Leadership of the Sexes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Leadership of the Sexes - Essay Example Men and women primarily differ due to their genetic make up and react to situations with corresponding influence from hormones. In stress and conflict, women produce the oxytocin hormone that tends to harmonize relationship while men produce testosterone which drives men to act aggressively. Scientific studies and tools emphasize on the distinction between the sexes. Using PET scan (monitors activity of neurons), MRI scan (shows flow of blood), and SPECT scan (tracks brain activity) on brain areas, it was revealed that with more activity, more blood flows in the â€Å"spatial-mechanical centers† on the right side of the male brain while for the female, blood flows more on the â€Å"verbal-emotive centers in both sides† (men tend to move around during meetings while women discuss matters); there is more gray matter on men (making them process singly and locally) while women have more of the white matter (they â€Å"process more globally† and evaluate the world reg ularly); the larger hippocampus in female brain makes them recall â€Å"more physical and situational details;† larger amygdala in females tends to resolve conflict by upward direction toward the verbal areas in the brain while for males, the direction is downward that tends to produce physical manifestation; and hormone secretion affects the thinking process of both genders differently (more testosterone and vasopressin in males makes them territorial and aggressive while more serotonin and oxytocin influence females towards calmness and bonding) (Gurian and Annis 3). Brain differences enable women to utilize participatory leadership (at ease with teamwork, value work relationships) and rationalize inductively, while men tend to use transactional leadership (testing people and ideas) and rationalize deductively. Women used to describe things, empathize with people, prefer â€Å"verbal interaction,† and capable of multitasking, while men directly tell

Health Resources and Policy Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Health Resources and Policy Analysis - Essay Example Among the issues faced include; lack of proper funding, increase in cases of mental disorders as well as stigma faced by victims of mental health disorder (U.S Council of States Government, paras2-3). The third component focuses on organization systems and how they were funded by different entities. Finally, the forth component focused on policy recommendations on effective delivery of mental health services. For example, it was recommended that individuals, families, entities, government and all stake holders should participate in formulating and implementing plans on mental health (U.S Council of States Government, paras2-3). In above connection, the U.S federal government via several departments such as; department of Substance Abuse, Mental Health and Service Administration(SAMHSA) provided funding to the above components (Sultz & Young pp.315-329). Whereby, the victims of mental disorders were not supposed to receive funding directly but rather through certain bodies (U.S Council of States Government, paras2-10). For instance, in 2004 the department of Substance Abuse, Mental Health and Service Administration in-conjunction with Medicaid and Medicare Center Services provided a total funding worth $434millions in funding mental health system. In addition, the department of Medicaid contributed more funding than any other departments (U.S Council of States Government, paras2-10). Sultz, Harry A, and Kristina M. Young. Health Care USA: Understanding Its Organization and Delivery. Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett, 2011.Web. 8 May 2013. U.S Council of States Government. Elements of Effective Health and Social Service System: Mental Health Care Systems. Justice Center.Web.8 May 2013< http://www.reen

New Look Is Privately Owned Fashion Retail Company Marketing Essay

New Look Is Privately Owned Fashion Retail Company Marketing Essay For this Report it was requested to analyze the company New Look. To recognise the key issues those have an influence on the company to perform to its best, and to make recommendations for these. As a group tasks were divided; each person was assigned to analyze an influential issue and make recommendations for the information it had gathered. For the recommendations to be pleasing and realistic research had to be done. Resources such as: the internet, the companys website, website electronic resources, books, magazines, and general knowledge. For proof measures references were added for realistic purposes and avoid plagiarism. After finding the key issue an in-depth analysis of internal and external environment were conducted in which the New Look was operating. On doing the analysis next step was to decide the strategy options for resolving the issue faced by New Look. The major findings found in this case study based on the questions were: the standardised approach New Look as a company uses and whether it worked well. This research was carried out by analyzing reports and articles based on the strategy. It was found that the strategy worked well so far. Other factors are like the acceptance of New Look into developing countries such as India and the reason behind the frequent targeting from Non-tariff barriers. The organization is lacking knowledge on recognizing the number and nature of competitors in the fashion retail industry which could affect, directly or indirectly, business in the future in the form of decrease in revenues and closure of outlets. Research was done to understand adaptation of Polycentric approach in emerging economies. In the report success was achieved by finding the issue, analysing it and then giving the recommendations on it. All the findings and research conducted has been put in systematically in this report. INTRODUCTION Background New Look is a privately owned UK based Fashion retail company, and offers clothing, footwear, and accessories for men women. The company started its operation in 1969, and opened its first store in Taunton, UK and in 1988 its also spread its wings and entered French market and in 1995 opened its first store in Scotland. New Look was purchased and taken private by a private equity consortium in 2004 for GBP 700 million. In 2000 New look sold its French stores to French company Mim in return for 51% stake in company and then in 2003 it acquired remaining 49% share. Now it operates over 650 stores in U.K and has subsidiaries in France. Its manufacturing took place in over 1000 factories in 45 countries which include Europe Asia. Now in 2006 company have opened number of trial stores in Belgium and now looking forward to expand in Netherlands, Luxembourg, Eastern Europe, Middle-East and Asian Markets (www.newlook.com). Nature, Size, and Structure of the Market According to google news, New look is the UKs third largest womens retailer store. It is increasing range of its menswear to cope with the competition. According to Wrigley, New look is worth now between  £1 billion and  £1.5 billion. Company is keeping on penetrating its business in the UK. It has purchased 34 stores from the Littlewoods chain owned by retail group Associated British Foods. New Look is looking to boost its retail space to 2.4 million square feet by March 2006 from 1.6 million square feet last year. Market Segment, Nature of Competition New Look faces intense competition in the UK market. Because of its investment in design technology and low prices it keeps them ahead of competitors. Company is now focussing on menswear and children wear. By the end of 2005, New Look plans to extend its menswear ranges from 14 to 30 stores and is also planning to extend its fashion ranges to cater for children under nine (www.newlook.com). New look have strong working relationships with its suppliers and they are treated like their partners and even share the same values on Trust, ethics, quality, speed and ambition. Company deals with most up to date international fashion trends for both Men Women at low prices. KEY ISSUE FACING COMPANY Main Key Issue As a research on New Look proceeds, the group unanimously agreed that the global expansion can be the key issue for New Look Group. This was later confirmed with the course tutor. Explanation The decision was made on the basis of comparison of profits with major rivals (e.g. Gap Inc), slow growth in profits, emerging economies of India and China, and the boom in online shopping. Graph below shows the slow increase in profits to the year 2005. As many companies are rapidly going globally and making India and China their primary targets, it is urging New Look to react to this trend. According to the history of new look, they do have ambition to go global and they have started opening stores in France from 1988 but that strategy fails. In the report, we will analyse internal and external environment of new look and how they can manage to enter in different market segments globally with low risk of failure. Methodology After doing all our research, I found out that the major issue the company is facing to expand globally in order to cope with intensely increasing competition in the UK which is reducing profits. Its time now for New Look to think about expanding globally in order to increase sales and profits. To make it effective, we need to analyse the tangible and intangible resources which ensures expansion is feasible. It makes no difference whether they target their neighbour markets or the foreign market as New Look cant afford to fail in any of their global markets due to the fact that New Look is not a public limited company (PLC) so its got no shareholders to invest in them. New Look might consider other options such as outsourcing etc to reduce capital investment. In the report I aim to analyse the environment under which company is operating and look up for the strategies which will help them to overcome any potential threats in the global markets. After critical analysis of environment, we will be able to identify companys major strength and weaknesses and the potential opportunities and threats globally. Because of the nature of the business, I will have to look each market individually and provide options for mode of entry in each market. Initially, for each given option for the target market, I would advise company to test the option prior to make final decision. However, I will provide analysis evaluation for each given option in this report with the use of latest material available. . AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The aim of this essay is to investigate the internal external strategies of the business environment for NEW LOOK group. To achieve this aim I have planned to use Porters five forces and the PESTEL tools to analysis the intensity of the external environment and financial ratios to calculate whether or not the strategies are successful. Finally I will use a SWOT analysis to be specific and critical in our conclusion. ANALYSIS OF EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT The external environment is often referred to as the macro environment. The external environment is often out of a businesses control none the less businesses use tools to achieve their goals. The external environment is divided into three major areas: the general, industry, and competitor environments as shown in figure below: GENERAL ENVIRONMENT PEST Analysis Political factors Government sometimes have direct control or influences to greater or lesser extent over legislation and regulations, this covers laws that influence employment, consumers protection, health and safety at work, contract and trading, trades unions. (Business Strategy, David Campbell). Chip PIN is the new, more secure way to pay with credit or debit cards in the UK. Instead of customers using their signature to verify payments, they will be asked to enter a four-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) known only to them. Chip PIN is the biggest change to the way we pay since decimalisation. It is part of a global programme to tackle the soaring levels of plastic card fraud (BBC News). Economical Factors Governments usually set policy concerning these of taxation and expenditure in the country. With an increase of the grey market who have more disposable income due to the fact that there is a boom in the housing market a lot of these elder generation are now selling out from 3 to 4 bedroom houses in to smaller houses as a lot of there kids have grown up and moved out. There for this market has more disposable income then before, therefor new look should give more emphasis on this market then they have done previously Social Cultural Factors The cultures of countries in which a business operates can be of particular importance. The culture of a country consists of the values, attitudes and beliefs of its people. These in turn, will affect the way individual act and behave when dealing with certain product and services. In order for new look to go global they would have to consider the religious and cultural issues that will differ In different country such as Saudi Arabia were the grater number of the population would be offended by seeing a female in a mini skirt so there for new look should also conceder making different styles of clothing for different countries e.g. for Saudi Arabia less reviling clothes Technological Factors With the introduction of the internet and the success of it uses new look should provide a bigger emphasis on providing the merchandise on the internet such as ordering, reserving and selling on the internet., in order to increase there market share and compete with other online retailers. With the introduction to new and better technologys British fashion chain New Look is investing in new technology to help combat potential theft and the possible loss of stock worth  £4 million, according to a media report. New look is aware of the technological influence that involve developing and understanding that effects changes in their company. For new look technology is vital for competitive advantage, this is a major drive of globalisation for their company. New look produce good quality cloths and the best at a reasonable price, because technology has improved new looks production processes and deliver their service through its catalogue and via the Internet this has developed their information and communication technology. Industry Environment PORTERS FIVE FORCES To analyse New Look external environment, a business tool known as Porters five forces will be used. Porters Five Forces helps the marketer to contrast a competitive environment. These forces can be neatly brought together in a diagram like the one below: Porters five forces in accordance with New Look The Threat of new entry New Look has been established for almost a 37 years and has a considerable amount finance should the worst happen. At the moment they face competition from already established competitors for e.g., Debenhams, HM (datamonitor.com). For a new entrant to be a threat they would need to offer something different apart from trendy clothing and newer technology. New Look also face competition from new fashion stores being opened and to have the advantage over New Look would need to have better location and a wider selection of clothing including accessorise. Threat of Substitute Products New Look branch out in to five main areas these are women wear, menswear, children wear, footwear and accessorise. This means they are active in five different markets and to reduce the pressure of competition allow other companies to franchise there products or services allowing them to have a substantial amount of control. Threats from already established competitors come from Debenhams, HM, Top- Man, MS, Next and Claires. Bargaining Power of Buyers Generally the bargaining power of Buyers is low because the customers understand that they are paying Reasonable prices for up to date fashion clothes and services. However for the fashion retail market they have a considerable amount of choice so its important for New Look to get the service right to keep loyal customers and attract new ones. Power of suppliers Suppliers are also essential for the success of an organisation. Raw materials are needed to complete the finish product of the organisation. Suppliers do have power. This power comes from: If they are the only supplier or one of few suppliers who supply that particular raw material for this point the power of the supplier is low because there are several other suppliers that will sell to them. If it costly for the organization to move from one supplier to another also known as switching cost. Again on this point New Look has the upper hand because there are many suppliers that will want to sell there good to them. This means that the powers that the suppliers have over New Look and other major fashion producers around the world are under constant pressure to supply at lower prices in order not to loose a major client. Competitive Rivalry New Look group face intense competition from other well known fashion brands producers such as Debenhams, HM, Top-Man, and MS and NEXT; therefore compete through price wars in order to attract customers. Debenhams is a competitor because they make high levels of fashionable clothing selling different types of brands such as, John Rocha, Jonh Richmond, and variety of accessorise including gifts, home accessorise, electrical appliances. Also another competitive rivalry for New Look is Top Man. The reason it is competitive rivalry is because they are similar to New Look as they also offer fashionable up to date clothing at reasonable prices. They also sell their own brand of clothing like New Look. The barriers that affect this market to new entrance are havig the money to set up the business in terms of human resources, machinery and location. Finding a supplier for fashionable clothing wont be difficult for new businness. Almost half of sales are in Women wear. A quarter of sales are dedicated to Menswear and Children wear, with other items constituting the remaining sales.. COMPETITOR ANALYSIS Competitor analysis focuses on each company against which a firm directly competes. Four dimensions given below helps the firm prepare an anticipated response profile for each competitor. According to datamonitor.com, The New Looks top competitors are Associated British Foods plc, Debenhams PLC, Marks and Spencer Group PLC, Matalan PLC, NEXT PLC, Arcadia Group Limited. Some of the above mentioned competitors have already strong presence in some of the Global Markets. They are described below: Primark Stores Ltd is a subsidiary of Associated British Foods plc (ABF) Primark targets young, fashion-conscious under 35s, offering them high quality, fashion basics at value for money prices. Almost half of sales are in Women wear. A quarter of sales is dedicated to Menswear and Children wear, with other items constituting the remaining sales. Debenhams is a leading department stores group. Debenhams has a strong presence in key product categories including women wear, menswear, home wares, health and beauty, accessories, lingerie and children wear. A unique mix of exclusive own brands, including Designers at Debenhams, and third-party brands helps differentiate Debenhams from its competitors. In addition Debenhams has 30 international franchise stores in 14 countries outside the UK and Ireland, with a further 15 franchises scheduled to open by the end of the 2008 financial year. Debenhams is also extending its customer reach by making direct sales through its internet website. Marks and Spencer is a UK retailer of clothing, foods and home ware. It operates through both wholly owned stores and franchise stores. It has over 450 stores in the UK. The company is structured into four main operating divisions: food, clothing, home and international. The clothing division offers womens wear, mens wear, lingerie and childrens wear and footwear. The international division operates eight wholly-owned stores in Hong Kong as well as 198 franchise stores in 30 territories around the world. Matalan is a retailer of discount fashion and home wares. Matalan sells name-brand and private-label apparel for men, women and children, as well as some household products, at discount prices. The company operates primarily in the UK. Matalan sells discount fashion and home wares through its network of out of town UK stores. Matalans product range includes home ware, ladies, mens and childrens clothing, and footwear. Arcadia Group is a clothing retailer that operates approximately 2,000 stores throughout the UK, mainly in urban areas. It also controls over 200 franchised stores in about 30 countries worldwide. Arcadia operates eight store banners: Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Top Shop, Top Man, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Wallis and Outfit. Each brand targets a distinct market. As well as its eight shopping banners, the company also operates a complementary catalogue and online shopping business through its Dial Home Shopping unit. All the competitors have strong intentions to expand in the UK market as well as globally. As described above, they are targeting new markets and entering some the markets through acquisitions. It is affecting New Look because expansion is increasing their profit potential and they are making prices more competitive in the UK markets.. However New Look does hold an advantage over its competitors. According to Mintels consumer research the average age of the New Look customer is slightly older than at most specialist chains, but Next and Gap also record above average penetration figures in the 35-44 age band. For New Look this reflects its move to become more of a family fashion destination in its bigger stores. Price points are pitched low to attract young, less affluent women who want fashion but are restricted by tight budgets. New Looks combination of low prices and fashionable merchandise pitched at the younger end of the market is absolutely right in current conditions. The company has invested heavily in design facilities and producing a distinctive and unique handwriting is what is setting it apart from competitors this investment has made it a competitive edge on its competitors. And the retailer is moving towards being a distinctive fashion brand- with an attractive price tag attached to it. New Look faces some very competitive times. But it is well-established, has an excellent brand name and a considerable following. It should be one of the survivors. New Looks combination of low prices and fashionable merchandise pitched at the younger end of the market are the major plus point for the company. Delivering product with current market fashion with low price tag keeps New Look strong. Competitors are strong in online stores. Although a selection of products and their prices are featured on the New looks website, it is not transactional and customers are urged to visit their nearest store and see the full range. Before analyzing internal environment of New Look, the serious intention was given to context of Internal Analysis which is Global Economy, Global Mind-Set, and Analysis outcome. Analysis of Internal Environment The internal environment is divided into several stages as shown in figure below: Resources According to google news, New Look is a developed brand name and the group itself is a 3rd largest retail clothing company in the UK. It manufactures its products in 1000 manufacturing plants in 45 countries all over the globe which contributed to a large portion of companys physical resources. They have developed their organizational resources to manage, plan, and control their stores and manufacturing plants effectively. They own all of their stores in the UK and their subsidiaries in France which are their main fixed assets. It owns technological resources in the form of registered trademark, copyrighted designs. New Look has a reputation in producing latest design by the use of latest technology. It is investing in new technology to help combat potential theft and the possible loss of stock worth  £4 million, according to a media report. They have high calibre staffs which are the valuable assets of the company. They have focussed deeply on customer services by operating most of their women wear, menswear, and children wear stores separately. It is keen on employing key people in its board of members to increase the value of intangible human resources e.g. Phil Wrigley, Richard Lapthorne. By the combination of all above resources they are becoming more innovative in developing new designs and brining new ideas to attract more customers e.g. in 2005, their first national brand campaign New Look, The New Now was launched nationwide in-store with product, signage, POS and window displays. Customers are invited to become part of the New Look window display with the launch of the ultimate window shopping experience; customers will have their picture taken through the store window by a simple press of a button and their face then becomes the face for the mannequin. By making the effective use of all resources New Look can able to produce high quality and durable products. Capabilities New Look is effectively allocates and schedule for all its time and resources. They have very highly competitive human resource system which makes sure they select best people they want. It can be varied from store staff to the high management people. Because of their target market among the teens with unique fashion design with economical prices with effective marketing policy leads to brand promotion, high quality customer services and innovation merchandising. Core Competencies The company manufactures its products in 45 countries which increase rivalry among its suppliers which can act as a source of competitive advantage as they will produce durable products on cheap prices. They have developed a unique transport system which connects all 1000 factories which deliver all the manufactured garments to the company on time. This system is difficult to imitate for competitors and they can use it as a source of competitive advantage in order to operate globally. As far as outbound logistics concerned, they have developed such a system inside their business that it has to become one of their core points. They apply strict rules and regulations on outbound logistics and give good rates to the outsource company so that it becomes vital point for their business to deliver the product on time. New Look supply chain starts from the getting of raw materials and finished at the end products available for the customers in their stores. They have experts from buying raw materials and despatching them to warehouses where it goes through the manufacture processing and where quality control is assured. Then the finished product despatched to the market and the way its market is completely unique. They have expertise designers from very high reputative and innovative people which are meant to be made for designing. New Look have their designers from Turkish company called Saide which has a high reputation in giving new designs with a good quality product. They have unique style of marketing their product through prints, electronic, store promotion and through various schemes which attract lot of customers. In September 2005, New Look launched its first national brand campaign, New Look, The New Now. The New Now is designed to amplify New Looks ability to release affordable of the moment fashion onto the high street with most products hitting the stores within six weeks of the initial vision. Key Success Factors New Look target value-conscious customers who are aged 15-24 and tend to come from lower socio-economic groups. New Look set up its own sourcing arm in Turkey as a joint venture with Global Textiles, part of the Saide Group, in order to speed up its fast fashion even more. As well as economical cost, they highly focussed on innovative designs which make their products successful. The company has doubled the number of designers working on new ranges to 22 and has also strengthened its buying and merchandising team. Effective marketing strategy is one of the key factors which make them successful in the UK. SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths New look is a powerful retail brand. It has a reputation for value for money, convenience and a wide range of products all in one store. New look is a global fashion brand built upon a reputation for fine products and services. It has 650 stores in the UK and over 50 stores in France. A focused strategy is in place for human resource management and development. People are key to new looks business and it invests time and money in training people, and retaining a developing them. Weaknesses The organisation is dependant on a main competitive advantage, the retail of cloths. This could make them slow to diversify into other sectors should the need arise. Since new look sell products across many sectors (such as cloths, shoes and accessories), it may not have the flexibility of some of its more focused competitors. New looks logo has a very feminine look to it such as the use of the colour of the logo witch is in pink and the style of the logo which does discourage a lot of the single male to go and shop because they think it is only for the female shoppers Opportunities New look is becoming global and they are taking there trades to other countries such as India, where the younger generation are adopting a more of a westernise fashion and we see a lot of this in Indian bollywood films. With the introduction of the internet a wide access of the internet new look should think to sell more of there products over the internet witch would reduce more costs as thee will not need as many more employees. New products and services that can be retailed in their shops, such as Fair Trade products. New Look has the opportunity to expand its global operations. New markets for fashion retail such as India. Co-branding with other manufacturers of fashion, and brand franchising to manufacturers of other goods and services both have potential. New locations and store types offer new look opportunities to exploit market development. Threats New Look being one of the biggest fashion retailer means that they are a target for competitors to improve on. New look being a global retailer means that they are exposed to political problems in the countries that they operate in. New Look is exposed to the international nature of trade. It buys and sells in different currencies and so costs and margins are not stable over long periods of time. Such an exposure could mean that New Look may be selling at a loss. This is an issue that faces all global brands. Online retailers are a threat as they are often able to sell at a cheaper price than shops WHAT I FOUND AFTER ASSESSING METHODOLOGY? After assessing the methodology, it was found that New Look should expand its business globally. New Look has to be very cautious and careful while expanding its business and keeping in mind all the pros and cons which are vital in any expansion of the business. Therefore, they must follow reasonable set of rules before stepping into new market. The methodology discussed in section 3 is one of the courses of actions available to the company. If the company follow this as explained in section 4, 5 and 6 they can make successful expansion across the globe because of the opportunities available in the global market. Although there are some threats of new rivals, cultural and geographical differences but keeping in mind the big picture in a strategic long run business plan expansion can become one of the strongest strength of the company. LIST OF POTENTIAL OPTIONS After analysing the external and internal environment of New Look Group I am able to make some suitable options. As the clothing industry has intense competition all over the globe, I have to split options according to each segment. They are outlined below: Option 1) The best mode of entry in India and Middle East is through Franchising because of Government regulations and competitive market. Many companies have entered through franchising and they were been successful. Option 2) As the New Look lacks the investment of shareholders, they should make cautious approach to North American market as they will face high competition but early returns on investments are implausible. Presence through e-commerce is moderately attractive but this will have positive effect on overall image of the company. Option 3) Openings of stores in Far East is attractive but geographical locations needs to be given importance as access to logistics will be limited. Option 4) According to the findings I have made, we conclude that New Look has high profit potentials in European Markets and they need to invest more in new stores throughout Europe. ANALYSIS OF POTENTIAL OPTIONS Strategic Options Analysis Evaluation Consistency Suitability Validity Feasibility Business Risk Appeal to Shareholders Option 1 Æ’- Æ’- Æ’- Option 2 Æ’- Æ’- Æ’- Æ’- Option 3 Æ’- Æ’- Æ’- Æ’- Option 4 Æ’- Æ’- Æ’- Æ’- EVALUATION Evaluation of the project report After initial test been done, company should launch full expansion in the target market/country. Evaluation and maintenance of sales revenue needs to be done and if the expansion is successful than they should target 2nd attractive market and so on. Future recommendations Technology New Look can use the latest technology available in mechatronics to made products more cost effectively to compete in global markets. E-commerce They need to introduce online shopping as much of their rivals already have a strong online presence. Going online with their sales will also cut down on money spent on shops, distribution, transportation, staff and other sundries. The customer when buying something online also pay money for shipping so there is added cost to the company. It is expected in the next 15 yrs 70% of all retail businesses will be done online so implementing this is not only beneficial but very necessary. E sale will help them to move from only high street presence to thousands of customer homes. Stock market In order for New Look to expand globally, they need a strong investment in the company. The best way to have this is by allowing investors to invest in the company. To make it attractive they need to register on the stock exchange. Whit there growing profits they can expect to command a good price for there stock. Doing this

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Introduction Antibiotic is important in defending disease causing bacteria, pathogens and virus. Antibiotic resistance or drug or antimicrobial resistance means the ability of microorganism to defend against the effect caused by antibiotic. According to World Health Organization (2006), aquaculture involves cultivating aquatic animals and plants in a restricted environment. Chatterjee and Haldar (2012) reported that almost one-third of the total fish supply in the world is contributed by aquaculture for domestic consumption. Annually, The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture has reported that aquaculture possesses an average increase of 8.3%. The development of antibiotic resistance bacteria is due to the usage of antibiotic in the feeds and immersion therapy (McPhearson, DePoala, Zywno, Motes Jr, & Guarino, 1991). The examples of antibiotic resistance bacteria that can be found in aquaculture water discharge are Aeromonas hydrophila, Edwardsiella tarda, Vibrio vulnificus and Plesiomonas shi gelloides (Hernandez Serrano, 2005). When human handle and consume these aquatic organisms, they may be exposed to some diseases which results in public health issue. Vibrio vulnificus Vibrio vulnificus (V. vulnificus) is a Gram-negative, motile and rod-shaped bacterium that lives freely in estuarine, marine and freshwater environment associated with aquatic animals. It can be isolated from water, sediments and seafood from seawater and aquaculture water (Jones & Oliver, 2009). Higher concentration of V. vulnificus can be found during summer when water temperature increases (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). Hence, V. vulnificus is also termed as halophiles as they are found in salty and high temperature environme... ...d-development-of-rapid-and-accurate-identification-methods-2155-9910.S1-002.pdf Hernandez Serrano, P. (2005). Responsible use of antibiotics in aquaculture. Retrieved form ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/a0282e/a0282e00.pdf McPhearson, R. M., DePoala, A., Zywno, S. R., Motes Jr., M. L., & Guarino, A. M. (1991). Antibiotic resistance in gram-negative bacteria from cultured catfish and aquaculture ponds. Aquaculture, 99, 203-211. Morris, J. G. (2013). Vibrio vulnificus infections. Retrieved from http://www.uptodate.com/contents/vibrio-vulnificus-infections Todar, K. (2009). The microbial world. Retrieved from http://textbookofbacteriology.net/themicrobialworld/homepage.html World Health Organization. (2006). Antimicrobial use in aquaculture and antimicrobial resistance. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/topics/foodborne_diseases/aquaculture_ rep_13_16june2006%20.pdf

Electronic Health Records Essay

The medical and healthcare field is characterized with the cumbersome practice of obtaining and maintaining extensive documentation of patient information. Medical staff, physicians and healthcare practitioners are legally responsible to maintain a comprehensive, efficient as well as effective way to collect, maintain and archive patient information. Traditionally, this process of information collection and maintenance was accomplished manually resulting in an endless paper trail of information. Everything from patient encounters to informational charts to billing was executed in a paper based environment and soon this record keeping method became too overbearing and tedious to manage. The integrity of this manual paper-based process continued to be compromised with issues surrounding the convenience, data mining ability, cost and safety of this method. The advent of new health care disciplines such as nursing, medical technologists and associated health care disciplines, and the emergence of hospitals, infirmaries and clinics as formalized structures of health care delivery expanded the scale of interaction between health care providers and health care consumers. However, in spite of these and associated developments, the tradition of privacy and confidentiality remained. Operationally, the new health care professions were seen as extensions of, and as subsidiary to, the medical profession and similar injunctions concerning privacy and confidentiality applied. (Doyle, 2001) Further, health care decision making continued to centre in the direct and interpersonal relationship between the professional and the client that had characterized it from its very beginning. An important step in the transformation of this scenario occurred with the introduction of electronic means of storing and manipulating patient data. The pace of this transformation was accelerated by the development of advanced computer-based information technology. At first glance, these developments may seem like purely technological improvements: mere steps, as it were, along the road to the greater ease of collecting, storing and manipulating patient data. However, what actually happened was more profound. The advent of electronic means of data storage, retrieval and manipulation facilitated the evolution of health care decision-making structures away from the small-scale immediate-contact model that had characterized medicine and health care from the beginning to a new model that no longer dealt with the physician-patient encounter as sole decision-resource but instead centered on the information package that described and defined the patient from a decision-making perspective. That is to say, considered in one way, the modern electronically based data package that describes the patient can be seen as a mere variation on the traditional package that was paper-based and that involved the manual manipulation of a material medium. From that perspective, electronic records do not differ fundamentally from paper-based records. While electronically based records may be more compact, more easily available, etc. , this is merely a peripheral difference as far as their nature as records is concerned. Therefore in this sense, there is nothing about electronic patient records that in principle makes them different from paper based records. It’s a normal trend for clinical departments to work for years with their own people, budget, and vendors to come up with a method of capturing their patient and billing data electronically, and that personalized method is one definition of an EHR. In actual fact, one point of argument regarding EHRs is simply a question of semantics. There are various definitions for an EHR. At one end of the scale, an EHR includes everything from patient’s past medical history to diet and lifestyle preferences. At the other end, it can be as simple as an e-mail message to a fellow clinician. Our definition of an EHR is simply a repository of clinically important data that may be accessed and searched with relative ease and in a rapid manner. Today, the use of EHR systems has revolutionized the medical field industry by facilitating a more efficient record keeping process and a more effective communication medium for medical personnel to exchange information. Many healthcare personnel now understand the importance and the impact these EHR systems are having on the overall delivery of customer service and the general administration of healthcare. Medical practitioners are constantly faced with challenges including the need to improve the quality of care, adhere to new clinical restrictions and processes, reduce waste and reduce errors. In recent times these challenges have been less of a burden as automated integrated systems help coordinate such process much better. Computerized systems like EHR systems help in reducing the amount of paperwork for medical offices, providing an easier way to access patient information, promoting more uniform delivery of processes and in some respects suggesting appropriate diagnosis and treatment for certain conditions. While the health care information superhighway has brought such benefits as detailed health and medical information and has increased the efficiency of managed care organizations in data collection and analysis, outsiders who have access to patient s’ medical histories are using them as tools of discrimination in employment, promotions, insurance coverage, and even politics. Dr.  Denise Nagel, president of Coalition for Patient Rights of New England, state, â€Å"The traditional right of medical privacy, protected by the Hippocratic Oath, is being eroded as our medical records become transformed into commodities desired by insurers, employers, researchers, and yes, even police. † (Gellman, 2002) She goes on to give the example of a woman, who with only average computer skills, was able to access information about the psychiatric condition from her medical record in an insurance company’s database. Concerned that future employers would obtain it as easily as she had, she requested its removal, but was turned d own by the company (Tobler, 2002). When a confidential list of 4,000 AIDS patients wound up in newsrooms in Tampa, Florida, last year, it was discovered that the computerized medical records had been tapped by a major pharmaceutical company (Bennett, 2002). These examples arouse concern about how private medical data really is. Patients have the right to keep their medical history private for their own protection, but that privacy is increasingly being threatened by the growth of the information superhighway. There would have to be a provision that even for legitimate purposes, the subjects of the records would have to be notified if patients’ records were to be accessed, the reason why they were being accessed, and the extent to which such an intrusion into the privacy of the individual was going to take place. This would have to go hand-in-hand with the right of the subject of the record to challenge the claim that privacy must be breached by the duly empowered social agency. Similar remarks apply to the activities of other duly authorized social institutions. For example, some jurisdictions have started to construct networked data sharing agencies that monitor the filling of medical prescriptions. (Bennett, 2002) The alleged purpose of such a surveillance network is safety: It is to ensure that the prescriptions that are actually being filled for a given patient do not conflict or synergetically interact with each other, or otherwise have a deleterious effect on the patient’s health. Another, ancillary purpose is to control the misuse of drugs, to prevent physician-shopping for multiple prescriptions of controlled substances that are then sold illegally, etc. Specifically, one may distinguish between social harm that would be avoided or minimized and personal harm for the individual patient. If the claim is that societal harm would be minimized by such an intrusion into personal privacy, certain considerations must be borne in mind. First, any action that limits the application of a principle has consequences that extend beyond the immediate action itself. Thus, abandoning the principle of privacy on a given occasion has the tendency to undermine the sense of trust that people have in social institutions and in the maintenance of their rights. Consequently, when such an intrusion for security purposes occurs, care must be taken that the potential harm in undermining confidence in societal protection of individual privacy is outweighed by the harm that it is intended to prevent. Second, the Principle of Equality and Justice would entail that any such abrogation of the individual’s right of privacy must be demonstrably necessary and could not be achieved by a less intrusive course of action. Third, any such abrogation of the individual’s right of privacy would have to be limited in extent, such that it may not go beyond the limits necessary to achieve the otherwise legitimate aims that have been justified by the preceding two considerations. In other words, it must adhere to the principle of the least intrusive alternative. By contrast, intrusions into privacy that focus in the welfare of the individual patient could not be justified in such a fashion. The reason is to be found in the Principle of Non-Malfeasance itself. The core of the Principle of Non-Malfeasance is not simply that harm should be minimized, but harm should be minimized where the nature of that harm is determined not by the agent but by the intended recipient of the action.

Outsourcing Contract Flaws Essay

In any legal undertaking, contracts play a vital role in ensuring that the interests of both parties are served. Contracts serve as a binding agreement that the signatories should adhere to. In most cases, any violation of the provisions encompassed in a contract holds the erring party liable for breach of contract. When a contract is drafted, the lawyer or whoever is in charge of crafting it has the job of ensuring that both parties understand its provisions and making sure that the contents of the agreement are acceptable to both parties prior to signing the outsourcing agreement.  Ã‚   Consultation with the signatories is a vital requisite in developing a good contract. Outsourcing is one of the newest methods that firms utilize in order to hire personnel. Nowadays, one can easily find firms that specialize in outsourcing services. In this kind of business, an organization employs a service provider to handle various functions such as data entry, programming jobs, and others. Usually located in a foreign country, the outsourcing firm performs jobs that could otherwise be done by the employees of the organization. In a recent survey conducted internationally by the IT Governance Institute (ITGI), it was revealed that clients of outsourcing firms showed a great deal of dissatisfaction with the service provided by these firms. Because of this, the contracting organization made the crucial decision of prematurely severing their ties with the outsourcing firm (Simmonds & Gilmour, 2005). In the study, it was further discovered that among the 76 percent of the survey participants providing at least one outsourcing service, only 25 percent have an established method in managing their contracts (Simmonds & Gilmour, 2005). The Importance of Contracts in the Outsourcing Business Contracts play an important role in providing outsourcing services. It lays down the duties, roles, goals, and controls needed in anticipating change as well as in handling the development, maintenance, execution, pricing, and regulation of outsourced services(Simmonds & Gilmour, 2005). In addition, outsourcing contracts contains provisions that the service provider must follow in order to ensure a general, consistent, and efficient means of handling the outsourcing agreement. Contracts ensure the proper governance of outsourcing (Simmonds & Gilmour, 2005). Crafting a contract is by no means an easy job. In order to properly manage outsourcing services, the book entitled Governance of Outsourcing has laid down the following requisites of a good contract: –  Outsourcing contracts should indicate what activities are exempted from outsourcing. It should clearly identify the type of service offered. Complicated and permanent outsourcing requirements may require a more integrated approach (Simmonds & Gilmour, 2005). – Once the outsourcing strategy has been determined, service provider contracts must clearly point out the methods and structures of the outsourcing agreement. It should clearly establish the responsibilities, goals, and roles of the parties involved. This can be formalized through the creation of a governance schedule. Defective approaches should be taken out of the picture. If management is unable to handle such processes, it is unlikely for the outsourcing provider to handle these processes as well (Simmonds & Gilmour, 2005). – Good outsourcing contracts must have provisions that will clearly evaluate the competence of the people who will be involved in providing outsourcing. Likewise, there should be provisions for checking the credibility and reliability of the chosen service provider (Simmonds & Gilmour, 2005). – After a year of offering outsourcing, the service provider should work out a re-negotiation of the contract. If the terms of agreement has a global scope and the service is provided to several components of an organization, there should be supporting contracts for every country involved. Contract re-negotiation should be included in the standard operating procedure of the outsourcing firm (Simmonds & Gilmour, 2005). – Proper channelling of information should be established as this will ensure improved control instead of drawing reactions. Every communication resource should be utilized in order to guarantee that any human resource personnel involved is properly informed (Simmonds & Gilmour, 2005). – Any transfer of service connected to the agreement must be accompanied by a formal plan and should be acknowledged by the two parties involved in the process. Benchmarking and measurement should likewise be provided in order to properly manage project costing. This is an important aspect in the total conduct of negotiating for a contract (Simmonds & Gilmour, 2005). – Aside from daily monitoring, the contract should likewise provide for regular benchmarking. Stable governance should be dynamic. Through periodic benchmarking, the service provider will remain valuable and will become the foundation of decisions whether to proceed with contract re-negotiations or abolish the contract (Simmonds & Gilmour, 2005). The ITGI survey further revealed that among the organizations included in the study, the main reason why clients outsource is because there are not many people within the organization who have the expertise to perform such service. Forty eight percent of the surveyed organizations support this reason while the remaining 42 percent resort to outsourcing as a cost-reduction measure. However, minimizing costs is not as crucial as improving the value of the organization (Simmonds & Gilmour, 2005). There are various benefits that can be derived from outsourcing service. One of the major benefits of this kind of process is better quality of service. Since the organization paid the service provider who specializes in such kind of roles, the firm would have an assurance that the finished product would not be haphazardly done. Another advantage of outsourcing is improved handling of risks. Since the service provider is trained and experienced with the line of work they are paid to do, the risks involved will be much lesser. The outsourcing firm are more equipped to handle possible risks than an employee of the organization who might not have the time to troubleshoot risks. Likewise, there is no need for the organization to select and utilize its own personnel. Instead, the staff of the organization can focus their energy on performing more important and worthwhile activities. The last advantage of outsourcing is scalability. If the organization is satisfied with the performance of the outsourcing firm, it could require its services to perform other needs. For example, a service provider providing data entry functions for a certain organization may be expanded to perform database management duties as well. More and more organizations are realizing the importance of outsourcing as an effective means of strengthening the quality of their business. In order to completely maximize the many advantages of this process, there is a need to ensure the proper governance of these processes.   By drafting stable outsourcing contracts, service providers would be able to address and remedy any possible loopholes that may arise from the outsourcing agreement.  Ã‚   Thus, assuring that their customers are satisfied with the service they provide lies on how effective the outsourcing agreement is crafted by the service provider.   Otherwise, it could lead to a short-term and dissatisfied client.

The Obligation to Obey essays

The Obligation to Obey essays It has been said that as long as the human species is in a living state conformity shall be part of how human society functions and part of mans natural tendencies. The more people already agree upon or share a particular idea, the more easily a newcomer will in turn be converted to that idea, and the more difficult it will be for one already converted to reject that idea. Therefore, man will most likely obey to what the majority believes is correct, even if he had a different point of view; he will convert and learn to reject all other ideas that do not match to the majoritys idea. This not only allows the newcomer to feel welcomed, yet it may also give him sense of belonging and of safety. This is the primary reason for why man is so prone and willing to obey. People who study conformity, not only by current experiments but also by looking at humanitys history regarding conformity, find that these tendencies have existed as long as Homo sapiens have belong to groups or tribes. However, when it came time to make a critical decision among the people, the majority always determined it; leaving the minority with the responsibility of having to carry out actions they didnt necessarily agree with. Therefore, people in the minority may be convinced, sooner or later, that what they were ordered to do was the best choice, simply because they have learned to trust in the majority. Thus, they begin to loose individuality and gain confidence in the word of authority. In Doris Lessings article, Group Minds, she says, It is a portrait that may not have been acquired consciously, but is part of a general atmosphere or set of assumptions that influence our ideas about ourselves (Lessing 333). In other terms, she is saying that mans tendencies to obey have been gained, or obtained, without him having wanted to, unconsciously. She is also saying that man has obtained conformity ...

The courts have interpreted variation for the purposes of s.630 Companies Act 2006 in a rather strict and literal way but this has never caused any great concern. The WritePass Journal

The courts have interpreted variation for the purposes of s.630 Companies Act 2006 in a rather strict and literal way but this has never caused any great concern. Introduction The courts have interpreted variation for the purposes of s.630 Companies Act 2006 in a rather strict and literal way but this has never caused any great concern. IntroductionPart 2BibliographyRelated Introduction The courts have been notoriously strict[1] in their interpretation of â€Å"variation† of class rights both under s.630 of the Companies Act 2006 and under its predecessor, s.125 of the 1985 Act[2]. Case law under s.630 is yet to develop so it is to the historical interpretation of â€Å"variation† which must be examined taken with, as Gower and Davies point out, a presumption that the courts will continue in the same vein as there is nothing in s.630 which permits a radical departure from s.125[3]. The above statement is mostly true as the central concerns which have been exposed by the section in subsequent Acts, namely that where the courts have perceived the formal rights of shareholders to be unaffected they have been unmoved by any adverse effect on the value of the class rights to hold that the â€Å"variation† protection applies, have been balanced by the ability of a company to amend its articles to circumvent or amend the â€Å"variation† protect ion mechanisms, the s.22 entrenchment mechanism and s.633 review applications. A balance needs to be struck between the protection of class rights and the proper conduct of business and s.630 does achieve this albeit with some imperfections such as the status of preference shareholders in unquoted companies. The purpose of s.630 is to protect shareholders who belong to a certain class, giving them, in the words of Gower Davies, a â€Å"veto over the change proposed, even if the company’s constitution provides them with no right to vote on the issue†[4]. Thus when any proposal to alter the articles may vary their class rights[5] either the consent of that class of shareholders is required, usually with an extraordinary 75% majority at a separate meeting of that class[6] unless the articles specify otherwise, or a written resolution having the support of 75% of holders of the nominal value of that class[7] is required in order for the proposal to have any validity. The statute provides the default position but as will be examined later s.630 (2) of the 2006 Act allows the companies’ articles to set either a higher of a lower standard. The concerns arise where the class is adversely affected by the proposals but not to the degree which the courts would consider constitutes a â€Å"variation† for the purposes of the 2006 Act or in that companies articles of association: thus the narrow interpretation mentioned above could be cited as an example of how the section could be bypassed altogether. If it is only the value of the rights and not the rights themselves which are adversely affected then the courts have been unwilling to extend the protection afforded by s.630 or in the articles and shareholders are deprived of their veto to prevent such changes[8]. The classic example of this would be the House of Lords decision in Adelaide Electric Co v Prudential Assurance[9] where the payment of dividends being moved to Australia along with the business resulted in a lesser payment given the relative strengths of the Australian and British currencies of the time but the underlying right, to receive the dividend, was unchanged. Permitted variation of one class of share affecting another indirectly has also exposed reluctance by the courts to increase the scope of the term â€Å"variation†. In Greenhalgh v Arderne Cinemas[10] a subdivision of one class of shares deprived the holder of one class of his power to block a special resolution. Lord Greene MR, delivering the leading judgement, said that the preference shareholders in light of the wording of the articles are affected, as a matter of business. As a matter of law, I am quite unable to hold that, as a result of the transaction, the rights are varied; they remain what they always were.[11] However, he also conceded that if the right of one vote per share was changed this would constitute a variation but in the present case it had remained constant throughout despite the subdivision[12]. Nevertheless, the court held that this could not come under the meaning of â€Å"variation† and echoes to some extent the decision in White v Bristol Aerop lane[13] where an increase in one class of shares was also held to fail the variance test in respect of another class â€Å"notwithstanding that the result was to alter the voting equilibrium of the classes†[14]. Although on the face of matters this would seem to be a major concern Lord Greene’s rationale makes sense in that his solution is clearly designed to protect businesses from being vetoed every time they make an approved decision which would affect the class rights of other shareholders. Logically speaking it would be a barrier if in a free market society every time one set of class rights were varied and another was affected albeit indirectly that class would have a veto on the proposal: this would stifle business and freedom to contract. Another main concern is preference shares but this has been alleviated somewhat by a contractual solution called the â€Å"spens formula†[15]. The case of Dimbula Valley (Ceylon) Tea Co v Laurie[16]saw a capitalisation of undistributed profits realised in a bonus issue to ordinary shareholders. The effect of this was to deny the preference shareholders future profits on winding up or reduction. The court held this did not constitute a variation of the preference shareholders’ rights where they were non-participating with respect to dividends but participating with respect to capital[17]. The converse situation to the above, in House of Fraser v AGCE Investments Ltd[18], saw the preference shareholders being deprived of valuable dividend rights. Gower and Davies have highlighted this as being unfair on the preference shareholders though they do point out that under the â€Å"spens formula† preference shares which are non participating in a winding-up are protected by the provision of a guarantee that any redemption or return of capital will be linked to â€Å"the average quoted market price of the shares in the month before†[19]. They conclude though by warning that this contractual solution applies only to listed companies. Consequently preference shareholders in unquoted companies remain a concern in that the ratios of Dimbula Valley and House of Fraser will still expose them to risk either losing valuable dividend rights or denying them the participation in the profits on winding-up or reduction. Finally there are issues of ranking to be discussed. The courts have flatly rejected any moves to invalidate a proposal which either ranks new share issues on an equal basis with existing shares or which ranks new ordinary preference shares ahead of ordinary shares but behind existing preference shares[20]. Of course the latter case would be different if the new shares were to be ranked ahead of both existing preference and ordinary shares and that would indeed constitute a variation under the companies’ Memorandum of Association which stated: â€Å"cl. 5†¦indicated that the preferences conferred on the holders of preference shares were to be preserved, and only modified, affected, varied, extended or surrendered with the sanction of an extraordinary resolution of the members of the class†. It is important to note that many cases above do not default to the statutory position but include protection against variations in their respective articles of associations or memorandums of association which can be more demanding, for example, in terms of the level of approval required. Such provisions balance out many of the concerns addressed above in respect of the courts’ interpretation of the term â€Å"variation† though it should be noted that such clauses cannot impose a lower standard of procedure. S.630(2) of the 2006 Act notes that the default rules contained in the statute may be superseded by provision for variation contained in the articles of association. S.630(5) provides further protection however by ensuring that any alteration of the variation procedure itself in the articles attracts the protection for class rights. Thus any concerns that a company could simply alter a high variation procedure to a much lower one by a s.21 procedure are defeated by the inclusion of s.630(5). Gower and Davies do sound a cautionary note here though: â€Å"This [a simple s.21 alteration of the variation procedure] will not be possible as a result of s.630(5), unless, presumably, the articles themselves expressly provide a less demanding way of amending the variation procedure than the default rule in the statute†[21]. So it is possible for a company to escape many of the provisions of s.630 but they must still deal with the narrow interpretations given to variation regardless of the actual wording they choose. Palmer[22] made some observations on both White v Bristol Aeroplane Co and John Smith’s Tadcaster Brewery Co Ltd as being examples where the interpretation of the articles was unsatisfactory. He expresses some scepticism about the construction of the word â€Å"affected† but notes that firstly s.630 is of little help where the articles contain such wording and secondly that there may be a remedy available in the form of the unfairly prejudicial conduct remedy[23]. The Court of Appeal in John Smith’s Tadcaster Brewery noted that more explicit wording would be needed to allow the clause in the articles protecting preference shareholders to be extended to a bonus issue to ordinary shareholders. Many articles do include specific protection of preference shareholders. In Northern Engineering Industries Plc, Re[24]a clause in the articles which stipulated that a reduction in capital would require the consent of the company’s preference shareholders was upheld and enforced when a proposal to cancel their shares was tabled[25] . Finally under s.630(3) and s.633 a company could firstly conceivably make use of the entrenchment mechanism of s.22 in light of s.630 being â€Å"without prejudice to any other restrictions on the variation of rights† and secondly also apply to a court to review a majority decision. S.22 empowers a company to set an even higher bar for amendments to the variation procedure in the articles, the example given by Gower and Davies being raising consent levels to 100%. S.633 provides a further safeguard in that it enables a court review of the majority’s decision[26]. The criteria for review is quite high though, requiring that dissenting members of a class hold 15% of the shares of that class and that they exercise the right to challenge within 21 days. Once the application is made the variation does not have any effect until it is either confirmed or cancelled in light of the courts decision on whether there has been unfair prejudice to the shareholders’ in question[27]. In conclusion the interpretation of â€Å"variation† in the Companies Act s.630 is very narrow yet the statement is mostly true because any concerns which the section has exposed have been alleviated by the review procedure under s.633, the ability of companies’ to alter their articles and the s.22 entrenchment mechanisms. Problems persist with preference shareholders in unquoted companies but the inclusion of carefully worded protection in the articles goes some way to ending any notable concern and striking the correct balance between the protection of holders of class rights and the protection of business practice. Part 2 (a)The question here is covered by the Sale of Goods Act 1979. S.19(1) empowers the seller to make a reservation of title and is a logical consequence of the rule that property in the goods passes when the parties intend it to pass. The clause in our contract is an â€Å"all sums† clause which was held to be valid in Armour v Thyssen[28] in the House of Lords. The reference to indebtedness means that the property will remain with the seller until all such debts and obligations owed to the seller are discharged. Atiyah[29] points to the two requirements here for such a clause to operate: The pallets of paper have not yet been touched and they are on Wye’s premises: the conditions have been fulfilled. The purchase price has been paid and the contract concluded under s.27 of the 1979 Act but we do not have any information regarding any other outstanding debts or obligations upon Wye. Obviously if there was any kind of security or charge this would have to be discharged before any thoughts of selling the property on could be entertained. Assuming there are no outstanding debts and the purchase price has been fully paid then title in the property has passed to Wye and accordingly the option open to Linda is to sell the paper for a good price. If there are still debts outstanding then s.25(1) of the 1979 Act may be of assistance: a buyer in possession of goods which are still owned by a seller may give good title to those goods to a third party purchaser, provided that the third party is in good faith and has no notice of the rights of the seller in the goods. This section can effectively defeat the retention of title clause in the original contract. Regarding the final part of the clause: the contract not being registered in the Registrar of Companies is no barrier to any subsequent sale as noted by s.62(4) of the 1979 Act and Atiyah[30]. (b) The legal position regarding John is contained in s.11 of the Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986[31]. Breach of this section attracts criminal liability as well as potentially attracting personal liability for the company’s debts though as Gower and Davies note this may not be of much use given that John probably has little funds[32]. Most importantly this matter is an automatic disqualification and he can be removed from the payroll with immediate effect thus minimising his potential claim as a preferential creditor on the liquidation. Martin has been acting in the management of Wye Ltd even though he has been prohibited from doing so under s.1(1)[33]. Ss13 and 14 outline the criminal penalties but more important in Martin’s example is the personal liability for debts and liabilities of the company incurred while he was in breach of the order under s.15(1)(a). This could be a very good way minimising the debts to be paid back though it would depend on the time he has been managing in breach of the order. (c) There is no formal contract between the two parties here. The essentials of English contract law need firstly a promise, secondly consideration for that promise and thirdly the offeror’s promise must be made to induce the consideration (Elliot contract law). The half-hearted promise made by Barchester could well be unenforceable as an unequivocal promise is required. If we can prove that there is a contract in place then Linda can sue the law school for breach of contract since they have clearly not fulfilled their part of the contract. The promise made by Barchester is one which looks to the future and could be interpreted as a statement of intention. If there is any element of misrepresentation then there would be a clear breach of contract and Linda would be able sue them to swell the assets of the Wye Limited. (d) Does this charge have to be registered? It is secured over the property of Wye and would come under s.860(7)(a) of the 2006 Act. The requirement to keep a register of all charges created by the company is found under s.876(2) of the Companies Act 2006. S.876(3) and (4) state that a fine will be imposed if there has been failure to comply with this requirement but the case of Wright v Horton demonstrates that the validity of the charge will not be affected in any way. Care has to be taken with the timing of the registration as well as it must have been registered within 21 days of the creation of the charge: failure to do so would render the charge invalid against the liquidator of the company. The loan of  £150,000 would then be immediately payable under s.874(3) should any part be void. As for the unsecured creditors trying to claim the prescribed part s.176A of the Insolvency Act 1986 confirms that they are entitled to this and recent case law Airbase (UK) Limited[34]   has established that neither fixed or floating charge holders may share in the prescribed part. Linda should register the charge in Wye’s own register as quickly as possible to avoid a fine. The charge over property could well come under a substantial property transaction under the Companies Act 2006 s.190 as the asset here (the warehouse) could be worth over  £100,000. If this is true then the transaction is voidable at the instance of the company as shareholders must give their consent. (e) The Insolvency Act 1986 governs floating charges. That the  £75,000 was paid 37 minutes before the execution of the charge document is not important. The timing of the floating charge may be significant though as s.245 of the 1986 Act will strike down any charge to an unconnected person within 12 months of a winding up order. This suggests invalidity of this floating charge as it was created within 10 months of the winding up date although arguably it could slip outside of the technical insolvency dates. Linda should challenge the floating charge under s.245. There is also no mention of its registration as required by part 25 of the Companies Act 2006. s.860(1) of the 2006 Act requires floating charges to be registered at Companies House within 21 days of creation. If there has been no registration then this security is void against Linda the liquidator anyway. The absence of a negative pledge clause means that the floating charge will rank behind fixed securities made real rights before attachment of the floating charge. So Bee Bank plc will be at a disadvantage when the floating charge crystallises. Furthermore, competing floating charges rank in order of registration. The floating charge, if registered, will already have crystallised due to the liquidation and will have already had the effect of depriving Wye Ltd of all the assets under the floating charge although ranking behind fixed securities which are real rights. Again since the registration of the floating charge is the responsibility of Wye Ltd the loan would be immediately payable if the charge was later held to be invalid under s.874(3). (f)   This is a creditors voluntary winding up under the Insolvency Act 1986 There could, by piercing the corporate veil, be liability for the directors if the company sold to was a company which was controlled or owned by a director in this transaction and was a sham company[35]. It all depends on the nature and composition of the company which has received the corporate assets in question and indeed the inclination of the court in question. The assets belong to the company and liquidators have a duty to ensure that the interests of creditors are protected under s.107 of the 1986 Act. If an asset has been sold at below value either in the six months before liquidation or 2 years if a connected person, the liquidator can challenge the transfer and claim against the recipient and/or the directors, making the transaction void. S.238 (4)(b) is the relevant section[36]. The timing aspect comes close to the wire: it should be noted that the date of the winding up order is 15th October 2010 and the date of the sale is 23rd April 2010 which places this transaction just under 6 months before the winding up of the company so whether the person is connected or not is irrelevant. The relevant date though is when the company is technically insolvent which is presumably long before the winding-up order is granted. Regardlessly, this transaction, if it should transpire that it was sold for an under value, can be voided by Linda and she can make a claim against the director(s) involved. The property might be able to be returned and vested in the company under s.241 but there are safeguards for third parties acquiring in good faith and this is not guaranteed. If the person sold to was a connected person with knowledge then the antique clock will be vested in the company again. Bibliography Atiyah (2005) Sale of Goods Pearson: UK Griffin, Steven (2006) Company Law: Fundamental Principles Pearson: UK Gower and Davies (2008) Principles of Modern Company Law Sweet Maxwell: London Palmer (2010) Company Law Sweet Maxwell: UK Sealy Worthington (2008) Cases and Materials in Company Law Oxford University Press Cases Adelaide Electric Co v Prudential Assurance [1934] A.C. 122 H.L Airbase (UK) Limited [2008] EWHC 124(Ch) Armour v Thyssen [1991] 2 A.C. 339 Cumbrian Newspapers Group Ltd v. Cumberland and Westmorland Herald etc Ltd [1986] All E.R. 816 Dimbula Valley (Ceylon) Tea Co v Laurie [1961] Ch.353 Gencor ACP Ltd v Dalby [2000] 2 B.C.L.C Greenhalgh v Arderne Cinemas Ltd [1946] 1 All ER 512 Hodge v James Howell Co [1958] C.L.Y. 446, CA, The Times House of Fraser plc v. ACGE Investments Ltd 1987 SLT 421 (HL) Re Hellenic and General Trust Ltd [1975] 3 All ER 382 Re Northern Engineering Industries plc [1994] BCC 618 White v. Bristol Aeroplane Co. Ltd [1953] Ch.65 Statute Companies Act 2006   1985  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Sale of Goods Act 1979 Insolvency Act 1986  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Directors Disqualification Act 1986 n money or money’s worth, of the consideration provided by the company.†

How to Manage Studying and Sports

How to Manage Studying and Sports If you are a college athlete, no matter which sport you participate in you will face one common hurdle balancing training commitments with your studies. If you are a scholarship student then learning how to manage studying and sports is even more important since you are likely to have a minimum grade you are required to maintain in order to keep your scholarship! Even if you are not on a team, and just like to participate in sports or fitness on a casual basis, it can also be tough to find the right balance. That’s why we have put together this collection of helpful tips and techniques to help you learn how to manage studying and sports. Study Tips for Athletes These handy hints are going to help athletes learn how to manage studying and sports so that they can maintain good grades while still performing well in their chosen sporting activity. Get a Planner Stay Organized One of the best tips we can offer when it comes to learning how to manage studying and sports is to get a planner and learn to stay organized. You will be issued with a list of practice sessions and games or tournaments early on in the season. Mark all of these into your planner straight away. Add in study commitments such as homework assignments and exams as you are given the details. You will be able to see immediately if there is a clash. If you notice that an important assignment is due the day after a big game, then that is your cue to get started early. Finish the assignment before the game and you will have one less thing to stress over! Learn How to Manage Your Time Effectively Following on from making use of a planner is managing your time more effectively. You already know school hours, game times and practice times, so those are automatically blocked off already. Marking this in your calendar or planner helps you to see how much time you actually have for studying and other leisure activities allowing you to plan more effectively. Make Good Use of Travel Time As an athlete, it is likely that you will have to travel to away games and tournaments. It could be just one town over, or it could be out of state. Make the most of this time by using it to study. Pack some revision notes or textbooks to catch up on your reading on the bus! If you are going to be staying away overnight then bring some homework to do at your hotel. It is easy to see these trips as downtime or vacation, but if you gather a group of like minded teammates together who also want to study, then it is a great opportunity to stay on top of your school work. Ask About Supported Study Programs Sports teams want their athletes to do well academically. Many of them will have study support available in the form of tutors or study groups for any athlete struggling to balance study and sport. Ask if there is any help available to you and make use of it. That is why these programs are in place, so don’t be afraid to use them! Don’t Treat Sport Like Work Playing sports has an overall benefit to your mental, physical and emotional health. It gives you a healthy outlet for the pressures of studying as you get to do something you love. However, if you begin to see sport as a chore rather than a fun activity it stops serving those purposes. Never lose sight of the fact that your studies are the real work here and sport is your outlet. If you keep that in mind you may just find that they both help each other! General Tips for Managing Studying Sports These are more general tips for learning how to manage studying and sports. They can be used by athletes, but are also great for the the casual sports enthusiast just trying to find the right balance. Listen to Audio Books or Lectures at the Gym or Out Jogging If you are hitting the gym for a couple of hours, or maybe heading out for a run on the track you probably listen to music. Why not switch it up and use that time to listen to audiobook versions of your set texts or recordings of lecture notes? It’s a great way to catch up on reading and you will be surprised at how much sinks in! Workout At Your Desk You can actually fit in a workout while sitting at your desk! Chair squats are a great way to work all of the major muscle groups in your lower body! While working on your paper, stand at your desk with your feet flat on the floor. Keep your back straight and press down with your heels, squatting until your butt is an inch above the chair. Hold for 10 seconds then sit back down. Repeat this around 20 times at regular intervals. Not only will you work your muscles, but you are also elevating your heart rate and engaging your core. Set Realistic Goals Studying at college is stressful as it is without spreading yourself too thinly. It is great to want to incorporate sport into your daily routine, but be realistic. Can you really commit to a 6am run every single day or a workout session at the gym every evening? The answer is probably not! Schedule in time for your sporting activities just like you would study sessions. Think about the time available to you and use it wisely. If sport becomes a chore you will start to fall out of love with it , so stick to once or twice a week. In conclusion, there are a variety of techniques that can be utilized in order to manage studying and sports. Regardless of whether you are an athlete trying to meet your scholarship requirements, or just a sports enthusiast looking to balance fitness and study, these tips are a great place to start. Choose the ones that are going to work for you and adapt others to meet your individual needs. Maybe reading this list will even inspire you to come up with your own techniques for how to manage studying and sports?

Freedom of speech should have a limitation or not Essay

Freedom of speech should have a limitation or not - Essay Example In modern age of great communication, when the power of information increases from day to day, a government should have no control upon such a global historical process. To provide a limitation on freedom of speech in modern conditions would be both despotic and unnatural decision. Freedom of speech takes its origin from human nature. Humans are social beings and used to share information since time out of mind. Was it a warring call about a danger, or a process of expression own thoughts and feelings, but humankind learned to speak, invented languages, arts and signs, - all with the same goal, to convey information to others. There was and is, and will be a human desire and need to speak freely to other humans. Humankind already has spent millenniums developing a wider system of communication, from sending a messenger to sending a digital message in any part of the world, and when taking a look on a global modern trend, the sphere of communication only increases its development. Apparently, knowing this human natural need of communication and to prevent the injustice of previous years, in 1948 the right of a free speech was recognized on a law level within Article 19 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights proclaimed by General Assembly of United Nations. â€Å"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers† (The Universal Declaration of Human Rights). The Declaration proclaims universal laws and rights for every human being, despite a race, religious and other differences, and nowadays it serves as a basic for every constitution of United Nations country members. Therefore, despite a particular state may specify own laws and rights on freedom of speech, they should correspond to ones

Marketing Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words - 1

Marketing Planning - Essay Example 1.1 Product Introduction Mount Franklin is pure spring water without adding any flavour into the water, which is taken from beneath the ground, travelling through layers of the rock of three natural sources in Australia. In addition to competing with bottled water, Mount Franklin also competes with other non-alcoholic beverages. Despite the presence of competition and substitute products, the market remains attractive due to strong growth in demand, barrier to entry, lack of bargaining power of suppliers, favorable customers’ preference of bottled water over other types of beverages and CCA’s competitive advantage in distribution (Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd., 2003). The objectives of this marketing plan is to improve the market position of Mount Franklin by growing the demand for bottled water and improving Mount Franklin’s image over its competitors. However, there are issues which need to be addressed e.g. cannibalisation of other products produced by CCA and negativ e publicity from overseas. To achieve the stated objective, both offensive and defensive strategies will be discussed. Offensive strategies will be used to grow market share, customer purchase and market demand while defensive strategies will be used to protect current market position. 2. ... These beverages are bottled in plastic, glass or else canned in aluminium for sale to wholesalers and retailers. Mount Franklin spring water is available in many stores such as convenience stores, food court, take away outlets, supermarkets and vending machines. The major players involved in this industry are Coca-Cola Amatil Limited (CCA), Cadbury Schweppes Australia Limited, Berri Limited and Golden Circle Limited (CCA, 2004). In Australia, soft drink industry is a large industry with over $3 billion annual turnover and employs a substantial number of workers as shown in table 1. The major group of consumers who drink the bottled water are young people, singles, and couples especially female aged between 14 to 35 years (Australasian Bottled Water Institute, 2004 a ). In bottled water category, the CCA share has increased from 15% to 35% in the previous 18 months. Per capita consumption of its brands, ‘Mount Franklin’, the market leader, ‘pump’ and ‘N everfail’ has been growing (Australasian Bottled Water Institute, 2004 a ). 2.2 External: Market Analyses Porter’s Five Forces Analysis Rivalry among existing firms The industry could be considered as oligopoly. There are five major companies which account for more than 80% of the market share. Each of the major companies holds more than 1% of the market share and seeks to improve the share position. In addition, there are numerous companies which are local and international companies that compete in this industry. Thus, there is intense rivalry within the industry. Barrier to entry Although there is no regulation that prevents a company from entering soft drink industry, barrier to entry remains significant. Brand awareness is crucial

Business Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business - Assignment Example In the model, when the expected returns do not meet the expected returns, then the investment should not be undertaken. For this reason, Capital Asset Price Model focuses on price and investment. Arbitrage Pricing Theory is a model that bases its idea that returns of an asset can be predicted using the relationship that exist between the asset and the common risk factors. This theory also defines the price where an asset that is not well priced is likely to be. The model is always viewed as a substitute to the capital asset pricing classical. For this reason, Arbitrage Pricing Theory is a model that has more elastic assumption requirement (Hodrick, Ng and Song Mueller, 76). Multi-Factor Model of Risk and Return is a financial model based on multiple factors. The multiple factors occur during its computation when explaining the market phenomenon and equilibrium’s asset prices. The factor can be used in explaining either an individual securities or a portfolio of securities. The model achieves such objective by comparing two or more factors in analyzing relationship between variables and the resulting performance of the securities. Capital Asset Price Model is a model that describes the relationship that occurs between the expected returns and the risks that are involved. On the other hand, Arbitrage Pricing Theory is a model that which is based on the idea that returns of an asset can be predicted using the relationship that exist between the asset and the common risk factors. The multi-factor model is based on multiple factors during its computation when explaining market phenomenon and equilibrium asset prices. This is an international bond that is issued in a foreign country whose value is stated in their respective currency. Eurobonds are issued by international organization and categories according to the currency in

Project management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 15

Project management - Essay Example 2014). Leadership styles differ by organisations and the task that is being carried out. This section of the essay will discuss these leadership styles and conclude on the most effective style that a leader should practice when dealing with his or her employees (O’Connor & Yballe 2007). The authoritarian leadership style entails a leader making all the decisions regarding the project and passing the directives to the employees. The employees are further expected to carry out the directives under close and strict supervision. The subordinates should not question the directives and should ensure that each instruction apply to the letter. In such leadership, innovation and creativity from the employees is not put into practice since the leader does not take into consideration the views of the employees (MÃ ¤kilouko 2004). There are all sorts of control measures from the management such as punishments, task orientation, rewards and arbitrary rules. The leadership assumes that the manager knows it all and is sure of what is best for the organisation (Curran & Niedergassel 2011). Democratic leadership style entails a structured and cooperative system that has space for employees to make decisions. Much focus is directed to group relations and the sensitivity of the employees in the organisation (Avolio et al. 2009). The leader who practices such type of style in his or her leadership requires professional competence. The employees take responsibility of their actions, and the leader must not be there to supervise like in the authoritarian leadership style. The subordinates share ideas with the manager and the entire team concerning activities that the project has. The leaders who use this type of leadership style are confident, warm and friendly and encourage the employees to participate and grow professionally (Makipere & Yip 2008). Democratic leadership

Terrorism is a form of risk that is impossible to manage Essay

Terrorism is a form of risk that is impossible to manage - Essay Example Terrorism always stems up in the weakest of classes within a society. (THACKRAH, 2004) Its infancy is thus bred and nourished in the lowest of classes within the culture. This weak class in a third world nation is in reality the masses. What people think about the form of government is really given an air of indifferent experiences when terrorism starts to crop up all of a sudden. This creates a feeling of hatred for the governmental institutions as well as the people at the helm of affairs, i.e., the ones who are generating the policies and are running the government. (OOTS, 1986) Terrorism demands of people to change their way of looking and expecting something, if they do for that matter, from the government. It has been the case for many years that whenever government within a certain country is in a position of economic and defense power, terrorism creeps up out of the blue and mesmerizes its democratic institutions beyond repair and restoration. The need of the hour on these countries’ part is to fight against the terrorist activities with a stern hand but in a more disciplined and ethical fashion. If the same is not done, hatred is the most common of reactions that have been seen for time immemorial for these countries. Terrorism has changed the face of the world. The people of this world have started to feel unsafe whenever they are within a horde and thus different assumptions have started to come about as concerns to the basis of different congregations, events, concerts and so on and so forth. This has really presented a very grim picture of the peace aspect related with this world. It has to be changed and there needs to be thinking mindset shift within the global populace to start with. People need to understand their respective responsibilities and then echo the same in the light of the different policies and strategies

The importance of corporate responsibility communication, strategies Research Paper

The importance of corporate responsibility communication, strategies for communication - Research Paper Example Introduction Over the years, corporate responsibility (CR) has gained increasing attention from practitioners and scholars alike. The programs intended to demonstrate corporate responsibility have led to significant findings, such as the belief that commitment towards CR activities and communication can improve the perceptions of various stakeholders. Thus, lack of social responsibility may lead to the weakening of stakeholder relationships. CR efforts that are characterized by global themes as well as execution tactics have emerged in the marketplace. Communication of CR in Europe and non-Western countries has reportedly becoming similar to activities in the United States with which reporting and communication are frequently articulated. This suggests that CR efforts, which proactively plan and implement programs that integrate social value with business activities and address problems perceived as part of an organization’s social responsibility, have considerably improved. T herefore, the current trends and evidence highly support the communication of CR activities and programs. Corporate Responsibility: An Overview Primarily, the social responsibility of organizations is to produce goods and services that are socially desirable (Becker-Olsen, Taylor, Hill, and Yalcinkaya. 2010). Furthermore, these companies have the social responsibility of adhering to ethical and legal standards that are viewed by the society as appropriate. This has been presented through a more comprehensive definition that described corporate citizenship as the extent to which firms take on the legal, ethical, economic, and discretionary responsibilities that their stakeholders oblige them to assume. One of the most noteworthy aspects of CR’s definition is the relevance attached to discretionary responsibilities that express the desire of the society to see companies become actively involved in the development and betterment of communities and perform beyond the expected sta ndards. Through previous studies, a number of CR practices have been identified that were categorized as moral or ethical practices, discretionary practices, and relational practices. Diversity, community support, employee support, involvement with the environment, and product manufacturing were considered. Fair treatment of employees, taking into consideration the rights of employees from foreign countries, fair competition with others, responsible actions toward the environment, and exemplifying of truth are all considered as moral or ethical practices in relation to corporate responsibility. Meanwhile, under discretionary practices, a number of procedures have been identified as well, such as the contribution of resources to increase social awareness regarding current issues, support for issues on family and children, support for public health programs, and contribution of cultural programs for the community. Finally, relational practices involve the attempts for establishing lon g-term relationships with consumers as well as the willingness to consider the views and constructive criticisms of stakeholders regarding business practices (Shum and Yam, 2010). The business benefits of corporate responsibility have been comprehensively examined and results have indicated that CR can generate moral capital among workers

Terrorism is a form of risk that is impossible to manage Essay

Terrorism is a form of risk that is impossible to manage - Essay Example Terrorism always stems up in the weakest of classes within a society. (THACKRAH, 2004) Its infancy is thus bred and nourished in the lowest of classes within the culture. This weak class in a third world nation is in reality the masses. What people think about the form of government is really given an air of indifferent experiences when terrorism starts to crop up all of a sudden. This creates a feeling of hatred for the governmental institutions as well as the people at the helm of affairs, i.e., the ones who are generating the policies and are running the government. (OOTS, 1986) Terrorism demands of people to change their way of looking and expecting something, if they do for that matter, from the government. It has been the case for many years that whenever government within a certain country is in a position of economic and defense power, terrorism creeps up out of the blue and mesmerizes its democratic institutions beyond repair and restoration. The need of the hour on these countries’ part is to fight against the terrorist activities with a stern hand but in a more disciplined and ethical fashion. If the same is not done, hatred is the most common of reactions that have been seen for time immemorial for these countries. Terrorism has changed the face of the world. The people of this world have started to feel unsafe whenever they are within a horde and thus different assumptions have started to come about as concerns to the basis of different congregations, events, concerts and so on and so forth. This has really presented a very grim picture of the peace aspect related with this world. It has to be changed and there needs to be thinking mindset shift within the global populace to start with. People need to understand their respective responsibilities and then echo the same in the light of the different policies and strategies