Corporate Strategy Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Corporate Strategy - Assignment Example While Alitalia, a two-third state-owned enterprise was beset with labour union problems and was almost teetering near bankruptcy with net losses of 519 mn in the close of 2003 (its auditors refusing to certify its results!) (Source:ICFAI), BA was also consistently making loss in the 1980's until an ambitious privatisation programe slowly changed its fortunes by the onset of the Gulf War. BA also suffered extreme negative publicity due to some failed campaigns against competitor Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic, facing lawsuits worth 3 million (Soure:Wikipedia), not to mention trade union problems, strikes etc. which continue until this day. The scenario is far more encouraging today. British Airways despite some steady hurdles like high oil prices, and a strong pound, have maintained profits since privatisation and quite consistently, since 2002. Its net profit for March 2006 stands at 529 mn (Source:Hemscott). With the relentless pursuit on upgrade of fleet and service management, the loss-making Giant has transformed into a lean, mean machine. As for Alitalia, losses are down at 200 mn in 2006 amid continued shutdown fears. (Airwise) Turnaround roadmap Organisationally, both airlines have changed for the better. While the British Airways is a newly-revived private major, Alitalia also has reduced government stake from two-thirds to about 49% (Airwise). Over 23,000 jobs were slashed in the 1980's during BA's get lean mission (Wikipedia). As for Alitalia, its decision in Sept 2004 to cut down over 5000 jobs brought it to a standstill due to a more hostile labour union, although the management announced March 2006 that its cost-cutting measures were 80% over. Alitalia, in 2001 became member of Europe's conglomerate Sky Team Alliance, as is eventually bracing for a merger with Air France and KLM (wikipedia). BA has reinvented itself around localising itself in the Asian market, by launching in 1995 a subsidiary called British Asia Airways in Taiwan replacing its traditional Union tailfin for a Chinese character emblem. BA also launched a low-cost airline called Go in 1998, and is thus better prepared, organisationally, to lead itself into the future (wikipedia). Most corporate strategies swiftly achieve results after what is known as situation and SWOT analysis, and brainstorming for a solution. BA started conducting "scenario workshops" in Feb 1994 (Moyer, K). The task at hand was to capture current scenario so that future strategy could be planned. Over 40 interviews were conducted with senior managers, and then with academics, engineers and aircraft manufacturers on a host of topics from IT and air transport regulations. All this culminated into developing teams writing the "official future" of the airline. Simultaneously, data on passenger traffic, economic growth and aircraft

Examining the Foreign Policy of Brazil Research Paper

Examining the Foreign Policy of Brazil - Research Paper Example In the early 21st century this subject is demonstrated in the movement to be involved in the United Nations Security Council. For the Brazilian people, this would suggest that the nation has finally gained its legitimate place among the world’s power blocs.2 This paper analyzes the foreign policy of Brazil. Analyzing the Brazilian Foreign Policy In earlier times, this aspiration to acquire credit and appreciation outside of South America has tended to isolate Brazil from its nearby fellow Latin American countries. The emphasis on relations with the world’s giants has existed for a long time. In the 19th century, the diplomatic focus was on preserving a strong relationship with Great Britain. In the 20th century focuses shifted and the United States came to be the goal of Brazilian foreign policy.3 In both instances political and economic concerns shaped Brazil’s foreign policy agenda. In the 19th and earlier 20th century Great Britain was the financier of Brazil, and in the 20th century, the U.S. became the leading source of foreign capital and trade partner.4 Relations with the U.S. have been the major element of Brazilian foreign policy over the years and interrelate with almost all other features of Brazilian diplomacy. There have been numerous agreements and disagreements between the U.S. and Brazil, the latter has not consistently embraced the American goals. During the post-Cold War period these gaps have been more noticeable, but the aspiration to develop an autonomous foreign policy agenda has been present for a long time. The motivating factors underlying this aspiration to differentiate themselves from the United States are diverse and are not embraced unanimously among Brazil’s powerful individuals. In Brazil, like in other South American countries, there is an emerging sentiment against the United States.5 It is a propensity that receives attention from time to time. The Brazilian foreign policy is also characterized by a Latin Americanist perspective. Yet, with regard to this, the Brazilian case to some degree differs to that of its Southern Cone’s neighbors.6 Primarily, there are the remnants of Brazil’s colonial history. From the latter half of the 18th century, Brazil was a colony of Portugal and this positioned the country in a unique set of geopolitical ties and, particularly, guaranteed unusually close relations with Britain. Furthermore, Brazil stayed under a monarchical government for the most part of the 19th century and hence was less motivated to recognize principles coming from the republican governments elsewhere on the region.7 Over time, this historical trend has nourished those political predispositions that have intended to separate Brazil from the rest of Latin America. Moreover, Brazil’s size has a massive influence. This has generated quite specific assumptions among the Brazilian politicians. Primarily, it pushes them to be internally oriented since expansi on has occurred within the country. Brazil had to struggle with its boundaries and remove internal barriers. Brazil’s size has also created difficulties, and effective governance has been difficult to attain with domestic elites being an unfailing part of Brazil’s political sector.8 In the 20th century, Brazil’

Matrices and function Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Matrices and function - Coursework Example 0.0072 = 0.9928 are alive at the end of the year. Some of this number will have reached the age of 15 during the 1 year and become adults. We shall assume that15 of the surviving juveniles become adults. So the proportion of juveniles still alive and still juveniles at 14 the end of the year is . (b) The network model above can be written as a matrix equation of the form where M is a 2 x 2 matrix. Write down the matrix M (c) (i) Edit the matrix M, and the vector whose entries are the initial subpopulation sizes J0 and A0, in a copy of a worksheet so that the worksheet shows the predicted changes in population size for the country considered in this question. Set N = 50, so that the worksheet covers 50 years. Here we have: For n=0, For n= 2, As the value is influenced by the previous value the table has the accurate calculation: Table below shows the juvenile population, Adult population and total population, while the first column shows the increase in the years startind from 2007 an d ending at 2057. n Jn An Tn 0 8.3 30.1 38.4 1 8.82254 30.09562 38.91816 2 9.306561 30.12591 39.43247 3 9.756194 30.18769 39.94388 4 10.17515 30.2781 40.45324 5 10.56675 30.39457 40.96132 6 10.93398 30.53483 41.46882 7 11.27954 30.69682 41.97636 8 11.60582 30.87871 42.48453 9 11.91499 31.07884 42.99384 10 12.209 31.29576 43.50476 11 12.48958 31.52816 44.01774 12 12.7583 31.77485 44.53315 13 13.01658 32.03479 45.05137 14 13.26567 32.30705 45.57272 15 13.50671 32.59079 46.0975 16 13.74073 32.88526 46.626 17 13.96865 33.18981 47.15846 18 14.19129 33.50384 47.69513 19 14.40939 33.82683 48.23623 20 14.62363 34.15832 48.78195 21 14.83461 34.49789 49.3325 22 15.04287 34.84518 49.88805 23 15.2489 35.19987 50.44877 24 15.45315 35.56167 51.01482 25 15.65601 35.93033 51.58634 26 15.85784 36.30564 52.16348 27 16.05896 36.68741 52.74637 28 16.25968 37.07546 53.33514 29 16.46026 37.46966 53.92992 30 16.66093 37.86989 54.53083 31 16.86193 38.27604 55.13797 32 17.06344 38.68802 55.75146 33 17.26566 39.10576 56.37142 34 17.46873 39.5292 56.99793 35 17.67283 39.95829 57.63112 36 17.87807 40.393 58.27108 37 18.0846 40.8333 58.9179 38 18.29252 41.27917 59.57169 39 18.50195 41.7306 60.23254 40 18.71297 42.18758 60.90056 41 18.9257 42.65013 61.57582 42 19.14019 43.11825 62.25844 43 19.35655 43.59195 62.9485 44 19.57484 44.07126 63.6461 45 19.79512 44.55621 64.35133 46 20.01747 45.04681 65.06428 47 20.24195 45.54311 65.78506 48 20.46861 46.04513 66.51374 49 20.69751 46.55292 67.25044 50 20.92871 47.06652 67.99523 51 21.16224 47.58598 68.74822 (ii) What behaviour does the model predict for the total population size over 50 years? Find the sizes of the total population predicted by the model for the years 2032 and 2057, giving your answers to the nearest thousand. The population of the juveniles and the adults in total is increasing by the ration of 1.013 and the population is increasing in the geometric manner. The size of the population in the year 2032 will be at 51.58634 million w hich is approximately 1.343 times the total population in the year 2007. In the 2057, the total population of juveniles and adults will be 67. 99523 million, which is 1.77 times the population in the year 2007. (iii) What does the model predict for the ratio of successive total populations over the 50 years? Your answer should include both a description of behaviour and numerical information. Years Tn Ratio Tn/Tn-1 2007

Understaffed Nursing Problems in Hospitals Research Proposal

Understaffed Nursing Problems in Hospitals - Research Proposal Example It is noticeable that the nursing shortage has become a global issue that has put patients care at higher risk and residents are complaining of poor care. It has been found that some nursing homes are highly understaffed that have endangered the lives of patients (Ellis & Hartley, 2004). Thousands of nurses are needed in nursing homes to address the health issues of patients who need assistance to recover from chronic diseases. But, they are losing hope and facing more health complexities due to the shortage of nursing staff. Some evidence-based major complexities that emerge from lack of nurses' assistance include hypertension, catheterized patients, urinary infections, poor feeding resulting in malnutrition, dehydration and most prominently decrease in the participation rate of patients in healthy activities (Siela, 2009). Nursing staff is responsible for taking care of patients during medicines intake or meal time and their absence lead patients to more complex health conditions. †¢ Problem and Problem Statement: Present literature over closely related issues shows that no study has contributed to highlight the factors, which are responsible for causing understaffed nursing problems in hospitals. †¢ The significance of the Problem: Lack of identification of responsible factors is a crucial issue and its solution can lead to resolving problems of the understaffed nursing sector. This problem has significant importance as it will help practitioners and researchers recognize the areas, which need proper attention and modification to provide standard healthcare services to the patients. Additionally, a research-based study covering an important issue related to understaffed nursing department might also contribute to open the gate and beneficial opportunities for those individuals, who seek to build up the career in the field of nursing.  A study conducted by Buerhaus, Donelan & Ulrich in 2005 aimed to find out the rate and impact of registered nurse s in the hospitals.

Summary about the Rwanda Genocide Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Summary about the Rwanda Genocide - Essay Example The majority called Hutu and the minority the Tutsi. Tutsi held the majority of the political power despite their small population as compared to the Hutu. In 1984, the Germans became the first colonial power in Rwanda. They realized that the Tutsi had light skins, and they were tall. To the Germans, the characteristics resembled Europeans hence they favoured them in issuing responsibilities. The First World War made the Germans lose their colonies including Rwanda (Mamdani, 2001). Belgium took over Rwanda and introduced the identity cards. The Tutsi continued to receive favour from the Belgians, leaving the Hutu behind. the Belgians gave the Tutsi leadership positions which made the majority of the population, the Hutu terribly angry. However, during Rwanda’s’ struggle for independence, the Belgians made the new self-dependent government in the hands of the Hutu. This further increased the tension between the two ethnic communities. In 1994, the year which the genocide took place, President Habyarimana while coming back from Tanzania, was assassinated. A surface-to-air missile shot the presidents plane killing everyone on board. This made the Hutu extremely angry, and within 24 hours of the assassination the slaughter had started. In Kigali, the Hutu blocked the roads and interrogated the road users. They were supposed to produce their identity cards to prove that they were Hutus. The Tutsi were killed instantly. The killings were done by the use of clubs, machete and knives. The Hutu youths who doing the killings called themselves interahamwe, this means those who strike as one. They also went after the government officials who were Tutsi and the Hutu officials who supported the Tutsi (Mamdani, 2001). This included the prime minister. Ten Belgians UN peacekeepers tried to protect the prime minister and were killed in the process. The Tutsi started running towards the hills

Rita and Sue Escaping Constraints of Class and Gender Backgrounds Movie Review

Rita and Sue Escaping Constraints of Class and Gender Backgrounds - Movie Review Example The film's opening sequence show's Sue's father swaggering from drunkenness on his way home. Meeting Sue just before he approaches the house, he questions the girl as to where she was going and admonishes her not to be out all night. Sue tells him to mind his own business and that she'll be back when she wants. This first instance immediately shows escapist behavior for Sue who disregards male dominance and asserts feminism. "The changing nature of work the introduction of new technologies and the subsequent deskilling of traditional male jobs have undermined traditional working-class masculinities." (Rutherford 1988) The next scene is Sue and Rita going to Bob's house to baby-sit. Also early in the firm, Sue works for a taxi company where she meets Aslam. Again these depict the feminine response to the changing economic and social circumstances of the period. Instead of females staying at home and males going out to work, Rita and Sue are escaping the traditional gender expectation that they assume domestic roles. In another scene, Sue derides Aslam. She first insinuates that being Pakki or Asian is beneath her class, and then makes up her mind that since Aslam is a man he’d probably be no different from all other men, which passes judgment on the growing emasculation of the males of her time. The use of profanity throughout the film is another form of escape. Vulgar language is freely used by males and females alike. For the females, use of such language is gender freedom from previous eras when men silence women. The girls’ sauciness is also a form of rebellion against conformity, an underclass characteristic which have tends to prevent its members from rising above their class. Very prominent in the story and on which the plot revolves is the sexual relationship between Bob and Rita and Sue, including the minor details it involves. The entire series of sequences portrays escape for the two female lead players from their underclass which is characterized by unemployment, work devaluation, welfare dependence, broken families, de-stabilization of the male-breadwinner role, poor education, poverty, criminality and disadvantages in housing. Having fun by just getting a lift or a drive in Bob's car, baby-sitting in a middle-class house expensively decorated and furnished, with nice lawns and open spaces, enjoying a rock video on a comfortable sofa, going to the nightclub, many meetings in not very popular public places, reveling in dancing to Black Laces's Gang Bang without a care in the world, are all forms of escape for Rita and Sue. Contrast Rita and Sue's squalid housing against Bob's relatively affluent middle-class home. By simply being in Bob's house, the two girls experience a different world and escape their own. Getting a lift, going for a ride, listening to the radio in Bob's car, all pass time away from the urban decay of their Bradford Buttershaw Estate. Going to the nightclub and many other public places, watching Black Lace and dancing to their tune would all not be affordable in the girls' current status. But being in a relationship with Bob has provided them many new experiences and opportunities for escaping their realities, albeit temporarily. From what the

The General Principles of Operation Management Essay

The General Principles of Operation Management - Essay Example Being selected by a lot of market research and surveys as the car of the year for a number of years it shows that, Toyota has an unbeaten record worldwide. Due to the good quality Toyota's worldwide fame and success kept going, back in 1995, Toyota was the top car in the Middle East. Moreover, TMC has manufactured extremely high-quality cars that do not make much noise or do they do produce unpleasant fumes, Toyota uses more than 40 emission-control systems, it also uses dozens of technologies that have improved passenger-car safety. 2) The second performance objective is speed, this objective highlights the fact that by doing things on reasonably fast speed, the company can minimize the time between the order and the availability of the product same goes for a service this tends to give the customer a speed advantage over other companies. The TMC's techniques are highly focused operations that lessen complexity by using easy as well as small machines, which are robust and supple. This is done by rearranging the layout along with the flow in order to improve simplicity improves the speed of production. Statistics of the late 1980 show how 27 years back the output per worker was a lot more than US or European plants. 3) The third performance objective is dependent... 3) The third performance objective is dependability, this objective highlights the fact that the organization has performed complete its production in the time period which it has promised the customer (David 2006). In order to get a better understanding of this objective a good example to quote here would be that TMC includes 'Just-in-time' (JIT) production system along with workers who are multi-skilled that work as a team, They use 'kanban control' which has permitted them to deliver products as they have promised. Improving efficiency as well as quality is the first and foremost concern of not only the managers and technical experts but also of each and every employee. So, it can be said that TMC is a good example of the third objective. 4) The fourth objective is 'flexibility', this objective involves the responding to a vibrant environment of the organization that brings change in their products and services it also changes the manner in which they do business. An organization has got to learn to love a change in order to develop flexible as well as responsive organizations to manage with a good dynamic business environment. (Peters, T. 1998) Again to demonstrate the importance of these objectives the example of TMC will be used. The TMC plant is always adopting new and innovative manufacturing resources, in order to launch new models at a fast pace. Due to this Toyota was able to attain an extremely high level of flexibility, producing fairly small batches of diverse models with slight or no loss at all of productivity or quality. TMC during the years has provided an array of options from which customers can select from.