Work Cell Simulation

Robots are a major part of automation technology. Application of this technology depends on how robots are located and used in work cells. Feature-based work cell simulation software is perfect for these applications, because it provides an interactive and accurate virtual view of a fully combined robotic work cells that can be modeled and assessed for low cost and reliable solutions.Designers can use the software to model a work cell by acquiring a group of components, such as robots, conveyors, workbenches, and end-effectors, etc. , from built-in databases. The software allows users to study work cell performance, optimize work cell configuration, and debug the process layout. Major automotive companies, such as Chrysler, Ford and GM, are utilizing the work cell simulation software including Cimstation, Workforce and Deneb for automation clarifications.The biggest upside to using the work cell simulation software is that an optimal solution for the work cell design in involved. For the first time there is a reality without having to have the tangible model of parts, robots, jigs, and fixtures. As any alterations are made to the parts, the procedure of involving the changes into simulation is minuscule compared to the process of reconstructing a physical work cell. Work cell simulation technology allows an important bridge between the design and manufacturing technologies.Work cell simulation software has either input data translators, like IGES, which stands for Initial Graphical Exchange Specification, or direct translators for the primary engineering-based CAD software packages. These translators let designers to bring in the file of a part to be worked from a CAD program for fast work cell design. Device models are the main elements that complement a robotic work cell model. Device models are assembled by an assembly of three dimensional part models with assigned coordinate systems.Device models, such as robots and like equipment, can be brought from the s tandard model libraries. Devices that aren’t found in the library, such as jigs and fixtures, can be drawn up as a group of parts on the built-in CAD system or brought in from a CAD system for the work cell layout. With accurate device models, designers can specify robot operational requirements with the option and number of robots and their location in the work cell. Work cell simulation software is also has the capability to evaluate the layout of a work cell.The main function is to maximize the critical production element, such as robot placement, robot automation, cycle time analysis, and to avoid collision. When work cell model has been finished, the calculated positions needed for a device to move in the virtual work cell can be drawn up as three-dimensional points. All point can be created individually, and then brought to a surface, edge or vertex in the work cell model. With the option of choosing these points, it is possible for designers to design a model that has defined inverse movement to any point.The point is that if the motion of a device, such as a robot, can be created graphically by positioning points on the work piece, the software can basically simplify the programming by automatically generating programs from the graphical data of these points. The robot motion paths can also be tested and interactively edited through the built-in program editor if any potential collision is detected. By merging the realistic data from both product and work cell, users can no longer base assumptions on oversimplified work cell models.Instead, users can be confident that the robot will be able to reach all of the desired locations and perform specific operations. The completion of both work cell design and evaluation, the manufacturing process to be carried out by the automated factory floor devices can be accurately repeated once the program is downloaded to the controllers. Existing programs can also be uploaded for evaluation and editing. The gr eatest advantage of incorporating work cell simulation technologies into the product and process development is that it eliminates the guesswork from a concept.To realize this advantage, a procedure needs to be developed in order to realize errors, evaluate alternatives, and make modifications quickly in a product development path. Many companies have been forced to reevaluate their approach to product and process development. Although they have increased their investment, very few succeed in fully combining the two areas. With the break troughs of work cell simulation technologies, the complexity of the involvement of product and process development can be drastically reduced.For manufacturers, work cell simulation technologies must become the norm of the basic design phase, so the hidden cost of part and process reworks can be eliminated. Industrial technology professionals, who assume responsibilities in product design, production processes, product and process improvement, or ev en management, must continue to play a greater role in how things are done. Adopting and bring in the most current technologies to achieve the effective combination of product and process development must then be one of the priorities of industrial technology professionals.

Erikson’s Timeline Essay

Erikson’s Timeline Erik Erikson’s approach to personality development is different from Jane Loevinger’s theory. Although their approaches are different their perspectives corresponds in how human individuality develop across the lifespan. Loevingers theory brings attention to how people perceive their experiences and make sense of them; whereas, Erikson’s psychosocial development is focused more on the â€Å"what† instead of the â€Å"how. † He questions what types of psychosocial dilemmas a person confronts in his or her lifetime. Erikson proposes that important facets of human individuality are best understood in developmental time. Adolescence and young adulthood is the fifth stage in Erikson’s developmental design. This stage of identity versus role confusion is a period of immense questioning. Generativity versus stagnation is the seventh stage in Erikson’s developmental design. It is the period that comes after young adulthood but before the â€Å"senior† years (McAdams, 2006). One important characteristics of Generativity versus stagnation is the need to care for and be needed by others. I am experiencing this stage. Other characteristics of generative expression are bringing up children with good character and integrity, and the need to pass on family values to the next generation (McAdams, 2006). How I can leave a legacy for succeeding generations is the central questionposed during this period in my life. â€Å"How can I fashion a gift†? (McAdams, 2006, p. 348). I have sought to answer that question in several ways. I have been keeping a journal for the past 10 years because I want to share significant peak experiences with my children, grandchildren, and succeeding generations. I want them to know my challenges, my successes, and my insights into major life events. Further, I can continue the legacy my parents and grandparents passed down to me by teaching my offspring how to make quilts, my grandmother’s favorite pie, and quote my father’s favorite poems. My son, David is in the adolescence and young adult stage. He is a young father of a 16 month old boy. The psychosocial issue of this stage is identity versus role confusion. This stage is characterized by questioning â€Å"who am I† and â€Å"how do I fit in this adult world† Additionally, David is questioning â€Å"what type of parent am I† and, â€Å"how will I raise my son. †He is questioning the values and beliefs taught to him during childhood. David’s desire to express his unique â€Å"self† seems to be in conflict with his desire to conform to what his family, and society in general expects of him (McAdams, 2006). David recently informed his father and me that he will not â€Å"force† his son to go to church or be a part of organized religion. He expressed his displeasure with hypocritical leadership in churches and the old-fashioned principles they teach. Although his young family does not attend church, I have observed David reading his son bible stories and singing biblical songs to his son that we taught him. He seems to be resolving his conflict by deciding which values and traditions he will relinquish and which ones he will pass on to his son. In Erik Erikson’s Generativity versus stagnation stage adults feel the need to be needed and the need to care for others.

Working with Others Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Working with Others - Essay Example As I progressed, another strategy I used was to be supportive. I ensured that I offer support to those who are in need of help. My exhibition of generosity helped me develop a number of important relationships at work. Another vital point in my work was that I adopted the habit of speaking positively about others. The benefit was that as I spoke about others in a positive way, others who heard me counted me as a good personality. As a result, I have found that the number of people who were ready to help me increases day by day. Another important strategy in building positive relationships at work was to present my skills and knowledge in front of others. I ensured that I exhibit my skills and proficiency in all the office meetings. It became clear that as I presented things in an interesting way, all my colleagues were happy listening to me and appreciating me. Thus, I learnt the fact that showing my abilities is very necessary to make other people approach me. In addition, I ensured that I encourage collaboration. For that purpose, I invited others to share my works and offered them to share their works. This way I ensure that other people around me are felt valued. Moreover, I have to mention here that I ensure that I keep the people around me happy through adopting a pleasing personality and a sense of humour. Furthermore, it is my strategy to behave in a polite way to everyone in the organisation. I ensure that a degree of politeness is kept while interacting with everyone from any position.

Ethical considerations on intentional abortions research in United Paper

Ethical considerations on intentional abortions in United States - Research Paper Example   From a human female point of view, the research questions will be framed in a neutral way to avoid biased questions. Neutral questions will attract genuine answers. Moreover, the questionnaire will not require respondents to disclose their identities and this ensures confidentiality of the research. The reason is that women have different views on intentional abortion depending on the society they live in and their personal beliefs. The personal beliefs may be driven by their religious affiliations. For illustration, a Christian point of view towards life is that no one should kill as stipulated in Exodus 20:12. Other women’s view on intentional termination views it as necessary in order to safeguard them from painful experiences that pregnancy sometimes brings along, disruption of education and employment. Other considerations are lack of support from the father and other reasons such as an inability to provide for the existing children. The above reasons are some of the ethical issues that women advance to have an intentional abortion. The moral Question with regard to whether abortion is the only way of family planning intentional abortions then arises. The research will also endeavor to frame questions in a neutral manner to avoid pro-choice and pro-life bias. Prochoice movement holds the view that the woman should be left with the choice of choosing whether to terminate or to retain the pregnancy. Unsafe abortions result in severe consequences such as infertility, injury, infections, and even death.   

Self-Efficacy Tools in the Management of Diabetes Mellitus Assignment

Self-Efficacy Tools in the Management of Diabetes Mellitus - Assignment Example In Type 1 diabetes mellitus there is an autoimmune destruction of the pancreatic beta cells and insulin is not synthesized in adequate amounts. While in case of Type II diabetes mellitus, the liberated insulin fails to act due to dysfunction of insulin receptor and hence GLUT 4 transporters are not upregulated in the cell membrane from the cytoplasm. Under this condition, glucose cannot enter the cells and cannot be used a source of energy, which leads to the breakdown of alternate sources like protein and fats in the cells. Further increased blood glucose creates an increased osmotic gradient and diuresis occur in the renal tubules and patient offer suffers from hypovolemic shock (Albisser et al., 2001) (Spellman, 2009). Although various factors both external and internal contribute to the increased levels of blood glucose in the body, it has been widely accepted that proper self-care and lifestyle modifications to alleviate the complications of both Types I or Type II diabetes mell itus(Albisser et al., 2001) (Spellman, 2009). Psychosocial factors like depression and emotional issues have been correlated with self-care behaviors and have shown to negatively impact the glycemic control. Studies have also reflected the associations between the emotional condition and self-care behaviors that negatively impact HB1Ac levels (Cohen, Shmukler, Ullman, Rivera & Walker, 2010). The associations between the self-care activities and diabetic control are measured by regression equations which predict the value of one variable from the value of another and also the way one variable impacts another variable positively or negatively (Michelis et al., 2010). With these guiding principles, a group of community clinicians noted an increase in the prevalence of hyperglycemia and other complications of diabetes mellitus.  

Training Module Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Training Module - Essay Example It will be part of their work duties. The training will teach the workers how to maintain a healthy lifestyle outside of the workplace to foster a better performance inside the workplace. The purpose of conducting this training is partially to reduce drama in the workplace. Many people come into the workplace with lots of drama issues surrounding their personal lives, which is not acceptable in the workplace. Relationships are important, but details about private relationships should be kept just that—private. People who are working with other workers do not want to hear their co-workers talk about how much someone had to drink the night before, their problems with their significant other or others, and who is sleeping with whom. It’s quite unprofessional and does not reflect the kind of worker that the company wishes to employ. Workers who do not abide by the work/life balance training will be considered for termination or face some kind of penalties. This work/life balance training module has several objectives. One of the objectives is getting employees to â€Å"prioritize† tasks in their lives so that their lives will be more efficient, and thus make them better workers.1 People who prioritize their tasks appropriately are more able to complete their work tasks with more efficiency. Another objective will be to make sure that employees complete their tasks by the stated deadlines. Two other objectives (which now total four) include having employees develop respect for themselves as well as others by being polite and extending various social courtesies and graces. While many people believe this could be a sort of morality training, it is basically training to help balance life at work and at home. The main issue that will be dealt with in meeting the goals or objectives is to try to stop workers from bringing home life drama into the workplace and to realize that there is a difference between

Athletes and their Impacts on Endorsement of Sportswear Literature review

Athletes and their Impacts on Endorsement of Sportswear - Literature review Example Others include prominent businessmen and politicians. Apart from their careers and appearances in events, celebrities act as spokesmen for different brands in their promotion (Kambitsis et al. 2002, p. 160). This paper will analyze the effect of celebrity (athlete) endorsements in sportswear marketing on the consumer's perception of the product and overall purchasing decision. â€Å"A celebrity endorser is a person who is known by the public for his or her achievements in areas other than that of the product class he or she is endorsing† (Friedman & Friedman 1979, p. 63). This is one of the forms of celebrities that are use by companies in order to promote their products. The reason for use of celebrities is engrained in the influence that they command be it on a national or international stage. Sportsmen and women in particular have been utilized for promotion of a wide range of products most of which include sportswear and energy drinks. Athletes compared to ordinary people have a higher chance of commanding attention. Solomon (2002, p. 50) asserts that the perception that consumers get from brands being endorsed by celebrities is that they are interesting. This is also accompanied by a feeling of connection and positivity with the brands. There is a guarantee that the use of celebrities in promotional ventures will elicit a positive attitude towards the brands and in turn will affect the intentions to purchase. The main reason why people advertise is to persuade customers to buy their products. The whole purpose is pegged on the capability of the producers to alter the attitudes of the consumers. As persuasion is the pillar of this process, credibility in advertisements must be projected for the brand to receive the necessary attention. Athletes especially project trustworthiness, persuasiveness, expertise and objectiveness when used in advertisements (Till & Shimp 1998, p. 72). The customers are also attracted to the brands due to the attractiveness of the personality who is its spokesperson. The attractiveness is classified according to the person?s physical appearance, the relation that can be drawn with the consumer, likeability and the personality. Although the use of athletes is reliant on their skills, some of them are utilized because of their physical appearance that is not so much on the physical attractiveness but on the physique. Ohanian (1991, p. 52) asserts that the use of attractive celebrities as spokespeople is more effective than the use of others who are not as attractive. A halo effect is assumed where the excellence of a person in one direction is associated with excellence in another. An example is that the physical attractiveness of a person being related to coolness or happiness. There is an interaction between the brand and the spokesperson endorsing it. Friedman and Friedman (1979, p. 60) assert that â€Å"a famous relative to a ‘normal’ spokesperson is more effective for products high in psychological or social risk, involving such elements as good taste, self-image, and opinion of others.† There are numerous studies that have been done with the aim of examining the effectiveness that celebrities have as brand spokespeople. Martin (1996, p. 32) conducted such a study that there are those endorsements that performed exemplarily whereas others miserably failed. Michael Jordan’

PPD3 Career Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

PPD3 Career Management - Essay Example The second behavioral characteristics depicts a higher consciousness over liking and my personality is displayed as being more authentic and vigilant rather than relying on personal senses over definite vital matters. The third behavioral characteristic that I possess includes modest reasoning over sentiments. This aspect depicts my considerate nature on decision making rather than concentrating on my deeds to straightforward attitudes and self-made perspective. The SHL capability field demonstrates few areas where I have anticipated suitability while the others show major flaws. Decision making, conceptualization and managing are my major flaws areas. To sum up, I need to succeed in the information technology area as I have shown an average score. Despite of being capable of satisfying few applications in IT, I require to show excellence in these areas. I require a great performance scope in this practical field (Wanberg, Kanfer and Banas, 2000). I believe that it is increasingly important to possess certain skills that will help me to get a better job, to accomplish something and to open new horizons which will add to my professional abilities (Sturges, Conway, Guest and Liefooghe, 2005). I have obtained my personal skills from my knowledge, experience and communication. The table below depicts my skills audit results. It shows that I have strong communication skills including listening skills, presentation skills and feedback skills. I also have innovative problem solving skills such as describing an analytical problem, realising reasons of a problem and develop creative option to solve such problems. To sum up, it can be stated that many new technological developments have transformed the personal knowledge management. The personal and professional audit depicts the possibilities of a person and also the equivalent perspectives. Many jobs that offer us the right experience for

Consultancy Report Essay Example for Free

Consultancy Report Essay As a subsidiary of one of the largest cosmetics organizations in the world, you are in a position to dramatically increase your potential and further capitalize on your brands recognition. My hope is that you will establish and maintain a broader, more diverse customer base and increase your overall profitability. Based on an in-depth analysis and research conducted on your organizations behalf, I have identified several problematic areas in need of immediate attention. The following document will serve to provide valuable information to address these issues accordingly. One such issue and perhaps one of the most crucial is that of the organization’s brand awareness levels in the United Kingdom. This is due in part to the fact that Mary Kay U.K. is not as widely recognized in the United Kingdom as it is in the Americas. I recommend increasing your presence to reach potential customers who would otherwise be unaware of your organization. We will seek to address the significant growth of new potential competitors while developing a means of competing effectively against already established competitors. You will learn of new methods in which to remain relevant and a viable global contender in the cosmetics industry. New products will serve to provide your organization with a competitive edge and differentiate your organization from all its competitors. New policies and changes in the organization’s infrastructure will increase employee satisfaction an important factor for employee retention. These enhancements to the organization’s current dealings can ultimately increase profitability, improve customer satisfaction levels, and increase employee productivity. As Mary Kay U.K. adopts these changes and once in effect, there will be a need to take on additional employees to tend to the day-to-day operations and supplementary qualified/experienced executive-level professionals, allowing for a more focused approach on the management aspects of the organization. Effective documentation of the organization’s financials will allow for more educated and informed decision-making procedures. Adequate fiscal records serve as effective management tool for predicting future success, identify problem areas and to make decisions that will assist in the organization’s overall effectiveness. In addition to significantly changing the inner workings of the organization in the United Kingdom, substantial changes to the organizations image and frontend interfaces may be required to assist with the issue of brand awareness. The organization must become a well-oiled machine internally as well as an aesthetically pleasing entity for potential customers, future investors and for those considering strategic business alliances. Creating a more convivial atmosphere with which your organization would then be associated will give these interested parties a respectable first impression. It is apparent that lacking presentation and unfocused management gives rise to the decrease or stagnation of profitability and employee retention. Changes to policy, organizational image, and infrastructure will not only prove beneficial but may in fact be necessary for the success of the organization and its future viability within the United Kingdom. In addition, there must be changes in customer behavior to increase the probability of the organization’s adoption. The organization needs to appeal to a broader customer base after shifting consumer views of cosmetics to match that of American consumers. Thus, by implementing novel, eye-catching, and feeling invoking imagery or advertisements, people will in turn be more inclined to purchase Mary Kay products. In order to be more successful, I recommend the transformation of current marketing strategies. Implementation of a marketing plan that encompasses the arguably successful word-of-mouth strategy in addition to overt and persistent adverts by way of social media will benefit the organization’s image. Because a constant stream of information pertaining to the actual products will allow the consumer to easily recall the information and develop a need for the product as presented by the advertisement. In addition, there must be a vested interest in appealing to the variety of potential consumers within the United Kingdom. Mary Kay U.K. would be wise to capitalize on United Kingdom’s ever-growing and diverse population, via the translation and representation of the multitude of languages spoken within the target areas of operation. This will allow for a more comfortable customer experience and personalized identification with the Mary Kay brand. Brand Awareness is at an all-time low as target populations fail to recognize the Mary Kay Brand. The organization must increase its visibility in the growing cosmetics market in the United Kingdom. This is possible with improved advertising and re-imagined brand association. Increased brand recognition will assist with declining profits. The proposals presented in this consultancy report, should Mary Kay U.K. opt to adopt them will serve to promote the organization’s business aptitude and increase overall profitability and effectiveness. My hope is that this educated and informed counsel will effectively navigate the organization into a state of increased viability and the optimization and growth of Mary Kay U.K. business operations and clientele. INTRODUCTION This consultancy report will serve to provide the Mary Kay U.K. Ltd. Subsidiary of Mary Kay Cosmetics with informed suggestions to increase the organization’s revenues and improving the day-to-day dealings of the organization from a management perspective. Following extensive research of the organization’s operations, I have prepared a comprehensive examination of the organization in its entirety. This research has been comprised of a thorough analysis of the organization’s fiscal and promotion facets. This report also takes into account the consumer aspect of the organization, and the organizations image as viewed by the public. In addition, it will serve to demonstrate the manner in which the target audience does or fails to accept this image. Crucial organizational issues have been identified and addressed accordingly, supplemented with recommendations for minimizing or eliminating potentially negative effects. These suggestions may prove insightful for the achievement of further profitability and consumer satisfaction should the organization choose to implement any or all of the changes proposed in this report. The information provided in this report comes via thorough research and analytical dismantling of data and industry trends and its reassembling in the form of a well-formulated business plan. Suggestions provided will seek to address Mary Kay U.K.’s organizational structure, the organization’s inclination to incorporate a corporate social responsibility element, consumer satisfaction, employee turn-over rates, decreasing or non-existent profits, brand recognition and awareness among target consumers and product quality, to name the most imperative of organization’s issues. In all, if implemented, these changes could ensure a significant turnaround for the Mary Kay U.K. entity. Numbers will rise to the status of or potentially rival those of its American contemporary. The organization would hold a strong position before its global competitors and open the door for future business strategic affiliations. The organizational redesign will prove beneficial for Mary Kay’s United Kingdom division as an organization, for the consumers now receiving increased quality services, and for the leveling of the cosmetics industry in the United Kingdom. ANALYSIS OF CLIENT BUSINESS Company Description and History Mary Kay Inc. is one of the largest cosmetics companies in the world to date. Headquartered in Addison, Texas at 16251 Dallas Parkway Addison, TX 75001 in the United States, it has manufacturing plants located in Dallas, Texas, Hangzhou, China and La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland for its European market. Mary Kay Inc. operates as a subsidiary of Mary Kay Holding Corporation. Founded by Mary Kay Ash in 1963 and based on personally established values that guided her everyday life she sought to help women live the life of their dreams. Company values include integrity, honesty and a belief in the Golden Rule; â€Å"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.† The mission, to assist and provide the vehicle that would allow prospective independent beauty consultants to have their respective dreams come true via the distribution, promotion, and retailing of a handful of products. Mary Kay Inc. identifies itself as a â€Å"Generation Everything† organization, meaning it serves everyone from all walks of life and of all ages. The organization recently posted that its revenues are up to 3 billion due to sales in its 35 + markets globally. All made possible by its 25 million global independent sales force.

Religion in Ancient China Essay Example for Free

Religion in Ancient China Essay The earliest information found about religion in ancient China is during the Shang Dynasty and so religion in the Xia dynasty remains unknown. Religious beliefs and rituals were prominent during the Shang Dynasty. The most significant deity was Shang Ti, Ti meaning ‘Deity Above’ or the ‘Lord on High’. He ruled as a supreme god over all the other gods and spirits. The gods and spirits were believed to symbolize objects found in nature; the sun, the moon, the wind, the rain, everything from mountains and rivers to the stars in the night sky. Ti is believed to have punished those who disobeyed or offended him and rewarded those who pleased him. It is said that Ti formed a noble court in heaven consisting of all deceased worthy ancestors. The Chinese’s belief in family harmony was associated to belief in the afterlife. The ancestors who were considered commendable served Ti, helping him govern the world. Ancestors were also worshipped and were said to act a mediators between the gods and humankind. It was thought that if ancestors were appropriately honoured, respected, and provided for, they would promote the familys prosperity. A favour or grievance to a member of the family was considered a favour or grievance to the ancestors; consequently, people were reluctant to offense or harm descendants of a powerful family. It was believed that in the afterlife they would live in a celestial court in many ways similar to their earthly courts. Each Chinese family was expected to have an ancestral shrine in the centre of their home to honour and venerate their ancestors. Sacrifice to the gods and the ancestors were also a major part of the Shang religion. When a ruler died, slaves and officials were sacrificed with them in order to guarantee that their afterlife would be the same or similar as their life on earth. People were also sacrificed in smaller numbers when significant events, such as the founding of a palace or temple, took place. Along with their deceased ancestors, the Chinese had people on earth who acted as mediators between the celestials and the human race. Priests were among these intermediates and were responsible for a number of tasks including reading prayers and overseeing sacrifices and funerals. An augur is another type of mediator, responsible for asking gods questions on behalf of humans using various practices of foretelling to unearth the answers. The use of oracle bones was the most notable form of divination. The augur would ask the question, punching holes into the bone, usually the shoulder-bone from an ox, and in some cases the shell of a tortoise. The bone would then be held over a fire, until cracks appeared. These cracks would be made more evident by rubbing ink over the bone. The augur could now read the cracks and determine the answer of the god. Records of the questions and answers of readings were engraved on the bone. Questions on these oracle bones included issues of weather, warfare, agriculture, hunting, childbirth, and sacrifice. In reflection with their agricultural nature, the ancient Chinese use to honour the local deities of soil in order to increase the fertility of earth and to promote the growth of crops. Over time, this practice of earth worship began to dwindle and the veneration of Heaven increased. Divination was considered the only way to determine the requests and future actions of the ruler of Heaven who was also seen as a kind of ancestral figure. The Chinese were animistic and so believed that nature had many spirits. Good spirits, referred to as shen, and bad spirits, referred to as gui, were both thought to dwell in Heaven and Earth. The sun and the rooster were believed to have authority over the gui. This concept of shen and gui later influenced the formation of the yin and yang concept. The people of ancient China believed that there were two contrasting forces abiding in everything in nature; that is yin and yang. This concept was thought to be formed with the influence of the shen and gui concept from earlier ancient China. Yin is characterized as slow, soft, yielding, diffuse, cold, wet, or tranquil; and is associated with water, earth, the moon, femininity and nighttime. Yang, on the other hand, is fast, hard, solid, focused, hot, dry, or aggressive; and is associated with fire, sky, the sun, masculinity and daytime. During the time of the Eastern Zhou, religion in China underwent an evolution. The early gods were forgotten and replaced with ideologies that worked as both philosophies and religions. A phenomenon called the ‘Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought’ took place in ancient China. Schools and philosophers flourished around this time and it was dubbed an era of great cultural and intellectual expansion in China. The four most prominent schools of thought that evolved during this epoch were Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, and Legalism. Confucius was born 551 BC and grew up to become one of the most influential philosophers in Chinese history. Confucianism is a composite philosophy of moral, social, political, philosophical, and quasi-religious thought. He built his philosophy around five virtues: compassion, morality, decorum, wisdom and honesty. Compassion was considered the cornerstone, symbolizing loyalty, filial piety, patience and benevolence. He also believed that everyone should be in harmony with one another and establish a society ruled by standard etiquette and conduct. A legendary philosopher by the name of Laozi is believed to have established the religious philosophy of Taoism. The ‘forces of nature’ is the central belief behind the concept of Tao, which is literally translated as the path or the way. Taoism is in many ways the contrary of Confucianism, focusing on the individual within the natural realm rather than the individual within society. It also focuses on the affiliation between humanity and the cosmos, vigour and long life, and wu wei, that is action through inaction, which is said to create harmony with the Universe. Mo Di or Mozi was another Chinese philosopher form the Eastern Zhou period. He was strongly opposed to the teachings of Confucianism and Taoism. Mohism was based on the idea of universal love, ‘everyone is equal before heaven’. Mozi believed that everyone should practice communal love in order to create a heaven on earth. He also believed that an individual’s perception should be the basis of human cognition and not imagination or logic. Mozi advocated abstinence, and therefore opposed music, regarding it as excessive and a waste of resources which could instead be used to help those in need of basic necessities such as food, water and shelter. He even opposed elaborate funerals also regarding it as a waste of money which could be used in more useful matters. He also advocated pacifism thus disapproving of offensive war, only accepting aggressive action to defend the weak. Legalism, while the term itself was invented in the Han dynasty, was one of the major doctrines followed during the Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought. It was established by Han Feizi and Li Si and theorizes that the human race is evil and in order to prevent this evil causing chaos, laws need to be put in place. Legalism wasn’t concerned with the nature or purpose of life, not even the welfare of the public; rather it sought the states prosperity and military aptitude. Out of these four philosophies, only Confucianism and Taoism are considered religions by scholars, as only they contain spiritual elements. Confucianism and Taoism both became part of what is now known as The Three Doctrine. Buddhism is the third doctrine however it was imported from India and flourished during Imperial China.

Are CIF Contract of Sale of Goods a Sale of Documents?

Are CIF Contract of Sale of Goods a Sale of Documents? RESEARCH PROPOSAL A Cost, Insurance, and Freight (CIF) contract of sale is a sale of documents instead of sale of goods. HYPOTHESIS: A Cost, Insurance, Freight (CIF) contract of sale is completed when documents are sold instead of the goods. INTRODUCTION AND ACADEMIC RATIONALE: This research proposal will explore the field of Cost Insurance Freight (CIF) contract of sale and it will provide enough references and evidences towards answering the question of: That whether CIF contract of sale of goods is a sale of documents or not? Documents here refers to the contract documents which are the proof of the sale. These documents include the Bills of Lading, Commercial Invoice, and the Insurance Policy. The proposal will also put light upon the context that a CIF sale contract is completed once the documents are tendered correctly even before the goods are delivered. The research objectives for this proposal are presented here, by a series of sub questions: The nature of a CIF contract-Is it a sale of documents or sale of goods? What are the main documents which completes the CIF contract of sale? Why is more emphasis given on symbolic delivery of goods using the documents? What is the concept of passing of property and risk in a CIF contract of sale? What are the duties of the buyer and the seller in a CIF contract of sale? What is High Seas Sale (HSS) and its concept in a CIF contract of sale? The CIF term started with the expansion of the trade and commerce. The first reported case of CIF was in 1862 and 1871 and at that time it was mentioned C.F.I. instead of C.I.F. in a CIF contract the buyer or his agent need not be present physically and the payment was deferred to a mutually agreed date by the buyer and seller.[1] Hamilton J defined the obligations of a CIF vendor; which re as follows: First, to ship at the port of shipment the goods contained in the contract; Second, to procure a freight contract, under which the goods will be delivered at the agreed destination; Third, to arrange for an insurance which will be available for the benefit of the buyer; Fourth, to make out a commercial invoice; Fifth, finally tender these documents to the buyer.[2] It follows that against tender of these documents the buyer must be ready and willing to pay the agreed contract price. Furthermore, in a CIF contract of sale the emphasis is on the symbolic delivery of goods, using the documents which has and carry the title to those goods which are mentioned in the contract of sale and are being shipped. It is a cash against documents contract.[3] LITERATURE REVIEW: To conduct research on the topic CIF contract of sale is a sale of documents instead of sale of goods, it is very much important to firstly obtain some background knowledge on the CIF contract of sale as well as the reasons and evidences which will support and strengthen our topic and will show and proof that CIF contract of sale is a sale of documents. This literature review is contains parts which explains the CIF contract of sale and the relevance of documents in the CIF contract. These include: The nature of a CIF contract, the main documents which completes the CIF contract of sale, the concept of passing of property and risk in a CIF contract of sale, the duties of the buyer and the seller in a CIF contract of sale, High Seas Sale (HSS) and its concept in a CIF contract of sale. This literature review is in accordance with the objectives of this research, which it will explain the need of documents in a CIF contract and as to why a CIF contract of sale is a sale of documents. The Nature of a CIF Contract To start with, a COST, INSURANCE, FREIGHT (CIF) contract of sale is that contract in which the buyer buys the goods from the seller by paying the entire amount till the final port where the goods are to be discharged and delivered to the buyer. The sale price term includes the cost of the goods, insurance, and freight. For Example: 9,000 100lbs. bags of Wheat CIF Le Harve shipment June 2016 cash against documents. Today a CIF contract is one of the most important instruments which is used in international trade and international sale of goods. In a CIF contract the obligations of the seller is to ship the goods to the port which is being agreed upon by the buyer and the seller, and this port is also known as the final port of delivery or the port of discharge. Next is to get a contract of freight from the carrier on which the goods will be shipped to the agreed port and destination and then to arrange for an insurance which will cover the goods against the loss during the transit and this will benefit the buyer and then to make a commercial invoice. After all this the final obligation of the seller is to tender the documents to the buyer in the correct way and the correct manner which have been agreed by both buyer and the seller. After the documents are tendered and they are accepted by the buyer, the buyer is then bound to pay the agreed contract price of the goods and the contract is fulfilled and performed. About to the nature of the performance of the CIF contract, especially where the importance is given on the tendering of the documents in the correct manner rather than physical delivery of goods, some jurists and academic writers are of the view that CIF contract of sale is a sale of documents rather than goods.[4] The main documents which completes the CIF contract of sale and the concept of passing of property and risk In the CIF contract of sale, the importance is on the symbolic delivery of goods which is done using the documents which has the title of the shipped goods.it is a cash against documents contract. The main documents in a CIF contract of sale are Bills of Lading, Insurance policy, Commercial Invoice. The commercial invoice shows the contract price and the buyer must pay once these documents are tendered. The advantages of a CIF contract are that the buyer does not have to worry about the freight prices and insurance premiums and the changes if any happen to the prices, as the buyer pays the entire price till the final delivery port. The buyer also knows the exact price which he has to pay. The property in a CIF contract of sale may pass either on shipment or on tender of the documents and the risk generally passes on shipment, but the possession does not pass until the documents which represents the goods are handed over in exchange for the price. The presumption is property passes in CIF contract of sale when documents are delivered to the buyer.[5] The judgement of Scrutton J also said that a CIF contract is a contract of sale of documentsin the cases of Karberg (Arnhold) Co v Blythe Green, Jourdain Co. The judgement became very famous. The judgement lies as: I am strongly of opinion that the key to many of the difficulties arising in CIF contracts is to keep in mind the cardinal distinction that a CIF sale is not a sale of goods, but a sale of documents relating to goods. It is not a contract that goods shall arrive, but a contract to ship goods complying with the contract of sale and to tender those documents against payments of the contract price. He buys the documents, not the goods, and it may be that under the terms of the contracts of insurance and affreightment he buys no indemnity for the damage that has happened to the goods. In my view, therefore, the relevant question will generally be not what at the time of the declaration of tender of the documents is the condition of the goods? but what, at the time of the tender of documents, was the condition of the documents as to compliance with the contract of sale? This ruling has been observed in later cases.[6] Whatever happens to the goods in transit, the Bills of Lading and the Insurance Policy provide an almost complete continuous cover from the port of shipment to the port of destination. If the goods are lost at sea the documents remain valid and can be tendered as normal for the full purchase price to be paid.[7] Justice McCardie held in Manbre Saccharine Co Ltd v Corn Products Co Ltd, whereby he said that the obligation of the vendor is to deliver documents rather than goods to transfer symbols rather than the physical property represented thereby. This supports that documents seem to be the essence of the CIF contract.[8] If the seller hands over the documents to the buyer before payment, then it is presumed that the seller reserves the title until payment.[9] The duties of buyer and the seller in a CIF Contract of Sale The duty of the seller is to ship the goods afloat which are mentioned in the contract and makes a contract of carriage of goods by sea to port of arrival at his own expense. Obtaining a bill of lading and the insurance policy, tender these documents i.e. commercial invoice, Bills of lading and insurance policy to the buyer. The buyer should accept the tender of conforming documents and pay the contract price which is against the delivery of documents. The documents must be strictly conformed to the contract, and the documents can be re-tendered if they are not conforming to the contract of sale.[10] High Seas Sale(HSS) and its concept in a CIF Contract of Sale In a CIF contract when a buyer (actual consignee) has the documents like the Bills of Lading, Insurance Policy, and the Commercial Invoice, he can then further sell those goods to someone else, and he can do so when the goods are still sailing and in the sea. The second buyer can also do this to someone else and the documents are sold for the price. This type of sale is known as HIGH SEAS SALE (HSS) in which the goods are sold while they are still sailing and they have not reached the final port. A high seas sale is done when the goods have left the loading port and are in the sea but have not arrived at the port of discharge. If something happens to the goods, then the buyer has the insurance policy and he can claim the damages from the insurance company. The importance of documents can be supported from the statement made by Lord Porter in Comptoir dAchat et de Vente du Boerenbond Belge S/A v Luis de Ridder Limitada (The Julia) [1949] A.C. 293 at pp.309, 312: The obligations imposed upon a seller under a c.i.f. contract are well known, and in the ordinary case include the tender of a bill of lading covering the goods contracted to be sold and no others, coupled with an insurance policy in the normal form and accompanied by an invoice which shows the price and, as in this case, usually contains a deduction of the freight which the buyer pays before delivery at the port of discharge. Against tender of these documents the purchaser must pay the price.[11] METHODOLOGY: To understand how this research study will aim to be conducted, it is firstly very important to establish the focus and direction it will follow. This will enable us and take us to a certain level where there will be more understanding and more support on CIF contract of sale as a contract for sale of documents rather than sale of goods. From the literature reviewed in preparation for this proposal, it became clear that what most Judges and from their judgements that the obligations of a CIF contract of sale are fulfilled when the correct and conforming documents as per the sale contract is tendered by the seller to the buyer. Because of this, the question that arose in the beginning that why a CIF contract of sale is considered a sale of documents and not sale of goods? is somewhere answered, and after reviewing the literature review in this study, additionally to establishes an answer for the question. To continue, for this study and to meet the objectives, the methodology that will be adopted is that of the doctrinal research method. Doctrinal research is concerned with the formation of what are labelled as legal doctrines, whereby an analysis of legal rules takes place.[12] These legal rules can be located within sources of law such as Statutes and Cases, although it is very important to understand that they cannot fully provide a thorough statement of the law. In regards to this study, it is important to appreciate that this can only be obtained by applying the pertinent set of legal rules to the specific facts and the judgements of the judges who are in favour of the view that a CIF contract of sale is a sale of documents. This research method is colloquially referred to as black-letter law and historically can be seen to be the most suitable method to adopt for research of this nature. Moreover, doctrinal research is concerned with the formation and evolvement of legal doctrines for publication. As this study is essentially asking what is the law? it does significantly differ from the qualitative analysis process used in traditional social science research. So, to conduct this research and to make it clear that a CIF contract of sale is a sale of documents, the judgements in regards to the CIF contract will be analysed. This will enable us to understand why the traders and most importantly the judges are of the view that a CIF contract of sale is a sale of documents. Moreover, the CIF contract of sale is governed by many laws and acts like the Sale of Goods Act 1979, Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1971, Carriage of Goods by Sea Act 1992, and the main aim is to make it very much clear that the CIF contract of sale is a sale of documents. It is usually inclusive of the sections and provisions from the above stated acts. An extensive list of cases in which the judgements are in the view of the research question which is that a CIF contract is a sale of documents is also included in this research to make the concept and the research clearer. Some of the cases related to our research proposal are as follows: JUDGE CASE YEAR RECORD Scrutton J Arnold Karberg Co v Blythe, Green Jourdain Co [1915] K.B. 379 at 388 McCardie J Manbre Saccharine Co, Ltd v Corn Products Co, Ltd [1918-19] All ER Rep 980 at p.984 Lord Atkinson Johnson v Taylor Bros Co Ltd [1920] AC 144 at pp.155-156 Lord Wright Ross T Smyth Co Ltd v TD Bailey Son Co [1940] All ER 60 at p.68 and p.70 Lord Porter Comptoir dAchat et de Vente du Boerenbond Belge S/A v Luis de Ridder Limitada (The Julia) [1949] A.C. 293 at pp.309, 312[13] OUTLINE OF CHAPTERS: Chapter Content One This is the introductory chapter which will have the main issues related to the topic. It has the research question along with the research objectives and hypothesis. Two This chapter deals with the literature review. It is broken down into various topics related to CIF contract of sale along with some cases and judgements relevant to the topic making it more clear and concise. Three This chapter contains the explanation of the methodology adopted along with the reasons for its adoption. It also contains the findings and a table of cases related to the research topic. Four This is the final chapter which has the bibliography. BIBLIOGRAPHY: COMMERCIAL LAW BOOK-2ND EDITION, ERIC BASKIND, GREG OSBORNE AND LEE ROACH David M Sassoon DM, The origin of F.O.B. and C.I.F. terms and the Factors influencing their Choice Ademuni-Odeke, The nature of CIF Contract- Is it a Sale of Documents or Sale of goods? WESTLAW UK LEXIS LIBRARY E-LAWRESOURCES.CO.UK WWW.GOOGLE.COM http://www.clubtopsage.com accessed 3 January 2017 (caselawquotes.net) CHYNOWETH P, LEGAL RESEARCH IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: A METHODOLOGICAL FRAME WORK (2011) accessed on 6 January 2017 [1] David M Sassoon DM, The origin of F.O.B. and C.I.F. terms and the Factors influencing their Choice 34 [2] Ademuni-Odeke, The nature of CIF Contract- Is it a Sale of Documents or Sale of goods? 159 [3] Karberg (Arnhold) Co v Blythe Green, Jourdain [1915] [4] http://www.clubtopsage.com> accessed 3 January 2017 [5] The Miramichi [1915] P 71 [6] Ademuni-Odeke, The nature of CIF Contract- Is it a Sale of Documents or Sale of goods? 160 [7] Ademuni-Odeke, The nature of CIF Contract- Is it a Sale of Documents or Sale of goods? 161 [8] Manbre Saccharine Co ltd v Corn Products Co Ltd [1918-19] [9] Ginzberg v Barrow Haematite Steel Co Ltd [1996] [10] Borrowman, Phillips Co v Free Hollis [1878] [11] (caselawquotes.net) accessed on 3 January 2017 [12] accessed on 6 January 2017 [13] (caselawquotes.net) accessed on 9 January 2017 Analysis: Electronic Arts Company Analysis: Electronic Arts Company Electronic Arts (EA) is an American developer, marketer, publisher, and distributor of computer and video games. The gaming industry where the company operates is one of the most competitive and dynamic industries. Perform a PEST analysis and five forces analysis on the industry as well as SWOT analysis and suggest an appropriate strategic course for Electronic Arts. Electronic Arts, Inc. (EA) is a worldwide developer, dealer, publisher and distributor of video entertainments. The organization was an initiate of the early home computer amusements organization and was remarkable for encouraging the designers and programmers in charge for its games. Initially, EA was a home computing amusement publisher. EA developed via achievement of several successful developers. It had grown to be one of the worlds biggest third party publishers. (Wikipedia ,2010) Presently, it is mainly successful goods are sports games available under its EA Sports label, entertainments based on trendy film authorizes such as Harry Potter and games from long-running franchises like Medal of Honor, Need for Speed, The Sims, Battlefield and the presently games in the Burnout and Command and Conquer series. With the majority of its sports instruction series being industrial by EA, and the worlds biggest enlargement studio EA Canada which they are also the distributors of the Rock Band series. (Wikipedia ,2010) 2.0 PEST analysis tools PEST can be described as political, economic, social, technological issues, which are applied to evaluate the marketplace for a company or organizational unit. The PEST analysis headings are a structure for analysis a position, and can also be applied to evaluate a plan or position, trend of a business and marketing proposal. It is a helpful implement for understanding marketplace situation, in which they are working, and the opportunities and threats that be positioned within it. (Strategylabs, 2010) The models issues will vary in significance to a particular company based on its business and the products it manufactures. Moreover, issues which are more probable to alter in the outlook or more related to a specified business will carry greater meaning. Additionally, EA who create a large range of goods can find it more helpful to evaluate one division of its organization at a time with the PEST model, hence concerning on the particular issues appropriate to that one division. (Researchmarkets, 2009) By understanding the situation in which EA function exterior to the divisions, they know how to take benefit of the opportunities and diminish the threats. Particularly, it is a functional tool for understanding threats linked with market development or decline and as such the situation, prospective and trend for them. It is finding out where they are in the circumstance of what is occurring exterior that will at several point cause what is happening within of the business. (Modelbenders, 2009) 2.1 Five forces analysis Porters five forces analysis contracts with issues external a business that influence the environment of rivalry within it, the forces inside the organization that control the approach in which firms compete, and accordingly the organizations likely productivity is accomplished in Porters five forces model. An industry has to realize the dynamics of its businesses and marketplaces in order to compete successfully in the market. It described the forces which make rivalry, competing that the competitive atmosphere is formed by the relations of five dissimilar forces acting on a company. It seems at five solution parts specifically the threat of entrance, the power of consumers, the power of providers, the threat of substitutes, and competitive challenges. (Emerald Insight Staff , 1993) Understanding the environment of each of these forces gives associations the essential approaching to allow them to make the right plans to be successful in their marketplace. It is a simple tool that supports EA understanding where power lies in a business situation. It also assists to recognize both the strong point of their current competitive situation, and the strength of a situation of them is looking to move into. With an understandable recognizing of where power lies, it will allow EA to get fair benefit of its strengths, develop weaknesses, and avoid taking incorrect stages. Consequently, to concern this planning instrument efficiently, it is vital to know the position and to look at each of the forces separately. (Modelbenders, 2009) 2.2 SWOT analysis SWOT analysis is a strategic planning system applied to assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats concerned in a plan or in an industry venture. The interior issues can be analysis as strengths or weaknesses depending upon their force on the companys goals. The exterior issues can comprise macroeconomic matters, technological alter, legislation, and socio-cultural transforms, as well as alters in the market or competitive situation. (Strategylabs, 2010) In many rival analyses, EA make completed outlines of each competitor in the marketplace, concerning particularly on their virtual competitive strengths and weaknesses utilizing SWOT analysis. EA will observing each competitors price structure, sources of earnings, resources and competencies, competitive situation and manufactured goods isolation, degree of vertical combination, historical reactions to business enlargements and other issues. (Emerald Insight Staff , 1993) Another instance is EA, which is a great example of how computer amusements business can utilize a SWOT analysis to shape out a strong company strategy. They have known that its strength was selling openly to customers and keeping its prices lower than those of other competitors. EA put together a company strategy that integrated mass customization and just-in-time manufacturing and allowing consumers enjoy their computer amusements with complete imagination in the games world. (Researchmarkets, 2009) 2.3 The analytical tools in solutions It helps EA in discovery the true resolution that best meets their requirements and can play a dynamic role in the accomplishment as well as support. To make easy this development, they have recognized strategic deal with key vendors. The growing resolutions portfolio presents customers with leading skill by world-class partners and developed in the marketplace. EA suggests proven resolutions that provide stability, scalability and the elasticity needed to maximize effectiveness and performance in a extremely competitive atmosphere. (Sadler, Philip , 1993) EA bring value to their customers by joining that recognize how with an entire suite of feature rich resolutions that offers the best functionality part. Thus, the system to develop the productivity and efficiency of company analysts, EA must continue to enlarge the width and strength of their data storehouses, which will diminish the number of data sources that analysts need to entrance directly. They must also equip analysts with improved analytical tools that manage the way they do. (Coate, Patricia , 2007) In line with the ever growing complexity of the competitive marketplace EA has abilities far beyond those of the conventional intermediary, letting them to manage as their customers reliance risk partner with resources to contain every part of their business. They give the firm with the most proper resolutions, through consultancy services, systematic tools and risk goods that continue and improve their customers situation in the market. (Sadler, Philip , 1993) 3.0 Conclusion Any company must seek to understand the nature of its competitive environment if it is to be successful in achieving its objectives and in establishing appropriate strategies. If a company fully understands the nature of the analysis, and particularly appreciates which one is the most important, it will be in a stronger position to defend itself against any threats and to influence the forces with its strategy. The situation is fluid, and the nature and relative power of the forces will change. Thus, the need to monitor and stay aware is continuous. (Coate, Patricia , 2007) Some issues during the implementation of these analyses strategic are crucially important for organizations to build long-term business strategy and sustaining competitive advantages rather than simply list the forces. Successful use of the analysis includes identifying the sources of competition, the strength and likelihood of that competition existing, and strategic recommendations for the action a company should take in order to develop barriers to competition. (Researchmarkets, 2009) It is important to make sure that the sources are reliable and relevant to the current condition of the organization. It has to be viable, reliable and valid, in order to conduct a good analysis of the model. For this purpose, the gathered data and information has to be checked and be applied to the current business conditions. Further limitations could be present in the nature of market forces that reduce the applicability of the information sources to present situations and the amount of detailed information required. (Wikipedia, 2010) 4.0 Reference Question 1 Wikipedia (2010), Electronic arts, retrieved on February 12,2011 from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Arts Strategylabs (2010), Analysis of electronic arts, Retrieved on February 13,2011 from www.strategylabs.net/search-swot-analysis-of-electronic-arts_p8.asp Researchmarkets (2009), Swot analysis , Retrieved on February 12,2011 from www.researchandmarkets.com/reports//electronic_arts_swot_analysis Modelbenders (2009), Electronic arts, Retrieved on February 12, 2011 from www.modelbenders.com/papers/Smith_Game_Impact_Theory.pd E-library Emerald Insight Staff (1993), 1st ed., Strategic Management,    Emerald Group Pub lishing Ltd Sadler, Philip   (1993), 1st ed., Strategic Management , Kogan Page Ltd. Coate, Patricia (2007), 1st ed., Focus on strategic management ,   Emerald Group Publishing Ltd Question 2 Suggest why different approaches to strategy development might be appropriate in different organizations such as a university, a fashion retailer and a high technology company. Introduction A business strategy naturally is an article that obviously expressive the way an industry will pursue and the steps it will take to accomplish its objectives. In a quality of business plan, the business approach results from objectives created to support the stated assignment of the business. In the examination step of business plan development, one of several processes is applied to evaluate a firms market, resources, barriers to achievement and specific advantages. The aim of strategic examination is to classify what a business needs to achieve, the strengths it can bring to bear on achieving the objective and weaknesses that require to be addressed prior to combination and accomplishment. (Sadler, Philip   ,1993) Strategic consideration methodologies can comprise estimating the business circumstances, several of competitive situations, verifying what market forces are at work and ranking competitors, among others. Integrating a business approach typically is one of many steps in a larger production planning process. A business strategy starts with an overall vision. From the vision, a mission statement for the industry is constructed, regularly the shorter and more accurate the better. A mission guides to specific objectives the business will accomplish to complete its mission and that in turn guides to approach to attain goals. Specific plans are regularly then developed to support the business plan. (Coate, Patricia ,2007) Corporate strategy It is verifying the greatest plan to be competitive in the market. It assists to classifies, evaluates, and clarifies the main issues  facing productions to deliver insights corporations can apply to develop performance and achieve a competitive advantage. It is focused with the overall principle and scale of the business to meet stakeholder outlooks. This is an essential level since it is seriously influenced by investors in the production and performs to lead strategic decision-making throughout the business. Corporate strategy is frequently stated openly in an operation statement. The associations have a vision and a plan for accomplishing that vision. They apply that strategy through everything they accomplish. These great associations are able to make and capture value and situation themselves for better value. (Businessdictionary,2009) 2.1 Business unit strategy Strategic business unit (SBU) is focused more with how an industry competes profitably in an exacting marketplace. It focuses strategic decisions about option of goods, meeting wants of clients, gaining benefit over rivals, developing or making new opportunities. It is known as a business unit within the overall corporate identify which is distinguishable from other business because it serves a defined external market where management can conduct strategic planning in relation to products and markets. (Wikipedia ,2010) The unique small business unit advantages that a firm insistently promotes in a constant manner. When organizations become truly large, they are greatest thought of as being collected of a number of productions. These organizational units are large enough and standardized enough to exercise organize over most strategic issues influencing their performance. They are controlled as self contained planning units for which distinct business strategies can be enlarged. A strategic business unit can include an entire organization, or can basically be a smaller division of an organization set up to execute a specific job. The SBU has its own business approach, goals and rivals and these will frequently be dissimilar from those of the parent organization. (Wikipedia ,2010) Operational strategy It is focused with how each division of the business is managed to bring the company and business unit level strategic way. It concerns on problems of resources, progressions, and groups. The operating strategy intends to close the strategic gap between business strategy and accomplishment. It transforms the strategic objectives into obviously described achievement aims and aligns the implementation process to the value intention. The operating strategy consists of several parts starting with the operating business form as the basis for development, function, and technical and human performance style. An operating business form is the associations crucial logic for constantly accomplishing its principle goals. The desired outcome is to have a tactical to carry out the operating strategic plan. (Tmginconline ,2009) A number of the key essentials comprise classify required decisions and correlated issues for business process such as key production processes, managing approaches. Additionally, it gives creative ideas for operating problems and to make new value opportunities. It is a model to close business development gaps and to understand business value. It can be described as the business development direction based on the general vision. For example, key decisions and leading values for key business processes and managing approaches. (Tmginconline ,2009) 2.3 Olympia College Olympia College was established to meet the rising require for private top education in the country and is an associate of the well-known Raffles Education Group. There are choices of analysis of the strategic plan process within Olympia College. The operational strategy shows that direction into generating strategic competitive advantage in the development. Therefore, they can get a new system to structure their business functions and make sure the successful enlargement of their business in the competitive market. (Olympia ,2010) Strategic planning is a long range planning procedure that helps in setting the direction of Olympic College. The strategic plan originates from the colleges mission and strategic vision and gives detailed actionable strategies for moving towards planned outcomes. Moreover, they have to help student improvement toward objective completion. It is more purposeful and successful in their efforts to bring education at a distance, finalize and realize a long range distance education plan. (Olympia ,2010) However, they have to exploit community entrance to Olympic College, particularly for enlarge and apply an on-going enrollment management structure that informs instructional plans, student support services, and facilities planning. They are concerning attention on learning and to assist students, ability, personnel, and administrators perceive themselves as a society of beginners, encourage a college wide culture of measurement that embraces the consideration of learning outcomes and encourages the study of teaching and learning. (Olympia ,2010) 2.4 Padini Holdings Berhad Padini sells ladies shoes and accessories, childrens clothes, maternity wear and accessories through different subsidiaries. They can apply the business unit strategy to formulate and execute the plans that will give a competitively greater fit the situation and accomplish the organizational objectives. However, it can assist Padini to emphasize attention on a particular regional market or consumer group. The long term plan of Padini also wants to do the interior and exterior review to strengthen the situation in the global market. ( Padini, 2010) It shows a fashion viewpoint of each will covers a complete range of goods intended at a targeted customer. The corporation will carry on upgrading the image of its goods while emphasizing value and standard. It is successful grip in the productive but competitive womens footwear market. There are strategies to strengthen its dominant situation with enhanced production lines and increased competence. Having successfully impressed its brand names into the perception of Malaysian consumers, Padini is moving to turn its different labels into regionally familiar fashion leaders. It aims to fulfill the potential of the export market, particularly in the Asian region, and will also step up in foreign country marketing for its goods. ( Padini, 2010) 2.5 Dell INC. Dell Inc. is the top retailer of computer systems in the market. Dell sells desktop personal computers, notebook computers, network servers, and a diversity of computer software. They can apply the corporate strategy as a direction in which its production operations work together to get particular objectives. They implement that strategy for accomplishing their vision to build up a strong communication suppliers and customers relationships in the future. It helps Dell to find out the best strategy to be competitive in the marketplace. Thus, it will guide them to improve the work performance and gain a competitive advantage. (Dell, 2010) Dells objective is to generate loyal clients by providing better experience at a great value. They are devoted to direct relationships, giving best goods with standard based technology outperforming the rivalry with value and an advanced client experience. Dell is the association which is recognized worldwide for its approach of direct selling to the customers and business customers due to which it has obtained greater profits and has grabbed large market share from its rivals. As the business develops with the period of time it is largely enterprise strategy is becoming stronger, complicated and established. (Dell, 2010) Conclusion Nowadays, competitive market a strategy that assures a constant approach to offering the goods or services in a system that will outperform the competition is significant. However, in performance with defining the marketing strategy associations should also have a well defined method for the day to day progression of executing it. A cost leadership strategy is based on the idea that the associations can manufacture and market a high quality goods or services at a lower cost than their rivals. These low costs must transform to profit margins that are higher than the manufacturing average. Some of the circumstances that must exist to support a cost leadership strategy comprise an on-going accessibility of working capital, excellent process engineering abilities, and close management of work, goods designed for easiness of manufacturing and low cost distribution. (Emerald Insight Staff ,1993) It is important to know the market segment as described by the viewpoint characteristics associations have chosen as the objective for their offering. It is based on the criticality of the prospects require, their approach about alteration, the importance of the benefits, barriers that exist to integrating the offering into daily procedure and the reliability of the offering. The prospective for market penetration involves whether they are selling to past clients or a new outlook, how aware the forecasts are of what they are presenting, rivalry, growth rate of the manufacturing and demographics. The prospects willingness to give for product value is established by their understanding of competitive pricing, their capability to give and their want for characteristics such as value, stability and dependability, ease of utilize, consistency and steadiness. (Coate, Patricia ,2007) Oxygen Uptake Kinetics: Training Effect on Oxygen Uptake Oxygen Uptake Kinetics: Training Effect on Oxygen Uptake Oxygen Uptake Kinetics: Training Effect on Oxygen Uptake I. Introduction Respiration can be divided into two categories. Respiration may occur at the cellular level where oxygen is taken up in the mitochondrion and used to oxidize fuels or respiration can occur as gas exchange between the environment and the mitochondrion. The cellular respiration may be referred to as internal whereas gas exchange from the lung to tissue maybe referred to as external respiration (Mines 1993) The oxygen uptake – oxygen utilization system can be considered to start at the lungs and terminate in the mitochondrion, being joined by the blood. This may be seen as linking the lung and the muscle via the blood, Figure 1 (http://highperformancerowing.net/journal/2011/9/23/skeletal-muscle-master-or-slave-of-the-cardiovascular-system.html) The coupling of the uptake-utilization system can be further elucidated by outlining the oxygen cascade, figure 2, which links the lung to the muscle through the blood i.e. the respiratory, circulatory and metabolic systems. Figure 2. Oxygen pressure profile from the environment to the mitochondrion. (http://www.bio.miami.edu/tom/courses/bil360/bil360s12.html) The PO2 (partial pressure of Oxygen) can be calculated by multiplying Pb x FO2 (Pb = 760 mmHg) and the lowering of the components may lower the maximal VO2 (Mines 93). The PO2 from the trachea to the mitochondria decrease due to water vapour pressure, ventilation/perfusion mismatch, diffusion difficulties, right to left shunt and cellular uptake with the lowest PO2 being in the mitochondrion ( about 2mmHg). In the mitochondrion oxygen is used to oxidise hydrogen ions and carbon ions to water and carbon dioxide, respectively. This being the ultimate purpose of the oxygen delivery system (Mines 93). VO2 kinetics is dependent on cardiac output and arterio-venous oxygen difference and is represented by the equation below also called Ficks Law VO2 = Q (Ca O2 – Cv 02) Q= cardiac output (Stroke volume x heart rate) Ca 02= concentration of Oxygen in arterial blood Cv O2= concentration of oxygen in venous blood Ca 02 – Cv 02 = represents the oxygen extraction and consumption at the tissues Varying any of the components of the equation may also vary the oxygen uptake kinetics. The diffusion (and maybe uptake) of any gas across a barrier Figure 3, can also be described using Grahams Law: V = D A (P1 – P2) / T V=volume flow of gas D= constant solubility A = Area of diffusion P1 and P2 = partial pressure of gas on each side of the barrier Figure 3. The alveolar-capillary membrane. Oxygen must transverse some distance to reach the blood cell (http://www.diatronic.co.uk/nds/webpub/gaseous_exchange.htm) This paper will try to shed some light on oxygen uptake kinetics, describing the various components of uptake and how oxygen kinetics are influenced by various intensities of exercise. Also, the various mechanisms of oxygen uptake as well as differences in different populations will be reviewed. The paper focuses on the training effect on oxygen uptake.   II. Oxygen Uptake Kinetics A. Description: Oxygen uptake kinetics can be explained as all those processes involved in the taking of oxygen from the lung and delivering it to the mitochondrion where it is consumed by the working muscle. Figure 4 illustrates the various components of the uptake curve. VO2 kinetics for moderate exercise can be described as a monoexponetial curve with first order dynamics that rises to some steady state. Figure 4. VO2 uptake versus time. EPOC is Excess Postexercise Oxygen Consumption or Oxygen Debt (http://blitzconditioning.com/epoc-what-is-it/) B. Importance of Oxygen uptake kinetics Understanding the link between lung, blood and tissues and how oxygen passes through each compartment, may provide some insight to improve diffusion, delivery and utilization fo oxygen to enhance performance. The uptake kinetics, once understood, may provide sports medicine scientists with a tool to help sick children, patients, and athletes to modify or enhance their performance. Analysis for the time course to steady state and the various factors which affect it can be correlated with various populations to help determine how these factors can be manipulated. C. Three phases of oxygen uptake kinetics: Phases 1 and 2 can be considered to be dynamic whereas phase 3 to be steady state. Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Figure 5, Three phases of Oxygen uptake (www.medscape.com) 1. Phase 1: This initial, immediate phase is called the cardio-dynamic phase as many researchesr (Whipp et al 82 and Sietsema 92) have noted that this phase is due to increased pulmonary blood flow rather than changes in arterio – venous difference. In this phase, mixed venous gas tensions have not changes and closely approximates the time required for metabolites released from the exercising muscles to reach the lungs (Whipp et al 82). The time course of this phase is between 15 – 20 seconds (Sietsema 92) and may show an abrupt response, from rest to work, or relatively slower response, from mild exercise to work (Whipp et al 82). 2. Phase 2: This more gradual phase or rapid component is due to the changing kinetics of cellular metabolism and a further increase in pulmonary blood flow (Whipp et al 1980). This phase represents the slower exponential rise to steady state with a time course of 1.5 – 2 min (Linnarson 74) and a fall in the VCO2/VO2 ratio is an indicator for the beginning of phase 2 (Sietsema et al 86). 3. Phase 3: This phase represents the steady state or slow component where oxygen delivery equals oxygen utilization (Sietsema 92), also, Wasserman et al 1967, indicates that a true steady state is not achieved until the concentration of lactate becomes constant. The steady state is reached an about 3 min after the onset of exercise (Diamond et al 1977). D. Oxygen uptake at various intensities of exercise 1. Onset of exercise At the onset of exercise there is an almost parallel increase in cardiac output which leads to increased pulmonary blood flow and rate of pulmonary gas exchange (Whipp and Mahler 1980). Due to stored oxygen and carbon dioxide in the muscle and the venous blood, the rate of pulmonary gas exchange doesn’t equal that in the tissues before reaching the steady state. (Whipp and Mahler 1980). Whipp and Mahler 1980 also indicate that the coupled system is not perfect in that their exists a time delay between gas exchange in the muscle and it expression at the lung and that the VO2 at the mouth may not reflect what happening in the muscle in the first few seconds of exercise. The rate of gas exchange depending on a. Responses of cardiac and pulmonary blood flow to exercise b. Metabolic change dynamics c. Wash in and wash out of gases in body stores 2. Moderate Exercise Moderate is defined as being sub maximal or oxygen uptake less the anaerobic threshold (a VO2 above which there is sustained increase in blood lactate or carbon dioxide output secondary to bicarbonate buffing of lactic acid). In this intensity of exercise, VO2 rises to steady state by a monoexponential (first order) time course and VO2 steady state increases proportionally to the work rate (Whipp and Mahler 1980). At this intensity ADP accumulates and there is increased glycogen breakdown (Astrand et al 1977) 3. Heavy Exercise This intensity is described as VO2 between the anaerobic threshold, AT, and VO2 max, figure 5. With work intensities above the AT, blood lactate begins to play a role in oxygen uptake kinetics making it more complicated, needing a slow and fast component to describe the response ( Whipp and Mahler 1980 and Whipp et al 1982), the dynamics of which could be described as second order (Linnarson 1974). Whipp and Mahler also indicate that the greater the increase in lactate, the larger is the proportionate contribution of the slower component, and that the time constant is prolonged at this intensity (Linnarson 1974). With heavy exercise and the production of lactate, VO2 continues to rise beyond 3 minutes, the VO2 drift as Casaburi et al 1987 calls it. Severe exercise allows high blood lactate from the anaerobic system to be reached until the exercise becomes unbearable (Whipp and Mahler 1980). Whipp 1972, shows that the time to steady state greatly increases with increasing work rates above the AT. Figure 5, Oxygen uptake at various intensities of exercise (http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/VO2max.html) III. Training Effect on Oxygen Uptake It is a known fact that training improves body performance in some way. Endurance athletes also tend to have greater VO2 due to improved cardiac output and greater arterio-venous differences. Hickson et al 1978 reports a faster rate of VO2 to attaining steady state in the trained than in the untrained state. This indicates that trained individuals reach steady state faster than non trained individuals. Hickson et al also indicates that VO2 time course is determined not only by relative work but also by the level of training. Zhang et al 1991, also found that VO2 kinetics are slower in less fit subjects and Whipp and Wasserman also confirm that VO2 kinetics are faster in more fit individuals. Zhang et al. suggest that a faster kinetics may indicate that in fit subjects the aerobic ATP flux is greater that the anaerobic ATP flux. Casaburi et al 1987 and Yoshida 91, have shown that blood lactate levels can be decreased with endurance training and also suggest that lactate can be correlated to the delayed rise in VO2 (the Vo2 drift). The increase in muscle mitochondria with endurance training may be a factor in improving oxygen uptake kinetics. Biochemical adaptations that occur in the muscle, such as increased mitochondrion size, number and increased capacity for oxidation may increase oxygen uptake kinetics (Girandola 73) which plays a role in uptake kinetics. Berry 1985 indicates that there is an increased capillary density and fiber area with training which may improve oxygen kinetics. One point that Berry 1985 makes is that interval training and steady state training both decrease the time constant, but interval training was found to have a greater effect on the time constant. A. Oxygen uptake in trained athletes differing in VO2 max Those individuals with a higher VO2 max are also found to reach a steady state faster when work is held constant, that is, the lower the VO2 max then the longer time needed for VO2 to reach steady state. Powers et al 1985 indicate that in highly trained individuals with similar training habits, those with a higher VO2 max may achieve a more rapid VO2 adjustment at the onset of work; also, it seems possible that a larger aerobic capacity could contribute to either a more rapid oxygen transport or a higher rate of utilization B. The influence of endurance training on mitochondrial oxygen consumption Michail T.et al 2000, conclude that short term training increases maximal mitochondrial oxidative power in human skeletal muscle, whereas the efficiency of aerobic energy production remains unchanged. Michail T et al 2000, also indicate that muscle antioxidative defense systems were unaffected by training, but there was an increase in mitochondrial content. Endurance training increased peak pulmonary O2 uptake by 24 % and maximal ADP-stimulated mitochondrial oxygen consumption by 40 % (Michail et al 2000) C. Effect of Interval training (IT) versus continuous training on mitochondrial functions: Frà ©dà ©ric N. Daussin et al 2008 showed that a constant workload and O2 uptake during CT induces a higher increase of muscular capillary density than IT. Only high and fluctuating workload and O2uptake during IT improve skeletal muscle mitochondrial function, which seems to be crucial in increasing VÃÅ'†¡O2kinetics, and VÃÅ'†¡O2max, even if both training programs resulted in the same global energy expenditure and training duration IV. Conclusions In conclusion, oxygen uptake kinetics describes the processes that occur at the lung, in the blood and in the muscle to ultimately oxidize fuels into water and carbon dioxide. These systems are intimately linked together and it is the job of sports medicine scientists to identify the various factors and limitations that govern VO2 kinetics. This paper reviews background information on oxygen uptake kinetics with focus on training effect on uptake. VO2 kinetics can be described for moderate intensity, constant load work, as a monoexponential curve to some steady state, the dynamic non steady state being referred to as Phase 1 and 2 while phase 3 being the steady state. The duration of each phase, and hence oxygen kinetics, is influenced by intensity of exercise (light, moderate or heavy) and the duration of exercise. The mechanisms that govern may be peripheral, those processes that involve uptake and utilization in the muscle, or central, those processes in the respiratory and circulatory compartment and everywhere else in the body. The creatine phosphate shuttle hypothesis is the closest to resemble the VO2 kinetics and may be a major player in the VO2 game. VO2 kinetics is seen to be slowed in cardiac and pulmonary disease patients and these individuals are overall limited in the exercise they can do. When prescribing exercise, VO2 kinetics analysis maybe helpful as an indicator of the â€Å"fitness â€Å"of the system and hence which sports are more suitable. From the discussion in the previous sections, it is seen that training may affect mechanisms of VO2. It is known that cardiac output (i.e. stroke vol. X HR), and capillarity are increased with endurance training. These are the central limitations. Also training may affect peripheral limitations, by increasing the size and number of mitochondrion and hence metabolic and oxygen capacities. The increased extraction of oxygen and the increased cardiac output both increase VO2. Since increased exercise increases mitochondrion respiration this may decrease production of lactate which may decrease VO2 drift. Correlating mechanisms with different populations, it can be seen that pulmonary and cardiac patients have lower V02 max and therefore lower VO2. Heart disease also decreases cardiac output and this leads to decreased capacity to deal with metabolic needs. These patients are also limited by oxygen transport and blood flow changes. In the older population ( 60 + years old), kinetics are usually somewhat slower but with physical training the kinetics become faster and are comparable to those of young fit individuals (Babcock et al 1994) References / Bibliography Astrand PO, Rodahl K 1977. Texbook of work physiology. McGraw Hill, New York Babcock MA, Paterson DH, and Cunningham, 1994. Effects of Aerobic endurance training on gas exchange kinetics of older men. Med Sci Sports Exerc. Vol 26, No 4, 447 452 Berry M, Moritani T, 1985. The effects of various training intensities on the kinetics of oxygen consumption. J Sports Med. 25: 77-83 Diamond LB, Casaburi R, Wasserman K, Whipp BJ 1977. Kinetics of gas exchange and ventilation in transitions from rest to prior exercise. J. Appl Physiol 43: 704-708 Hickson, R.,H. Bomze and J Holloszy. 1978. Faster adjustment of oxygen uptake to the energy requirement of exercise in the trained state. J. Appl. Physiol. 44: 877-881 Casaburi R., Storer T.W., Ben-Dov I., Wasserman K. 1987. Effects of endurance training on possible determinants of VO2 during heavy exercise. J. Appl. Physiol. 62: 199-207 Frederic N Daussin, Joffery Zoll, Stepnane P Dufour, Elodie Ponsot, Evelyne Lonsdorfer-Wolf, Stephane Doutreleau, Bertrand Mettauer, Francois Piquard, Bernard Geny, Ruddy Richard. Effect of Interval versus continous training on cardiorespiratory and mitochondrial functions: relationship to aerobic performance improvements in sedentary subjects. Am L of Physiol – Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology. July 1 2008 Vol. 295 no 1 R264 72 DOI: 10.1152/ajpregu. 00875.2007 Girandola, R.N., and F. I. Katch, 1973. Effects of physical conditioning in changes in exercise and recovery oxygen uptake and efficiency during constant load ergometer exercise. Med Sci. Sports 5: 242-247 Linnarson, D. 1974. Dynamics of pulmonary gas exchange and heart rate changes at start and end of exercise. Acta. Phys. Scand, 415: 1-68 Michail Tonkonogi,Brandon Walsh, Michael Svensson and Kent Sahlin. Mitochondrial function and antioxidative defence in human muscle: effects of endurance training and oxidative stress. The Journal of Physiology. Volume 528,Issue 2,pages 379–388,October 2000. Mines AH, 1993. Respiratory Physioogy. Third edition, New York, Raven press Sietsema KE, 1992. Oxygen uptake kinetics in response to ecercise in patoents with pulmonary vascular disease. Am. Rev. Respir. Dis. 145: 1052 – 1057 Sietsema KE, Cooper DM, Perloff JF, Rosove MH, Child JS, Canobbio MM, Whipp BJ, and Wasserman K, 1986. Dynamics of oxygen uptake during exercise in adults with cyanotic congenital heart disease. Cirulation 73: 1137 1144 Wassserman K, Van Kessel HL, Burtox GG, 1967. Interaction of the physiological mechanisims during exercise J. Appl. Physiol. 22: 71-85 Whipp BJ, Ward SS, Lamarra N, Davis JA, and Wasserman K, 1982. Parameters of ventilator and gas exchange dynamics during exercise. J Appl. Physiol 52 (6): 1506 – 1513 Whipp BJ, and M Mahler, 1980. Dynamics of pulmonary gas exchange during exercise. Pulmonary Gas Exchange, edited by JB West. New York: Academic, vol. II p 33-96 Whipp B.J., and Wasserman K. 1972. Oxygen uptake Kinetics for various intensities of constant work load. J. Appl. Physiol. 33: 351-356 Yoshida T, Udo M, Ohmori T, Matsumoto Y, Uramoto T, Yamamoto K, 1992. Day to day changes in oxugen uptake kinetics at the onset of exercise during strenuous endurance training. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 64: 78-83 Zhang Y.Y, M.C Johson, N. Chow, and K wasserman. The role of fitness on VO2 and VCO2 kinetics in response to proportional step increases in work rate. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 63: 94-100 https://www.google.com/search?q=oxygen+uptake+kinetics+pics www.medscape.com http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/VO2max.html http://blitzconditioning.com/epoc-what-is-it/ http://www.diatronic.co.uk/nds/webpub/gaseous_exchange.htm http://www.bio.miami.edu/tom/courses/bil360/bil360s12.html http://highperformancerowing.net/journal/2011/9/23/skeletal-muscle-master-or-slave-of-the-cardiovascular-system.html 1

Essay --

During a short conversation between the Duchess of Berwick, Lady Windermere, and Lord Darlington, author Oscar Wilde exposes such entertaining arrogance that the members of upper class society contain. All the blunt, cynical insults toward the lower class and sarcastic language between the character enlightens the arrogances of the characters and the cruel structure of their society considering the gaps between lower class and high class, along with men and women. The Duchess of Berwick is the first character that is introduced in the excerpt and immediately, there’s a clear idea of what kind of person she is. She has a very harsh conclusion of people below her, as seen; â€Å"I won’t let you know my daughter, you are far too wicked.† Although she knows Darlington well, she will not allow her daughter to think on her own and act on her own accord. It’s dominant that the Duchess values status along with wealth with the saying, â€Å"I don’t know what society is coming to. The most dreadful people seem to go everywhere.† She is very clearly seen to not like the lower class and thinks a bit...

Future of Automobiles :: science

Future of Automobiles Lately the trend in cars has been anything but. Lately in the United States the trend has moved toward the SUV or the Sports Utility Vechile. Thats Right the family station wagon and the Minivan are things of the past and I am going to take you through a thorough examination my favorite the Toyota 4Runner Ltd 1997 Toyota 4Runner Limited 4WD WHAT'S NEW FOR 1997 All-new 4Runner debuts with more interior room, stronger engines, dual airbags, new colors, and a top-of- the-line Limited trim level. For the first time, the 4Runner boasts a unique chassis and sheetmetal not shared with the Tacoma pickup. PROS AND CONS Pros: Great looks and ground-pounding performance make the 4Runner an ideal choice for people who love the great outdoors as well as those who just want to look like they do. Cons: Steep price and choppy highway ride temper our enthusiasm for this otherwise outstanding truck. For Successful five-year run, the second-generation Toyota 4Runner has been retired, and not a moment too soon. Fresh in 1990, the 4Runner aged quickly as the sport utility market exploded and other automakers introduced larger, safer and more powerful rivals. By 1995, the compact pickup-based 4Runner offered little, other than Toyota's reputation for reliability, to entice buyers. For 1996, Toyota has separated this high-volume SUV from its pickup truck roots. The new 4Runner shares little with the Tacoma pickup. As a result, engineers have created a more refined vehicle without sacrificing tough off-road ability. Suspension travel and tread width are both up to improve off-road ability, ride, and handling. The interior is larger in every direction, thanks to a wheelbase that is two inches longer than the previous version. A lower floor and wider doors make getting into and out of the 4Runner less of an exercise in contortionism. Rear leg room is up by three inches, and cargo space has been improved as well. Two engines are available on the 4Runner; a 2.7-liter inline four cylinder that makes 150 horsepower at 4800 rpm and 177 pounds- feet of torque at 4000 rpm., and a 3.4-liter V-6 producing 183 horsepower at 4800 rpm and 217 pounds-feet of torque at 3600 rpm. These figures represent a substantial improvement over the old anemic four cylinder and wheezy V-6 -- in fact, the new 2.7-liter four is more powerful than the 1995 model's 3.0-liter six.

Rural-Urban Linkages, Their Role in Sustainable Development

Although policy makers and the development community have widely used the phrase â€Å"rural development. The concept of rural development has changed significantly during the last 3 decades. Until the 1970s, rural development was synonymous with agricultural development and, hence, focused on increasing agricultural production. This focus seems to have been driven primarily by the interests of industrialization to extract surpluses from the agriculture sector to reinforce industrialization. With the focus on increasing agricultural production, the stated objective of most countries was to promote smallholder agriculture. Over time, this smallholder agriculture-centric concept of rural development underwent changes. By the early 1980s, according to Harris, the World Bank defined it as â€Å"†¦a strategy designed to improve the economic and social life of a specific group of people—the rural poor. Four major factors appear to have influenced the change: increased concerns about the persistent and deepening of rural poverty; changing views on the meaning of the concept of development itself; emergence of a more diversified rural economy in which rural non-farm enterprises play an increasingly important role; and increased recognition of the importance of reducing the non-income dimensions of poverty to achieve sustainable improvements in the socio economic well-being of the poor. The establishment of the Millennium Development Goals has significantly reinforce d the concerns about non income poverty. With the paradigm shifts in economic development from growth to broadly defined â€Å"development,† the concept of rural development has begun to be used in a broader sense. It is also more specific, as Harris noted â€Å"in the sense that it focuses (in its rhetoric and in principle) particularly on poverty and inequality. † In more recent years, increased concerns on the environmental aspects of economic growth have also influenced the changes. Today’s concept of rural development is fundamentally different from that used about 3 or 4 decades ago. The concept now encompasses â€Å"concerns that go well beyond improvements in growth, income, and output. The concerns include an assessment of changes in the quality of life, broadly defined to include improvement in health and nutrition, education, environmentally safe living conditions, and reduction in gender and income inequalities. â€Å"Today there seems to be a universal consensus that the ultimate objective of rural development is to improve the quality of life of rural people. As the concept of rural development changed so has the focus and approach to tackling and planning for rural development also change. Thus as already explained, today rural development is an integrated concept that that requires an integrated approach to development . thus the focus now is on sustainable development; hence an integrated sustainable rural development strategy is used to plan for rural development. However in order to successively design a strategy for integrated sustainable rural development, one must take into consideration rural-urban linkages because of the significant role it plays in sustainable rural development. Before proceeding with a discussion about the role that rural-urban linkages play in integrated rural sustainable development strategy, it may be necessary to define rural-urban linkages. In general, â€Å"rural-urban linkages† refers to the flow of (public and private) capital, people (migration, commuting) and goods and services (trade) between rural and urban areas. It is important to add to these three economic flows, the flow of ideas, innovation and information. These rural urban linkages could be expanded as; * The movement of people between rural and urban households many of which are of circular nature. These include temporary migration(as in seasonal moves ) and labour migration including weekly commuting; * The more permanent migration of people from rural to urban areas and vice versa. * The movement of people operating from a single rural urban household as in daily commuting or school trips, shopping and short term visits. * The movement of resources such as money and remittances, commodities and services. * There is also the more permanent type of linkages found mostly in infrastructure such as roads railway lines water and electricity telecommunication etc. Over the past few years, interest in the linkages between urban and rural areas has increased considerably. This is clear, for instance, from the activities of the United Nations. The Habitat Agenda, adopted at the second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements (Habitat II) in Istanbul in 1996, states that â€Å"policies and programmes for the sustainable development of rural areas that integrate rural regions into the national economy require strong local and national institutions for the lanning and management of human settlements that place emphasis on rural-urban linkages and treat villages and cities as two ends of a human settlements continuum. † (UNCHS, 1997: 93-94). however, Studies of rural urban linkages indicate that the nature of the linkages differs from one place to another and differs for different sectors in the same place. It is equally necessary to identify successful practices that promote local rural and urban development and alleviate poverty, using rural-urban linkages, and to build the capacity of rural and urban local governments to review, adapt and replicate such practices. The growing understanding and the pool of good practices should form the basis for capacity building of local governments. Among the above linkages the ,focus would be on the point 1 and 4 that’s the migration and the economic exchange of goods and services and their implication on rural development . this is because they are among the important rural urban linkages necessary for integrated sustainable rural development. These would be dis cussed shortly. To begin with the economic exchange between urban and rural areas can be beneficial or detrimental to either or both areas . hus with economic links between rural and urban areas, the extent to which economic development in the one area benefits or obstructs economic development in the other area. For instance an exclusive focus on rural areas would result in an under-investment in urban areas and this would limit the growth of the urban sector and its ability to absorb the rural labour surplus. Likewise an exclusive focus on urban development would produce similar results, because it would accelerate rural-urban migration and reduce food production per capita (Richardson, 1987: 210). Reardon (n. d. : 8-9) distinguishes three stages in the development of rural non-farm sector and of rural-urban linkages: †¢ During the first stage, rural non-farm activity tends to have a production or expenditure linkage with agriculture while farming directly employs a large share of the rural population. Rural non-farm activity tends to centre on the countryside itself, with little dependence on rural-urban links. Rural non-farm activities are mainly home-based and small-scale production of goods, mainly sold locally. During the first stage, agriculture tends to depend on local supplies of farm inputs and services and on local processing and distribution of farm products, usually carried out by small to medium-scale firms. †¢ A greater mix of situations characterizes the second stage. The mix includes activities based on linkages with agriculture as well as on other, separate activities (e. g. tourism, mining and services), although the latter did grow out of a historical rural non-farm sector based on linkages with agriculture. The share of rural population dependent on farming is lower than during the first phase. Rural-urban links as the basis for rural non-farm employment have a greater weight than in first stage with nascent sub-contracting of rural companies by urban or foreign businesses and a rapid rise in the labour force commuting between the countryside and rural towns and intermediate cities. †¢ The third stage shows an intensification of the characteristics that differentiate the second stage from the first stage. There is a greater weight of urban-rural links manifested by the greater importance of more advanced forms of business linkages, such as subcontracting arrangements and labour commuting. A number of other tendencies also characterize this stage: the expansion of subcontracting beyond light durables to medium durables. The great heterogeneity of the non-farm sector in rural areas implies that there is little scope for general, broad, policy prescriptions. This observation may well provide an important lesson for our thinking about the process of policy formulation. A wide variety of interventions may be required to promote the non-farm sector, each tailored to specific local conditions. Decentralized decision-making may be necessary: mechanisms should be devised whereby local information flows upwards so that the localized bottlenecks are relieved and specific niches can be exploited (Lanjouw, 1999: 9). From the above it can be realised that, rural-urban linkages can play an important role in economic development and poverty alleviation in urban and rural areas. However,it is important to recognize that the nature of the rural-urban linkages differs from one place to another and from one function to another. As Douglas (1998) has pointed out, a particular urban centre may play a crucial economic role for the surrounding rural areas in one respect, while the rural area may completely bypass that same urban centre and link directly to more distant urban centres and cities in other respects. It is, therefore, dangerous to generalize about the nature of rural-urban linkages and to base policy interventions on such generalizations. What is necessary is the recognition of (a) the existence a regional economy as a reality, rrespective of administrative boundaries, and (b) the need to develop knowledge about such regional (i. e. sub-national) economies (World Bank, 2000). The development of this knowledge should be demand-driven, as urban and rural local governments come to recognize their shared interests and constraints. The political impetus for this process of knowledge development may be t decentralization. In order to distribute economic and social opportunities equitably, the Government s hould strengthen grassroots economies that can provide sustainable incomes for the rural population. The Government should establish economic clusters that link rural and urban areas, and the cluster-based economic development should be consistent with the economic potentials, preferences and functions of each area. Another important rural urban linkage that has immense implication for today’s rural development is the rural urban migration. Thus the movement of people between rural and urban households . these include temporary migration and labour migration. Rural-urban migration reduces population pressure in the rural areas and, thereby, should improve economic conditions and reduce rural poverty. However, disparities between urban and rural areas in terms of income and employment and the availability of basic infrastructure and services persist. Urban areas offer more and better opportunities for socio-economic mobility of the poor and rural-urban migration, therefore, will continue. Labour migration could result in shortage of labour force for productivity in the rural areas which would intend result in low productivity and underdevelopment in the rural areas. Whereas the urban areas may not also be able to absorb the all the labour from the rural areas ,resulting in unemployment and increase in sanitation costs and government expenditure. it also increase population pressure in urban areas resulting in pressure on the few social amenities in urban centres. in this case, rural urban migration has more adverse effect on rural development. In addition to the above, Circular and temporary migration is already a common pattern in many countries, but working and housing conditions in the urban areas may not always be conducive to this form of migration. Housing is often an acute problem for temporary migrants who prefer to rent rather than to own housing, because they feel that their home is in the rural areas. Temporary migrants are sometimes not entitled to urban services and this makes their life in the urban areas more difficult than necessary. Local governments and private employers in the urban areas should accept temporary rural-urban migration as inevitable and perhaps even as desirable, and they may consider measures to facilitate such forms of rural-urban migration. For instance, Remittances are a crucial component of rural households’ incomes and a key element of the continued links between migrants and their home areas across all wealth groups. In northern Mali, migrants’ remittances have become probably the most important source of family cash, and are used for consumption and for the purchase of consumer goods such as radios and bicycles, but also for the purchase of agricultural inputs or for investment in livestock. In southeast Nigeria, it would be socially unacceptable for migrants not to send remittances and gifts: financial support to their parental households has greatly contributed to making young women’s migration socially acceptable. Most importantly, remittances and gifts ensure that migrants can maintain a foothold in the home area, and that they will be welcome upon their return. Gaile (1992: 134) argues that the problem is not urbanization as such, because the urban areas need to absorb the additional rural labour. The problem is that migrants have only a limited choice when migrating, because most local economic development occurs in one or a few large cities. He points out that the problem is really â€Å"under-urbanization†, i. e. the underdevelopment of the urban system. The major impediment to the working of the general market and the consequent development of a labour market is the undersupply of centres of sufficient minimal size to provide sites for market development. The above implies that in developing a strategy for sustainable rural development projects that encourages the bridging of gab between rural and urban areas should be considered. This would help reduce rural urban migration. Besides, major effort is required to ensure that the urban areas can absorb the growing urban population and that urbanization will not result in an urbanization of poverty. Small and medium-sized towns can play an important role in the urbanization process by absorbing rural-urban migrants. For instance Economic development in small towns can have a positive impact on the economy of the surrounding rural areas, if the increase in purchasing power results in the purchase of agricultural and non-agricultural products from the surrounding rural areas. This will obviously depend on the types of products produced, their quality and cost and their competitiveness compared to products from other parts of the country (and elsewhere). The development of the local urban economy may also lead to a reduction in rural-urban migration to the larger urban centres and the city and redirect migration flows to smaller urban centres. This in the long run led to sustainable development in both the rural and urban areas. Conclusion and Recommendations From the above discusions, it can be observe that there is growing interdependence of urban and rural areas that reduces the significance of the rural-urban distinction. The flow of people, capital, goods, services and ideas between urban and rural areas, made possible by improvements and cost reductions in communication and transport, is reinforcing the existing rural-urban linkages and more than ever conditions and developments in the urban areas have an impact on the rural areas and vice versa. Rural residents adopt urban lifestyles and occupations; small settlements require urban infrastructure and services; residents of rural areas commute between rural and urban areas; industries move to rural areas; urban waste pollutes natural resources in the rural areas; and agriculture in urban areas is becoming important for both economic and environmental reasons. It is, therefore, an anachronism that governments still design policies and programmes that are focused either on urban or on rural areas, but rarely on both. Rural and urban communities need to have an interest in each other’s conditions, and policy-makers need to consider these when formulating policies and programmes for sustainable rural development. Coordination of decision-making and cooperation between authorities of urban areas and their surrounding rural areas are critical to ensure that the development of urban areas and rural areas support each other. However, the continuing integration of rural and urban areas requires more than simply coordination and cooperation, it requires planning that incorporates rural and urban development. Such regional planning should not be an urban-centred exercise as it often has been in the past. Rural and urban areas need each other and each can benefit when the other’s needs are met. Backward linkages and forward linkages between agricultural production and industry and services can foster positive rural-urban interactions and a virtuous circle of development. However, policies that encourage such mutually reinforcing linkages need to overcome the traditional separation between rural and urban planners. They also need to avoid generalizations and be grounded in the specifics of the regional context (Tacoli, 1998: 13).