Ifrs 10 Application to Hyundai and Kia

————————————————- ACCT333 Advanced Financial Accounting ————————————————- Group Project Assignment (IFRS 10) Cheong Wang Shen Gordon Prepared for: Prof Bernardine Low Prepared by: Gordon Cheong Wang Shen Jason Tan Zhu En Twain Teo Wei Ren Wee Huixiang (G4) Table of Contents Question 1: IFRS 10 flowchart3 Question 25 (a) Identifying ambiguity of control5 Background5 Control issues5 Co-owning of subsidiaries5 Inter-company director relations6 Same platform manufacturing6 b) & (c) Application of IFRS 10 flowchart to determine existence of control by Hyundai7 Step 1: Determine the purpose and design of investee (Kia)7 Step 2: Determine relevant activities7 Step 3: Determination of ability to direct relevant activities8 Step 4: Determine if exposed to variable returns9 Step 5: Determine if Hyundai is a principal or an agent10 Question 310 Identification of four requirements in IFRS 10 that are challenging to interpret and apply10 Considering the purpose and design of the investee10 Determining the relative size of voting rights11Considering related parties12 Determining if investor is a principal or agent12 References14 Question 1: IFRS 10 flowchart Question 2 (a) Identifying ambiguity of control Background The Hyundai Motor Company (hereafter referred to as Hyundai) is a multinational automaker based in Seoul, South Korea. Hyundai is one of the two best-known divisions of the global conglomerate Hyundai, the other being Hyundai Heavy Industries, the largest shipbuilder globally. A famous Korean businessman, Chung Ju-yung, founded Hyundai in 1974.Following the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, Hyundai bought over Kia Motors Corporation (hereafter referred to as Kia) in 1998, which resulted in the formation of the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group (HKAG) . It consists of multiple affiliated companies related through complex shareholding agreements, although Hyundai is taken to be the de facto representative in transactions done with HKAG. During the acquisition of Kia in 1998, Hyundai out-bidded Ford motors to acquire 51% of the company’s shareholding. After a series of divestments over the years, the total ownership of Hyundai in Kia has been reduced to only 33. 5%. Hyundai and Kia are both listed individually on the Korean Stock Exchange. In 2008, Hyundai was ranked the 8th largest automaker in the world. It was also the fastest growing automaker globally for 2 consecutive years (2010 and 2011). The chairman and CEO of Hyundai is Chung Mong-koo, one of the surviving sons of Chung Ju-yung. Control issues Hyundai currently has a 33. 75% direct shareholding in Kia, with the remaining shareholdings being presumably widely dispersed. As such, it evidently has significant influence over the operations and running of Kia’s business.However, establishing direct control between Hyundai and Kia is not as straightforward. There are a number of issues that we have to look at. Co-owning of subsidiaries Hyundai and Kia co-own a large number of subsidiaries. As evidenced by the 2010 consolidated financials of Hyundai, the global branches of the Kia Motors Group are 100% held by Hyundai through Kia themselves. Both companies also have percentage ownership in Hyundai’s various component manufacturing companies like Hyundai HYSCO Company Limited and Hyundai Powertech Company Limited.Aside from this, they also have holdings in Autoever Systems Corporation, where their main Research and Development unit is located. Inter-company director relations The current Chairman and CEO of HMC is Chung Mong-koo. He took over Hyundai in 1992 when the Hyundai Group split into its various divisions. The Hyundai group itself follows a South Korean Business form of conglomerate known as chaebol, where the unique characteri stic is that it is usually a huge family controlled corporate group.As such, it is not surprising to see that many of the third generation members of Chung Ju-yung’s family are heading many of the different divisions of the Hyundai Group. Chung Mong-koo’s only son, Chung Eui-sun was a key operating officer in various corporate planning divisions in Hyundai-Kia before eventually heading Kia as its president from 2005 to 2009. Currently, he is the vice chairman of Hyundai and is on the internal board of directors for Kia. Aside from this, Chung Mong-koo also has a 5% shareholding in Kia. Same platform manufacturingBoth Hyundai and Kia co-own manufacturing subsidiaries that produce component parts to both companies. As a result, their production facilities get the similar component parts from the same suppliers. The companies also use the same power trains (engines and transmissions) all manufactured largely from the Hyundai Powertech Company Limited. A majority of the au tomobile electronic components from both brands also come from Hyundai MOBIS Limited. Both these companies are co-owned subsidiaries of Hyundai and Kia. Both Hyundai and Kia also share design studios.In fact, the vice president of design based in HMC actually oversees the design management of both brands. The family controlled heading of both Hyundai and Kia allows us to consider the possibility of Hyundai having a controlling influence over Kia, especially with Chung Eui-sun’s dual positions on both companies’ board of directors. Furthermore, given the fact that both companies virtually sprout from the same supply chain, and control over their research and development and design of the vehicles are headed by staff based in Hyundai, we can see hat these revenue generating activities greatly affect the business operations of both companies. Even though Kia is clearly not a subsidiary at first glance, given the meagre 33. 75% ownership by Hyundai, it would appear that Hy undai may be exerting more than just significant influence over Kia through the various factors mentioned. (b) & (c) Application of IFRS 10 flowchart to determine existence of control by Hyundai Step 1: Determine the purpose and design of investee (Kia) Hyundai purchased shares in Kia for 1. 18 trillion won in November 1998.The purpose of this acquisition in Kia is for Hyundai to gain significant foothold and widen its market share in the auto industry. By taking over Kia Motor, the Hyundai-Kia group was able to forge a solid position having over 70% of domestic market share and become the 7th or 8th global automaker by combining its affiliates’ production capacity into the total volume of 2. 9 million units in 1999. Step 2: Determine relevant activities Activities| Does it significantly affect investees’ returns –> relevant activities? | Example of decisions about relevant activities| How decisions about relevant activities are made? Research and development| Y es| Reduce the number of platforms to 718 by the end of 2005, in order to save the costs of product development and manufacturing and produce a variety of car models having differing external styling and interior options for the brands of Hyundai and Kia| Decisions are made by a joint R&D Division led by the Chief Technology Officer (for Hyundai and Kia combined)| Auto-assembly| Yes| Which type of vehicle that each plant should produce? Whether Hyundai and Kia should share power-train parts (i. e. engine and transmission) to be supplied to assembly plantsWhether Hyundai and Kia should share production technology| Decisions are made by top management of the Hyundai-Kia group, where the de facto representative is Hyundai| Auto parts supply| Yes| Which vendor should supply auto parts to the companies? How many vendors should they engage? | Decisions are made by Joint Material Handling Division that Hyundai and Kia set up| Marketing and competition| Yes| Whether to focus on price or non price competition such as customer service and product quality| Decisions are made by top management of the Hyundai-Kia group|Step 3: Determination of ability to direct relevant activities Hyundai owns 33. 75% of the shares in Kia Motors. In addition, Chung Eui-sun, the son of the Hyundai Motor Group Chairman, owns another 1. 73% of the shares. This presumably gives Hyundai control of 35. 48% of Kia Motors, which is significantly less than the 50% shareholding that would give Hyundai the majority of the voting rights. However, we are unable to find any evidence that anyone has control of a large proportion of the remaining shares, and thus we feel that the assumption that the rest of the shares in Kia are highly dispersed is a reasonable one.If that is the case, then it is almost impossible that all these shareholders will collectively outvote Hyundai when a decision needs to be made, so Hyundai can be said to have power over the relevant activities. Another factor to consider is t hat Mr Chung is both the vice chairman of Hyundai and an internal director of Kia. As Mr Chung sits on Kia’s board, he should have a certain amount of influence over Kia’s decision-making process. This factor, coupled with Hyundai’s holding of voting rights, lend much weight to the claim that Hyundai can direct the relevant activities.Last but not least, we notice from the table above that the Hyundai and Kia managements jointly make most decisions regarding relevant activities. In fact, Hyundai and Kia share almost the same supply chain. Many companies in the supply chain are subsidiaries or associates co-owned by these two parents. However, because Hyundai owns a larger portion of shares, and hence voting rights, in most of these entities, Kia is understandably at risk if it goes all out to oppose Hyundai in some way or another.It can be seen that when decisions are made, Hyundai is better represented because of both the presence of its management and its voti ng rights, and Kia would tend to concede ground to Hyundai when there are disagreements. So, even though Hyundai owns less than 50% of the shareholding in Kia, they probably still have enough power to direct the relevant activities. Step 4: Determine if exposed to variable returns If Hyundai has actual control of Kia, they will be exposed to returns, which can be positive, negative or both.Also these returns must be variable rather than fixed. The returns that Hyundai is exposed to can be classified into two categories: 1) Returns not available to other interest holders. This refers to cost savings and synergies that arise from Hyundai owning Kia, which other shareholders in Kia would not be entitled to. In this case, they are mostly in the form of cost savings, due to the similar operations of the two companies. Consolidation of R&D centres of Hyundai and Kia, sharing of R&D centres allowed both companies to lower costs by reducing number of employees in the R&D centres * Products share similar core platforms leads to savings and economies of scale * Sharing of factories leads to further specialisation, for example, Kia’s Kwangju plant was designated as a specialised assembly plant for small-sized commercial vehicles for both Hyundai and Kia, leading to cost reduction * Sharing auto-part suppliers to apply greater pressure on suppliers for cost savings on supplies 2) Dividends Kia paid out 96 billion won in dividends in 2010 * Hyundai’s ownership of common stock entitles them to receive dividends from Kia. Thus, it can be seen that Hyundai meets all our requirements that would allow it to classify Kia as a subsidiary. Our last step would be to ensure that Hyundai is acting in the capacity of a principal, rather than that of an agent, which is holding delegated power. Step 5: Determine if Hyundai is a principal or an agentIn determining whether Hyundai is acting as a principal or an agent, we need to consider four factors: 1) Scope of decision ma king authority * Unable to find information proving that Hyundai has any limits to the decisions it can make for Kia * Presumably, Hyundai can make most decisions for Kia 2) Rights held by other parties * No evidence of rights held by other parties 3) Exposure to variability of returns from investees * High cost savings due to economies of scale Many of Hyundai’s subsidiaries depend on Kia for revenue * Affected by dividends paid out by Kia 4) Remuneration * Almost solely dependent on dividends, which are highly variable * No actual fixed remuneration In consideration of all the four factors, Hyundai is most likely a principal and not an agent. Hence we can reasonably conclude, after thorough application of the framework, that Kia is a subsidiary of Hyundai. Question 3Identification of four requirements in IFRS 10 that are challenging to interpret and apply Considering the purpose and design of the investee Paragraph B5 of IFRS 10 explains that â€Å"when assessing control o f an investee, an investor shall consider the purpose and design of the investee in order to identify the relevant activities, how decisions about the relevant activities are made, who has the current ability to direct those activities and who receives returns from those activities†.Paragraphs B51-B53 then goes on to explain the factors to be considered when determining the purpose and design of the investee. However, IFRS 10 does not explain how the purpose and design of the investee can be used to â€Å"identify the relevant activities, how decisions about the relevant activities are made, who has the current ability to direct those activities and who receives returns from those activities†, which paragraph B5 suggested. A simplistic scenario is given in paragraph B6, whereby the investee is controlled by means of equity investments.Beyond this straightforward case, paragraph B7 directs readers back to the factors listed in B3 to determine control (relevant activities , ability to direct relevant activities, variable returns and ability to use power over investee to affect returns). Furthermore, the factors provided in paragraphs B51-B53 are hard to determine and require much professional judgment. For instance, paragraph B51 states that in the process of assessing the purpose and design, we â€Å"evaluate whether the transaction terms and features of the involvement (at investee’s inception) provide the investor with rights that are sufficient to give it power†.No conclusive elaboration is provided by IFRS 10, and it is uncertain whether being involved in the investee’s inception signifies control. This creates much ambiguity and inconsistent interpretation across firms. Rather than making it seem like an isolated step with little purpose, IFRS 10 should provide clearer guidance for the objective of determining the purpose and design of the investee. Clearer linkages, between the consideration of purpose and design of invest ee and the other factors to be considered when determining control, could also be provided to improve the flow of IFRS 10.Furthermore, more comprehensive and conclusive guidelines could be included to standardise the interpretation of the purpose and design of the investee. Determining the relative size of voting rights According to paragraph B42, an investor can consider the size of its holding of voting rights relative to the size and dispersion of other holdings of the other vote holders to determine whether its rights are sufficient to give it power. However, because relativity encompasses the use of personal judgement, this section may be open to manipulation.In Hyundai’s case, it holds around 35% of the voting rights, including those held by its vice chairman, Chung Eui-sun. If the rest of the voting rights are very widely dispersed, with nobody else holding more than 1%, Hyundai can say that it has control because it is very improbable that all the other parties will c ome together to collectively outvote Hyundai. On the other hand, Hyundai can also claim that there is still a possibility that the other shareholders will collectively vote against Hyundai if it introduces a policy that does not benefit them, so in that case, Hyundai does not have control.We notice that the voting structure remains the same, yet different interpretations can be derived. Paragraph B42 also says that other circumstances, such as voting patterns at previous shareholders’ meetings, can be considered, but it is hard to say if the historical patterns are able to predict the future. Shareholders might not have voted in previous meetings because there were no major decisions that affected them, but if Hyundai intends to propose something revolutionary, the voting situation will definitely change.IFRS 10 can provide more detailed guidance to ensure that this section is applied appropriately and consistently. For example, when determining how widely dispersed the rest of the voting rights are, an investor should consider only the next 10 largest shareholders. If their combined holding is larger than that of the investor, then the investor does not have control based on this requirement alone. When assessing previous voting patterns, the investor should only look at shareholders’ meetings where issues of similar impact were raised.If previous meetings did not encompass such issues, then the voting patterns for those meetings cannot be considered. Considering related parties Paragraph B18 states that an investor can consider whether the investee’s key management personnel are related parties of the investor when determining if the investor has the practical ability to direct relevant activities unilaterally. However, it does not specify how much influence the related parties must have over the investee, so this may not always be a good indicator of power.For example, Hyundai’s vice chairman, Chung Eui-sun, is also on Kiaâ€℠¢s internal board of directors. According to paragraph B18, this should provide evidence that Hyundai has power over Kia. But in order to determine whether Hyundai can direct relevant activities through Chung Eui-sun, we must also consider the amount of influence that he has over Kia’s decision-making process. Kia has 9 directors on its board, of whom two are also presidents in the company, so Chung Eui-sun may not always have his way. If the investor does not take this into consideration, then the determination of control would be flawed.In that sense, this requirement would be more complete if guidance on the influence commanded by related parties was given. Instead of only determining whether there are related parties in the investee’s governing bodies, the investor should also take into account the role and power of the related parties. If the related parties have the final say when it comes to decision-making over relevant activities, then this factor can conclusi vely determine that the investor has power. But if the related parties do not have the final say, then only a minimal weight should be placed on this factor.Determining if investor is a principal or agent Being able to determine if the investor is a principal or an agent is crucial to determining whether the investor has control over the investee. A principal would have power over the investee, but an agent would only have delegated power. Delegated power is held on behalf of a third party who ultimately controls the investee. The method prescribed in IFRS 10 for determining if a decision maker is an agent is the consideration of the factors listed in paragraph B60.Upon further elaboration of the factors, IFRS 10 provides certain cases where the investee is definitely a principal or an agent. For example, paragraph B70 states that â€Å"a decision maker cannot be an agent unless the conditions set out in paragraph B69 (a) and (b) are present. † However, if none of these extre me conditions are met, we must assume that we would have to take all five conditions into account when trying to decide if the investor is an agent. However, there is no prescription in IFRS 10 about how to consider these conditions.In a situation where some of the conditions point towards the investor being an agent and some point towards them being a principal, there is a certain amount of ambiguity in whether the investor should be classified as a principal or an agent. This gives the company some leeway in choosing the decision that would reflect a better financial position of the firm. This could lead to reduced accuracy of financial statements and less comparability among financial statements of different companies.To make this requirement easier to interpret and apply, IFRS 10 should clearly state the relative importance of each factor. For example, the factors which are given a higher relative importance would have a higher influence on whether the company is a principal or an agent, as compared to those with a lower importance. As such, in ambiguous cases, companies will know which factors should be considered first. Given this, all companies will have more similar definitions of principal/agent, thereby reducing the ambiguity and increasing comparability among different financial statements.References 1) Hyundai 2010 Annual Report http://worldwide. hyundai. com/company-overview/investor-relations/financial-information-Annual-Report-view. aspx? idx=13&&nCurPage=1&ListNum=11 2) Kia 2010 Annual Report http://www. kmcir. com/eng/library/annual. asp 3) Merger and Reconfiguring of Hyundai-Kia (Byoung-Hoon Lee, Sung Jae Cho) http://gerpisa. org/rencontre/9. rencontre/S13Lee-Cho. pdf 4) HYUNDAI MOTORS’ DE-CHAEBOLIZATION EFFECTS (Hyunjoong Jun) http://gerpisa. org/rencontre/9. rencontre/S13Jun. pdf

Construction Of Human Muscles Health And Social Care Essay

Smooth musculus contracts involuntarily, contraction of this musculus is controlled by the nervous system automatically and unconsciously. Contractions are rhythmic and slow. It is responsible for motion of nutrient through the digestive piece of land and for motion of other organic structure variety meats. Smooth musculuss control automatic, nonvoluntary motions such as those of take a breathing and of the digestive variety meats. It makes up the walls of the digestive piece of land, respiratory piece of land, GU piece of land, blood vass, and lymphatic vass. Smooth musculus is nonstriated because it lacks the striations ( sets ) of skeletal musculuss. Smooth musculus cells are little, mononucleated ( frequently with gap junction ) , and fusiform. There is merely one karyon located at the centre of the cell. Muscle tissue consist nuclei per fibre and nervus tissue consist of karyon of glial cells. Neuron and musculus tissue have nucleus and fibres. Neurotransmitters and musculus tissue have chondriosomes. Muscle tissue consists of cells that have the ability to contract and move organic structure. Muscle tissue is composed of long cells called musculus fibres that are capable of undertaking when stimulated by nervus urges. Nervous tissue sense stimulation and transmits signals form one portion to another. nervous tissue contains cells that react to stimuli and carry on an urge. The functional unit of nervous tissue is the nerve cell, or nervus cells, which is specialized to convey signals called nervus urges. It consists of a cell organic structure and two or more extensions, or procedures, called dendrites and axons. Dendrites are cell subdivisions that receive urges form other nerve cells or from receptors. The axon is a subdivision of the cell that transmits urges off from the cyton. Neurotransmitters are chemicals secreted into the synaptic spread ( spread between two nervousnesss or a nervus and a musculus ) by the terminal of a terminal subdivision. They transmit urges across th e synapse signifier one cell to another. In a spinal physiological reaction, urges pass from ( 1 ) a receptor to ( 2 ) a centripetal nerve cell to ( 3 ) an interneuron in the spinal cord to ( 4 ) a motor nerve cell to ( 5 ) a musculus or secretory organ. Motor nerve cells transmit and distribute urges from the cardinal nervous system to musculuss and secretory organs, or effecters. Epithelial tissue consists of cells fitted tightly together to organize a uninterrupted bed of cells. One surface of the sheet is exposed because it lines a pit, such as the lms of the bowel, or covers the organic structure. The other surface of an epithelial bed is attached to the underlying tissue by a acellular cellar membrane composed of bantam fibres and nonliving polysaccharide stuff produced by the epithelial cells. The cellar membrane attaches an epithelial tissue to the connective tissue. The cellar membrane consists of glycoproteins secreted by epithelial cells. Epithelial cells are held together by tight junctions and adhering junctions. Tight junctions extend throughout the surface and around the margin of an epithelial cell and seal it tightly to next cells. The junction is formed by blending the cell membranes of next cells with meshing membrane lipoproteins. The intercellular infinite is thin. Tight junctions seal epithelial cells to one another and have fused parts of the plasma membranes. Proteins in the membranes seal off the intercellular infinite, so it is hard for some substances to go through between the cells. In desmosomes, a submicroscopic infinite separates the opposing cell membranes, and intracellular ceratin fibres anchor transmembrane glycoproteins that bind the cells together. Desmosomes are seals between cells with ceratin fibrils grounding the two cells. Desmosomes are one type of adhering junction. Still another type of junction is the spread junction. Desmosomes and adhering junctions are found between cells that form a sheet of tissue. Gap junctions are protein composites that form channels in membranes. In the spread junction, cannular passageways and channels exist between cells, and little ions and molecules pass from cell to cell. Smooth and cardiac musculus tissue has these junctions, but epithelial tissues do non. Regeneration means cell or tissue growing that replaces lost constructions, damaged/dead cells by the same type of cells. It involves production of the same cell type, root cells may bring forth and distinguish to replace decease cells. Regeneration requires integral connective tissue staging. The regeneration takes topographic point in clean lesions where infection is non present in cut or scratch on the tegument. If the harm over a big country, so the underlying connective tissue cells and fibroblasts are involved in tissue fix. In a simple skin hurt, the deep bed of graded squamous epithelial tissue divides. The new stratified squamous epithelial cells push themselves upward toward the surface of the tegument. the harm or lesion is rapidly and wholly restored to normal. If a big country of tegument is damaged, fluid will get away from the broken capillaries. The capillary fluid prohibitionists and seals the lesions organizing a strikebreaker. Epithelial cells multiply at the borders of the strikebreaker and go on to turn over the damaged country until it is covered. When deep tissue is damaged the suturas bring together the borders of the lesion. The lesions have a enormous sum of serous fluid that leaks out onto the lesion. This helps to organize a curdling ( coagulum ) that seals the lesion. The clot contains tissue fragments and white blood cells. The epithelial cells run alonging the capillaries and fibroblasts of connective tissue are quickly renewing. New vascular tissue starts to organize and multiply across the lesion along with connective tissue formation. Fibroblast cells are active in doing new collagen fibres. Capillaries keeping the borders steadfastly together and collagenic fibres shorten cut downing cicatrix tissue less seeable. Fibrosis is a procedure of replacing of damaged tissue with cicatrix tissue. Scar tissue does non reconstruct normal map. The cicatrix tissue formed depends on the extent of tissue harm. It helps to keep an organ together. Granulation occur in a big unfastened lesion with little or big tissue loss. It causes the surface country to hold a gravelly texture. Fibroblasts will be active in production of new collagenic fibres. In granulation procedure a fluid is secreted, this fluid has strong bactericidal belong ingss which helps cut down the hazard of infection during lesion healing. The ureter would use smooth musculus, smooth musculus and specialised epithelial tissue of the vesica wall capable of great shrinking and stretching. Smooth musculus signifiers beds in the wall of the urinary piece of lands. The nephritic capsule consist of dense hempen connective tissue covers the kidney and is uninterrupted with the outer bed of the ureter at the hilum of the kidney. The nephritic facia is heavy hempen connective tissue, it surrounds an ground tackles and kidney. The outer bed of ureter composed of hempen connective tissue. In female the urethra is tightly bound to the anterior vaginal wall by hempen connective tissue. Adipose tissue is type of loose hempen connective tissue that consist of big sum of adipose cells. This adipose tissue is found around the kidneys.

Characterization of Zaroff In Richard Connells T Essays - Fiction

Characterization of Zaroff In Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" 1) In "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell, the antagonist, General Zaroff, can best be described as sadistic, arrogant, and manipulative. 2) The worst trait of Zaroff is his arrogance. 3) He claims that he is superior to other people of different races and that because he is strong, it's his job to abolish the weak. 4) This idea is expressed when Zaroff states, "...Life is for the strong, and, if need be, taken by the strong. The weak of the world were put here to give the strong pleasure... I hunt the scum of the earth - sailors from tramp ships - lascars, blacks, Chinese, whites, mongrels- ..." 5) This shows that Zaroff not only acts arrogantly, but also is sadistic. 6) His demented mind forces him to believe that it is moral to hunt all living creatures, when in fact, he's actually committing murder. 7) The worst part is that Zaroff considers his hobby of hunting other humans amusing. 8) Another trait of Zaroff is that he is extremely manipulative. 9) In other words, he can get other people to do exactly what he wants them to do without that person realizing that he is getting brainwashed. 10) For example, the general pretends to be very civilized and generous thus, people start to trust Zaroff, but as soon as Zaroff's victims feel comfortable around him, he forces them to play his "game". 11) This usually ends up in death for General Zaroff's poor captives. 12) Therefore, we can see that the antagonist in the short story "The Most Dangerous Game" is not only sadistic and arrogant, but also manipulative.

Persuasive Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Persuasive Speech - Essay Example Even though you may already know a great deal about your topic, read recent articles in order to find the most current data and/or talk to local experts in order to discover local information. You must cite at least 3 sources during your speech. There must be variety in your sources and in the types of supporting materials you use. You must use reliable sources. The collegiate world of sports is a dynamic realm that continues to perplex and fascinate fans all around the world. The world of college is filled with suspense, drama and â€Å"Cinderella-type† stories in which the underdogs prevail while the dominant teams continue to falter. In essence, athletes in college are motivated to excel because of pride and culture. According to the Gallup poll, 85% of college football fans support modifying the bowl game system into a playoff system. Therefore, it is logical that the NCAA should implement a playoff system in the collegiate level because it would resemble the NFL, implement a fair system of picking a winner, and finally would bring millions of revenue that would satisfy colleges. The primary reason why college basketball should implement a playoff system method is because of the fact that both NFL and the NBA have playoffs. In essence, playoffs truly change the storyline of the traditional rankings. Many teams tend to outperform their rivals because of the extra motivation that they achieve by making the playoffs. This example can be brilliantly depicted as the Green Bay Packers won the wild card in the NFC North. After inching to get into the playoffs, the Packers with their 10-6 record prevailed against the Bears and went on to win the Super Bowl. It is evident that the Packers would have never achieved this nominal feat without entering the playoff system that is embedded in the playoffs. Moreover, the playoffs challenge athletes to persevere in times of adversities. The talented individuals that are played in

The Wars of the roses were caused by weak kingship.In the context of Coursework

The Wars of the roses were caused by weak kingship.In the context of the period c1377-1487,how far does this statement explain - Coursework Example Although this paper covers the period of 1377-1487, a special attention will be paid to the events of 1450-71, even though the other time spans of the said period will be duly analysed as the case may be. To achieve this goal, I have decided to divide my paper into four sections, three of which have their sub-sections. In the first section, I will deal with the influence of personal qualities of Henry VI on the political events which led to the Wars of the Roses, as well as on disintegration of central authority in the preceding years. The comparison between Henry VI and the other kings of the period will be provided with a view to determining the impact of royal personality on political processes of the period. In the second section, I aim to discuss the role of political and blood feuding between various noble houses as exacerbating instability and general political crisis both in the beginning of the Wars and during their immediate course. I will look both at the main conflict cen tred on the leaders of Yorkist and Lancastrian factions and at the different local feuds that led to the situation steadily deteriorating. The third section deals with the impact of the external factors, focussing on the loss of Lancastrian France and the discontents it generated. The economic crisis and the dynastic factor are briefly analysed in section 4. At the end of the essay some conclusions on the interrelation between the weakening of royal power under Henry VI and the other causes of the Wars of the Roses are provided. I also include the detailed bibliography of the subject under consideration after the Works Cited that would provide additional support to the argument that this paper defends. THE WEAKNESS OF THE KING Academics’ views on the personal qualities of Henry VI. There is no doubt that the reign of Henry VI was marked by progressive weakening of royal prestige and authority, which eventually led to the major strife among the nobles of the realm. For instanc e, Wolffe argues that Henry VI’ character was marked by â€Å"perverse wilfulness† and that his â€Å"wilful incompetence and untrustworthiness† made him completely unreliable in the affairs of government (Wolffe, â€Å"The Personal Rule† 44). McFarlane remarks that the â€Å"inanity† of Henry VI in the years of his personal rule was characteristic of an infantile person incapable of independent reasoning (McFarlane, â€Å"Nobility† 284). In addition, Carpenter finds that the period of personal rule of Henry VI was characterised by â€Å"the lack of the royal will at the heart of it† (88). At the same time, Griffiths observes that Henry VI was by nature â€Å"a well-intentioned man†, but at the same time he agrees that the king was â€Å"over-merciful and compassionate to those at fault, yet fearfully suspicious of those who were rumoured to be doing him personal harm (Griffiths, â€Å"The Reign of Henry VI† 253). Howev er, to prove or disprove such claims, one has to look

Personnel Evaluation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Personnel Evaluation - Essay Example Public workforce management entails two diverse avenues that I have addressed in this document. These avenues comprise primarily of personnel administration or management and public personnel or workforces. Both of these entail citizens, public workforces, managers, politicians, taxpayers and administrators. The actual definition of public personnel is actually vast, meaning or referring to individual human resources who operate or work in the general public sector and whose principal roles entail provision of effective public service to citizens, whether national, local, international or state-based. Contemporarily, these public personnel possess distinct principal functions. These functions include sanctioning, planning, development and respective acquisition. To ensure effectiveness in management of the organization, the workforces ought to carry and apply those duties throughout the affiliation. Contemporarily, public workforces face huge challenges with regard to their respective operational practices. The document contains a critically and carefully elicited explanation of the current trends implicating on the growth of public workforces in the present day world and an additional evaluation of strategies that the government ought to take into consideration when creating a diversified workforce. In addition, the same explanation shall encompass some of the initiative the government ought to take when addressing workforce issues to ensure complete sustenance of union association and representation amidst the specified public personnel. In a snapshot, the four overtly notable trends implicating on the growth of public workforces include technology in the work area, the nature of the working environment, role of the general body of citizens in the process of governance, redefinition of government and economic changes over time in the today’s world. For roughly a generation

Overview of experience to gain professional membership Case Study - 1

Overview of experience to gain professional membership - Case Study Example This will be very necessary for me in the execution of my duties by arranging meetings and discussing issues brought up my other colleagues. I have also attended several internal training such as training, reporting, and all aspects of project cost control during my working period; therefore gathering a lot of experiences. I have, therefore, been trained into completing my orders and workload at the best and satisfactory standards. That has also made me understand the different forms of contract and supporting documentation. Within my role, I plan not only my workload and tasks, but also the workloads and tasks of other team associates who work with me. In my projects, I will have to set up and regularly run commercial site team meeting. Being the Senior Quantity Surveyor, I set team objectives and discuss issues that may be current and potential issues and also worries that the team may have. As a Senior Quantity Surveyor, I collect information from one or more sources, and then distribute the information to one or more audiences. I ensure that information management activities are effective and successful. These actions help me in discovering extra principles and strategies, as well as providing a substantial tactics to evolving a supreme information management strategy.1 Being a leader, my main objective is to ensure incessant progress to the strategic and response to the organization. Being a leader in my previous workstations, which include royal construction Ltd, Wates construction Ltd. among others, have made me have good and professional leadership skills. I ensure by managing the infrastructural assets. Moreover, I aim to provide the knowledge of cost effectiveness assets, and use strategic aspects which will help the new employees address problems faced.2 On a daily basis, I encourage people from my department to work as a team, so as to have effective results. Believe that this is necessary and is an advantage to the organization

Identity Theft Statutes Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Identity Theft Statutes - Assignment Example The statute includes the names of the contracting parties as well as the terms and conditions contract requirements (Catherine 2004, 48). Therefore, the status of fraud serves to protect the parties to the contract from deception by the other party if in case one of them decides to avoid performing either part or all of their liabilities in the agreement (Miller, Harvey & Parry 1998, p.364). Therefore, it is essential for the parties to ensure they include statues of frauds in their contract to ensure that effective discharge of their duties s a means of improving business performances and reduce the legal cases arising from the failure of contract performance. This report will explore the purpose of statutes of frauds and what it entails. It also explores the impact the statutes of fraud will have in a contract and when the parties to the contract may find it essential to establish statutes of frauds. In addition, the study will focus on conditions under which the statute of fraud may be ignored during the implementation of the contract. Finally, it will focus on the effects of court cases in the situation where the parties had signed statutes of contract by studying the court cases in which it was applied. The main significance of the statutes of fraud is to ensure there is evidence of the existence of a contract between parties and assure them of the performance of the contract (Catherine 2004, 48). Whereas the statutes were established to reduce the cases of deception among the contracting parties and provide evidence to the court when solving disputes the statutes does not cover most of the contracts especially the contracts of services which are accomplished in less than a year (James 2003, p. 18). The controversy in this requirement is that most of the contracts which do not fall within the statutes are the most rampant in day-to-day life.  

Gender Roles in Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Gender Roles in Society - Essay Example Girls are encouraged to play with dolls and boys on the contrary engage in activities which suit their gender. â€Å"While both mothers and fathers contribute to the gender stereotyping of their children, fathers have been found to reinforce gender stereotypes more often than mothers.† (Ruble, 1988) These were some of the socio-cultural and biological factors which affect gender role development. Sexuality and Sexual Orientation â€Å"Sexuality  has three stages: Desire is an interest in being sexual. Excitement is the state of arousal that sexual stimulation causes. And orgasm is sexual pleasure's peaking. A sexual disorder occurs when there's a problem in at least one of these stages.† (Sexuality) Sexual orientation refers to the disposition of men towards women and vice-versa. This attraction gets redefined at times when men get attracted towards other men and women get attracted towards other women. Sexual orientation is very closely connected with personal identi ty; one chooses an ideal partner depending on their compatibility and gets romantically involved with that person. There are many factors that can easily influence sexual orientation. Loneliness and sadness is the most common cause of homosexuality, child abuse can also significantly alter the sexual orientation of a person. When peers reject a person during his adolescence, the person becomes lonely and starts seeking the company of someone who can help. Weak masculine identity is another cause of homosexual temptation, fear and mistrust is another common cause which can determine one’s sexual orientation. Some people become sexually compulsive and that is how their sexual orientation changes. Trauma during childhood is another common cause of homosexuality; other important causes... The book Two Ways A Woman Can Get Hurt sheds light upon how media presents women in advertisements and in other forms. The researcher states that the author of the book is aghast, that today women are presented as sex objects in advertisements and she also points out that this has a devastating effect on young children watching these advertisements, the same children grow up thinking women to be nothing more than sex objects and they start exploiting women and the same also becomes a vicious cycle. The author also points to the fact that women are shown to have an orgasm when doing their hair and this is extremely serious according to the author but the advertisements take this least seriously and the same has serious ramifications on the mindsets of the people watching these adverts. Men and women are treated very differently in our society and this is a very serious issue, women often treated as nothing more than sex objects, on the other hand men dominate in almost every area, the se differences still prevail in our society but we often turn a blind eye towards them and move on. The researcher also focuses on the sexuality, that has three stages, that were analyzed in the study. It is then concluded that it is time to bring about a drastic change and to restore parity in the society, because women have suffered a lot in the past and we must ensure now that they do not suffer anymore in the future, but bringing these changes still remains a big challenge not only in the United States, but around the world.

Political Campaign Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Political Campaign - Essay Example We reiterate our stand that cloning is against our social ethics and moral principles and equals to questioning God (Yaro's article, third Para ). The advocates of cloning will one day be punished by the God. We promise you that, if voted to power, we will bring a permanent Federal Law banning the practice of cloning through a Bill in the Congress which has failed to pass despite its introduction several times in the past. ( Laws on human cloning, third Para ). Cloning indicates the scientific advancement man has achieved over the years and stands as a tall witness for the supremacy of science. The creation of Dolly (The first successful clone of a sheep, first Para.) was only a first step in the right direction the scientific community had moved in the area of cloning. The advocates of its ban have no right to talk of ethics and morals as these issues are not their exclusive domains. One wants to know how cloning affects the tradition, morals and ethics. God had created humans and other living beings but did not stop at that. God encouraged us to invent so many things and cloning can be one of them.

The Integrated Solution Limited using the criteria of HKMA quality award program Essay Example for Free

The Integrated Solution Limited using the criteria of HKMA quality award program Essay Q.1: The Integrated Solution Limited (ISL) is a specialist in providing professional quality I.T. solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in HK and southern China. There are several factors leading to the success of ISL today. The remarkable achievement of ISL started with its founder and Managing Director, Dr. Ricky LEUNG. Dr. LEUNG personally had in-depth understanding of the needs of manufactures in HK. He recognised that most of imported packages did not provide enough management information to them and no foreign vendors provided MRP system in HK. That is the gap where ISL successfully comes in. With the strong commitment from Dr. LEUNG, ISL has laid down a companys motto ISL is to build quality people, products and relationships and a mission statement ISL is to provide quality products and services towards better data integration and information management for manufacturers that strive to provide excellent products and services to its customers. In this connection, ISL has been very active in improving its products and services through continuous research, service quality improvements, and the changing needs and requirements of customers. Q2: The remarkable achievement of ISL shows once again that producing world-class quality is ultimately a matter of the heart more than the mind It is companies with such emotional pride in their products and with such heroic hopes for their customers that set the quality standards in every industry around the world said by Larry Farrel of the Farrel Company. Quality management has played a significant role in ISLs success. As mentioned previously, ISL has always commits to become the leader in providing professional quality I.T. solutions for SMEs in Asia Pacific. Quality management has always been their main focus in strategic planning, market positioning, and nearly every aspects. ISLs efforts in quality management has lets them successfully to built up an image of a total solution company with prestige quality, as the leading supplier of manufacturing software in Hong Kong by successfully differentiate it from its competitors, and is fast to become Hong Kongs showpiece in innovation and quality. Actually, Total Quality Management is a strategic weapon, which includes a broad set of processes, which helps ISL to enhance its competitive advantages. It is a basic belief that each day it can become better and that all employees are infected with the enthusiasm and religion of improvement. Thus, it accelerates the continuous improvement in products and services, and overall organizational performance. It also helps to develop a Roadmap to business excellence which has attained significantly higher performance levels, therefore, driven to their overall success. Q3: By applying and receiving the HKMA Award, ISL has achieved the following benefits: 1) Gain Competitive Advantage Sound Reputation Successfully Differentiate from its Competitors: ISL received the HKMA award in 1994 for its dedication to quality improvement and customer services. This awards brings the company public recognition for having achieved outstanding standards of quality and for having make a lasting commitment to the process of quality management. Thus, ISL is able to gain many competitive advantages that lead to its success in the IT industry. It not only helps ISL to successfully differentiate from its competitors, but also accelerates the continuous improvement, and gaining prestige reputation from the market. 2) Professional Productive Work Force by Empowerment, Teamwork, Recognition Training : Being a successful company, human resources, is definitely one of the most valuable resources.. ISL understands that keeping the staff growth means keeping the company growth. So, the Human resources development is also one of the focuses in companys strategic planning. As quality management lets ISL to realize the important of empowerment and teamwork, therefore, when ISL recruits new employee, they will measure their ability of teamwork, potential for growth and quality awareness instead of measuring their technical skill only. For the existing employee, ISL also encourage for their involvement. For example, they will have a regular meeting where all employees are welcome to give their own suggestion and opinions. Moreover, the company always tries to strengthen staffs technical skill and quality awareness through various training or seminar from outside experts. Furthermore, the company also empowers the employee and gives special awards to well-performed staff in order to enhance the employee satisfaction. All these efforts helps ISL to achieve outstanding operational results, such as improve in punctuality, reduce absenteeism due to sickness, lower staff turnover rate, faster technical support response time, better trainer quality, higher maintenance incomes, and faster invoice processing time, etc. 3) Clear Strategic Planning and Leadership : By applying and receiving the HKMA awards, ISL has benefits from a very clear strategic planning and leadership. It lets Dr. Leung, the company leader, to aware of the importance of quality, but also pushes him to make some changes in ISL in order to enforce the quality enhancement, such as restructured the company units to a supportive organization structure, and to form a Quality Committee from senior management to co-ordinate and organize quality efforts. Moreover, the HKMA award program ensures ISL to have a very clear goal in quality and performance. For example, at the beginning of each year, ISL undergoes an annual Extensive Strategic Planning Process to plan for the goal and the actions of the current year base on the customer and staff satisfaction and economic factors. It helps ISL to continuously improving in its quality of services and products and leads to its success. 4) Enhance Customer Satisfaction by Customer Focus : ISL has realized that customer satisfaction and a good reputation for quality are vital to the companys survival. Therefore, it uses many marketing tools such as Product Life Cycle (PLC), Product Space Map and GAP analysis to determine market opportunities, segmentation, moving trends and the market position of its product. It helps ISL to be more efficient and be able to continue to understand more about its customers needs and requirements and improve its product and services in order to improve its market position. For example, the amount of repeat sales has grow from 4% to 23% of the total sales from 1992 to 1994. This rapid grow in repeat sales demonstrates that the customer satisfaction of ISL has been improved, and there is pro-active account management and development of long-term relationships with customers in ISL. 5) Profit Maximization and Cost Efficiency : Quality management also benefits ISL financially by maximizing its profits and lets it spends its cost more efficiency. During the eight years before the company applied for the HKMA award, ISLs annual sales grow rapidly. For example, the annual growth rates were 50% or above throughout the period from 1987 to 1994. Besides that, since the company embarked on the TQM programme, profitability has also improved. Moreover, the improvement in various aspects, such as the production process, lets ISL to spend its cost more efficiency. 6) Accelerate Continuous Improvement : The HKMA helps to accelerate the improvement efforts. It helped to set a pace for the quality improvement efforts. It created an accountability that moved the organization faster and further than it could have done on their own. For example, concerning the product improvements, ISL is constantly upgrading it products and services. It also has to keep up its product development programme in order to maintain its competitiveness in the marketplace. Besides that, it also engaged in improving the quality of its internal operations in order to improve in its process. These help to demonstrate ISLs efforts to accelerate its improvement continuously. Q.4: The strengths and weaknesses of ISL in the current competitive environment are as follows: 1) Leadership : * Dr. LEUNG has strongly commitment in promoting quality/products to the industry and to the ISL. For the industry, seminars and articles on Quality Management given by Dr. LEUNG not only educate the public, but also act as outside pressure to push ISL to improve its quality. For the company, he has laid down a companys motto and mission statement stressing on quality products/services to its customers. * Furthermore, a quality committee chaired by Dr. LEUNG has been established to co-ordinate company-wide efforts on quality improvement. The terms of reference for the committee are specified, which includes setting up companys quality standards, developing long- to short-term quality plans, monitoring quality implementation progresses, tackling customer issues, and so froth. * ISL in 1994 established a 3 levels supportive organization structure including front line staff, managers and top management. This organizational structure provides a supportive skeleton from one level to another so as to facilitate the performance of subordinates. ISL also formed the RD Department focusing on product direction and acting as the catalyst for quality improvement. ? Although Dr. LEUNG from time-to-time participates in public activities, ISL itself and other senior staff have not paid much attention to address their public responsibilities and citizenship. 2) Strategy Planning : * To improve product/services quality, ISL has introduced an annual Extensive Strategic Planning Process. At the beginning of each year, the Quality Committee meets externally to examine customer satisfaction and review/access impacts from environmental factors, and internally to motive and satisfy ISL staff and minimize waste and unproductive work. ISL also has set up 5 quality and performance goals, including Product Leadership, Quality Leadership, Consultancy, Implementation and Technical Support. ? Human resources plan has not considered. Key performance indicators are also not considered for tracking the progress of action plan, not to say projecting organizations future performance. 3) Customer and Market Focus : * ISL has adopted a number of marketing tools such as Product Life Cycle, Product Space Map and Gap analysis to determine market opportunities, segmentation, trends and the market position of its product. To collect information from customers, departments of TS and Sales Marketing have constantly contact and visits their customers with the aim to explore possible areas for improving its products and services. ? Mechanism has not formulated to handle customers complaints promptly and effectively. ISL should group all complaints together and analyze it for further improvement. Moreover, ISL should obtain and analyze information and customer satisfaction about their competitors for benchmarks. 4) Information and Analysis : * ISL has introduced an integrated management system, PURSUIT, for its operational processes. A SQL tool, FLEXQL is employed to extract data to generate ad-hoc or routine management reports for the departments of Sales, TS and RD. To effectively use the data, the management adopt the concept of Management-By-Facts and, wherever practicable, make decisions on a factual basis. * Key performance has been constantly communicated to ISL staff, its customers and suppliers via a wide range of communication channels; Internally ISL rely on weekly colloquium, monthly staff newsletter, departmental meetings, annual report, display boards and emails, while externally they rely on user newsletters, press releases, customer visits and customer surveys. ? A system for ensuring the accuracy, reliability and security of data and information has not in place. 5) Human Resource Focus : * The management of ISL in 1994 recognized that exchanges of experience and information among staff and managers were informal, and tasks and functions were mainly performed by a single person. In this regard, ISL has introduced a daily Japanese-style morning meeting for reporting work progress, planning of the schedule, seeking assistance from colleagues with relevant experience, and presenting a topic by members on a rotation basis with assessment. Besides, ISL launches a program, Quality in Action (QIA), which based on facts and data and empowered its staff to respond quickly to customer needs. * All suitable candidates have had at least 2 interviews to judge their competence in interpersonal skills, quality awareness, and so on forth. In addition, TS and the 3D development departments have a work rotation scheme to ensure that everyone receives a mix of job functions. * ISL provides a company colloquium with attendance of all staff on every Friday morning for brainstorming, team building and training of theories, concepts and tools in quality management. Departmental meeting is another place where customer and operational issues can be resolved. Group sessions are also organized for sharing experiences and new ideas. * ISL sends staff to external training courses and provides an annual HK$6,000 education allowance to each employee for job-related external training courses. * ISL has put a system in place to maintain a high level of staff morale. The system consists of communicating changes with feedback, making use the companys supportive organizational structure, coordinating with top managements direction, and providing counseling and mediation. ISL also has a Social Welfare Committee responsible for organization of key annual events. Furthermore, the company put a smoke-free working environment policy in force. * Three front line departments have its own incentive scheme. Employees have an annual appraisal to determine their pay. Special awards would be given to those who have exceptional performance. ? ISL not places much attention on providing assessment methods or measures, like upward appraisal, to determine employees well-being and satisfaction. The company shall also consider formulating a system to ensure safety and health of employees at work. 6) Process Management : * ISL emphasizes the quality of its development process. All software projects are headed by senior software staff and developed in accordance with a software engineering cycle. Moreover, ISL follows the best practice guidelines in the industry by allocating sufficient time and effort for System Analysis and Final Testing stages. To meet customers special needs, ISD also offers a tailor-made software service and develops User Manuals, Technical Manuals, Implementation Guide, and Training Notes Exercises, and provides Customer Training Programme and Implementation Consultancy Services. * To promulgate continuous improvement, ISL regularly upgrades its products and services based on the feedback from listening to customers, getting in touch with the marketplace, and valuing input from staff. * ISL acts as a value-added reseller by organizing marketing and education event, meeting with vendors, and dealing of hardware purchases. 7) Business Results : * ISL has established a series of services and indicators to focus on customers; Firstly, hotline support logging system has been introduced to gauge the performance of technical hotline support. Secondly, ISL offers a one-day training programme to its customers. Trainees request to evaluate and give feedback for the effectiveness of programme. Thirdly, ISL measures the percentage of purchasing maintenance service and maintenance income to reflect the satisfaction of customers. Finally, ISL conducts full-scale customer satisfaction survey to assess the strengths and weakness of its operation. * ISL tracks its annual sales, profitability, amount of repeat sales and number of installation sites to measure the results of company and quality and customer satisfactions of customers. * ISL measures punctuality, absenteeism, staff turnover rate to evaluate staff morale and work attitude. All these indicators move positively since its inception. ? Although ISL has successfully boosted its sales revenue by 50% annually from 87 to 94 with exception of 93, the net profit margin does not grow as much as the sales revenue. It also noticed that the percentage of increment of the sales revenue has been declined from 95 to 97, as compared with the annual growth from 87 to 94. Q. 5: With the limitation of resources available to ISL, we are of a view that ISL should concrete their efforts to target on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in both Hong Kong and southern China. ISL should modify its existing products to suit the special needs of the largest manufacturing sectors in Hong Kong and southern China. (i.e.: Toys, Garment, and Electronic Industries.) 1) Products : Looking ahead, the following products should be provided by ISL to its client. As there is a growing trend for user-friendly software, a new software system with Window/Novell/Web-based application will become a potential product of ISL. In addition, with the growing connection between Mainland China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, industrial undertakings headquartered in Hong Kong and with manufacturing plants scattered in Mainland China are on the increase. Coupled with this growth, there is an increasing need for such undertaking having an integrated computer system. Development of an effective communication system that facilitates the connection and communication between offices at different locations will be a potential product for ISL. Furthermore, ISL should explore the feasibility of developing an ERP and Global supply chain management software in collaboration with QAD. As QAD has experience in developing such product, it may reduce the product development time and help ISL stay in the forefront and keep in pace with the logistics business proposed in Hong Kong. 2) Services : On top of its current services, ISL should provide free software to academic institutions for education and promotion purposes. ISL may also provide free-trial software with limited effective date and authority to potential customers and existing customers for evaluation and promotion purposes. Besides that, ISL may regularly organize free training courses to their potential users or customers. Q. 6: As more and more aggressive competitors (e.g. SAP, MPIX, Minx Symix) have launched their businesses in Hong Kong and China, ISL should consider the following actions to further improve their quality or services to its customers. Firstly, it should pursue China market by more empowerment and participating in joint venture or co-operation programmes with China firms. It helps ISL increase/improve its cash flow, distribution channel and technology. Secondly, it should further improve their software systems in order to maintain their market position. It is noteworthy that some features / functions of ISLs software systems are far from satisfactory as compared with similar products offered by their competitors. The limited power of Envision is a good illustration of this. Thirdly, by means of joint venture, ISL should exchange their technical skill with foreign companies. It also allows ISL to exchange its stock shares with various companies for improving cash flow within the company. Fourthly, in addition to its cooperation programmes with the City University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Productivity Council, ISL shall extend it to various Universities in China. As these institutions have first-hand and in-depth understanding of the needs in China, such cooperation programmes not only help ISL develop its products but also can be their executive arms to disturb new software systems to China. Finally, ISL should set up a website to introduce their company background and new products to all visitors (potential customers) and existing customers. It can also build up FAQ (Frequently asked Questions) to help existing customers to solve common problems. Moreover, as a means of advertising, it can let more people to recognize ISL throughout the world.

Pfizer company Analysis Essay Example for Free

Pfizer company Analysis Essay Introduction Pfizer is a pharmaceutical company that is here to help us have a better health. It was founded in (1849) by two cousins Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart. It was made to discover and developing new ways to prevent and treat disease and also to improve health in the world. The company focuses on meeting the world help needs. Pfizer specializes in many medicines. They have medicines to help all health needs in the world. Throughout this report, I will be discussing all different kinds of medicines this company prescribes, the health and wellness of this company, the leadership and structure and many more important key points about Pfizer. I will also discuss the time line of this company on when events took place. Exploring the History of Pfizer Two cousins, Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart from Germany open a small company with some money that was borrowed from Charles Pfizer father in (1849). Their first company was open in Brooklyn, New York in a section of Williamsburg. This small red brick building serves as everything, the office, warehouse, laboratory and the factory. Charles Pfizer was a chemist and Erhart was a confectioner and together they made their first product which was a palatable form of santonin. This product was an antiparasitic used to treat intestinal worms. The santonin was blend with almond-toffee flavoring and shape into a candy cone. It was a wonderful success and the company launch. (Pfizer 2009) In 1862, Pfizer launched its first domestic production of tartaric acid and cream of tartar. â€Å"Tartaric acid was used as a laxative and a skin coolant during the Civil War. The cream of tartar was a diuretic and a cleaning agent and also a vital drug to help meet the needs of the Union Army. Among these are iodine, morpahine, cholorform, camphor, and maercurials which are also used in the emerging field of photography.† (Pfizer 2009) By the (1968), the company doubles its side. It have increase it product line and also add 150 new employees. With the company growth, they buy a new building in Manhattan and moves it headquarters there. In (1880), the company started imported concentrates of lemon and lime which Pfizer begins manufacturing citric acid. They became the top producer of citric acid. Once the new drinks gain popularity; like Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper and Pepsi-Cola, the demand for citric acid climbs the charts.  (Pfizer 2009) As the company double over the year, Pfizer opens an offices and warehouse in Chicago, Illinois, the first location outside the city limit of New York in (1882). On December 27, 1891, Charles Erhart dies and leaves a partnership worth over $250,000 to his son William. But in an agreement among Pfizer and Erhart, Pfizer could buy Erhart’s share at half inventory value. Pfizer became consolidating ownership of the company. (Pfizer 2009) â€Å"Pfizer files an official certificate of incorporation in the state of New Jersey, with authorized capital of $2 million divided into 20,000 shares of $100 each. Pfizer would remain a privately held company until June 22, 1942, when 240, 000 shares of new common stock were offered to the public. Charles Pfizer appointed his youngest son President at a special board meeting. Emile serves as President from (1906) to (1941) and briefly as Chairman in (1941). He was the last member of the family to be an activity member of the company. Charles Pfizer dies at the age of 82 while vacationing at his Newport, Rhode Island estate in 1906. The company has exceeded its sales to 3 million dollars by this time of Pfizer death. Once Pfizer dead, the board of director meets and name John Anderson as chairman of the company. Anderson first started working at Pfizer Inc as an office boy in (1873) and remained chairman until (1929) when he stepped down. (Pfizer 2009) A fermentation-free method of ascorbic acid was developed which was vitamin C. Pfizer was one of the biggest producers of vitamin C. Next came vitamin B-2, or riboflavin, and eventually develops a vitamin mix that includes riboflavin, thiamin, niacin, and iron. Pfizer had a miracle drug called penicillin. This drug was use for soldiers in the war. Pfizer receive an award on April 17, 1943 from the Army for it company’s contribution to the war. (Pfizer 2009) By the 1951, Pfizer have expanded its company in Belgium, Vrazil, Canada, Cuba, England, Mexico, Panama, and Puerto Rico. In (1952), Pfizer introduce an Agricultural Division of the company to offer anim al health problems in Terre Haute, Indiana. Pfizer also open another plant in England in (1955). This plant was a fermentation plant for research and development operations in Great Britain. The company was doing so well, they open another Pfizer pharmaceutical plant in Mexico, Italy, and Turkey. The company workers increase from 4,300 to over 7,000 workers in just one year. (Pfizer 2009) (In 1967), the company introduced its first one a day antibiotic called  Vibramycin (dozycycline hyclate). As the year over taken, Pfizer had a drug called Feldence that became one of the largest-selling prescription anti-inflammatory medications in the world. From 1984-1989, Pfizer had introduce four new drugs. The first drug was Glucotrol which is for diabetes. The next drug was Unasyn (ampicillin sulbasctam). It was an injectable antibiotic. They produced a medication for angina and hypertension which was Procardia XL that is a medication that you take once-a-day. (Pfizer 2009) In June (2001), Hank Mckinnell announces that Pfizer to become the world’s most valued company to patients, customers and the communities we live in everyday. He announced a commitment to fund the building of a regional treatment and training center on the campus of Makerere University in Kampala as part of the Academic Alliance for AIDS Care. As the years passed by, Pfizer announces the launch of a three-year initiative to provide grants to support training and capacity building for HIV/AIDS in developing countries in (2002). (Pfizer 2009) In 2003 research and development received over $7.1 billion of investment from Pfizer. They start on a new medication to treat migraines called Relpax. The US Food and Drug Administration approved the first treatment drug called Lyrica to treat neuropathic pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy in two forms. This drug also helps treat adults with epilepsy with partial onset seizures. On October 15, 2009, Pfizer wanted to help the lives of the patients and consumers by creating a company with on training products and therapies. (Pfizer 2009) Pfizer Pfizer have three different section of within their company. Pfizer is a incorporation which is a public company that was established in 1849. It is there to discover, develops, manufactures and market human and animal pharmaceuticals drugs. The Pfizer Inc. Corporate Giving Program is a complement of its foundation. Its corporate makes charitable contributions to nonprofit organizations directly. But last not least, The Pfizer foundation supports programs designed to promote access to quality health care and support the involvement of Pfizer community colleagues. (National Directory of Corporate Giving) The foundation have special emphasis in four strategies. The first strategy is to improve health care for people in need. The second strategy is to teach individuals about health care and a  way to prevent things from happening to health care workers and individuals as a whole. Third strategy is to increasing the faculty of health organizations to provide care to people in need. But last, to measure the impact by serving partnership with experts to be able to share the best practice offer. (National Directory of Corporate Giving) Pfizer leadership and Structure This company is made up of the best senior level executive personnel and the best decision-making board member there is offer. This board was brought together to focus on the major decisions of the company. Pfizer had several kinds of health care businesses. Pfizer had businesses such as Capsugel, Oncoogy, Nutrition, and Animal Health. Each company was run by a top executive who had very good knowledge of the company and products. (Pfizer 2009) The Board of Directors is elected annually by shareholders. They are the decision-making body of the company with the help of the shareholders. The Board selects the senior management team, which is charged with the conduct of the Company’s business. The board currently has 16 directors. (Pfizer 2009) Corporate Governance Pfizer was the first company to establish a corporate governance department. Pfizer understand to be trusted by public, they must have a good corporate governance and transparency. Pfizer stated â€Å"In order to create and sustain value for our stakeholders, and for society as a whole, we must first practice responsible business principles.† â€Å"And, we must take into account our stakeholders’ interests and be held accountable to them.† As reading the quote above from Pfizer Company, it clearly states that public opinion matter the most to them. The company want to make sure everyone have some kind of involves with their business. (Pfizer 2009) Public Policy Pfizer has a public policy select in its company. That’s a way the company communicate to people who have a part in their company. The public will be able to have discussing about the company and its product. The public policy is made so that the public can response to item to help improve the company to have better product and also to introduce new product into the company. (Pfizer 2009) Phrases of Development Pfizer Company has four different phrases of clinical development which new drugs are developed through a series of trails. Phrase 1, the company have healthy individual to volunteer for an experiential medicine which is called investigational new drug. This medicine is design to cure a disease which the volunteer currently have. A low dose of this medication is administered to the individual with highly supervision. The volunteer is watch very closed to record it responds to the medication to measure the doses that is best for that individual. (Pfizer 2009) In the second phrase, the drug is watched much closer to see what method is best for the individual. The method can be ever an oral or injection method. These patients for this stage are highly recommended by doctors or is a patient that has the disease that the drug is believed to treat. Phrase 3 is basically checking the results of the experiment to make sure the drug is working properly. The last phrase gather all the result form the trail period to make sure everything when as occurring as plan. They gather all the information on the drug about any risk that could occur while testing this drug on individuals. (Pfizer 2009) Programs Pfizer have many grants that they give out to university, foundation and other organizations. Pfizer also have many programs within it company. I will list and discuss some of the programs:  ConnectHIV: The foundation supports programs designed to serve communicates that are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS through grants to 20 mid-sized AIDS service organizations in the 10 states of the US with the highest number of new AIDS cases. The program is designed to prevent new infections to high-risk populations and delay disease progression for those already infected by supporting ASOs that take a comprehensive approach to presentation, access to care, and treatment. (National Directory of Corporate Giving) Science in Schools: The foundation supports programs designed to improve education in communities around the world. Special emphasis is directed toward programs designed to build fully-equipped science labs and math classrooms to train local science teachers and develop initiatives to  encourage corporations and individuals to partner with local schools. It also helps teachers to study science in order to bring innovative knowledge and technology into the classroom. (National Directory of Corporate Giving) Volunteer Programs (PVP): The foundation awards grants up to $1,500 to performing arts groups, museums, agencies serving the elderly, schools, libraries, hospitals, and community health organizations which employees and retirees of Pfizer volunteer. (National Directory of Corporate Giving) Matching Gift: The foundation matches contributions made by employees and retirees of Pfizer to nonprofits organizations on a one for one basis. (National Directory of Corporate Giving)  Global Health Partnerships: Advancing Caner and Tobacco Control: The foundation support the partnership of public health in the areas of tobacco independence and oncology. It important is directed toward programs with impact serving as global models in improving cancer-related health outcomes, supporting cancer control and encouraging tobacco independence. Pfizer Animal Health Pfizer is one of the world leaders in Veterinary-prescription medicines. Pfizer supports the veterinarians and animal food producer in making sure food is healthy for animals. Making sure the food is healthy for the animal ensures they will live a longer live. Pfizer also help support the veterinary to prevent animal illness. Articles The next half of my research will be discussing articles that I have researched on about Pfizer found in different magazines. I will be at the best of my knowledge summary the article to assure your understanding. I will also attached copies of the article at the end of the paper. â€Å"Will Pfizer’s giveaway drugs polish its public image?† The first article I will summarize is â€Å"Will Pfizer’s giveaway drugs polish its public image? This article was much unexpected. Pfizer decided to have a giveaway on drugs to reconstruct their company in August 2009. They made this service available for people who have lost their jobs. Pfizer have helped people out before financial but not a giveaway drugs day. Other pharmaceutical  industry wants to do the same thing to help other out also. Pfizer believer this was a good way of letting the public now that curing the disease is the main thing that is important to their company. I believe this article surprise a lot of people all over the world. It was a good thing that Pfizer decide to giveaway drugs to help the people in needed. I think all pharmaceutical company should at least try this once a year to improve their rating of their company. If other company participates in these events, their sells will increase over time. It’s also important that other people are concern about your health as well as yourself. This giveaway made a lot of people happy expressly the one that could afford to buy these drugs on their own.

Globalizations Impact on Poverty

Globalizations Impact on Poverty Globalization is the process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a global network of political ideas through communication, transportation, and trade. The term is most closely associated with the term economic globalization: the integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign direct investment, capital flows, migration, the spread of technology, and military presence. It can also be reffered to a process of increasing the connectivity and interdependence of the worlds markets and businesses. This process has speeded up dramatically in the last two decades as technological advancement make it easier for people to travel, communicate, and do business internationally. Understanding the current status of globalisation is necessary for setting course for future. For all nations to reap the full benefits of globalisation it is essential to create a level playing field. On the other hand, Poverty is the lack of basic human needs, such as clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter, because of the inability to afford them. Poverty is additionally seen as a state of mind and a lifestyle- more than just a lack of materials. It is a state of deprivation and insecurity. Poverty can also mean deprivation in the well-being of an individual and comprises many dimensions. It includes but not limited to low incomes and the inability to acquire the basic goods and services necessary for survival with dignity. livelihoods; hunger and malnutrition; ill health; limited or lack of access to education and other basic services inadequate housing; unsafe environments and social discrimination and exclusion. There are two types of poverty namely; Absolute and relative poverty. Absolute poverty quantifies the number of people in a certain population below a fixed real poverty threshold .it is a level of poverty as defined in terms of the minimal requirements an individual needs to afford minimal standards of basic needs like food, clothing, health care and shelter. Relative poverty is the condition of having fewer resources or less income than others within a society or country, or compared to worldwide averages. Impacts of globalization on poverty in less developed countries According to chandrasekaran Balakrishan( 2004), Globalisation is a buzzword that is seen to have dominated the world since the 1990s of the last century with the end of the cold war and the break-up of the former Soviet Union and the global trend towards the rolling ball. The frontiers of the state with increased reliance on the market economy and renewed faith in the private capital and resources, a process of structural adjustment spurred by the studies and influences of the World Bank and other International organisations have started in many of the developing and less developed countries. Globalization has therefore depicted both positive and negative results; as the less developed countries economies are greatly influenced by the developed nations Globalisation and Poverty: Globalisation in the form of increased integration through trade and investment is an important reason why much progress has been made in reducing poverty and global inequality over recent decades. But it is not the sole reason for the unrecognised progress. Good national polices , sound institutions and domestic political stability also matter. Despite this progress, poverty remains one of the most serious international challenges we face up to 1.2 billion of the less developed countries, 4.8 billion people still live in extreme poverty. But the proportion of the world population living in poverty has been steadily declining and since 1980 the absolute number of poor people has stopped rising and appears to have fallen in recent years despite strong population growth in less developed countries. If the proportion living in poverty had not fallen since 1987 alone a further 21.5million people would be living in extreme poverty today. Globalization generally reduces poverty because more integrated economies tend to grow faster and this growth is usually widely diffused. As low-income countries break into global markets for manufactures and services, poor people can move from the vulnerability of grinding rural poverty to better jobs, often in towns or cities. In addition to this structural relocation, integration raises productivity job by job. Workers with the same skillsbe they farmers, factory workers, or pharmacistsare less productive and earn less in developing economies than in advanced ones. Integration reduces these gaps. Rich countries maintain significant barriers against the products of poor countries, inhibiting this poverty-reducing integration. (World Bank Policy Research Report).   Ãƒâ€šÃ‚  One possible solution for such a crisis remains the closer integration of countries through trade. Brought about by enormous decreases in transportation and communication costs as well as the break down of many artificial barriers of trade, globalization of industry provides developing countries with the resources and capital to aide economic problems. By increasing the integration of national economies into expanding international markets (Todaro 796), less developed countries are provided the opportunity to advance through the outside purchase of technology and industry as well as the trade that follows. Globalization also produces winners and losers, both between countries and within them. Between countries, globalization is now mostly reducing inequality. About 3 billion people live in new globalizing developing countries. During the 1990s this group grew at 5 percent per capita compared to 2 percent for the rich countries. The number of extreme poor (living on less than $1 per day) in the new globalizers declined by 120 million between 1993 and 1998. However, many poor countrieswith about 2 billion peoplehave been left out of the process of globalization. Many are becoming marginal to the world economy, often with declining incomes and rising poverty. Clearly, for this massive group of people, globalization is not working. Some of these countries have been handicapped by unfavorable geography, such as being landlocked and prone to disease. Others have been handicapped by weak policies, institutions, and governance; yet others by civil war. (Chandrasekaran Balakrishan(2004). The positive aspect of globalization Globalization has created the concept of outsourcing. Work such as software development, customer support, marketing, accounting and insurance is outsourced to less developed countries like Tanzania. So the company that outsourced the work enjoys the benefit of lower costs because the wages in less developed countries is far lower than that of developed countries. The workers in the developing countries get employment. Developing countries get access to the latest technology( Prabhakar P illai). Increased competition forces companies to lower prices and in the long run benefits the end consumers in the third world countries. An example is the telecommunication industry, where many many international firms have ventured in the local market and as a result there has been increased competition thus lowering of calling rates. Increased media coverage draws the attention of the world to human right violations. This leads to improvement in human rights. For instance civil wars in Sudan, DRC Congo and many other less developed countries has led to the drawing of humanitarian support from world bodies like the UN agencies who provide basic needs and security during such periods. In addition, Globalisation has brought in new opportunities to less developed countries. Greater access to developed country markets and technology transfer hold out promise to improved productivity and higher living standard. The improved standards of living means improved wellbeing of the population. in the less developed countries. The negative effects of globalization Less developed countries have outsourced manufacturing and white collar jobs. That means less jobs for their people. This has happened because manufacturing work is outsourced to developing nations like China where the cost of manufacturing goods and wages are lower. This in turn has led to increased poverty in this countries due to limited job opportunities .Programmers, editors, scientists , accountants and other professionals have lost their jobs due to outsourcing to cheaper locations like india. Globalization has led to exploitation of human labor. Prisoners and child workers are used to work in inhumane conditions. Safety standards are ignored to produce cheap goods. This has led to working in risky environments which endangers their health thus they use more of their little income on health . so instead of acquiring other basic needs they instead channel all the resources on acquiring health care thus increased poverty. The competition in the job market due to globalization has led to Job insecurity. Earlier people had stable, permanent jobs. Now people live in constant dread of losing their jobs to competition. Increased job competition has led to reduction in wages and consequently lower standards of living. Due to globalization, people work from internet in various locations hence reducing the opportunity to enable others work. Globalization has led to the exploitation of less developed countries . this is because, Companies have set up industries causing pollution in countries with poor regulation of pollution. This has led to air, water and soil pollution. Thus poor health among the inhabitants of such countries. This reduces the productivity of the people and thus poverty sets in. Another negative aspect of globalisation is that a great majority of less developed countries remain removed from the process. Till the nineties the process of globalisation of less developed economies was constrained by the barriers to trade and investment, liberalisation, investment and financial flows initiated in the nineties have progressively lowered the barriers to competition and hastened the pace of globalisation countries. Conclusion Though globalization does not on average increase inequality within countries, it disguises the reality that there will be specific winners and losers in each society. Good social protection policies can be a key factor in helping people prosper in this more dynamic environment. Therefore, for the Less developed countries to have a stake in the global economy, they have to concentrate on five important areas to achieve their goals. The areas like technological entrepreneurship, new business openings for small and medium enterprises, importance of quality management, new prospects in rural areas and privatisation of financial institutions. The manufacturing of technology and management of technology are two different significant areas in the country.

Analysis of the Cadbury Business Essay examples -- Business and Manage

Analysis of the Cadbury Business The person, who created the Cadbury business, is John Cadbury in 1824. The business started as a shop in a fashionable place in Birmingham. It sold things such as tea and coffee, mustard and a new sideline - cocoa and drinking chocolate, which John Cadbury prepared himself using a mortar and pestle. In 1847 the Cadbury business became a partnership. This is because John Cadbury took his brother, which also made it a family business. The business was now known as The Cadbury Brothers. A factory in Birmingham was rented, to produce their products. In 1854 the company received its first Royal Warrant as 'manufacturers of cocoa and chocolate to Queen Victoria'. In 1856 John Cadbury's son Richard joined the company, followed in 1861 Richard and George became the second Cadbury brothers to run the business when their father retired due to failing health. The first Cadbury factory was built in the country; it was built in the green fields of Kings Norton, outside the city of Birmingham, between 1899. This place was named "Bournville", which was named by George Cadbury where he built the factory. This took place because George Cadbury had an image, with a saying, "If the country is a good place to live in, why not work in it?" So he took his workers to live and work in (the country) Bournville. Further on the years Cadbury invited new recipes, so new chocolate were been created, for instance in 1915 Cadbury's Milk Tray, in 1920, Cadbury's Flake, in 1938 Roses were created. In 1969 Cadbury and Schweppes that is a beverage business merged together as a business. This business grew worldwide over centuries, it manufactured, marketed and distributed products in over 2... ...s shortcomings - Analysing process problems - Making a process change - Measuring the effects of the process change - Communicating both ways between supervisor and user TQM Compared to ISO 9001 ISO 9000 is a Quality System Management Standard. TQM is a philosophy of perpetual improvement. The ISO Quality Standard sets in place a system to deploy policy and verifiable objectives. An ISO implementation is a basis for a Total Quality Management implementation. Where there is an ISO system, about 75 percent of the steps are in place for TQM. The requirements for TQM can be considered ISO plus. Another aspect relating to the ISO Standard is that the proposed changes for the next revision (1999) will contain customer satisfaction and measurement requirements. In short, implementing TQM is being proactive concerning quality rather than reactive. Analysis of the Cadbury Business Essay examples -- Business and Manage Analysis of the Cadbury Business The person, who created the Cadbury business, is John Cadbury in 1824. The business started as a shop in a fashionable place in Birmingham. It sold things such as tea and coffee, mustard and a new sideline - cocoa and drinking chocolate, which John Cadbury prepared himself using a mortar and pestle. In 1847 the Cadbury business became a partnership. This is because John Cadbury took his brother, which also made it a family business. The business was now known as The Cadbury Brothers. A factory in Birmingham was rented, to produce their products. In 1854 the company received its first Royal Warrant as 'manufacturers of cocoa and chocolate to Queen Victoria'. In 1856 John Cadbury's son Richard joined the company, followed in 1861 Richard and George became the second Cadbury brothers to run the business when their father retired due to failing health. The first Cadbury factory was built in the country; it was built in the green fields of Kings Norton, outside the city of Birmingham, between 1899. This place was named "Bournville", which was named by George Cadbury where he built the factory. This took place because George Cadbury had an image, with a saying, "If the country is a good place to live in, why not work in it?" So he took his workers to live and work in (the country) Bournville. Further on the years Cadbury invited new recipes, so new chocolate were been created, for instance in 1915 Cadbury's Milk Tray, in 1920, Cadbury's Flake, in 1938 Roses were created. In 1969 Cadbury and Schweppes that is a beverage business merged together as a business. This business grew worldwide over centuries, it manufactured, marketed and distributed products in over 2... ...s shortcomings - Analysing process problems - Making a process change - Measuring the effects of the process change - Communicating both ways between supervisor and user TQM Compared to ISO 9001 ISO 9000 is a Quality System Management Standard. TQM is a philosophy of perpetual improvement. The ISO Quality Standard sets in place a system to deploy policy and verifiable objectives. An ISO implementation is a basis for a Total Quality Management implementation. Where there is an ISO system, about 75 percent of the steps are in place for TQM. The requirements for TQM can be considered ISO plus. Another aspect relating to the ISO Standard is that the proposed changes for the next revision (1999) will contain customer satisfaction and measurement requirements. In short, implementing TQM is being proactive concerning quality rather than reactive.

Listeria monocytogenes Essay -- Essays Papers

Listeria monocytogenes Introduction Listeria monocytogenes, a motile, gram-positive rod, is an opportunistic food-borne pathogen capable of causing listeriosis in humans. Listeriosis includes manifestations of septicemia, meningitis, pneumonia, and encephalitis. L. monocytogenes is also implicated in miscarriages, stillbirth, and premature birth for pregnant women. L. monocytogenes is a tough bacterium resistant to freezing, drying, and heat; most strains have been shown to be pathogenic. It is hypothesized that 1-10% of humans are intestinal carriers of L. monocytogenes. Over 37 mammalian species, including wild and domestic animals, are capable of L. monocytogenes infection and transmission. Extensive environmental reservoirs for L. monocytogenes include soil, water, vegetation, sewage, silage, and the intestinal tract of various animals. Encounter: L. monocytogenes is transmitted by ingestion of contaminated food or water. The bacterium is associated with raw milk, cheeses, (particularly soft varieties) ice cream, raw vegetables, fermented raw-meat sausages, raw and cooked poultry, raw meats, and raw and smoked fish. It is capable of growing at temperatures as low as 3Â °C allowing multiplication in refrigerated foods, making L. monocytogenes infection particularly hard to avoid. The infective dose has not been determined, but is believed to vary with the susceptibility of the individual. It may be less than 1000 bacterium in the immuno-compromised individual. Entry, Multiplication, and Spread: L. monocytogenes initially gains access to the body through the gastrointestinal tract but is capable of infecting the blood through monocytes, macrophages and polymorphonuclear leukocytes. The bacterium is also capable of infe... ...s system involvement, the elderly and in persons with other serious medical problems. Worldwide: Approximately 2,500 cases of listeriosis are reported every year in the United States. This includes 500 preventable deaths. L. monocytogenes outbreaks are still occurring worldwide. Recently, in 2002 contaminated turkey deli meat caused a US outbreak along the east coast and contaminated cheese caused an outbreak in British Columbia. Outbreaks over the past twenty years have involved contaminated chocolate milk, shrimp, lunchmeats, and cheese. A California outbreak in 1985 was due to contaminated Mexican-style cheese. This outbreak led to numerous stillbirths resulting in the monitoring of cheeses by the FDA. Fortunately, according to a study done by The US Department of Health and Human Services, infections with L. monocytogenes have decreased 35 % from 1996 to 2002.