Whales vs Dolphins

The oceans are inhabited by various kinds of animals and plants, such as fish, cetacean (whales, dolphins and porpoises), cephalopods (octopus and squid), crustaceans (lobsters, clams, shrimp and krill), planktons, starfish, Jelly fish etc. The largest In bulk Is the cetacean order. Although whales and dolphins have different outer appearance they belong to the same order and share many similarities. First of all, they are both mammals and share similar characteristics of the anatomy.They have similar vital organs and skeleton, and they breathe and eproduce in the same way. If we scrutinize (take under scrutiny) their way of breathing, we can see that both of them breathe through blow holes which are nasal openings on top of their head. Both breathe with lungs which make them different from the class of fish. Moreover, they reproduce in the same way – by giving birth to a live young which is nourished with milk by its mothers. 80th have one calf at a time and their gestation p eriod ranges from 9 to 18 months.The calves are born tall first to minimize the risk of drowning. Then the calf Is lifted by Its mother to the surface so that It takes Its first breath. Nursing continues for more than a year. Secondly, we can spot many similarltles regarding their social behavior, vocalization and sleeping methods. Whales and dolphins live In plods which are groups of either whales or dolphins respectively. Members of the pod protect each other, feed and migrate together. The number of pods members may vary from 2 to 50. Additionally, they communicate between each other by emitting sounds i. . by vocalization. There use dfferent sounds for different purposes. Generally, these sounds are used for communication, attracting mates and localizing pray i. e. echolocation. What is more, they display similar behavior when it comes down to their sleeping methods. They are both conscious breathers and thus they cannot afford to be unconscious while sleeping because that may l ead to drowning. Hence only one hemisphere of their brain sleeps at a time, so they rest but are never completely asleep. Thirdly, they are considered to have high Intelligence and emotional empathy.Both are highly social beings and they have a complex form of communication with each other which can be defined as language. They cooperate with each other, teach, learn and even grieve. They are very protective of each other and will defend their family and pod from any potential threats. Moreover, they are able to sympathies not only with their relatives but also with other animals in need. Their possession of spindle cells indicates a possibility of high intelligence. Spindle cells are also found in humans, apes and elephants.Scientists find them to have an important role in any cognitive abilities and disabilities ranging from great perceptiveness and perfect pitch to autism and dyslexia. What Is more, in self-awareness experiments they can Identify their reflections in a mirror. To sum up, despite their different physical appearance they are strikingly slmllar. They belong to the same cetacean order and thus share many traits regarding their are compassionate, sociable animals which treat their families in a similar way we do. They are fascinating creatures and I believe that there is even more to surprise us if we explore them further.

Areas of Strategic Plan: Huffman Trucking Essay

Introduction The business continuity plan outlines the processes required to ensure the continuance of business during and after a disaster. The idea is not just to be able to continue business uninterrupted. But to also reestablish the full functions of the business as quickly as possible. Huffman Trucking Strategic Outline Huffman Stakeholders: Everyone affected by the activities of its business. Main Stakeholders: shareholders, management, employee’s, customers, auto parts suppliers, major manufacturers of plastic goods, banks, government, and trade unions, Other Stakeholders: pressure groups, highway drivers, and communities in which Huffman travels and operates their terminals. Mission Statement: â€Å"Since 1936 Huffman’s professional drivers have been delivering more than just on-time freight. Huffman delivers top quality service, safely and efficiently every mile of the way, to the community of the United States of America.† Vision Statement: â€Å"Huffman envisions being the first choice of company’s of America when they look for transportation of freight. In three years Huffman will be the number one freight carrier of the United States government. Proving longevity and efficiency will always be in high demand.† Outline A. Financial 1. Financial Assumptions: Revenue and Expenses a. Operation cost b. Updating hardware and software c. Find a cost saving method to duplicate records for fleet maintenance and enterprise transportation systems. B. Managerial 1. Develop a business plan to define and meet organizations goals. Create a contingency plan that can be taken in case of emergency or disaster (Myers, 2005). 2. Plan for cost savings for contingency plan (Myers, 2005). C. Economic `1. â€Å"Analyze the potential costs and value the anticipated benefits of a proposed programmer, policy or regulatory initiative, and reflect trade-offs inherent in alternatives† (Health & Environment, 2011, par. 1). D. Marketing 1. Advertisement of business products and services 2. Make sure data is accurate and notify customers about plan 3. Make agreement and arrangement for customers to receive deliveries on time. 4. Work to build and maintain effective communication with employees and customers. E. Technological 1. Information technology-based 2. Research and development 3. Emerge technology 4. Internet F. Competition 1. Globalization a. Canada b. Mexico 2. Research and development a. Data collection G. Political/Legal 1. Government. Political variables include policies regarding competition and taxation (FitzRoy & Hulbert, 2005). a. Employment law b. government spending c. regulation of financial markets H. Ethics 1. Huffman should follow widely accepted ethical practices regarding the acquisition of competitor intelligence (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2009). a. Gathering publicly available information 1. court records 2. advertisements 3. annual reports (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson, 2009). 4. trade fairs and shows a. competitor brochures b. listen to competitor discussions I. Crisis management 1. Backup plan. a. computer fallback plan b. prevention program c. incident recovery plan Conclusion With all of the natural disasters, power outages, and terror attacks and a hundred other types of disasters, businesses have to plan for continuance of their business. The Business continuity plan is usually drafted considering the worst case scenario. For example the IT department may maintain all the electronic data at various locations, so in the event of a company shutdown, the critical functions can still be performed. Business continuity has become a growing concern in business. References Allen, S. (2011). How to Do Business with the U.S. Government. Retrieved December 15, 2011 From http://entrepreneurs.about.com/cs/marketing/ht/government_biz.htm FitzRoy P., & Hulbert, J. (2005). Strategic Management: Creating Value in Turbulent Times. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Health & Environment Linkages Initiative. (2011). Economic Assessment. Retrieved December 18, 2011, from http://www.who.int/heli/economics/en/ Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2009). Strategic Management: Competitiveness And Globalization, Concepts and Cases (8th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Myers, K. N., (2006). Business Continuity Strategies: Protecting Against Unplanned Disasters (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

A Prominent Leader Essay

This paper will entirely focus on Oprah Winfrey. Oprah Winfrey has shone and demonstrated more strength, character, and changed the way America looks at and views racial issues in America. This paper will analyze her start in the film industry, her leadership, personal wealth, Business Leadership Oprah Winfrey is a reputable, prominent world leader, businesswoman, actress, philanthropist, and talk show-host. It is said by some that she has revolutionized television talk show. One has to admire her perseverance to overcome the hardships she faced as a child. Oprah’s mother had Oprah when she was only a teenager in a town in rural Mississippi. She was born into poverty and raped at a young age of nine years old. History repeats itself and a young teenage Oprah gives birth to a child that dies. Oprah started her career in radio. Today women turn to Oprah for self-help, self-improvement, compassion, religious questions, and even how to regulate your bowel movements. Against all odds in a male dominated field, Oprah rises to have the most-popular, longest running, and highest-ranking talk show. CNN, Time Magazine, and Life all list Oprah Winfrey as the most influential woman in the world. (Finz, 2011). Oprah Winfrey would be an example of a Transformational leader. Transformational leaders influence, inspire, move, and literally transform followers to achieve organizational goals beyond their self-interests (Burns, 1978), thus initiating and bringing about positive change. (Weiss, 2011). She was very much involved in Civil Rights, and changed the way African – Amrericans are treated. Her endorsement of President Obama brought about a post-racial era long before we would have seen. (Zak, 2011) Oprah demonstrates characteristics of a transformational leader by demonstrating the four I’s of a Transformational leader. The first I is Idealized Influence which is probably the most obvious trait. Oprah routinely fosters trust and you admire her strength and feel a sense of pride for some of the subjects she touches on. For example, I remember once seeing a show on gay/lesbians. It literally changed the entire way I view them. I used to think they wanted attention and they choose to go against what we as a society think is acceptable or not. After her show I realize they don’t want to be different they just want to be accepted. The second I is for Inspirational Motivation. Oprah rallies people everyday across America inspiring and motivating people. The third I is for Intellectual stimulation. In my opinion this is obvious through her belief and promoting President Obama during his presidency. Who really thought an African American would be president in our lifetime? Finally the last I is for Individualized consideration. She constantly is taking on sensitive subjects. I remember one show where she interviewed a boy who had been locked in a wire cage for several hours a day. She was able to tell his story and let him maintain his dignity even though horrific things were done to him. Oprah’s ratings prove she has the following and believers a Transformational leader has. Through the last twenty- five years we have seen an African American take over the media and change daytime talk shows.

Customer Relationship Management in the University Essay

Customer Relationship Management in the University - Essay Example There are frequent meetings that are always held to ensure that emerging issues are solved amicably to avoid problems that may arise between the organization and the students.The university leadership is always keen on the needs of the students and quick decision-making on matters that affect both students and the staffs is always a priority. The customer relationship management applied in the university provides the opportunity to develop and preserve the relationship between the students and the rest of stakeholders of the university. The application of CRM has made the university to be unique and emerged the best among its competitors. Sharing of helpful information with the students on how the institution can nurture and place us for victory in the coming days is important to all students.The frequent communication with parents concerning students’ performance is also another way that my university implements customer relationship management. The outcome of the communicati on has been positive since students are retained while many are recruited. Apart from communicating with parents, the university is also in frequent contact with the alumnae that has enable the institution get donations from different donors, hence the continuous development of the university. The rules and regulations of the University have been given to students to ensure that all students follow the policies of the institution. There are better ways that the university applies in disciplining the students with indiscipline cases.

Professional Code of Conduct Exercise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Professional Code of Conduct Exercise - Essay Example Construction managers are called to avoid conflict of interest by shunning projects that compromise integrity and objectivity. CMAA code of ethics requires its members to bargain openly for fair compensation. The code provides that construction managers release truthful information and keep other information confidential. Construction managers are required not to discriminate potential clients. CMAA members are encouraged to strive for professional development and to uphold the integrity of their profession (Ghillyer 12). I agree with everything that is stated in the CMAA code of ethics. My agreement with this code is underpinned by its comprehensiveness. This is seen in the way its elements touch on the welfare of all the stakeholders including construction managers, the profession of construction, clients and the public at large. Additionally, this code of ethics is acceptable because it promotes a robust practice. Its emphasis on qualification, competence, and integrity underscores this robustness. CMAA code of ethics is designed in such a way that it can be domesticated into other fields and professions and this is another reason why I agree with it. For example, the principles of confidentiality, integrity, and fair competition can apply in business and medicine. This code of ethics also encourages professional development and as such, it promotes a self-reinforcing practice (Ghillyer 13). Accountability is one of the ethical considerations that can be added to CMAA code of ethics. This would encourage construction managers to ensure that they have enough justification for the decisions they make and the actions they take. Facilitation of evaluation is another ethical consideration that can be added into CMAA professional code of ethics. This would impress on construction managers to use their knowledge and experience in evaluating the quality of

Elizabeth Gaskell short story The Old Nurse's Story, which is taken Essay

Elizabeth Gaskell short story The Old Nurse's Story, which is taken from the Virago Book of Ghost Stories (Virago 2006), The Weir by Connor McPherson, and dramatises Valerie's story - Essay Example ‘The Virago Book of Ghost Stories’ has series of ghost stories which are edited chronologically so that the reader can feel the change in the pattern of the ghost stories over the ages. In the short story ‘The Old Nurse’s Story’, the author Mrs. Gaskell pitches in various factors that make the plot of the story truly supernatural. She inculcates the series of untimely deaths, the secrets of the family, the sibling rivalries along with more common features like love and jealousy. The most important attribute that makes the story so popular in the genre of the supernatural stories is the addition of certain Gothic features like that of the old manor house, stormy evenings, extreme emotions, super natural ambience and above all the child ghost. The excerpts from the story, â€Å"I was all in a hot, trembling passion; and I said it was very well for her to talk, that knew what these sights and noises betokened, and that had, perhaps, had something to do with the spectre -child while it was alive. And I taunted her so, that she told me all she knew, at last; and then I wished I had never been told, for it only made me afraid more than ever† (Gaskell, â€Å"The Old Nurses Story†) provides for the superb case of spectre - child. The play ‘The Weir’ captures the scene of a regular rural Irish Bar where three ‘regulars’ are busy in having drink with the bar owner. The four of them are old time friends. While sipping in to their drinks, they are busy narrating and swapping stories with each other. All of a sudden, a lady, in her late thirties, arrives at the bar and asks for wine. She joins the four friends with her drink. The chemistry of the group changes as all of them tries to impress the lady with their stories which in due course of time turns to Irish folklores with supernatural events. After all the male counterparts are done with their respective stories, the lady commences her narration of the melancholy

Three Gorges Dam- Tourism Venue and Creation and Loss of Jobs Research Paper

Three Gorges Dam- Tourism Venue and Creation and Loss of Jobs - Research Paper Example The business opportunities will provide a platform through which many people can establish some businesses in the area. For example, as tourists come to visit the site, it is apparent that they would require having some hotels and restaurants around and within the location. In this regard, people will venture into the hotel business thus creating jobs to many people. In order to have tourism facilitate effectively, there is need to have tourist operators who will organize and take tourists to the site. This way, many people will have an opportunity to work in these tour companies (Jim Para. 6). However, in the effort to relocate towns and people living around this area, it means that many people will loose their agricultural land and this could lead to lose of livelihood to these people (Yardley Para 50). People who relied on agriculture as their economic activity will loose it. It is apparent that the towns that will be relocated will lead to lose of jobs to many people. In these towns, many businesses will be destabilized and this leads to lose of jobs to both the owners and people employed to work in those businesses. After completion of the three Georges dam project, visitors will be able to see a wonder in the Yangtze River where a calm lake sits among the steep gorges. Many scenic spots which could not have been entered are now reachable. For example, in Fangyang River, the branch of Madu River, a new site of small gorges comes into view (Agencies Para. 3). The white Emperor city, which was originally hidden in the thick forest before, becomes an attractive island standing in the center of the River. This big scenery will attract more visitors to explore three Gorges (Backenheimer Para. 1). Since tourist will require having access to the site, it therefore means that they need to have means of transport to the area. In this regard, the construction of three Georges dam will largely improve the

Health care law case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Health care law case - Essay Example Mr Segedy appealed the comparative negligence verdict and the new trial order. Mrs Segedy suffered from lung and heart problems with likely causative agents emanating from rheumatic fever. She visited Dr I. Ibrahim who diagnosed her with mitral stenosis on June 2001 and on 21st September 2001 her cardiologist performed catheterization of the heart to evaluate the problem further. She was placed for heart surgery on 24th September 2001 by DR Netzley after he was consulted by her cardiologist. Mrs Segedy excused herself to visit her children before the surgery though she had been advised to remain in the hospital by her cardiologist. The operation was performed on Monday and after Dr Netzley determined that she was stable, he placed her in the ICU. However this did not work out as the heart malfunctioned rendering Dr Netzley to refer Mrs Segedy back to the operation room. She was placed under life support machine until 28th September 2001. The surgeon and the nurses did every little thing that would have been done by any responsible neurosurgeon to ensure the life of Mrs Segedy was not a risk. Mr Segedy sued Dr Netzley and company, Dr. Ibrahim and corporation and Summit Pulmonary and internal medicine Inc. for medicinal negligence. Mr. Segedy argued that Dr. Ibrahim failed the standard of care by failing to properly complete or reschedule a bronchoscopy, proximately causing Mrs Segedys death through a delay in diagnosis. He accused Dr Netzley of standard of care violation through transferring his wife from the operating room before she regained stability and failing to return her to the operation room immediately for appropriate medicinal care causing his wife’s death. The verdict was in favor of Dr Ibrahim thus he is not party to the appeal. The jury returned a verdict against Dr Netzley of amounts of $1,755,300 but was not supported by all the judges in the panel. After several consultations, the jury gave

Spinozas Conception of God Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Spinozas Conception of God - Essay Example In his writings, especially The Ethics, Benedict de Spinoza logically defined existence and provided logical proof of his definitions. He used logical progressions and relationships among those statements he considered to have been proven to make his conclusions. In the readings consulted, Spinoza did not really argue for or against the existence of God, though he stated that the existence of God was a logical conclusion. He took that as a given. What Spinoza was attempting was a definition of the nature of God and of all existence. What he finally proved to his satisfaction was that God is everything which exists, that God is infinite and eternal and that everything else proceeds from the mind of God, that is, all existence is thought in the mind of God.In the translated work â€Å"Of God† Spinosa began with simple precepts which he related, such as: â€Å"PROP. VII. -- Existence belongs to the nature of substance.DEMONSTR. -- The production of substance is impossible (by Coroll. to preceding Prop.). Substance, therefore, is the cause of itself; that is (by Def. 1), its essence necessarily involves existence; or, in other words, existence belongs to its nature. Q. E. D.PROP. VIII. -- All substance is necessarily infinite.†(Spinoza 7)This proof is at the beginning of his writing, and it identifies â€Å"substance† (something which exists) as being infinite and states the conservation of matter theorem very simply.

Holy Ghost Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Holy Ghost Religion - Essay Example â€Å"There is a large two story and of dark wood, with a steeply pitched roof, it appeared abandoned,† (Lienau 8). In principle, it detailed the setting of the documentary and how frightening the actions that would be done there were likely to be. The documentary shows a voice believed to be of a spirit detailing and interpreting the testimony of a woman. The voice analyses the character and testimony of the woman to the surprise of the believers. In brief, the story is about the Pentecostal Church that elaborates that punishments and disasters happen to people because of their sins and mistakes. For example, the people living with HIV/AIDs or rape victims are supposed to have sinned and therefore their difficulties are caused by their sins.Subsequently, the preacher then handles a snake and uses it as an example to elaborate the power of God over Satan or devil. When I look up about what does the snake represent in the Holy Bible I found that it represents the devil. So, in the event of the snake that would bite a person handling it would be used as an example to show the strength of Satan. I was surprised with that kind of comparison because it is obvious that God rule or control supreme and nothing or nobody can be compared to God.When I did my research, I realizedthat the church supposed to represent a place of holiness, righteousness and goodness. Hence, using this actions and stories such as the snake handling to show the power of God is inaccurate and misleading.

Islam and Pakistan Essay Example for Free

Islam and Pakistan Essay In the name of Allah the most beneficent the most merciful A beautiful scene of dusk depicts a sweet picture of the universe, when the sun sets, and calm and stillness engulfs the loud voices of the day, I often see the birds returning back to their nests. These tiny creatures, lacking the faculty of reasoning and speech, believe that the best place ever found in the world is home. No matter how far we are from our homes, its necessity never diminishes and   Mr. President, respectable teachers worthy parents and dear fellows this is the first reason Why I love Pakistan? Pakistan’s creation was no doubt the finest hour of our history our forefathers who had fought for it envisioned the promise of long cherished freedom, democracy and prosperity. It is the country which was created to work for an ideal democratic state based on social justice as an upholder of human freedom and world peace, in which all citizens were to enjoy equal rights and freedom from fear, want and ignorance. Dear fellows, Pakistan my homeland is in fact the land of blessings. Its creation speaks its dignity. History teaches us that how much cherished the dream of Pakistan was and how seriously our fathers fought for it . believe me or not, the most significant reason of loving Pakistan is independence movement itself. I know very well Mr. President that the shackles of slavery snatch all such all creative facilities and the beautiful world a heaven to breathe in, turns into hell without freedom. By the grace of Allah my country, my love, my homeland offers me to enjoy the open air of independence . Being a student I have surfaced the papers of history to know about the grand sacrifices of my forefathers   and as humble token I express my gratitude to them by proudly announcing in public that Pakistan I love u . ,And I have millions of reasons to prove that why I love Pakistan? I was wondering a few days ago what Pakistan has done for me and how we react when something happens down there. I am proud to say that Im Muslim, and after my religion I am most proud of the country to which I belong, Pakistan. Here are some facts: Pakistan is the only country to be founded on the basis of Islam Pakistan posseses the 6th largest army in the world today. Pakistan is the single most powerful Muslim country in the world today. Pakistani Air Force and Army personnel train all other Muslim countries, which include most Arab nations today. Pakistan is the only Muslim country that posseses Nuclear power.  I can see the bright future of Pakistan. as Quaid said. † There is no power on earth that can undo Pakistan†. In end I would pray all of you to love this country as a blessing of God, stand united, guard its identity and geographical boundaries, work day and night for its better and exalted image,. Live like Ghazis and Shaheens of Iqbal, die like martyrs. I want to salute to all national heroes and my teachers on this great day, when ever listen the best name Pakistan always respond Zindabad. Its high time to hold hands and say it out loud. pakistan zindabad. Salute Pakistan.

Healthy Living Report Essay Example for Free

Healthy Living Report Essay Healthy livingâ€Å" Campaign report 1. Background research to the issue To find the way linked to my group topic and target made us to meet many times and discuss about social issues among students and young people. It made my group to think a lot what topic for campaign would be interesting to us – while working for this, and similarly what would be interesting for other people especially for students in Middlesex University. First of all, everyone in my group pay attention on unhealthy food and ingredients which make daily food able to be fresh for long term and even dangerous. My group decided to start doing campaign â€Å"tricky food† and we all fell into research on dangerous ingredients in popular supermarkets’ food. As we published in our Wiki page â€Å"Unhealthy substitutes used in food production† had to be our campaign stage. (Wiki, ResearchS08G1). From long list of various chemicals and acids which are used in food our group made a decision to focus on Aspartame the most. Aspartame is artificial sweetener which is 200 times sweeter than sugar and commonly used in food industry. In the internet is not difficult to find many articles and discussions about it, some people claim that it is very dangerous to human’s health because of its force to cause cancer, nerve disorders, birth defects and other healthy imbalances. From the other side of view, probably from the business side, some people are ready to prove that aspartame is not so bad, the right amount of it in food is not dangerous and it is cheaper to use in food industry than sugar. However, this sweetener is widely used and found in drinks such as diet coke, energy drinks and even some juice. In the United States aspartame is regulated by FDA – Food and Drug Administration which has set the ADI (acceptable daily intake) for aspartame 50mg/kg and similarly in the European Union – by European Food Safety Authority ADI is 40mg/kg. (American Cancer Society, Learn About Cancer 2011). Well, when the national administration has set the secure quantity of this sweetener it became allowable to use it in food widely. Due to that my group decided that there are no argues with food industry and during our campaign it is hard to change sweeteners usage in nourishment and we made another decision: to change campaign topic and target substantially. Every one of us is surrounded by bright adverts and slogans to be eco-friendly, to eat healthy food, to avoid junk food, to choose food without any preservatives and so on. My group and I also decided to join in those who are providing healthy living style. We started to do another research linked to it, to search what vitamins human need to recover healthy organism after winter and which fruit and vegetables have beneficial vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Also very important issue that UK is on the leading position in regards to obese citizens in Europe (Wiki, ResearchS08G1). Regarding to New York Times (2010, The World is Fat) in almost half of developed countries, one out of every two people is overweight or obese. In the figure is clearly visible that England was and will be second nation after United States which has overweight, till 2020 it can reach 70 per cent limit! These facts made us to take care for obese issue in United Kingdom. As a united group of different countries: two Lithuanians, Polish and two English we see our target to start informing students about this growing problem by providing healthy eating habits and healthy life style including exercises and view of it. 2. Process of campaign planning Firstly, we had chosen to run the campaign about â€Å"tricky food† and especially aspartame but as I mentioned in the first part of report, during the research we found facts that aspartame is legal sweetener and the right amount of it is not dangerous to human’s health. With our campaign we would be having too less force and evidence in order to avoid this sweetener use in food industry. Regarding to this, we left the idea about tricky food and during more than two meetings we were discussing about many topics which could be interesting and worthy to pay attention. It was not easy part of planning our campaign because we all understood that to find the topic with strong target and serious attitude it is difficult. We mentioned points such as how we could include more people to our team, how we could represent information for them and for our university, should we stay only in university or shall we go further: inform people about issue in our living areas, in the social websites, etc. how we could do our event and what to do so as to attract an attention. We were sure that we will have leaflets with useful information, that we will set up facebook page for our campaign and we will do our event in the university. In our meeting we had not have one  person as a chairperson, we all were equivalent and we all were suggesting our ideas. My idea was to look deeper how we are living, what are ours daily diet, daily routine – are we healthy enough or should we change something in our lives. While suggesting the topic Healthy living I also had an idea to raise the charity fund. Even more, to visit children schools or other meeting places and inform them about our campaign and targets. Unfortun ately, I had not got any assent from my team members for this action. However, I sent some emails to charities such as British Red Cross and Save the Children. I informed them about our campaign and targets, mentioned that we would like to do our campaign as a charity. While giving healthy food (fruit or veg) in university my team could collect some donation for one of the charities and later we could collaborate by doing volunteering jobs or events providing healthy living. I have got an answer from British Red Cross, they were interesting in our action and targets. Unfortunately, I had got that answer too late because we were already doing our campaign on ourselves without any outside organizations. 3. Work as a group From my view at this point I am quite happy while working with my group. As in every team work we faced with some advantages and disadvantages but the final result was nice. The best times and really strong team work were when all group members were attending the meetings. Sure, it had happen only few times, however, those meetings were pretty good. We had never have any argues or complaints, our discussions were always polite and with respect to each other. We always listened to each other’s ideas and discussed them together with giving some agreements or reasoned rejections. Usually our meetings were with three attended group members. Nevertheless, we were able to consider what would be the next step, what research we had to do until next meeting and all jobs or duties were apportion between every team member equally. Even more, if we were having enough spare time after meeting, some of us were going to library to do research together or to write down the minutes into the wiki page. For more questions or advice we were chatting online, by sending emails we arranged for the next meeting. On the other hand, this low attendance made some difficulties to organize all team work, it always takes time to text messages to inform other members about further actions. Because everyone has jobs it was difficult to find right times in order to meet all together, some group members were paying more attention for their jobs than to studies and especially for this campaign. Due to these issues our campaign was small and weak, its background were just two people who pay more attention to every organizing step. 4. Your action I value my action in the group as big part of whole campaign. The background and topic of Healthy living was my idea suggested in the group meeting. I came with the wide idea of it and I had some plans how to reach the main aim. As I mentioned above, I offered to do a campaign as a charity: while providing fruit or vegetables for students we can collect donation for a charity, later collaborate with that organization and hope for getting some support. Personally I always like to communicate with organizations such as charities or other help centres, I have previous experience by searching the support for some events that is why I feel free and confident while asking others to promote my plans. This time I had asked some charities but unfortunately I have not got any help from them. First of all, I think I had to call them straight away and reject sending emails and waiting for answers, second , I think I had to let them know more about my action, about our campaign, purpose and all details so as to make them interesting enough to support us. Finally, if I would be able to have enough force to influence others I would have asked other my group members to help me and to pay more attention on our campaign because I felt too weak to take this huge part alone. Anyway, at the end of March and beginning of April I was communicating with Community Fundraiser from British Red Cross. She replay to my email a bit too late than I was expected but it is always nice to let other communities know about my actions and attitude. I can be brave to say that I was that person in my group who was the most enthusiastic about campaign planning and actions. It was not difficult to take care and organize the event during which we were giving free apples, apple shaped stickers and leaflets with interesting information about fruit. In order to get apples each of us asked local shops to support us by giving some apples. I am living Hendon, so here I found many local shops where I am shopping almost every day and I visited them with my special request. First of all, while talking to the manager of the shop I let him know who I am and what I am doing, later I asked him to support our campaign and in the same way I made him sure that he is making big help not only for my group but also for some students who maybe will start thinking more about healthy life style. Some shops rejected my request but I did not give up and went ahead. Finally, I found one shop near to the Hendon Central Station which was very helpful and polite. People who are working there wished me luck and even know they look at me as at friendly shopper. 5. Supporting other campaigns Our group was working alone without any collaborate with other campaigns from our module. As we all got the topic food almost all campaigns were linked to healthy products. Some of them had chosen specifically one product (energy drink, junk food – hamburgers, etc. ) and they run campaigns in order to change people attitude and inform them how dangerous it is. Differently, we had not chosen any products – we looked into whole lifestyle which includes food, exercises and attitude. I really appreciate other people job, how they did their campaigns, how they had represented their ideas and what targets they had. Only one thing what I might to change could be the way how they did their events. Most of all campaigns were too silent, working only on social websites such as Facebook or Twitter, I would rather do it loudly in the centre of our university. References: Wiki, S08G1 â€Å"Healthy Living†, research 2012 [online], http://mcs1000campaigns. middlesex. wikispaces. net/ResearchS08G1 American Cancer Society, Learn about cancer 2011. [online], http://www. cancer. org/Cancer/CancerCauses/OtherCarcinogens/AtHome/aspartame The New York Times, The World is Fat 2012, [online], http://economix. blogs. nytimes. com/2010/09/23/the-world-is-fat/

Do Mergers and Acquisitions Fulfil Desired Objective?

Do Mergers and Acquisitions Fulfil Desired Objective? Do Mergers And Acquisitions Fulfil Their Desired Objective? And How People Are Affected By the Result of These Mergers? Dissertation Table of Contents CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND Restructuring of a firm has become a major area in the financial and economic environment all over the world. A company may grow internally, or externally. The aim of the management is to maximize the profit. Most firms grow through internally which take place when firm’s existing divisions grow through normal capital budgeting activities.(S.Vanitha 2007) The industrial restructuring has raised important issues both for the business and for public moreover merger and acquisitions may be critical to the strong expansion of business firms as they evolve through successive stages of growth and development and most important for new product markets by a firm may require M and As at some stages in the firm’s development . The successful competition in international markets may depend on capabilities obtained in a timely and competent fashion through M As. (M Selvam 2007) Merger and acquisitions continues to experience dramatic growth. Record breaking mega mergers have become popular in the world. In the last ten years and onwards some of the largest mergers and acquisitions took place in Europe. This was underscore by the fact that the largest deal of all time was a hostile acquisition of a German company by a British firm.(Beena P.L 2000) Since the start of twenty first century the nature of merger and acquisition even more common in the economical growth. It becomes even more global especially in Asia, Latin and South America. Over the past quarter of the century we have noticed that merger waves have become longer and more frequent in between shrunken as well when these trends combined with the fact that MA has rapidly spread across the modern world, we see that the field is increasingly becoming as ever more important part of the worlds of corporate finance and corporate strategy. (Canagavally , R.2000) Merger and acquisitions are plays very important part in corporate strategy. They are the interesting and controversial tools if the firm do not want to grow internally by capital investment and it can affect the shareholders wealth of both the firms (Legare.1998). The management of the target companies is worried about their jobs that can be affected; the cost reduction strategies consists of reduction in labour force (Gould, 1998) the strategies at both local and national levels are important and concerned at transactions in their industries. e.g (defence utilities etc.) Customers and suppliers are interested , as they want to know who they will be dealing with in the future (Buono. 2003). All the big deals are therefore reported in the media, receive a large coverage, and get the attention of the public as well. People are very important part of any organization but due to the increasing numbers of mergers between the companies they are largely affected and most of them get caught up in a merger or acquisition-by chance, Many of the people after working four –to five years period are losing their jobs and facing severe reductions in status and responsibility and, in general, being confronted with major questions about their careers, As a result , at times we are unsure whether our own feelings about what is happening to these individuals are biasing our interpretation of what is going on. In this project the writer going to research on mergers between the professional services firms. According to Steven et al (2000) mergers and acquisitions decisions that are undertaken based on financial analysis, influence and legal positions , However , it has been proved by a number of researchers that factors like informal power, low productivity , poor quality , reduced commitment , hidden costs and voluntary turnover prevent the combined banks from reaching expected performance levels (Legare 1998). This is the reason that many companies face difficulties then they pass through their post-integration processes (Buono 2003) According to Catwright Cary (1995) that mergers and acquisitions should be seen like marriages where both parties will is very important for the success of new entity. At the time two different companies decide to come together as a result of MA activity, then the levels of instability in the macro and micro environment of both companies is challenged. So it is therefore been recommended that companies should chose the most appropriate merger and acquisition process and strategy. However Buono (2003) has suggest that each possibility has its own strengths and weaknesses and therefore context of MS and its main objectives play important role. Cartwright and Cooper has pointed out that MA depends upon combination of related functions like integration of people, systems, practices and culture. The critical review of the literature has recommended that most of research has been focused at studying single characteristics of MA in isolation. Moreover the dynamics of MA variables that impact on success and failures ratio has not been undertaken in the literature and there is a gap for research. This study will be focus to explore the major drivers and variables and their effect on the success of merger and acquisitions across industries from a corporate strategic perspective. 1.2 Rationale behind Research: Mergers and acquisitions is one of the common strategies in today’s business world. Gould (1998) has conducted a survey involving 12000 managers from different countries and according to the result of his survey more then 1000 companies were involved in acquisitions or a merger in two years between 1995 and 1997.moreover merger and acquisitions has become the leading strategic options. However, the performance of the combined companies has been lower than expected. According to Buono (2003) the basic drivers of MA only involved in financial, operational and strategic aims and objectives. So therefore my main area of focus of this research is to explore the major drivers and variables and their effect on the success of merger and acquisitions across industries from a corporate strategic perspective. 1.3 Aims and Objectives: The basic aim of this project is to understand whether mergers and acquisitions always fulfil desired objective. The aims specific areas are as follows. To explore the major variables that impact on the success of merger and acquisition different industries from a corporate strategic perspective To explore the corporate strategy in achieving desired results from MA activities To evaluate the impact of the mergers on an employees and examining the programmes for dealing with separation anxiety for employees. 1.4 Dissertation Structure: The official Structure of the dissertations is being applied which is provided by the university and analysis has been done which suit the theme and the objectives of the research. The structure of this report is summarized as follows: Chapter 1 Introduction of the research topic and lays the basis for the rationale of selection of the theme under scrutiny. It introduces the effect of MA on business and effects that they expected. The chapter also summarizes the rationale for selection of topic and states the aim and objectives of this research. Chapter 2 Consists of review of the literature that has been produced in the domain of mergers and acquisitions and their desired effects for companies. It has highlighted some of the highly respected literature in the field of aims and objectives of this research. Chapter 3 Provide the methodology and strategy adopted by the researcher to undertake this research. It points out the strength and weaknesses of using different data collection mechanisms and has shown how they fit in the larger context of aims and objectives of this research. Chapter 4 very important chapter consists of analysis and findings regarding the importance of strategic alignment within a merger or an acquisition activity with the help of a range of case studies. The chapter developed recommendations for companies under the light of macro indicators, theories and qualitative data gathered through this research. Chapter 5 provides a comprehensive conclusion from this research and gives a list of recommendations for companies that can be drawn from this focused research. Chapter 2: Literature Review In this chapter an attempt has been made to briefly review the research already undertaken and methodology employed moreover the study has been produced in the domain of aims and objective of the project and it has been divided into number of different sections so that reader understand with ease. 2.1 Overview: Concept of Merger and Acquisition: Over the last few years different companies have engaged in domestic and international mergers and acquisitions to match the macroeconomic trends operating on a worldwide scale in the market place. Up till now the ultimate success of a company’s global strategy may depend on how well it manages the dangerous human resource â€Å"fit† issue associated with strategic customer cantered decisions and strategies. The literature presents the understanding and resolving interpersonal management issues that result from organization, team, and individual misalignments. An actual merger and acquisition integration project is used to discuss the application of this approach (Thomas L. Legare in his paper â€Å"Understanding and Managing Human Resource Integration Issue†) M A defined by Arnold (2002) as â€Å"combination of two firms of roughly equal size on roughly equal terms and in which the shareholders remain as joint owners† M A activities in late 20th century: In 1960’s Mergers and acquisitions first became an important topic within the organization management meetings. It is usual to consider merger and acquisition in terms of the extent to which the activities of the acquired organization are related to those of the acquirer. The most common classification proposes four main types (Walter 1985; Hovers, 1973; Kitching ,1967). These being: 1- Vertical The process in which two organizations combined within the same industry. 2- Horizontal The process in which two similar organizations combined within the same industry 3- Conglomerate In this process acquired organization is in completely different field of business activity 4 Concentric In this process the acquired organization is in a different but related field in to which the acquiring company merge its business. According to Schweiger and Ivancevice, 1987 mergers and acquisitions can be considered to differ in terms of Motive and transactional type The envisaged degree of integration Common objectives behind M Activity According to Napier (1989), in a review of the literature, draws the distinction between financial or value maximizing motives, and managerial or non value maximizing motives. Mergers known as financial or value maximizing motives when the main objective is to increase the profit and decrease the risk involved in business moreover non value maximizing motives relate to merges which occur primarily for other strategic reasons ( Halpern, 1983). Moreover according to handy (1993) creation of shareholder’s value is the underlying aim behind any MA activity. However , there is a range of strategies involve to improve financial performances and consequently increase shareholder’s value. According to Marks, (1988b). There is lots of risk involved in activity like Mergers and acquisitions involving the collective annual investment of billions of pounds and affecting the working lives of millions of employees. It has been recommended in future that 50 to 80 percent of all mergers are considered to be financially unsuccessful (Marks 1988b), most probably in financial return, represent ‘at best an each way bet’ (Lorenz, 1986) The popularity of Merger and acquisitions is still strong despite of the fact that it has been frequently fail to achieve the financial growth (Hovers 1973 Farrent 1970; Jemison and Sitkin, 1986). Indeed there is lots of evidence that Britain and the USA are currently experiencing an unprecedented wave of merger activity (Morgan, 1988; Hughes, 1989). In the last 10 years , there have been over 23000 registered acquisitions in the USA , and before the end of this decade one in four of the Us workforce will have been affected by merger activity ( Fulmer, 1986) with the approach of 1992 , a similar trend is predicted for Europe. The Merger and acquisition is facilitated by number of factors. Market Conditions Market conditions are changing day by day and in this environment there is a need to consolidate or capture new market so strategic mergers and acquisitions become more attractive and expedient alternative response to the setting up new outlets, and at the same time provide a tool to finish the competition ( Meeks , 1977) Increasing Availability of Capital Mergers and acquisitions activities has been increased because the organization and financial institution may need of capital from outside countries because of low interest rate. More companies for sale. There are lots of companies come in to the market because of number of reasons like successful entrepreneurs of the post war years reach retirement age , because of families issues and there is not natural successor within the family. The Easing of Regulations. According to McManus Hergert, 1988. Gartrell Yantek suggested that acquisition activity is related to political climate in that right of centre administration stimulate activity. The Need to share Risk Mergers and acquisitions is very important if u need to share risk like new product development often results in the formation of joint ventures , mergers and other types of strategic alliance. The existence of complex Indivisible Problems All of these can be considered to be logical economic and marketing factors, which make possible the decisions to acquire, These conditions , particularly the need to share risk and problems solving, have also contributing to the increasing trend towards the formation of joint ventures and Mergers (Harrigan, 1988) (vii) Unrecognized Psychological Motives According to Levinson (1970) suggests one such motive to be fear of risk McManus and Hergest (1988) suggest that the decisions happens when ‘CEO is bored and wants to find a new game to play’ or to create some excitement amongst senior managers (Hunt, 1988) 2.2 Impact of Mergers and Acquisitions Merger and Acquisitions have the prime aim to maximise the firm’s profit and shareholders wealth like any other strategic growth option, but there has been a risk of failure so the debate in the literature among theorists and practitioners as to the real strength of the strategy in creating shareholder’s value worth the risk of failure. The review literature that surrounds different prospects like shareholders, acquirer , targets has been studied on short , medium and long term value creation through the MA activity . The following different categories of studies can be highlighted. Affect of MA Activities on People The Human Side of Mergers and Acquisitions is about to impact that mergers and acquisitions have on people in the workplace: the psychological difficulties that people experience, the culture clashes that can emerge in organizations that can emerge in organizations during the post –merger integration period, and the ways in which these problems can manifest themselves –such as communication breakdowns a â€Å"We-they† mentality between the component organizations in a merger, lowered commitment , drops in productivity , organizational power struggles and office politicking , and loss of key organizational members. We adopt primarily and organization development (OD) perspective on mergers and acquisitions: given the myriad problems (Thomas L Legare) The Existing evidence on the effects of mergers and acquisitions on efficiency or value comes from two basic types of large sample studies: event studies and performance studies Event studies consider the returns to the shareholders of targets and acquirers in the days before and after an acquisition announcement .These studies consistently find that the combined returns to acquirer and target stockholders are unequivocally positive .These positive returns imply that the market anticipates that acquisitions on average will create value. These studies and reactions do not, however, provide insight into the sources of the value changes in mergers or whether the expectations of value changes are ultimately realized. Furthermore, the combined returns cover a broad range of responses from very positive to very negative. Cross sectional analyses of event period returns provide some evidence that the broad range of combined announcement period returns reflects the market’s ability to forecast an acquisitions success. For example both Mitchell and Lehn (1990) and Kaplan and weisbach (1992) find the there is a relation between (1) acquirer and combined returns and (2) the ultimate outcome of the acquisition. Other studies examine a number of different determinants of the cross-sectional variation in returns associated with acquisitions. (see e.g Lang , Stulz, and Walkling 1991 . Maloney , McCormick , and Mitchell 1993; morock, Shliefer , and Vishny 1990)These Cross-Sectional analyses of event –period returns provide some understanding of the nature of the market reaction to acquisition announcements.They do not , however , examine whether the anticipated value creation or improved productivity materializes, Nor do they have a great deal to say about the organizational mechanisms and manage ment practices that drive acquisition success or failure. Studies of post merger performance attempt to measure the longer-term implications of mergers and acquisitions using both accounting and stock return data. Studies of accounting data fail to find consistent evidence of improved performance or productivity gains. (see e.g, Healy , Palepu, and Ruback 1992 and Ravenscraft and Scherer 1987) similarly , studies that focus on acquirers long term stock performance find mixed results abnormally negative stock returns after the acquisition ( agraqwal , Jaffe, and Mandelker 1992), no abnormal returns (franks , Harris , and Titman 1991) and negative abnormal returns only for stock mergers (Mitchell and Stafford 1996) Like the announcement period event studies, longer term performance and event studies document substantial cross sectional variation in performance , but do not study the sources of value changes in mergers and acquisitions. In sum , there are a number of questions that the existing economics and finance literature on mergers and acquisitions leaves unanswered , Existing work provides mixed results on the average impact of mergers and acquisitions More importantly , existing work offers little insight into the determinants of an acquisitions success or failures. Research on the basis of Capital Market Capital market is one of the research category used as central information point. According to Healey (1992), the stock market data reflects the effects of MA as it reflects future profits and dividends expected by the post integration entity moreover these researchers believe that the result has been found swayed by the researcher’s personal orientation an hypothesis. It is been analyse that majority among studies that have been covered lower then desired effects created through analyses based on capital market data. Event Study Methodology According to data et al (1992) have indicated that these studies are based on the hypothesis that markets across the industrialized world are highly well-organized and therefore soon after the MAn announcement moreover it depends on the future financial benefits or losses. The result of such studies have highlighted the majority of MA activities do create affects that can range from significant to normal (Sudarsanam 2003) but the people working along with the field and many other critics have argued that the methodology is only affective for small projects to obtain the desired affects and does not represent long term desired affects in the medium to long term. Short Run Objectives: A large number of organizations plan for financial gains within a short period of time when the merger date is finalized they are looking to achieve this objective, 30% and 10% abnormal returns have been found for the target shareholders Sudarsanam et al (1996) Long Run Objectives According to Agarwar (1992) the organizations long term desired affect through MA activity that has gained an increasing interests among researchers after the data is available for the last wave of MA in the 1990’s. There has been a mixture of results as- 10% abnormal returns over 5 years MA periods; Fama French (1993) showed positive 9% abnormal returns for the acquired and negative -4% abnormal returns for the acquirer; and sudarsanam Mahate 2003 showed a range of negative -18% to positive+1% abnormal returns in MA situation. Although it has been found out that many of these studies have used different models, benchmarks and organizational data, but there is a general consensus that MA abnormal desired affects in the long term. Operational Planning Research: The best way to analyse the affect of MA activity is to study the operational performance of the firms involved. The operational data consists of accounting data like cash flow and profit and loss statement are used by such studies (Healey 1992) Herman and Lowenstein (1988) used these technique on data gathered during 1975 to 1983 and found that no significant improvements in the performance of post MA entities. Healey et al (1992) found a meagre 3% operational performance among companies analyzed. However the same data was later analyzed under improved methods and found no operational performance. The results show large number of failures in creating substantial desired affects through operational analysis. Recent Merger and Acquisitions trends In the above table shows the recent trends in the field, let us being with our full dissertation of the subject of MA. This will be begin with a discussion of the basic terminology used in the field. 2.3 MAJOR STRATEGIC ISSUES: According to Cartwright and Cooper (1995) in order to get the desired objective during the MA activity the internal environment of firms should be synchronized. It can therefore recommend that integration of people, their systems, procedures, practice and organizational culture is extremely important in order to get the desired objective. Mr David (2007) suggest that the internal aspects of firms that are going to merge can be divided into two core competencies that can help to minimize the factors involved the failure of MA strategies. These core competencies lie in the field of corporate strategy which usually lack coordination during MA activities. The main limiting aspects of MA in terms of strategic importance that can play a vital role by using their core competencies have been highlighted as follows Organizational culture The cultural differences is the single largest cause of lack of proposed performance, achieving the desired target and objective and time consuming issues in the running of successful business ( Bijilsma frankema , 2001) according to him culture plays a important part in employees motivation in the development to new business he says that cultural clash is the most dangerous factors when two companies decide to combine moreover the things like styles , values and missions is the part of factor influencing the MA. According to (Covin et al, 1997) the employees required five to seven years after the merger to feel truly incorporated. Due to the multitude of these changes many problems arises like loss of job, also financial debt and fears of jobless.(Mirvis and Marks 1992) moreover he says that after merger the new team is also distressing and anxiety for the people other fear include the loss of effective and close team members, as well as the uncertainty about the new team members and supervisors to be inherited the employees when forced to deal with new team members and managers they may develop fears of taking risks and raising sensitive subject. This may adopt us verses them thinking, where trust for the new team members will be minimal (Mirvis and Marks, 1992).Management facing this kind of behaviour may have to pay the high price of loss of coordination and initiative among the employees of the new business combination. Moreover the issues and disagreement will be more difficult to resolve, so the time after the merger is the most difficult time for the management and new team members to move forward as a whole. Appelbaum etal, (2000) Stress According to (Datta et al , 1992) the process of merger and acquisitions consists of biggest change at the individual and organizational level in the history of organizations because of this the process is stressful. When one culture combines with another the employees feel as through they have lost control over important aspects of their loves, and in an attempt to regain control, they often withdraw. So it creates stress within individual , i.e reduced performance and job satisfaction . ( Berger and Ofec 1996) According to Schweiger Denisi (1991) the employees after the MA go through a time of increased anxiety uncertainty and stress. They are concerned about their new position it will create more stress in them so communication plays the vital role during the merger so that employees know what is going on and how they might be affected during and after the post integration period. Thus it can be suggested that while negotiations have been compared to flirting before marriages , and the closing of the deals to forming a new family , employees reaction can be associated with â€Å"bereavement† (Katinka , 2004) Organizational change and resistance Changes after merger announcement like stress, symptoms, work related factors, health status, and lifestyle. Personal characteristics were composed of age, sex, height, weight, and marital status in both surveys. Moreover stress related symptoms like anxiety, impatience and depression were dichotomized by either having a complaint or not so following a MA , a complex set of organizational , managerial and personal changes or inevitable. Jensen Rubock (1983) claim that in order to cope with the changes and resist with the changes there is a way to select a strategy and a set of specific approaches for implementing an organizational change effort. It is very important for managers to implement changes successfully in order to cope with the changes. The researchers have introduced six different strategies in order resist the changes after the merger and four major reasons why peoples resist changes. Image, Identity and confidence According to (Ravenscraft and Scherer 1988) image , identity and confidence of the human resource may reduced after the combination process it has been send that most of the employees will feel uncertain and will need some relaxation environment . It can be recommended that the peoples effected by this process can prove dangerous for the management they can change the ownership moreover the employees who are affected by the process tend to protect their identity and confidence through tolerance and humble and hence they try to maintain their status and confidence with experience that they are the part of new entity, if the cultural factor is not adequately taken into account at this stage of the merger , there will be so less time to contain it after the merger. Weston et al (2001) discuss the fear and stress associated with a merger. Schwert (1996) argue that when the objectives after the merger are not met , the managing teams of both companies are the employees of the acquired company enter a â€Å"cycle of escalating and distrust†. In other words, managers of the acquiring company press for increased control, while employees of the acquired company resist and demand their autonomy. Others view mergers and acquisitions as power games , which create some excitement fro bored CEOs. Communication Tompkins (1984) defined organizational communication as â€Å"the study of sending and receiving messages that create and maintain a system of deliberately corresponding activities or forces of two or more persons† Organizational communication is the exchange of messages through collective creation maintenance and transformation of organizational meaning. Members develop commonly understood patterns of expectations of organizational action through communication. Moreover communication with the employees is a very important factor throughout the entire MA process and creates a positive effect on employees through the trying time. According to John et al (1999) that communication plays a vital role in the combination of different and various cultures. The cultures can be at conflicting ends and therefore should be understood by the top management during integration period moreover according to Richard et al (1999) the human resource department should plan for the change in organization and they should know before this process that what going to happen with the company when two cultures combine as the result of merger. So in the process of merger only decision is not enough but the proper communication of these decisions among the company is very important moreover management works horizontally and vertically through leadership, control and organization.(Sudarsanam and Mahate, 2003) FLOW OF CASH Despite of the fact that many people loss their job in the process but the same time high rate of voluntary turnover linked with the process moreover it includes substantial outflow of talent and expertise. According to Ravenscraft and scherer, 1988) report executive turnover rates as high as 75% in the first three years of post acquisition period. Unplanned personnel losses are not necessarily confined to the more senior levels of the organization. Typically, acquired or merged organizations experience on overall rate of staff turnover of at lest 30% in the first two years post merger period (Cartwright and Cooper 1995) 2.4 Success and Failures A large number of mergers and acquisitions are unsuccessful .Over the last fifteen years, 23% of all merged firms worldwide reported lower profits than comparable non-merged firms (Gugler et al.(13)) Daimler Chrysler, the effect of the largest industrial merger ever, for example , has only posted low or negative profits since its birth in 1998-including the biggest loss in German business history in 2001. The disappointing results of mergers have been puzzling commentators and academics alike. In the management literature, poor merger performance has often been connected to unsuccessful addition of different corporate cultures. Cultural differences, however, are not enough to explain failures. First, firms seem to be aware of organisational difficulties when taking merger decisions. DaimlerChrysler, for example, anticipated post –merger Challenges. Second, mergers between partners with closer corporate cultures sometimes perform worse ( Morosini et

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury :: Fahrenheit 451 Essays

Fahrenheit 451 Â   Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a novel about the descent into super-individualism through mass governmental brainwashing. The book begins while the main character, Guy Montag, is burning a house for concealing contraband literature. It portraits the pleasure he derives from this act of mindless destruction. After this work though an eccentric neighbor girl who does not fit the status quo confronts him. She begins to ask him questions that force him to think about things he has taken for granted before. The story progresses as this girl continually influences him until a car killed her. The next time he is called to incinerate a house, he ends up taking a book and watching an old lady burn to death. This event coupled with the death of the neighbor girl influence him to seek out a book-reading professor he had met previous to this story. The professor and him begin to plot the downfall of society and the Firemen. Just when you think things are gonna work out, he is ordered to burn his house after which he burns his boss with a flame-thrower. This makes him a fugitive from justice. He then flees from the scene and ends up evading the manhunt. After a while he meets up with other people who are fugitives because of their literary learning. The next day the city he fled from is destroyed in an atomic blast and the bums go in to help the survivors. Â   a) Man against Man: The only instance in the story that fits this category is the conflict Guy has with his boss. His boss, Beatty begins to suspect Guy's illegal reading of contraband and begins to take steps for Guy's downfall. First of all Beatty is much smarter and well learned than Guy so he begins to play mind games to try and trip him up. He also forces Guy to burn his house and tries to arrest him. Guy comes out on top and wins the conflict by setting his boss on fire. Â   b) Man against Himself: One good example of this type of conflict is the inner turmoil in Guy Montag. This conflict was started by his talks with the neighbor girl. She awakened a self-thinking side of him that was at odds with his brainwashed, socially acceptable side. As should be, this new side won out over his old self after he thought about it. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury :: Fahrenheit 451 Essays Fahrenheit 451 Â   Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is a novel about the descent into super-individualism through mass governmental brainwashing. The book begins while the main character, Guy Montag, is burning a house for concealing contraband literature. It portraits the pleasure he derives from this act of mindless destruction. After this work though an eccentric neighbor girl who does not fit the status quo confronts him. She begins to ask him questions that force him to think about things he has taken for granted before. The story progresses as this girl continually influences him until a car killed her. The next time he is called to incinerate a house, he ends up taking a book and watching an old lady burn to death. This event coupled with the death of the neighbor girl influence him to seek out a book-reading professor he had met previous to this story. The professor and him begin to plot the downfall of society and the Firemen. Just when you think things are gonna work out, he is ordered to burn his house after which he burns his boss with a flame-thrower. This makes him a fugitive from justice. He then flees from the scene and ends up evading the manhunt. After a while he meets up with other people who are fugitives because of their literary learning. The next day the city he fled from is destroyed in an atomic blast and the bums go in to help the survivors. Â   a) Man against Man: The only instance in the story that fits this category is the conflict Guy has with his boss. His boss, Beatty begins to suspect Guy's illegal reading of contraband and begins to take steps for Guy's downfall. First of all Beatty is much smarter and well learned than Guy so he begins to play mind games to try and trip him up. He also forces Guy to burn his house and tries to arrest him. Guy comes out on top and wins the conflict by setting his boss on fire. Â   b) Man against Himself: One good example of this type of conflict is the inner turmoil in Guy Montag. This conflict was started by his talks with the neighbor girl. She awakened a self-thinking side of him that was at odds with his brainwashed, socially acceptable side. As should be, this new side won out over his old self after he thought about it.

Kurtzs Last Words Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad presents the character of Kurtz as a man who is seen differently by all who know him depending on their individual experiences with him. His cousin knew him as a man with great musical talent, others knew him as a great leader, and his â€Å"Intended† fiance knew him as an admirable humanitarian; but all of these knew him to be a remarkable genius. When the narrator, Marlow, first hears of him, he is told that Kurtz is known as a great leader destined to hold high positions and fame. However, as he travels the river, he also learns that Kurtz has become insane during his time in the African jungle. After Marlow finally comes into contact with him, he discovers that Kurtz has become a god among the natives and has been brutally collecting the coveted ivory. Marlow finally convinces the deathly ill man to return to the ship where he finally dies. Upon his death, Kurtz’s facial expression causes Marlow to feel as tho ugh he may be seeing his entire life passing just before it ends; and finally, he murmurs his final words â€Å"The horror! The horror!† (Conrad, p. 64).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although these last words seem full of meaning, they can be interpreted as being so vague that they are devoid of any specific rationalization. In spite of this, they have several explanations, mainly relating to his life and the choices he made. As Kurtz succinctly verbalizes the terrible visions â€Å"of ruthless power, of craven ter...

Foundations Of Education :: Teaching Education

Foundations Of Education Teaching Youth in a Foreign Country This Assignment was designed to deal with my teaching abilities and how I approach lessons, it is also designed to hopefully improve they way I teach a lesson. The lesson I prepared and taught opened up my eyes and helped me understand exactly where I need to improve. Even though this paper isn’t the particular assignment you gave me and I did not do this over the semester while being in this class, it does deal with the very essence of learning that you wanted us to experience. It is a lesson that I did try to design around your teachings that I learned in you class â€Å"Christian Education for Adolescents.† The lesson I prepared was for a youth group that was not very big in size but had a lot of heart for their beliefs. They were excited to hear an American share a testimony and to talk to them about God; you could see they were hungry to hear it. To start off my critiquing I first want to share with you that my teaching skills I have might not be the brightest of teaching skills, but I have noticed that I do know how to prepare a lesson now. Before last semester till now I didn’t even know where to start. Since my first class with you as my teacher I have learned an amazing thing about the form of teaching, this is the Hook, Book, Look, Took process. When I first heard that I was going to teach a youth group in Venezuela I didn’t know what I was going to do. At first I did not know what I was going to do, then, I remembered that I needed to do what you taught me to do, I was supposed to form a lesson off of the Hook, Book, Look, Took. This style of teaching saved me because I didn’t know what to do and it is formed in such way that it gives you a process to start from and a place to end, he only thing you got to do to get started is to find a subject. I got lucky because the Venezuelans I was teaching ne w English better than other Venezuelans. The thing about them I noticed is that people there liked to watch movies as much as people here do.

“Dialogue with Trypho” by Justin Martyr Essay

In his work â€Å"Dialogue with Trypho† Justin Martyr in a form of a dialogue presents the views quite contrary to what it is usually taught. A well-known idea of Jews being the chosen nation favored by God is rejected. Justin Martyr is trying to find logic underneath God’s wrath, and his line of argumentation, based on analysis of the Old Testament, does emphasize the idea that Jews were punished by Mosaic rules for improper behavior. Jews are the chosen nation not because God likes them, but rather because they have to be punished for disobedience. The starting point of Martyr’s analysis is the presupposition that God is the only – both for Judaism and Christianity- God is eternal, â€Å"who created and formed the universe†. The second presupposition necessary for his line of argumentation is that God has â€Å"foreknowledge of future events†, however God â€Å"doesn’t prepare beforehand what everyone deserves†. I find a contradiction in this interpretation of God, since if God participates in human life, He performs some actions, and being able to forecast the events – He knows ahead what He will do, since the events on earth are directly influenced by his actions, therefore God, being the just one, has to prepare what we deserve, because if not – then God is unjust and performs spontaneous actions, God is capricious – a feature usually attributed to God by Muslims, but denied by Christians. So, either God is just and active in human life, then our life is pre-determined, and the whole argumentation of Martyr falls to pieces, or God is unjust, capricious – this doesn’t go together with the image of God in Christianity, or God doesn’t know the future, but acts justly in the current situation – then we are responsibly for own actions, and only in this case Jews can be punished by God through laws, mandatory customs, and sacrifices. Even though Martyr gives a different definition to God which I find illogical with his line of argumentation – he goes on discussing sins committed by Jews in front of God’s face for which they consequently were punished by Him. The greatest sin of Jews is that they â€Å"murdered the Just One†, Jesus Christ, they violated the Law not once, but continue to do so â€Å"have persecuted Christ in the past and still do, and do not repent†. The genuinely chosen nation is the followers of Christ – saved by faith alone – who don’t have to  follow all the traditions (Sabbath day, circumcision, limits in food), as these customs are imposed on Jews only for their sins and hardness of heart. I would like to stress the logic of Martyr underneath the idea of irrelevance of circumcision for a true Christian. Martyr gives two arguments to prove that circumcision was given to â€Å"mark you (Jews) off for the suffering†. The first point is that â€Å"God what not have created Adam uncircumcised† if circumcision would be necessary for salvation, however God created us imperfect in order to be able to choose between right and wrong so that we would experience genuine love to God and would be able to act according to our will. In such way, circumcision can be just another step, payment or a way to show genuine love to God, lack of circumcision can be one of those imperfect signs in Adam and Eve as means to achieve holiness and find peace with God, a painful stage one has to pass. The second argument of Martyr is â€Å"the fact that females cannot receive circumcision of the flesh shows that circumcision was given as a sign, not as an act of justification† and at the same time women have the â€Å"capability of performing every good and righteous act†, so Martyrs’ idea is that if women cannot be circumcised – they cannot receive salvation, which they actually do receive. However, since women equally can be forgiven, they are also equally guilty, then why is it that God punishes by circumcision only Jewish men, but women stay uncircumcised? In such was, if God according to Martyr has to equally distribute salvation to both men and women, he also has to equally distribute punishmen t being just be definition, however in case of only Jewish men, but not women, being circumcised, God doesn’t do that. These two arguments of Martyr don’t prove anything. Martyr goes even further then this stating that the Jewish scriptures belong to Christians, but not to Jews. He presents events in the OT in a different shade, being symbolic for Gentiles and predicting the coming of Jesus Christ. â€Å"The mystery of the lamb which God ordered you to sacrifice as the Passover was truly a type of Christ†, â€Å"prophet Moses remained until evening in the form of the cross†¦ happened in the likeness of this sign†. These explanations of parts of the OT purposively provide additional support to Gentiles being favored by God rather then Jews, however OT scriptures were written over a vast period of time, combined in a stranger manner having 4 –  J, P, DH, E sources. And every source brought additional changes to the scripture adjusting the text to those currently in force, East and West, and Aaronic and Mosaic priesthood. There exists a view, that prophecy about coming of Jesus were added only after the coming of Christ and the fact that the majority weren’t well educated only contributes to the fact that using this understanding of Bible as a support is more then relative and has to have a deeper argumentation. Moreover, there are a lot of references in the Bible, where it is directly stated, that the scriptures belongs to Jews, that they are the chosen nation and that God will protect them throughout their life-time and the life-time of their descendants. Martyr presents guidance for life to Jews through explanation of who, in his opinion, would be saved. Martyr says that a Jew could hold up to the rules given in the OT, but still every Jew has to accept Christ as a savior, through faith, however he denies that the OT laws are actually necessary even for a Jew. In such way, Martyr doesn’t give a solution of the problem, as he neither rejects, nor accepts the OT, he cannot give a definite answer on what actually should be changed in traditions of a Jew, as he neither bold enough to deny the scripture, nor bold enough to re-affirm it. Generally, â€Å"Dialogue with Trypho† by Justin Martyr is an interesting work because of its uncommon world view, however it is written in a kind of free style without the argumentation being presented from the opposite side. It is useful to read, but I just cannot agree with his views, as all of his positions will hardly stand up to strong contra-argumentation. Frankly speaking, I doubt that a person will ever manage to figure out the reasoning of God, who had chosen the Jews either for punishment or praise, because this is what Martyr is attempting to do – rationally prove and explain the motives of God for the punishment of Jews, which is impossible.

Presidental powers Essay

In 2008, The Supreme Court heard and decided a case involving a fundamental right of citizens, that of habeas corpus. Habeas corpus is the right of an accused person to go before a magistrate (judge) and hear and respond to the charges under which they are being held. In this particular case, Boumediene v. Bush (2008) a number of complications are involved in what at first blush appears to be a relatively simple determination. Throughout history, the Executive Branch has assumed extra-constitutional powers in times of war. A troublesome aspect of this phenomenon is the fact that the Executive Branch itself most often defines the terms and limitations of its own power. Historically, the Executive Branch has acted in times of war as it pleased, pleading the exigencies of war, and has deferred judgments about their actions until after the fact. (Smith, 1997) The Executive has also had an adversarial relationship with both the Legislative and Judicial Branches with respect to these issues. Despite provisions in the constitution designed to avoid such eventualities, the reality is that, in times of war, all the branches of government are complicit in granting the executive branch dictatorial powers, including the ability to suspend habeas corpus. (Smith, 1997) The â€Å"flexing† of executive muscle during times of war began in the United States as early as 1798. President John Adams encouraged congress to pass the Alien and Sedition Acts, which severely curtailed speech and print criticisms of the government, . Sedition Acts 1798) and gave the Executive the power to deport non-citizens the Executive deemed â€Å"dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States. † (Alien Act 1798) The fact that Congress passed these bills illustrates a number of informative underlying points regarding the issue. First, the Alien Act avoided constitutional conflict by designating as its targets non-citizens. (Alien Act 1798) Also, Congress, as an entity of the governme nt, felt that the Sedition Act served them as well as the executive. (Sedition Acts 1798) A further point here is that the exigent circumstances in this case consisted of an undeclared war. Underlying the logic behind allowing extra-constitutional presidential power during war is the fact that the executive cannot declare war, congress must do this. (Smith, 1997) Thus, the circumstances surrounding the Alien and Sedition Acts initiated a dubious and dangerous precedent wherein the President is allowed to determine when and if a state of war exists in order to exercise extra-constitutional powers. It should be noted that these Acts, and Adams’ actions under them, did not go unchallenged. (Smith, 1997) They gave particular strength to the Jeffersonian Republicans’ claim that Federalist government exercised too much power. They also provoked Kentucky and Virginia to publish resolutions promoting the notion of State sovereignty. (Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions 1798-9) The outrage caused by these laws became a major factor in Adams loss to Jefferson in the election of 1800. (Smith, 1997) In a sense, then, one could argue that the Constitutional design of frequent elections remedied the abuse of executive power. This argument, however, ignores the failure of the checks and balances system to correct the problem. Ironically, the next President to test the use of extra-constitutional authority during an undeclared war was Thomas Jefferson. Smith, 1997) He attempted to enforce the Embargo Act of 1807 by charging violators with treason. This action was quickly repudiated by the federal courts. (Smith, 1997) In this instance, checks and balances worked. It should be noted, however, that Jefferson only acceded to the will of the Courts because he did not feel it a sufficient cause to ignore them. (Smith, 1997) While Andrew Jackson’s tenure as president served as a model for ignoring both checks and balances, and states’ rights, he did not bother to excuse his actions as the exigencies of a state of war(Smith, 1997). This being the case, while his administration did serve to illustrate a great weakness in the system of checks and balances, that of lack of enforcement power, it is not particularly relevant to this thesis. The first president to exercise extra-constitutional power during a declared war was Abraham Lincoln. (Smith, 1997) Lincoln first suspended habeas corpus in areas in rebellion against the United States. One could argue on a legal basis that he did nothing particularly unconstitutional in this case because the areas in question were in rebellion and his authority over them dubious at best. Smith, 1997) However, when Lincoln’s political opponents in the â€Å"loyal† United States began voicing opposition to his act, he suspended Habeas Corpus throughout the nation in 1862, and began jailing citizens for criticizing his actions. (Lincoln, 1862) Additionally, he began to prosecute American citizens in military tribunal courts for treason, precipitating the death penalty in some cases. (Smith, 1997) It wasn’t until 1866, after the war and Lincoln’s death that the Supreme Court rejected Lincoln’s actions, restored habeas corpus, and set aside a military tribunal’s sentence. Ex parte Milligan, 1866) Denial of the writ, argued Justice Davis for the Court, made it impossible for the accused to attain redress from the admittedly biased military tribunal. (Ex parte Milligan, 1866) During WWII, the issue of individual constitutional rights of citizens during war time again reared its head with Executive Order 9066. This order authorized the Military to designate citizens of Japanese descent as â€Å"dangerous†, (Roosevelt, 1942)deprive them of property and intern them in relocation camps without charge and with no burden of proof to justify their incarceration. Roosevelt, 1942) This action is frightening for a number of reasons: first, it was aimed at citizens, not non-citizens, it clearly violated several elements of the constitution and virtually every part of the Bill of Rights, (Roosevelt, 1942) it went unchallenged by most of the United States citizenry, and it was essentially upheld by the US Supreme Court in 1944. (Korematsu v. United States) The court’s defense of the actions taken pursuant to Executive Order 9066, that is, Japanese Exclusion and Interment, was to argue that the exigencies of war made it necessary. The court inexplicably dismissed the notion that the nature of the order itself was racist, and condoned the actions taken under it as necessary for the security of a nation at war. (Korematsu v. United States, 1944) The relationship of the Legislative branch to these circumstances, going all the way back to 1798, is complicit. They passed the sedition acts, passed laws in accordance with Lincoln’s findings, and offered no objections to Roosevelt’s behavior. It wasn’t until the era of Vietnam that the Legislative branch began to actively oppose executive â€Å"overreaching† using war as an excuse. (Smith, 1997) When Lyndon Johnson, and then Richard Nixon used executive power to expand an unpopular war, Congress responded with the War Powers Act. (1973) This law makes pointed and explicit references to the Constitution and frames itself as restoring the constitutional balance of power by limiting the time and nature with which the President can act militarily without the consent of congress. This is the first time that Congress has recognized the constitutional problems associated with undeclared wars. (War Powers Act, 1973) All of this history is the groundwork upon which executive, judicial and legislative action occurred with respect to the â€Å"war on terrorism† in the post- 9-11 United States. The Executive has informally redefined the nature of war, and in so doing, has effectively reversed the balance attempted by the War Powers Act. Smith, 2007)The nature of checks and balances, since 2001, has regressed to WWII levels of abuse, but this time without even the nominal justification of a declared war. Political considerations of short-sighted politicians led to the passage and renewal of the Patriot Act of 2001. While most of this law contains reasoned measures to increase domestic security, section 106 contains extremely troublesome language in that it appears to give the executive a â€Å"blank check† when dealing in activities that are counter to terrorist activities. It reads, in part: †¦when the United States is engaged in armed hostilities or has been attacked by a foreign country or foreign nationals, confiscate any property, subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, of any foreign person, foreign organization, or foreign country that he determines has planned, authorized, aided, or engaged in such hostilities or attacks against the United States; and all right, title, and interest in any property so confiscated shall vest, when, as, and upon the terms directed by the President, in such agency or person as the President may designate from time to time, and upon such terms and conditions as the President may prescribe, such interest or property shall be held, used, administered, liquidated, sold, or otherwise dealt with in the interest of and for the benefit of the United States, and such designated agency or person may perform any and all acts incident to the accomplishment or furtherance of these purposes. † – Patrio t Act of 2001 HR 3162 RDS (2001) (italics added) Under this umbrella, provisions, such as unwarranted wire taps within the United States become nominally legal. The federal courts, including the Supreme Court, have rallied around some of the provisions of the Patriot Act, while rejecting others. A key part of the act Scrutinized by Supreme Court is the denial of habeas corpus to â€Å"enemy combatants† held in Guantanamo Bay. In 2004, the Court determined that such enemy combatants had the right to petition for habeas corpus. (Rasul v.  Bush) The reasoning within the argument held that despite the fact that the area of detention in this case was Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, the U. S. held sufficient Jurisdiction that the right of Habeas Corpus did indeed apply. (Rasul v. Bush, 2004) This case opened the door to detainees challenging the nature of their detention on constitutional grounds. For the first time, the Courts heard circumstances and conditions of detainees and were able to adjudge the constitutionality of these activities. (Smith, 2007) Finally, in 2008, a deeply divided Supreme Court took the final step in securing detainees rights under the constitution by allowing them to appeal their detention to civilian courts. This decision states that the president had acted unconstitutionally in denying civilian due process. (Boumedien v. Bush, 2008) The fact that this case was extremely political in nature, having potentially significant impact on the presidential elections, illustrates a fundamental shift in the balance of power between the three branches of government. The â€Å"power of the purse† by which Congress could nominally control military actions by directing funding has been blunted by political considerations. Members of Congress cannot advocate cutting or eliminating funding for operations already in progress, since that action would manifestly compromise security, and endanger the lives of US military combatants. To advocate for funding cuts to military operations would be political suicide; thus the pendulum of War Powers has shifted back to the executive. Thought the constitution grants the singular power to declare war to congress, it is frustratingly vague as to what constitutes such a declaration. (Smith, 1997)That ambiguity has been exploited by the Executive Branch to keep the country mired in an unpopular war, and to exercise significant extra-constitutional powers both within and outside of the United States. While the nature of the dynamic between the Legislative and Executive branches in matters pertaining to war have historically been amiable, in the case of Vietnam and afterward, the relationship has been unbalanced and hostile.

The Definition of Performance Management

A local council has just received approval for  £15 million from the National Lottery to build a new Arts, Media and Cultural Centre but it needs to find the matching capital Money for the project. It has also to find the annual running costs of  £1 million for the new facility at the same sound as it needs to reduce its total Leisure and Arts budget by  £5 million. How can performance management and review processes assist with this complex decision and ensure that effective delivery of the project if agreed? The local council has three main problems to resolve from this scenario. These are: 1. Matching the capital money and running costs of the proposed project. 2. Significantly reducing the leisure and arts budget, the sector in which the proposed project is in. 3. Keeping all major interest groups internally and externally from the project, relatively content. However, the problems involving the interest groups are virtually impossible to resolve. This is due to people's contradicting needs; this creates the task of catering for each individual group†s needs, which is unobtainable. Therefore, the council must take an interest in the most significant party, the public; this includes the implications of the other major problems. Performance management and review can be an aid to this project, by analysing the various options and solutions and deciding on the best course of action. Each of the three main problems may be divided into a list containing various sub problems, which create the overall problems. Each of these problems must be solved by prioritising in order of importance, in order to produce the most effective solution to the project. Performance management has been defined as â€Å"a strategic and integrated approach to delivering sustained success to organisations by improving the performance of the people who work in them and by developing the capabilities of teams and individual contributors: (Armstrong and Baron 1998). Another definition however is that performance management is the systematic design, collection, analysis and review of information. In order to manage there is a need to establish and quantify what may be managed and how. For the ability to use performance management within the project, it needs to be segmented into various sections that can possibly be measured over the duration of the project. The project has multiple objectives that need defining. These objectives are usually defined and the outcomes normally judged using the five E†s: Economy: The effective acquisition of inputs, largely a value for money concept. Efficiency: The ratio of inputs to outputs. The efficiency level will be increased if the output is consistent while input levels fall, or output is raised while input while input remains consistent. Effectiveness: The extent of goal acheivement Equity: Observance of criteria of fairnesss. This is probably the most significant condition for good performance. Electability: Political affirmation of good performance that will prove essential for survival. These five factors aid in providing parameters for judging performance. To enable measurements of the performance, the project needs to be subdivided into various sections known as milestones. To achieve the various milestones, the manager will need to create an action plan. This is a breakdown of what, where and when various activities are going to occur. There are many problems associated with public sector performance management. Some of these problems are as follows: There are not enough targets to attain. There tends to be too many indicators. There is a lethargic reporting style, however the reporting systems tend to be loose. In the case of this project for the local council there needs to be a hierarchy of objectives, these must range from corporate to individual objectives. The corporate objectives for the local council may be as follows: 1. To design, build and tender for the centre within the budget allocated and within any time frame allocated by the capital provider. 2. To allocate appropriate funds from the local authority budget to enable the project for the centre to proceed. 3. To increase, restructure or divert the revenue budgets of the local authority to accommodate the running of the centre. The examples of the objectives above are broad in context. This is deliberately to enable any changes through revenue and allocations of funds to the centre to be accommodated for within the objectives. There may be political issues involved within the development of obtaining these major corporate objectives. These may include the raising of tax, the proposed centre having to match the running costs or possibly the allocation of funds from other local authority departments. These objectives are not as narrowly defined as those from the private sector or if it were a PFI (Private Finance Initiative) project, this is due to the need to insure that all stakeholders may be taken into consideration. Although these objectives are corporate, they usually are allocated to an individual to oversee. This method within the public sector could cause problems within the board; these problems are due to the possibility of one-upmanship. Within the local authority, there are other objectives which must be satisfied, these link and are interdependent with the corporate objectives. An example may be that the Arts and Leisure Director needs to set out his objectives for achieving the design and building requirements. Example – Objective Carry out the Tender procedure within 6 months: – Activity or milestone Action Deadline A. Appoint Consultant By End of Month 1 B. Approve Budget By Start of Month 2 C. Finalise Design By End of Month 2 D. Send spending specification By Start of Month 3 E. Evaluate Tenders By End of Month 4 F. Appoint Contract By End of Month 5 G. Complete Contract By End of Month 6 The Milestones are time related, they can be measured and if slippage occurs, action can be taken to bring the plan back on schedule or negotiations can take place to approve an extension. Another example may be that of the Director of Finance or the treasurer's objective, such as the following: 1. Reassign budget areas and make alterations to the allocations Negotiate the Leisure and Arts Budget. 2. Reallocate revenues for the proposed Leisure and Arts centre for the first year of opening. 3. Construct and consider various options for revenue generation to support the running costs of the proposed facility. Each of these objectives would have numerous milestones, which would be addressed in order to achieve the set objective goals. The objectives and milestones flow down the organisation, each linking into the one higher up the pyramid. The objectives set need to be linked to a review process. This is a crucial tool in timing strategic argument into practical actions – a lever to effectively policy implementation.