The efficiency of energy conservation Essay Example for Free

The efficiency of energy conservation Essay Safety In this experiments the staple that is fired has sharp ends to it and so it can be dangerous. So throughout this experiment I will wear goggles and work in an area away from others. Method 1) Set up the equipment as shown in the diagram on the first page. 2) Cut a 8cm of string 3) Attach the string to the weight holder (weight holder weighs 100g) 4) Attach the other end of the string to the elastic band. 5) Measure the extension of the elastic band and record it. 6) Get into the right position to record the height of the staple. 7) Cut the string and record the height to the nearest 5cm. 8) Repeat each test 3 times and then take an average of the height. 9) Repeat the same experiment using the next weight (200g). Obersavation and Recording To calculate the amount of elastic energy stored in the elastic band at different extension, I drew a graph based on the results shown below. The area under the graph is represented of the elastic energy stored at various extensions. From my graph, each 1cm   1cm square is represented ofThe elastic energy is an approximation. I have tried to be as accurate as possible whilst counting the squares. I found that the distance from the floor to the ceiling was 3. 32m and the distance the elastic band traveled from rest while attached to the clamp to the point where it hits the ceiling to be 2. 07m. From looking at the results we can see that the maximum height reached by the staple, the point where it hit the ceiling was when its extension was 10cm. From this I can calculate the amount of elastic energy stored in the band using my graph. I can also calculate the amount of energy transferred to the staple, ie the potential energy gained, by using the equation mgh. Evaluation In the experiment I was trying to measure the efficiency of the energy transfer for the staple fired into the air, by the elastic band. The energy conversion in the experiment is the transfer of elastic energy stored in the elastic band to potential energy gained by the staple after it has fired into the air. Elastic energy i Potential energy From looking at my results the general pattern is that an increase in extension increases the height of the staple that is fired. The graph I have produced, force extension graph also show this. The graph does not follow Hookes law, as the line is not straight. The values I collected for the elastic energy was 0. 170 J and energy converted into potential energy in the staple after it had been fired was 0. 041 J. The percentage efficiency for this energy transfer was 24. 1%. This means only a small amount of elastic energy was converted to potential energy and most of the energy had been lost. The reason for this could be due to the air resistance. I stretched the elastic at different lengths and observed how far the staple shot off as a result. At first the relationship between the extension and the distance was close, nearly the same. Then air friction could of decreased the distance traveled for a given stretch. This would mean that the staple would have gained less potential energy. Also this experiment involves the transformation of elastic energy to potential energy between the elastic and the staple. But when the elastic band is stretched and released this involve the transformation of elastic energy to kinetic energy so some energy could have been lost due to this kinetic energy. Another reason could be that when stretched, energy could of been lost as a form of heat. When the elastic band is stretched the rubber polymer chains become more orderly and H bonds form between these chains. This H bond formation is exothermic therefore the stretched elastic band will feel warm and heat will be lost. (Reversing this process (when unstretched), the polymer chains become disorderly, the H bonds break and as this is endothermic, heat is absorbed and the band feels cool. ) This heat energy lost will have an effect on the transfer of energy between the elastic band and the staple. To keep this experiment as accurate as possible I took 3 reading for each test and then I took an average. I used appropriate and reliable equipment and used them properly. When taking the results I will also draw the graph at the same time so if any chance an anomalous result does occurs I can go back and repeat the same test to get the right result. I also design the experiment so I would be as accurate as possible using the equipment from the lab. I thought that the experiment went well, the results that I got I thought was accurate and reliable. I thought that the experiment was well planned, reducing any factor that would lead to unreliable results. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE Electricity and Magnetism section.

Background of the Amway Business Venture

Background of the Amway Business Venture Amway was co-founded in 1959 by Jay Van Andel and Rich Devos, they worked together in a variety of small entrepreneurial ventures since their teens whereby they found that they shared many common values, interest and aspiration. Amway is well known for direct selling, and it started by developing and selling their own product line of high quality, high concentrated home care products. Multipurpose Liquid Organic cleaner, known as L.O.C. product line was the first companys product(httl://www.amway.com). Amway is a part of the Alticor group of companies (parent company) with headquarters in Ada, Michigan, USA. Company has wide range of products which reaches to some where around 450 quality of products. Amway has always been at the centre of Global market for the last 50 years hence their phrase Think Global, Act Local Amway is good at direct selling where they sell their product person to person manner generally in their home or home of others or other places away from permanent retail location whereby direct sales occur through explanation or demonstration by salespersons normally referred as Direct Sellers. This has proven successful, with direct selling in 2007 alone generating an annual turnover of close to 111 billion US $ worldwide. Amways trend has shown significant growth from when the company was founded. In 1960s its first years sales reached an impressive US$500,000 while the business continued to grow in United States, where Co-founders decided to expand to Canada in 1962. In 1989 Amway was recognised as a corporate leader in promoting environmental awareness and education when it received the United Nations Environmental program Achievement Award. In 1990s Amway saw a dramatic international expansion. In just half of the decade, Amway doubled the number of its international affiliates. Annual sales kept growing, by the end of decade more than 3 million sales people in some 80 countries and territories were involved in the Amway business worldwide and the retail sales reached and estimate US$5 billion. Around the world Amway affiliates continued to support their distributors with the launch of e-commerce sites that extends the Amway Business opportunity into cyberspace. The web-based Amway business around the globe, supported by the local distribution and manufacturing and warehousing facilities, has assured on time and accurate order processing and delivery of products. Amway today still remains under the parent company Alticor Inc.(www.alticor.com) today Alticor has net sales of US$7.1 billion (fiscal year 2007) sales force of more than 3 million independent business owners and contracting agents more than 13,000 worldwide em ployees, 160 distribution centre and among other developments. Amway has a long-standing tradition of Corporate Citizenship which since the company started has been an important goal. Amway is subjected to different laws in different countries and Amway goes beyond mere compliance with applicable legal requirements and always places importance on maintaining the highest ethical standards. This is ensured through; treating employees with due respect, maintaining a relationship with Amway Business Owners, which is based on trust and partnership, ensuring trustful relationship with customers, providing high quality products, caring for the environment through the conservation of resources committing themselves to the wider community. Social Responsibility since the founding days has always been an integral part of the company with its Global One by One campaign, Amway wants to provide children with a chance to live a better life, and to achieve this aim the company supports various projects promoting education and health as well as cultural advancement among children in more than 50 countries.. Amway have been successful because of their clear vision of the business, it has formulated strategies which has helped them achieve their goals and objective and also assist them in meeting their stakeholders needs and promoting corporate social responsibility in a global way and also acting in an ethical way, all these drives have enabled them in becoming one of the most successful direct selling company in the world. Cited on (www.amway.co.uk) LITERATURE REVIEW STRATEGY: It is important for any organisation to have a long term plan in order to achieve their objective. Hence strategy can be defined as long term objectives and general means by which an organisation/business intends to achieve them, it is an area of management that is concerned with general direction and long term policy of the business as distinct from short term tactics and day-today operations (Karami, 2007) according to one American Business historian, he defined strategy as the determination of the basic long term goals and objectives of an enterprise, and the adaptation of causes of action and the allocation of resources for carrying out those goals (Chandler, 1962). Strategy as both position and perspective can be compatible with strategy as plan and or pattern although these definitions can be involved more than just stating what a strategy is, in relation to these definitions Johnson and Scholes (1993) describe the strategy as concerned with: Full scope of an organisations activities Strategic Management: Mainly Strategies are created and designed for the whole organisation by senior managers therefore managing strategy should start from the top to bottom. Effective strategies involve discussion and communication. Strategic management focuses on integrating managerial abilities and techniques such as; marketing, financial/accounting, human resource management, production management, research development to achieve organizational success. (David 1995). Corporate Strategy: organisations should be able to sustain competitive advantage in a discrete and identifiable market, It is the way a company creates value through the configuration and co ordination of its multimarket activities. When all these are carefully managed then the organisation is able to achieve its competitive or corporate advantage. Corporate strategy involves the following; vision which is the ambitious aspiration of a company, for example; Amways CSR global strategic vision is to make life better for children, Goals and Objectives; short and medium-term quantitative targets e.g. Amway raising funds for good causes, resource; these are skills assets and capabilities of the firm, business; this is the industry by which the firm operates, Amway sells health and beauty products and it has extended its product portfolio to household. Structure; the way the corporation is divided into discrete units Systems; set of formal policies and routine and Processes; informal elem ents of the organizational activities. (Bower, 1970). Corporate Advantage results from a harmonious combination of the above elements which work together to create value of the company. The Strategic Planning Process The top down model which has a structure of top down is followed my quite a few big companies in the year 1970. According to this model the process in which strategic planning takes place became deliberate which involves high level managements who constructs the company strategy and further they push is over to organization for execution.(Nolan 1993). . The following is a flowchart model of this process: Mission | V Objectives | V Situation Analysis | V Strategy Formulation | V Implementation | V Control Organizational Mission The mission of the company is basically reason of its existence. Mission is generally presented in the form mission statement, which mainly explains the reasons for employee and work also the companies market image to customer. In the process of strategic formulation, this statement decides where company basically wants to go. Organizational Objectives Objectives are fixed targets that the organization wants to reach, generally in terms of most of organization its earning profit. The objectives is always challenging but should be reachable. The objective is countable enough for company as it can keep a track on its progress and also areas in which improvement needed. Organizational Situation Analysis Once firm has decided its target, it starts with its existing situation to make a strategic plan to reach those targets. Modification in the surrounding environment normally creates new opportunities and new ways to reach the targets. An environmental scan is performed to identify the available opportunities. The firm should know its own merits and demerits in order to select the scope that it can pursue with a more chances of success. The external surrounding consist of two aspects: the macro-environment which generally has affects on all companies and a micro-environment that impacts only the companies in a specific industry. The macro-environmental analysis consist of political, economic, social, and technological factors and sometimes is considered as a PEST analysis. ( Ansoff,1987) The situation analysis can produce huge amount of data, which is not mainly related to strategy building. To create the information and make it more manageable, it sometimes is beneficial to separate the internal factors of the company as strengths and weaknesses, and the external environmental factors as opportunities and threats. Such an analysis often is referred to as a SWOT analysis.( Brooksbank,1996) http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_swot.htm Organizational Strategy Formulation Once a clear image of the company and its surrounding is with you, particular strategic alternatives can be produced. While multiple company having multiple options differing from their situation. Michael Porter identified cost leadership, differentiation, and focus as three generic strategies that may be considered when defining strategic alternatives. Porter advised against implementing a combination of these strategies for a given product; rather, he argued that only one of the generic strategy alternatives should be pursued.( MIcheal Porter,2004) Organizational strategic Implementation The strategies are mostly shown in top-level specific terms and priorities. The existence of strategy in functional policies mainly highlights all the topics which are not easily visible or even accessible at higher level. Generally the strategy are shifted to particular policies in functional domain like Marketing, R D, Procurement, Production, Human resources, Information systems. The one of the important task involved in this process is identifying all the available resources and then further arranging them at right place in the company. Organizational Control After any strategy being implemented then further ahead at each stage the strategy gets measured and recalculated in order to make changes subject to requirement. The special control system is generally being facilitate to look after this. Performance is generally standardized to particular level and every individual performance is cross checked to ensure the success of the objective. The whole process and the end result of success generally can be seen via tools such as Dashboard etc STAKEHOLDERS: Stakeholders is generally a person, group or company which has direct or indirect share in an cmpany. The concept stakeholder was developed by R. Edward Freeman in year 1980. They can be either external or internal to the organisation. There are various types of stakeholders which can be one of the following: Employees, Communities, Shareholders, Investors, Government, Suppliers, Labour Unions, Government regulatory Agencies, Industry Trade Groups, Professional Associates, NGOs, Prospective employees, Prospective customers, Local communities, National Communities, Public (Community), and Competitors. Further more internal stakeholders are the ones who are generally a members of the business organisation and they can also inclusive of Owners and shareholders, managers, staff and employees Mainly External stakeholders are not considered as a part of the company; where as few groups has both internal and external stakeholders. Such as staff or shareholders who are also local residents. Also External stakeholders present outside the company but has a direct interest in what it does. All stakeholders are not essentially equal and are entitled to different considerations. First is to establish who exactly your stakeholders are. Communication of Strategy With stake holders Amway have a wide range of stake holders, whereby each one of them have interest in the company. These are as follow: Global headquarters Amway Europe; they are interested in the growth of the business and want to see the CSR strategy matches with the company strategy as a whole. Amway regularly communicates with them through publications and updating their sites regularly. ABOs; the main interest is that they want to see the company (Amway UK) being a responsible caring organization at the same time as helping them earn some money. Communication is through face to face i.e. regular meetings example in 2005 they organized a joint briefing for ABO leaders, printed materials and Emails Customers; they are more interested in good quality products which meet their needs as well as being efficient. Normally Amway uses direct selling for their product which is door to door hence they are able to meet them face to face. Staff; it is at interest of any staff in a company to work for an organ ization which does the right thing and which make them feel comfortable at work place, this could be in terms of having good training in place among other needs. Main method of communication is face to face either with their managers etc. AMWAYS Business Strategy Amway being a global direct sales company, works with around three million ABOs in over 80 countries. These ABOs form the links with consumers and the communities in which they operate by offering and selling them a wide range of Amways own branded products. ABOs are stakeholders in Amway. Amway manufactures and then distributes a range of their branded products to the ABOs worldwide, the typical products that ABOs sell include: Skin care and cosmetics, Personal care, e.g.; fragrances, body care, etc, Clothing and footwear, Cookware, Water treatment systems and Nutrition and wellness products such as food supplements, food and drinks. The ABOs are self employed and are highly motivated people, hence the Amways support in enabling people to have their own businesses. The ABOs operate their business independently as small businesses and develop direct supply channels and sell the products to people who they know or meet. They also introduce others to the Amway business, this chain is shown in a simple diagram on the following page: Source: www.thetimes100.co.uk The ABOs work to Amways rules of conduct and code of Ethics, which are about being honest and responsible in trading, Amway places strong emphasis on the ABOs since they are more able to focus on individual customers and their needs, hence serving them better and building lasting relations with them. They work in a self regulatory environment, and should also have a flexible approach to business. However as mentioned earlier they sign a contract to work within Amways rules of conduct and code of Ethics, since they are the final and the most influential contact with the end consumers in the supply chain, and if they do not operate within the set rules it could bring a bad impression on the company. CONCLUSION: Base on our findings we have been able to find out how Amway have been successful in doing their business. Amway have been able to succeed in developing hundreds of product they sell through direct selling, though they engage in direct selling method they have few retail outlet whereby customers can purchase their products. Stakeholders are integral part of the business today and their contribution shape the success of the business as a whole, clearly Amway ensures that by meeting their needs at all aspects of their business. Today many businesses need to have a Strategy the way they do their business it is important because it reinforces the strength between the business owners and the stakeholders at large. Amway take this aspect seriously in the way they do their business and tries to be ethical in what they do especially when they are conducting business in different countries it is important to respect rules and regulation of each country. Good communication is important in any business today, either internally or externally, Amway have strategic communication in place and this enables them to be able to do business and they continue to improve on their communication through innovation and development of software and communication networks. All this have helped to shape Amway and enabled them to be one of the best Corporation Globally today.

AN analysis of child labour in india

AN analysis of child labour in india Child labour has been in India from a long time in some form or the other. Practice of child labour in match box industries, glass bangle industries and is very commonly seen in cheap restaurants and dhabas etc. Generally speaking child labour can be said to be the exploitation or abuse of children in factories, industries etc, who are below the age specified by law working (mentally or physically) to earn for his/her own survival or to support his/her family partially or fully, and which prevents his/her social and education development may be said to be child labour. The reasons which are generally responsible for child labour may include  [1]  : Poverty, Ignorance, Illiteracy, Population explosion, Lack of knowledge of their own rights, Big amounts of debt on the parents, Large size of family but not enough income to support such big family, Lack of social security scheme in the country, Weak enforcement of labour laws. According to an U.N.O report India has the maximum child labour in the world i.e. approx 20 per cent.  [2]  On the basis of Census 1991 and various governmental and non-governmental organizations following are the number of child labourers in India  [3]  : Census 1991 2.63 crore, Organization research group, Baroda, 1994-95 4.44 crore, Centre for concern of Child Labour 10 crore. Extra-governmental volunteer organization more than 5 crore. The numbers may vary according to different organizations but the fact is clear that the numbers of child labourers in India are in crores, which is again a pathetic sight, especially with all the various child labour legislation and the Constitutional provisions. In a report by the Labour Ministry every 4th child is a child labour, aged between 5-14 years and there is one child labour in every three families.  [4]   But its not as if Indian governments havent done anything about this grave social stigma, over the years it has enacted many statutory legislations and Constitutional provisions in order to eradicate the problem of child labour, to name some of them, we have: Labour legislations: The Child Labour Act, 1986, The Factories Act, 1948, The Mines Act, 1952, The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, The Minimum Wages Act, 1948, The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act, 2000 Constitutional provisions  [5]  : Article 24 provides: strictly prohibits children to work in hazardous environment. Article 21, 45 gives the right to education to all the children below the age of 14years. Article 39 declares the duty of the State to provide the children a free facilities to develop in conditions of freedom and dignity in a healthy manner. India is also a party to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child, 1959. India is also a signatory to: ILO Forced Labour Convention (No. 29); ILO Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (No. 105); UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children. The Government of India adopted the National Policy for Children (NPC) in August 1974. This Policy provided that  [6]  It shall be the policy of the state to provide adequate service to children both before and after birth and through the period of their growth, to ensure their full physical, mental and social development. The State shall progressively increase the scope of such services so that, within a reasonable time, all children in the country enjoy optimum conditions for their balanced growth. Indian is also a party to United Nations Declaration on the Rights of the Child, 1959 and Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1992 and has formulated its labour laws in accordance to International Labour Conference resolution of 1979. The first part of the paper aims to look into the various legislations relating to child labour. In the second part we shall look into the various precedents set by the Supreme Court of India on the issue of child labour and finally the conclusion. Chapter 1 CONSTITUTIONLA AND STATUTORY PROVISIONS Constitutional provisions The government of India has enacted various labour laws has in accordance to International Labour Conference resolution of 1979. The Constitution of India, through various articles enshrined in the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy, lays down that: Article 21 (A) The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age six to 14 years; Article 24 No child below the age of fourteen years shall be employed to work in any factory or mine or engaged in any other hazardous employment. The word hazardous employment in Art 24 also includes construction industry, also in P.N. v. U.O.I  [7]  , it has been laid down that Art 24 is enforceable even in the absence of implementing legislations;  [8]   Article 39(e) States that the health and strength of workers, men and women, and the tender age of children are not abused and that citizens are not forced by economic necessity to enter avocations unsuited to their age or strength; Article 39(f) States that childhood and youth are protected against exploitation and against moral and material abandonment  [9]  . Hence Art 39 in whole requires the state to ensure and protect the children and provide proper child care. Article 45 The State shall endeavour to provide, within a period of ten years from the commencement of this Constitution, for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of fourteen years The framers of the Constitution imposed a duty on the State under Article 45 as one of the directive principles of the State Policy to provide free and compulsory education to all children until they complete the age of 14 year with the sole objective of completely eradicating illiteracy and child labour. Also many of the states had passed various Acts providing for free and compulsory primary or elementary education to children. But unfortunately years after the commencement of the Constitution the goal set by this Article which was to be achieved in 10 years, have yet not been reached. But the provision in article 39(f) and 45 of the constitution gave certain directions in providing a better quality of life of children employed in the factories. Labour legislations The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986: The Act prohibits the employment of children below the age of 14 years in 13 occupations and 51 processes that are hazardous to the childrens lives and health listed in the Schedule to the Act  [10]  . The Factories Act, 1948: The Act completely prohibits children working below the age of 14 years  [11]  . It further states that if a child is between 15 and 18 years of age, can be employed in a factory only if he has a certificate of fitness granted with reference to him under section 69 which is in the custody of the manager of the factory. The Act also says that no child shall be employed or permitted to work, in any factory for more than four and a half hours in any day; The Mines Act, 1952: The Act prohibits the employment of children in mines, who have not completed their 15th year. The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act, 2000: This Act was last amended in 2002 in conformity with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child covers young persons below 18 years of age. Section 26 of this Act deals with the Exploitation of a Juvenile or Child Employee, and provides in relevant part, that whoever procures a juvenile or the child for the purpose of any hazardous employment and keeps him in bondage and withholds his earnings or uses such earning for his own purposes shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable for fine. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009: The Act states that all children aged 6 to 14 years shall be provided free and compulsory education. It further states that all private schools should allocated 25 per cent of their seats for disadvantaged and differently abled children. Chapters 2 Precedents set by Supreme Court Though the government of India has enacted various labour legislations to prevent child labour still there are some contradiction among them, mainly the definitional debates on child labour as different legislation provide different definition of a child. Section 2(ii) of The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986, defines child as a person who has not completed his fourteenth year of age; Section 2(c) of The Factories Act, 1948 defines child as a person who has not completed his fifteenth year of age; Section 2(e) of The Mines Act, 1952 defines child as a person who has not completed his fifteenth year; Section 2(c) of The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, defines child as male or female child of the age of six to fourteen years; Section 2(k) of The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection) of Children Act, 2000 defines child as a person who has not completed eighteenth year of age; Section 2(c) of The Plantations Labour Act, 1951 defines child as a person who has not completed his fourteenth year of age Hence, we can clearly observe that these legislation are at contradiction to each other in defining whos a child and setting an uniform age limit. Therefore the centre and respective state governments should set a uniform universal minimum age of the child as these contradictions adversely affect the objective of protection from child labour and providing a better educational and social development to children of India. Following are few of important Supreme Court cases that have helped in framing better laws regarding child labour: In Democratic Rights V. Union of India  [12]  , it was contended that the Employment of Children Act, 1938 was not applicable in the matter of employment of children in construction works, as it was not mentioned in the act. But the court held even construction work is a hazardous employment and no child below the age of 14 years can be employed as given under Art 24 of the Indian Constitution, even though construction industry has not been specified in the schedule to the Employment of children Act, 1938, thus the SC rejected the contention. In Salal Hydro Project vs. Jammu and Kashmir  [13]  , the Court has restated the principle laid in Democratic Rights V. Union of India  [14]  that Construction work is hazardous employment and any child below 14 cannot be employed in this work. In Sheela Barse and others vs Union of India and others  [15]  , Bhagawati, C.J. quoted from National Policy for the welfare of Children incorporated to provide better social and educational development to the children of India : The Nations children a supremely important asset. Their nurture and solicitude are our responsibility. Childrens programme should find a prominent part in our national plans for the development of human resources, so that our children grow up to become robust citizens, physically fit, mentally alert and morally healthy, endowed with the skill and motivations needed by society. Equal opportunities for development to all children during the period of growth should be our aim, for this would serve our large purpose of reducing inequality and ensuring social justice. In M.C. Mehta v State of Tamil Nadu Ors  [16]  , the SC gave direction to the Union and state governments to identify all children and withdraw them from working in hazardous processes and occupations, and to provide them with free and proper education as incorporated into the Constitution, Artcle 21-A. The Court also directed the Union and state governments to set up a Child Labour Rehabilitation-cum-Welfare Fund using contributions from employers who breach the Child Labour Act. In Unnikrishnan v. State of Andhra Pradesh,  [17]  the SC held that every child has the right to free education till the age of 14 years. Artcle 21-A which was incorporated into the Constitution, reflects this standard. CONCLUSION It is said that child is the father of man, and the children of our country are our biggest asset. The government of India has enacted several laws in order to provide healthy social and educational environment for the children. But in spite of all the laws enacted, problem of child labour still persists in our Indian society that is because child labour laws are themselves flawed in some way or the other or suffer from poor implementation of programmes. Though awareness towards child labour has increased and now there are several NGOs trying their best, but today what we require is to take concrete actions, the central and respective state governments need to provide for better machinery for enforcing child labour laws. Unless this is achieved our country wont be completely free the burden of child labour.

GM Financial Overview Essay -- GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

GM Financial Overview Introduction The General Motors Corporation is a multifaceted company but its primary function is the manufacturing of automobiles and light trucks (SIC 3711). The General Motors stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and has approximately 1,426,592,046 outstanding shares on the marketplace, as of 10/14/2001. It is headquartered in Detroit Michigan with offices around the world. General Motors has many other operations besides automobile manufacturing including: General Motors Acceptance Corporation Financial Services, Hughes Electronics Corporation, and the GM Locomotive Group. (Disclosure.com) Financial Statement Analysis Overall, General Motors has had five profitable years with increasing sales during the same period. GM has also paid a fixed dividend to its shareholders over the same period. The one-year, which was below average for GM, was 1998. During this period, GM was restructuring its top management and operations and also incurred a union strike of 54 days. However, GM did return to better performance in 1999 and 2000. GM overall was able to attain a fixed dividend of $2.00 per share and increase the shareholders value over the past five years. The first observation from the financial data in appendix one is that General Motors has a low profit margin and is generally less than the industry average each year. The firm is able to keep a low profit margin because they have such high sales volumes throughout the world. This strategy can be both an asset and liability in business planning. The plus side of the strategy is that GM is able to sell a large number of vehicles in the marketplace due to the lower selling price as compared to the competitor. However, the down side of the strategy is that there is a possibility that if sales volumes decrease, the firm can incur a significant decline in the EPS because the profit margin on each item sold is very low. If the global economy sours, GM can have a very difficult time meeting shareholder expectations. Another observation is that GM looks to use more debt financing that equity financing for funding their activities. The debt to equity ratio has steadily decreased over the past five years and is higher that the industry average. Also, the current and quick ratios are much lower than the industry averages. This again can pose so... .... 1996 edt. (1997) (page 320). Murray Hill, NJ: Dun & Bradstreet. Dun & Bradstreet. Industry Norms and Key Business Ratios. 1995 edt. (1996) (page 327). Murray Hill, NJ: Dun & Bradstreet. General Motors Corp. (2001, October 14). Retrieved on October 20, 2001 from www.disclosure.com. General Motors Corporation 1998 Annual Report. (1998). (pp. 55 – 83). General Motors Corporation 1999 Annual Report. (1999). (pp. 53 - 93). General Motors Corporation 2000 Annual Report. (2000). (pp. 41- 79). Standard & Poor’s. General Motors (GM). (1999) Standard Corporation Descriptions. (pp. 6000 – 6003) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Troy, PhD., Leo. Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios. 32nd edt. (2001) (page 159) Paramus, NJ: Prentice Hall. Troy, PhD., Leo. Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios. 31st edt. (2000) (page 159) Paramus, NJ: Prentice Hall. Troy, PhD., Leo. Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios. 30th edt. (1999) (page 159) Paramus, NJ: Prentice Hall. Troy, PhD., Leo. Almanac of Business and Industrial Financial Ratios. 29th edt. (1998) (page 159) Paramus, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Acetaminophen :: essays research papers

Acetaminophen   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the late 1800’s it was discovered that papa-amino-phenol, could reduce fever, but the drug was too toxic to use. A less toxic extract called phenacetin was later found to be just as effective but also had pain-relieving properties. In 1949, it was learned that phenacetin was metabolized into an active but also less toxic drug, acetaminophen. Since then, acetaminophen has been sold under many over the counter brand names, most popular being Tylenol.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Acetaminophen serves one basic purpose, to relieve pain. It is the main ingredient in pain killers that relieve headaches. It also substitutes anesthesia in circumcision surgery because anesthesia often cannot be used on infants. Dr. Michael Weitzman and 2 other doctors performed an experiment on an infant to test the effectiveness of the drug. The results were not identical, but there were increases in heart rate respiratory rate and crying. But the drug did more good as a pain reliever after the surgery than before the surgery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Acetaminophen is ingested orally and is rapidly and completely absorbed into the gastrointestinal tract. It works in about one hour. The liver detoxifies 90% of it by mixing it with sulfuric acid, and another 3-5% is catabolized by enzyme reactions to the acid. The metabolites are excreted in the urine. The dosage of the drug should be used according to the carton instructions. A 10 gram over dose in adults, 140 mg for kids, can cause permanent liver damage. Also if you had just taken some other drugs , The acetaminophen may become more toxic since the drugs are catabolized in the liver. To protect yourself from injury, you should take 1 gram of vitamin C and Cysteine -a bodily antioxidant.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The kidneys can be permanently damaged if you continuously take the drug over a long period of time. You can get all kinds of cancers such as heart, liver , kidney. 40 % increase !!There are no nutrient supplements known to protect against kidney damage, but some amino acids such as Taurine powder and lots of Vitamin E might help.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Some people alternate the use of other OTC such as Aspirin, which also has other dangerous effects , but hopefully will reduce acetaminophen toxicity.

What is Socially Believed to be Beautiful

You can never be too thin or too rich, said the Duchess of Windsor. She might have added â€Å"or too pretty. † What psychologists call the â€Å"attractiveness stereotype† is so strong that beauty is literally equated with goodness. Good-looking people are not only preferred for dates, friendships and jobs, they're believed to have more intelligence and integrity. It goes without saying that the beauty bias is even more powerful and universal for women. Beautiful women are thought to be more feminine, and femininity is associated with being emotional, passive and nurturing (Heilman). There's not much bad news about being beautiful. Helena Maria Viramonte†s â€Å"Miss Clairol† focuses on this point. She uses the characters of mother and daughter, Arlene and Champ, to emphasis the vanity of our culture and the reliance on the products required for a transformation into what is socially believed to be beautiful. Recently in history, women, who were far from being pawns and victims, used makeup to declare their freedom, identity, and sexual allure as they flocked to enter public life. The first social history of American beauty culture: a richly textured account of how women created the cosmetics industry and how cosmetics created the modern woman. You don't need the latest census to tell you that America is, more than ever, a rainbow of faces with worldwide roots. More and more women of African, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American heritage are celebrating their own personal beauty, and the cosmetics industry is responding. Viramonte uses the character of Champ to show the changing mood in America towards the need to fall in line for men and the cultures expectations. Arlene is from an older generation that requires a man for survival. This was a time of women's rights and freedom of expression. The women are entering the workplace side by side of men and the rules would change towards the believe of beauty is required to succeed in life (Heilman). It is very unfortunate, but very beautiful women are patronized in professional situations, sexually harassed in private and hassled on the street in greater numbers than their less stunning sisters. A breathtaking beauty can be isolated by both the jealousy of other women and men's fear of rejection. Extremely beautiful women can also fall into their own snares. Some never challenge themselves beyond their looks, and end up in considerable fear of losing them. (In middle age, exceptional beauties have been found to be less happy than average-looking women. ) But, considering all the advantages, â€Å"Please don't hate me because I'm beautiful† can sound like a ridiculous whine. Most of us would take the gamble. Because what is beautiful is sex-typed, attractive men are thought more competent, and attractive women less competent (Heilman). â€Å"Attractive women have a significant edge landing management positions because they are more able to step out of sex roles in the job market,†says psychologist Barry Gillen. The implication is that it pays to appear as unattractive and masculine as possible to succeed in traditional organizations. If all other factors being equal, the â€Å"good-looking† earn 10% more than the â€Å"homely,† and that the situation was worse for men than women (Wall Street Journal). Overall the attractive earn higher salaries, but a breakdown revealed that the advantage applied to men, older subjects and people in â€Å"male† jobs, but was not true for women, younger subjects and â€Å"female† jobs (Heilman). â€Å"The only aspect of corporate success that other executives don't associate in some way with either gender or appearance,† says Madeline Heilman of New York University. A woman whose ascent is swift is considered to have risen due to her merit. Maria Viramonte†s â€Å"Miss Clairol† hits on the point of how sex an achievement into adulthood. The characters are shown to be mere objects to men, and sex is only a tool required to transport them to their belief of the American dream: little yellow house with a white picket fence, couple of kids, a dog, and a wonderful hard working husband as shown on television. Young women are warned, â€Å"Men only want one thing! † Older women have been heard to say, â€Å"So where are those sex maniacs? † As comedians know, timing is everything. Psychologists who examine biology to explain the differences between men's and women's attitudes toward sex connect men's greater concern with a partner's appearance to the evolutionary imperative to carry on the species: Men are seeking sex with a woman young enough to bear children. Women, on the other hand, look to a man's status (often indistinguishable in our society from his bank account) to ensure protection while bearing and caring for the next generation. It's a numbers game, say evolutionary psychologists: many sperm, few eggs. Men were programmed to sow as many seed as possible (screw anything that moves). Women were engineered to save their health and energy during the long human gestation period (could easily prefer a nap or a bite to eat). Though it may preserve elements of our evolutionary past, sexual attraction is more influenced by current cultural standards. The problem comes up when the standard is Barbie. Women judge themselves more harshly than men do. The majority of women believe men want them to be thinner, bustier and blonder than they are. Men prefer a larger ideal female figure than women do. Eighty-four percent of women think men prefer blonde hair; the real figure is 35%. Men tend to favor women with the same hair color they have. Men tend to think they're fine just as they are. Women substantially overestimate society's fixation on large breasts (Peacock). Women, who want â€Å"better† bodies aren't just trying to please men, but are motivated by personal ideals. Today, 47% of normal-weight American women who think they are too fat are making themselves unhappy by buying into the improbable supermodel standard. Just as Champ is fixed on collected all the photos of ideal women from magazines. Champ and all women are lost in a void of what they believe are the aesthetics of beauty. What men want is not nearly as extraordinary as women might imagine. Psychologists and their term â€Å"attractiveness stereotype† are so strong that beauty is literally equated with goodness. Good-looking people are always going to have the advantage in our culture. That†s just the way it is, and most likely always will be. The shift is towards truth and not ignorance; smart people are winning more battles. The truth of it all is that in the end the battle of vanity, an undue pride in ourselves and our appearance will always end with us when we are all alone.

Gender Essay

For almost of its history, western sandwich g overn spielforcetal scheme has ignored women. Women confound seldom appe argond in its analyses of who should throw off billet, when it in conclusion decided to notice women it usu every(prenominal)y def destinati angiotensin converting enzymed their extrusion from national affairs and their confinement to the interior(a) only r argonly pay off women been give earn as semi semipolitical animals worthy of serious consideration. The inequalities that subsist between men and women are seen as of teeny-weeny practical importance and sup limital interest.Feminist political theory however, sees womens situation as central to political analysis, its focuses on why in most societies men appear to gravel to a greater extent occasion and exemption than women and how can this be changed. The term libber came into use during the 1880s, indicating keep for womens equal legal, frugal, sociable and political rights with men. (Brys on, 2003) Feminism reflects the varied deficiencys and perceptions of women in various societies and situations. Feminists argue that all women give route the right to preparation, employment, political participation and well(p) legal par.Although beefed-uply remote in the past, they are largely get d birthed in the west today. However, women nonoperational tolerate disadvantaged despite gaining legal rights. (Bryson, 2003) All womens rightist do not think alike. Depending on time, culture and country womens liberation movement well-nigh the terra firma have mosttimes had unlike causes and goals. The labels help mark the range of different approaches, perspectives and frame dallys a variety have utilize to shape some(prenominal) their explanations for womens oppressiveness and their proposed solutions for its elimination.The trinity groups of libber theories I leave al whiz attempt to analyse in fix to assess their contributions against what is slamn ab stun ned Caribbean women and their realities in this es read are all-embracing, stalk and shameful libber perspectives. One thing we know slightly Caribbean women is that they have always moulded. Womens position in the Caribbean has been characterised by a dual fiddle role, they engage in both mansion and extra household work, in nightspot to provide for their families. secernate has sh give, that after slavery the tradition of distaff savvy play alongd.Joycelin Massiah states that subdued women had no alternative but to work, because the idea of man as the breadwinner was unrealistic and unattainable. Women were forced to take the study responsibility of their households because a large come in of men had emigrated. Erna Brodber examined the role of women in some Caribbean countries. She states that despite the general image of char which stressed on the abstention from bodily work for elite fair sex, Caribbean women continued to seek work impertinent the househo ld and financing themselves.Brodber also states that images of fair women portray them as delicate and unassuming, the baleful woman is portrayed as hardworking to the mastermind of being comical. (Massiah, 1986) Work eruptside the household however did not cost little Caribbean women from their household responsibilities these women mute had to check up on their husbands were still taken care of. Men in the Caribbean societies felt that because of economic circumstances, fe priapics should be use outside the home and should set up to the expenses.They also believe that domestic duties should still remain the womans responsibility, even if she is employed. In the exoteric domain of a function, women defer widely to priapic authority and decision making, but in the domestic domain, she exercises indicant. (Massiah, 1986) Radical womens rightist movement claimed to go to the roots of womens burdensomeness, and it proclaimed itself as a theory of, by and for women as such, it was imbrutedd firmly in womens own experiences and perceptions.Secondly, it saw the heaviness of women as the most fundamental and universal progress to of domination, and its aim was to ascertain and go against strategies for the end of that conquering. Thirdly, women as a group had interests opposed to those of men these interests united them in a popular sisterhood that transcended the division of course of study and pelt along, and meant that women should struggle together to achieve their own liberation. (Bryson, 2003) Radical womens liberationist movement names all women as part of an oppressed group, stressing that no woman can walk tweak the street or even alert in her home safely without guardianship of violation from men.French womens liberationist Christine Delphy points out that like all oppressed slew, umpteen women do not like to accept that they are part of an oppressed group, growth various forms of denial in localise to avoid identificat ion. To the radical womens rightists, patriarchy is the oppressing expression of male domination. Radical feminism makes male control visible as it is exercised in every sphere of womens lives, both public and private. It stresses that emancipation or equality on male terms is not enough.A total revolution of the kindly structures and the elimination of the processes of patriarchy are essential. (Rowland & Klein, 1991) patriarchate is the domination of men over women. Kate Millets early work (1971) is a cheeseparing example of the approach that sex is a status category with political implications. Patriarchy, dominates over clear up, religion, race and culture. Patriarchy is a dust of structures and institutions created by men in order to sustain and recreate male power and effeminate subordination.Institutional structures like the law, religion, the family, have ideologies which perpetuate the naturally inferior position of women socialization processes to ensure that women and men find behaviour and belief systems appropriate to the mighty or powerless group to which they belong. These structures are dominated by men who ensure that they maintain these positions. Within the private domain of the family, men have structured a system whereby womans procreative capacity leaves her vulnerable and powerless, domestically exploited, and entrapped in economic dependence. (Rowland & Klein, 1991)The family is maintained through the whimsicality of romantic love between men and women, when in fact wedding contracts traditionally have an economic base. Womens labour inside the family, which has been unpaying and unac companionshipd, is defined as labour of love. Women by temper are said to be passive, dominated and willing to be led. Processes like socialisation of children encourage this situation to continue. Patriarchy has a material base in 2 senses. First, the economic systems are structured so that women have difficulty getting paid labour in societ y which value only paid labour and in which money is the currency of power.Women without economic independence cannot sustain themselves without a breadwinner. They cannot leave a brutal husband, cannot withdraw sexual, emotional and tangible servicing from men, they cannot have equal formulate in decisions affecting their own lives. Radical womens rightists have therefore stressed the urgency for women to exercise economic power in their own lives. The second material base is the womans proboscis. Women in marriage are seen to be owned by their husbands and cannot bring a urbane courting of rape.Womens bodies are advertised and lamp bareamoor alike objectified and defined as other(a)(a) and available for male use. Rowland & Klein, 1991) Radical libbers sees the conquest of women as universal, crossing race and ethnical boundaries, as well as those of category and other structures like age and sensual ability. One of the basic tenets of radical feminism is that wha tsoever woman in the world has more than in common with any other woman regardless of class, race, age, ethnicity, nationality, than any woman has with any man. In sistership is Global (1984) Robin Morgan draws together contributions from feminists in seventy countries, the majority of which are deuce-ace world countries.She begins with a quote about the global position of women in the spread over to the UN Commission on the states of women. While women map out half the global population and one third of the labour force, they receive one tenth of the world income and own less than one percent of the worlds property. They are also responsible for devil thirds of all working hours. In the developing world women are responsible for more than fifty percent of all viands production. In the industrial nations women are still paid only half to three quarters of mens wages. some of the world are starving are women and children.Women in all countries bear the iterate burden of un paid housework in association with any paid work they do. Radical feminists thus hold that women are oppressed primarily and in the scratch line instance as women. But because of residues in their lives created by, for example culture and class, women experience oppression differently. (Rowland & Klein, 1991) Black feminist theorising has do censorious contributions to feminist epistemology. The theory comprises of a body of work by dumb feminist intellectuals reacting to the failure of vivacious feminist instructive framework to adequately comprehend the realities of calamitous women.Feminists like Sojourner equity, Audre Lorde, Patricia Bell, Patricia Hill Collins as well as many others interrogated existing feminist theories and found them lacking, as they broad ignored or denied black womens specific experiences. For instance Sojourner Truths powerful statement on racial inequalities Aint I A woman was a 19th atomic number 6 deconstruction of the notion of a global, common womanhood and an insistence on inserting black womanhood in the concept of what it meant to be a woman.In her speech Truth argued that sporting women were placed on a pedestal and gave them certain privileges (mostly that of not working), this military posture was not extended to black women. oral presentation of the U. S. A in the 1970s Audre Lorde stated, by and large, within the womens movement today, blank women focus upon their oppression as woman and ignore differences of race, sexual preference, class and age. (Barriteau, 2006) The work of black feminists reveals hierarchies of power within categories of race, class, gender, time-worn relations, sexual urge and sexual orientation.Black feminism demonstrates that uncontaminating or other feminist theorising refuses or fails to recognise race as a social relation of domination within feminism and society. Radical, socialist and disinterested feminist had examined other oppressive social relations but none had made race central to their analysis, black feminist theory exposes racism. They focus on difference in order to understand problems of oppression. Audre Lorde points out that white radical feminist bloody shame Daly images white women as Goddesses, with African women incoming her analysis only as victims and preyers upon each other.Here Lorde exposes a let out distortion that is similar to how early information discourses constructed women in the Caribbean. Women in the south, whether Caribbean, or African were seen as helpless victims in need of international development intervention. (Barriteau, 2006) This theory holds that the constructed invisibility if black womens lives must be challenged. For example, much of the history of the West Indies was ground on the activities of black men. Black feminist thinkers underline the importance of using lived experiences as a criterion for generating knowledge.Deborah Kings concept of ninefold jeopardy or multiple consciousness shifted the conception of womens oppression as confined within ethnic and racial boundaries. She was concerned with the invisibility of black women. She noted that class contrast compounded the problem of racism and sexism for black women and felt that class constituted a third jeopardy. She therefore defined multiple jeopardy as, a way to understand the ways in which various forms of oppression interact in ways that negatively affect the lives of black women.Much of feminist theory represents white ethnocentric feminist theorising and is therefore inadequate in not addressing the concerns of other women, especially black women. (Barriteau, 2006) conflicting radical feminism, black feminism goes on to demonstrate how anti-Semite(a) relations make out black women into the private realm. Experiences of relations of oppression within households differ for black or minority women in a racist state. Central to black feminist theorising is the knowledge that patriarchal relations structure women s lives very differently to their male peers.The determine of the father enforces mens power in the family and society. In the Caribbean, men have assumed the role of patriarchs. Black feminist theory reveals that there are other dimensions to black womens experiences of the home that are not captured by other feminist theories, especially for those black women who for centuries have been oblige to work outside the home, whether in fields, factories or the homes of others. Many of these women instead of longing to be liberated from the home, they yearn for the opportunity to go home or stay at home.Hazel Carby noted that ideologies of black female domesticity and motherhood have been constructed through black womens employment in movable positions as domestic workers and surrogate mothers to white families rather than in relation to their own families. (Barriteau, 2006) In terms of sexuality, black women have been stereotyped as having wild and unruly sexual urges. Black women we re presented as all whorish or unsexed they were either nanny-goat or jezebel. Evelyn Hammond has argued that black womens sexuality is constructed in opposition to that of white women.In the struggle for sexual liberation, many white women demanded reproductive technologies in order to register yes to sex, while black women wanted liberty and freedom from a racist and searching state in order to say no. (Barriteau, 2006) Criticisms of black feminist theory are that sometimes there is the depressive disorder that all oppressions are equal, and it has been critiqued for assuming that black women have a superior point of view in the world. There is also a sense in which persons of African occupation are favor in black feminist thought. (Bryson, 2003) The final theory I will analyse is the liberal feminist theory.Liberalism is based on the principle of unmarried liberty, in which every person should be allowed to exercise freedom of choice. Each separate should be given equa l opportunities and civil rights, but that was conceived of as a privilege that should extend to European men. When it comes to state interventions in the private sphere, liberals agree that the less we see of Big brother in our homes the better. (Tong, 2009) Liberal feminist Mary Wollstonecraft has been very important in her writing, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. She wrote at a time when the economic and social position of European women was in decline.These women were left at home with little productive work to do, and they were married to comparatively wealthy professional men. These women had no incentive to work outside the home or, if they had several(prenominal) servants inside it. (Tong, 2009) Middle class ladies were, in Wollstonecrafts estimation, kept women who sacrificed health, liberty and deservingness for whatever prestige, merriment and power their husbands could provide. She denied that women are, by nature, more pleasure seeking and pleasure giving than men. She reasoned that if men were confined to the same cages that trap women, men would develop the same flawed characters.She stated that women lacked the power of reason because they were encouraged to indulge themselves and enthral others. She believed that women should have the same access to education as men. She believed that women should experience full personhood. former(a) liberalists John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor Mill believed women postulate suffrage in order to force mens equals. They claimed the vote gave people the power to express their own political views but also change those systems, structures, and attitudes that contribute to their own and others oppression. (Tong, 2009)Betty Friedan in the Feminist Mystique, studies the lives of white middle class housewives living in the suburbs. She described the dissatisfaction of these women as the problem with no name. She claimed that these women led unfulfilling lives in their traditional roles as mother and wiv es. She argued that a more meaning(prenominal) course for these women was to have the opportunity of full time work in the public sphere. She believed that the absence from the home would make children and husbands more self sufficient. She felt that by trammel women to being wives and mothers was limiting their full military personnel development.She also believed that women would always have to work harder than men. (Bryson, 2003) The main critique of liberal feminism is that of racism and classism, they focused primarily on white, middle class women. They also privileged so called male values. They also continue to distinguish between the private and public lives of people without understanding that the private and public sphere often intersect. In conclusion, feminist epistemology has transformed the world for many Caribbean women, as it questions womens lived experiences and their roles in identity formation.Caribbean women in their roles have mostly preached a pixilated wor k ethic and promoted a strong social identity. The Caribbean has a legacy of race and colonial legacies, therefore the experiences and history of Caribbean women has been different. contrasted some the white middle class women in European societies that the liberal feminist talk about, Caribbean women have always had to work and frequently they have been the principal breadwinners in their households. But because of all the earlier groups of feminist theories about women, it paved a way for the new knowledge about Caribbean women and their realities.