Friedreich's Ataxia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Friedreich's Ataxia - Essay Example Loss of frataxin in the system results in deregulation of iron levels in the mitochondria causing oxidative stress that kills the cells. This leads to a degeneration of the spinal cord, brain, and nerve communications to the muscles. Symptoms are generally manifested early in life between the ages of 5 and 25. Diagnosis is usually accomplished by observing symptoms and self-reporting of symptoms. Symptoms can include spinal curvature, impaired swallowing, deformed feet, and cardiomyopathy (impaired heart muscles). In addition, with the identification of the specific genes responsible, genetic testing can be done to accurately diagnosis the disease. A family history of Friedreich's Ataxia is also an indicator used in diagnosis. As with many of the ataxias, there is not a cure but there are regimens indicated to treat the specific symptoms. Treatment for Friedreich's ataxia generally requires the close cooperation of multiple physicians in several disciplines. The main overall goal for the patient is to remain in good health by a healthy diet and good physical exercise. Diabetes is often closely correlated with Friedreich's Ataxia and treatment consists of insulin. Further treatment is administered on an as needed basis. Propranolol, a beta blocker, may be prescribed to control muscle spasms.

Apple Pie as totem food Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Apple Pie as totem food - Research Paper Example This essay discusses that apple as a fruit in itself was more predominant in Asia and Europe. The first apple was said to be cultivated in the â€Å" northern slopes of the Tien Shan, the mountain range running for a thousand miles between the Chinese border to the east and Uzbekistan, in fact almost to the Caspian Sea, in the west.† The biblical reference to the apple as the forbidden fruit could also have emerged from the fact that Mount Ararat; the resting place of Noah’s ark is also around this region. The mountain range is in present day Turkey and extends from Iran to Armenia, which encompasses the region where the first instance of apple cultivations were found. Turkey till today remains one of the biggest producers of apples in the world. Earliest origins of apple cultivation could be dated back to 8000BC with the discovery of agriculture when nomadic settlements settled in the fertile lands along the Tigris and Euphrates and moving from there to other regions w ith the onset of trade and military expeditions. There is evidence that the early colonists brought with them the first seen apples, crab apples in US. Crab apples are considered the native apples of America and since then there are more than 20 different varieties of apples grown in the US. It is believed that John Endecott, an early governor, was the first to bring an apple tree to North America, and the first orchard was planted on Beacon Hill by a clergyman named William Blaxton. The apple consequently grew to become a part of the staple diet, as it could be easily stored in winter. Despite the fact that apples were not initially from North America, and have been growing disease-free for centuries in their native habitats, the early settlers found that the long, hot summers and cold winters of New England grew apples unlike anywhere else in the world.  Ã‚  New England apples are known not only for their unique blend of tart and sweet flavours, but also for their size and fresh ness. (Nahmias, 2012). The growing of apple consequently began to be viewed as a status symbol. With the growing popularity of the American Apple Pie, diplomats and statesmen began to grow the prize apples for these pies in their backyard. It is therefore no coincidence that 60% of the nation’s yearly harvest in apples comes from the State of Washington. Recorded history shows evidence that Apple Pie was served as a gourmet desserts during dinners for

Key Success Factors of the Ford Motor Company

Key Success Factors of the Ford Motor Company Introduction This case analysis is made on Ford Motor Company, presented below are key success factors that a global automotive player should possess in order to remain competitive, more over a brief discussion is also presented on Fords performance for the period of 1994 to 2004, at the end of this case analysis there are few marketing strategies presented that Ford can adopt for upcoming years and that are likely to help them get competitive advantage globally. The automotive industry is big in its nature, huge numbers of people are associated with this, throughout the industrial revolution this industry has been very competitive and global big players have been striving for their share all over the world. As globalization is there and there are also rising prices for oil, now it has been difficult for major player to stay competitive and earn profits because of the high costs associated with their industry(Bordenave and Lung,2000). Now along with traditional elements of marketing mix and competitive advantage, there is a need to have more drivers that major players should have in order to remain successful for coming years, below I have presented few of global drivers that can add value in their overall performance and keep them competitive. Factors for Success A Good Brand Image Since cars are high end products, they are associated with good amount of spending and their inherent nature and use is highly related to once own safety that why the decision making process of buying car is complex, involves lots of considerations by buyer and that is why this decision is dependent upon opinions of others as well. This is where a good brand image is required by companies to stay in the market, to win the trust of users and be the car of choice, unless you dont win the trust of consumers, you can stay in the market; its critical and vital to have a good and positive brand image in this industry(Bartlett, and Ghoshal1989). Efficient Channel of Distribution Cars are sold via third party, there is not direct consumer contact of company, that is why companies rely on a good channel of distribution to help them gain confidence and help consumer to have confidence in their product, while buying a car, consumers are also dependent upon opinions of dealers, if they are not knowledgeable and unable to transfer a good image of companies product to user then they are not going to buy. Other side of distribution network is related to supply chain and assembly line, a successful automotive company requires an efficiently managed channel of their vendor who can provide them with timely and quality parts and services(Freyssenet, Shimizu Volpato ,2002). Management of Cash Flow A healthy cash flow management is also vital and one of the key success factors to stay in this industry, since these companies have to give discounts, financing options and also need to manage their plan and other operational cost, a good, effectively managed and timely available cash flow is very necessary to sustain their position in the market (Bordenave and Lung,2000). Compliance with Local and International Standards This is also an equally important factor that their product should comply with local and international standards of safety and fuel consumption, this may initially seems to increase costs, but in the longer run this factor comes to pay back in shape of increased confidence by the consumer, a positive word of mouth that is hard to achieve in these days, and it also reduces the cost of maintenance and governmental handling. It is wise to spend on standards then to spend on additional cost incurred by any maintenance recall, which has been the case with Toyota recently when they had to call back a good amount of vehicle and that resulted in huge amount in terms of cost and bad image (Bordenave and Lung,2000). Being Flexible to Changing Needs Thats difficult but important to stay in modern day business, there has been the time customer needs regarding vehicles were not dynamically changing and companies could work with same models for longer period of time, but now things are more difficult, consumer are more demanding and their need regarding cars are changing more rapidly and new need are more diverse, now in order to stay competitive in business car manufacturers have to be flexible enough to manage and incorporate increasing demand and changing needs in their products. This will increase cost but this is one of the key success factors for new age automotive industry (Freyssenet, Shimizu Volpato, 2002). Efficient Production Todays need is efficient production, this can be achieved by streamlining their production activities in way that costs are low and production standards are not compromised, TQM or JIT can be solution for that and Toyota has been successfully implementing both of management concepts in their production line. Whatever the solution is the base is to get most efficient production in order to stay competitive, yes quality is not to be compromised and standards are to be maintained. Production efficiency alone can serve as competitive advantage in todays world (The Economist, 2005). Cost Planning High profit margins not only comes from high sales but also from well planned cost structures, as commented above efficient production along with a good channel of distribution can lower costs. Without being able to control and minimizing cost, modern day auto producers cannot win the game, due to intense competition and increased customer demands, globalization challenges profit margins are squeezing, without having effective cost management system it will hard for any organization to gain profits in these turbulent times(The Economist, 2005). Organizational Size Management Above mentioned cost management cannot be achieved unless there is no organizational size management. This is vital and critical to keep an eye on the size of the organization, as mentioned in the case now companies has to lay off plants and their employees in order to control their costs, any organization that is not able better manage their size will be victim of their own size, along with size there needs to have a look on the structure, high hierarchies are not applicable in todays business world, this is the time to empower people and give them decision making power, this saves cost in terms of number of people and managements time, and also provide the competitive edge of better and timely decision making(Buckley, Casson, 1976). Joint Ventures and Mergers To better serve the market and to get most out of it, todays need is to win the business with joint ventures and mergers, there are many benefits of such activities, for example mergers brings many brands under one umbrella and provides the positive image about the organization as big company and enhance the confidence, it also helps in better management of brand, since local management is involved in managing local brand they can better handle them as per consumer psychology and help the parent company to get the desired image(Bartlett, and Ghoshal1989). These joint ventures and merger also serve as a chance for knowledge sharing and getting more strength from each other positive aspects, modern day automotive industry would require big companies to explore new opportunities like these. Un-served Markets New emerging economies like India and China need more attention by the global players, anyone who will be able to exploit these markets before their competitors will be able to enjoy customer loyalty and first movers advantage, there few un-served markets that are emerging and can turn out a good opportunities for global suppliers. There is another dimension of these phenomena, global players not matter how big they are need to maintain and create their own niche, their own market that is not served by any other, such small niches can generate more profits and win more loyalty by consumers, along with their main business there should also be some small niches to serve the cause (Bartlett, and Ghoshal1989). Focused Strategy Focused strategy is relevant in every industry and same is the case with automotive industry, whatever strategy in place, it should be focused and relevant. Top managements commitment with strategy is very crucial, unless there is no strategic focus no organization can compete in new global environment. Todays environment is more dynamic and demanding that is why it requires more concentration, focus and commitment from the top management. Toyota has been a very good example for their strategic focus on making hybrid car, since Honda and Toyota were unable to compete in luxury cars; they decided to have focus on hybrid cars that strategy worked for them (Buckley, Casson, 1976). Ford, 2000 Globalization Plan In 1994 ford announced its 2000 globalization plan, that was in direction of their globalization strategy, that strategy focused on having global business standards and rather than having multi domestic presence. This strategy focused on unifying every aspect of the business to standardization such as marketing, sales, production, research and development and design. This strategy paid them as shown by their financial result and improved companys performance during the period of 1994-2004. There are several reasons behind adopting this strategy; we shall discuss them one by one here. Saving Costs By the time ford announced its 2000 globalization plan, their operational costs were high and they were not making profit as their sales were not high and their cost were increasing, so the main objective in announcing that plan was to save costs, by creating synergies in different geographical locations and plants and making shift from strategy of adaptation to standardization. This plan saved them money in term of cost saving and helped increase their profits. By unifying business operations they were able to achieve economies of scale and economies of scope. This was the main reason of launching that program (Freyssenet, Shimizu Volpato ,2002). Operational Excellence Different plant operating on different locations were producing without having any synergy, at that point in time Fords different plants were acting as silos, and there was no synergy among them, another reason on launching 2000 globalization program was to achieve operational excellence by creating synergy among different production housed so that they can achieve the best and provide the competitive advantage. Since Ford was acquiring other automotive companies like Volvo, that globalization plan was a great opportunity for them to learn from others experiences and ring together best practices to achieve excellent operational management and Ford was successful in doing that. RD of Design At the time when Ford was about to announce 2000 globalization plan, there were different design and RD teams were working in different geographical regions and on different projects. Another objective of announcing that program was to create standardization in design, at that time for one Ford brand two separate cars were used to produce for USA and Europe market, both different in design and performance, on the other hand Toyota was already in standardization strategy (Freyssenet, Shimizu Volpato ,2002). By adopting the strategy of combined design they saved the cost of research and development, design and different assembly lines. Another objective related to design was, that different stake holders like design, research, development, operations, marketing and parts suppliers should work together so that whatever is designed should be workable, marketable and efficient, this strategy alone helped save the management time of reviewing different design proposal. Bargaining Power over Suppliers By unifying the designs, standardization of models, and globalization of production, Ford were able to have to have bargaining power over suppliers, and that bargaining power came with lower cost as they were in better positions to negotiate prices and terms. Since they were trying to produce the product that was standardized and there was no variation in the parts for different geographical areas, that is why were able to buy in bulk quantities and negotiate their terms with vendors, more over they were able to have access to innovation and new development by their suppliers before their competitors, that also suppose to give them competitive advantage, they in better position to incorporate developments in the industry and remain competitive. Sharing Knowledge Another rationale behind launching 2000 globalization plan was to make different SBUs/Silos to share knowledge, for example previously there were different RD departments working independently, without any coordination and sharing of knowledge, what one dept have produced and innovate the other counterpart might not be aware of. That situation was critical and causing costs, after 2000 globalization plan, every department was suppose to work together in as single entity and share knowledge, this was suppose to save time and money. Same was the case with production dept, they were also supposing to share best practiced with each other so that overall organizational performance could be enhanced (Bordenave and Lung,2000). Marketing Strategy for Ford Ford has been market leader in automotive industry for last many years, after launching their 2000 globalization plan their performance has been impressive as of today they are again market leader in US and Europe. After analyzing the information provided in the case I have presented some components of marketing strategies that ford can adopt to sustain their position in coming years. Find New Markets For should start find new markets for its operations, India and other emerging economies are good opportunities as their penetration rates are high, entering into these markets will open many opportunities for Ford, these emerging economies are booming and can be served with good profit margins. Ford can also establish their plant in these areas to handle the entire region with effective supply chain management (Buckley, Casson, 1976). Since oil prices are increasing and there is a concern about oil reserves and production capacity, general shift towards small cars is increasing, Toyota, Suzuki and Honda along with many other are already in this segment. If Ford decides to expand they can also enter into this segment more aggressive as buying power of countries which are in emerging economies are low, they are more likely to buy a small car rather luxury cars. Ford with its good brand name if enters into these markets with small car segment which are more fuel efficient, can win the market before others (Bartlett, and Ghoshal1989). Find New Technologies As fuel concerns are rising for world, Ford should come up with new technologies of making car that are more innovative and fuel efficient, making electrical or solar power cars would not be a bad idea, if Ford is able to revolutionize the automotive industry with their innovative and efficient fuel solution they will be able to win the market like never before, entering into emerging economies with something new and innovative can be the big idea for success. Adapted Standardization Ford, after their success in 2000 globalization plan, should now start moving a little forward, they should keep on their standardization strategy but should include an element of adaptation in that, may be called adapted standardization. It has been observed that consumer needs are changing rapidly and their needs are becoming more diverse in nature; therefore there is a need of a bit flexibility and adaptability in automotive products depending upon the nature of the market. This way Ford will be able to stay one step ahead of competition, but to achieve that they will have to bring the flexibility in their systems and product development which necessary to shift at adapted standardization strategy. Build Brand in Asia Asia can be very attractive market for Ford, and their small cars, if they start investing in their brand in Asia and especially sub-continent they will be able to achieve greater penetration in the region, despite the fact that their main target market is US and Europe, they should also invest in brand building in Asia. Conclusion This case has been focusing Ford over all business strategy and their 2000 globalization plan, since the plan has been a successful move there are other factors that need to be kept in mind by Ford and other automotive players. Market dynamics are changing rapidly and there are certain key success factors that will play a vital role in deciding success or failure of any player in this industry, starting from a good brand image and cost management, going till strategic focus, there are several elements that are critical and vital for any company to be successful in this new market. There certain areas where Ford needs to concentrate in order to sustain its position as market leader in automotive industry, they should find new markets, make their strategy a bit more adaptive and enter into emerging economies, this way they shall be able to handle the rapidly changing business world.

The Deadly Ebola Virus :: Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever (Ebola HF)

The Ebola Virus is the common name for several strains of virus, three of which are known to cause hemorrhagic fever in humans, which is characterized by massive bleeding and destruction of internal tissues. Named for the Ebola River in Zaire, Africa, where the virus was first identified, the Ebola virus belongs to the family Filoviridae. Three strains of Ebola virus that are often fatal to humans have been identified. Named for the areas in which the first recognized outbreaks took place, these strains are referred to as Ebola/Zaire (EBOZ), Ebola/Sudan (EBOS), and Ebola/Tai Forest (EBOT). A fourth Ebola strain, called Ebola/Reston(EBOR), has not been found to cause disease in humans. As outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever continue to occur, other strains may be identified. The viruses are long rods, 800 to 1000 nanometers (nm) long (1 nm equals one-billionth of a meter, or 4 x 10-8 in), but particles as long as 14,000 nm have been seen. Each virus consists of a coiled strand of ribonucleic acid (RNA) contained in an envelope derived from the host cell membrane that is covered with 7 nm spikes placed 10 nm apart visible on the surface of the virion (Figure 1). When magnified several thousand times by an electron microscope, these viruses have the appearance of long filaments or threads but the particles are pleomorphic, meaning they can exist in many shapes. Their basic structure is long and filamentious, essentially bacilliform, but the viruses often takes on a "U" shape (Figure 2). They contain a unique single-stranded molecule of noninfectious (negative sense ) RNA. The virus is composed of 7 polypeptides, a nucleoprotein, a glycoprotein, a polymerase and 4 other undesignated proteins. Proteins are produced from polyadenylated monocistronic mRNA a species transcribed from vi genomes. As the infection progresses the cytoplasm of the infected cell develops "prominent inclusion bodies" which contains the viral nucelocapsid, which will become highly structured. The virus then assembles, and buds off the host cell, attaining its lipoprotein coat from the infected cell's outer membrane. The replication in and destruction of the host cell is rapid and produces a large number of viruses budding from the cell membrane. Symptoms Cases of Ebola have occurred in isolated instances and in outbreaks in sub-Saharan Africa. A significant problem in diagnosing the disease is that the viruses often strike in remote areas of developing countries, where access to laboratories for specimen analysis is limited. Of all the Ebola strains, Ebola/Zaire is the most dramatic and deadly. The Ebola virus causes hemorrhagic fever, which is characterized by such symptoms as severe headache, weakness, and muscle aches, followed by vomiting,

Bata Shoes Ltd Case study Essay

how has Bata interacted with foreign political systems Question 1 Following the First world War the Austro-Hungarian empire was fragmented into Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia. During this period the Czechoslovakian state was conceived as a parliamentary democracy, with the constitution of 1920 giving the central government a high degree of control over local government. Czechoslovakia, in particular, saw rapid economic growth during the 1920 brought about by foreign investment and advances in manufacturing technology. The country proved particularly tempting for foreign investors such as the British, French, Belgian and Dutch due to low labour costs and readily available natural resources. Only in the shoe industry the foreign capital played no important role. Thanks to a monopoly position of Bata Works Czechoslovakia held the first place among the world’s leading shoe exporters in 1930’s after overtaking Great Britain and the USA. In 1938 interference by Hitler resulted in the old Slovak and Ruthenian demands for autonomy finally been granted. Czechoslovakia was deprived of one third of its territory containing some of its most important industrial centres and most fertile farm-land, leaving the country economically crippled. Following this Bata realised his business did not have good future prospects if it were to remain in Czechoslovakia. He sought to continue operations and preserve the business by moving to Canada as the country was viewed as a safer operating environment, both economically and politically. Bata move to Canada, along with one hundred of his staff and families, would see the company and its workers having to adapt to operations in a different political system to Czechoslovakia, the first of many adaptations they would have to make as the company expanded across the globe. The relocation in Canada was a big change for Bata, as the government there gives significant political power to the provinces which each have their own  trade barriers. This is a big contrast to Czechoslovakia, where the central government has great power over the provinces. However, Canada was seen as very politically and economically stable in comparison to Czechoslovakia despite the political differences mentioned above. With operations in over 60 countries across the world, Bata Limited runs as a decentralised operation in order to allow its managers to adjust operating procedures to local environments. However tight control of Bata’s core philosophies and strategies are in place, even though these may be different from that of the country the operation is in and the managers and workers employed there. This could potentially cause problems if pursued too rigorously. However, the text states that Bata does interact with foreign political systems with Thomas G. Bata travelling extensively to check on quality control and to ensure good relations with the governments of the countries in which Bata operates. This interaction is particularly important as I feel Bata offers a number of key benefits to many of the countries it chooses to invest in such as increased economic stability due to their labour intensive operations and policy of purchasing materials locally. The countries Bata operates in vary in the amount of political and economic freedom they offer to their citizens and companies operating there. The case states that Bata does not won 100 percent of the factories it has in some countries. It appears that Bata prefer to own 100 percent of their factories, but are willing to compromise if the political situation requires. This includes taking minority ownership, or in some cases providing licensing, consulting and technical assistance where it does not have an equity interest in a country. Bata seem to work this policy well as they have the flexibility to cope with these different operating environments. I believe this is a sensible policy as it allows Bata intrusion into markets that may become freer and more prosperous in the future. Bata serves its markets by producing in each market all it will sell there. It will buy raw materials locally and achieves economies of scale due to its processes being very labour intensive. One may suggest that the lack of  exports would make Bata a less attractive prospect for the host countries as little outside money is feeding into the economy. However, since operations are labour intensive there will be a great benefit from the job opportunities created. The main issue that causes problems to arise in some countries is if raw materials are imported into the countries in question rather than being brought locally. In such cases the case states that Bata â€Å"must adjust to local laws and requirements for operation†. However, by normally buying raw materials within the countries Bata operates in it appears to work well with the governments concerned. The main driving force behind Bata choosing not to export goods is the security that operating domestically brings, such as the avoidance of problems associated with exporting like if an importing country were to restrict trade. Bata obviously feels that stability is of key importance to its strategy, particularly in many of the less economically developed areas in which it operates. In these countries there are not the laws to protect workers rights and safeguard income in times of unemployment, so if a factory were to close the effect would be very hard hitting to the workers and would potentially ruin Bata’s political relations permanently. Bata operates in countries with varying degrees of freedom. Tom Bata Snr. prefers to operate in democratic countries as these offer the chance to discuss issues, whereas totalitarian regimes do not. However, Bata have still operated under some Totalitarian regimes such as South Africa, Chile and Uganda. In Uganda Bata has had its operations nationalised and de-nationalised twice while operating under a violent and repressive regime that saw the expulsion of many skilled foreigners. Bata took the view that people would still need jobs and shoes whatever political system they were living under, a similar view that has been expressed recently by many people talking about Iraq. Therefore operations would continue. Bata benefited as the way it operated fitted in with the Ugandan governments policy of becoming more self sufficient, rather than relying on imports. This is because Bata obtained its raw materials from with the country and offered the stability of selling  in their home market. Bata also helped the government with a second policy that aimed to promote links between agriculture and industry, with the raw materials coming from rural areas. The continued presence of Bata in Uganda, despite the expulsion of many foreign workers, reinforces its faith in local workforce, which in turn helped build trust. By fitting in with these policies Bata was able to operate in Uganda while many other companies were forced to leave, and benefit from a 98% share of the shoe market. Bata followed a similar model in Chile where Pinochet ruled the country for a period of time while the company operated there. Again Bata saw no need to leave to country as it viewed its investment there to be long term, in which time various political systems would come and go, but people would always need jobs and shoes. Many of the benefits offered by Bata to Uganda were also of benefit to the Chilean government and people. The regimes in both Uganda and Penochet Chile both suffered from poor human rights records. Bata was therefore put under some pressure to withdraw from these countries by various parties including governments and international organisations. However, Bata was always able to argue that it had been in the countries far longer than the regimes in place and had seen many come and go. Its simple reason for being there was the fact that people needed shoes, and it was in a good position of providing this basic need. South Africa caused far greater problems for Bata. Here the same type of extreme regime was seen as in countries such Uganda and Chile. The difference for Bata was that South Africa attracted far more public attention across the globe. The Canadian government took a very negative view of Canadian countries having interests in South Africa. Maybe more importantly public opinion and knowledge about the regime in South Africa were to have a big effect on the company. Bata possibly realised that if it continued to operate in South Africa it would risk alienating itself from its consumers in countries such as Canada and the US and set itself up for ridicule by the large number of international organisations opposed to apartheid. In this situation it was important for Bata to interact with the various political systems involved to withdraw operations from South Africa while causing minimum disruption. It sold its holding in South Africa in 1986. It did not identify the buyer or the sales price, and it denied that apartheid was the reason for its pulling out, citing that all factors had been taken into account with respect to its investment. Bata ensured that the Bata name and trademark could not be used by the buyer and that the jobs of the workers in its plants would be preserved. Why they now operate in Czech Rep, but not Slovakia. Question 2 Czechoslovakia has being subject to turbulent time in the period following World War II. With the advent of communist rule countries were often formed from different ethnic groups held together by totalitarian rule, as was the case here. The break-up of the communist bloc in 1989 resulted in the disintegration of countries such as Czechoslovakia, that would be split into two independent nations; The Czech Republic and Slovakia. The fact that both of these countries are now free from communist rule does not necessarily mean that they are free. Freedom House is an organisation that monitors the political rights and civil liberties of countries around the world and rank them to the degree that freedom exists. Below is a summary of the assessment they give to the Czech republic and Slovakia. Since 1972, Freedom House has published an annual assessment of state state of freedom by assigning each country and territory the status of â€Å"Free,† â€Å"Partly Free,† or â€Å"Not Free† by averaging their political rights and civil liberties ratings. Countries whose combined averages for political rights and for civil liberties fall between 1.0 and 2.5 are designated â€Å"free†; between 3.0 and 5.5. artly free? and between 5.5 and 7.0 ot free.? As we can see from the chart above, both countries are now considered politically free. However, economically Slovakia still lags behind the Czech Republic. It has being politically free for less time and lacks consistency in the freedom scores it achieves, suggesting that the political system may be subject to some instability. Bata express concern relating to Slovakia not being economically free in the case. As The Czech Republic is clearly further along in its progress to economic freedom than is Slovakia, Bata is likely to face considerably less government intervention in its business. Private property ownership and protection, property rights, and economic competition are likely to be more common in the Czech Republic making the operating environment more stable. In Slovakia, Bata is likely to face greater political risks. There is likely to be more political instability in Slovakia, usually an indicator that there is also a lack of economic freedom. It also appears from the case that Slovakia may not have a very positive attitude toward foreign investment, despite Bata roots in the region. Bata would benefit from investment in both the Czech republic and Slovakia. From a nostalgic point of view, Bata will be able to return to the home country. Bata will also gain access to large facilities and a huge market in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. The Czech Republic and Slovakia would also benefit from Bata’s investment themselves. They would gain access to Bata global design, production, and marketing expertise. They will be able to design better, more fashionable, and more reasonably priced shoes. The Czech Republic and Slovakia might be able to get Bata to invest significant capital into the plant to get it up to world-class standards. Bata will create new jobs for Czech and Slovakian workers, especially as the processes are quite labour intensive. Bata also has a policy of buying raw materials locally, benefiting the host countries economy as a whole. There are some disadvantages of investment for both parties too. Bata may be forced to pay compensation for its own plants if the company chooses to invest in Slovakia. There is also a slightly higher risk of political instability and economic restrictions in the country. There are also disadvantages for the countries involved. Bata may actually have better production processes than are currently employed in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Therefore they may actually require less workers than are currently employed in the factories so workers would be made unemployed. Bata do not export goods so do not bring as much foreign capital into the country as maybe would be expected by a company of their size. Bata reentered the Czech Republic and not Slovakia because the two countries have very different economic environments. The Czech Republic is moving more quickly than Slovakia toward a free market system. Slovakia are also in dispute with Bata regarding the ownership of the companies former factories in the country. The Slovak government appear disinterested in helping to solve the problem by implementing new laws to make it very difficult for companies in the same situation as Bata to regain their former property without either reaching agreement with the new owners or by taking expensive  legal action. When looking at this evidence it looks advantageous for Bata not to seek to reinvest in Slovakia at present. Explain the current situation and relate to probable causes mentioned above The political environment can have a dramatic impact on the operations of a firm. For example managers in most western European countries may be accustomed to a stable political system and a relatively homogenous population. This is often not true in other countries. A political system integrates the parts of a society into a viable, functioning unit. Sometimes that is a very difficult task. A country political system influences how business is conducted domestically and internationally. The basic political ideologies of a country are the body of ideas, theories and aims that constitute a socio-political program. The ultimate test of any political system in its ability to hold a society together despite pressures from different ideologies tending to split it apart. History, culture, language, religion, geography and political ideologies help define national borders. Forms of government range from Democracy to Totalitarianism. Democracies usually have economic freedom and laws that safeguard individual and corporate rights and are often preferred by investors. The more developed democracies tend to have the following characteristics. Freedom in the areas of political rights and civil liberties are particularly important in democracies. These are measured by the organisation Freedom House using a number of indicating factors, and the results compiled to rank countries according to their degree of freedom. In 1998, 88 of the worlds countries were â€Å"free† and 50 were â€Å"not free†. Free countries are high in both political rights and civil liberties, whereas those countries who deny their citizens basic political rights and civil liberties are not free. In addition 53 countries were partly free, with limited political rights and civil liberties, often in the context of corruption, weak rule of law, ethnic strife or civil war. Despite the large proportion of countries claiming to operate democratic governments, many new democracies around the world are not yet stable with few political parties and corruption threatening the system’s survival. Examples include Indonesia and some countries from the former Soviet union. Businesses should be cautious when looking to invest in these areas. In contrast to democracies, totalitarian regimes offer far less political and economic freedom. Forms of totalitarianism include fascism (Mussolini Italy), authoritarianism (Chile under Pinochet), and communism. Communists believe in the equal distribution of wealth, which entails total government ownership and control of resources. Political systems have a great impact on management decisions. This includes political risk and government intervention in the economy. Political risk occurs when there is a possibility that the political climate in a foreign country will change in such a way that the operations of  international companies in that country will deteriorate. Types of political risk include government takeovers of property, operating restrictions, and agitation that damage the company performance. Such problems can be caused by changing opinions of political leadership, civil disorder, and changes in external relations (such as animosity between the home and host country governments. We can see many examples of the above in the Bata case. The companies operations were taken over in Czechoslovakia with the advent of communist rule. They are subject to operating restrictions in several countries where they are not allowed to have 100 percent ownership of their plants. Animosity between the home Canadian government and the South African host government during the Apartheid era was a contributing factor that lead to Bata’s eventual withdrawal from South Africa. Civil disorder and strike action has affected the companies operations in several countries over the years. Government intervention in the economy occurs because some governments adopt an ndividualistic paradigm?and keep intervention in the economy at a minimum. Others adopt a ommunitarian paradigm?wherein the government plays a larger role in the economy. They thrive on a respected, centralised bureaucracy with a stable political party or coalition in power. If a U.S. firm moves from the United States (individualistic) to Germany, Japan, or South Korea (communitarian), it may have to develop new strategies for its relationships with government, suppliers, customers, and competitors. Bata show evidence of adapting to different environments as the case states that the company is â€Å"run as a decentralised operation in which its managers are free to adjust operating procedures to local environments†. This highlights how the company acknowledge the need to be flexible in order to fit in under varying restrictions depending where in the world they are. Stable democracies are usually seen as the safest operating environment for businesses. In the Bata case Tom Bata Snr states that he prefers a democratic system â€Å"a democracy offers the potential to discuss and change proceedings, whereas under totalitarianism it is sometimes wisest to remain silent†. However, one must remember that not all democracies operate in the same way. For example the degree to which citizens are involved in the  political process and the degree of centralised control. In the case Bata relocate from Czechoslovakia to Canada. Here the provinces have significant political power at expense of the federal government. Many provinces have their own trade barriers. Companies often have difficulty determining how to operate in decentralised democratic systems because they face many different laws and regulations. For example different tax laws. For this reason one assumes that Bata carefully chose exactly which state it would relocate to when it moved to Canada. Bibliography ?Kurian, George Thomas 1992. Encyclopedia of the Third World, fourth edition, volume III, Facts on File: New York, N.Y., pp. 2009-2011. ?Source: Byrnes, Rita M. (ed.) 1992. Uganda A Country Study, Library of Congress: Washington D.C. p. 123 ?The history of Slovakia (1929 – 1938) From Wall Street Crash to Munich http://www.adc.sk/english/slovakia/index.htm ?Skilling H. G. ed.: Czechoslovakia 1918-88. MacMillan Academic and Professional LTD., 1991. ?J.D. Daniels and L.H. Radebaugh, International Business, Environment and Operations, 9th Edition – 2001, Prentice Hall. Ch 3 ?D. Holt and K. Wiggington, International Business, Second Edition ?2002, Harcourt College Publishers, Ch 3 ?Freedom House, http://www.freedomhouse.org/ ?R. Griffin and M. Pustay, International Business, A managerial perspective, Third Edition ?2002, Prentice Hall

Adults and ICT Essay

Ajesh Mehta is a normal employee who works in a pharmaceutical warehouse. This basically means he puts the boxes filled with medicines in the right places and inputs the number of what they are and their details in Microsoft Excel on a computer that he has at his work. He then makes a report on that and gives it to his boss and the other staff members. He uses many technologies. I will list them below and explain how he uses some of those technologies and how it has affected his personal and working life. TECHNOLOGIES THAT AJESH MEHTA USE:   Mobile Phones   CD Rewriters   Personal Organiser Internet Laptop. Email   Digital T. V. Microsoft Excel He says these technologies are a main part of his life and without them he wouldn’t have been able to do his work and enjoy easily. Microsoft Excel Although Ajesh Mehta doesn’t use Microsoft Excel personally but he mainly uses Microsoft Excel for work to do his reports. He says that Excel helps him to put his reports in their correct places very easily. Excel is like a spreadsheet and it is already set up in boxes; and unlike word in which you have to make tables and set them up in the size you want, which takes quite a lot of time, excel has everything ready for you. Before he started to use Excel, he used to have a lot of problems in a lot of different things. For example he always had to use scientific calculator to do all his calculations. But now as excel can do that quickly, he does it very fast. It used to take him about an hour to do all the calculation out the whole amount of time that he took to do his report, but now it only probably takes about fifteen minutes, out of the whole time. As he used to use word, he also had to make lots of tables and set them up in proper sizes. It used to take him about four to five hours just to do a single report as he had to do all the other things to make it ready just so he can do his report. But now the tables are ready for them, which saves him a lot of time and he can do his report in about two hours now. In excel we can also change the size and the colour, and we can also change the font like in word. It can also help you do bar charts like other seawares but very quickly and with easy processes. So in short it has also got the facility to do what other softwares do and plus its own unique ability. Now that he has started using Microsoft Excel, he can do his work quicker and doesn’t have to waste time. Despite all these advantages of Microsoft Excel, there are also disadvantages to this software. For example, there are lots and lots of different facilities that cannot be used by most people. Many people don’t have much knowledge in maths so they do not know how to use those facilities and as you know, Microsoft Excel was especially made for mathematical calculations. It would be quite hard for the user because he/she won’t be able to do those calculations. Another one of the disadvantages is that he feels is that the whole of Microsoft Excel is set up in tables. Then you can only write a little amount in certain places. Although you can spread the cells/boxes, you cannot write like other softwares like Microsoft Word. Ajesh Mehta finds this very annoying as he can’t write paragraphs in Excel. But he can do this by making it suitable but he is unaware of that. Therefore he has to write those things in Word and then copy them into Excel which takes a lot of time. So basically, although he has saved himself a lot of time by using Excel, he still wastes his time on other things. Now that he can complete his work faster, he always feels like doing more and more work. That basically means there is always work present for him. CDs Rewriters CD Rewriters are softwares, which allow you to write CDs on your computers. If you have two CD drives then you put your original CD in you first drive and a blank CD in the second drive and follow the process and the CD will be copied. There can also be CD Rewriters for the computers that only have one CD drive. This type of CD Rewriters copy the original CD on your hard drive and the when you put the blank CD in the drive, it puts that information onto that CD. Ajesh Mehta uses this software very often. He normally puts all information that he need to share with the other staff, onto a CD and then makes copies of that CDs and gives them to his staff. He does this about three times a week. He says it is very useful. He also think it is better than photocopying them lots of time on paper and then giving them out because he thinks that most of the time, the paper is lost before it reaches the person it is meant to be given to. The paper can also be torn before it reaches or it can be tore while in use. But he thinks that if everyone has a copy of the CDs with him or her then he or she can just print it when they need it even in future. Also, it takes very long to print a lot of copies, as they don’t have a laser printer. He would also need a lot of ink to print them of. But if everyone has their own copies then they could print it from their own computers, whenever they want. They can also look at it when at home on their own computers if they want to. On more of his problems with using CD Rewriters is that his company uses a lot of money to buy lots of CDs just so they can give a copy of the work they need to give to the other members of the staff. Another problems he thinks is very important is that after copying a lot of copies of the original CD then the CD gets really scratched which then goes useless. His CD drive also get very used up after using it a lot and they have to change it about every year, which costs a lot of money as well. There can be other ways that he can do this. For example he can use a network so that every person in his staff can have access to that file whenever they want. He could also attach those files via Email and send them to their email addresses. Al this would save their company a lot of time and money. This technology has affected his working life a lot. It saves him time because he can just start copying and then sit and do his other work. Although by using this brilliant technology, he thinks their company wastes a lot of money on blank CDs. But he thinks that even though they use a lot of money on blank CDs, it is useful as it can be used any time in the future as well. But as I said before, email could be very useful to him. Personally he uses CD Rewriters in a very different manner and also in many different ways. Mostly he uses it to make audio CDs of new songs so he can listen to them in his car. He likes listening to new songs very much. He said that he makes new CDs about twice a month. But the disadvantage of this is that when a CD is copied and as it is not original, it gets scratched very easily. So I would suggest that he could just buy a CD with don’t get scratched or he could always listen to radio. As Ajesh Mehta is very fond of keeping his computer up to date and not let it go slow, he re-boots his computer about once every year. So to keep the work that he has saved on his computer, he puts all his work on a CD. For this he uses a CD Rewriter, which he says helps him out a lot as he cant lose his work as after you re-boot a computer you lose all the work on it. But another alternative choice could be that he gets a virus protector which wont let his computer go slow very easily and so he wont have to re-boot his computer once a year. This way he will save time, money and so he will only have to re-boot his computer about once every three years. This is how CD Rewriters have helped Ajesh Mehta quite a lot in his both, working and personal life although he could use other options. This technology hasn’t affected his working styles a lot. But this does help him to take his work home and anywhere else when he needs to. Email Ajesh Mehta has an email account in Yahoo and Hotmail. He has had these accounts for more than four years. Email allows him to do his work very quickly and he also stays in touch with his friends and family. He only uses email for one reason at his work. When he has finished his work, he has to email his boss to say him that the work that he set has been finished and that he is waiting for further instructions. His boss then emails him back and then he does his further work. The problem for him by using this technology is that if he sends an email, it sometimes doesn’t go as the server might be down or there can be many people on that specific website. So he has to wait quite a long time. Sometimes the problem happens that he boss is not online. Even though this hardly ever happens, but it does happen sometimes. He gets very annoyed with this. Sometimes the same thing happens to his boss as well. Only other alternative for this could be to use a Telephone. This would be quicker than email, so it would save him time and he won’t have to stop every time he finishes his work. Although it would cost him money, it would at least be quicker. Personally he uses email to be in touch with his friends and relative. Every once a week he mails his parents and brother to ask how they and their family are. He emails them and gets a reply the next day, which is quite faster than snail mail. Although he keeps in touch with them via email, I would say Telephone would be much better for them. He could call them and talk to them in seconds while for email he has to wait a day for them to reply and sometimes the emails don’t even get through. But the thing is that phoning those costs a lot of money, so even better than Telephone would be Messenger. This way he could chat to them, talk to them and even see them if he wants to. This technology has affected Ajesh Mehta’s life a lot. He says if these technologies won’t there, then he would have had to waste lots of money which he can’t afford and so he won’t have been able to talk to his parents and brother every week. This technology is a very important part of his life. This technology has also affected his working styles. By the help of this technology, he can now send his little work files through files because there is no real point of writing CDs when the files are very small and only he needs it. But the bad effect is that when he gets his work home, he feels like working at home so he doesn’t get any time to socialise. Also by working at home, he doesn’t get any help or equipment that he uses at work. So he wastes his time doing his office work at home and he still doesn’t finish his work how it is supposed to be finished.