Internationalisation, Trade and Markets Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Internationalisation, Trade and Markets - Essay Example The amalgamation of economic policies among various states through the full or partial elimination of tariff and non-tariff restraints on trade that take place among them before their integration is known as Economic integration. It is an economic arrangement among various regions aiming at the elimination or reduction of trade barriers and the management of fiscal and monetary policies. The purposes of economic integration include reduction of costs for both producers and consumers, and to increase trade among the countries that take part in the contract. There are a variety of economic integration levels. They include free trade areas (FTA), preferential trade agreements (PTA), common markets, customs unions and monetary and economic unions. The trade barriers vanish with the economies becoming more and more integrated. Political and economic coordination among the member countries also surge due to economic integration.   Integration of economies of two or more states results in diminishing of short-term benefits arising due to tariffs and the other trade barriers. Simultaneously, the governments of the member countries become lesser and lesser powerful in making adjustments aimed to benefit themselves with the economies getting more integrated. Being integrated, a country can be lead to greeter long-term benefits in times of economic growth; however, an economy can get worse and worse while being integrated in times of poor growth. The North American trading bloc or the North American Free Trade Agreement originated as a free trade agreement among Canada and the United States. This Agreement created a free trade area extending to the Arctic Circle from the Rio Grande. This agreement is said to be the largest mutual trade relationship. The time when U.S. and Canada were shaping the U.S./Canada FTA, Mexico was restructuring its style to international trade. Thereafter, some major factors urged Mexico to join the General Agreement on Tariffs

Irish Law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Irish Law - Case Study Example 3. Did the District Court err in not awarding compensation to the appellant for the injuries suffered by him that turned him in to a paraplegic STATEMENT OF THE FACTS James Naughton lost a significant amount of money at the racetrack seeking solace he went to powers pub were he consumed pints of larger and five double vodkas and redbull. The pub landlord knew him and offered him a lift home he refused (no attempt was made to dissuade him) he then walked the mile to were his car was located. He then drove off in search of more beer he was spotted driving erratically by several pedestrians and he then went to superMacs were he consumed a mighty mac meal. He then drove of to nellanys pub and parked his car directly in front of the premises he was served one beer but was refused anymore frustrated he drove 15 miles were he knew there was more liquor he was driving a short distance were he crashed into a wall his spinal cord was severed and he was rendered a paraplegic as a result of the crash He filed a court action alleging both pubs owed him a duty of care because he was allowed to drive when drunk and was served alcohol when drunk. The second pub Nellanys agreed to a confidential settlement, which cannot be stipulated for legal reasons. The actions against the first pub powers was dismissed on grounds that no legal authority would extend such a duty on publicans. ARGUMENT 1. Negligence has two meanings in law of torts i.e. Negligence as a mode of committing certain torts, e.g., negligently or carelessly committing trespass, nuisance or defamation. In this context it denotes the mental element, and Negligence is also considered as a separate tort. It means a conduct... He filed a court action alleging both pubs owed him a duty of care because he was allowed to drive when drunk and was served alcohol when drunk. The second pub Nellanys agreed to a confidential settlement, which cannot be stipulated for legal reasons. The actions against the first pub powers was dismissed on grounds that no legal authority would extend such a duty on publicans. 1. Negligence has two meanings in law of torts i.e. Negligence as a mode of committing certain torts, e.g., negligently or carelessly committing trespass, nuisance or defamation. In this context it denotes the mental element, and Negligence is also considered as a separate tort. It means a conduct which creates a risk of causing damage, rather than a state of mind. The House of Lords in 'Donoghue v. Stevenson'(1932) A.C. 562 treats negligence, where there is a duty to take care, as specific tort in itself, and not simply as an element is some more complex relationship or in some specialized breach of duty 'Grant v. Australian Knitting Mills(1936)A.C.85'. According to 'Heaven v. Pender' (1883) 11 Q.B.D.

Strategic Management and Unilever Essay Example for Free

Strategic Management and Unilever Essay Introduction: Unilever is a multinational corporation with â€Å"extensive product offerings in the food, detergent, and personal care business.† Because Unilever is organizing its companies on a decentralized structure, they are falling behind their competitors. In order for Unilever to succeed as a company they must look over their whole business strategy starting from their foundation and working their way through each and every subsidiary. In making minor adjustments for improvement, Unilever might pull through and have a chance of becoming a successful company once again. Case Problems: Unilever is facing many problems not only within the company but with competition as well. â€Å"Competitors are more successful by building global brands, reducing cost structure, and executing simultaneous product launches in several national markets.† In Unilever’s case, the decentralized structure is working against any efforts of building both global and regional brands. Because of many duplicates in â€Å"manufacturing, a lack of scale economies, and a high-cost structure,† they are trailing behind competitors in bringing new products to the market. Alternatives: One alternative Unilever could take would be to focus more on the products that bring in the most profit. In this case it would be the food products, which account for â€Å"60 percent of sales and include strong offerings in margarine, tea, ice cream, frozen foods, and bakery products.† Mainly because not everyone is willing or able to buy name brands or certain detergents, but there will always be a need for food. If they put more of their focus on this they would be able to exceed the already 70 percent of market share in other countries. The only downfall I see in this would be the extra profit that would normally come in from the other two options would decrease. Another alternative Unilever might consider might be to focus its detergents and personal care products in accordance to the needs and wants of communities in certain areas. For example, while one country might see it more fit to have Omo, another region might prefer the personal care products of Calvin Klein. In researching the area and what customers seem more comfortable with would help enhance sales. However, if the company would be willing to invest both time and money in doing this would be upon them. A third alternative would be for the company’s financial and marketing team to use the SWOT analysis. By using this, the company would get a better understanding of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This would give them the chance to take advantage of what they are doing well while also showing them what exactly they should focus on to improve. Again, it would just be whether the company is willing to take the time and money to put int o the analysis. Solutions: Unilever â€Å"introduced a new structure based on regional business groups.† By creating groups and divisions in the company, each team was able to focus on a specific category of products. In doing so â€Å"groups and divisions coordinated the activities of national subsidiaries within their region to drive down operation costs and speed up the process of developing and introducing new products.† However, even with this change in structure, Unilever was still lagging behind the competition. Therefore, the company cut the number of brands sold â€Å"from 1,600 to 400 that could be marketed on a regional or global scale.† They also â€Å"reduced manufacturing plants from 380 to about 280.† Even after proceeding with this new foundation, they were still behind the competition. Unilever then decided to establish just two global product divisions. This included a â€Å"food division and a home and personal care division.† Contingency: If the solutions and changes made to the company fail, one back-up plan would be to cut out either the food or home and personal care division. That way the company would be able to focus on just one certain area. In doing so they would cut back even more products and brands, as well as  reducing manufacturing plants even more. This would help cut not only labor costs, but operating costs as well. As far as competition goes, Unilever would fall behind competing companies even more, therefore, instead of going for a global business, they should start back locally and overtime work their way back up. If they keep going at the rate they are, the company would take a bigger fall and might be harder for it to bounce back. Overtime, as they work on building the business then they can look into adding the other division, and then eventually work into competition globally once again. Conclusion: Unilever took a big step in trying to change and improve the company. Most businesses find it hard to accept change and that’s always the downfall to any great company. As far as the competition goes, Unilever has a lot to catch up on. They fell to far behind other competitors and suffered greatly from this. As long as Unilever stays patient with building their company up to what it once was, I feel that they will have no problem accomplishing a very successful company overtime.

Dating and Relationships - Long-distance Relationships Work Essay

Long-distance Relationships Work   Ã‚  Ã‚   Do long-distance relationships work? That has been the question I have been asking myself since I left for college this past fall. It's one thing to leave behind your friends and family when you go away to school. However, what happens when you leave behind your high-school sweetheart? Is there any hope your relationship could last? Doesn't everyone eventually grow apart? What about the loneliness that you will feel while being away? Won't one eventually cheat or lose interest in the other? It's inevitable, or is it?      Ã‚  Ã‚   "Long Distance Relationships have never been easy, especially for the young at heart," says Dr. Charles Madinson, a psychologist from the University of Virginia. He did his study on college students from state colleges in the eastern coast. He asked one hundred and fifty students at random from each school what their opinion on long distance relationships was and why. This study proved that 98% of college relationships do not last. He states that there are certain stresses on long distance relationships that regular relationships do not have. He says, for eighteen and nineteen year olds, it's not worth putting ourselves through all this trouble. We have the rest of our lives for a serious relationship. I find all this information hard to believe because of my own personal feelings.      Ã‚  Ã‚   I am currently in a Long Distance Relationship and what bothers me most is that practically every article that I have read or adult I have spoken to has a negative point of view. They are offering no hope, not even a chance. My high school guidance counselor, Mr. Schuart said, "Honey what's the point in trying? It's not going to work. There have been ... ...t you really have to want this relationship work. Do not listen to what others tell you; they're not in your relationship. Listen to your heart. It won't steer you wrong.    Bibliography Stephen Blake and Kimberli Bryan, Still Loving Your Long-Distance Relationship. 1998 by Anton Publishing Inc; New York, New York. Dr. Charles Madinson (1997) Coping with Moral Commitment to Long Distance Dating Relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73 (1) 104,113. Mr. Bob Schuart, high school guidance counselor. Interview at West Mifflin Area High School, on November 20, 1999 at 2:30pm. Dr. Bill Wyatt a professor of psychiatry. Long Distance Relationships,http://www.umr.edu./~counsel/long.htm bell hooks,Learning Dynamics, "Keeping close to home; class and education." 1998 by Houghton Mifflin Company.            

Advantages of Standardization

Standardization is the process by which a company makes it methods, especially its production processes, uniform throughout its organization. Standardization helps cut costs by eliminating duplicated effort and allows a company to take advantage of economies of scale when purchasing supplies. However, some advantages may be lost when a company decided to standardize its operations. Disadvantages Loss of Uniqueness If a company builds up a customer base that values its unique niche products, or if the company serves a specialized market, standardizing its processes may mean it loses some of its former customers. For example, if a restaurant builds its reputation on a varied and exotic menu, then changes to a standardized menu to provide a more predictable customer experience, its former customers may defect to competitors who provide more variety. Loss of Responsiveness. When a company expands into new markets, especially in foreign markets, standardization may work against the firm. While it may be cheaper for a restaurant to buy its trademark hamburgers in bulk, if it expands into a new market where people buy chicken much more often, its standardization measures may make it slower to respond to market conditions and end up costing money. Unsuited to Some Aspects of Business Standardization may be advantageous in some areas of business, such as production, but some aspects of a business should be tailored to the customers' needs. Customer service, advertising, distribution and product pricing must be driven by local market conditions to be successful. Stifles Creativity and Response Time Standardization has the potential to get a business into a rut. Standards, once implemented, soon become the status quo and may become entrenched in the corporate culture, making them hard to change when change is needed. However, market conditions often change, and companies that change quickly are best positioned to take advantage of them. Standardization may also stifle creativity, particularly in product design.

Nuclear Proliferation Essay

Nuclear Proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons, fissile material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information, to nations which are not recognized as â€Å"Nuclear Weapon States† by the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons; also known as Nuclear Proliferation Treaty or NPT. The purpose of the treaty was to help avoid the spread of nuclear weapons to those countries that have not been recognized as nuclear weapons states. NPT has only been signed by 189 countries, not by countries that are believed to have nuclear weapons. The United States was the first and is the only country to have used a nuclear weapon in war. They used two bombs against Japan in August, 1945. Germany and Japan ceased to be involved in any nuclear weapon research. August, 1949, the USSR tested a nuclear weapon, as well as the United Kingdom in October, 1952, France developed one in 1960 and the People’s Republic of China detonated a nuclear weapon in 1964. India was next with exploding a nuclear device in 1974, and Pakistan tested a weapon in 1998. Finally, North Korea conducted a nuclear test in 2006. Pros and Cons Reasons for abolishing nuclear weapons are: †¢ The entire world would be more secure if the planet were free of nuclear weapons -Nuclear Weapons are the only weapons that have the ability to extinguish the entire human race and its entire species. †¢ The threat/use of nuclear weapons has been declared generally illegal by the World Court -On July 8th, 1996, the World Court stated that it is illegal to use or threat to use nuclear weapons †¢ Nuclear Weapons are morally at fault -nuclear Weapons are intolerable. Nuclear weapons can wipe out most if not all of the lives on Earth. †¢ Nuclear weapons don’t do what they’re supposed to do, which is prevent wars! -Nuclear weapons states have been involved in more wars than non nuclear weapon states †¢ Nuclear Weapons are extremely costly -The cost of research, development, testing, deployment, maintenance, and associated intelligence activities are combined, the price is heavy. Then you have the cost of damage to land, illness, and cancer deaths from pollution, and nuclear waste storage, the price becomes enormous. †¢ Some countries have already given up nuclear weapons, showing that it is possible for a nation to be stable without them -Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Ukraine, became nuclear weapon free states voluntarily. They transferred their nuclear warheads to Russia after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Reasons for nuclear weapons are: †¢ Nuclear Weapons cannot be uninvented -No human invention can be uninvented, but it also is not enough to abolish nuclear weapons †¢ No serious proponent of disarmament argues that the US should eliminate its nuclear arsenal unilaterally -As long as other states have nuclear weapons, the US should remain a credible restraint †¢ Steps toward zero by the US won’t cause Korea to disarm or Iran to drop its nuclear ambitions – The US would be seeking to gather the support of the other non-nuclear weapon states that are members of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, rather than seeking to influence North Korea, Iran or any other †¢ US shouldn’t ignore its allies -The United States working toward disarmament might lead some US allies to seek their own nuclear weapons †¢ US disarmament efforts should not be delinked from the wider security picture – US disarmament efforts should be probable upon improvements in the wider security movements Tactical vs. Strategic Nuclear Weapons There are two different types of nuclear weapons: tactical and strategic. Tactical means that it directly effects a tactical situation on a battlefield. It would be directly used on troops, tanks or ships. Tactical weapons were smaller and could be rocket, missile, air, or artillery launched. Strategic means it effected the environment, such as destroying a city to prevent production of military equipment for the entire war. Strategic weapons are larger and are missile, submarine, or air launched. Strategic weapons could be used for a tactical purpose and tactical weapons could be used for a strategic purpose. Threat of Terrorism and Nuclear Scare I think Terrorism has absolutely changed the way countries think about nuclear weapons. Before all countries had to worry about was whether or not their rival country was going to launch an attack on them. Now counties have to worry about other countries getting nuclear power including terrorist! Terrorist don’t think things through like other countries do. They will launch nuclear weapons on a country knowing that the country will get even. For this reason, a country simply acquiring nuclear weapons is not a restraint for them. In theory, terrorists might either seize an existing weapon or set up a secret organization to make one. In general, obtaining nuclear weapons by unauthorized individuals or groups seems unlikely because nuclear materials are difficult to acquire and to handle; but say for instance a terrorist organization was able to obtain nuclear weapons; they can become a threat to another part of the world and/or they would have to wage war endangering the lives o f the citizens in that country. Culture The legitimate language of North Korea is Korean. In North Korea, religion is inhibited. Religious activities have been nonexistent since 1945; Buddhism, Chongdogyo, and Christianity existed before but had influenced the country in a way that made them disapprove. According to CIA World Fact book, as of July, 2011, the population was 25.5 million and the growth rate about +0.42%. North Korea is bordered to the South of South Korea, to the east of the Sea of Japan, to the West of the Yellow Sea and to the North of Manchuria. Their agricultural products include rice, corn, barley, soy beans, potatoes, pig, cattle, pork, eggs and more. Nuclear Arsenal Analysis Their amount of their arsenal is unknown. But we do know that they seek to increase their nuclear arsenal. They believe North Korea continues to pursue a uranium enrichment capability drawing on the assistance it received from A.Q. Khan before his network was shutdown. North Korea continues to develop, produce, deploy, and sell ballistic missiles of increasing range and sophistication. They believe North Korea has active CW and BW programs and probably has chemical and possibly biological weapons ready for use. Why they’re a danger and to whom? North Korea is the biggest danger to South Korea. These two counties have been at war for years. For some reason North Korea continues to attempt to attack South Korea and it seems as though they won’t stop at any cost. North and South Korea has had different economic systems since the Korean War of 1950. South Korea operates under a market economy system and North Korea adapted central planning economy. Therefore, while North Korea faces chronic economic problems because of previous leader’s poor judgment, South Korea’s economy has achieved an incredible record of growth. Worst Case Scenario North Korea will challenge South Korea and a battle will occur, that will kill thousands. Culture The legitimate language of Japan is Japanese. In Japan, 83.9% is Shintoism, 71.4% is Buddhism, 2% is Christianity, and 7.8% are other. According to CIA World Fact book, as of July, 2011, the population was 126,475,664 and the growth rate is about -0.278%. Japan is in Eastern Asia, an island chain between the North Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan, east of the Korean Peninsula. Japan’s ethnic groups are Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. Japan’s agricultural goods are rice, sugar beets, vegetables, fruit; pork, poultry, dairy products, eggs; fish. Nuclear Arsenal Analysis Culture The legitimate language of Pakistan is Punjabi, Sindhi, Saraiki (a Punjabi variant) Pashtu Urdu (official), Balochi, Hindko, Brahui, English (official; lingua franca of Pakistani elite and most government ministries), Burushaski, and others. In Pakistan, Muslim (Sunni and Shia), other (includes Christian and Hindu). According to CIA World Fact book, as of July, 2011, the population was 187,342,721 and the growth rate is about 1.573%. Pakistan is in Southern Asia, bordering the Arabian Sea, between India on the east and Iran and Afghanistan on the west and China in the north. Agricultural goods in Pakistan are cotton, wheat, rice, sugarcane, fruits, vegetables; milk, beef, mutton, eggs.

Classical schools and other schools of strategic thinking

Classical schools and other schools of strategic thinking Introduction Strategic thinking focuses on creating creative dialogue among people that shape the direction of the organization. The aim is to make the dialogue quite proactive in order to improve the operations of the organization. Strategic thinking is a mean of understanding the key drivers of business as well as improving the conventional thinking through dialoguing with the others (Mintzberg, 1996, 96).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Classical schools and other schools of strategic thinking specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More It is a main component of strategic planning and it uncovers the potential of the company’s management in order to create valuable opportunities for the growth of the company. Strategic thinking entails thinking, planning and acting strategically in order to ensure the success of the business (Lampel Mintzberg 1999, 21). There are various schools of strategic thinking that have been d eveloped in order to explain the meaning of effective strategic thinking. The purpose of this essay is to discuss classical school and other schools of strategic thinking. The classical school of strategic thinking The classical school of strategic thinking was come up with during the industrial revolution when factories in the industries faced management problems. There were vast labor dissatisfactions and the management was unsure on how to deal with the situation. The other issue was how to train the employees to make them loyal members of the organizations. The key objective of this school of thought was to determine the best way that could be used to undertake and manage tasks (CliffsNotes, 2010, 1). The classical school of strategic thinking was broadly categorized into classical administrative school and the classical scientific school of thought. The classical scientific school was developed to satisfy the need to improve efficiency and productivity within the factories. The main aim was to ensure that the most work is done and that the workforce has the most desired skills to do the work. This should be done through scrutinizing the skills possessed by the workforce and also paying more attention to the work process. The main proponents of the scientific classical school are Lillian Gilbreth, Fredrick Taylor, Gantt and Frank whose contribution led to the development of the classical scientific school. The administrative school on the other hand concentrated on the total organization where emphasis is laid on the developing managerial principles in the organization. The proponents of the administrative school based their study on the flow of information in an organization.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Their main emphasis is to understand how the organization operates and how it can be improved to increase the performance of the org anization.   One of the greatest proponents of this school, Max Weber, argued that the organization should not be managed personally because people will be loyal to their personal supervisors instead of the organization itself. Weber believes in a bureaucratic structure of the organization where there are rules to be followed by the members of the organization. This way, he believed, would detach the organization from the personalized management.   He condemned the European organizations for personalizing their management which he described as family-like system of management. The other proponents of the administrative school include Henri Fayol, Mary P.F., and Chester B. whose contributions were very significant in the development of the school. Other Schools of Strategic Thinking Many theorists have come up with various schools of thought in their attempt to describe the issue of strategy in business management. These schools have greatly enriched the classical school of strat egic thinking. The question that has brought about the emergence of these schools is why some strategies fail while others succeed. One of these schools is The Planning School that describes strategy systems as conscious processes of formal planning (Mintzberg, 1990, 171). This school argues that the strategy systems are subject to control and can be decomposed in to various distinct steps. The other school is The Design School of strategic thinking. This school describes strategy systems as processes of conception and deliberate action of conscious thought (Goold M. 1992, 169). This school also asserts that the chief executive officer has the responsibility of controlling the strategy systems in the organization. The Positioning School of Strategic Thinking has its roots in economics. This school describes the strategy systems as analytical processes that are carried out by the analysts in the organization. The strategies of business management are described as being identifiable a nd generic in nature (Chakravarty, 2005, 1). The Entrepreneurial School on the other hand explains system strategies as strategic processes that organizational leaders have in their mind. This school argues that the strategies are long-term plans of the organization and that they define the vision of the organization (Segars Grover, 1999, 202). There is also Cognitive School whose notions are based on psychology. The school describes that there are cognitive processes in the mind of the strategist and they determine the success of the strategies implemented. The Learning School is also based on psychology of the strategists and the strategy systems are taken to be processes that are learnt over time.  The Power School of strategic thinking asserts that strategies are a result of power game within the organization and is therefore believed to have its roots in politicology (French, 2009, 59).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Classical schools and other sch ools of strategic thinking specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The other school is Environmental School which has its origin in biology. This school describes strategy systems as reactive processes resulting from the reactions of the organization to the external environment (Kemp Ashish, 2003, 1). The environment therefore determines the strategies adopted by the organization. The Cultural School also affords a description of strategies in business management. The school is based on anthropology and describes strategy systems as collective processes of social interaction of members in the organization. The social forces of culture in this case play a big role in shaping the strategies of the organization. The last school in this list is called The Configuration School that describes strategy as a form of organization transformation (Miller, 1986, 236). Conclusion The strategy systems are a complex process defined by several factors that are de scribed in the above schools of strategic thinking. Reference List Chakravarty M. 2005. The 10 schools of strategic planning. India: rediff.com India Limited. Web. CliffsNotes. 2010.   CliffsNotes.com. Classical Schools of Management. New York: Wiley Publishing Inc. Web. French S. 2009. Re-thinking the foundations of the strategic business process. Journal of Management Development Vol. 28 No. 1, 2009 pp. 51-76. Goold M. 1992. Research Notes And Communications Design, Learning And Planning: A Further Observation On The Design School Debate. Strategic Management Journal (1986-1998); Feb 1992; 13, 2; ABI/INFORM Global pg. 169.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Kemp J. Ashish J. 2003. The 9 Schools of Strategic Thinking. New York. The Free Press. Web. Lampel J. Mintzberg H. 1999. Reflecting on the strategy process. Sloan Management Review; spring 1999; 40, 3; ABI/INFORM Global pg. 21. Miller, D. 1986. Configurations of Strategy and Structure: Towards a Synthesis. Strategic Management Journal (7,3, 1986: 233–249). Mintzberg H. 1990. The Design School: Reconsidering The Basic Premises of Strategy management. Strategic Management Journal; Mar/Apr 1990; 11, 3; ABI/INFORM Global pg. 171. Mintzberg H.1996. Reply to Michael Goold. California Management Review; Summer 1996; 38, 4; ABI/INFORM Global pg. 96. Segars H. Grover V. 1999. Profiles of Strategic Information Systems Planning. Information System Research; Vol.10, No. 3, September 1999. Pp. 199-232.