Follow instruction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Follow instruction - Essay Example The story The murder of Roger Ackroyd talks about the killing of a prominent person of the town, Mrs. Ferrars . However, the book ends with an unexpected plot twist where the murderer finally confessed of the murder. It is Dr. Sheppard who admits on committing the crime. The murderer tries to hid the guilt that he has on committing the crime and says, â€Å"I did what little had to be done† which is said at the situation where he hides the Dictaphone and shifts his chair. According to Dr. Sheppard he thought that he would finally be the one responsible for failing Roger Ackroyd and that the detective won’t be able to solve the case. Hence this serves as the confession as well as the suicide note by the murderer (Chritstie, 123). It is in this last chapter, that the murderer writes about how he committed his murder, mentioning every detail on how and what happened and what was his purpose behind it. It would have been better if the author could have divided each paragrap h into shorter ones instead of writing everything in two very big ones. The author has put more dialogues than actual actions which make it a bit tiresome to read. Also sometimes in the paragraph, the author has forgotten to put inverted commas which indicate the beginning of a dialogue, and since there aren’t any inverted commas the story becomes a little confusing to the readers. Apart from these, the paragraph is written well with not punctuation or grammatical errors. Similarly in the book The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, it is in the final chapter that the crime of the murder of the boy is finally solved after going through various locks and dead ends. The detective Jonathan Whicher, finally discovers that it was the half sister of the young boy who committed the crime. Contance Emilie Kent wrote a letter which served as her confession letter, she also agreed on letting the press know that she had killed Francis Saville Kent (Summerscale, 288). She explained her

Is investment in green or environmentally friendly activities of Essay

Is investment in green or environmentally friendly activities of benefit to a small business - Essay Example And, a sufficient number of scholars necessitate that managers to consider the natural environment more as a subjective or a strategic problem than as an ethical or normative one (Aragon-Correa et al., 2004; Banerjee, 2001; Cordano and Frieze, 2000; Sharma, 2000). Consequently, they support a strategic mindset and approach to promote change from within the organization (Clemens, 2001). For SMEs, it is in their organizational interests to pursue such environmental policies that make them a responsible part of the environmentally responsible organizations; more importantly, the SMEs do not exist always to be identified with this term, they need growth and economic prosperity on a very strong footing; their entire future growth is largely associated with their current outlook seen and observed by the stakeholders; they need to invest in environmentally friendly activities. However, it is and will not be an easy task for SMEs as they face many problems such as limited financial resources , under-developed organisational structure, raw management style and so on are those factors that do not help SMEs to introduce a positive outlook denoting them as ‘an environmentally friendly entity.’ In the subsequent parts of this paper, first, it is argued for the topic and followed by argued against the topic; subsequent to that a conclusion is provided. Every organization always wants to grow particularly SMEs. And, nowadays, growth requires more social and environmental investment as a way to promote their name as an environmentally friendly entity. Most of the larger organizations have been enjoying growth in their net profit figures by providing the annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports along with their annual reports. In these reports, they account for such economic, social and environmental investment either that have been

Impact of FDI on Host Country

Impact of FDI on Host Country ABSTRACT This project critically examines the negative effects that FDI poses to the host economy. The impact of FDI on the host economy can be understood with the help of The Standard Theory of International Trade and The Theory of Industrial Organisation. FDI has both positive and negative impacts on the host-country. FDI has an adverse effect on the host countrys economy, environment, domestic firms, political environment, labour market and trade balance. Through this project, it is concluded that the government policies should be such that they exploit the benefits of FDI completely in order to overrule its drawbacks. INTRODUCTION There is an increasing acknowledgment to recognize the forces of economic globalization which first requires looking at Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) by multinational corporations (MNCs): that is, when a firm based in one country locates or acquires production facilities in other countries. (Blonigen, 2006). Over the past decade Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has grown noticeably as a major form of international capital transfer. Between 1980 and 1990, world flows of FDI- defined as cross-border expenditures to acquire or expand corporate control of productive assets have approximately grown three times (Froot, 1993). â€Å"FDI has turned out to be a major form of net international borrowing for Japan and the United States, the worlds largest international lender and borrower respectively† (Froot, 1993, pp. 1). The most introspective effect of FDI has been seen in developing countries, wherein annual Foreign Direct Investment flows have increased from an average of less than $10 billion in the 1970s to an annual average of $208 billion in 1999 (Source: UNCTAD). A large portion of global FDI is driven by mergers and acquisitions and internationalization of production in a range of industries (Graham and Spaulding, 2005). Despite the noticeable importance of FDI and MNCs in the world economy, research on the factors that decide FDI patterns and the impact of MNCs on parent and host countries is in its early stages. The most significant general questions are: what factors determine where FDI occurs, and what impacts do those MNC operations have on the parent and host economies? This report mainly analyses the negative impact of FDIs on host economies. FORIEGN DIRECT INVESTMENT â€Å"Foreign Direct Investment reflects the objective of obtaining a lasting interest by a resident entity in one economy (â€Å"direct investor†) in an entity resident in an economy other than that of the investor (â€Å"direct investment enterprise†)† (OECD). In other words, it is a direct investment made by a corporation in a commercial venture in another country. What separates FDI from portfolio investment is the control over the investment (Gillies, 2005). In case of FDI at least 10 percent of the voting rights must be held by the foreign investing company (Daniels et al., 2004). The difference between FDI and other ventures in foreign countries is mainly that the new venture operates completely outside the economy of the companys home country. The main motivators behind FDI are resource acquisition, sales expansion and risk minimisation. Besides this governments may also encourage FDIs due to various political motives (Daniels et al., 2004). TYPES OF FDI Foreign Direct Investment can be classified into three broad categories on the basis of direction, target or motives. On the basis of direction FDI can be classified into Inward or Outward FDI. When foreign capital is invested in local resources, it is referred to as Inward FDI, on the other hand when investments are made by local firms in foreign resources it is referred to as Outward FDI. Outward FDI is also known as â€Å"direct investment abroad† and is always backed by government support in case of any risks. On the basis of target FDI can be classified into Greenfield Investments, mergers and acquisition, horizontal and vertical FDI. Greenfield Investment refers to direct investment in new arenas or the development of existing amenities. This leads to creation of production capacity, employment opportunities, transfer of technology and expertise as well as linking of the host economy to the global marketplace. Mergers and acquisition are a major kind of FDI whereby there is a transfer of existing resources from local businesses to foreign businesses. Cross border mergers take place when the management of resources and business operations is relocated from a local company to a foreign company, with the local organisation becoming an associate to the foreign organisation. Acquisitions take place when the foreign company takes over a domestic company, and establishes itself as the new owner of the domestic company. Horizontal FDI refers to an investment made by a foreign company in the same industry in which it operates in its home country. Vertical FDI can be classified further into backward and forward vertical FDI. Backward Vertical FDI occurs when a domestic firm is provided input by a foreign firm in order to aid its production process whereas Forward Vertical FDI occurs when the output of a domestic firm is sold by an industry abroad it is known as forward vertical FDI. Lastly on the basis of motives, FDI can be classified into four types. The first type is of FDI takes place when the various factors of production may not be available in the home country of the firm or be more efficient in the host country, thereby encouraging firms to make investments. This is known as Resource seeking FDI. The second type of FDI which can be used as a defensive strategy is Market-seeking FDI. These investments are made either to maintain existing markets or to penetrate into new markets. The third type is Efficiency Seeking FDI, where the firms hope to increase their competency by exploiting the advantages of economies of scale and also common ownership. The firms thus try to achieve the objective of profit maximization. the last type is Strategy -asset seeking FDI, which is a common tactic used by firms to stop their competitors from acquiring resources. Thus these are the various types of FDI. IMPACT OF FDI ON HOST ECONOMY There are two approaches in economic theory which contribute to studying the effects of Foreign Direct Investment on host countries. One is the standard theory of international trade by Macdougall (1960). This theory is a â€Å"partial equilibrium comparative-static approach intended to examine how marginal increments in investment from abroad are distributed† (Blomstrom, 1997, p.1). The main assumption of this model is that there is an increase in the marginal productivity of labour and a decrease in the marginal productivity of capital. The other theory was proposed by Hymmer (1960) and is called the theory of industrial organisation. The main question of the theory is why firms make investments in other countries in order to manufacture the similar goods they manufacture at home. The answer to this question has been rightly devised by Kindleberger, 1969, p.13), who says, â€Å"for direct investment to thrive there must be some imperfection in markets for goods or factors, including among the latter technology, or some interference in competition by government or by firms, which separates markets†. Thus firms of home countries must have some asset which is going to be lucrative for its associate in the home country (Blomstrom, 1997). Foreign Direct Investment has both positive and negative effects on the host economy. POSITIVE EFFECTS OF FDI ON HOST ECONOMY FDIs have a number of positive impacts on the host country. It encourages economic development by increasing the productivity and exports of the host countries. There are four channels which help in increasing the productivity of host country, namely imitation, skill acquisition, competition and exports (Gorg Greenaway, 2004). The local firms in the host countries benefit by the indirect technology transfer that takes place between the MNC and the domestic companies. Local firms can compete more successfully in the export markets by copying the superior technology or management techniques used by the multinationals (Blomstrom, 1991). Domestic firms become more exposed to the foreign markets and subsequently their knowledge of the international markets increases. The Managers and other qualified employees of the domestic firms acquire the superior managerial and technical skills, which increases their efficiency. Multinationals increase the existing market competition, instigating the local firms to become more efficient by investing in physical or human capital. They help to increase industrial efficiency and improve resource allocation in host countries by entering markets which had many entry barriers. Thus by entering these monopolistic markets they increase competition and force the local firms to become more proficient. This is how, domestic firms are provoked by multinationals and other overseas firms to improve their performance and productivity. Multinationals also influence the local suppliers of intermediate products to become more efficient with delivery speed, quality and reliability of the products so as to meet the high standards of the overseas company. It is seen that FDI has a positive impact on labour market. If the productivity of domestic firms increases by copying the multinationals production style which is based on increased labour productivity, then the domestic firms will not hesitate from paying higher wages to the labour (Lipsey Sjoholm, 2010). Multinationals also increase the standard of the host countrys labour market by providing the labourers with training and making them qualified enough to handle complicated machinery and increasing their productivity. Lastly FDI affects the economy of the host country positively by increasing their revenues in the form of taxes, strengthening the exchange rate of the country and instigating the government to make policies which would attract more MNCs towards it. NEGATIVE IMPACT OF FDI ON HOST ECONOMY As seen above FDI has a number of positive effects on the host economy but these effects do not come free of cost. FDI brings along with it a number of negative effects which prove harmful to the country in various ways. Extend of the negative effects of FDI depends on the characteristics of the multinational companies, the host country and the policies of the host country. Some of the negative effects have been highlighted below: ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION With increasing competition all over the world, companies are shifting their production base to developing countries where they can carry out the production of goods that are pollutant to the environment. These countries have flexible environmental regulations and are less stringent with their enforcements. Thus by carrying out production in such countries they are able to get a competitive edge over companies which carry out production elsewhere. Lowered trade obstacles are leading to a shift of polluting industries from countries with austere environmental regulations to countries with moderate environmental regulations. This leads to an increase in pollution in countries with lenient environmental policies because they refuse to tighten them in order to gain a stronger position over others in international trade. Trade may modify the environmental outcomes through a number of different channels. The scale effect is one such channel that has harmful implications to the environment. This is because when multinationals set up manufacturing facilities or outsource these to other local businesses, it leads to an increase in output which in turn leads to an increase in pollution (Liang, 2006). MARKET STRUCTURE FDI has a negative impact on the market structure as well. As the multinationals enter the market, it leads to the increase of concentration levels within the economy which in turn hampers market control. Therefore risk is prevalent. FDIs tend to assemble in exceedingly concentrated industries. The relationship between presence of foreign organisations in the host countries and the concentration within the economy is indebted to the nature of multinational ownership benefits rather than to anti-competitive activities. In small economies, proficient exploitation of modern advanced technology leads to concentrated market structures. If such economies have lenient trade administration then the risk of anti-competitive activities is diminished to a great extent (Lall, 2000). However it is evident that successful competition strategies are very important as multinationals have the capability to simply control an industry in a host economy. TECHNOLOGY FDIs open the doors for the host country to access new technology but this technology is controlled and possessed only by the MNEs. MNCs generally invest in capital-intensive technologies and have strict proprietary rights which prevent its spill over to local firms. The technology bought in by the MNC may not be favourable to conditions of the host country. For example if the host country is a labour-intensive country and the technology used by the multinational is capital-intensive then gradually it will have a negative effect on the host economy. Once the domestic firms start imitating the foreign firm and start using the same technology used by them, labourers will lose out on their jobs. Thus this would lead to unemployment problems which will negatively affect the economy of the host country. A country attracts FDI so that the national economy grows by creating new job opportunities but in this case it would work in the opposite direction. Pollution-intensive technology may also be exported from countries where they are banned. COMPETITION FDIs have an adverse affect on competition and hamper the prevailing market equilibrium. In developing countries, the domestic firms may not be able to cope up with the competition put up by the MNCs. Thus they would lose out on business. Some multinationals acquire monopoly status in highly profitable sectors. With their monopolistic power they wipe out all competitors from the market. New enterprises are not willing to enter these markets because of the huge capital and risks involved. Thus these multinationals are able to demand unreasonable prices form the customers, leaving them with no other choice but to pay excessively higher charges due to the limited choices available. These monopolistic companies do not even invest in new technologies to bring down their costs since they are already enjoying the luxury of irrational prices. PRODUCTIVITY Atiken and Harrison (1999) and Konings (2001), have suggested that MNCs decrease the productivity of local organisations through competition effects. MNCs are able to carry out productions at lower costs since they bring along some proprietary knowledge which is firm specific. In addition they have superior managerial and marketing skills, reduced production costs, bulk purchases, etc which helps them reduce their marginal costs. Therefore, the demand for goods produced by MNCs increases, which in turn reduces the demand for locally produced goods. This ultimately leads to a decrease in domestic production increasing the average costs. With the establishment of multinationals, the demand for foreign inputs increases in comparison to local inputs which hinder the domestic firm from producing to its optimum capacity. Thus the domestic firms are not able to take advantage of economies of scale. Domestic firms may not be quick enough to grasp knowledge from the foreign firms, losing out on competition in the short run (Gorg Greenaway, 2004). MNCs usually offer higher wages to domestic workers, thereby attracting all the skilled ones, leaving behind only the semi or unskilled labour for the local firms. It is a common trend amongst MNCs to offer higher wages in comparison to the domestic firms in developed as well as developing countries. LABOURERS The workers in the host countries may not be comfortable with some of the foreign policies adopted by MNCs. One of the most attractive features for FDI in a host country is cheap labour. They take advantage of the cheap labour by producing labour intensive goods and thereby decreasing their costs of goods. With the establishment of labour intensive technology by MNCs, a country becomes highly dependent on them for its employment. Now multinationals are always trying to reduce their costs, so if they are able to find places with cheaper labour, they shift their base to that country. Thus there is always a fear of unemployment due to FDI withdrawal. GOVERNMENT POLICIES The government of the host country may face problems due to the establishment of FDIs. The government has less control over the operations of the foreign company that is functioning as the wholly owned subsidiary of an overseas company. Taking advantage of this, the MNC may not abide by the economic policies of the host country. They hamper the various environmental, governance and social regulations laid down by the government of the host country. With FDI there is risk that confidential information of the host country could be leaked out to rest of the world. It has been seen that due to FDIs the defence of a country has witnessed various risks. It is also noticed that multinationals are very reluctant to pay taxes of the host country. MNCs exploit the tax structure of the country by taking advantage of the lenient tax regulations of the host country and lack of enforcement by the government (Velde, 2001). Another huge problem faced by host countries is that of transfer pricing which is a financial accounting device used by MNCs to maximise profits. Transfer pricing refers to the price charged by one associate of a company to another associate of the same company. Transfer pricing relates to all transactions that take place within a company including raw materials, management fees, royalties, finished products, etc. Transfer pricing is an illegal way of making huge profits for the MNCs. Transfer prices can be fabricated, thus different from the price that unrelated firms would have to pay. Thus by using transfer prices as a weapon, MNCs manipulate their books of entry and acquire huge amounts of profits without an actual change in their physical capital. Profit transferring is a way of avoiding or saving taxes by MNCs through illegal ways. If the MNCs pay lesser taxes in the home country of their foreign affiliates in comparison to their host countries, then in order to increase profits, MNCs manipulate their book of accounts. They will inflate their expenditure on import of materials from their foreign partners or subsidiaries, this will show higher profits in the books of accounts of the foreign affiliates and less profit in the MNCs account in the host country. Thus evading taxes and at the same time they will artificially transfer profits to the home country. CROWDING OUT OF DOMESTIC INVESTMENTS FDI crowds out domestic investments by creating a monopolistic environment. This can be explained in two ways. Firstly MNCs raise funds locally in the domestic market, increasing the demand for money and in turn increasing the interest rates, which crowds out domestic investments. Secondly when MNCs enter a new country, they bring with them huge investments which increases the overall money flow of the country. This increases the aggregate demand, leading to an increase in prices, i.e. inflation, which will then increase expenses, reduce savings and ultimately force people to borrow money, leading to higher interest rates. Thus is this way the local investments are crowded out (Borensztein et al., 1997). Foreign firms have better advertising powers, ability to dominate the market and predatory pricing to prevent entry. INFRASTRUCTURE CONSTRAINTS Multinationals come in the way of a countrys infrastructure development. It is seen that multinationals are always attracted towards the more favourable regions of a country. Now with the establishment of multinationals in these regions, more efforts are put towards the betterment of these regions. As a result the rural and poor regions are ignored and they continue to remain underdeveloped. COUNTRYS TRADE BALANCE FDI has an adverse effect on the Balance of Payment of the host country (De Mellow, 1997). Financial inflows raise the exchange rates, making it unfavourable for exports. When MNCs enter a country, they bring along foreign exchange and thus increase their supply, which strengthens the host-country currency, making the domestic products more expensive in the international markets, and as a result of this the total exports of the host country reduces. Thus there is a decrease in the net exports (Total Exports- Total Imports) of the country. Hence the BOP may become unfavourable. The capital and current account are also hampered. When the MNC enters the host country, it might have previous raw material suppliers, or intermediary product suppliers, from whom it continues to buy its secondary material; this would lead to an increase in the import of the country making the BOP unfavourable. Secondly MNCs transfer their profits, management fees, royalty fees, etc back to their home country, hampering the capital account of the country. ECONOMY Multinationals usually tend to exist in close proximity to each other. It is seen that MNCs have a tendency to concentrate in the certain sectors taking advantage of the location, labour and resources. Thus the economy becomes extremely reliant on the MNC. A withdrawal of MNC from such areas could seriously hamper the economy and this is seen as a very severe problem in the backward areas. RECOMMENDATIONS CONCLUSION This research paper was carried out to analyse the negative effects of FDI on the host economy and we have come to a conclusion that even though FDI helps in the development and growth of various countries all over the world, these benefits do not come free of charge. FDI can have several harmful effects on the host country. To overcome these harmful effects some recommendations gave been proposed To overcome the negative impact of environmental hazards, the host countries can use a variety of channels. One such channel is the technique effect where the local firms of the host country could learn from MNEs who often use superior technology or these firms may also exit from the market if the foreign firms seize the market share as well as labour supply. Therefore directness to trade will help in improving the quality of the environment. Another channel is the income effect whereby the local electorate may demand better environment standards as well as more strict regulations which are more enforceable by the government when the multinationals increase the income in the economy by creating jobs and thus increasing employment (Liang,2006). To overcome the competitive barriers in developing countries, the domestic firms could use various protective corporate agreements. They could either combine local firms or begin cooperative ventures with the foreign firms. Government of the host company should become more stringent with their policies. They should adopt policies which encourage proper social and environmental principles by the foreign companies. Multinationals should be penalised if they do not adhere by the policies of the country Measures should be taken to curb consumer and labour exploitation and at the same time competition should be created in the labour and product market, removing all entry barriers from the domestic markets. Encourage education, train labourers and promote infrastructure to increase the local capacity to absorb and disseminate the superior new traditions pioneered by overseas companies. By taking a few precautionary measures and by amending the government policies, the harmful effects of FDI can be avoided. Thus, these policies should be such that they are able to maximise the benefits of FDI and curtail their negative effects. REFERENCES Blomstrom, M. (1991). Host Country Benefits Of Foreign Investment. NBR Working Paper 3615, pp 1-33. Blomstrom, M. and Kokko, A. (1997). The Impact Of Foreign Investment On Host Countries: A Review Of The Empirical Evidence. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 1745, pp 1-42. Blomstrom, M. and Kokko, A. (1998). Multinational Corporations And Spillovers. Journal Of Economic Surveys 12(2), pp 1-31. Blonigen, B. (2006). Foreign Direct Investment Behavior of Multinational Corporations. NBER Reporter: Research Summary. Borensztein E., Gregorio De J. And Lee J-W (1997). How does Foreign Direct Investment affect economic growth? Journal of international Economics 45(1998), pp 115-135 Daniels, J.D., Radebaugh, L.H. and Sullivan, D.P. (2004). International Business Environments And Operations. 10th ed. Delhi: Pearson Prentice Hall. De Mello L.R. (1997). Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries and Growth: A Selection Survey. The Journal of Development Studies 34(1), pp 1-34. Froot, K. (1993). Foreign Direct Investment. London: The University of Chicago Press Ltd. Gorg, H. and Greenaway, D. (2004). Much ado About Nothing? Do Domestic Firms Really Benefit From Foreign Direct Investment? The World Research Observer 19(2), pp 171-197. Graham,J.P. and Spaulding, R.B. (2005). Understanding Foreign Direct Investment. Citibank international portal. Lall, S. (2000). FDI and Development: Research Issues In The Emerging Context. Policy Discussion Paper 20, pp 1-27. Letto-Gillies, G. (2005). Transnational Corporations and International Production concepts, theories and effects, Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing House Limited. Liang, F.H. (2006). Does Foreign Direct Investment Harm the Host Countrys Environment? Evidence from China. pp 1-24. Lipsey, R.E. (2002). Home And Host Country Effects Of FDI. NBR Working Paper Series 9293, pp 1-76. Lipsey, R.E. and Sjoholm, F. (n.d.) The Impact Of Inward FDI On Host Countries: Why Such Different Answers? Does FDI Promote Development pp 23-43. Velde D.W. (2001). Policies Towards Foreign Direct Investment in Developing Countries: Emerging Best-practices and Outstanding Issues. Overseas Development Institute, London.

Pressures Of Industry On Education :: essays research papers

With the high rate of adolescent unemployment an economic reality, the secondary education system needs to concern itself with the occupational future of the youth of America. Vocational education provides students with an alternative to a college degree. When vocational education is used in conjunction with local industries, a unique relationship is formed in which both institutions can benefit. These benefits include the following: 1. Educational institutions offer quick and ready access to facilities and trained personnel. 2. An exchange of goods for services rendered allows for savings to industry and an opportunity for the institution to provide important community service. 3. A cooperative effort between education and industry is time efficient and cost effective. 4. Community, educational, and industrial interchange are enhanced and appreciated. 5. Opportunities for expanded cooperation between education and industry on future occasions are enhanced. 6. Opportunities for more active counseling roles in industry are expanded. Furthermore, the United States Office of Education 1975 policy paper states the following: †¦while initial implementation of career education†¦ will be relatively inexpensive, total educational reform is going to be expensive†¦ the days of educational isolationism are past. It is time that our formal education system join forces with all other segments of the total society†¦ to meet the varied and continuing educational needs of both youth and adults†¦ all must collaborate in providing appropriate educational opportunities for all citizens.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  During times of slow economic growth and high technological change, many industrial firms find themselves needing fewer employees or are forced to replace their workforce with individuals who have updated technological skills. With this in mind, the education system should find ways to adapt to the current employment needs of the society. Of the several kinds of process-oriented approaches to educational change (e.g. year round education or acquiring a higher counselor-student ratio), career education represents the most logical and certainly the most available approach for consideration by career guidance professionals.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  By joining forces, schools and industries can find ways to benefit one another. Teaching job-specific skills in the classroom can provide students with the necessary background for participating in summer internships. These internships will provide students with valuable work experience that will make them much more marketable upon graduation, not to mention give them extra money to save for college if they so desire. Summer work programs can also benefit the instructors so that they can keep up-to-date with the current advances in technology that influence the industries which they support.

The Impact of Donor Funding on Nra- Sierra Leone

INTRODUCTION The act of the National Revenue Authority came into being on 13 September 2002. The National Revenue Authority has a mandate to administer and collect all taxes, revenues and all penalties as stated in the NRA act. The purpose of the National Revenue Authority is to serve as a central body for the collection and assessment of national revenue.The implementation procedures and policies by the National Revenue Authority will ensure that revenues are collected efficiently by enforcing specified laws through the provision of robust administration. However, the capacity of the NRA was inadequate to efficiently perform its mandates and mobilize the revenue needed for the socio-economic development. Against this background, several donor organizations including Dfid opted to support the capacity building drive of the NRA.This study focuses on Dfid as one of the major donors supporting the NRA. I will attempt to analyze the impact of Dfid intervention in NRA, with specific focus on staff capacity and revenue mobilization. IMPACT OF DONOR FUNDING ON THE OPERATION OF NATIONAL RENVENUE AUTHORITY With Dfid funding in July 2009, to strengthen the performance of NRA through ensuring compliance with international trade agreements, improving business processes and developing staff capabilities.Crown Agents was contracted to provide technical assistance to the National Revenue Authority (NRA) in the Modernization Plan to target a benchmark wherein the institution (NRA) transforms into modern and effective medium through which to secure vital state revenues and to ensure that the newly implemented Goods and Services Tax (GST) is viable and robust wherein NRA will have in place effective compliance management procedures. This reform program has designed to deliver efficient and equitable customs and tax administration procedures to target international practice.Through its continuing support program to NRA, the Department for International Development (Dfid) has pled ge its assurance to achieve the overarching poverty alleviation and the reduction of dependency on foreign aid through the effective collection of revenue which has gradually increase domestic revenue to build the nation from 65% dependency on foreign donors in 2000 to 40% in 2010. The modernization program carried out by crown agent sponsored by Dfid encompassing the following areas: ?Integrated Revenue Management Program- This area focuses on Customs Modernization, Administrative Reform on Domestic Taxes, and the Implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST). It also looks at the review of laws, procedures and structures to bring them in line with International best practice and to improve NRA's revenue collection base. This modernization component will involve capacity building in improving taxpayers audit and compliance management and assist in the establishment of a new Domestic Taxes Department that will merge GST and Direct Tax operations. Human Resource and Institutional De velopment Program- This modernization program is aimed at developing the human and institutional resource base of NRA by equipping it with modern performance management systems and procedures. Information systems should be enhanced under this program, change management strategies and improved monitoring and evaluation systems throughout the organization. ? Taxpayer Information and Educational Program- This modernization program is aimed at changing the taxpaying culture in Sierra Leone through better information to the public and by assisting individual taxpayers to understand their tax obligations. Consolidation of the Strategic Management Program- This modernization program focuses on the development of the NRA's Strategic Management capacity and institutional footprint with international procedures and policies. Having gone through this modernization program, Dfid contracted another agency known as United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in the provision of AS YCUDA to: ? Abolish the bureaucracy and administrative hard work for both the business community and NRA. ? Reduce the time used in processing and clearing of imported consignments under the previous manual system. Reduce revenue leakages and increases the collection of revenue ? Create transparency in the Customs administration of imports and exports departments in Sierra Leone. ? Assists the Customs Officers in providing consistent, fair and equitable treatment of all traders in applying the legal and regulatory framework ? Create equality and fairness among traders about response service and obligations. ANALYSIS ON THE IMPACT OF DONOR FUNDING ON THE OPERATION OF NATIONAL RENVENUE AUTHORITY Having looked at the impact of donor funding on the operations of National Revenue Authority (NRA).Their involvement in developmental activities in strengthening the performance of NRA through ensuring compliance with international trade agreements is far yet to be achieved base on the moderni zation plan, but having said this, progress is on the way which has created an impact on the operations of the institution. Analyzing further, as to what the donor funds have done in the operation of National Revenue Authority may be highlighted below. ? Enable senior management to focus on the â€Å"strategic† issues, which will inevitably arise within individual Program and the overall Plan itself, leaving tactical decisions to middle managers. Minimize leakage and other revenue losses by reducing discretion, curbing smuggling, and instituting systems and control. ? Increase revenue collection by improving on the efficiency of the current revenue administration and then expand the revenue base by tapping into new taxpayers, facilitate trade, take advantage of opportunities and deal with challenges in the revenue administration environment. ? Reduce existing arrears to 5% using persuasion where necessary or litigation ? Improved and enhanced tax administration by computeriza tion of operational and administration system. Develop and implement a robust monitoring and evaluation system ? Effectively monitor and control bonded warehouses to ensure compliance with laws and regulations, and verify inventories and internal controls on a quarterly basis. National Revenue Authority benefiting from donor partners has created an impetus on its operations. Therefore, having implemented all the modernization plans will help NRA to increase their revenue collection base by strengthening the capacity of staffs.The introduction of GST under the integrated management program as one of the modernization plan has help NRA to increase the Domestic Revenue which has reduced the dependency of foreign donors in our economy. The launching of ASYCUDA will reduce the bureaucratic and administrative work on both NRA and the community in reducing the time spent on processing and clearing of imported consignments under the previous manual system. ASYCUDA will reduce revenue leakag es and increase revenue collection and transparency in the Customs administration of imports and exports departments in Sierra Leone.CONCLUSION Donor funding has increasingly affected the operation of National Revenue Authority in diverse ways and as a result, to that, revenue generation has increase tremendously, which has reduced the dependency on foreign donors. Modernization plan is a funded program by Dfid but contracted Crown Agent in the implementation of the plans and they further contracted UNCTAD in the provision of ASYCUDA in reducing revenue leakages and the increases revenue base. It further reduced the bureaucratic and administrative work on both NRA and the community. References: Revenue and tax Policy Unit- MOFED Modernization Unit- NRA Website

Kantian ethics Essay

Kant argued for the use of a normative ethical theory based around the idea that all men have a similar common goal; his theory was absolute (meaning one must follow a common set of rules no matter the scenario) and deontological (focused on actions themselves rather than the outcome of said actions). Kant advised the use of this theory despite it being a priori, meaning he had no observations or experience of the theory in practice. Kant believed that all men have duties which they ought to fulfil, not to gain a desired outcome or avoid a less desirable outcome, but simply because it is their duty. For example, if we can assume it is always wrong to kill people, it would be considered immoral to kill someone even if that action saved the lives of hundreds of people. Similarly, if you consider a foetus to be ‘alive’ then it would be immoral to terminate it no matter the affect it would have on the mother’s physical or mental health. Nearly everyone would find fault in the former, notably fewer for the latter, yet I would hope that the majority would still disagree. David Gauthier suggested that as morality is an agreed concept, designed so that people cannot run amok doing as they please with no consideration for others, an absolutist theory cannot function as rules are subject to interpretation. Let us briefly consider the foetus example once more, if the rule states that it is immoral to take a life, what should be considered a life? Does life start at conception or at birth, or maybe somewhere in between. For this reason, though an absolute theory should be applied to every situation, the rules do not necessarily mean the same thing for every single person. Kant said that in order to create a duty one had to pass it through three tests, the first of which being the law of nature. This law states that in order for something to become a duty it must be capable of being universalised, so everyone must be able to follow said duty ad infinitum. So, for example: ‘jump the queue’ could not become a duty as if everyone jumped the queue there would be no queue to jump. Though this seems sensible, it is possible that immoral acts could be universalised. For example ‘lie to people’ could be universalised even though it is a traditionally immoral act. Not only that but the rule could easily be manipulated by phrasing things differently, for instance ‘everyone called Hector Benjamin Stellyes can jump the queue’ could be universalised as it would most likely only apply to me. To counteract these faults Kant put in place a second law, the law of wills. This stated that for something to become a duty it must be desirable for the population. This rule however, also has faults. In order for a rule to satisfy an entire population (and if this theory was applied worldwide that would be nearly 7.5 billion at the time of writing) it would have to be extremely broad, leaving it open to being interpreted in drastically different ways. If the rule said that one simply had to please the majority, what happens to those who disagree? As all duties are absolute and universal, one would have to do something they disagreed with in order to be moral citizens. Kant attempts to rebuttal this with his argument that all humans still have free will, even though they should follow their duty they don’t have to; humans remain autonomous. However, some would suggest that though humans are nearly always capable of independent thought, it is human nature to be moral. A psychological study by Yale in 2013 on a number of babies that were as of yet unaffected by modern culture (they couldn’t read, speak etc.) making them almost purely instinctual showed that it is human nature to be ‘good’. If society tells you that there are a set list of moral acts, most people will conform to these acts to the best of their ability. So far, we have a set of rules and how this set of rules are constructed, so now I ask: why should anyone follow this philosophy? If we should not consider consequences when doing our duty, what reason do we have to do so? Kant believed there to be two separate reasons to perform any action: the hypothetical imperative and the categorical imperative.

Antarctic Explorer-Richard Byrd

Antarctic Explorer-Richard Byrd Richard Evelyn Byrd was born in Virginia in 1888. He joined the United States Naval Academy at the age 20 and joined the navy in 1912. He learned to fly in World War I during his tour with the United States Navy. He became an expert in flying and was appointed to plan the flight path for the US Navy's 1919 transatlantic crossing.On May 9, 1926, Byrd and Floyd Bennet attempted a flight over the North Pole. They claimed to have completed the trip but evidence from their diaries has placed doubt on their claim. Even though the made enough money for Byrd to explore the South Pole.In 1928, Byrd began his expedition in Antarctica. A base camp was setup on the Ross Ice Shelf. Scientific expeditions by dog-sled, snowmobile and airplane began. Photographic expeditions and geological surveys were done during summer. After the first winter, expeditions resumed and on November 29, 1929 the flight to the South Pole was launched.USS Preble approaches Richard E. Byrd during reple...Byrd flew the Fl oyd Bennet to the South Pole and back in 18 hours and 41 minutes. After further exploration, the expedition returned to America on June 18, 1930.Byrd went on three more expeditions to the South Pole from 1933-1935 and 1930-1941, taking part in Operation High Jump from 1946-1947, the largest Antarctic expedition to date. Byrd also commanded Operation Deep Freeze which made permanent Antarctic bases at Mc Murdo Sound, the Bay of Wales and the South Pole in 1955.Richard Byrd died on March 12, 1957. He had got twenty-two awards and special awards, nine of them were for bravery and two for heroism for saving the lives of others. He also earned the Medal of Honour, the Navy Cross, the Congressional Life Saving Medal, the Distinguished Service Medal and the Flying Cross.

The Changing Uses of Freak

The Changing Uses of Freak The Changing Uses of Freak The Changing Uses of Freak By Maeve Maddox As a noun, freak is documented from the 1560s with the meaning sudden turn of mind: The king, in a freak of anger, ordered the generals execution. From meaning a sudden turn of mind, freak came to mean a trick or a prank: The boy was expelled for some boyish freak. By the 18th century, freak could mean something extremely imaginative. The 1785 citation in the OED refers to a wonderful ice-palace as a freak. The expression freak of nature gained currency in the 19th century. From that phrase derives freak in the sense of something that has developed abnormally, like a two-headed calf. In modern informal speech, freak is used with a qualifying word to label someone as being extremely committed to something: health freak control freak Jesus freak vegan freak The earliest example of this formation is from 1908: camera buffs were called kodak freaks. Freak is also used as a verb: to freak out: (occas. without out): to undergo an intense emotional experience, to become stimulated, to rave, esp. under the influence of hallucinatory drugs. Also trans., to cause (a person) to be aroused or stimulated in such a way. (OED) The verb has in turn spawned the noun freak-out (also spelled without the hyphen): Horse had a freak out in the trailer and cut hocks. Freak has two adjective forms, freakish (1653) and freaky (1824). The highway official being quoted in a news story about the narrow escape of a motorist when a second lane marker came loose from the road must have been too rattled to think of either of these adjectives: this is just another freak accident, even freaker than before Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:50 Redundant Phrases to AvoidHow to Pronounce MobileList of 50 Compliments and Nice Things to Say!

5 Sentence-Folding Fixes

5 Sentence-Folding Fixes 5 Sentence-Folding Fixes 5 Sentence-Folding Fixes By Mark Nichol Does your last piece of writing feel flat, static, repetitive? Is a soporific sentence rhythm dulling your edge? Combining sentences is an easy solution for making your prose flow more smoothly and briskly. 1. â€Å"The logging practices of the time were extraordinarily wasteful. They involved cutting and then burning in order to clear the logged area of limbs and other forest debris.† The second sentence neatly folds into the first between the subject and the verb: â€Å"The logging practices of the time, which involved cutting and then burning in order to clear the logged area of limbs and other forest debris, were extraordinarily wasteful.† 2. â€Å"Smith completed his report in September 1950. It represented five years of work.† The second, shorter sentence here is easily folded into the first, but how it should be done depends on the emphasis. If the duration of the project should be emphasized, then work the completion date into a parenthetical phrase: â€Å"Smith’s report, completed in September 1950, represented five years of work.† If the completion date is more important, parenthesize the project duration: â€Å"Smith’s report, representing five years of work, was completed in September 1950.† In either case, reserve the more important information for the end of the sentence. 3. â€Å"The book’s author, Jane Smith, was a well-established, award-winning author. Jones and his advisers tried hard but failed to keep the book from being published.† The information about Smith, which follows a first reference to the book in question, is the kind of detail that is important but does not merit a separate sentence. However, if the preceding sentence is already complex (as was the case here), work it parenthetically into the next reference to the book: â€Å"Jones and his advisers tried hard but failed to keep the book, written by Jane Smith, a well-established, award-winning author, from being published.† (This is a natural fit, because the author’s status likely had some impact on the failure to suppress the book’s publication.) The sentence could be further compressed by inserting the writer’s qualities before her name, rather than after it: â€Å"Jones and his advisers tried hard but failed to keep the book, written by well-established, award-winning author Jane Smith, from being published.† 4. â€Å"They needed $40,000 to qualify their bid proposal. To raise that amount, they wrote to people who had visited the area.† The combine these sentences, simply replace â€Å"that amount,† the second reference to the monetary figure, with the first reference, and adjust the syntax of the first statement: â€Å"To raise the $40,000 they needed to qualify their bid proposal, they wrote to people who had visited the area.† 5. â€Å"The new bill was 157 pages long and described 150 projects in more than 200 congressional districts in forty-four states. The total cost was a tidy $1.8 billion.† Forms of the lifeless verb â€Å"to be† (is, was, were, and so on) serve as red flags marking sentences that merit revision. The classic fix for the two-sentence template â€Å"This was that. This was that.† follows: Replace the first â€Å"to be† verb with a comma, and change the form of the second verb and replace the period with another comma; these actions convert what follows was in the first sentence into a parenthetical phrase. Then, jettison the first two words of the second sentence and the second â€Å"to be† verb, which transforms cost from a noun to a verb: â€Å"The new bill, 157 pages long and describing 150 projects in more than 200 congressional districts in forty-four states, cost a tidy $1.8 billion.† Find more examples of how to combine sentences in this post. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Style category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:10 Grammar Mistakes You Should AvoidHow to Play HQ Words: Cheats, Tips and TricksWhile vs. Whilst

Political Economy of Canada from various Perspectives Essay

Political Economy of Canada from various Perspectives - Essay Example This paper seeks to explore the various works of various authors in regard to their contribution to the effective political processes and economic emancipation in the country for the good of the common man. Canadian economy in few hands â€Å"The Trouble with Billionaires† seeks to explore the manner in which the Canadian traditions, the various government agencies, and the country’s economic sector has handed a few opportunistic individuals the opportunity to accumulate colossal amount wealth and influence to the detriment of the mainstream population, who continue to live without adequate resources. The author makes a persuasive account that economic disparity tops the list of the gravest challenges facing Canada1. This serious affects the social wellbeing of the common man in the country by offering the wealthier a direct ticket to prosperity and dominance. The poor have nothing to celebrate as they are forced to toil, but take home peanuts. Canada follows US aggress ive foreign policy This literary work indicates that as the United States adopted a militaristic attitude under former President George Bush, the Canadian political system took cue and acted in a similar way. As a result, the country strayed away from its usual role peacekeeping qualities, and instead espoused a tougher foreign policy stance, with military intervention taking center-stage. The country took a more active role in Afghanistan, helping the United States to fight terrorist suspects in the Middle East. The government has also strayed away from its previous middle-ground stance on key international disputes, especially in the Middle East region2. Further, Ottawa has joined its superior neighbor, the United States in spearheading obstructionist efforts across the world to stem the global problem of climate change. Canadian capitalism This book provides precise evaluation capitalism in Canada. The writers explore the impact of the fundamental tenets of the system to Canadian government, and punching holes in the system by highlighting its significant failures. The literature offers an account of the current political and economic growth, the amount of wealth in private hands, and the austerity measures implemented by the government to reduce the economic slump in the country. This comes in the wake of political pluralism in Canada. McBride and Whiteside conclude that, even though since 1980, when neoliberal practices formed the basis of government policies in the country, the political economy weathered recurrent economic crises3. This is manifest in policies meant to elimination of the welfare state, the empowerment of the private sector and the input of the state on economic issues and liberalized market has led the country to political and economic prosperity. Participation of Canada in the WTO This book is the first of it kind in terms of looking into the link between the World Trade Organization's (WTO) and Canada, regarding the search for politic al economy solutions in the global context. Froese goes ahead by analyzing the veracity of these objectives through various dispute resolution case studies involving various goods. These include; softwood lumber, Bombardier regional jets, the Canadian Wheat Board and Canadian pharmaceutical patents, and split-run publications4. In light of this, the author manages to provide details of how the international resolutions impact Canadian policies, industrial sector, and the job market.

EXPLORING ACCESS AND MOBILITY IN BUILT ENVIRONMENT Essay

EXPLORING ACCESS AND MOBILITY IN BUILT ENVIRONMENT - Essay Example On the other hand, permits should be issued to operators with genuine need to drive on walkways. The campus pedestrain system needs to be adjusted so that the functional image that the university wishes as a pedestrian-oreinted campus. This system will assist the campus a great deal. The plan establishes the college grounds elements, including the major parking lots that produce the highest level of pedestrian traffic on an everday basis. These places of highest utilization are connected to a key walkway system that features adeqautely broad primary walks. On the other hand, areas with the lowest rates of pedestrian traffic must be linked through tertiary walks. These tertiary walks will serve low traffic demand, offer essential links between building, open spaces, parking, service areas. The lack of shared-used paths also hampers access and mobility for students who come to campus with bicycles. These shared use passageways will accommodate both bicycles and pedestrains. They also w ill serve as key transportation corridors and offer an optional to on-road facilities for less skilled cyclists within the campus. Patterned post-and chain bollards may be used to regulate pedestrian movement in fields of open lawn, front lawn within the campus. ... Next, disability is a purposeful restriction within a person cuased by physical, mental or sensoroy impairment. While handicap means the restriction or loss of chances to engage in the community on a balanced level with others due to physical or social fronts. Project A.B.L.E also increased my knowledge of dyslexia. Dyslexia cuases undue misery at school and at work. Many adults are hindered at work because they struggle with reading. I also got to learn about cerebral palsy which is a neurologic disorder caused by brain damage, normally sustained during fetal growth or delivery. The seminar, in addition, also expanded my knowledge about the symptoms of attention deficit disorder. Morever, I also learnt that there are three different subtypes of attention deficit disorders, including; combined ADHD characterized with symptoms of both inattentiveness and impulsivity; Inattetive ADHD, which is characterized by impaired attention and focus; Hyperactive-impulsive ADHD.1 Some speakers in the project also talked about the various disabilty rights laws that disabled people are entitled to. The disability rights laws ban any prejudice when it comes to employment. For instance, employees with fifteen or more workers are required to offer persons with disabilities who are competent for a position. This will then promote a spirit of equal opportunity. The mission for equality amid all sphere of social strata level is one essential cause to ensure that everyone is offered an equal opportunity at living life. Per se, this project use of an array of disability awareness strategies is important in teaching others the value of acknowledging people with disabilities as eqauls. Work Cited Melillo, Robert,

Democracy in the Third World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Democracy in the Third World - Essay Example (Tilly, 2007) There are various questions that need to be raised in this context which are as follows: Nationalism is that phenomenon which stems from complete loyalty and love for one's nation. Under the influence of nationalism, a citizen forms his personal sense of identity in context of the broad characterization of the nation. This consequently leads to mass identity along the same lines when like minded persons get together - a phenomenon better described as national identity. Reversibly, the identity of a nation is formed by the sentiments, attitudes and broad cultural assimilation under which its people function. The theories of nationalism and national identity are complementary to each other, and these inspire entire generations. (Tilly, 2007) Two strong factor that influences nationalism is a legacy of colonisation along with the ethnic groups. These factors, when combined provide a series of influences on the culture, historical experience and other such aspects of a nation or a state. This is due to the fact that the effect of colonisation is most seen on the evolution of ethnic groups. This is of special importance when studying a state in a third world country, where ethnic groups and tribes are of paramount importance in the basic structure of the demographics. Third world countries have seen the ravages of colonisation and are still attached to strong ethnic sentiments, in most cases. This makes for a strong context for nationalism. Yet, the character of nationalism and national identity is not enough for the survival of democracy. Democracy requires the strong footing of policy in order to support development so as to maintain a focus on nationalism and not just fighting poverty and hunger. Participants in Public Policy Public policy may be defined as that state of things or action where the public authorities exercise their freedom of choice in order to deal with certain issues. The tools or mechanisms used to deal with these issues are known as public policy. Public policy may also be defined as a set of decisions that are interrelated to one another. These decisions in turn, are taken by political parties, or other individuals involved in social service, with the broad aim of selection of certain goals that will fit into the situation at hand. Public policy may be implements to various aspects of one's public and domestic life, including welfare, health, justice, feminist policies, and interest group conflict, among various others. (Dye, 2001, p. 4 to 7)2 In this context, the participants in the public policy process may be segregated into two categories. The first are the official participants comprising of

Research For Marketing Practitioners Assignment

Research For Marketing Practitioners - Assignment Example About half of the dishes are made up of ethnic dishes, for instance Chinese and Indian, indicating an interest in exotic tastes, but some of the recipes are made up of Continental recipes, such as Italian. Italian ready meals are made up of pasta which has a healthy image and attractive to children and students. The vegetable-based ready meals sector is also growing and attractive to students. This is followed by the fish-based and then the meat-based. Considered health foods are primarily made up of vegetables and fish. The UK has been hailed as the most developed market in Europe when it comes to chilled ready meals. (Dennis and Stringer 2000, p. 14) In 1994, chilled ready meals had a per capita consumption of 1 kg., compared to Germany’s 0.3 kg, France’s 0.2 kg and Spain’s .1 kg. In other words, the potential for chilled ready meals is great in the UK and if this is reflected in Europe, it has great future potential for business venture. (Dennis and Stringer 2 000, p. 14) Pizza sales registered a high growth of 10% during the period 1994-97. Manufacturers wanted to stimulate more demands for pizzas by introducing various flavours and in exploiting consumer’s growing love for exotic tastes. ... Mixed salads with new varieties of leaves have also been introduced to the craving palates of students. Manufacturers have introduced sandwiches, a favorite feature of student snacks. The British Sandwich Association released statistics stating that sandwiches have been hailed as the most popular fast food in the UK. It has a market of ?3.25 billion and fast growing at a rate of 13% annually. Sandwiches have been reported to represent 41% of the fast food sector, while burgers only represent 18%, and fish and chips only represent 12%. Sandwiches are a favorite snacks meal for the British, with the UK having the world’s highest per capita consumption of sandwiches. And this is true for men, women and children. (Dennis and Stringer 2000, p. 15) This paper is a proposal to outline a research programme to test a range of meals amongst the student population in the UK. The client is focusing on selling low value/medium quality product ranges, and is particularly interested in the m arket for consumers on limited incomes.  Ã‚   Their product consists of a range of nutritious, but reasonably priced ready meals – individual and paired servings – and is targeted on the UK student population.  Ã‚   2.0 Research Objective The purpose of this paper is to determine the growing demand of ready meals from the UK student population and to determine what particular dishes they require for snacks, lunch and dinner. For this company to meet its goals, it is essential that the food shall be tested by the students in a specific university which has been identified by the client. The university is a popular institution of higher learning with a very large population and can represent the student population in London. This research will determine

Discuss local, state, federal taxation of a good Essay

Discuss local, state, federal taxation of a good - Essay Example This has produced a corresponding decline in the effectiveness of the tax as a revenue raiser, because the demand for goods has declined. Demand for services has risen, but services have been excluded from the base of taxable items, hence it does not contribute to state revenue. The shift in consumer demand from goods to services may be due to the taxation of goods as opposed to non taxation of services. But Tannenwald (2002) notes that cyclical influences can also shape demand, which may lead to an increase in State revenues. The explanation offered for this phenomenon is that tax consumption is more pro-cyclical than tax preferred consumption. When interest rates are low and the stock market is strong, consumers tend to spend freely on taxed items, which results in a boost to the economy and contributes a greater share of funds to State revenues. But as consumers continue to spend more on taxed goods, the level of savings also goes down because consumer debt keeps increasing. As consumer debt rises to a high level, there is a shift in consumer demand from taxed goods to untaxed services, which results in a contraction of the economy and a decline in the revenues earned by the State.(Tannenwald, 2002). With an increase in outsourcing and the production of goods at cheaper locations, consumers may still prefer to spend on taxed items because the goods overall have become cheaper, so that despite the tax the goods may still be priced at competitive rates (Tannenwald, 2002). Taxes play an important role in the final price of the product, since a higher tax on a particular good will make it less attractive for consumers to purchase, since the price of the good in the marketplace will be higher. In such a case, when the economy is strong, there may be adequate sales of taxed goods but when consumer debt rises and the tax remains high, the shift in consumer demand to services will result in a fall in

Economic development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Economic development - Essay Example However, the lower half of the isoquant is continuous reflecting that the given total output level can be achieved at all combinations of inputs provided 1st world inputs are used lower than a certain level (X2*) and the intensity of using 3rd world inputs is greater than a certain level (X1*). This situation can be interpreted as a depiction of the fact that instead of combining a greater amount of first world inputs which presumably can be interpreted as the magnitude of aid, if a lesser amount of such inputs are used in tandem with relatively higher amounts of 3rd world inputs, the possibility of attaining a certain amount of global output increases. This has a close semblance to Easterly’s idea that instead of providing huge lump sum aids to poorer nations, smaller piecemeal transfers that actually generate incentives for the population in such nations to become efficient in their participations lead to increased national incomes for such nations. For instance, Easterly cites the example of free provision of mosquito nets to prevent malaria in poor nations. He points out that not only does this create a black market for such nets; the nets are diverted into other uses. On the other hand, it is shown that through charging a miniscule amount for providing the nets, proper utilization has been increased thereby implying such low price provisions to be better solutions. He also cites the example of patients fully utilizing doctors’ services in cases they have to pay for them rather than when the services have been provided freely. Therefore, the transfer of any arbitrary amount of aid, financial or in kind actually may not lead to higher incomes, a situation reflected in the dashed segment of the isoquant where these aids, as inputs combined with third world inputs fail to yield any output in the disjoint portions. The better option is thus to use a ‘search’ strategy to locate the amounts of 1st world inputs that combined with a given amounts of 3rd

Discuss local, state, federal taxation of a good Essay

Discuss local, state, federal taxation of a good - Essay Example This has produced a corresponding decline in the effectiveness of the tax as a revenue raiser, because the demand for goods has declined. Demand for services has risen, but services have been excluded from the base of taxable items, hence it does not contribute to state revenue. The shift in consumer demand from goods to services may be due to the taxation of goods as opposed to non taxation of services. But Tannenwald (2002) notes that cyclical influences can also shape demand, which may lead to an increase in State revenues. The explanation offered for this phenomenon is that tax consumption is more pro-cyclical than tax preferred consumption. When interest rates are low and the stock market is strong, consumers tend to spend freely on taxed items, which results in a boost to the economy and contributes a greater share of funds to State revenues. But as consumers continue to spend more on taxed goods, the level of savings also goes down because consumer debt keeps increasing. As consumer debt rises to a high level, there is a shift in consumer demand from taxed goods to untaxed services, which results in a contraction of the economy and a decline in the revenues earned by the State.(Tannenwald, 2002). With an increase in outsourcing and the production of goods at cheaper locations, consumers may still prefer to spend on taxed items because the goods overall have become cheaper, so that despite the tax the goods may still be priced at competitive rates (Tannenwald, 2002). Taxes play an important role in the final price of the product, since a higher tax on a particular good will make it less attractive for consumers to purchase, since the price of the good in the marketplace will be higher. In such a case, when the economy is strong, there may be adequate sales of taxed goods but when consumer debt rises and the tax remains high, the shift in consumer demand to services will result in a fall in

Declining Fish Stocks in Oceans Essay Example for Free

Declining Fish Stocks in Oceans Essay There is an inherent ocean fish stocks decline causing sustainability to be at risk. Specifically, there have been a notable decrease in â€Å"Atlantic cod stock off Newfoundland in 1992 and the poor state of the southern bluefin tuna stocks in the Southern ocean. † (Williams, 2005) This problem on declining fish stocks is a predicament that goes mainly with a growing human population together with many other factors. If the trend continues, where the population constantly grows and the oceans’ size remain the same, the fish population and fish supply can be totally consumed by humans and sustainability would not exist. This means that in the long-run, not only the fish risks of being extinct and depleted but humans as well when there would be lesser food to it. II. Living and Non-Living Organisms Causing the Problem The decline in the fish supply or stocks of fish in the ocean, or in any other bodies of water are brought about by many factors. These factors however, can be both independent or dependent of each other. This means that one factor might lead to another factor and so on. However, as previously mentioned, the first cause is the growing human population. Aside from food consumption in the form of fishing, other ocean activities that are not directly related to fish consumption are nowadays possible and actually ongoing due to growing human existence. These are the activities that disturbs and/or destroys fish habitats in the ocean as well as damaging the ocean itself preventing fishes to multiply or reproduce normally. Following are the factors, both direct and indirect, both dependent and independent that cause a decline in fish stocks in the ocean: a. ) the growing population with growing demand on food consumption; b. ) a greater demand for transferring from traditional small-scale fishing to commercialized large ocean vessel fishing; c. ) a growing move from coastal waters fishing into fishing from international bodies of water; d. ) lack of time for various fish species to hatch and breed due to continuous catching/fishing; e. ) growing human activities both from other bodies of water and in the oceans itself where toxics and pollutants are involved and disturbance of the habitat of the fish in the ocean are caused by these human activities such as ocean floor exploration, oil rigging, etc. ; f. ) Other natural factors such as natural predator-prey process, where the fishes are preys to other ocean organisms coupled by natural calamities and natural causes that result to fishes’ deaths such as global warming, etc. III. Living and Non-Living Organisms Affected by the Problem The reason why humans must be concerned about the declining fish stocks in the ocean is due to the fact that humanity is also at stake when sustainability in fish supplies cannot be attained. The most obvious of these reasons is on food supply. However, the problem does not stop there when and if ever fish supply would be depleted. Other stakeholders affected by the problem on declining fish stocks in the ocean include the environment and the ecosystems themselves and if there would be not enough fish, the balance of life forms in the ocean would be destroyed. As previously mentioned, one problem causes another and in this way, calamities can be expected to happen and it can be said that without fishes and other organisms and when a lot creatures dying in it, a body of water can be a â€Å"dead body of water† or, in case of the oceans, a â€Å"dead ocean†. IV. Positive and/or Negative Human Impacts With a strict judgment, it is difficult to say that a declining fish stock in the ocean will result to any positive effect to humans. Aside from lack of food supply, or difficulty of hunting for fish, the problem leads to expensive fish products and suffering health. Reciprocally, so far humans are only causing negative effects to the ocean and they are the main cause of declining fish stocks in there, be it a direct or indirect cause. With a growing human population, everything happens, from overfishing to water pollution, to water and ocean floor exploration leading to fish habitat destruction or demolition, to other environment balance destruction leading to global warming and other nature abuse or excesses. Global warming affect fish supply because Even though the effect of humans to fish stocks are negative, a move to lessen it in order to attain sustainability in terms of fish supply would improve the current situation. This however, involves a lot of sacrifice and discipline in the part of the humanity but in the long-run, it will be a big benefit as to human existence itself. V. Evaluation of Current Sustainability Strategies and Solutions The overall goal of any current or future sustainability strategies and solutions is, naturally, for sustainable fishing. Sustainable fishing looks at the long-term and overall fishing activity and tries to maintain the stocks of fish wherein the future generation can have their own share in the entire fish supply the ocean and other bodies of water offer. To evaluate the current strategies and solutions geared toward sustainability, it is first important to note some of them. One of the existing strategies is the implemented 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery to be unpredictable whether it would make relaxed enforcement of annual catch limits for each fishery or impose strict limits. (Senate Entwined in Debate, 2006, p. A02) Thus, the total control is on the side of the implementing body which is the government. The public however has the right to criticize it and be vocal if it is too lax in its imposition. Another good strategy in the process is the individual fishing quota (IFQ) system that limit fishing operations by allocating the total allowable catch to participants based on historical catch and fishing effort (Sanchirico Hanna, 2004) In fact, this is a brilliant idea only if implemented strictly. Overall, the existing strategies have noble intentions with them. The only problem is on the implementation side. VI. Plan to Reach Sustainability Since it is easier said than done, a plan is easy to make. It is however, very important to practice what is planned to actually reach sustainability. A mere plan is not enough but the implementation is the most important aspect of attaining the aim of having sustainable fishing. The following plans to reach sustainability may or may not be in existence already. The plan would involve fishing that is not solely reliant from the ocean but as well as in other bodies of water or even inland. This means that fish farms and fish ponds would be developed all throughout every nation. Government promotion and support in each country is very essential in attaining this project. Aside from funding, the governing body of a country/nation as well needs to deal with the existing fishing companies who have already invested much to sail their fishing ships in the depths of the ocean for greater catch and for greater chunks of fishy profits. This also includes providing incentives to those who are dedicated in making the project successful. Setting quotas/limits to ocean fishing large vessels owned by commercial companies would be part of the plan. This would lead to discouragement of excesses in fishing by levying very expensive fines and taxes if the mentioned quotas or limits would be surpassed. Although penalties are on the punitive side of the plan and not on the preventive side, it is still useful to enforce penalties, stricter and harsher ones, to poaching fishing vessels who fish and violates and cross some fishing boundaries in the international context is also part of the plan. Moreover, the plan includes massive public information dissemination as to the future effect if fish supply would be depleted and encouraging the public to boycott any brand or any company that violates the rules on sustainable fishing or any company that pollutes the ocean causing fishes to die or companies that are greatly hindering fishes’ reproduction process. Lastly and more importantly, the public must know that the main stakeholders as to the availability of fish, which is at risk if drastic disciplines on fishing and other ocean activities would not be imposed, are human beings. The general public, or the humanity of this earth must be aware that without fish, it is them that will suffer the most and that educating them to prevent this harsh happening is to make positive actions and be disciplined so that the aim for sustainable fishing would be attained. Moreover, humans should be educated that fish supply depletion means hunger, health crisis and in the long-run, can as well result to human depletion! VII. Benefits and Challenges of the Plan As to the benefits of the plan, there is none unless it is fully implemented. The benefits start to take effect right after such plans are strictly implemented in many countries in the world. This means that right after such implementation, the following may take into view: a. ) a disciplined and sustainable approach to fishing; b. ) an educated and well aware public that helps to the attainment of the goal which is sustainable fishing; c. ) restoration of fish stocks in the ocean for they could start to hatch and breed normally and naturally; d. ) a cleaner and calmer ocean where balance is maintained; e. ) a sustainable fishing is attained; and more importantly f. ) humans would be at ease in terms of fish/food supply with reasonable prices, healthy catch, a continuous supply and fish meals that are life and health supporting. A sustainable human existence starts here as well. Naturally, the plan is not as smooth as anyone can wish it could be. It will be full of challenges and difficulties as to the attainment of its goal. It would be difficult to implement considering the selfishness of humans. Funding would not be easy to find and produce as to the plan of giving incentives to those who make coastal and inland fish farms and ponds. Additionally, each person in the government have their own sets of constituents and more often than not, they are more afraid to hurt the financing constituents such as the owners of large commercial fishing ships and fishing and fish processing companies than to be more concerned about declining fish supplies. Nowadays, profit maximizations seems to be the biggest goal of the majority and very little notice the suffering nature. A plan to have sustainable fishing would be far buried to the current issues that always make their way to be sensational. These include the issues on war and peace processes, terrorism, hunger, scandals, and political issues, among others. Lucky enough when environmental concerns get noticed without something bad, such as calamities happening and hurting a lot of people. Humans are such selfish beings and even though lessons are already sent their way, they still find it difficult to take care of nature, even for their own ends. VIII. Required Government, Societal and Global Support The move to have sustainable fishing would never be successful, or, would not even start without the initiative and leadership of the government. In the first place, any rules and laws regarding fishing starts in the congress or the legislative body. The same is true with the desired implementation of such rules where government bodies are, again, the major role players, such as in the case of coast guards and ocean police. Moreover, the funding starts with the government. Although there might be concerned groups making donations and a lot of volunteering, the main tasks are still laid out in the hands of the government to look for enough funds to encourage the public. The government has also the power to run ads or public notices in various media entities encouraging the public to help reach the goal. The public or the society on the other hand, are required to give their full cooperation when it comes to the success of a certain government projects. Without societies’ support and cooperation, the government cannot make it alone. In this case, the government may offer large amount for developing inland fish ponds but there are times that the public are simply uninterested or simply take the things for granted, receive the funds and do not work for the purpose the fund should be spent at. This can happen when the public is aware that the government is too loose on its policies, too corrupt, too desperate or too helpless. Finally, the global community is the extension of each little society. The same support is required towards their corresponding government but globally, governments of each countries may not agree themselves. In this case, their own cooperation is also required. There are a lot of cases where fishing vessels of another country poaches from the oceans of another territory. Thus, only if selfishness is set aside this plan to have sustainable fishing can be attained. Globally, this would be a great challenge because in many ways, countries are found to be not in agreement with each other especially because fishing on the high seas was a feature of societies long before large areas of the worlds seas were claimed by nation states. (Williams, 2005) In fact wars are happening spending lives when countries disagree with each other. Thus, it would be a great wish to enable each country to unite for the survival of humanity through sustainable agriculture, sustainable development, sustainable fishing and the rest of human activities to be sustainable. Everyone have their own purposes, selfish motives and plans. There is still hope though. This happens when humanity is faced with unforgettable lessons with regards to taking care of nature at their own risks!

Tescos Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM)

Tescos Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) Strategic human resource management bridges business strategy and human resource management and focuses on the integration of HR with the business and its environment. The main rational for strategic HRM thinking is that by integrating HRM with the business strategy employees will be managed more effectively, organizational performance will improve and therefore business success will follow (Holbeche, 1999). Stroh and Caligiuri (1998) suggest that strategic HR departments are future-oriented and operate in a manner consistent with the overall business plan in their organizations. Such departments assess the knowledge, skills and abilities needed for the future and institute staffing, appraisal and evaluation, incentives and compensation, training and development to meet those needs. According to this approach, people are a key resource and a critical element in a firms performance since they build organizational effectiveness (Holbeche, 1999). Now this report will make an attempt to explain the importance of strategic human resource management in organizations and then it will assess the purpose of SHRM and how it contributes to the achievement of Tescos organizational objectives. Tesco is the largest retailer in the UK and the third largest retailer all over the world. Tesco was founded in 1919 by Jack Cohen and became Tesco plc in 1983. It has 4811 stores worldwide and 472,000 employees (Tesco annual report, 2010). Importance of Strategic Human Resource Management Strategic HRM adds value to organizational effectiveness by linking people, strategy, values and performance (Becker et al., 2001).Past research suggests that an organizations employees can be a source for sustained competitive advantage and can determine the ultimate success of their organizations (Pfeffer, 1994; Prahalad, 1983).Given the importance of people in organizations; most strategic human resource departments consider the management of the competencies and capabilities of these human assets the primary goal. SHRM tends to employ progressive human resource practices in which the emphasis is on assessing the knowledge, skills and abilities needed for the future and to institute staffing, appraisal and evaluation, incentive and compensation, and training and development programs to meet those needs (Cascio, 1995). Huselid (1995) refers to these strategic HR practices collectively as high-performance work practices. Burack et al. (1994) suggests several ways that organizations can maintain high commitment and high performance among employees and ultimately organizational effectiveness: by promoting the organizations credibility with employees; encouraging the use of participative management and employee involvement programs; focusing on high achievement, mutual trust and commitment; and developing a combined group/entrepreneurial approach to management, thereby creating an organizational culture in which individual employees are encouraged to be adaptive, competitive and successful. Research by several scholars has shown a close association between these high performance work practices and organizational effectiveness. MacDuffie (1995), for example, found that the presence of integrated strategic HR practices was related to higher productivity and higher quality in automotive assembly plants. Terpstra and Rozell (1993), studying a variety of industries, found that the presence of strategic staffing practices was positively related to an organizations annual profit and its profit growth. Finally, in a study of more than 1,000 organizations, Huselid (1995) found that a relationship existed between high-performance work practices and such positive employee outcomes as lower tumover and higher productivity, as well as better corporate financial performance. Research has also shown that executives company-wide view strategic HR departments as more effective partners in directing their organizations larger business plans (Dyer, 1983). One could conclude, therefore, th at, when an organizations HR strategy is linked to its business strategy, organizational effectiveness should improve (Dyer, 1983; Stroh and Reilly, 1994). Purpose of Strategic Human Resource Management in Tesco One of the key goals of strategic human resource management is to link an organizations business strategy to its human resource strategy (Lundy and Cowling, 1996).Besides, the greater goal of strategic human resources is to support, manage and maintain high-commitment and high-performance employees (Burack et al., 1994). In addition, a strategic HR agenda is likely to have a number of key goals relating to the attraction, development and retention of talent. Further, the enabling of high performance is likely to be a key target for strategic HRM (Holbeche, 1999). However, In spite of economic down turn Tesco is expanding its business and increasing its profit year to year. The key issue behind this is its successful strategic HRM policy. Tesco has a well-established and consistent strategy for growth. The rationale for the strategy is to broaden the scope of the business to enable it to deliver strong, sustainable long-term growth by following customers into large expanding markets at home such as financial services, non-food and telecoms and new markets abroad, initially in Central Europe and Asia and more recently in the United States (Tesco, 2010). To materialize its growth strategy Tesco invests huge amount of money in its people which links its business strategy to HR strategy. Tesco has a five-year people strategy that it continually develops and update. Top management of Tesco asks its people every year whats important to them and they consistently reply the same four things: a manager who helps them, opportunities to get on, an interesting job and to be treated with respect. Tescos whole strategy is focused on how to get better at these (Pinkerfield, 2007). That means Tesco ensures a careful supervision of its employees, offers a good career prospect, provides motivational forces for performance improvement and values its employees. In a nutshell, the purpose of Tescos strategic human resource management is to get the full potential of its employees through its HR strategy for achieving its business growth strategy. 1.3 Evaluation of Tescos Strategic Human Resource Management Strategic HRM has gained both credibility and popularity over the past decade, specifically with respect to its impact on organizational performance (Paauwe Boselie, 2003). As an International organization, Tesco has strategically integrated HR into its overall business plans. Managers have been to utilize aspects of HR in their decision making. This has shown high commitment to HR, attempting to gain acceptance from all employees, and offering to all employees basic and extended training (Beardwell, 2004).Tesco is committed to providing opportunities for people to get on and turn their jobs into careers. Last year it had more people on development programs than ever before. Tesco has continued to develop apprenticeship training in the UK. Tesco believes that even in difficult times it is essential to invest in future talent. Thats why this year, while many other businesses were cutting their graduate schemes, Tesco increased its graduate intake to 810, including 535 in Asia. As a l eading global company, Tesco aims to offer the very best training and development for all its employees. The Tesco Academy helps provide an opportunity to get on for its entire people. It develops thousands of world-class leaders through excellent training in leadership, managemental employee to understand their role and importance within the organization (Tesco, 2010). There is an increased need for a higher value to be placed on employees, and therefore get the best performance from the employees. Tesco views that No-one tries harder for customers and it treats people how they like to be treated. These values are interlinked and underpin everything going on at Tesco. Tesco realizes that by managing people well in a culture of trust and respect they will in turn try their hardest for customers. By offering competitive pay and benefits and an opportunity to develop a long-term varied career with good training, Tesco is able to keep its people motivated, committed and excited about working at Tesco (Tesco, 2010).   By todays standards, supermarkets are labour-intensive businesses, which mean that how they manage, develop and reward staff, really matters (Carrington, 2003).The successful strategic HRM of Tesco is one of the main reasons behind its success. Attracting, retaining and motivating staff is core to Tescos people strategy. One of the key developments in the way supermarkets do business has been the close correlation they now draw between employees and customers. As Clare Chapman, head of Tesco HR, points out, staff loyalty is directly related to customer loyalty. What she says she wants is not the functional loyalty whereby people turn up to work every day, but the emotional loyalty that means they bring their brains in which them. The way to get this she suggests is by constantly reviewing how you reward your staff and by listening to them (Carrington, 2003). From the above discussion of Tescos strategic HRM this report can conclude that the strategic HRM of Tesco plays a significant role in achieving its organizational objectives. In this age of economic down turn Tesco is increasing its customers, expanding its scope worldwide, and increasing its revenue because of mainly having its well-trained, valued and motivated workforce. The people of Tesco build a sustainable reputation for the organization through better customer service which in turn contributes in retaining its market share worldwide. Task 2 2.1 Business Factors that underpin Human Resource Planning at Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company, a global automotive leader based in Dearborn, Michigan-USA, manufactures or distributes automobiles across six continents with about 198,000 employees and about 90 plants worldwide. Now this report will analyze the business factors that underpin the human resource planning at Ford Motor Company. Economic recession Now the world is facing economic downturn. The automotive industry is one of the main sectors to suffer from economic recession. As the financial crisis persist, both credit availability and consumers weakened confidence have contributed to a drastic decline in vehicle sales. So, the demand for vehicle sales goes down. Consequently, Ford Motor Company reduced its employees for reducing overhead cost and improving its balance sheet.So, the HR planning of ford is greatly affectedly by economic recession. Demographic Factors The changing characteristics of workforce or demographic projections have significant implications for managing human resources, thereby increasing the importance of human resource planning. The changing demographics mean there will be fewer entry-level employees, so competition among employers will increase. In addition, the changing demographics signal changes in the abilities, skills, interests, and values of tomorrows work force. From its inception Ford always emphasize on creating a diverse workforce which underpins its HR planning process. Customer preference and technology Consumer demand for more fuel-efficient and cleaner vehicles continues to grow. To accomplish fuel-economy goal, Ford is focused in the near term on implementing the most cost-effective fuel-efficiency technologies across a large volume of vehicles and on introducing new products that offer improved fuel efficiency without compromising style or performance. In 2009, for example, it began implementing the EcoBoost„ ¢ engine, a key technology in its fuel-efficiency strategy that uses gasoline turbocharged direct-injection technology. EcoBoost will deliver up to 20 percent better fuel economy, 15 percent fewer carbon dioxide emissions and superior driving performance compared to larger-displacement engines.  Besides, Ford is continuing to design and introduce advanced technologies that improve fuel efficiency, reduce emissions and lessen dependence on foreign oil (Ford Sustainability, 2008/09). Initiating new technology and new products require multi-skilled human resources wh ich affect the HR Planning of Ford. Growing or declining organization Human resource planning is greatly influenced by whether the organization is growing or declining position. In a growing organization human resource planners just look for needed skills and abilities. But in a declining organization they need to look at the cost associated with employees. During the third quarter of 2008, Ford reduced its salary-related costs by about 15 percent, which included the involuntary layoff of some salaried employees as it faced huge amount of loses at that time because of recession (Ford Sustainability, 2008/09). 2.2 Role of HR in Acquisition Now this report will assess the expansion of Ford Motor Company through acquisition of Land Rover, a British four-wheeler luxury brand, and how HR plays an important role in this expansion. During the end of 19th century the automobile industry was subject to serious macroeconomic pressures. The major trends of global consolidation and fragmenting consumer demand, fuelled by rising incomes and increasing development costs driven by tighter environmental legislation and increasing competition, provided the backcloth for strategic decision-making. Ford wanted to extend its market to include the growing and potentially profitable luxury car sector. The Ford brand itself was, and is, associated with mass-market vehicles rather than luxury vehicles. Its US-based luxury brands, Lincoln and Mercury, do not sell well outside the United States and were associated with an ageing buying population. The option of creating a new brand was rejected on the grounds of cost and the time needed to est ablish a new brand successfully in a highly competitive market (Scheele, 2004). The remaining option was external acquisition of existing luxury brands. In this situation ford acquired Land Rover in 2000 from BMW. Ford initiated a new HR plan for Land Rover to become successful because nine months earlier its then owners, BMW, had made some fairly far-reaching changes in Land Rovers management team. Most of the old directors had been removed and replaced with BMW nominees (Dover, 2004).This exceptional situation cleared the way for the introduction of an entirely new team responsible for integrating the company and enacting the necessary changes. Ford assembled a very strong team of Ford insiders from around the globe, and Bob Dover, from Aston Martin, was sent to run the company. To soften the impact of an international influx of new people and demonstrate opportunity, internal staffs were promoted into senior management roles (Lummis, 2004). Mergers will be more successful if companies have the ability to appoint an implementation team from both traditions who enjoy complementary functional backgrounds capable of enacting necessary change within the right timescale (Krishnan et al., 1997).Besides, it is essential to build a leadership team capable of implementing change and aligning businesses around common values in situations in which people from different national cultural backgrounds can work together (Testa and Morosini, 2001). The integration approach adopted by Ford for the Land Rover acquisition was a hands-on approach. Ford developed a multi-cultural leadership team for land Rover who were able to respond quickly to any macro and micro environmental changes. 2.3 Human Resource Plan for Ford Motor Company There are different types of human resource planning-short-term, intermediate-term and long-term, in different types of organization. Here this report will develop a short-term HRP for Ford Motor Company. Forecasting demand and supply The demand of jobs involves predicting which employees will leave the job and creates vacancies, which jobs will be eliminated and which new jobs will be created. For identifying job demand Ford will collect data about how many jobs created last year and will project it for the planning year. Besides, Ford will receive line managers Predictions about how many and what types of jobs will be eliminated or created in the short term. For supply side, Ford will determine the desired characteristics of employees who fill (or vacate) the jobs of interest. Then the availability of those characteristics in the organizations current work force and in the external labor market must be assessed. The particular characteristics of current and potential employees that is inventoried and tracked by human resource planners. Objectives of HRP at FORD Short-term human resource objectives at Ford include increasing the number of people who are attracted to the organization and apply for jobs (increase the applicant pool); attracting a different mix of applicants (with different skills, in different locations, etc.); improving the qualifications of new hires; increasing the length of time that desirable employees stay with the organization; decreasing the length of time that undesirable employees stay with the organization; and helping current and newly hired employees quickly develop the skills needed by the organization. Recruitment Selection For getting the right people Ford will advertise its requirement through different channels: website, newspaper, employee templates or notice board for internal recruitment. Ford normally practices ethnocentric staffing policy in its international operation. After getting applicants Ford selects the right person through different test: psychological test, personality test, technological skill test, aptitude test, etc.Diversity is the key priority in Fords recruitment planning. Training and Development To get better service from its newly recruited employees Ford will arrange huge range of training and development programs for employees. All employees are encouraged to invest in their own professional development by developing an Individual Development Plan, or IDP, to help them meet current and future goals. Ford will provide a comprehensive range of learning and development resources that align with ONE Ford. These include web-based and classroom training, special projects and task forces, as well as mentoring and coaching to foster functional and technical excellence, encourage teamwork, promote Ford values and enhance its ability to deliver results. Ford has created internal colleges that provide education and training in areas ranging from finance and information technology to product development and marketing. IT will also offer the Salaried Supervisor Institute/Program (SSI) for new or experienced leaders who want to enhance their ONE Ford skills. In conclusion it can be said that Ford Motor Company takes a defensive strategy in their human resource planning as the companys balance sheet was not enough well in last few years due to economic recession. As a result it downsizes its some plants to reduce employee cost and just recruited new people who are highly technically efficient. 2.4 Evaluation of Human Resource Plan The human resource plan of a company can evaluate to identify how well the objectives were achieved. Ford implemented its HRP in its business strategy. Most importantly, it established a number of Employee Resource Groups (ERG) as a part of HRP to support, outreach and develop employees who share ethnicity, race religion, life experiences, disabilities or backgrounds (Ford, 2008/09). In January 2008, it announced One Ford, which aligns its efforts toward a common definition of success. One Ford provides consistent goals and expectations for employees, whether they work in Michigan or Shanghai, with a clear focus on the skills and behaviors must demonstrate to accomplish One Team, One Plan, and One Goal. All members of the global team are held accountable for incorporating One Ford into their daily work (Ford, 2008-09). One Ford is designed to help every employee achieve his or her fullest potential as they work together to move the business forward. Over the last year, it has incorporated One Ford into its people processes, beginning with employee development. It revamped its employee leadership and professional development programs to align with One Ford, providing employees with Web-based and classroom training to foster functional and technical excellence, encourage teamwork, promote Ford values and enhance its ability to deliver results. Fords performance management processes ensure that employee objectives and behaviors align with One Ford. In the current economic environment, it is more important than ever to invest in employees, strengthen their leadership skills and recognize them for delivering results that cultivate success. Consequently, Ford became profitable in 2009 2010 and its successful HRP significantly contribute to this success. 3.1 Purpose of Human Resource Management Policies It is universally acknowledged in the corporate world that HRM policies play a significant role in achieving the objectives of an organization. In this phase the report will analyze the purposes of HRM policies in Nokia telecommunications. With more than 100,000 employees in more than 100 countries, Finnish-based Nokia is the largest maker of mobile telephones in the world.Nokia has achieved 40 percent market share of the global handset market and industry-leading profit margin of 20-25 percent during the transition period of technological change and intense competition and its HRM policies played a pivotal role in this achievement. Motivate and engage employees are the key purposes in Nokias HRM policies.Nokia HRM policies comprises four elements to motivate and engage the employees and maintain his or her satisfaction and well-being at work. They are: The Nokia way and values; Performance-based rewards; Professional and personal growth; and Work-life balance. The Nokia way and values The company emphasizes the importance of: respect treating colleagues with trust and dignity, in order to help to build an open and honest spirit at the workplace, and also respecting customers, business partners, the environment and the community; achievement recognizing and celebrating individual and shared successes; renewal fostering change and development, and having the passion and courage to look for new ideas beyond existing products, services and ways of working; management and leadership creating commitment, passion and inspiration through collaboration and coaching, and ensuring focus and efficiency by setting targets, fulfilling goals and reviewing results; and employee participation encouraging open discussion and debate through, for example, the annual globally conducted Listening to You employee survey, and Ask HR feedback channel on the companys human-resources Intranet, where every employee can comment or ask questions about Nokias people practices and processes, even anonymously, and receive a prompt and openly published response. Performance-based rewards Nokias total-compensation package is tailored to each country and typically consists of elements such as annual base salary, incentives, bonuses, possible participation in equity-plan and other local benefits. Nokias total compensation is based on a pay-for-performance philosophy. Results through consistent performance and proven, relevant competencies are rewarded.Nokia aims to provide a competitive global reward structure that uses international and local market information, but also takes into account the employees overall position and any significant economic influencers. Professional and personal growth Nokia employees are encouraged to create their own development plans, take part in on-the-job learning, and take advantage of the various courses and other learning opportunities available. Through its global network of learning centers, Nokia aims to offer a consistent standard of training and development to all its employees. The Learning Market Place Intranet contains information on all Nokias learning opportunities, including e-learning and classroom training. The company also has a full suite of training programs for new and experienced managers. All Nokia vacancies, with the exception of very senior positions, are advertised internally. Employees are encouraged to improve their competencies through job rotation. Internal job opportunities, the possibility to register on the companys internal candidate pool and other services for job-seeking inside the company are available through the company Intranet. The Nokia performance-management system, named Investing in People (IIP), is closely aligned to the companys strategy and planning processes. It involves formalized discussions between employees and their managers, twice a year. Employees are encouraged to own their IIP, to understand what is expected of them and how their individual achievements support the companys overall strategy. Work-life balance Nokia offers various services, programs and guidelines to support employees efforts to achieve a healthy work-life balance that reflects their changing needs and life situations. The various aspects may alter by country according to local needs, legislation, employment market and common practices. Typically, they include teleworking, mobile working, flexible working hours, sabbaticals, study leave, health-care services and recreational activities (Pollitt, 2004). Finally it can be concluded that Nokias employees are satisfied working at Nokia as they are  respected, reasonably paid, and offered a sustainable career. The purpose of Nokias HRM policies is to value employees and achieve organizational objectives. 3.2 Impact of Regulatory Requirements Human resource policies of Nokia in different countries are influenced by the legal requirements of those countries. Now this report will analyze the impact of regularity requirements in UK on Nokias human resource policies.Nokia-Uk, develops its pay structure according to the Employment Act, 2008 and never pay below minimum wages to any hourly employee. According to Sec 19a (1) of this act, A notice of under-payment must, subject to this section, require the employer to pay a financial penalty specified in the notice to the Secretary of State within the 28 day period. In this case Nokia is trustworthy company to the UK authority. Some of the UK Acts which affect HRM policies of Nokia are mentioned as follows: Human Rights Act 1998: The Human Rights Act 1998 was brought into effect in Nokia.The Act provides among other issues, a right to fair trial and a right to respect family life. It provides for the enjoyment of the rights and freedoms under the European Convention of Human Rights without discrimination on specified grounds, including sex, race, color, language, religion, and national or social origin. According to this act, Nokia offers flexible working hours to its employees, allows paternity and maternity leave, different safety services, study leave, etc. Race Relations Act 1976: This makes both direct and indirect discrimination on the grounds of race, color, nationality (including citizenship) ethnic or national origin unlawful. The law covers people from all racial groups, including white people.Nokia HRM policies strongly discourage any activity relating to racial discrimination. Equal Pay Act 1970: This deals with equal pay and prohibits different pay for men and women doing the same work, work rates as equivalent, or work of equal value.Nokia is always liable to this act and develops its payment structure accordingly. Trade Unions and Labor Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992: This legislation protects employees from discrimination on the grounds of trade union activities or membership, or of non trade union membership.Nokia encourages the voice of trade union as a part of its HRP policies. Employment Relations Act 1999: This Act includes a number of Family Friendly measures and includes legislation to cover the European Parental Leave Directive. The objective of the Parental Leave Directive is to provide a balance between work and home life. The Act provides employees with rights to parental leave, time off work in family emergencies as well as simplifying and improving maternity rights. In the previous section, HRM policies of Nokia have been covered and from the analysis of different regulatory requirements it can be concluded that a number of HRM policies of Nokia in UK has been derived from these regulatory acts and legal environment. Task 3 4.1 Impact of Organizational Structure on Human Resource Management Organizational structure means three things: the formal division of the organization into sub-units (horizontal differentiation), the location of decision-making responsibilities within that structure (vertical differentiation) and the establishment of integrating mechanisms (Hill, 2005). Organizational structure affects significantly on HRM of different organizations. Now this report will analyze the organizational structure of Unilever and its impact on HRM. Unilever is one of the worlds oldest multinational corporations with extensive product offerings in the food, detergent and personal care businesses. In 1996, Unilever introduced a new structure based on regional business groups instead of a decentralized structure. Within each business group are a number of divisions, each focusing on a specific category of products. Thus, within the European business group is a division focusing on detergents, another on ice cream and frozen foods and so on. These groups and divisions have been given the responsibility for coordinating the activities of national subsidiaries within their region to drive down costs and speed up the process of developing and introducing new products. The regional or divisional structure of Unilever has enabled the company to develop specialized workforce. Because of specialization Unilever offers handsome pay structure to the employees. For developing specialized skilled workforce Unilever develops a succession planning. Each division of Unilever has got autonomy and divisional manager reports to the regional manager. It allows the regional manager to analyze the performance of divisional managers and employees. As each group works as a team, there exists a good relationship among management and employees and ultimately employees are offered flexible working hours, different health and safety scheme, etc. 4.2 Impact of Organizational Culture on Human Resource Management Organizational culture is the norms and value systems that are shared among the employees of an organization. Just as societies have cultures, so do organizations (Hill, 2005). Unilevers success has been based on mainly high levels of employee productivity and product quality. The company attributes its productivity to a strong organizational culture and an incentive scheme based on performance.Unilever always practices a participative management culture where employees are encouraged in decision making process. There is an open door HR policy between workers and managers which boost employee morale and performance.Unilever believes that any gains in productivity should be shared with employees in the form of higher pay. In Unilever, production workers have been awarded a semiannual bonus based on an employees level and quality of product. That means the organizational culture of Unilever shapes its payment and reward structure. All the employees are considered equally to the company irrespective of gender