Made in the USA makes a comeback

Made in the USA makes a rebound At the point when American organizations began redistributing fabricating occupations abroad, there was a gigantic monetary effect that many dreaded would drag the American economy down. As per MarketWatch, there were 150,000 American assembling employments sent abroad in 2003, which brought the fantastic aggregate of positions lost to anyplace somewhere in the range of three and 4,000,000. In any case, in 2014, just 50,000 American employments were sent abroad and that has given numerous American business experts motivation to feel that American assembling is picking up force. In any case, it isn’t simply the uncommon drop in re-appropriated producing occupations that is getting Americans energized. In 2014, MarketWatch gauges that almost 60,000 assembling occupations were taken back to the United States in a pattern being called reshoring. The net increase of 10,000 occupations in 2014 is giving numerous American makers motivations to accept that the â€Å"Made in the USAâ €  mark is going to fire appearing on much more products.Why Is Reshoring Happening?When American organizations began to redistribute their assembling needs to nations, for example, China and India, the wages in those nations were amazingly low. As the American organizations siphon more cash into those developing economies, compensation are going up and the expanded costs engaged with transportation and taxes are joining to make it a lot less expensive to make items in the United States.Forbes Magazine additionally recommends that the unsteadiness in the economy in the course of recent years has made American organizations reluctant to put resources into the a lot of stock required to make redistributing gainful. Nowadays, American organizations need to have the option to purchase just what they need and they additionally need to have the option to make changes to their items to fit purchaser patterns. By making their items in the United States, these organizations can eliminate the measure of stock they have to put resources into and make changes to their items in a cost-proficient manner.American Pride Is Kicking InThere has consistently been an enormous possibility of the American open that wants to purchase items that are made in America and, as per Reshoring Initiative, the draw of benefits attached to selling items made in America is getting solid with American and remote organizations. Indeed, even remote makers are building plants and recruiting more specialists to assemble items in the United States, which could mean an expansion of â€Å"Made in the USA† around the world.What Does The Future Hold?One of the greatest advocates of the reshoring development is Wal-Mart. Since Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer on the planet, it can regularly direct the eventual fate of the assembling business. As per the MarketWatch article, Wal-Mart intends to contribute more than $250 billion extra dollars in items made in America. While most eyewitnesses are not anticipating that every one of the three should 4,000,000 redistributed occupations to return the short term, at that point patterns we are seeing show that assembling could be returning to the United States in an extremely huge way.When financial aspects collaborate with nationalism, you get a resurgence in an American industry that many idea was kicking the bucket. With reshoring making a net increment in the quantity of assembling occupations being made in the United States every year, it is beginning to appear as though American creativity and difficult work are being remunerated.

Strategic Management of Next Plc Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Vital Management of Next Plc - Case Study Example In the event that solitary I knew, at that point what I know now, I would have done things any other way. (Halbleib, 1993, 803) open continually offers this expression after they have actualized the off base corporate methodologies. As we exist in period of weaving entanglement, quickening, and regularly evolving market, settling on the right choice is massively noteworthy for vital arranging. It is blond to express that every association and people have their sole arrangement of qualities, shortcomings, openings, and dangers. It is incredibly fundamental that an association decides its qualities, shortcomings, openings, and dangers, just as the contenders. (Halbleib, 1993, 804) by connecting the SWOT analyzes with the reasonable scorecard, an affiliation can adjust its qualities Boosts its rivalries' shortcomings, and enhance its chances inside the market. Next is a UK based seller commitment up-to-date, great quality collect in garments, footwear, adornments and home items. The gathering above all else works in the UK. It is headquartered in Ender by, Leicester, and utilizes around 39,000 individuals. The gathering recorded incomes of 3,283.8 million during the monetary year finished January 2007, a BOOST of 5.7% more than 2006. The working benefit of the gathering was 507.5 million during monetary year 2007, an increase in 8.2% more than 2006. The net benefit was 331.5 million in financial year 2007, an increase in 5.7% more than 2006. Next's Mission Statement Next's main goal is to be the normal decision retailer in the UK for design mindful men and ladies who anticipate style, qualification and quality from their garments Business Description Next is fundamentally occupied with distributing, and client strengths the board. The gathering works 480 stores and has activities in the UK, the Middle East, Asia and other European nations. The gathering giving its administrations through five business partitions: Next retail, Next catalog, Ventura, Next sourcing and other. Other section remembers speculation for partners; Choice Discount Stores Limited and Cotton Traders Holdings Limited. The Next exchange detachment is occupied with the distributing of reasonably evaluated attire for men, ladies and youngsters. It likewise sells house products and furniture through 480 stores in the UK and Eire. This division likewise has franchisee stores in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. The gathering as of now has 129 establishment stores in the Middle East, Russia (13 stores), Turkey (5), India and Thailand. The Next index partition advertises ladies' wear, mens wear, youngsters' wear, home items, extras and gems through post office based mail lists, telephone and a value-based site with in excess of 2 million dynamic clients. The Ventura division gives call focus and client assistance strengths to NEXT and different organizations. It works across numerous areas including telecom, utilities, money related strengths, travel, media and the open segment. Ventura utilizes around 10,000 individuals. It has a call place in the UK and another call community in Pine, India, which handles business for the benefit of Next Directory and two different customers. The Next sourcing partition has activities in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Romania, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the UK and different areas. It is occupied with the structure,

DNA and How to Extract It

DNA and How to Extract It This past March, a few days after my birthday, I spent a Saturday teaching three iterations of a three-hour-long class called Hands-on Introduction to DNA! to seventh through ninth graders at Spark, a day-long assortment of classes for middle and high school students organized by the MIT student group ESP (Educational Studies Program) and taught by MIT students and community members. ESP seems to contain most of my Random Hall friends as well as the wonderful Anna H. ’14, who has blogged about teaching ESP classes here and here. This year’s 266 Spark classes included classes you might expect, such as Computational Language Theory and Extreme Math, and classes you might not expect, such as How to Plan and Execute Covert Operations in Deep Cover and The Game Mechanics of Pokémon. There was Synthetic Biology, Projective Geometry, Chocolate Tasting, and Slide Rules. There was Crayfish: Take It Apart!, Sea Urchin: Take It Apart!, and their antithesis, Put Together the Pile of Junk! My Spark class revolved around a DNA extraction protocol that my little brother Max tried as a science fair project. We started out with a short introductory lecture about DNA and then we isolated the genetic material from peas, corn, and strawberries, which was an awesome, colorful, goopy mess. If DNA is nothing new, feel free to skip to the video and the extraction protocol, or just the extraction protocol. From the beginningâ€" Our bodies are an ecosystem of hundreds of trillions of tiny bacteria and tens of trillions of our own cells, small bags of stuff that do a lot of work to keep us alive. We are interested in the nucleus of the cell, which encloses the DNA. Your DNA is a story, uniquely yours, that you read out as you live and eventually pass on to your children. Instead of paper, it is written on a long string using only four letters. Each word in the story is three letters long. The words form sentences called genes, which, alone or in groups, determine the traits you start with, for example your hair color, your eye color, and your blood type. Though your cells have diverse specializations, your DNA is identical in every cell of your body. It contains all the information needed to build you up and then maintain you; it determines how you will grow and develop within your environment and to a potentially large extent it dictates how and when you will eventually break apart and die. A priority in current research is deciphering our DNA and the DNA of other species for use in medicine, agriculture, and history. The hope is that by learning how to read our DNA, we will be able to better understand genetic disorders and detect them before they appear, improve crop yield, and understand how we got to be human. Genomics is a new and quickly evolving field with a huge capacity to extend and improve human life. For the most part, DNA carries out its action through proteins. A gene is first transcribed into less stable messenger RNA. Interrupting, or intronic, information is cut out of the messenger RNA and the remaining RNA molecule is sent out of the nucleus and into the endoplasmic reticulum. In the endoplasmic reticulum the messenger RNA is copied again, this time into protein. This final translation is done by transfer molecules, which contain the code for translation, and ribosomes, which line up the messenger RNA and the transfer molecules so that they can interact. The transfer molecules, called tRNAs, are like three-pronged forks. On one end are three letters from the original DNA sequence, a word, written in RNA. The other end holds the corresponding protein monomer, the amino acid. The amino acid that corresponds to each word varies depending on the species. The ribosome lines up the transfer molecule forks with the attached protein monomers along the RNA. The amino acids are conn ected to form a protein, after which the transfer molecules are reused and the messenger RNA is degraded. The cell sends the completed protein product to the Golgi apparatus, the cell’s post office, and the Golgi packages the protein and sends it to its destination inside or outside the cell. The protein then carries out the function prescribed by its encoding DNA, whether it is the keratin in your hair or an antibody in your immune system. Meanwhile the original DNA is safe in the nucleus, in two copies. It never leaves, and it is split apart and replicated only when the entire cell is replicated. The human genome is written in about 3 billion base pairs, or letters. If you stretch out the DNA from one nonreplicating cell, it will be about two meters long (3 billion base pairs in 23 chromosomes · two of each chromosome in the cell · 0.34 nanometers between consecutive base pairs). If you concatenate the DNA from all of your cells and stretch it out as one string, it will reach the sun and back 67 to 333 times, or the moon and back 25,000 to 125,000 times (2 meters of DNA in each cell · about 10 to 50 trillion cells in the human body ÷ 300 million kilometers from the Earth to the sun and back, or 800,000 kilometers from the Earth to the moon and back). In the cell, the DNA is wound tightly around proteins called histones, and for this reason, even though we will try to degrade the proteins, the DNA will precipitate in clumps rather than clean strings when we extract it from a vegetable or fruit. Here’s all that in vivid, computer animated action: This video is from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Australia. They have other equally mesmerizing and informative animations in high definition on their web site, and you should go watch them, too, if you enjoyed this one. While we watched this video we set up the first steps of the DNA extraction protocol, which contains a convenient 10-minute break. Below is the protocol we used. The students wanted to know what each step does to the DNA, so I’ll try to explain it here as well. Materials: A blender. A mesh strainer with very small holes. If you are alone: A clear cup. It looks really cool if you use a champagne glass. A wooden BBQ skewer or something else with which to stir. One eighth teaspoon table salt. About one cup of cold water. A pinch of meat tenderizer or contact lens solution. (We used meat tenderizer.) Two tablespoons liquid laundry detergent. Use clear laundry detergent. Colored laundry detergent will overpower the color of the fruit or vegetable. About half a cup of something that was once alive. It’s okay if it’s frozen. We tried strawberries, split peas, and corn. The kids were most excited about the strawberries. I thought the peas looked coolest. The frozen corn was not very exciting for anybody. A small jug of rubbing alcohol with at least 95% alcohol content. If you are with 10-20 friends: A bag of small, clear, disposable cups. The more translucent cups are worth the extra money. A bag of wooden BBQ skewers or something else with which to stir. One container of table salt from your kitchen. Gallon jug of cold water, which you brought to school empty and filled with cold tap water in the bathroom before class. Two small shakers of meat tenderizer. You won’t use much of this, but it’s better to have two so that they can both be passed around at the same time. A small bottle of clear liquid laundry detergent. A bag or two or three of something that was once alive, like a fruit or a vegetable. It’s okay if it’s frozen. Several jugs of rubbing alcohol with about 95% alcohol content. You’ll need about as much rubbing alcohol as vegetable or fruit, which might be a lot. (Weird looks at the check-out line come with the vast, yellow and green polka-dotted territory of being awesome.) Leave time to potentially stop by multiple CVSes. Among the materials, rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) can cause irritation to eyes, skin, or the respiratory system. Isopropyl alcohol vapors can irritate the eyes and the respiratory system, contact with eyes can cause damage and burns, and ingestion or inhalation can cause vomiting, drowsiness, and death. The lethal dose is about one cup. It’s unlikely you’ll be able to drink very much, but if you do you will die. You also don’t want to eat the laundry detergent or get it in your eyes. Procedure: Combine in the blender one part vegetable or fruit, two parts cold water, and the salt. If you’re doing this alone, it’ll be half a cup of vegetable or fruit, one cup water, and one eighth teaspoon salt. If you’re doing this with a group you’ll want to fill the blender and scale up the salt appropriately. Blend on high for 15 to 25 seconds.  It is not important that the water be cold, but it is helpful. Most things, including DNA, tend to be less soluble at lower temperatures. (The exception is proteins, which start denaturing, or losing their structure, at higher temperatures, exposing their hydrophobic parts and forcing them to clump together to avoid surrounding water.) The salt, NaCl, dissolves in the water, separating into the charged ions Na+ and Cl. The Na+ neutralizes the negatively charged DNA, allowing the DNA strands to clump together rather than be repelled by each other’s negative charge. Balance your mesh strainer over a clear cup and pour the liquid contents of the blender through the strainer and into the cup. The cup should be at most half full. If you’re doing this with a group you should divide the contents of the blender equally among the group and line the cups up on the table for the next step. Keep in mind that the goop that comes out of the blender earlier has more DNA in it than the goop that comes out of the blender later. Add two tablespoons of clear liquid laundry detergent to each cup of vegetable goop. If you’re doing this with a group you can use the bottommost line in one of the plastic cups to measure out a very approximate two tablespoons.  The laundry detergent disrupts the membrane enclosing the cell and potentially the nuclear membrane enclosing the DNA. Distribute a vegetable goop cup and a BBQ skewer to each person. Everyone should stir gently and then let the solution stand for 10 minutes. Now is a good time to watch the above 7-minute video. Pass around the meat tenderizer and the rubbing alcohol. Each person should add a pinch of meat tenderizer to their cup and stir gently again, and then add about as much rubbing alcohol as there is vegetable mixture. The rubbing alcohol makes the DNA clump together, since the DNA is less soluble in rubbing alcohol (or any other alcohol) than in water. The meat tenderizer contains protease, an enzyme that degrades the proteins that accompany the DNA. The DNA will appear as white goop on the surface of the green or red goop. You can spin it onto the BBQ skewer like cotton candy, but I think it looks prettier and much less gross if it’s left in the cup.  Here are some photos my students took at the end of the process. The fruits and vegetables used, clockwise from the top left, are strawberries, peas, corn, and mixed berry, all frozen. That no one photographed the DNA extracted from the corn is, I think, additional testament to frozen corn not being very interesting.       Afterwards, I opened the floor to questions and short chalk talks and we ended up going in very interesting directions. I almost wish I’d had an older class so that students could teach each other more than I talked at them, but at the same time it seems like younger people ask more questions and their questions are often more interesting. Some of the things we talked about were transposons, viruses, cancer, stem cells, ribosomes and the RNA world, DNA sequencing technologies, sex chromosomes and their evolution, alternative splice sites, and the evolutionary benefits of aging and death. I got some emails in the following days expressing interest in biology and asking about things we talked about in class, which was such a wonderful feeling. If you have time and a presentation at your local elementary school seems like something you would enjoy, you should ask about trying it. A few weeks ago my mom repeated the presentation and the DNA extraction with my little brother’s fifth grade class, and apparently they asked even more interesting questions. It seems like elementary school teachers are usually thrilled to have alumni or parents present about what theyve been up to in high school and college and beyond. If you are in middle or high school and youd like to learn more about genomics and DNA, there are free resources online that you should check out: edx.org Free online courses from MIT, Harvard, and other excellent schools that mirror actual undergraduate courses, with labs, graded tests, online real-human interaction, and the possibility of earning a certificate. In particular, you might be interested in: 7.00x  Introduction to Biology: The Secret of Life,  taught by Dr. Eric Lander, from the Human Genome Project 6.00x  Introduction to Computer Science and Programming ocw.mit.edu Free material from many, many MIT classes, including video lectures. In particular, you might be interested in: Biology highlights for high school 7.01SC Fundamentals of Biology, also taught by Dr. Eric Lander, along with Dr. Robert Weinberg, who made huge contributions to cancer research (both won 3 million dollars this past February for their research) 6.00SC Introduction to Computer Science and Programming codecademy.com Free interactive programming classes online. wikipedia.org/wiki/genomics Excellent introductory information. Follow the links! If you have questions, if you do a presentation, or if you try a DNA extraction, alone or with a class, and you comment or email me about what happened it would make me very happyâ€"especially if you are adventurous and try a DNA extraction from something new. (Somewhat relatedly, today is the 161st birthday of Julius Petri, who invented the petri dish. Check out his  Google doodle.)

The History and Origin of the U.S. Democratic Party

The Democratic Party along with the Republican Party (GOP) is one of the two dominant modern political parties in the United States. Its members and candidates—known as â€Å"Democrats†Ã¢â‚¬â€typically vie with Republicans for control of federal, state, and local elected offices. To date, 15 Democrats under 16 administrations have served as President of the United States. Origins of the Democratic Party The Democratic Party was created in the early 1790s by former members of the Democratic-Republican Party founded by influential Anti-Federalists including Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Other factions of the same Democratic-Republican Party formed the Whig Party and the modern Republican Party. The landslide victory of Democrat Andrew Jackson over incumbent Federalist John Adams in the presidential election of 1828 solidified the party and established it as a lasting political force. In essence, the Democratic Party evolved due to upheavals in the original First Party system, made up of the two original national parties: the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party. Existing between roughly 1792 and 1824, the First Party System was characterized by a system of deferential-participant politics—the tendency of constituents of both parties to go along with the policies of elite political leaders out of sheer respect for their family pedigree, military accomplishments, prosperity, or education. In this respect, early political leaders of the First Party System might be viewed as an early-American aristocracy. The Jeffersonian Republicans envisioned a locally-established group of intellectual elites who would hand down the unquestionable government and social policy from on high, while the Hamiltonian Federalists believed that the locally established intellectual elite theories should often be subject to the approval of the people. Death of the Federalists The First Party System began dissolving in the mid-1810s, possibly over the popular revolt over the Compensation Act of 1816. That act was intended to raise the salaries of Congressmen from a per diem of six dollars a day to an annual salary of $1,500 per year. There was widespread public outrage, fanned by the press which was almost universally opposed to it. Of the members of the Fourteenth Congress, over 70% were not returned to the 15th Congress. As a result, in 1816 the Federalist Party died out leaving a single political party, the Anti-Federalist or Democratic-Republican Party: but that lasted briefly. A split in the Democratic-Republican Party in the mid-1820s gave rise to two factions: the National Republicans (or Anti-Jacksonians) and the Democrats. After Andrew Jackson lost to John Quincy Adams in the election of 1824, Jacksons supporters created their own organization to get him elected. After Jacksons election in 1828, that organization became known as the Democratic Party. The National Republicans eventually coalesced into the Whig Party. Political Platform of the Democratic Party In our modern form of government, both Democrat and Republican parties share similar values, in that it is the political elites of those parties who are the main repositories of the public conscience. The core set of ideological beliefs subscribed to by both parties includes a free market, equal opportunity, a strong economy, and peace maintained by an adequately strong defense. Their most glaring differences lie in their beliefs of the extent to which the government should be involved in the daily lives of the people. Democrats tend to favor the active intervention of the government, while Republicans favor a more â€Å"hands-off† policy. Ever since the 1890s, the Democratic Party has been measurably more socially liberal than the Republican Party. Democrats have long appealed to the poor and working classes and Franklin  D. Roosevelts common man,† while Republicans have gained support from the middle class and higher, including suburbanites and the burgeoning number of retirees. Modern Democrats advocate for a liberal domestic policy featuring social and economic equality, welfare, support for labor unions, and nationalized universal health care. Other Democratic ideals embrace civil rights, stronger gun control laws, equal opportunity, consumer protection, and environmental protection. The party favors a liberal and inclusive immigration policy. Democrats, for example, support controversial sanctuary city laws protecting undocumented immigrants from federal detention and deportation. Currently, the Democratic coalition includes teachers unions, womens groups, blacks, Hispanics, the LGBT community, environmentalists and many others. Today, both the Democratic and Republican parties are made up of coalitions of many diverse groups whose loyalties have varied over the years. For example, blue-collar voters, who were for years attracted to the Democratic Party, have become Republican strongholds. Interesting Facts The symbol of the donkey for the Democratic Party is said to have stemmed from Andrew Jackson. His opposition called him a jackass. Instead of taking it as an insult, he chose to adopt this as a symbol. This, in turn, became the symbol of the Democratic Party.The Democrats hold the record for controlling both houses of Congress for the most consecutive Congresses. They controlled both houses of Congress from 1955 to 1981.Andrew Jackson was the first President of the Democratic Party; and, including him, there have been 14 Democrats in the White House. Updated by Robert Longley Sources: Aldrich JH. 1995. Why Parties? The Origin and Transformation of Political Parties in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Skeen CE. 1986. Vox Populi, Vox Dei: The Compensation Act of 1816 and the Rise of Popular Politics. Journal of the Early Republic 6(3):253-274.

Classroom Behavior Incentives and Extrinsic Rewards

Classroom incentives and prizes make up a highly controversial area of teaching. Many teachers see extrinsic material rewards as appropriate and effective behavioral management techniques while others feel that they qualify as bribes. All teachers agree that the goal is for students to feel intrinsically motivated to behave and perform on their own but there is much disagreement about how to achieve this. Many teachers find that each academic year brings new obstacles and some groups of students respond more positively to rewards than others—keep this in mind when making your decision about incentives. If you do decide to move forward with a system of rewards, read the following conditions of incentivization to determine how best to manage the needs of your class. Limit Incentives at the Beginning of the School Year The idea of classroom rewards is an especially important concept to consider at the beginning of the school year. If you lay on the rewards from the start, then your students will probably begin to expect them and even work toward them rather than academic growth. Instead, limit the prizes offered from the beginning of the year to make the system run more smoothly. Remember that it is not your job as a teacher to reward your students for doing what is expected of them and that their hard work needs to be the norm, not the exception. Instill a healthy concept of hard work pays off in your students with a limited but fair reward system. Practice Careful Timing Teachers should think carefully about the trajectory of the whole year when deciding how to add incentives to their practice, not just the beginning. You might find it beneficial to restrict your use of rewards during times of the year that are not particularly difficult for students. For example, students are generally on their best behavior during the first few weeks of the school year and after a couple of months once they are settled into routines. Encourage, without necessarily rewarding, students that are naturally meeting your expectations. On the flip side, many students find it difficult to focus and perform in school around the holidays, before summer break, and even sometimes just on the first day of a new week. Be on the lookout for students that are trying their hardest and improving despite distractions and boost morale with incentives if appropriate. Show your class that you recognize the ways in which behavior ebbs and flows throughout the year and that you appreciate extra hard work.   Avoid Material Rewards and Overemphasis Best teaching practice with regard to incentives is to entirely avoid the use of material rewards. Teachers are not expected to spend their own time and money stocking prize boxes and sending some students home with fun items and not others is hugely problematic. Stay out of trouble with families and administration by steering clear of material prizes altogether. Equally dangerous to the goal of incentivization is overemphasizing the rewards. While a certain degree of healthy competition is natural, a teacher should never be the source of competition between their students. Every student has their own capabilities and a teacher should hold different standards of good behavior for each of them. Similarly, students should not be taught to improve their behavior for the sake of a reward system, so refrain from making incentives too prominent in your routines. Suspend the system and regroup if you feel that your students are beginning to perform for the wrong reasons. Ultimately, there is not a single correct way to implement incentives into your class but know that placing too much weight on rewards and using physical prizes will do much more harm than good. Incentives and Rewards to Try One popular system of class incentives is a drawing or raffle-type activity that randomizes the rewarding somewhat. Each time you feel that a student has earned it, you may give a ticket that puts their name into a drawing. At the end of the day or week, draw to find out which student gets the prize. You can either leave the rest of the names in the box or remove them to start over. This method raises no questions about favoritism and will save you time and energy. Consider having students help you monitor the raffle process—by drawing the name, counting tickets, etc.—to impress in them a sense of ownership. The following winnings might motivate your students to get their names in a drawing as many times as possible. Help the teacher take attendanceHelp pass out supplies for the day15 minutes of free choice timeChoose a writing prompt for the class to answerBe the messenger between other classes and the officeChoose the Morning Meeting greeting or activityChoose your seat for the day (if this is not a regular routine)Read aloud to the class Think about your class to determine what time of prize they will find most meaningful. Many students really enjoy class jobs, making them great to use as rewards. You may also choose to have the class work together toward larger goals such as extended recess, ice cream parties, parent days, etc. Check with your school before making any of these decisions.

Domestic and Global Business Environment Free Essays

string(101) " book in an organization \(of your choosing but presumably in the field of your chosen profession\)\." BA 7000 Domestic and Global Business Conditions Bradley T. Ewing, Ph. D. We will write a custom essay sample on Domestic and Global Business Environment or any similar topic only for you Order Now Jerry S. Rawls Professor in Operations Management Area of ISQS Office: BA 164A Phone: 742-3939 Email: bradley. ewing@ttu. edu MBA Summer 2009 COURSE DESCRIPTION BA 7000 – Domestic and Global Business Conditions – This course is intended to help students develop a better understanding of the domestic and global environments in which US businesses compete. Specifically, this course takes a satellite-view of markets in which firms compete, including markets for goods and services; money, bonds and stocks; foreign exchange; and labor. These markets are examined individually and as a system. Particular emphasis is placed on studying the interactions among all markets in order to gain a better understanding of how domestic and global business conditions affect the formulation and implementation of business strategies. COURSE OVERVIEW This course examines the fundamentals of business conditions analysis with an emphasis on how domestic and global business conditions affect the formulation and implementation of business strategies. Specifically the primary goals of this course are to enable you to: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Recognize the relevance of domestic and global business conditions to managerial decision-making and firm performance, and to apply business principles to relate to business issues and the marketplace. Understand the mechanisms of the domestic and global business environment within the broad social, political, industrial and economic contexts. Explore the nature of business conditions and the implications for decision-making, research, business and policy. Analyze the firm, organization, or practices and its operations from a domestic and global systems perspective. Acquire a skill set of analytic tools that will increase your human capital. BOOKS MATERIALS These books are fairly quick and easy to read: The Undercover Economist by Tim Harford The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explains the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli Articles: â€Å"Who Supplied My Cheese? † Business Economics, October 2005. (will be posted on my web site www3. tltc. ttu. du/ewing) â€Å"Strengthening Globalization’s Invisible Hand,† Business Economics, October 2006. (will be posted on my web site www3. tltc. ttu. edu/ewing) Other: Economics for Dummies (contains background, reference material) Online Lecture Notes – a set of PowerPoint slides (in pdf) available on my web site (http://courses. ttu. edu/bewing). You should use these to supplement the e-delivery lectures You should read â€Å"Economics for Dummies† in its entirety before reading any of the other books or doing the assignments. Additionally, you should view the lectures on DVD concurrently with your reading of â€Å"Economics for Dummies†. Reading â€Å"Economics for Dummies† and viewing the lectures prior to doing the assignments will help you understand the material and it should help you get the best grade possible. LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1. Develop students’ ability to think in business terms and about the conditions surrounding their operating environment. 2. Develop students’ ability to view organizations from a domestic and global business systems perspective. 3. Build students’ analytical skills for conducting business analysis. 4. Provide students with the opportunity to develop strategies for real world problems, and to develop decision making skills. . Integrate knowledge gained in other business experiences. Course Topic Guide Material to be covered: Business Conditions Concepts and Analysis Introduction to business conditions, concepts and analysis Operating a firm within the domestic and global environment Global economy and the Federal Reserve Economics of Risk – risk anal ysis (perception communication), risk management decision making Value Creation, Supply Chain Economics Business model – integrating economics, operations strategy Note: You may download a set of PowerPoint slides to accompany the lectures. COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND GRADING All assignments need to be emailed to me with the course title and semester (i. e. , â€Å"MBA – BA 7000 Summer 2009†) clearly written in the subject line. I will acknowledge receipt of your assignments – usually within 24 hours. Due to the amount of spam and the use of a junk mail filter, do no assume that I have received your assignment until you have received an acknowledgement from me (Note: please use your official Texas Tech email account so that way your email has a better chance of getting through). General Guidelines for Written Work All written work prepared outside of class should be typewritten and contain a cover page with your name, course number, date, and title. Where page lengths are noted for particular assignments, the page lengths assume 12 point font, 8 1/2 by 11 paper, double spaced type, and one inch margins on all sides. In cases where 12 pitch type is not available, page lengths should be adjusted proportionately. Please include a cover sheet for all work which includes your name along with the date and subject of the project. Written work will be graded for both content and quality. That is, grammar, punctuation, spelling, coherence, style, and organization will be considered. A concise style is essential. Corporate executives repeatedly emphasize the need for business schools to do a better job of preparing MBAs to write in an organizational context. The standards applied to writing quality will approximate those applied to major corporate documents that have been prepared for broad distribution among senior executives. In order to receive a grade of â€Å"B† in the course the student will need to do â€Å"B† quality work on each of the above assignments. In addition to the above assignments, students will need to do â€Å"B† quality work on the following assignments (#1-4): Assignment #1 Turn in a 2-3 page critique of The Undercover Economist. In your critique of the book identify key points that you think will be valuable to you (or, in some cases, for a particular industry, the domestic or global economy) in the years to come. Additionally, identify what parts, if any, of the book were a waste of your time to read. I also want you to identify what parts of the book relate to the lectures. Next, discuss how you would/could successfully apply the major points of the book in an organization (of your choosing but presumably in the field of your chosen profession). You read "Domestic and Global Business Environment" in category "Essay examples" Discuss potential pitfalls (i. e. , areas that are especially vulnerable to â€Å"success† and thus provide examples of how these major points have been unsuccessfully applied in the organization of your choosing). Discuss how you would (e. g. , if you were to be consulted or had been consulted) apply some of these tools and knowledge differently to the organization in the future. Then on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being the best) give an overall assessment of the book. Assignment #2 Turn in a 2-3 page critique of The Tipping Point. In your critique of the book identify key points that you think will be valuable to you (or, in some cases, for a particular industry, the domestic or global economy) in the years to come. Additionally, identify what parts, if any, of the book were a waste of your time to read. I also want you to identify what parts of the book relate to the lectures. Next, discuss how you would/could successfully apply the major points of the book in an organization (of your choosing but presumably in the field of your chosen profession). Discuss potential pitfalls (i. e. , areas that are especially vulnerable to â€Å"success† and thus provide examples of how these major points have been unsuccessfully applied in the organization of your choosing). Discuss how you would (e. g. , if you were to be consulted or had been consulted) apply some of these tools and knowledge differently to the organization in the future. Then on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being the best) give an overall assessment of the book. Assignment #3 Turn in a 2-3 page critique of Freakonomics. In your critique of the book identify key points that you think will be valuable to you (or, in some cases, for a particular industry, the domestic or global economy) in the years to come. Additionally, identify what parts, if any, of the book were a waste of your time to read. I also want you to identify what parts of the book relate to the lectures. Next, discuss how you would/could uccessfully apply the major points of the book in an organization (of your choosing but presumably in the field of your chosen profession). Discuss potential pitfalls (i. e. , areas that are especially vulnerable to â€Å"success† and thus provide examples of how these major points have been unsuccessfully applied in the organization of your choosing). Discuss how you would (e. g. , if you were to be consulted or had been consulted) apply some of these tools and knowledge differently to the organization in the future. Then on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being the best) give an overall assessment of the book. Assignment #4 Turn in a 2-3 page critique of Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy. In your critique of the book identify key points that you think will be valuable to you (or, in some cases, for a particular industry, the domestic or global economy) in the years to come. Additionally, identify what parts, if any, of the book were a waste of your time to read. I also want you to identify what parts of the book relate to the lectures. Next, discuss how you would/could successfully apply the major points of the book in an organization (of your choosing but presumably in the field of your chosen profession). Discuss potential pitfalls (i. e. , areas that are especially vulnerable to â€Å"success† and thus provide examples of how these major points have been unsuccessfully applied in the organization of your choosing). Discuss how you would (e. g. , if you were to be consulted or had been consulted) apply some of these tools and knowledge differently to the organization in the future. Then on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being the best) give an overall assessment of the book. In order to receive a grade of â€Å"A† in the course the student will need to do â€Å"A† quality work on each of the above assignments. In addition to the above assignments, students will need to do â€Å"A† quality work on the following two assignments (#5-6): Assignment #5 Turn in a 2-3 page critique of the articles â€Å"Who Supplied My Cheese? † and â€Å"Strengthening Globalization’s Invisible Hand,†. In your critique of the article identify key points that you think will be valuable to you (or, in some cases, for a particular industry, the domestic or global economy) in the years to come. Additionally, identify what parts, if any, of the article were a waste of your time to read. I also want you to identify what parts of the article relate to the lectures. Next, discuss how you would/could successfully apply the major points of the article in an organization (of your choosing but presumably in the field of your chosen profession). Discuss potential pitfalls (i. e. , areas that are especially vulnerable to â€Å"success† and thus provide examples of how these major points have been unsuccessfully applied in the organization of your choosing). Discuss how you would (e. g. if you were to be consulted or had been consulted) apply some of these tools and knowledge differently to the organization in the future. Then on a scale of 1 to 10 (ten being the best) give an overall assessment of the article. Assignment #6 – Value Creation Project The Value Creation project consists of a written report. VALUE CREATION DISTANCE LEARNING PROJECT OUTLINE: In this assignme nt I want you to select an existing company and then select a country (or, if doing a project related to Wind Energy, you may choose a region of the US or the offshore) to which you want the chosen company to expand. Next, I want you to investigate the external environment of the country to which the firm plans to expand and compare it to the domestic environment in the firm’s home country. I then want you to discuss how good of a fit the new country’s environment is for your chosen firm. Specifically discuss: What macro-environmental trends are relevant? What are the contending forces in the industry? What forces are changing the industry over time? Are there key competitors that present opportunities or challenges to the firm? Define opportunities as favorable conditions in the external environment, define threats as unfavorable conditions in the external environment, and conduct an environmental scan. Additional factors about the chosen country that you may want to consider when doing the environmental and competitive analyses. Each sub-section (i. e. , A, B, C, D, E, F) should be about 2-3 pages. Thus, since there are two major parts (i. e. , I and II), the overall length should be around 24-36 pages. Additionally, a cover page and a references section are required (but do NOT count in the page length suggestions). The absolute page limit (not including the cover sheet and references) is 40 pages. A full letter grade will be deducted on any project longer than 40 pages. No exceptions. Please follow this outline carefully. I. General Environmental Analysis A. Economic 1. Overall level of development 2. Economic growth: GDP and industry 3. Role of foreign trade in the economy 4. Currency: inflation rate, currency controls, stability of exchange rate 5. Balance of payments 6. Per capita income and distribution 7. Disposable income and spending patterns B. Social/Cultural 1. Population size, growth, density, distribution (urban/rural) 2. Literacy rates, education levels 3. Existence of middle class 4. Similarities and differences in relation to company’s home market 5. Language and other cultural considerations C. Political 1. System of government 2. Political stability and continuity 3. Ideological orientation 4. Government involvement in business 5. Attitudes toward foreign business 6. National economic and development priorities 7. Membership in regional trade organizations D. Technological E. Physical 1. Physical distribution and communications network (e. . , supply chain) 2. Climate variations 3. Shipping distance F. Major Threats and Opportunities II. Industry/Competitive Environment A. Threat of New Entrants/Barriers to Entry 1. Limitations on trade (e. g. , high tariff levels, quotas) 2. Documentation and import regulations 3. Local standards, practices, and potential non-tariff barriers 4. Patent/trademark availability 5. Preferential tr eaties with a company’s home country 6. Legal considerations for investment, taxation, profit repatriation, employment 7. Availability of intermediaries B. Threat from Competitors 1. Number of international competitors and their market shares 2. Number of local competitors and their market shares 3. Advantages needed to compete effectively relative to competitors C. Threat from Substitutes D. Power of Buyers 1. Customer needs and desires (e. g. , demand behavior and estimation, price elasticity of demand, etc. ) 2. Local production, imports, consumption 3. Exposure to and acceptance of product/service 4. Availability of complementary products/services 5. Industry-specific key indicators of demand 6. Attitudes towards products of foreign origin E. Power of Suppliers 1. Number and location of suppliers 2. Market structure (e. g. , competitive, monopoly, or in-between, etc. ) F. Major Threats and Opportunities ASSIGNMENT DUE DATES (Recommended) Assignments #1 #2 are due June 22, 2009 Assignments #3 #4 are due July 13, 2009 Assignments #5 #6 (Value Creation Project) are due August 3, 2009 Note: The absolute Final Date to turn in all assignments is Monday, August 3rd at 5:00 PM CLASSROOM POLICY ISSUES WITHDRAWAL POLICY The requirements set by the university for withdrawal will be strictly followed. You should retain all documentation of courses you have dropped. STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS The university is committed to the principle that in no aspect of its programs shall there be differences in the treatment of persons because of race, creed, national origin, age, sex, or disability, and that equal opportunity and access to facilities shall be available to all. Any student who because of a disability may require special arrangements in order to meet course requirement should contact the instructor as soon as possible to make any necessary accommodations. Students should present appropriate verification from AccessTECH in the Student Counseling Center in West Hall. ACADEMIC INTEGRITY The university catalog states the following: â€Å"It is the aim of the faculty of Texas Tech University to foster a spirit of complete honesty and a high standard of integrity. The attempt of students to present as their own any work that they have not honestly performed is regarded by the faculty and administration as a serious offense and renders the offenders liable to serious consequences, possibly suspension. The catalog defines cheating as â€Å"Dishonesty on examinations and quizzes or on written assignments, illegal possession of examinations, the use of unauthorized notes during an examination or quiz, obtaining information during an examination from the examination paper or otherwise from another student, assisting others to cheat, alteration of grade records, illegal entry to or unauthorized presence in an office are instances of cheating. I n this class, collaboration with others on in class examinations and cases is considered within the definition of cheating. RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS A student who intends to observe a religious holy day should make that intention known to the instructor prior to the absence. A student who is absent from classes for the observance of a religious holy day shall be allowed to take an examination or complete an assignment scheduled for that day within a reasonable time after the absence. How to cite Domestic and Global Business Environment, Essay examples

The Challenge of Constructing a Bridge over the Chacao Channel

Torben Forsberg and Anton Petersen are two renowned civil engineers with qualifications from the Technical University of Denmark. In their article The Challenge of Constructing a Bridge over the Chacao Channel, the authors describe possibilities of improving the design of a new bridge. The authors’ arguments on alternative possibilities are based on the fact that the construction of the new bridge has many challenges.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on The Challenge of Constructing a Bridge over the Chacao Channel specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The challenges mentioned in the article include large tides and currents, strong seismic loads, wind and unstable ground conditions. According to the authors, the proposed design is compromised and requires technical review to ensure that the bridge is aesthetically pleasant and cost-effective. However, the article provides a solution by proposing new bridge alt ernatives. The authors review new bridge alternatives in relation to existing challenges. In each of the new bridge alternatives, a clear discussion with technical details is outlined. In this regard, the reader detects advantages of using various design alternatives in respect to technical demands and cost-efficiency. The article describes the construction project, its geographical location, as well as environmental challenges associated with the new bridge. Examples of such conditions include possible earthquakes, wind and strong currents. The authors’ description of the Chacao channel as extremely challenging is effective. This description justifies the need to initiate technical competency in construction of the new bridge. The authors also estimate the depth, tidal variation and the speed of water. Besides, they mention the possible magnitude of earthquakes expected in the region. Moreover, a description of the climatic conditions such as wind speed provides insight into the technical demands of the project. The authors’ description of bridge alternatives follows technical logic by providing specifications of each design. In this regard, the authors explain why each design is only effective in prevailing environmental conditions. For example, the authors give details and advantages of using a continuous two-main-span suspension bridge. The article evaluates alternative bridge designs that can withstand the existing environmental challenges. In this regard, the authors evaluate both classical and conventional bridge solutions.Advertising Looking for case study on engineering? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The main strength of the article is the focus on a factual project that exists in a geographically known territory. This is important to the reader who may decide to research further about the project and on the engineering design used to build the bridge. The authors’ credibi lity as civil engineers from a reputable engineering school is additional strength of the article’s content. The article’s weakness that can be highlighted is that the article does not entirely solve the challenges of building the bridge. In fact, the authors offer a detailed research of other alternatives that could improve the construction of the bridge, but do not provide details of how the construction of the bridge was completed. Moreover, the authors fail to give examples of replicas of bridge designs in other regions. The credibility of the authors as civil engineers is effectively felt in the article, though it is not emphasized. In my opinion, the article content is clear, accurate and insightful. The authors have been able to engage the reader’s mind using simple terms and graphics. For example, the authors have used graphs and maps to emphasize on their arguments. Another important aspect of the article’s strength is the use of Chacao channel t opography. In addition, the article is useful in providing future research material. This case study on The Challenge of Constructing a Bridge over the Chacao Channel was written and submitted by user Sarah Watson to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.