Organizational structure paper

Tyson Foods, Inc. Organizational Structure Paper Gloria Sample MGT 230 1 1/07/2013 Dr. William Manduca This organizational structure paper for Tyson Foods, Inc. will show how Tyson Foods Company Is structures and organized. It will also show the comparison and contrast within its work place and company as a whole. It will focus somewhat on how marketing, finance, human resources, and operation department influence and determine the organizational structure for the company.Lastly, it will talk about how the organization design; such as products and customer base and services help etermine the company's needs across the globe and in other countries that are located In the world. Tyson Food Company challenges Its business, allowing It to have the advantage of becoming a multi business like none other. Tyson Food Company controls the market price for chicken and the overall integrated production. The production of chicken for Tyson Food accounts for 35% of all their production segments. Tyson Foods accounts for 20 % of all chicken production in the United States.Because chicken is the most efficient feed animal in conversion to meat protein, It Is dominating as the primary meat protein source. Tyson Food utilizes full, vertical integration through an entire seven stage of production, from inception to slaughter, and operates feed mills to produce the chicken ration. Tyson Food has an advantage of operating in vertically Integrated business, dominating the regional area of the united States. Having the opportunity of working with Tyson Foods for eighteen years, gave me the opportunity to see firsthand how the company operated on a daily bases from the corporate offce down.Tyson Foods had a way of doing thing by the book and at the same time showing love and respect in every aspect of he company whether it is management or floor employees. Tyson Foods had rules and regulation that everyone had to follow and abide by. The organizational structure there was followed th rough on a daily basis. If you had a problem with something, you did not go over someone's head and get the problem fixed, you followed chain of command. If you could not get the problem solved through chain of command, then you take the next step. I liked working at Tyson Foods because they were all about the business and getting the Job done.At the same time they cared about the employees as a whole. Everyone there worked with a spirit of excellent and enthusiasm. It was so well organized. People did not have a problem getting off work or taking leave if they had accumulated it. Going to the doctor was never a problem for the employees If It was legit. Vacation was never a problem either If you had the leave. We Just had to make sure that someone was covering our position facility. This was a plus for the many employees that the employed. Tyson Food is on the Fortune 500 as the second largest food manufacturing corporation.Tyson Foods Company produces and packages a large selectio n of beef, poultry, and pork roducts that provide convenience to their customers. These products are then sold to food retailers throughout the Unites States and 90 countries around the world. While Tyson Foods produce and package food that ties into making a profit, they also take large strides to insure nit customers of its quality of the products the sale. Tyson Foods has a program called the Food Wise Program that educates its customers on how to prepare their food properly, and establishes labeling and tracking systems.Tyson Foods extends itself through humanitarian efforts to help with hunger and disaster relief. I can remember when Hurricane Katrina came through; everyone was in a panic and uproar. The management teams of Tyson Foods quickly put their heads together and began to execute the disaster program design to help people in need. There was no electricity and no-one knew when the power was going to be restored. Tyson management team called different departments in to h elp with the disaster relief, whether it was giving out bags of ice or fixing plates for the hungry. Everyone worked together as a whole and the Job was a success.Tyson Foods wants to develop a more strategic overall approach to hunger relief that would engage takeholders and people that have stocks on a more meaningful level including the team members, community leaders and elected officials, retail and food service customers, and a large number of organizations and individuals involved in hunger reliefs nationwide. Together they created three primary goals focusing on approach, communication, and involvement towards hunger relief. Tyson Foods did a survey tracking and analyzing media coverage and exposure, assessing team member involvement, and by comparing actual results with initial goals.Tyson Foods has onated over 50 million pounds of products to help those in need around the world. Tyson promotes environmental stewardship by implementing an environmental system to all of its domestic processing plants, encouraging natural farming techniques. Tyson's customers are the lifeblood of their organization and their success. Customer satisfaction is its primary goal and profits are the secondary goal. Tyson Foods aim to deliver great value in their products and services to maintain a competitive position. Tyson Foods found this to be the most important factor contributing to their customers' overall satisfaction.Tyson Foods implementation of structure and organization is very important to the company's development and success. It takes a company that operates responsibly and operates according to core values and cultures to take the company to the next level. Tyson Foods dwells daily on their core values and morals. Tyson has a lot of resources to broaden a production footprint and continues to be on top at all times. One of the quickest ways Tyson was transformed into the mega company that it is that the managers simplified the strategy kept a simple organized structure. Tyson sticks by the old saying, â€Å"communication is the key.

Mentoring vs. Induction Programs

How does a mentoring program differ from an induction program? Induction programs are professional experiences for beginning teachers that provide systematic and sustained assistance to ease the transition into teaching (Kauchak & Eggen, 2005, p. 500). For example, an induction program assists new teachers with teacher workshops that cater to first year teachers to help them to be better successful in their new classrooms. Mentoring programs are experienced teachers who provide guidance and support for beginning teachers (Kauchak & Eggen, 2005, p. 500).The difference between mentoring and induction programs is mentoring programs is done by a single person (an experienced teacher) who help guide you in succeeding inside your classroom, and an induction program is a program that contains workshops and provides first year teachers crucial information to be able to be successful in their new classrooms. Are mentoring and induction programs equally effective? I do not believe that mentori ng and induction programs are equally effective. I believe that mentoring programs are least effective than induction programs.Mentoring programs only offer you a mentor to help you settle into your new classroom for the first year, while induction programs offer you so much more such as: * Special attention is given to teachers in the beginning years of their career to help to link their performance to state and district standards (Kauchak & Eggen, 2005, p. 500). * Mentors for beginning teachers are compensated for their work and are given opportunities for their own professional growth through classes that help them become affective mentors (Kauchak & Eggen, 2005, p. 00). * Teachers receive assistance and support with everyday problems and are encouraged to develop a reflective professional attitude (Kauchak & Eggen, 2005, p. 500). * Universities and schools collaborate to create clinical learning environments for beginning teachers. These relationships provide professional develo pment for both k-12 teachers and university faculty (Kauchak & Eggen, 2005, p. 500). This makes induction programs more effective than mentoring programs because it offers so much more than a mentoring program does.Mentoring programs provide you only a teaching professional to guide you through the first year, while an induction program provides with workshops and programs that better help you to develop as a professional through your first year. What kind of support is available for new teachers that participate in these types of programs? The kind of support that is available for new teachers that participate in the mentoring and induction programs is that of professional development.Induction programs offer professional development by setting up workshops for new teachers that can help them through their first year of teaching. Mentoring programs offer professional development by giving them a mentor that can guide them in helping them to become successful by their own personal e xperiences. Based on your research, what do these programs lack and what kinds of additional features would improve these programs? Based on my research, I think that the programs would be more beneficial if the two programs would work together.I think that if a new teacher used both the mentoring and the induction programs that they could be more successful. By using one program I do not believe that you could learn all that you needed to learn in just one of these programs. Yes, the induction program is good for profession development by offering workshops to better a first year teacher, but having a mentor along the side of you to support you would be even better. I think this would also better help teachers to stay in this profession instead of changing professions because they

Biggest Problem Facing Our Generation

The biggest problem facing our generation is fixing the mistakes that our fearless leaders have made. George W. Bush had made many mistakes while in office from 2001 to 2009. One of the most controversial issues that he had completed related to the signing of a report endorsing outsourcing with thousands of American workers having their jobs shipped overseas. He may have had good intentions, but all that was lost after the signing of this bill that took 2. 6 million jobs away from the people of the United States.Due to this decision, numerous companies were shipped overseas since the labor costs are lower and emission standards don’t exist. Another notorious decision relates to the invasion of Iraq. After September 11, 2001, Bush became convinced that Saddam Hussein was seeking nuclear weapons and represented a mortal threat to the west. However, he chose to ignore conflicting evidence and undermined not only his presidency, but the reputation of US intelligence agencies and h is country.Another mistake that occurred just weeks prior to the 9/11 attacks notified the people of his loss of dedication to the country. Bush received a memorandum, called the pre-9/11 memo, from the CIA entitled,†Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US. † Although, he did not respond to the threat since he was on a family vacation, which will forever blight his legacy. The results of these mistakes are still dwelling over the United States. Yet, our generation is only able to learn from the mistakes and ensure that they are not repeated.

Crime scene Essay

Review Questions 1. What is physical evidence? Provide at least three examples in your answer. Physical evidence is anything that can establish a crime that has happened and anything that links the crime and the criminal. Physical evidence might include objects like weapons, fibers and hair. 2. Describe three ways that a crime scene can be recorded. What is a benefit of each? Photography can show crime scenes at wide angles and can be taken at different vantage points. Drawings can show the location of evidence and contain accurate accounts of the distances. Notes contain description of the crime scene and location of evidence. 3. What is a chain of custody? Why is it important? Chain of custody is a list of persons who had possession of the evidence during the crime investigation. Chain of custody is important because it shows who has access to the evidence and indicates that it has been in the possession of law enforcement. 4. What three types of photographs are taken at crime scenes? Describe each type? Overview Photographs are taken at different points to show any entries and exits to the crime scene. Intermediate Photographs helps to show the evidence in relation to other objects in the room. Close up Photographs are taken to help record specific details that may not b picked up by photographs taken from longer ranges. 5. Why is it important to record the crime scene? It is important to record crime scenes because it helps to create a chain of custody showing what is present at the scene and its location as well as over all location. Critical Thinking Questions 1. Why is it important to secure the crime scene? What do you think would be the most difficult part of doing this? The main reason is that has the potential for contaminating or destroying evidence even if they don’t mean to do so. The most difficult part about this is reporters, civilians and family getting in the way. 2. What type of recording do you think would be the most useful to crime investigators? Why? Videography would be a useful recording tool in a investigation because of recording and the visual elements of the scene. 3. What do you think would be the best method of submitting evidence to a crime lab? Why? 4. What type of evidence do you think would be most difficult to collect? Why? Trace evidence would be difficult to find because its small ad not easily seen. 5. What does the Fourth Amendment protect against? Do you agree with these restrictions on collecting evidence? Why or why not? The fourth Amendment protects individuals from unreasonable searches & seizures agree with the restrictions because it has to be in plane site or have probable cause.

Psychological Effects on Subprime Mortgage Crisis Essay

The day of owning a home was a wonderful experience that Janet Wilson discovered after closing on her first home. She’s a single mother with two sons and when her loan officer explained that her mortgage loan would be approve and she felt her dream of homeownership will be reality. The closing costs were at a minimum due to the loan officer explained it would be an easy closing with low out of pocket costs. Janet worked for a healthcare organization for several years and was able to save enough money to buy needed furniture for her home. Janet enjoyed her new home and finally felt the independence and accomplishment in her life. At 45 years old, she waited a long time witnessing others in her family and friends reaching that goal of homeownership. Janet desperately wanted to reach that goal as well as experience the feeling of obtaining the American dream. In three years of homeownership she was able to pay her mortgage with no problem and was able to start to re-decorate her home. Her boys loved the neighborhood and had developed close friends their age. Ms.  Wilson forgot all her about her closing until one day she received in the mail a letter from her mortgage company that her interest rate is being increased. Janet saw her new adjusted mortgage payment and she almost fainted with disbelief. She was extremely concern of why she wasn’t informed of this possibility from her loan officer at the initial closing. Janet called the mortgage company and they showed no compassion that made the ordeal even more stressful. Janet did not know what to do and the fear of losing her dream home and not having a roof over her son’s head made the situation completely worse. After a couple of months passed with the increased mortgage payment in effect, Janet was unable to make the mortgage payment so then a barrage of letters was received about a pending planned foreclosure. Janet could not work, sleep, or eat due to the enormous stress about the horrible thought of having no place to live and becoming homeless. The thought of losing her home and turning her life upside down with the automatic backlash on her credit score brought psychological effects to her mentality. She knew it would be harder to get another residence to live with bad credit score and with her limited amount of income. According to Steve Berger’s article; â€Å"Legislators presiding over the subprime crisis hearings should look in the mirror and pose a few hard questions before assigning all blame to â€Å"predatory† lenders and mortgage brokers (Berger, 2007). Ms. Wilson experience was the fundamentals of many other in the mortgage meltdown. With limited regulations in place when Ms. Wilson took out the mortgage loan, the predatory lenders gain an opportunity to make money on the backs of someone else dream. There a great deal of pundits stating that many are to blame and that nearly three out of every four subprime mortgages originated by brokers were either fraudulent or misleading tactics used to trick borrowers and lenders (Bitner, 2008). In the meantime, Janet Wilson is facing foreclosure and in a difficult position to choosing what to do in her stressful crisis. She is torn between trying to save her home with a tight budget or to walk away due to the limited availability – to avoid paying the increased mortgage payment. Janet is listening to every news update on the government attempt to assist homeowners in the mortgage crisis as the investors were assisted. In addition, to the rise of foreclosures across the country similar to the situations like Janet Wilson, the financial industry must and will change in order to bring the United States economy back on track (Lee, 2003). In the meantime, the homeowner is stuck not knowing what tomorrow will bring or if their home will be taken away due to misleading practices.

A Cry from the Grave by Leslie Woodhead Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A Cry from the Grave by Leslie Woodhead - Essay Example This mass killing is indeed a very horrible and a very traumatic occurrence in Bosnia. The experience of Bosnian Muslims during the period of war is of course a tragic one. Nobody except the Bosnian community could understand what it was like to be there in a place where it had seemed that death was the only thing that could happen to them at the end of the day. Nonetheless, the documentary â€Å"A Cry from the Grave† which has captured the dread and terror of the hour by hour story of the July 1995 Srebrenica genocide during the Bosnian war conveys a message that even if the war is over, it is not enough because there were more than 80,000 Bosnian Muslim who were still crying for justice from their graves. The images from video clippings of the camcorder and from the photographs of the Bosnian war, without a doubt, served a function of being the strongest element in the documentary itself to express that disastrous incident. Images of people seeking for refuge, images of peop le trying to escape their danger from the Serbian forces, images of people wounded, and the images of people killed have captured and covered not only the Bosnian genocide but can also elicit sentiments of sorrow, grief and fear from the testimonies of the survivors of the said war. The Bosnian war had all begun when the Bosnian Serbs attacked the lands where the Bosnian Muslims were residing. They attacked such zones in order to secure the Serb’s territory. This was followed by â€Å"ethnic cleansing†. The Serbian forces systematically eliminated the Muslim population within their territory. They separated the men from the women and children. Some of them were forced to escape the zones which the Serbs had considered to own. Nonetheless, this also resulted to thousands of deaths among the Bosnian Muslims. In addition to that, the series of constant attacks made by the Serbian army had likewise resulted to thousands of killings. Meanwhile, the United Nation declared th at Srebrenica was a safe area in 1993. Nonetheless, two years later, this â€Å"safe area† had started to deteriorate in 1995 and marked the beginning of the traumatic genocide. The documentary showed how those protecting the Bosnian Muslims had started to withdraw their support in Srebrenica. Basic resources including food and medicine, as well as the fuel and ammunition, had started to lowered. Bosniak civilians suffered from famishment. A few also had been killed because of starvation. The humanitarian situation of Bosnian Muslims turned to be the worst. It is the case that even the United Nation forces in the Srebrenica had been affected from such withdrawal of support. The United Nation forces were no longer patrolling using their means of transport but were just on foot as they guarded the enclaves. Likewise, from 600 Dutch soldiers, it had dropped to only 400. Moreover, the Serbian forces were now within their territory. Their forces had become stronger and stronger an d were out of control. On the one hand, the forces governing the safety of the Bosnian Muslim civilians had also lowered. Support from the air forces was also rejected. They were made to hope about the support which never had come. The situation had become worse and worse every single day for the lives of the Bosnian Muslims who all had their lives and nothing else. The situation was far from achieving a peaceful Srebrenica. What happened was an environment of total insecurity. There was no hope for the lives of the Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica asking for refuge. The documentary had illustrated the thousands of refugees from Srebrenica gathered around in the compound of United

Environmental Problem Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Environmental Problem - Research Paper Example The author also uses research materials of other environmental scientists which complements his own study of the environmental problems. http://www.unep.org/resourceefficiency/Business/SectoralActivities/Tourism/TheTourismandEnvironmentProgramme/FactsandFiguresaboutTourism/ImpactsofTourism/EnvironmentalImpacts/TourismsThreeMainImpactAreas/tabid/78776/Default.aspx The research made by UNEP is a deep study into environmental problems affected by adverse actions of the tourists and their activity. The article provides latest information about the state of affairs of the resources, nature and environment in the recreational areas and stresses negative effects locally. The article is very beneficial for the research paper because it provides complete and relevant information about all the issues it concerns. The structure of the work provides a logical information presentation which contributes to its better perception and understanding. The benefit of this work is also that it deals with the aesthetic aspect of environment deterioration and pollution because this is the thing that is ignored the most when human beings perform any

Financial crisis impacts on progress of employees Essay - 1

Financial crisis impacts on progress of employees - Essay Example Financial crisis can be used to refer to economic; an economic crisis refers to a situation where the economy is unstable and thus the instability results to an economic recession or a depression. An economic recession results from economic shocks thus leading to real changes in the economy, in the case of financial crisis it may not necessarily result into an economic crisis. There has been many financial crisis with many of them resulting to economic recession to name but a few, the Mexican financial crisis which occurred in the mid 1990, the Asian financial crisis in the late 1990’s and the popular know global financial crisis in the late 2000’s that saw giant economies like the United experience negative economical growth (Akhigbe 1985). The Mexican financial crisis occurred in the mid 90’s and to be exact in late 1994 and 1995, scholars have argued that the devaluation of peso was mishandled thus resulting to the crisis. Mexico economy was growing at an aver age of 3.1% between the year 1989 and 1994, inflation rates were decline and 1993 there were a single digit after two decade of soar prices. This had made Mexico attractive to foreign investor thus making the capital inflows and foreign direct investment to spur the economy (Tuano, 2002). The economic growth achieved was halted by the decision to devalue Peso in December 1994 was not attractive to the foreign investors, thus there no more capital inflows and this was the commencement of what was later came to be known as the great Mexican Peso crisis. In addition to devaluation weak regulators systems as contributed to the crisis, after the foreign investor pulled out the Mexican government did not measures in place that could avoid depletion of foreign reserves or reverse the imported created demand thus resulting into a crisis (Muller, 2011). The Mexican crisis left employees vulnerable to high prices due to imported created inflation, these de-motivated employees as used much of their to cover bills and purchase basic commodities. Although manufactures could not request employees for a wage cut as suggested by many classical economist due wage rigidity, the employers resulted to layoffs so as reduce the monthly bills or closing. In some cases employers had closed down manufacturing plant as demand for their products was low, thus this led to many workers dream being shut down. The Mexican crisis was closely followed by the Asian financial crisis which can be contrasted to the earlier currency crisis to the crisis that had the most severe to Asian countries to name but a few Thailand and Philippines. The Asian financial crisis resulted to the main reasons as outlined below, shortage in foreign reserves, wrong replenishment measures by the International Monetary Fund and in adequate financial institutions. Similar to the Mexico the Asian counties before the crisis the countries experienced high capital inflows but unlike in Mexican cases foreign investors wit hdrew from Asia at some extent due to panic and contagion (Age?nor, 2006). Asian crisis also affected on employees, for example, in Philippines one of immediate reaction by companies operating in the region was to cut down cost of production thus resulting to down sizing of the workforce or even at worst level closing down. According to the

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 9

Research Paper Example In most cases such individuals are forced to disregard issues like homosexuality and attraction to same sex due to stigmatization of such sexuality aspects by their societies (or parents) in their childhood. As a result, individuals who hold such socially unacceptable feelings will often tend to suppress them. In their research, Netta Weinstein and William S Ryan developed a hypothesis based on the idea that individuals who experienced low parental autonomy support had a higher discrepancy between implicit and explicit indicators of sexual orientation measured using reaction time (Netta et al, 2012). Furthermore, the research is based on the idea that such discrepancy may threaten an individual’s perception of his sexual orientation which may result to an individual developing defensive mechanism. For instance if an individual was brought up in an environment in which his parents who did not support autonomy and had strong negative perception on homosexuality, then the individual will experience strong discrepancy between implicit gay orientation and explicit gay orientation resulting to homophobia and negative perception of homosexuality without any solid reason for doing so (Grolnick, 2009). Based on the study, these ideas have been verified in the literature review since the research evaluates scientific papers that show similar results. For instance, the research paper identifies that the relationship between parents and their children lays a foundation for a child’s behavior; specifically, autonomy-supportive parents enables children to grow up into individuals who determine their own fate or opinion on social issues including sexuality. In this regard such individuals have personal opinions that are different from their parents and therefore have low discrepancy on implicit and explicit perspectives on sexual orientation (Netta et al, 2012). Furthermore, the research also considers two previously done studies on sexuality

Psychology of Personality Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Psychology of Personality - Personal Statement Example I can be quite flexible and adapt to demanding environments, which I feel is necessary to be successful in life. I am also quite open-minded and accommodative of suggestions. However, I strongly depend on my convictions to make decisions. Although I am strongly driven by logic, I can be instinctive at times. I am moderately interested towards intellectual pursuits, but quite inquisitive and fairly creative. I also exhibit empathy whenever necessary, and place emphasis on human values and the simple joys of life. According to Sigmund Freud's theory of personality, our actions and thoughts are influenced by three components of out mind called the ego, super ego and Id. The ego is responsible for thinking logically and making decisions by analyzing the practical implications of our actions. The Id drives basic urges of pleasure and is far from logic, while the super ego does the exact opposite of curbing desire by considering moral values. When the ego fails to come up a logical explanation, our defense mechanism unconsciously tries to distort reality to escape the situation. When I have to make a tough decision in my life, I often realize this conflict in my mind between my conscience, basic urges and logic. I try my best to be logical, but tend to be influenced a lot by my conscience and instincts. I have also realized that I use humor as a defense mechanism in a vulnerable conversation. Freud's theory of awareness tells us that the three levels of awareness are conscious, preconscious and subconscious minds. The conscious is something that is always on our mind, while the preconscious includes things that are in the back of our mind. However, most of actions are triggered by something called the subconscious which is completely out of our control. I often feel guilty when I make bad decisions and blame myself for not making the proper choice. Learning about this theory has ridden me of the guilt of making such decisions which are very much out of my control. I often used get disappointed when people did not meet my expectations. However, I realized after sometime that this was a result of me setting standards and expectations for other people. Realizing this has been a liberating experience and I have learnt to accept people for what they are and this has freed from disappointments. Freud explains this phenomenon by his theory of transference. According to this theory, we transfer our perceptions of one person to another. We tend to create images of person by relating them to other people's characteristics and this leads to the formation of stereotypes (Changing Minds). People are obviously not the same, and hence transferring expectations often ends in disappointment. The sooner we learn this, the better. B.F. Skinner's theory of reinforcement implies that human behavior is based on the resulting consequences. Hence, a behavior that results in positive consequences will be repeated and vice-versa. This essentially means that behavior can be trained offering appropriate rewards and punishments. For instance, I do not spend time worrying about past unfortunate events since it only causes depression. Hence, the punishment of depression forces me not to worry about unhappy incidents. A behavior that brings no significant consequences will fade away with time. However, the theory of reinforcement is a functional one; rewards and punis

Organisational Behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Organisational Behaviour - Essay Example An informal group is defined as an association of individuals pooled toward the objective of sharing knowledge and views. Secondly, organisational culture in a broad sense refers to the ‘character’ of an organisation. Informal Groups Generally, an informal group belongs to a work group in an organisation and it may not possess a formal structure. Despite its unorganised feature, the group members will have common interests and attitudes. To define, an informal group is not just a collection of people but indicates an internal social structure that gives emphasis on friendship relations rather than official relations (Employee motivation). Obviously organisations contain lot of informal groups. Even big issues can be easily tackled by people working together informally if they are very responsive to events. While dealing with urgent local issues, informal groups can be the best ones since they can easily recognise the actual cause of the issue. According to Bassy (2002, p.27), the idea of informal group came to light at the Hawthorne plant of the Western Electric Company in Chicago. This study was conducted by Elton Mayo, Roethlisberger, and Dickson. Functions of an informal group An informal group carries out functions both for individual workers and their employing organisation. The informal group conducts group discussions in order to come with the group’s vision, mission, and set of goal (Informal groups). After setting certain set of goals, they are broken down into short term and long term goals as this strategy assists the group to evaluate ideas and thereby add value to group performance. As Chaneta (2006) points out, the informal groups mainly functions to deal with employee issues. The most important function of an informal group is to meet the worksite security needs of its members. Every employee has the right to get satisfactory and safety worksite environment. There are certain situations when an employee is forced to work under dangerous worksite conditions. For instance, sometimes employees are compelled to work without safety equipments in a factory where there is a chance of chemical exposure. Under such circumstances, the employees ar e at higher risk of adverse worksite conditions. However, this type of issue can be effectively resolved if organisation contain active informal groups. Here, the group members discuss their problems and inform their suggestions to top management; the group power drives the management to respond to the issue immediately. Similarly, solving conflicts among the employees is another major function of informal groups. Nowadays, due to tough market competition, organisations tend to make the worksite atmosphere more strict and productive. This management policy may impose additional stress on workers and naturally it would lead to workplace conflicts. However, informal groups can more effectively deal with worksite conflicts than the management. Likewise, the informal groups serve organisational interests also. Every organisation aims at making its workers maximum productive and thereby increases the profitability. The informal groups functions to encourage its members to be innovative. Although the group’s fundamental objective is the betterment of employees, ultimately it contributes to organisational efficiency. For instance, employees’ innovative ideas may assist the organisation to reduce its cost of production or to more efficiently deal with day to day operations. Although informal groups also try

Reagan Revolution Through President Obama Essay

Reagan Revolution Through President Obama - Essay Example (Council of economic advisors, 2010, p.50) Even before he took office a change could be seen in the perspective of the whites regarding African-Americans. Research has shown that 22 percent of Americans view Obama as an exemplary figure when they think of African-Americans. If Obama administration continues to be successful then he can activate positive feelings in majority of people regarding the blacks (The Obama effect†¦., 2009). Overturning the Reagan Revolution Barack Obama in his inaugural speech pronounced that he would use old and traditional values to effect progressive changes. His approach towards politics would carry a sense of mature collective responsibility instead of the juvenile approach of individualism. He would uphold the democratic role of the US government and would continue to maintain the leadership position of the country in the global front. Obama has defended the traditional values like â€Å"honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism†. With this he has broken the established values of Reagan era. Obama has emphasized on the effectiveness of the government over its size thus overturning the Reagan revolution (Dionne, 2009). Impact With advocating the values â€Å"tolerance and curiosity† Obama has actually supported the concept of innovations by those who are determined to take risks. Obama as president believes in stressing on the security of the nation as he thinks that â€Å"power alone cannot protect†. He stressed on regulations on the market to keep it under control. His aim is to promote equality as according to him â€Å"the nation cannot prosper when it favours only the prosperous†. (Dionne, 2009) Impact of 1980s AIDS epidemic American life is largely a manifestation of religious... This report approves that the US war against Afghanistan was essentially illegal because it did not abide by the international law on war. According to the law when one nation makes armed attack on another nation, only then the attacked nation can use military aggression for defense. In this case Afghanistan did not attack since the 19 convicted men were not Afghans. Also permission from UN Security Council is needed to start a war and in this case the council did not permit the war. However there were some moral rationales behind the war. An international poll revealed that many people from all over the world took an unfavorable view on America especially on Bush. When people were asked who they think is a threat to world peace United States got more votes than al-Qaeda terrorist group. More people felt that America is more dangerous than countries like Iran and Syria. The poll also revealed negative views of people on America’s war on terrorism in the Middle East. This paper makes a conclusion that the continuous economic depression has created disparities within the American society thus threatening its position as superpower in the global arena. Although it has always been a land of unlimited opportunities but the success has become fragile. If there is no fast solution for overcoming the economic downfall, then the global economy is at stake. The growing disparity between the rich and the poor violates the core image of the United States.

Google in China Analysis 2 Pham Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Google in China Analysis 2 Pham - Essay Example filtering laws and processes of the Chinese government that is not aligned with the firm’s motto, â€Å"Don’t be evil.† It also experiences challenges in brand positioning in China. Baidu is the most popular search engine in China because it is perceived as a â€Å"Chinese brand with good technology† (Lawrence, 2009, p.266). Baidu also provides added services that Google does not offer, such as messaging, entertainment, news, and email. If Google can change brand associations that will make it more competitive, it can oust Baidu from its market leadership. Google can also have an opportunity to test and boost its expertise in global technology by serving the Chinese market inside China, thereby expanding its technology’s economies of scope and scale. Google can leverage its superior global technology that is built on its efficient search engine, and change its brand personality, so that it can be more Chinese. Right now, Google uses umbrella brands for its brand name Google, but it should consider a House-of-Brands approach. For its Chinese brand, it should expand its Internet services, by offering services such as: online chatting; downloading music, TV shows, and movies; and playing online games, since these are the most popular Internet activities for Chinese users, according to latest surveys. About 46 million users in China are connected to the Web, and a rapidly growing population has DSL/cable access (Lawrence, 2009, p.266). In 2005, as seen in Exhibit B, more than 50% of all Web users had a high-speed Internet connection. Usage rates also indicated that sixty-nine per cent of users use Internet at home, while 38% use the Internet at work (Lawrence, 2009, p.266). Exhibit B also provides evidence that from 2002 to 2005, users with broadband access grew from less than 10 million to 50 million, or around 80% growth in five years. Other estimates showed that there were 134 million Internet users in China in 2005 (Lawrence, 2009, p.257). This means that the

Poetry Paper Assignment Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Poetry Assignment - Research Paper Example The style of the poem is ubiquitous within Frost’s poetic works, with a formal rhythmic scheme, which is A B A A B, which also leads to the theme of the poem, which Frost has purposely left ambiguous, and teeming with symbolism (Stedman, p 114). The first two lines of the poem are very famous: â€Å"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Frost, p 10) The first two lines enrapture the reader, making them wonder about which road did he take? Why did he take one over the other? If this is a poem about the road not taken, where is it going? Perhaps this ambiguity was purposeful, as it was not a road that the author took, but more about the road the individual did or did not take. It leaves the reader to wonder in himself about the choices that he has made, or is about to make. There are only two options when making a decision, ultimately yes or no. there are only two roads here, and only one can be traveled. Both of these roads lead to somewhere, but it’s the somewhere that leaves the heart and mind wondering forever if they chose the right or wrong road. Just like in life, when we are faced with a crucial decision, we try to look ahead, â€Å"†¦And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Frost, p 10) but still unknowing of what lies ahead. This is something that no one can truly know, what lies ahead in our lives. We can only look so far ahead to see where our road bends in the undergrowth, leaving us questioning in ourselves which one to choose. â€Å"And perhaps the better claim Because it was grassy and wanted wear, Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Frost, p 10) Here is given the feeling of taking about taiking a different approach, a different road than the one we usually take, the one we are perhaps too familiar with. They both appear the same, but it leave s a want in the heart to travel the grassy raod, almost as though the soft green grass is calling, calling us to take the softer perhaps higher road. Although, it still remains unkown, which is the better road because they were â€Å"really about the same†. In the third stanza, the author is feeling doubt, but also portraying that doubt into the reader. â€Å"And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black. Oh, I marked the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way I doubted if I should ever come back.† (Frost, p 10) Again, the roads look similar to the eye, but the meaning is deep and relative to the individual. It is understood that he must make a decision on which road to take, as must we all. Frost is imparting a longing or perhaps a loss of what is right and wrong. One way is the right way, but one may be wrong. There is an acknowledgement from Frost, that we as humans will make a decision, and choose the road we want to trav el. Regardless of our choices, Frost recognizes that we will rarely if ever try to go back to the way we were, or where we were to take a different path. Even if we are on a road of destruction, it is rare for the person to back up and take the different road, the one less traveled. We are all trying to get somewhere from somewhere else, and we have to choose which road to travel each and every time. This is truly part of Frost’s magic in words. Finally, in the fourth stanza, Frost seems to have resigned himself to his decision on which

Sustainable Development in the UK and the Netherlands Essay

Sustainable Development in the UK and the Netherlands - Essay Example Netherlands have extracted and prioritised the demographic factor about world population, a knowledge based economy, energy consumption and mobility, sustainable water consumption and biodiversity functioning in the earth's ecological balance (NSDO, Feb 2002) It is just because of the workings of well-known sources of market failure, that the economy is left to its own devices for 'under supply' or ignoring the environmental goods and services that make up sustainable development, such as clean air and water, parks, wilderness habitats, water levels, and plant diversity (Scott et al, 1995, p. 4). The area I have chosen for analysing sustainability is the water management. UK realises the way we survive today i.e., we drink and breathe a carbon constrained and water constrained world. This is the reason for why UK has recently proposed the Eco-towns Prospectus that requires sustainable water development as a whole should reach zero-carbon standards. The Future Water Strategy as set in March 2008 for England plans the decisions of UK Government to set for water in the future and the practical steps that will need to be taken to ensure that clean water is available for the people to drink. The current plan of 2008 looks forward towards 2030 in order to examine the water cycle that have a profound effect, from rainfall and drainage procedures to discharge and treatment (TCPA, 2008a). Flood Risk: New development is going on in terms of managing flood risk in which sequential testing method is planned to be applied. In this case "Planning Policy Statement" is applicable and requires development away from the area that is subjected to highest flood risk. Therefore technical assessment is necessary in context with FRA (Flood Risk Assessment), where assessment easily identifies the main factors behind potential risks involved with the surface water drainage and sewer flooding, therefore the development should fulfill all the requirements for a sustainable master plan. UK now being aware of the possible threats of floods have managed eco-towns to clearly demonstrate innovative approaches so as to minimise the loss of flood risk while taking into account all those longer-term impacts of climate change that somehow directly or indirectly influences the lifetime development of water management. This has provided the UK water management some options like identifying the possible opportunities to reserve enough space for water usage while strategically locating green space for flood storage in times of flood, using conveyance and Sustainable Drainage Systems and recreating functional flood plains. This way the various flood zones work in accordance with the communities to improve their performance and vigilance so that in circumstances where exceptional flood occur, an eco-town suffers the least impact. Sustainable Drainage Outcomes (SUDS): A new technique incorporated by eco-towns is the SUDS that incorporate viable and cost-effective solutions by avoiding or reducing the need for hard engineering solutions. In order to avoid the threat of eco-towns exploitation, various planning authorities work in collaboration with planning and legal agreements to secure the implementation of SUDS. The SUDS

Benefit administration method Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Benefit administration method - Essay Example Some of these issues could include, the data collection techniques, the purpose and scope of carrying out the research study as well as the type of research being carried out. In fact, according to Neuman, the dimensions considered by researchers will dictate the type of research study (2003). To elaborate, when time is the purpose of study, then the scope of the study will be either longitudinal or cross-sectional. On the other hand, the scope of the study will either be descriptive, exploratory, or explanatory if dimension is the scope of the study. Equally important, in times whereby dimension of study is the quantitative data collection technique, then the researchers will perform surveys, study existing statistics, carry out experiments as well as examine content analysis to ensure data validity. As such, quantitative measurement is generally a deductive process which involves constructing an idea or a concept then coming up with a measure that will enable the researcher to obtain empirical data. It is thus worth noting that quantitative management process starts with a conception and concludes with definite, concrete indicators. It is these definite, concrete indicators that researchers use to attain numerical data that is used for analysis. Therefore, the concept of quantitative research in general encompasses factors such as measurement, design, and sampling. This is due to the fact that quantitative research is established on a deductive methodology that places an emphasis on a comprehensive planning before carrying out data collection or data analysis. To repeat, in undertaking this research, we aim at not only understanding the concept of benefit administration, but how it influences the overall employee satisfaction in an organization. As such, we decided to gather information regarding benefit administration through conducting a survey. In addition to the survey, we carried out a number of structured and unstructured interviews that would

General Field Marshell Erwin Rommel the true leader of Men Term Paper

General Field Marshell Erwin Rommel the true leader of Men - Term Paper Example The purpose of this paper is to discuss his accomplishments and to also analyze his extraordinary leadership abilities, display of chivalry and gallantry towards his opponents, his soldier’s code and faith as an underlying theme of the paper. World War I: The period of World War I saw Rommel fight in Italy, Romania and France for the majority of the war in Alpenkorps, an elite Wurttemberg Mountain Battalion. His service proved to be highly successful throughout and this success was recognized and praised when he was awarded Iron Cross, Second Class and Iron Cross, First Class in 1914 and 1915, respectively. He was further decorated with the highest German honor, the order of Pour le Merite in 1918. His efficient and quick decision-making, display of bravery and ability to reap benefit out of the weaknesses of the enemy led to the capture of Mount Matajur and a vast number of Italian Defenders, in return of a fairly small loss for Rommel’s men which was an achievement in itself and could be attributed to his skills as a military commander and a strategic thinker. The First World War was only the beginning for Rommel’s extraordinary accomplishments and emergence as a chivalrous military leader, for his direction in World War II was even more resolute. In the period leading up to the Second World War, Rommel served at Dresden Infantry School as an instructor, it is during this time from 1929 to 1933 that he penned down â€Å"Gefechts-Aufgaben fur Zug und Kompanie  : Ein Handbuch fur den Offizierunterricht", an instruction manual for officers involved in infantry training, which reflected Rommel’s prowess as a leader who believed that military achievements depended greatly upon the skill and training of the armed forces. Rommel is also credited with writing "Infanterie greift an" a book which documented his military observations throughout World War I and was highly regarded as a source of guidance for the army. Certainly, Rommel was one of the few leaders who firmly held the conviction in the ideology that military strategy and tactitical decision-making was of great and undeniable importance for the success of any campaign. World War II: This part of the paper will document Erwin Rommel’s accomplishments through the period of the Second World War, analyzing the leadership style and characteristics that can be attributed to his accomplishments as well his conduct which has enabled Lewin amongst many other commentators to label him as a highly professional and humane officer. Rommel commanded the Fuhrerbegleithauptquartier  (Fuhrer escort headquarters) in the 1939 invasion of Poland until its defeat, in the following year Rommel voiced concern that his current position in the guard detail was not allowing him to fully exploit his abilities. Upon his request to Hitler to hand him charge of a panzer division, Rommel was handed over the control of the 7th Panzer Division on 6th February, 1940, three months later the planned invasion of France would occur. The reason why Rommel was suited to lead a panzer division was because of two factors which were central to his own approach towards leadership and fighting against the enemy – surprise and maneuver. Under his leadership, the 7th Panzer Division systematically practiced the methods that were integral to advancement in the campaign, the triumph of the 7th Panzer

Quiz Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 7

Quiz - Assignment Example This will help out during fluctuation in the price of the securities in the portfolio. If data from the set of securities are gathered and plotted on a graph with annual rate of return on y-axis while standard deviation of the cost of the security on x-axis, there will be a region bounded by a curve sloping up. This curve is referred to as efficient frontier. The first characteristics is that the portfolios that gives the highest return are the one selected, this portfolio are the one that lies above the curve referred to as efficient frontier. Those points found above the efficient frontier gives the best return for the portfolio as opposed to those that are below sometimes referred to as submerged points. The second characteristics of efficient frontier is that it is a curve not s straight line. This is because the return securities in the portfolio are not same each security has its own level of return and risk associated to it (Hirt & Block, 1990). So any point found on this curve is the best alternative or asset to be included in the portfolio. Yes they do. First because they points in the frontier keeps on moving as time progresses the risk level and expected return changes. This will result to the point associated with that security moving upwards if the changes were favorable. Secondly efficient frontier depends on the number of securities in the portfolio, so if securities in a given portfolio are of good number there is a high chance of some points being on top of the efficient frontier. Yes it is possible if the bond has lower coupon rate hence longer period of payment. In bond duration refers to the weighted average period of time required before the actual cash flows starts to be received. The weighted average is not the nominal value of the cash flow but rather the present value. According to (Fabozzi, 2002) investors really need to know the duration for them to know or predict how the market price of bond will be affected by due to

Personal Statement Essay Example for Free

Personal Statement Essay The sound of the thunderous crowd in the background seemed to fade away as I approached the stage. Droplets of sweat began to run down my face as my sympathetic nervous system kicked into gear, sherona grant stand up I began to shake and become weak but gained a lot of confidence and I walked upon the stage and held my head high and looked into the crowd and turned around and received my diploma and then on to getting accepted into universities and making my mother a proud woman has been an amazing feeling so I want to continue to place a smile on her heart and a memory on her forehead to show her that I am an success story. A dream can lay waste only if there is no kick start to reality. In the sleep state there is no conscious being but once you are awoken from the formality of death, only being that you were in darkness for nine months and light is at its standing ovation your passage way is a wide and broad path either you take the path less traveled or you take the most traveled path. I chose to uphold a different light I chose the path less traveled, amongst millions I stand out because of my kindled soul encamping the dark world bringing forward a sense of light to the wilderness. My confidence does not over power my personality, I am a very relaxed person and in the humble state you can only wait upon things to take its place and move freely in your life. In the bible it states faith without work is dead and god helps those that helps themselves. I’m attending Florida a amp; m university at this moment and I do not think this is the place for me I prefer to attend a university like point university because it has a Christian environment that I need to get closer to god along with my personal experience with god. I went to a high school that had Christian values and the school taught me patience in every way possible. From the research I did I believe Point University fits who I am as a whole in the mission, values, goals statements states that Point University is a school that educate students for Christ-centered service and leadership throughout the world. They statements begin to breakdown how and what will be done to show the teachings of Christ and how the student has grown and will learn through the teachings of the teachers and how the atmosphere will flow. Academic background comes from when I first started school in Jamaica and then when I came to America I always been a person about business and never gave up no matter how hard a subject was for me. I have volunteered at plenty of place I was a volunteer at a hospital named memorial regional hospital, I was also a water girl for my schools football team and I was an active member of my church with the youth department. I have been put down and told that because of certain things I will not make it but god was judged so who am I not to be judged I will never give up my dreams that I have because of my pride and who I am which is a strong willed person. I am a person that does not care what another person has to say about me because god created me to be who I am a strong, persistent and hard working person. Point University seems to be a place where there is no playing just strictly business and support from staff no matter if you mess up. I’m interested in attending Point University to grow spiritually and finish my education in the biological studies to become a doctor. My personal motto states no matter how long it takes you to achieve a goal as long as you get it is all that matters. A change has to be made in your life and this change of wanting to attend a Christian school will be a better one for me instead of a school with no order. My achievements in my academic career have been my main focus but god should always be my number one choice and then all other things will be added onto my life. As I reflect back over my experiences, I have come to realize that medicine is not only a career, but also a lifelong relationship and strong commitment to my future. I believe that I am equipped with qualities needed to excel as a future student and as a future doctor. Whether it be the patience learned while attending school or growing in god I will come out with something worth the wait. Also the compassion radiated while learning and helping others while I obtain my career or the stamina needed to compete and learn all material given to me I know without a doubt that I am and will be a student and a doctor.

Who Killed Polomino Molero Essay Example for Free

Who Killed Polomino Molero Essay This is a narrative about the chaotic investigation of Palomino Molero. The story takes place in a small town in Peru during the 1950’s. There are two distinct worlds in this novel. The first being the Air Force base a few miles from town where the officers live in clean houses. They come equipped with gardens, swimming pools, and sufficient amounts of food. Then there is the poverty-stricken, hot and humid town where the locals live including Officer Lituma and Lieutenant Silva. Lituma comments when they visit the base that â€Å"They really live it up.  Like the gringos at the IPC, these lucky bastards live like movie stars behind their fences and screens. † A young boy stumbles across the mutilated body of a young man, Palomino Molero. Molero was soldier in the Air Force base miles from the town. He was found with â€Å"bruises, cuts, [and] cigarette burns†¦they’d even tried to castrate him; his testicles hung down to his thigh† (Vargas, p. 3). Officer Lituma witnesses the gruesome murder scene after the young boy runs to town and informs him. Officer Lituma of the Guardia Civil and his boss, Lieutenant Silva, begin their investigation. Throughout the story, Lituma watches his superior officer with admiration because of his knowledge and experience in criminal investigation, though that does not stop Silva from sharing his feeling about a fat, old lay named Dona Adriana with Lituma. Lituma and Silva discover that Molero enlisted in the Air Force voluntarily and was infatuated with a lady that lived near the base. This leads Lituma and Silva to question Colonel Mindreau, the commanding officer of the base, but get nothing but hostility and sarcasm. During their questioning, the colonel’s daughter, Alicia is introduced in the novel. Later in the story, Lituma and Silva discover from an old lady in a neighboring town that Alicia and Molero were lovers and left the Air Force base to get married. Alicia finally makes contact with Lituma and Silva and admits that she and Molero did love one another and because of it, Colonel Mindreau ordered Alicia’s ex-boyfriend to kill him. The investigation concludes with Colonel Mindreau admitting to the murder to Lituma and Silva before committing suicide. Vargas used a great amount of visuals in this book. The atmosphere and setting of every scene was thoroughly described. When Lituma and Silva visit Amotape to speak with Dona Lupe, Vargas describes the town as a place â€Å"surrounded by sun-parched sun-parched rocks and scorching sand dunes. There are dry bushes, carob thickets, and here and there a eucalyptus treepale green patches that brighten the otherwise monotonous gray of the arid landscape. The trees bend over, stretch out and twist around to absorb whatever moisture might be in the air; in the distance they look like dancing witches† (Vargas, p. 64). Although the novel is a mere 150 pages, the reader experiences every physical setting as though they were traveling all across town with Lituma and Silva. This helps the reader to become more aware of the situations taking place in the story. Aside to the physical settings, the reader can easily feel the sense of classism. It is obvious that the Air Force is looked upon as superior to the citizens of the small town. When Lieutenant Dufo makes trouble in the local bordello, no one reacts. He even â€Å"unzipped his fly and peed on all the whores, pimps, and customers he could reach† (Vargas, p. 40). The owner of the bordello, Liau admitted that he was â€Å"scared shitless of the guy† (Vargas, p. 41) when Lieutenant Silva suggested he take his complaints to Colonel Mindreau. Furthermore, Colonel Mindreau reveals that the people of the town are inferior to him and his officers when he responds to Lieutenant Silva’s accusations saying â€Å"These are the families of the officers. Not the families of the noncoms or airmen. Only the mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters of officers† (Vargas, p. 34). Who Killed Palomino Molero? is very short story, yet there are many tales compiled in this novel: The question of who did it and why play a significant role, Lieutenant Silvas intimate fantasies about the Dona Adriana, and her reactions to it, and even a bitter love-story between a colonel’s daughter and one of his enlisted soldiers. All of these stories build up to quite a suspenseful ending.

Organizational Development Change Management of UCS

Organizational Development Change Management of UCS The purpose of this paper is to choose an organization and prepare the first section of a detailed Organizational Development Proposal. Sectin 1., consist of describing the chosen organization in terms of primary purpose, location(s) and size, mission and vision, history as well as the internal and external conditions in which the organization operates. Additionally, this paper will conduct an internal and external analysis of the organization in terms of competencies and competitiveness through the use of relevant analysis tools. Section 1: Organizational Setting Name of the Company Universal Consulting Services, Inc. (UCS) Primary Purpose According to Bloomberg (2017) business profiles, UCS, Inc. provides business and information technology (IT) consulting services for government and industry. It offers consulting services, in areas such as federal acquisition that includes contract close-out, wide area workflow program support, and standard procurement system program support services. It also provides enterprise IT solutions, such as customizable solutions, requirements design and development, testing and evaluation, implementation and training, and help desk and production assistance, as well as system integration, development, and architecture. Additional services include program management, project management advisory services, financial analysis and services, and administrative support for government agencies. Its clients include Department of Defense, such as Department of the Navy, Department of the Army, and other defense agencies; as well as federal civilian agencies, including Department of Treasury, Departm ent of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, Department of Veterans Affairs, and Peace Corps. Location(s) and Size UCS is headquartered out of Fairfax, Virginia with a satellite office in Frederick, Maryland. The company currently has 265 employees with the majority of the employee working in the Washington, D.C. metro area, and multiple other States across the country, Hawaii and overseas in Japan and Spain (Ascentis UCS, 2017). UCS has experienced a three year growth of 43% with a reported 2015 revenue of $48.3 million (INC. 5000, 2017) Mission and Vision Mission. According to Universal Consulting Services, Inc.swebsite (2017) their mission is as follows: Launched in 2000 by a couple with a vision, UCS has evolved into a robust health and IT service provider armed with a solid reputation for quality and core capabilities aligned with the Governments requirements. Since our founding, we have prided ourselves on employing smart people who give their best to the customers we serve by creating smart solutions that save the Government time, money, and stress. The industry has recognized our services by awarding us with CMMI Level 3, ISO 9001, ISO 20000, and ISO 27001 certifications all of which underscore the quality, ingenuity, and reliability of both our services and our people. In that vein, our goal is to deliver innovative solutions that enable our Government clients to transform their missions into reality. Vision. According to Universal Consulting Services, Inc.s website (2017) their vision is as follows: Our vision is to be a top brand name for federal consulting services thats known for our people-driven culture, innovative perspective, and results-oriented mindset. We will: Be an agent of change for our customers by combining forward-thinking technology with practical problem solving, ultimately creating a distinct, lasting improvement in our customers performance. Empower our employees to develop their unique strengths, build strong teams, and make a tangible impact on the direction of both the company and our customers. Develop a brand that continues to catapult our company to the top of our industry, achieved through winning large, complex opportunities. History UCS is a woman owned business that was founded in 2000 by Mrs. Charu Dhumne and her husband Abhijit Dhumne with the mission of becoming a highly professional and trusted provider of business and technology solutions to the government and industry. Until 2015 UCS was a registered 8(a), minority owned, small disadvantaged business. In 2015 they graduated the Small Business Administrations (SBA) advantage program and now compete outside of the SBA programs. The 8(a) program offers a broad scope of assistance to firms that are owned and controlled at least 51% by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals and allows participants to receive sole-source contracts up to a ceiling of $4 million for goods and services and $6.5 million for manufacturing (U.S. Small Business Administration, 2017). The majority of UCS growth was realized under this program. UCS has consistently developed their quality programs and currently hold certifications for ISO 9001-2008, ISO 20000, ISO 27001 and CMMI Level 3 DEV. Conditions in Which the Organization Operates External. UCS currently operates as a mid-sized government consulting firm with limited to no protection or advantages afforded them as an 8(a) small, disadvantaged business which allowed them to receive direct contract wards without having to compete for them. The completion of the 8(a) has placed new economic challenges on the company in that they must now openly compete for work, or partner/subcontract with other small businesses under small business development programs, to gain new work or to retain current work as a re-award. Being located in the Washington D.C. metro area places even greater challenges as it is a highly competitive market for government contractors not just for work, but recruiting talent as well. This is in part due to higher wages and competitive benefits for highly sought after skill sets. Internal. UCS is structured as a typical functional organization which is one of the most common of the organizational structures (Galbraith, 2014) and are set up so that sections of the organization are grouped according to their purpose. Galbraith (2014) discusses how under this type of organizational structure companies divide out into sections and may for example, have a marketing department, a sales department and a production department. UCS is organized by functional and support areas. Under the support areas there is Operations (Administration, Human Resources, IT Management, Security, Facilities Management, and Contracts Management); Finance (Accounting and Payroll); and Business Development (Proposal Management, Graphics, and Marketing). The functional areas consists of client services grouped into Enterprise IT Services (Systems Engineering and Application Development, System Implementation, System Integration, Infrastructure and Operations, and Information Assurance and S ecurity Compliance); and Health Services and Solutions (Strategic Development and Performance Improvement, Advisory and Assistance Services, Portfolio and Program Management, Biomedical Services, Clinical Research and Development, and Health IT and Informatics. The structure is fairly straight forward and is a structure that works very well for many small to medium sized businesses (Galbraith, 2014). The senior leadership is comprised of the President, CEO, Executive Vice President, one support Vice President and three functional Vice Presidents. The culture is one of small business (family) but has recently been feeling the strain of growth and unclear guidance with the appointment of a new Executive Vice President. The workforce is one of diversity in characteristics and talents. The average age of the workforce is 32 (Ascentis UCS, 2017), of which the majority are located on client sites. Internal and External Analysis According to Burk (2014), in order for leadership to identify problems or issues impacting the organization they must understand the environment in which they operate and be able to analyze areas of strengths and weaknesses. Senior leadership and management teams must then determine how to respond to what the environment is telling them and how to establish a more effective alignment for their organization which can allow them to maintain or gain competitive advantages (Burk, 2014). External. One of the tools often used to provide such an analysis is one developed by Michael E. Porter of Harvard Business School, called Porters Five Forces of Competitive Position Analysis. It was developed in 1979 as a simple framework for assessing and evaluating the external environment by focusing on the competitive strength and position of a business organization (Grundy, 2006). Grundy (2006) states that Porters theory proposes that there are five forces which determine the competitiveness of an organization by helping to determine the strengths of an organization and their current competitive position. Identifying strengths of an organization may then be used to align the organization to its current direction or move in new directions. Analysts often use Porters five forces to predict whether a new product or service will be profitable and to identify areas to improve weaknesses and to avoid mistakes (Porter, 1980). The justification for the use of this tool is that it provi des an easy to understand method of analyzing some of the biggest areas of external impact on virtually any organization. According to Porter (1980) the five forces to analyze are: Threat of new entry: This is an analysis of new entrants to the market that may dilute the customer base and erode profitability. It also looks at the organizations durable barriers to entry like patents, cost of entry, and external factors like government regulations and policies, all of which can impact profitability. Supplier power: an assessment of how easy it is for suppliers to drive up prices. This can be driven by the number of suppliers for each product, the number of suppliers in an area, the size of the supplier, the uniqueness of their product or service, or even the cost associated with changing from one supplier to another. Buyer power: an assessment of how easy it is for buyers to drive prices down. Key factors here are; the number of buyers in the market or area that can dictate terms, the relevant importance of the buyer to the organization, the cost to the buyer associated with changing from one supplier to another. Competitive rivalry: This is an analysis of the number and capability of competitors in the market to determine how many competitors are offering the same products and services and their strength which could reduce market attractiveness to the product or service being offered. Threat of substitution: This is an analysis of products or services that exist in a market that may be close to what the organization is offering, thereby increasing the ability of customers switching to alternative sources in response to a price increase. This reduces both the power of suppliers and the attractiveness of the market. Applying Porters five forces technique to UCS would yield the following analysis: Threat of new entry: Given the market and location in which UCS operates (government contracting in the Washington D.C. area) there is constant threat of new entries to the market. These new entries have relatively low barriers in the form of cost due the service nature of the business. Most new start-ups begin by offering their personal knowledge and skills. Additionally, new entries to the market can most often take advantage of SBA assistant opportunities in helping to succeed in the market. The strongest barrier benefiting established companies is the bureaucracy (time it takes) associated with establishing/registering for certain credentials such as 8(a), Veteran Owned, Service Disabled Veteran Owned, obtaining and meeting security clearance requirements etc. Additionally, it takes time for new entries to build a reputation and past performances in order to expand their services. Supplier power: Suppliers abilities to drive up prices are relatively negligible in that the buyer drives the market more so than the supplier. However, that being said there are certain niche areas in the market such as the newest and hottest programing and development skills that the buyer is looking for and only specific competitors or individuals have, coupled with security clearance requirements, that can in fact drive up prices for talent and drive competitive recruiting/bidding wars for the individual talent to offer to the client. Buyer power: the primary client for UCS is the U.S. Government and as such is subject to extreme scrutiny in pricing as well as performance. Pricing is based on what the client/buyer determines to be fair and reasonable for the services requested. This accomplished through what is known as Independent Government Estimates and level of effort of services being requested. All of which are dependent upon the governments budget and funding levels that are being made available for the requirement. Additionally, the procurement strategy can also have an impact on the pricing (i.e. is the government looking for lowest price for technically acceptable bids or for best value of services based on what they receive for the amount bid). Competitive rivalry: For UCS this one of the primary concerns. The number and capability of competitors in the market are vast. Given that UCS is no longer under a SBA small business advantage program they must now compete with globally recognized companies such as Deloitte, Booz Allen, Northrop Grumman, CACI and more, all of which are offering the same services and have significant resources and brand recognition not just to the clients but to potential talent as well. Threat of substitution: Threat of substitution for UCS is significant due to the buyers ability to determine the procurement strategy and the requirements to assist small businesses in receiving government contracts. As such, the buyer could choose to accept a company that is technically acceptable but not as capable or proven as UCS in order to comply with the procurement strategy and check off their requirement to provide work to small disadvantaged businesses. Basically substitute a lesser qualified competitor in order to demonstrate adherence to procurement guidelines. Internal. My preferredmethod of analysis would be targeted surveys to collect data on areas where we are strong, weak or perceived threats. Burk (2014) discusses how psychologists have long relied on questionnaires for data collection, diagnosis and assessment of various studies. He goes on to discuss how leadership and Organizational Development are also leveraging this tool for data collection and has spawned what is known as the Organizational Survey Feedback Method. He also noted that when discussed the survey results with subordinates, particularly through group discussion, positive change typically occurred. The justification for use of this method is that it is a low cost, simple to use, customizable method of collecting a great deal of information. Additionally, once a survey is sent out, it sets an expectation and a responsibility within the organization for follow-up actions. However, for the purposes of this paper, it would be virtually impossible to conduct an organizational survey in time, so instead I would recommend getting much of the same data through the use of a SWOT analysis. Bradt and Davis (2014) discuss a SWOT analysis as a tool used to analyze the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project, product or service venture, or the organization as a whole. It analysis the internal and external factors that can impact the objective being analyzed. A SWOT analysis can be used to help understand the factors that drive or hinder success in an organization and helps to think through potential scenarios to complete the question of so what? and set up the actions of now what? (Bradt Davis, 2014). This in turn can help get members aligned with the organizations vision and strategy and has been often used in executive brainstorming sessions. For UCS the SWOT Analysis must first define a desired end state or objective and in this case it would be to position itself to compete in a larger pool of competitors. The following will provide the basic analysis criteria as interpreted from Bradt and Davis (2014) and then followed by the specific UCS application. Strengths: These are characteristics of the business, team or individual members that give it an advantage over others in the industry. In the case of UCS the following would apply: Young energetic and dedicated workforce demographic. Ability to attract hard to find skill-sets. More organizationally flexible and able to adapt to change quickly. Focus on low overhead expenses allowing for better rates. Weaknesses: These are characteristics that place the firm at a disadvantage as compared to others and can include those found in business, team or individual. In the case of UCS the following would apply: Weakened communications from senior leaders. Inexperienced member in top leadership position. Lack of strategic focus on NEW clients outside of current client base. The start of disharmony among other senior leaders. Too much focus on biggest client which detracts from the many other clients. Fear of dedicating resources to potential new opportunities. Hyper-focus on reducing already good overhead costs, to the possible detriment of losing talent. Opportunities: These are external chances that can make greater sales or profits, improve market position or stakeholder perception. This can be applied to external from the team, business objective or members. In the case of UCS the following would apply: Use of senior business development leaders talents to open new doors outside of current client base. Rely more on experienced leaderships input to accomplish strategies and change. Be less risk aversive in going after new market segments. Threats: These are external elements in the environment that could cause trouble for the business. This can be applied to external from the team, business objective or members. In the case of UCS the following would apply: Hyper-focus of overhead cost reduction policy of making overhead personnel billable. Up and coming companies participating in the SBA small and disadvantaged business programs that can redirect contracts UCS is going after to direct (non-competitive awards to the smaller companies. Employee dis-satisfaction that can result in a damaged reputation thereby impacting recruiting and retention. Summary of Analysis. Review of the external and internal factors impacting UCS show that the company faces its greatest challenges from external forces and should be concerned with the new arena of competition it finds itself in. The loss of the SBA advantage programs significantly impacts the ability to gain new work or retain re-awards without a strong strategy to overcome the barriers it now faces. From the internal perspective UCS has some considerable strengths to leverage in its talented workforce, predominantly experienced leadership and ability to adapt to change. In its new highly competitive environment its ability to be lean and control overhead cost is an advantage and will allow them to be more competitive in pricing. However, while controlling cost is a strength, it can also be a weakness if cost reductions are at the risk of reputation, comfort and confidence of employees, and the ability to attract and retain the needed skills. Additionally, companies must grow and ac hieve new heights through controlled risk. By being overly risk adverse in order to conserve resources, a company may end up moving backwards instead of forwards. References Ascentis UCS (2017). Human Resources Automated Information System. Retrieved from https://selfservice2.ascentis.com/UCS/STS/signin.aspx?c=UCS Bloomberg.com. (2017). Universal Consulting Services, Inc.: Private Company Information Bloomberg. Retrieved March 24, 2017, from http://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=108719433 Bradt, G. B., Davis, G. (2014). First-Time Leader: Foundational Tools for Inspiring and Enabling Your New Team (1). Somerset, US: John Wiley Sons, Incorporated. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com.libproxy.edmc.edu Burke, W. W. (2014). Organization Change: Theory and Practice, 4th Edition. [Argosy University]. Retrieved from https://digitalbookshelf.argosy.edu/#/books/9781452257242/ Galbraith, J. R. (2014). Designing Organizations: An Executive Guide to Strategy, Structure, and Process (3). Somerset, US: Jossey-Bass. Retrieved from http://www.ebrary.com.libproxy.edmc.edu Grundy, T. (2006). Rethinking and reinventing Michael Porters five forces model. Strategic Change, 15(5), 213-229. doi:10.1002/jsc.764 INC. 5000. (2017). Universal Consulting Services Fairfax, VA. Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/profile/universal-consulting-services?cid=full500016-list-1455 Porter, M. E. (1980). Competitive strategy: Techniques for analyzing industries and competitors. New York: Free Press. U.S. Small Business Administration. (2017). About the 8(a) Business Development Program | The U.S. Small Business Administration | SBA.gov. Retrieved March 24, 2017, from https://www.sba.gov/contracting/government-contracting-programs/8a-business-development-program/about-8a-business-development-program Universal Consulting Service, Inc. (2017). Homepage. Retrieved March 24, 2017, from https://ucs-inc.com/

Impact of Privatisation without Effective Regulation

Impact of Privatisation without Effective Regulation Discuss the view: Privatisation without effective regulation is unlikely to bring significant benefits to developing countries. Despite its abundance around the world, and the apparent high esteem that governments hold it in, regulation is no longer seen as the panacea it once was. Regulation must not be over used. Put simply, regulation provides benefits but also incurs costs. Regarding the benefits, Garg and Karba, quoted in Jacobs (2006: 5) have said that, â€Å"it is widely acknowledged that sound regulation is the key to good governance and increased regulatory effectiveness in turn means a better government.† At the same time, the European Parliament (2002) has drawn attention to, â€Å"The problems of over-regulation, the doubtful quality of the laws and the economic obstacles that arise in consequence are increasingly the subject of debate.† Whenever regulation is contemplated, it is necessary to assess whether the costs of such regulation are outweighed by the benefits they provide. This is achieved using Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA), which involves â€Å"a systematic process for assessing the significant impacts (positive and negative) of a regulatory measure† (Jacobs, 2006). This paper looks at the potential benefits and costs that result from regulation of privatised industries in developing countries and whether privatisation without regulation is capable of benefitting a developing economy. The costs of regulation are generally economic, with regulation creating compliance costs for companies, and enforcement costs and added layers of bureaucracy for governments. The benefits may be economic, such as increasing competition in a market, but may also be institutional, increasing a government’s institutional capacity, or social, raising an awareness of the regulated issues among policy makers or the general public which would not otherwise have been present. From a governance perspective, regulation may improve the efficiency and transparency of the government and increase its institutional capacity, but there is also a risk that the added bureaucracy might create new opportunities for corruption and rent seeking. This paper looks therefore, not o nly at the economic costs and benefits of regulation, but also from a governance and social perspective. Furthermore, Bayliss (2002) has pointed out that there has been a shift in emphasis when assessing the effectiveness of economic reforms in developing countries. As she points out, â€Å"Greater attention is now paid to the poverty impact of economic policies in developing countries. Whereas previously the focus was on macroeconomic reforms, effectiveness is now considered in terms of the impact of policies on the poorest.† This can be seen in the recent replacement by the World Bank of Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) with Poverty Reduction Strategies (PRSs), and similarly with the International Monetary Fund’s (IMFs’) change from offering Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facilities (ESAFs) to offering Poverty Reduction and Growth Facilities (PRGFs) in 1999 (Bayliss, 2002: 2). Therefore, when assessing the benefits of regulation of privatisation, this paper will do so from the perspective of poverty reduction where possible, as opposed to merely macroeconomic benefits. Finally, it must also be borne in mind that privatisation is a complicated and often disputed process. Therefore, when this paper will also examine many of the difficulties that privatisation can raise for the development of an economy and will look at the many instances in which privatisation will create challenges for the economy which regulation will not be able to assist with. Regulation: costs and benefits Looking first at regulation of privatisation, the OECD (2001) has pointed out that when conducted correctly, and with effective regulation, including the inclusion of effective RIA measures, â€Å"[regulation] will increase the understanding of the impact of government policies, help unite different interests and approaches to problems, improve public governance transparency and increase the responsibility in public resource management.† Regulatory best practice dictates that regulations should be drafted so as to minimise the burdens they place on the regulated sector while achieving the desired results. However, it has also been pointed out that regulations often have unintended side effects that impact on groups who were not intended to be the targets of the regulation (European Parliament, 2002). Garg and Kabra (2004) have identified four issues that must be considered if regulation is to be effective: firstly all the impacts of proposed regulation, including unintended impacts, must be considered; secondly, the policy objectives of the regulation should be carefully examined to ensure that they do not conflict and to ensure also that all objectives are adequately addressed by the proposed regulations; thirdly, development and implementation of the regulatory framework must be carried out in an inclusive, consultative and transparent manner; and fourthly, the government and the regulator must be accountable. If these four requirements are met, then according to Garg and Kabra (2004), the process of regulation also â€Å"has the potential to be a force for open and democratic government.† However, such regulation, according to Jacobs (2005), are not of benefit to all types of government. He states, â€Å"the prevailing wisdom is that benefits correspond to those of democracies or ‘good government’. [Regulation and RIA] support legal governments which observe the rule of law with proportionate and equitable law. An accountable government is promoted through assessing direct costs and benefits that citizens will incur and selecting policies on the basis of best value for money, taking into account redistribution effects.† Clearly, there are significant benefits to be gained if the right type of government goes about regulation in the correct manner. If the regulations are developed in a consultative manner then they will also help raise awareness of the relevant issues. Effective regulation of core industries, as well as open and accountable RIA procedures are also â€Å"considered as fostering processes conducive to democracies† (Jacobs, 2005). However, if an autocratic or corrupt government were to regulate the industry the same benefits would not be reaped. It is difficult to see how such governments would go about creating a consultative and transparent regulatory regime in any case. This means that they would find it difficult to create a regulatory regime that adequately addressed the myriad different objectives of the regime. It would also mean that there is a high risk that the regulations put in place would have side effects for other, supposedly non-regulated sectors, which would furt her increase the burden of regulation. It is suggested in this paper that regulatory frameworks implemented by immature or non-consultative governments are likely to lack the necessary degree of subtlety that is gained when proper consultative processes are in place, and therefore, the regulations put in place by such regimes may be damaging. To conclude, if regulation is to be of any benefit in the privatisation process, it must be carried out by a responsible and open government, using consultation and adopting regular Regulation Impact Assessments. Otherwise, regulation alone will be of no benefit and will merely add an extra layer of bureaucracy, cost and possibly corruption, into the equation. Also, if regulation is carried out correctly, it will have the side effect of increasing the institutional capacity and expertise of the government. The European Commission (2002), in assessing Slovakia’s regulatory measures stated, â€Å"despite the progress made over the past year, the major need now consists of building up adequate administrative structures and strengthening of administrative capacity to implement the acquis.† Clearly, in order to be of benefit, regulations require certain institutional elements to be put in place by the government. This includes proper oversight of regulators as well as procedures to assess the impact of regulations and the effect they are having on industry. Therefore, it is again suggested that regulations put in place by administrations which lack capacity for effective RIA may also prove damaging to a privatised industry. Even where the government is genuinely democratic and seeks only to improve the performance of the regulated industry for the good of citizens, if it does not have adequate institutional capacity it may find it difficult to pull this off without harming the economy. Privatisation: the challenges for alleviating poverty and the potential for regulation to assist Looking next at the process of privatisation, Bayliss (2002) has pointed out that privatisation has long been one of the favoured methods by which international financial institutions (IFIs) have sought to alleviate poverty in developing countries. However, she states that they were popular when macroeconomic considerations were the main concern of the IFIs and that they have continued into the present days of poverty reduction largely on an assumption that what is good for the macro economy is good for poverty reduction. She states, â€Å"the impact of privatisation on poverty has so far been neglected in World Bank analysis. The distributional impact of privatisation transactions will depend on the nature of the enterprise in question.† Privatisation is generally seen as a benefit both because it raises revenues for the government, while at the same time increasing competition in core and vital sectors of the economy, such as the provision of utilities and transportation. The degree to which a privatisation generates revenue for government depends on the price achieved for the company sold. However, as stated above, benefits today must be assessed according to the poverty alleviating affect, rather than their merely structural effects and from this perspective, the main benefit of a privatisation is far more likely to be the better service that citizens or customers get from the privatised industry. This of course will vary depending on the nature of the industry and the degree to which it is essential to poor people, and also the degree to which the industry has been monopolised by the national company. The privatisation of an essential industry such as water or electricity, previously supplied by a single company, is likely to have a larger impact on poverty reduction than the privatisation of a state owned steel mill for example, especially if there are already private steel mills operating in the sector. If the service offered by the industry to be privatised is actually used by the poor, then the potential benefits to the poor are naturally higher (Bayliss, 2002). Likewise, since much of the improvement in an industry post privatisation comes from increased competition, the market share of the national industry prior to privatisation is also highly relevant. It was the Berg report (Williams, 1981: 186) that first drew IFI attention to privatisation as a means of locking-in economic improvements in Africa. The World Bank had been pursuing a policy of public sector reform, with Africa’s public sector seen as both dominating the private sector and under-performing. However, when improvements in efficiency were made in the public sector, they often proved difficult to maintain as governments would go back on the difficult policies that had led to the improvements. It was concluded in the Berg report that privatising an underperforming public industry would be far more difficult for a government to ‘undo’, so to speak. According to Bayliss and Cramer (2001) â€Å"privatisation acquired its own momentum and became a panacea for all that was wrong with the economies of industrialised and developing countries.† Rebranded today as Private Sector Participation, the World Bank and the IMF still promote privatisation, have made it part of their conditionality arrangements with most states for the release of aid funds, and have increased the capacity of their own divisions dealing with the private sector (Grusky, 2001). Even privatisation of basic services has been made a requirement for IMF and World Bank programmes (Bayliss, 2001a). Privatisation is now a core part of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) with the Uganda PRSP stating for example, â€Å"In the long run privatisation will transfer the need for major investment expenditures on to the private sector† (IMF, 2000). The Burkina Faso PRSP states it will begin the, â€Å"privatisation of existing state interests in order to facilitate the entry of new firms, resources, and technology into various segments of the market† (World Bank, 2002). Privatisation strategies are also a requirement for countries to qualify under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) programme. One result of these conditionalties is that it incentivises governments of poor countries to privatise without taking into account adequately the economic benefits of doing so, especially the impact that privatisation might have on the poorest members of society. Privatisation deals will be pushed through in order to meet IMF and World Bank requirements regardless of the results of economic studies (Bayliss, 2002). One example of this was the hasty privatisation of Cameroon’s sole water utility when only one bidder had time to come forward. It is difficult to see how the best price could be achieved for the utility without proper bidding from multiple competing bidders. However, according to Reuters (2000), the utility was sold to the French MNC, Suez Lyonnaise in order to meet an IMF debt relief deadline regardless of the fact that the best price might not have been achieved. From an examination of statements by the World Bank and wider literature there appears to be five ways in which privatisation can bring significant benefits to developing countries from the point of view of poverty reduction. These five potential benefits will now be critically assessed, with special attention being paid to the degree to which regulation impact on such potential gains. The first general argument in favour of privatisation is that it contributes to economic growth. Economic growth is necessary to reduce poverty. However, Bayliss (2002) and Cook and Uchida (2001) have pointed out that the link between privatisation and economic growth in developing countries is an assumption based on experience in developed economies and has not been substantiated in the literature of the World Bank or the IMF. Furthermore, there is no evidence to suggest that regulation would impact on the degree to which privatisation might impact on economic development. Bayliss (2002) and Cook and Uchida (2001) both reject that privatisation necessarily leads to economic growth. It is also suggested here that economic growth cannot be regulated for. For example, forcing private operators to increase production through regulation, without there being a demand would be unsustainable. Therefore, it must be concluded that the argument that economic growth generated from privatisation has a significant impact on poverty reduction is not shown, either from past experience or from empirical literature. And furthermore, regulation will not have an impact on this fact. Secondly, the World Bank (2001) and others (Adam et al 1992) have argued that privatisation leads to Private Sector Development (PSD) and thus helps in reducing poverty. While PSD has been shown to impact positively on poverty reduction, privatisation has not as yet been linked empirically to PSD (Bayliss, 2002). The World Bank and IMF â€Å"see the mission as being the need to harness the dynamism and efficiency of the private sector to make it operate for the social good† (Bayliss, 2002). It is true that in efficient and competitive markets firms must strive for efficiency and innovation in order to maximise profits and even survive. However, as argued by Bayliss (2000) â€Å"where there is any kind of market power exercised by a single or group of enterprises, the implications for the social good come into question.† The link between privatisation and private sector development made by the World Bank and IMF is an assumption that has not been substantiated and the re asoning of the World Bank here has been harshly criticised in the literature (Bayliss, 2001b). The World Bank claims that privatisation improves the public sector in two ways. Firstly, according to Kikeri et al (1994), privatisation will increase the number of stakeholders who have an interest in the success of the countries private sector. Secondly, Kikeri et al (1992) have pointed out that privatisation is a signal to investors that the government is committed to PSD and thus investment will be encouraged. However, Bayliss (2002) has pointed out that, according to past experience in developing countries, private actors have done more harm than good to the private sector when they are put into monopolistic positions. It is only when effective regulations are put in place and enforced that the private actors have shown any tendency to behave in a manner conducive to PSD. This has led Bayliss (2002) to conclude that â€Å"it is not privatisation that will develop the private sector; rather it is the government, through effective regulation.† She argues that such regulation will develop the private sector regardless of whether or not privatisation takes place, however, it is suggested here that if effective government regulation is in place and is enforced, then the arguments of Kikeri et al (1992) and Kikeri et al (1994) should hold true, and therefore, privatisation with effective regulation will greatly improve PSD. Ramamurti (1996) for example, has shown that privatisation in Latin America, coupled with effective regulation, has been accepted by the markets as a positive signal to investors. It should be noted however that the same benefits have not as yet been demonstrated in Africa. Bayliss (2002) has suggested that â€Å"arguably, government concessions and guarantees are a greater attraction for investors than a commitment to private sector led growth.† However, it is concluded here that a government commitment to PSD, coupled with effectiv e regulation to prevent private sector abuse, should be capable of showing the same benefits in Africa as it has in Latin America if it is sustained by governments. Therefore, in this second category, privatisation can be of benefit to a developing economy, however, this will be true only if proper regulation is established. The third way in which privatisation helps with poverty reduction is by raising government revenues through the sale of the asset. The sale will also free the government from the obligation to invest in the industry, thus providing further fiscal benefits (Campbell-White Bhatia, 1998). The World Bank (2001) state, â€Å"Urban power, water, sanitation and telecommunications require large investments, even if efficiency is improved. But much of this funding can come from the private sector – indeed, privatisation can be a source of revenue for cash-strapped governments.† The idea being that such savings can â€Å"enable [governments] to conserve limited public resources for other priorities, such as education and healthcare† (World Bank, 2000). However, Campbell-White and Bhatia (1998) have shown the very obvious fact that private firms only want to buy profitable enterprises. Their study of privatisations in Africa shows that on aggregate, the industries that had been privatised up until 1998 in Africa had not been a financial drain on governments. It is very difficult to see many cases in which private investors will be willing to purchase loss making enterprises and then make the investments necessary to improve public services for the poorest. This fundamental fact was demonstrated by Biwater President, Richard Fleming, when his company pulled out of a private water project in Zimbabwe which was designed to bring water to some of the country’s poor. It emerged that the water tariff that had been agreed with the Zimbabwean government , and which would have allowed the project to operate at a profit, was too high for the intended customers to afford. Whiting, in an honest and realistic press release to the Zimbabwe Independent of 10 December 1999, stated on behalf of Biwater, â€Å"Investors need to be convinced that they will get reasonable returns†¦ The issues we consider include who the end users are and whether they are able to afford the water tariffs†¦ From a social point of view, these kinds of projects are viable but unfortunately from a private sector point of view they are not.† It is inevitable that if the numbers simply do not add up, then the greatest will and best practices in the world will not enable the private sector to be involved in an industry. It is suggested here that sound regulation will not be able to alter this fact. The Zimbabwe Biwater case illustrates this point. The company and the government had carefully negotiated a project that was fair to everyone and would have been well regulated. Biwater was to build the infrastructure, and make a return by charging customers a tariff which had been agreed with the regulator. The problem was simple economic reality. The intended customers could not afford the tariff that the regulator had set and which the company needed to justify the investment. Government guarantees to investors, such as guaranteeing a certain profit margin, or promising to purchase the output of a project at a guaranteed price, it is suggested, return the financial risk to the government and remove any fiscal benefits that pr ivatisation might have been able to provide. Bayliss and Hall (2000) have identified a number of projects in which national or regional budgets have been crippled because of commitments to purchase products from privatised industries at fixed prices. Therefore, from the point of view of raising revenue for the government, privatisation may be of benefit. However, regardless of how much money a government gets for selling an asset, such gains will only be lasting if the project as a whole is feasible and the private company is able to operate at a profit. Therefore, in this third category of generating revenue for government, it is essential that the project is a success for the private company, the end user and the government, and the only way to ensure this is if effective and consultative regulation has been put into place prior to the initiation of the project. Fourthly, it is argued that privatisation will not only bring in revenue and investment, but also foreign expertise and management practices which will increase efficiency and performance. The argument that private sector management will be better than public sector management may be true in some situations but there are dozens of well known, multi-billion dollar privatisations in which the new management failed and the industry had to come back into public sector responsibility (Bayliss, 2002). For example, when Trinidad contracted out management of the island’s water supply to UK company, Severn Trent in 1996, the company promised, through better expertise and international management best practices, to make water supply on the island break even financially within three years. However, at the end of the three year term, Severn Trent had increased the budget deficit of the utility to $378.5 and handed the industry back to the government, at the end of their contract, in a sta te of financial emergency. Regulation may be of assistance here as it can ensure that private sector management is supervised and that any failings or poor practices by the private industry will be quickly caught by the regulator. This can help avoid situations such as referred to above in which the private company has allowed an industry to deteriorate to such an extent that the government has had to step in to remedy the situation. It is suggested here that if regulation is effective and well drafted, it should decrease the risks that private management will fail drastically in its task. However, if the good management practices of the newly privatised industry are coming from the government regulator rather than from the international expertise that have been imported during privatisation, then it is difficult to see how such private expertise are of any benefit to a country. However, there are numerous cases in which privatisations have improved an industry because of internatio nal private sector expertise and it is suggested here that regulation is simply a safeguard. While it is always hoped that privatisation will lead to the importing of new private management who will be able to improve performance because of their expertise, the risk that they will fail is also insured against by close and effective regulation. In this case therefore, regulation removes or reduces one of the risks of privatisation, that the private management will be incompetent. The fifth and final argument that privatisation helps a local economy is that it will cause a release of aid funds. As stated above, aid funds are often conditional upon privatisation. For example, when Guinea handed management of the capital’s water sector to the private sector it received an extra $67 million for investment in water infrastructure (Bayliss, 2002). Menard, Clarke and Zuluaga (2000) have shown that many privatisations have been pursued solely to receive extra aid and in economic impact assessments, the extra aid is often what tips the scale in favour of privatisation. Nickson (2001) has described how the privatisation of Cartagena’s water system by one mayor was only continued by the incoming mayor because of the aid funds that were tied to the deal. Without the tied in aid funds, the incoming mayor would have strongly opposed the privatisation on a number of economic and social grounds. However, it is pointed out here that the inflow of aid funds is no t an inherent benefit of privatisation and only ensures that privatisation appears to be good for the economy. In fact, tying aid to privatisation makes it very difficult to assess the economic benefits of privatisation at all. It is like trying to assess the economic contribution of an industry that receives large government subsidies. The subsidies mask the true performance of the industry and make it’s economic contribution difficult to ascertain. It is suggested here however that if aid is also conditional on privatisations being regulated, then clearly there is an economic benefit to regulation, simply because it will meet with donor approval and cause the release of further funds. Conclusion To conclude therefore, if regulation is to be of any benefit, it must be conducted by a democratic and transparent government who is willing to address the many costs and benefits of regulation. The government must also conduct RIA to ensure that the regulations themselves do not become a burden on the industry or distort the economics of the privatised sector. That said, in relation to the five ways in which privatisation is said to help an economy, regulation can only impact positively on some of them. With regard to the argument that privatisation contributes to economic growth, it has been shown that regulation is not a useful tool to ensure this occurs. With regard to the argument that privatisation contributes to Private Sector Development, it is concluded here that regulation is necessary and effective. Without such regulation there is a risk that privatised firms will behave in a monopolistic and abusive manner. Therefore for privatisation to improve the public sector, it must be properly regulated. With regard to the argument that privatisation has fiscal benefits for the government, this will only be the case if the privatised industry is carefully regulated so as not to create costs for the government in the event of bad management. However, in this regard, the terms of the privatisation agreement are more important than regulati on. With regard to the argument that privatisation brings in foreign expertise, this is true in many cases but again, in order to reduce the risk that the privatised firms perform poorly, regulation is again necessary. And finally, with regard to the argument that privatisation attracts aid, insofar as aid is conditional on privatisation being regulated, then regulation has a direct benefit of pleasing aid agencies. Therefore, while the benefits of privatisation are still being disputed, with regard to the World Bank’s five asserted benefits of privatisation, four of them are enhanced if effective regulation is in place. Therefore only way in which developing countries can benefit from privatisation is with effective regulation. Bibliography Adam, C., Cavendish, W., Mistry, P.S. (1992) Adjusting Privatisation: Case Bayliss, K Cramer, C (2001) Between the lab and the real world, Chap. 3, pp.52-79 Development Policy in the Twenty-First Century, Fine, Pincus and Lapavitsas (eds.) 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(2006) Public Enterprise, Privatisation and Regulation, Regulatory Governance: Research Centre for Regulation and Competition, British Council Development Service, 2006 Kikeri, S., Nellis, J., Shirley, M. (1992) Privatisation: The Lessons of Experience, Washington DC, World Bank IBRD Kikeri, S., Nellis, J., Shirley, M. (1994) Privatisation: Lessons from Market Economics, The World Bank Research Observer, Vol. 9, No. 2, July 1994 Menard, C., Clarke, G., Zuluaga,