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2009). OB is also utilized as an analytical tool to judge the psychological skills and attitudes of the employees. It also focuses on improving the productivity, declining absenteeism, enhancing returns, improving job satisfaction and devotion. Thus, in order to enhance these attributes, OB utilizes systematic and organized study of the employee behavior. Hence, it can be avowed that as OB is used to predict employee psychology so it is also known as organizational psychology (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2009). Discussion Due to globalization and industrialization, the importance of OB is becoming more imperative in every organization. This is because OB is required in order to cope up with the changing nature and attitude of the employees of the organizations. OB can also be regarded as an educational discipline which is concerned with describing, accepting, forecasting, and scheming individual behavior in an organizational environment. It is done in order to augme nt organizational efficiency along with corporate image. Moreover, improvement in organizational returns might also enhance brand identity and uniqueness. According to Kreitner and Kinicki (2009), OB is that branch of study which helps in prediction of the employee attitude in an organization. For this reason, it is also described as a human technique utilized for individual benefit. In addition, OB also helps in improving inter-personal relationships amid the workers and the management in an organization. Hence, it facilitates the management to comprehend the psychology of the individual employees which helps in reducing employee discontentment and disapproval. This may result in enhancement of employee commitment leading to organizational improvement (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2009). Furthermore, as organizations are operated with individuals so effective utilization of the employees can only lead to success of a business enterprise. Thus, proper utilization of the workers can be possib le only if the managers inspire and stimulate them towards higher output and better outcomes. For this cause, OB is also described as the technique of application of managerial skills in order to investigate the performance of the workers in a group within an organization (Brooks, 2006). OB is also specified as a technique and a practical behavioral science which helps to understand

History of the Cherokee Indians Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History of the Cherokee Indians - Essay Example Unlike other Native American tribes, Cherokees built cabins out of woods rather than living in teepees. Their language derives from the language of another Native American ethnic group, namely, the Iroquois. This language was so strikingly different from the languages of other Native American tribes that it made some linguists assume the very name of Cherokee means "people who speak another language". Cherokees have always been a highly spiritual tribe with unique traditions and values. An owl and cougar could be called a cultural archetype of the Cherokee Indians. Cherokees treat these animals with particular respect as they believe an owl and cougar were the only creatures that had been staying awake for seven days during which the world was created and, hence, saw how humans were made. Today Cherokee Indians are divided into many subtribes but under the official federal classification they fall into the following acknowledged categories: the Cherokee Nation, the Keetoowah Band (reside in Oklahoma), the Cherokee tribes and the Eastern Band of Cherokees residing in North Carolina (Hodge).Before the USA appeared on map, the Cherokee Indians used to live on the territory of the present-day Georgia, parts of Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina (Stewart 9). Originally, Cherokee tribes lived in the Midwest of the lands that later formed the USA near the Great Lakes, but with the passage of time they drifted closer to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, which, in turn, they were forced to leave either.

Enlightenment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Enlightenment - Essay Example Three modernists, Nietzsche, Freud, and Kafla, will show how personal feeling or interpretation dictated the modernist period in contrast to an enlightenment point of reality. Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher. Nietzsche promoted nihilism by proclaiming â€Å"God is dead† (Morgan, 36). Instead of interpreting God as an all powerful creator, Nietzsche believed God was used to create a society of morality without a purpose. While an individual from the enlightenment might reason that God and morality must exist for society to function smoothly, Nietzsche believed morality needed to be examined without the excuse of God. Nietzsche’s reality was looking into philosophical arguments that are still up for debate to this day. Unlike the reasoning of the enlightenment age, Nietzsche’s views are debatable. They cannot be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. Franz Kafka was a modernist writer. He was born in Germany. Instead of using reasoning in reality, Kafka wrote stories that today would be considered science fiction. An example is The Metamorphosis. In this story, Kafka had a traveling salesman turn into a huge insect (Kafka). An Enlightenment influenced thinker would never think of this plot, because humans cannot turn into huge insects. Kafka would have probably responded to this line of thinking by replying â€Å"not yet†. Modernists believe that not everything can be explained by human reasoning yet. The modernist keeps theorizing until the day their thoughts are proven. However the modernist does not stop thinking just because they cannot prove their theories. Sigmund Freud was a German doctor that pioneered psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. He theorized that every human has an id, ego, and superego. Freud also laid out different theories about human development like the anal complex, Oedipus complex, penal envy, and so forth. All of these theories, at the time, could not be proven. Today they cannot be proven, but the

Metabolism and Stress Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Metabolism and Stress - Assignment Example Adrenalin acts on fat cells thereby converting them to glucose for energy. Cortisol also increases amount of glucose in blood. Both these functions are at peak during stress conditions. Therefore, prolonged stressed conditions lead to excess release of energy and glucose. If the stress is not physical then this energy is not used, which eventually gets converted to fat and is deposited within the body. Excess fat also causes obesity and other metabolic dysfunctions, which in turn impact the mental status of the individual. These symptoms precede depression, anxiety disorder and eating disorders (Tafet, 2001). Metabolic dysfunction caused due to stress leads to higher glucose levels in the body, and the normal body may not be able to metabolize high levels of glucose through the available insulin in the body. This eventually leads to insulin resistance, causing diabetes. High levels of adrenalin and cortisol are also associated with thyroid dysfunction which is responsible for the metabolic functions of various other organs and glands. Combating these issues requires mobilization of the constantly produced glucose and energy in case of chronic stress. This requires physical activity in the form of exercise, meditation or other regulative physical activity which help in expending the excess glucose and fat produced as a result of increased adrenal activity in stressed conditions (Haskell et al,

History of the Cherokee Indians Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

History of the Cherokee Indians - Essay Example Unlike other Native American tribes, Cherokees built cabins out of woods rather than living in teepees. Their language derives from the language of another Native American ethnic group, namely, the Iroquois. This language was so strikingly different from the languages of other Native American tribes that it made some linguists assume the very name of Cherokee means "people who speak another language". Cherokees have always been a highly spiritual tribe with unique traditions and values. An owl and cougar could be called a cultural archetype of the Cherokee Indians. Cherokees treat these animals with particular respect as they believe an owl and cougar were the only creatures that had been staying awake for seven days during which the world was created and, hence, saw how humans were made. Today Cherokee Indians are divided into many subtribes but under the official federal classification they fall into the following acknowledged categories: the Cherokee Nation, the Keetoowah Band (reside in Oklahoma), the Cherokee tribes and the Eastern Band of Cherokees residing in North Carolina (Hodge).Before the USA appeared on map, the Cherokee Indians used to live on the territory of the present-day Georgia, parts of Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina (Stewart 9). Originally, Cherokee tribes lived in the Midwest of the lands that later formed the USA near the Great Lakes, but with the passage of time they drifted closer to the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, which, in turn, they were forced to leave either.

Metabolism and Stress Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Metabolism and Stress - Assignment Example Adrenalin acts on fat cells thereby converting them to glucose for energy. Cortisol also increases amount of glucose in blood. Both these functions are at peak during stress conditions. Therefore, prolonged stressed conditions lead to excess release of energy and glucose. If the stress is not physical then this energy is not used, which eventually gets converted to fat and is deposited within the body. Excess fat also causes obesity and other metabolic dysfunctions, which in turn impact the mental status of the individual. These symptoms precede depression, anxiety disorder and eating disorders (Tafet, 2001). Metabolic dysfunction caused due to stress leads to higher glucose levels in the body, and the normal body may not be able to metabolize high levels of glucose through the available insulin in the body. This eventually leads to insulin resistance, causing diabetes. High levels of adrenalin and cortisol are also associated with thyroid dysfunction which is responsible for the metabolic functions of various other organs and glands. Combating these issues requires mobilization of the constantly produced glucose and energy in case of chronic stress. This requires physical activity in the form of exercise, meditation or other regulative physical activity which help in expending the excess glucose and fat produced as a result of increased adrenal activity in stressed conditions (Haskell et al,

Slavery in the 1840s Essay Example for Free

Slavery in the 1840s Essay Slavery was always a controversial issue in America. Many people saw slavery as an essential part of life in every aspect, while others saw it as immoral and an injustice to humanity. In the 1840s when Manifest Destiny started to thrive, things began to heat up. New territories meant a possibility for a new slave or free state in America. Because the new territories were allowed the right of popular sovereignty to determine whether they would have slaves or not, abolitionists and non-abolitionists were at a constant battle to gain a new state. Abolitionists wanted slavery diminished in America all together. They gave several arguments to prove their point on why slavery should be abolished. Firstly they stated that slavery was un-Christian. The book of Genesis stated that man was created in the image of God, so all men were created equal. Thus they claimed that anyone that owned slaves would go straight to hell for not adhering to the rules of God that all were equal. Another argument they came about was from a patriotic standpoint from which America was created. The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal, but with slavery and a flee for freedom in the nation, it was easily contradicted. As such, Abolitionists called slavery un-American. Another point made by the Abolitionists was that slavery gave unlimited power to slave holders. They could treat slaves however they chose because there were no laws protecting slaves. This is turn corrupted their moral values, according to Abolitionists. In economic viewpoints, slavery was still cruel and wicked to Abolitionists. They argued that free labor would be more beneficial because it would inspire competition and foreign investments and that it would appeal to immigrants. Abolitionists also said that it interfered with free and open trade to the north, which were anti-slavery states and businesses. Another point made was that slavery was politically dangerous because there was always a likelihood that salves could rebel. A massive slave rebellion would lead to a racial war in the United States that no one wanted. While Abolitionists argued their points, Pro-slavery groups gave very good rebuttals. Economically they argued that the end to slavery would kill the economy in the south. Without slaves in the fields collecting and caring for the produce, everything would collapse. Cotton, tobacco, and rice would all fail in the economy and the south would be in economic ruin. Another point pro-slavery people argued was what would happen if slaves were to be let free. They stated that if they were freed, unemployment would rise and there would be an abundance of chaos. All of this would lead to uprisings and bloodshed. Yet another argument that the defenders of slavery used was influenced with history. They claimed that slavery had been a part of history for so long and had become a natural state of mankind. History showed that Greeks, Romans, and English (until recently) had slaves and as such it was a part of human nature. Pro-slavery groups, like Abolitionists, also used religion and the bible as an argument. According to the bible Abraham had slaves, Paul returned a run-away slave in the New Testament, and Jesus never spoke out about slavery though it was widespread. Also non-Abolitionists argued that slaves were better cared for compared to factory workers in the North and the poor people of Europe. They indicated that slave owners would protect and help their slaves when they became sick or aged, unlike others who were left helplessly to fend for themselves once they were fired or released. The slave revolt of 1831 led by Nat Turner gave pro-slavery groups a lift in their arguments. It showed that slavery should be continued to keep the slaves in check and keep a watchful eye on them, to prevent any other chaotic events, which no one sought for. As is shown, slavery was a notorious issue that couldn’t be ignored and slowly spiraled out of control. The issue really started to get out of hand in the 1840s with new territories and the revival of religion in the Second Great Awakening. Both Abolitionists and Pro-slavery groups had arguments that caused a lot of uncertainty throughout the country, and especially in the new territories which were given the choice of slaves or no slaves. All of these arguments, issues and uncertainties that were widespread in the nation were the underlying cause of severe disunity between the North and South and eventually the Civil War.

Impact of Firm Level Characteristics

Impact of Firm Level Characteristics Abstract Organizational performance has attracted scholarly attention in corporate finance literature over the several decades. However, in the context of insurance sector, it has received a little attention. Current study examines the impact of firm level characteristics (size, leverage, tangibility, risk, growth, liquidity and age) on performance of listed life insurance companies of Pakistan over seven years from 2001 to 2007. The results of Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression analysis indicate that size, risk and leverage are important determinants of performance of life insurance companies of Pakistan while ROA has statistically insignificant relationship with growth, profitability, age and liquidity. Keywords: performance, firm level characteristics, life insurance companies. Introduction The performance of any firm not only plays the role to increase the market value of that specific firm but also leads towards the growth of the whole industry which ultimately leads towards the overall prosperity of the economy. Measuring the performance of insurers has gained the importance in the corporate finance literature because as intermediaries , these companies are not only providing the mechanism of risk transfer but also helps to channelizing the funds in an appropriate way to support the business activities in the economy . Insurance companies have importance both for businesses and individuals as they indemnify the losses and put them in the same positions as they were before the occurrence of the loss. In addition, insurers provide economic and social benefits in the society i.e. prevention of losses, reduction in anxiousness, fear and increasing employment. Therefore, the current business world without insurance companies is unsustainable because risky businesses have not a capacity to retain all types of risk in current extremely uncertain environment. For the past six decades, Pakistani life insurance companies have shown the impressive progress which not only creates the employment opportunities but also enhances the business activities in the economy. Financial statistics reported the phenomenal growth of Pakistani life insurance companies as these companies comprise 52% and 69% share of entire (life plus non-life) insurance market in terms of net premiums and assets (Insurance Year Book, 2007). In addition, the premium of these life insurers increased by 36% in 2007 (Insurance Year Book, 2007) shows the remarkable progress of life insurance sector of Pakistan. Therefore, what determines the performance of the life insurance industry is an important discussion for the regulators and policy makers to support the sector in achieving the excellence so that desirable economic fruits could be reaped from the help of the life insurance sector of Pakistan. Literature Review The Determinants of performance have been extensively studied in corporate finance literature from the last several decades. For instance; by selecting the sample of US banks, Berger (1995) investigated the impact of capital asset ratio on return on equity. He concluded that capital asset ratio has a positive relationship with profitability. Anghazo (1997) examined the impact of firm level characteristics on US bank net interest margin. The results documented that bank interest margin positively related with leverage, opportunity cost, and default risk and management efficiency. Neeley and Wheelock (1997) explored the determinants of profitability of commercial banks and find that profitability positively related with changes in per capita income. To investigate the performance of banks (Naceur Goaied, 2001)used the sample of Tunisian banks over the period of 1980 to 1995. They advocated that the banks who tried to maintain their high deposits and improve their capital and labor productivity are performed well. Guru et al. (2002) examined the determinants of performance of Malaysian banks over the 10 years period from 1986 to 1995. For this purpose, they selected both micro and macro level characteristics. The results revealed that inflation positively while efficient expense management and high interest rate negatively related with profitability. The results of Goddard et al. (2004) showed that Profit is an important prerequisite for future growth of banks and the banks that maintain a high capital assets ratio tend to grow slowly. A study conducted by the (Sufian Parman, 2009)to investigate the determinants of profitability by selecting the non-commercial banks financial institutions. The findings indicated that credit risk and loan intensity negatively related with profitability while large size and financial institutions with high operational expenses tended to high profitability ratio. (Hakim Neaime, 2005) Observed that liquidity, current capital and investment are the important determinants of banks profitability. (Aburime, 2006) Identified the firm level determinants of profitability of Nigerian banks over the five years period from 2000 to 2004. He concluded that credit portfolio, size, capital size and ownership concentration are important determinants of Nigerian banks. (Kosmidou, 2008) showed that money supply growth has insignificant impact on profitability while GDP and stock market capitalization to assets are significant and have negative relation with the ROA. (Asimakopoulos, Samitas, Papadogo nas, 2009) illustrated that Firms profitability is positively affected by size, sales growth and investment. On the other hand, leverage and current assets negatively related with profitability. Severeral studies also have been conducted to measure the performance of the insurance compnies. For instance; Sloan, A and Conover, J.(1998) deduced that functional status of insurers do not affect the profitability of being insured but public coverage have significant impact on profitability of insurance companies. Chen and Wong ( 2004) examined that size, investment, liquidity are the important determinants of financial health of insurance companies. Chen et al.( 2009) examined the determinants of profitability and the results showed that profitability of insurance companies decreased with the increase in equity ratio. In addition, insurance companies must have to diversify their investment and use effective hedging techniques which help them to create better financial revenues. Research Methodology Sample and Data Currently, there are five life insurance companies operating in Pakistan and all these five companies are selected to measuring their performance over the period of seven years from 2001 to 2007. For this purpose, financial data has been collected from financial statements (Balance Sheets and Profit and Loss a/c) of insurance companies and à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“Insurance Year Bookà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? which is published by Insurance Association of Pakistan. Model PR = ÃŽÂ ²0 + ÃŽÂ ²1 (LG) + ÃŽÂ ²2 (TA) + ÃŽÂ ²3 (SZ) + ÃŽÂ ²4 (LQ) + ÃŽÂ ²5 (AG) + ÃŽÂ ²6 (RK) + ÃŽÂ ²7 (GR) + ÃŽÂ µ Where: PR = Performance (Net income before interest and tax divided by total assets) LG = Leverage (Total debts divided by total assets) TA = Tangibility (Fixed assets divided by total assets) SZ = Size (Log of premiums) LQ = Liquidity (Current assets divided by current liabilities) AG = Age (Difference b/w observation year and establishment year) RK = Risk (standard deviation of ratio of total claims to total premiums) GR = Growth (Percentage change in premiums) ÃŽÂ µ = the error term Descriptive Statistics Table 4.1 presents descriptive analysis of the firm level characteristic associated with life insurance sector. This study considers performance as dependent variable whereas leverage, size, growth, tangibility, liquidity, age and risk as independent variables. The industry average is provided by mean along with are the minima and maxima for respective year while standard deviation indicates the inter-industry variation of the variables value within the respective year. Table 4.1 indicates that the minimum value of industry mean of leverage is 0.79 in 2004 and 2007 while the mean value is at its maximum level in 2006 at 0.84.The maximum variation in leverage is observed in 2007 valuing at 0.30 and minimum is found in 2003 at 0.19. The variable size constantly shows the increasing trend from year 2001 to 2007. The mean value of size is at maximum level in 2007 i.e. 7.51 whereas minimum mean value for size is observed at 6.02 in 2001. In addition, the inter industry variation is minimum in 2001 at 2.12. Table 4.1 also shows that growth of Pakistani life insurance companies is not consistent in all seven years and mean value of growth is reached 34.84 in 2007 from 11.53 which is observed in 2001. The mean value of performance (dependent variable) is maximum in 2007 valuing at 0.07 and the minimum value is observed in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2005 at 0.02. The standard deviation is also not very high i.e. around 0.02 as compare to other variables except in the year 2007 in which it touches it maximum of 0.07. Table 4.2 also provides descriptive results of tangibility, liquidity, age and risk for the period of seven years from 2001 to 2007 for the life insurance sector of Pakistan. The mean values and standard deviations of tangibility is around 0.03 and 0.02 respectively in all seven years from 2001 to 2007.The mean values of liquidity are indicating an increasing trend from the minimum of 1.70 in 2001 to the maximum value at 6.36 in 2007. The standard deviation is also establishing an increasing trend from a minimum value of 0.76 in 2001 to a maximum value of 8.63 in 2007.The mean value of risk is at its lowest level in 2003 at 0.58 with a minimum standard deviation of 0.45 while these values have reached their maximum level in 2007 i.e. 6.35 and 6.51 respectively. Analysis Table 4.2 reports the results of regression analysis in which seven independent variables are regressed by using the data of life insurance sector of Pakistan from 2001 to 2007. The value of R square (0.816) indicates that performance of life insurance companies is nearly 82% dependent on independent variables i.e. size, leverage, growth, tangibility, age, risk and liquidity. Therefore, performance is mainly defined by these seven variables of life insurers in Pakistan over seven years. Table 4.2 indicates that leverage is negatively and significantly related with the performance of the life insurance companies. This predicts that the performance of highly levered Pakistani life insurance companies is not up to the mark. Table 4.2 also shows that coefficient of variable size is positive and statistically significant at 1% level. This predicts that performance of large size life insurance companies is better than small size companies. The negative coefficient of growth indicates a negative relationship between growth and performance. However, this negative relationship is found to be statistically insignificant with the p-value of 0.809. Therefore, growth is not considered as a proper explanatory variable of performance in life insurance sector. The beta values of explanatory variables tangibility and liquidity are 0.507 and 0.001 respectively with the positive coefficient sign. However, tangibility and liquidity are not statistically significant with the large p-values. Therefore, tangibility and liquidity are not Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta (Constant) .010 .051 .204 .841 Leverage -.265 .090 -1.579 -2.940 .008* Size .038 .009 1.722 4.120 .001* Growth -4.69 .000 -.032 -.245 .809 Tangibility .507 .367 .183 1.382 .183 Liquidity .001 .003 .058 .205 .840 Age -.003 .003 -.235 -1.169 .257 Risk .004 .002 .374 1.903 .072** considered a powerful explanatory variable to define the performance of life insurance companies in Pakistan over seven years. Negative coefficient of variable age specifies the Table: 4.2 Regression Coefficients Their Significance level R Square 0.816 Adjusted R Square 0.749 F statistics 12.062 * Significant at 1% level **Significant at 10% level ______________________________________ negative relationship between performance and age of the Pakistani life insurance companies. However, the relationship between performance and age is statistically insignificant. Table 4.2 indicates that the coefficient of variable risk is positive and statistically significant at 10% level. According to the nature of insurance industry, ratio of total claims to total premiums (loss ratio) is used as a proxy to measure the risk of the life insurance companies in Pakistan. Positive sign shows a positive relationship between performance and risk of the insurance companies i.e. performance increases with the increase of loss ratio. Conclusion The current study investigates the impact of firm level characteristics on performance of the life insurance sector of Pakistan over the period of seven years from 2001 to 2007. For this purpose, size, profitability, age, risk, growth and tangibility are selected as explanatory variables while ROA is taken as dependent variable. The results of OLS regression analysis reveal that leverage, size and risk are most important determinant of performance of life insurance sector whereas ROA has statistically insignificant relationship with profitability, growth, tangibility and liquidity. TABLE 4.1: Descriptive Statistics Years Leverage Size Growth Performance Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Min Max 2001 0.80 0.21 0.45 0.99 6.02 2.12 3.06 8.93 11.53 11.90 3.22 32.39 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.03 2002 0.81 0.20 0.47 0.99 6.21 2.11 3.29 9.07 22.21 23.52 3.68 60.99 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.03 2003 0.82 0.19 0.51 0.99 6.50 2.08 3.57 9.20 37.18 32.62 8.30 90.71 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.03 2004 0.79 0.24 0.38 0.99 6.68 2.09 3.56 9.31 22.20 27.93 -1.78 61.16 0.03 0.02 0.00 0.05 2005 0.83 0.21 0.47 0.99 6.95 2.03 3.96 9.53 31.18 10.30 24.97 48.98 0.02 0.02 0.00 0.05 2006 0.84 0.20 0.49 0.99 7.21 2.02 4.24 9.68 31.79 26.14 3.74 72.78 0.03 0.02 0.00 0.06 2007 0.79 0.30 0.26 1.00 7.51 2.06 4.50 10.03 34.82 9.25 22.44 45.66 0.07 0.07 0.00 0.17 TABLE 4.1 (Continued): Descriptive Statistics Years Tangibility Liquidity Age Risk Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Min Max Mean SD Min Max 2001 0.03 0.02 0.00 0.06 1.70 0.76 1.07 2.65 16.60 20.40 6.00 53.00 1.92 1.33 0.70 3.94 2002 0.03 0.02 0.00 0.06 1.73 0.86 1.14 3.01 17.60 20.40 7.00 54.00 0.83 0.47 0.40 1.34 2003 0.03 0.02 0.00 0.05 2.18 1.11 1.22 3.72 18.60 20.40 8.00 55.00 0.58 0.45 0.18 1.34 2004 0.02 0.02 0.00 0.04 2.24 1.77 1.09 4.85 19.60 20.40 9.00 56.00 3.34 3.08 0.00 7.23 2005 0.02 0.02 0.00 0.04 3.02 2.26 1.15 5.94 20.60 20.40 10.00 57.00 4.70 2.15 1.23 6.36 2006 0.02 0.01 0.00 0.03 3.98 2.72 1.36 7.37 21.60 20.40 11.00 58.00 3.60 3.86 0.51 9.72 2007 0.02 0.02 0.00 0.05 6.36 8.63 1.33 16.33 22.60 20.40 12.00 59.00 6.35 6.51 1.78 16.00 Table: 4.2 Regression Coefficients Their Significance level Model Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta (Constant) .010 .051 .204 .841 Leverage -.265 .090 -1.579 -2.940 .008* Size .038 .009 1.722 4.120 .001* Growth -4.69 .000 -.032 -.245 .809 Tangibility .507 .367 .183 1.382 .183 Liquidity .001 .003 .058 .205 .840 Age -.003 .003 -.235 -1.169 .257 Risk .004 .002 .374 1.903 .072** R Square 0.816 Adjusted R Square 0.749 F statistics 12.062 * Significant at 1% level **Significant at 10% level