The Global Eradication of Polio Essays - 1763 Words

The Global Eradication of Polio The possibility of the eradication of polio worldwide is an imminent and exciting prospect as the goal year quickly approaches. In 1988, the World Health Assembly, which governs the World Health Organization, set the goal of eliminating polio from the world by the year 2010. Many organizations have joined the effort along with the World Health Organization: the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF, Rotary International, Global Health Network, the US Agency for International Development, National Immunization Day, and the International Broadcasting Bureau. Together, these worldwide polio partners have implemented a strategy to completely rid the world of this disease. It is a difficult†¦show more content†¦The poliovirus enters the body through the mouth, and multiplies in the throat and intestines. It may remain unmanifested for anywhere from four to thirty-five days. Once the virus is in the intestines it has the potential to spread throughout the body by way o f the bloodstream, and infiltrate into the central nervous system. In the central nervous system, the virus can spread out along the nerve fibers and begin to destroy the nerve cells, or motor neurons, resulting in limpness in the arms and legs. This is known as acute flaccid paralysis and this symptom of polio (also a symptom of several other diseases) is used to uncover new cases which may have been misdiagnosed or not diagnosed at all (WHO 1999). This is a necessary procedure in that it helps to cover all the bases in the pursuit of eradicating poliovirus from the earth. It is important to note that paralysis does not occur in all polio cases. Acute poliomyelitis manifests itself as a two-phased disease in a small proportion of its victims. The first phase is minor, a non-specific febrile illness (Prevots 1999). All patients with polio experience this phase, and only a small percentage develops the second phase, aseptic meningitis and/or paralytic disease (Prevots 1999). The aseptic meningitis is inflammation, caused by the virus, of the meninges of theShow MoreRelatedThe Global Polio Eradication Campaign1808 Words   |  8 Pagesthe global polio eradication campaign provides an in depth analysis of the course of the project and the difficulties of executing the World Health Organization’s (WHO) mandates. Riding from the success of smallpox eradication, campaign leaders were very optimistic and enthusiastic about worldwide polio eradication. However, in Pakistan the projects stagnated despite more foreign investments, more campaigns and tenac ity of public health officials to achieve the impossible goal of eradication. ItRead MoreA World Without Polio : A Benefit Cost Analysis Critique1536 Words   |  7 PagesA World without Polio: A Benefit Cost Analysis Critique Introduction A benefit cost analysis must be performed before the start of any public health campaign and the eradication of global poliomyelitis is no exception. This paper will examine the first benefit cost analysis of the Global Poliomyelitis Eradication Initiative, published in 1996 . It will also explore the broader question of the economic value of eradication. Background Context The world is on the verge of a remarkable achievementRead MoreWhat Is Poliomyelitis?1564 Words   |  6 PagesWHAT IS POLIO? Poliomyelitis or polio, is highly contagious viral infection that can lead to abnormal conditions such as paralysis, breathing problems, or even lead to death. The poliomyelitis is from the word â€Å"grey†, myelos referencing to the â€Å"matter† of the spinal cord, -itis meaning inflammation. So it means the inflammation of the grey matter of the spinal cord. Poliomyelitis can be categorize as either asymptomatic or symptomatic. AboutRead MoreViral Infectious DiseasesPolio or Poliomyelitis1368 Words   |  5 Pagesfrom ancient Greek were polio means grey and myelos meaning marrow referring to grey matter of spinal cord. Ancient paintings recovered in Egypt depicits an Egyptian stele though to represent a polio victim from the 18th dynasty which was from 1403 to 1365 BC. The disease had different names in early medical communities such as infantile spinal paralysis, paralysis of the morning, regressive paralysis and myelitis of the anterior horns The first clinical description of polio was given in 1789 by aRead MorePoliomyelitis in Nigeria1712 Words   |  7 Pages Introduction For Nigeria, the polio virus is still around in the country because of purely religious reasons. A section of the country, precisely the northern axis spurned a theory that the polio vaccine was fertility control tool of the west. Nothing could be further from the truth! But for intervention of senior clerics and prominent politicians from the area, there would have a standstill in the eradication efforts. To worsen matters, damage had been done by the time of the interventionRead MoreTaking a Look at Poliomyelitis1689 Words   |  7 Pages A highly infectious disease caused by virus is â€Å"POLIO† which can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours due to invasion of nervous tissue. The polio virus consists of an RNA genome enclosed in a protein shell known as capsid. There are three serotypes of wild polio virus; type 1, type 2, and type 3 each of them with their different capsid protein. Type 1 and 3 are highly infectious but 1 is the most pervasive strain of polio and 3 are at low levels. In the 20th century itRead MoreEffects of the Poliovirus: Poliomyelitis1504 Words   |  6 Pagesover 90% asymptomatic. ïÆ'Ëœ The challenges eradicating polio range from socio-cultural factors to political and economical factors. There are mainly three endemic areas remaining namely: Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan. ïÆ'Ëœ The solution to the challenges would vary from countries and communities with specific issues. But the direct involvement of the population is crucial making the battle more active than passive with less publicity. INTRODUCTION: Polio had caused 350000 cases of infection in 1988 in overRead MoreEmergence And Eradication Of Polio1623 Words   |  7 Pages Emergence and Eradication of Polio Viren Patel Valparaiso University I have neither given or received, nor have I tolerated others use of unauthorized aid. Viren Patel Introduction The poliomyelitis word is derived from the Greek. It is the effect of poliomyelitis virus on the spinal cord which leads to paralysis. This virus enters from the person mouth and multiplication occursRead MoreTaking a Look at Polio1371 Words   |  6 PagesINTRODUCTION Polio is caused by a virus and it used to be a common cause of Encephalitis. Polio was once considered a middle class, because good hygiene could delay exposure of a person to the virus until late childhood, the adolescent years or adulthood, when infection would produce most severe symptoms. Infections in early childhood generally results in asymptomatic or very mild disease. In the great 1916 polio endemic in New York City, 9,000 cases of paralysis were reported and nearly all in childrenRead MoreNear Eradication of Polio1510 Words   |  6 Pages The eradication of polio was very close in the year 2012, however incidence levels has caused a seventy percent increase in new cases [1]. In this paper I will argue that Canadian individuals do have a moral obligation to support the effort of polio eradication using Singer’s moderate principle and John Stuart Mill’s ethical theory of Act utilitarianism. Polio is virus infection that occurs in the throat and intestines through environmental contaminations such as water by stool and feces [7]. The

Islam Peaceful or Corrupt Essay - 1315 Words

How many suicide bombings take place every day in the world? Keeping in mind the war on terrorism, as people have named it, which has been going on for more then a decade now, is still at the top of many countries’ agenda. This issue, however, is affiliated with the religion of Islam that was once viewed by many as a peaceful religion. Islamic fundamentalism is the term used to describe religious beliefs seen as counseling a return to the â€Å"fundamentals† of Islam: the Quran and the Sunnah. Even though people think it is a waste of time to deal with the problem, the issue of Islamic fundamentalism should be approached with a strategic plan because these fundamentalists are causing the world to think that Islam is a corrupt religion and†¦show more content†¦(Ojeda) The Quran is a very beautiful book in rich, unchanged, original, Arabic text that consists of everything a Muslim needs to know about Islam. In all reality, a pious Muslim would never speak of violence for no reason. A person who would speak of violence in the name of God is a person that has been taught to believe that. This is not what the Quran says. The Quran specifically states that violence is hated by God. (Ojeda) â€Å"Belief in the six articles of faith is required. Those are: 1) Belief in God. 2) Belief in the messengers and prophets of God. 3) Belief in the Revelations and the Quran (The Islamic Holy Book). 4) Belief in angels. 5) Belief in the Day of Judgment. 6) Belief in the ultimate power of God or God’s decree† (Ojeda). Yet, it is important to recognize that not all Muslims are fundamentalists, and not all fundamentalists are terrorists. Terrorist attacks add, reasonably, to the western thoughts that all Muslims are anti-American fundamentalists. By it’s very nature, fundamentalism carries the threat of terrorism or extremism, and either of those can easily turn into violence. Therefore, Islamic fundamentalists can easily put forth a terrorist threat to their enemy. Many middle easterners, as you would have thought, perceive America as an enemy. (Musk) The United States of America plays a bigShow MoreRelatedI Have A Dream By Martin Luther King876 Words   |  4 Pagesto that of white men. The system is unfair, but African Americans want to believe that it is not. Even though many civil rights acts have been passed in order to give African American citizens the equal right to white citizens, the system is still corrupt. America must act now to demolish racial injustice. African Americans wil l not rest until their efforts have changed segregation. In order to achieve this unification and equality for all of American citizens, the people should not degenerate theirRead MoreAutobiography Of Malcolm X1614 Words   |  7 PagesKaykay Zhu October 19, 2017 The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley is an account of Malcolm X’s evolving perspective on racial justice. Malcolm X was a prominent figure in the Nation of Islam who advocated for black nationalism and separatism. The man who became one of America’s most powerful voices for African Americans was deeply affected by the terrors of racism, which shaped his view of social justice and the condemnation of the white man. The way Malcolm X narrates his experiencesRead MoreThe Causes of Indian Independence in 1947 Essay540 Words   |  3 PagesThe Causes of Indian Independence in 1947 In 1947 India was declared an independent country from Britain, after years of peaceful and violent protests, pressure from all sides, and numerous promises. Not only this, but Pakistan was also formed by partitioning the country into two, providing a separate homeland for the Muslims of India. Although independence was greeting with relief from all, partition came with riots, millions of murders and a hatred between countriesRead MorePsci 140 Essay1016 Words   |  5 Pagesspecialization, lower cost, job opportunities Disadvantages? â€Å"Offshoring† of jobs, â€Å"Race to the bottom† The Asian Crisis (1997) 2. Policy diffusion Political integration The European Union The International Criminal Court (ICC) Advantages? Peaceful world (fewer wars) The diffusion of democratic ideas Disadvantages? Loss of sovereignty The â€Å"Democratic deficit†? 3. International tourism, Information technology, exchanges of ideas†¦ Advantages? Global multiculturalism (nationalïÆ'   global)Read MoreThe Effects of Islamaphobia1505 Words   |  6 PagesIslam is one of the fastest growing religions around the world. Some, however, find this frightening and have let this fear be the result of unjust acts. This is problematic because not only does it threaten the lives of 55 Million Americans but it disrespects them and disrespects the many Muslims who have contributed greatly to the United States. On the tragic date of September 11th 2001, a group of inhumane people carried out an attack on the World Trade Centre killing three-thousand innocent livesRead MoreThe Underground Economy in Afghanistan1040 Words   |  5 PagesNorth and West of Pakistan. According to the official CIA website, the total population of this war-torn country is 31,108,077 (2013). The country of Afghanistan is often in the eyes of the media, and has had some very tough times because of its corrupt reputation. It is a country with many terrorist groups, such as Al Qaeda and Taliban. This essay will explore the underground economy in Afghanistan, specifically, what is happening in the country concerning guns, drugs and terrorism, what some potentialRead MoreEssay on The Great Buddha: Nadeem Aslam1714 Words   |  7 Pagesface from another time.† (Aslam 22) Nadeem Aslam emphasised in an interview with â€Å"BookBits,† that a country cannot bury its past, thus The Great Buddha is not only a memory of the past, but a memory of a peaceful Afghanistan. The purpose of the Buddha is not to romanticise Buddhism or condemn Islam, but condemn war and act as a stark reminder of peace. Fascinatingly enough, Aslam creates another contrast with historical reference in his masterpiece. The book is punctuated quite frequently, with referencesRead MoreEssay The Taliban and Afghanistan1195 Words   |  5 Pagesand others favor Rabbani, Zahir Shah, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar or other opponents as rulers of Afghanistan. The Taliban claim to follow a pure, fundamentalist Islamic ideology, yet the oppression they perpetrate against women has no basis in Islam. Within Islam, women are allowed to earn and control their own money, and to participate in public life. The 55-member Organization of Islamic Conference has refused to recognize the Taliban as Afghanistans official government. The Muslim BrotherhoodRead MoreBuddhism : The Four Noble Truths859 Words   |  4 Pagesfor creating a strong, peaceful and healthy society. (OUR social Norms Buddhism article) In early life, Siddhartha Gautama found his way to being the awakening one through an enlighten experience. As a young child, he lost his mother after â€Å"taking his first breaths† into the world. â€Å"Shortly after, a soothsayer had prophesied that he would be great in either politics or religion, therefore his father went to great lengths to shield his son from anything that can corrupt his soul. After, SiddharthaRead MoreShould Democracy Be Exported?1628 Words   |  7 Pagesdemocratic development. For instance, Steven Fish made the claim that in many Muslim countries where Islam is the prominent religion, people are far less likely to be hospitable to democracy, and may even lead to authoritarianism (Fish). Fish cites the issue of male dominance and suppression of women as major markers of authoritarianism. For example, Fish looked at regions in the middle east where Islam is the religious majority. He found that the â€Å"sex ratio is 105/100 in both Jordan and Ira n; it is

Multinational Enterprise Structures the Economy Free Essays

A major player in the international political economy is the multinational corporation or multinational enterprise as these structures of economy are commonly referred to. These are business or firms that hold offices and/or major production facilities in two or more different countries. The multinational corporation therefore is any business whether private or public that extends its production facilities or embarks in huge investments in capital across national boundaries. We will write a custom essay sample on Multinational Enterprise Structures the Economy or any similar topic only for you Order Now Since the end of World War II, the dominate western countries of Europe and the United States have long been the main headquarters of these multinational corporations, while the lesser developed nations of the world have been the sites for these corporations subsidiary markets and production facilities. On the subject matter of these multinational corporations, there exist two preeminent sources for the political science student in international political economics. The first is Richard Caves, whose article â€Å"The Multinational Enterprise as an Economic Organization† explains the creation and existence of the multinational corporations as a facility to more easily transport capital across international borders. The other source Osvaldo Sunkel, in his article â€Å"Big Business and Dependencia: A Latin American View† believes the multinational corporations have been a major political, economic and social boundary to pure economic growth in Latin America and has put a strangle hold on their own attempts to enter the global market. Richard Caves† viewpoint is that multinational corporations act as a facilitator to the movement and trade of the hard to price assets of a multinational firm. Specifically in terms of business and trade, there are manufactured goods, which are easy to move across international boundaries essentially. Yet, within the market there are many circumstances where transactions are hard to impossible to complete due to the markets ability to establish a fair price on certain assets. The reason for this inability is not due to the nature of the economy mind you, it is that these assets are non-physical. Assets such as patents and copyrights, the new technologies that arise from them and managerial expertise are all assets that cross international boundaries. According to Caves, the multinational corporation is in existence to move these assets across international borders. The multinational corporation in this process takes on three different models according to Caves. The first is a multi-plant firm that produces the same goods in several geographically different locations. This is the static model of â€Å"horizontal multi-plant enterprise† as Caves refers to it. It is the most thoroughly basic kind of Multinational Corporation. The factories abroad are controlled under common management, and are run and operated in the most cost effective locations of production. In most cases of the horizontal multi-plant enterprise, the products or their effects are mobile between national markets. This horizontal enterprise will produce goods that may deprecate but will not have a short life span of productivity. The second model is the â€Å"vertically integrated multinational enterprise†; this is a corporation wherein the outputs of the corporation†s plants serve as inputs to another of the corporation†s plants. This is used in most cases to reduce the cost of production of certain goods. Semiconductors for example are made by the advanced technicians in highly industrialized countries, while the process of soldering the wires and boards of the conductors can be done in a lower-wage country. The third type of multinational firm is the â€Å"diversified company†, which is a company whose plants inputs and outputs are neither horizontally nor vertically related. The reason for the creation of this firm is the multinational corporations bid to increase the diversification of the corporation†s interests abroad. This is done to increase the viability of a company, whether it is to inflate stock prices or some other arbitrary goal of the corporation. This view is quite different than the view of Osvaldo Sunkel, in his article â€Å"Big Business and Dependencia: A Latin American View† Sunkel brings to light the idea of Dependencia: Which is the control of Latin American markets by United States and European multinational corporations. This control of Latin American industry for well over 200 years by the US and Europe has radically altered the socio-economic development of this region. And has added to the dispensation of their current markets since the 1930†³s, which has led to an economic stagnation for many Latin American countries. Sunkel brings to light several points that show how the multinational corporations, be them Horizontal or Vertical. How these corporations do not benefit the country that houses the subsidiary, moreover the corporations home country benefits many times over than the exploited country. Sunkel†s argument is very clear; the very infrastructure of the Latin American economy is based on a hierarchy, whereas the core nations of the world†s economy use their strong positions to exploit the weaker economies. Robert Gilpin refers to this as Structuralism; it is a major school of thought in international political economy. This theory of â€Å"Dependencia† causes many socio-political, and socio-economical problems in the Latin American countries. Sunkel states that when the more powerful United States placed increasingly manufacturing complexes in Latin America the local centers of production were either swallowed by the larger company or put out of business by the lower prices of giant conglomerate. This led to the eventual decrease in exporting that benefited the local market. Sunkel, makes this point very clear: that the trade between the core nations and Latin American never left exploitation not unlike the colonialism of 200 years ago. Whereas Europe used to subvert the local population and exploit the natural resources, the core nations now use the large corporations to do this instead. A bulk of Latin American trade has been replaced with this intra-firm/corporation transfer of products. It benefits the core nation even more, because not only does a bulk of the product or material go to the corporation†s home country, but also the majority of the profit follows the same line. This lack of real trade and a concentration of wealth in the core nations have made the Latin countries even more tied to the elite through huge loans and aid from the IMF and World Bank. Caves and Sunkel share very different mindsets, while Caves believes that the multinational corporation extends the scope of the world economy. Sunkel believes that it exploits the Latin American market, by reducing the capitol in the working class and middle class the corporations take capitol from the local economy that could be used to improve the social condition. How to cite Multinational Enterprise Structures the Economy, Essay examples

Rethinking Project Management Education †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Rethinking Project Management Education. Answer: Introduction This is a literature review on the practices of project management which explores a part of the current debates about the subject. It was conducted using an explorative and unstructured method of review which explored the project management process by studying different textbooks and articles on project management that offered different insights and perspectives on the discipline. The purpose of the review is to identify different perspectives that exist on the practice of project management. Over the past decades, new perspectives on project management have emerged thanks to the introduction of new tools, methods, and practices that move beyond the traditional Corporate Perfomance Management (CPM) thinking. The traditional approaches to project management have been broadly criticized by researchers who felt that CPM is an incomplete and insufficient method as it lacks the level of detail required(Svejvig Andersen, 2015). Complexity of projects and the complexity of their environment are part of the main arguments that call for rethinking traditional project management. This rethinking has shifted the perspectives from single project exploration in isolation to the management of multiple projects. Aretha et al. (2009) has argued that a multiple project environment presents challenges that is very different from the single project management challenges(Aretha, et al., 2009). He used the complexity theory in order to understand the multi-project environment and identified it as a combination of complex adaptive systems. Mayor et al. (2006) reflected on the programs and portfolios that can be seen as mechanisms for managing projects in organization. According to him, they create different issues than those in a single project face(Jones, et al., 2011). Thus, there is a need that a project manager and his team must obtain transferable project management skills Leybourne (2007) describes a perspective which sees project management as an open value system that focuses on social and political aspects rather than on the tools and procedures (Leybourne, 2010). These social and behavioural considerations have expanded the discipline of project management. Clarke (2010) explored the impact of emotions on the behaviour and decisions of a project manager with respect to projects(Clarke, 2008). His empirical study showed that emotional intelligence has a direct posititve effect on the success of projects. Sense (2009) focused on the social learning that is obtained by a project team during projects, showing that this can help to build a learning culture and organisational learning, both positively impacting a companies success(Sense, 2009). Small and Walker (2010) state that the social complexities on a project are created from the human plurality and thus, the project management strategy used must follow a continual adaptation to be able to respond to the changes in power and political scenarios on projects(Small Walker, 2010). Over the last decades, alternative methods, approaches and perspectives have been identified that allow practitioners to rethink on the traditional project management practice. This helps them to better cope with the complexities and uncertainties during projects. Berggren and Sderlund (2008) identified how education practices have affected the knowledge and production capacities of project managers(Berggren Sderlund, 2008). According to Louw and Rwelamila (2012), project managers can be linked with the reflective partitions that emerge from educational institutes(Louw Rwelamila, 2012). Sewchurran (2008) supported the view by presenting an alternative model that focuses on the education side of the discipline and explored the reflective practices through improvisation and contingencies(Sewchurran Barron, 2008). Crawford et al. (2006) suggested that the increasing complexities on projects demand more education (Crawford Brown, 2009) and practitioners who are willing to explore new theories on project management to acquire new skills that include more than just the technical skills(Sankaran, et al., 2010). Thomas and Mengel (2008) stressed on the importance to be able handling complexity and uncertainty in the modern project environments(Thomas Mengel, 2008). Thus, he suggested that newer forms of professional development are required to prepare and educate project managers to deal with such complexities. According to Kreiner (2002), a project manager needs to be prepared to adapt plans in a changing environment(Kreiner, 2002). Supporting this view, Leybourne (2010) suggests that companies must provide the freedom to their project managers(Leybourne, 2010) for experimenting through unstructured practices and task management methods(Sherrer, 2010). Most researchers are convinced that despite a vast exploration of traditional project management practices, very little has been explored about the actualities of project management. Subsequently, empirical investigation is needed in order to understand modern project management practices. Arguments have also been presented on whether the traditional practices have diverted from the models and concepts. There is very limited empirical investigation done on the practice of project management. Thus, more exploration is needed as the field is only broadening crossing its current limits and perspectives that are present currently(Dana, 2014). With these explorations and added perspectives of multiple project management researchers, some new models and theories have emerged in the recent past including evolutionary management and self-organization and systems thinking. Self-organization Theory: This theory sees projects as a self organized concept which exists in nature with a tendency of growth and evolution. The growth is influenced by interactions between people, where for example new functions can emerge leading to self-organization. These self-organized systems have energy channels that enables both energy and information to flow in order to grow through a feedback loop(Hoda, 2011). The process of self-organization can be seen as a combination of positive and negative feedbacks that expand the horizons of knowledge. These feedbacks can be obtained from external parties or internal stakeholders. For example, approval and acceptance from external parties are positive feedbacks while rejection of criticism from them are negative feedbacks. Similarly, assertiveness and compassion within internal teams have signals of positivity while lack of confidence and disinterest in them would reflect negative feedback. Thus, these feedback cycles are importa nt to study, in particular when it is about understanding the evolution of project management(Blois, 2013) Systems thinking: System thinking makes it possible to manage the complexities and issues in modern project scenarios through identification of different elements that exist in a multiproject environment. It begins with the understanding of a problem solving process in which project managers have to explore problems to identify their core and the behavior patterns that are affecting project efficiencies. System thinking is a holistic approach to problem solving that builds on the network of interactions, role plays, and approaches to creativity and adaption in the project teams(Kopczy?ski Brzozowsk, 2015). Conclusion The traditional project management approaches like CPM have been criticized by researchers as they lack the level of detail and new perspectives have emerged with introduction of new tools, methods, and practices. Among the main arguments to rethink traditional project management is the fact that complexity of projects and the complexity of their environments are much higher nowadays then ten or twenty years back, when a lot of research was done in the field of project management. Several debates can been observed with different new approaches being presented and discussed. For example, some researchers believe in systems thinking which is a holistic approach to problem solving while others focus on the self-organizing concept during projects. The literature review made clear that further investigations are needed on how these new methods can help resolve problems usually faced by traditional methods. If evidences can be obtained on these efficiencies then the debate can make a big step forward as researchers begin to prove the superiority of new methods. References Aretha, D., Panteli, E. S., Kiekkas, P. Karanikolas, M., 2009. Patient and/or family controlled palliative sedation with midazolam for intractable symptom control: a case series. BioMed Central, 2(136), pp. 1-4. Berggren, C. Sderlund, J., 2008. Rethinking project management education.. International Journal of Project Management., Volume 26, pp. 286-296. Blois, 2013. The "self-organizing" project": a "systemic" view of the design and project processes, s.l.: Systematic Designs. Clarke, N., 2008. Projects are emotional: How project managers' emotional awareness can influence decisions and behaviours in projects. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 3(4), pp. 604-624. Crawford, P. Brown, B., 2009. Mental Health communicatios between service users and professionals. Mental Health Review Journal, 14(3), pp. 30-39. Dana, J., 2014. Chaos Theory in Project Management , s.l.: Masaryk University. Hoda, R., 2011. Self-Organizing Agile Teams: A Grounded Theory, s.l.: Victoria University of Wellington. Jones, A. M. et al., 2011. The Impact of Arabidopsis on Human Health: Diversifying Our Portfolio. NCBI, Volume 133-136, p. 939943.. Kopczy?ski, T. Brzozowsk, M., 2015. Systems thinking in project management: theoretical framework and empirical evidence from Polish companies, s.l.: Poznan University of Economics, . Kreiner, K., 2002. Tacit knowledge management: the role of artifacts. Journal of Knowledge Management, 6(2), pp. 112-123. Leybourne, S., 2010. Project management and high-value superyacht projects: an improvisational and temporal perspective.. Proj. Manag. J. , Volume 41, p. 1727.. Louw, T. Rwelamila, P. D., 2012. Managing Projects in Africa. Project Management Journal, 43(4), pp. 2-85. Sankaran, S., Haslett, T. Sheffield, J., 2010. Systems thinking approaches to address complex issues in project management. Asia Pacific, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, PMI Global Congress. Saynisch, M., 2010. Beyond frontiers of traditional project management. Project Management Journal, 41(2), pp. 21-37. Sense, A. J., 2009. The social learning character of projects and project teams. International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies, 3(4), pp. 195-208. Sewchurran, K. Barron, M., 2008. An investigation into successfully managing and sustaining the project sponsorproject manager relationship using soft systems methodology. Project Management Journal, 39(S1), p. S56S68. Sherrer, J. A., 2010. A PROJECT MANAGER'S GUIDE TO SYSTEMS THINKING, s.l.: Projectsmart. Small, J. Walker, D., 2010. Providing structural openness to connect with context: Seeing the project entity as a human activity system and social process. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, 4(3), pp. 389-411. Svejvig, P. Andersen, P., 2015. Rethinking project management: A structured literature review with a critical look at the brave new world. International Journal of Project Management, Volume 33, p. 278290. Thomas, J. Mengel, T., 2008. Preparing project managers to deal with complexityAdvanced project management education, s.l.: Research Gate.

Organizational Chart free essay sample

Staff Training Crew Crew Members Crew Members Website Designers Website Designers Delivery Staff Delivery Staff Customer Service Customer Service Cleaners Cleaners An organisational chart shows the main parts of the organisation, and the relationship between the various parts. McDonalds’ organisational chart is hierarchal. It’s also tall because it has more than 3 levels. The reason why this is a tall structure is because McDonald’s is a big company with restaurants all over the world, so they need people in every country to make sure that the businesses is making profit and progress.Organisational structure Organisational structure set out important aspects of how communication will take place. For example: managers, supervisors and assistants would report to senior managers where they would report to board of directors. Also board of directors sets out the strategy, then senior managers are giving targets to staff that works in McDonald’s so they can achieve them. We will write a custom essay sample on Organizational Chart or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The purpose of organisational structure is to share the work so everyone knows what they are doing and to establish lines of control and communication.McDonald’s divided people into: managers, team leaders, staff training crew, cleaners, customer service, restaurant manager, etc. It helps to control organisational activities. Types of organisational structure: * Geographical area: McDonald’s has its restaurants all over the world. In order to make it work they had to hire people to run the business in every country that they operate. * Function: Span of control Span control is the amount of employees a manager has direct line authority over. Organisational chart- MacMillan Cancer Support

economics of healthcare in the uk essays

economics of healthcare in the uk essays Good health is an important factor to an individuals welfare. It is an essential prerequisite for the enjoyment of life. For this reason the importance of healthcare to governments is great and vast amounts of resources are allocated to healthcare, for example in the UK healthcare equates for 6% of GNP. Some argue that Healthcare is a social issue rather than economic but the allocation of scarce resources and the inelastic demand for healthcare lends it self to economic analysis. Equitable allocation of a commodity is one in which everyone receives a minimum standard and quantity. So in terms of full equality in the society everyone should consume the commodity equally. In healthcare this argument becomes complicated, should everyone receive a minimum standard of healthcare? Or should everyone get the best healthcare available? The truth is that hospital buildings, doctors and medical equipment all take up resources. The best standard of healthcare could only be given if all of the governments resources were allocated to the provision of health. This would be a foolish thing to do, as other commodities would not be produced which may be detrimental to health and other aspects of life. Healthcare is different from all other products in that the (supplier) doctor knows more about it than the (consumer) patient. Consumers can distinguish between two types of product and choose the one, which gives them greatest utility but with health care the patient is not educated enough about medicine to choose between two treatments and must therefore go with what the doctor recommends. This imbalance of knowledge gives the healthcare industry suppliers monopoly power. A healthcare supplier could lower the standard of service and not fear loss of customers. A doctor may also recommend a treatment that is costly and therefore will bring in higher profit for himself without the ...

Impact of Secondary use of Data Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Impact of Secondary use of Data - Essay Example In this scenario, secondary data is data that has already been collected by someone else for a different purpose and we want to use it. Some of the common examples of data collection could be: data presented by an organization for its business marketing, gathered by a hospitality firm on its guests by using its guest history system, annual business reports or Government statistics and figures (Thames Valley University, 2010). On the other hand data can be used in different scenarios such as: someone can simply present the original data in its unchanged format. In this scenario, probably this data will be used in the introduction or literature review as support or proof for their argument. A person can also make use of this data in a different way if this data is utilized (for analysis or interpretation) for a wide variety of purposes than the original then the most likely place would be in the ‘analysis of findings’ part of a research report or thesis. For instance, a research work carried out on suicide issue can comprise the official suicide data of different countries or regions (which was collected by government or their equivalent) and evaluate this data to determine if they could categorize variables that would indicate that some people are more likely to commit suicide as compared to others (Thames Valley University, 2010). However, there are numerous issues involved with the secondary usage of data. This paper will discuss the secondary uses of data, some of its advantages and disadvantages. In the end, this paper will discuss issues with secondary usage of data and laws to deal with these issues. Secondary Use of Data: An Overview No doubt secondary research can be considered as the most extensively used technique for collecting data as this process of data collection engages retrieving information that is previously collected from either the inventor or a distributor of primary research. In addition, secondary data comprises the information and data collected from third-party sources for instance a business website, sales and accounting records, marketing research reports and magazine articles. Moreover, it can also comprise any already collected information utilized by the vendor from any external or internal source (BlogSpot, 2008; Thames Valley University, 2010). Advantages of Secondary Use of Data In fact, there are a lot of benefits of making use of the s econdary data or research. First of the most important advantages of using secondary data is that it is relatively easy get access to a wide variety of sources of secondary data. Some time ago secondary data collection required business marketers or sales management to spend a lot of time in libraries, or wait for reports to be received via mail. On the other hand, at the present there exist a number of modern technologies for data collection for instance with the availability of the Internet and online access to a lot of digital resources, the access to the secondary data and information has become very simple. In fact, the Internet has become a convenient and usually standardized tool for all sources of secondary research. In addition, by making use of the secondary data researchers can be able to get access to important data and information for small or in many cases absolutely no cost to acquire. For that reason, this secondary data is much more affordable and less expensive as compared to other methods of data collection where researchers perform the research themselves. Additionally, the use of secondary data allows researchers to make clear the research problem. In many cases, secondary data is utilized before primary

The Seeking of the Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) Essay

The Seeking of the Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) - Essay Example Consequently, this had resulted in endeavors to make the directors more liable for their strategies and actions. The inclusion of non-executive directors in the board of an organization has an imperative part to play in this context and will be the subject of concern in this study (Stewart, n.d., p.2). The non-executive directors (NEDs) perform multiple functions in an organization. In accordance to the Combined and the UK Codes of Corporate Governance together with the UK Stewardship Code, the NEDs seek to challenge the chairman and the executive directors in the board, offer expertise, knowledge and insight to the board, elevate principles of corporate governance, and guide the board on business strategy (Lewis, 2010, p. 5). The role of the non-executive director The latest financial disaster and the resulting bail-out of many financial organizations have impelled the discussion regarding the position and efficacy of non-executive directors (NEDs) in context of corporate governance . ... Fundamentally, the role of a non-executive director is to offer a resourceful contribution to the organization by presenting objective criticism to the board. The non-executive directors seek to bring in independent opinion on matters associated with strategy, resources and performance of the organization. Additionally, it is also expected that the NEDs would provide their independent verdict on key appointments to be made in the organization as well as its standards of conduct. The non-executive directors are inducted in the board of an organization owing to their wide range of experience, their apt competence and meticulous personal attributes. Furthermore, the NEDs might possess some expert knowledge and understanding that would aid the board by endowing it with helpful insights or key contacts in associated businesses. Nevertheless, the utmost objective of having the non-executive directors in the board is their independence with respect to the organization’s management as well as its involved parties. This implies that the NEDs bring in an extent of impartiality to the board’s discussions and negotiations, and hence play a crucial task of monitoring the management of the organization. According to the Combined Code of Corporate Governance (2008), the board of any business organization should comprise of ample number of autonomous non-executive directors having adequate calibre, so that their opinions carry considerable weight in the discussions of the board during strategy formulation and other important issues. In addition to providing added competence, proficiency and perspective, the introduction of NEDs in an

Inter-Cultural Teams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Inter-Cultural Teams - Essay Example People who are assigned to inter-cultural teams often begin working closely with a group of new team members, and the welfare of the new group tends to displace the welfare of the individual as the team attempts to build cohesiveness and a sense of interdependence. (Wellins, 1990, 76) As with self-management, the use of teams in the workplace also may best be thought of as lying on a continuum. At one end, teams with a low degree of interdependence consist of employees who rarely see each other and perform their tasks without exchanging information or materials. At the other end of the continuum, teams with a high degree of task interdependence consist of employees who frequently interact and constantly exchange materials and information to complete their tasks.1 On a highly interdependent team, successful task accomplishment obviously depends greatly on the interaction of employees. Our definition of a inter-cultural teams, however, implies very little variation. Thus, we assume that resistance to inter-cultural teams is, essentially, resistance to interdependent teams. The resistance to inter-cultural teams can be due to a person's philosophy about teamwork rather than to his or her views on particular task characteristics (such as a task's degree of self-management). For example, when introduced to the idea of inter-cultural teams, an i... Thus, an employee's philosophy about working in a highly interdependent fashion, rather than in an independent manner, may be a key factor in determining that individual's support of, or resistance to, inter-cultural teams. (Adler, 1997, 117) Collectivism versus individualism When people value the welfare of the group more than the welfare of the individual, they are called "collectivists." Hofstede defines "collectivism" as a tight social framework in which a person's "identity is based in the social system" and his or her "belief is placed in group decisions" (1980b: 48). People from collectivistic cultures tend to put aside their own self-interests in deference to the interests of their group. For example, several studies have found that people in South Korea and Sweden (cultures that are highly collectivistic) disregard individual performance differences when determining employee rewards. Consistent with this, collectivists believe in cooperating rather than competing, following a group purpose rather than individual agendas, and promoting the welfare of the group over that of the individual members. In addition, people from collectivistic cultures fear being ostracized personally or bringing shame to their group for behavior not contributing to the welfare of the group. Conversely, people in "individualistic" cultures tend to put forth and promote their own welfare over the interests of their group or organization (Hofstede, 1980a). People in the United Kingdom (a highly individualistic culture) had higher incidences of social loafing than did the Chinese (a highly collectivistic culture) when working on an interdependent group task. People in the United Kingdom also prefer reward distributions that

Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry in Food Analysis

Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry in Food Analysis The food is a highly complex nature which consisted organic and inorganic components. It is undeniable that Gas Chromatography (GC) has many usage and application. It is also noted that gas chromatography has a wide range of applications especially in the food aspect analysis which includes composition of food, components of aroma and flavor, food additives, natural products etc. The aim of this section is to provide an overview of gas chromatography mass spectrometry in food analysis due to the arising of awareness on nutrition and health concern. Review in Journal of Food Science: Comparison of the Flavor Chemistry and Flavor Stability of Mozzarella and Cheddar Wheys The stability of flavor of fresh and stored liquid Cheddar and Mozzarella wheys are being compared. The flavors profiling is being run by sensory analysis whereas extraction of volatile components are followed by characterization by solvent extraction. This is continued with gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. The application of this research is for further understanding of the flavor of the raw materials which will greatly help manufacturers to have optimization of quality by identifying the methods. Application Gas chromatography modeled 690N Agilent was used with 5973 inert mass detector (MSD) for the analysis of the extraction of solvents. Fused silica capillary column as sued for the separation which is Rtx-5ms 30-m length Ãâ€" 0.25-mm inner dia Ãâ€" 0.25- µm df . 1ml/min of a constant flow rate of helium is used. Besides, the temperature of the oven was set beginning at 40 ºC for 3min, increased of 10 ºC /min until 90 ºC, then 5 ºC/min to 200 ºC and holding time of 10 min, continued with an increase of 20 ºC/min, finally with 250 ºC and a holding time with 10min. The inert mass selector detector held for 3 min for the solvent delay and parameters was scanned by inert mass selector detection which was set from 35 to 300 m/z. 2 µL of each extract was injected in the splitless mode. The samples were duplicated for duplication analyses for further accuracy. The 2 main whey types of Cheddar and Mozzarella differences were the intensity of the compounds which based on an increased or decreased after storage by fat separation. Based on the results, it is known that the fat separation resulted in decreased concentration of lipid oxidation products by Gas chromatography mass spectroscopy. It is concluded that flavor profiles of the 2 types of samples were different from each other and gas chromatography mass spectroscopy volatile recorded the differences between the selected volatile compounds in each whey sample. The objective was fulfilled as it is proven that Cheddar whey is more easily to undergo oxidation than Mozzarella whey. Review in Journal of Food Science: Sensory and Physiochemical Characterization of Juices Made with Pomegranate and Blueberries, Blackberries or Raspberries The study of quality parameters of 1 commercial pomegranate juice mixed with different 5 concentration of blueberry, blackberry or raspberry juices. Solid phase microextraction – gas chromatography mass spectroscopy was used for the determination of volatile components which present in the mixtures in order to perceive the differences of aroma of the juices. The relationship between consumers and instrumental data was studied for the determination of innovation of designed juices by conducting a consumer study. This application of this research is to help juice industry to further understand the consumer’s preferences for the blended juices of pomegranate. Application Gas chromatography mass spectrometry modeled GC CP3800 Varian was used for the separation, identification, and qualification of the volatile components of the mixtures. The analytes was injected to the injection port of the gas chromatography at 250 º C during splitless mode of 5 min. The gas chromatography mass spectroscopy used RTx-5MS column , 30 m Ãâ€" 0.25mm Ãâ€" 0.25 µm film thickness which composed of 5% dephenil/ 95% dimethyl polisiloxane. Then, the temperature of the column was set beginning at 40 º C and was increased 280 º C at 8 ºC/ min with a holding time of 10 min. The components identified in the mixtures used Kovats indices and mass spectra analytical methods. There are 40 volatile compounds found in the juices. The most common compounds in the 3 berry juices were ethyl acetate, 3-methylbutanal, hexanal and linalool. In the nutshell, it is found out that blueberry juice is preferred by consumers with the mixtures of pomegranate juice. Review in Journal of Food Science Iron-Lactoferrin Complex Reduces Iron –Catalyzed Off –flavour Formation in Powdered Milk with Added Fish Oil Iron-lactoferrin complex is beneficial for dietary iron supplement but the effect has not been reported that iron-catalyzed off flavors in food products contained lipids. Therefore, the effects of iron-lactoferrin on off flavors were studied with the additional of fish oil. Compounds which have undergone oxidation such as pentanal, hexanal, heptanal etc were less developed in the powdered milk that contained iron-lactoferrin rather in iron(II) sulphate. The application of this research results proves and shows that iron-lactoferrin complex is beneficial for continuous fortification of foods with iron and fish oils. This is because there is a reduction of the formation of iron catalyzed off flavors in powdered milk fortified with fish oil. Application Gas Chromatography modeled 6890 Agilent with a mass selective detector of 5973 Agilent were used to performed analysis of volatile headspace compounds from the sample. The separations of volatiles were separated on DB-5 capillary column with measurement of 0.32mm i.d. Ãâ€" 60m, 0.52 µm of film thickness in the operations with a constant flow of 2.4mL/min. As for the temperature, it was set initially at 37 º C was increased to 190 º C, at rate of 4 º C/min and then to 280 º C at 40 ºC/min which the holding time is 8 min. In conclusion, iron-lactoferrin was proven by the measurements of headspace gas chromatography mass spectroscopy reduce the oxidation of flavor and metallic taste of powder milk enriched with fish oil during storage and processing. Review in Journal of Food Science Comprehensive Assessment of Antioxidant Activity of Essential Oils It had been known the unique ability of essential oils was studied due to their special properties that act as antioxidants. The 20 samples with oil that have EC50, which is less than 300 µg/mL were analyzed by gas spectrometry mass spectrometry and many more. The application of the founded results will enhance the understanding of spices which contains essential oil may inhibit the oxidative damage, lipid oxidation and increase the level of antioxidant activity of the product. Application Gas chromatography modeled 580A Hewlett Packard Series II were used to analyze the essential oil with mass selective detector and autosampler. The column used with a measurement of 30m, 0.25mmID with 0.5 µm film thickness at the constant flow rate of 1.0mL/min and pressure of 20.0 psi. The temperature injector is 250 º C, the beginning of oven temperature was 120 º C and was increased to 10.0  º C/min to 180 º C. Once the temperature reached 180 º C and rate was changed to 3.0 º C/min till the temperature reached 240 º C and holding time was 5 min. The total run time was 31.0 min. After running gas chromatography mass spectrometry, the chemical compounds in relation to antioxidant activities were known. It is based on the retention indices, co-chromatography with standards etc. The analysis of gas chromatography mass spectrometry also shows basil oils that are rich in linalool and geraniol. The confirmation of the indication of phenolic terpenes in antioxidant oil was also done. It can be concluded that phenolic terpenes is the major contribution to the most effective oils. Furthermore, several sesquoterpens are shown to have the ability to scavage free radicals. . Review in Journal of Food Science Change of Volatile Compounds in Fresh Fish Meat during Ice Storage This study is to determine the changes of volatile compound in fresh fish such as sardine, jack mackerel, bluefin tuna etc. during 3-4 d of ice storage by using headspace solid phase micro extraction gas chromatography mass spectrometry. Based on the result, it is revealed that there is an increased of aldehyde and alcohols in jack mackerel and chub mackerel followed by skipjack and red seabream during storage. The purpose of this research is to study the results to apply in inhibiting fishy off-flavor products. It is the lipid oxidation that change the fresh fish flavor so it is crucial for the prevention of oxidation of lipid. Application Modeled Turbo Mass system Perkin Elmer was used to analyze the extracted volatile compounds. The column used for separation with a measurement of 60m Ãâ€" 0.25 mm i.d., 0.25  µm film thickness. Preheating the column to 40 ° C and it was increased to 260 ° C at 5 ° C /min. The carrier gas used was helium with a constant head pressure at 20 psi. Moreover, the temperature of the injector is 250 ° C and splitless mode is change to split mode (50:1) at 0.3 min after the injection. The gas chromatography mass spectrometry identified 32 compounds of the red and white flesh fish and shows no apparent peaks during storage. The detection of the volatile compounds dependent of the storage time. Therefore, the various changes on the fish flavors might be depending on the content of lipids, lipoxygenase activity and fish’s redox potential. (Taiko Miyasaki, 2011) (Hiroshi M. Ueno, 2012) (I.W. Liaw, 2011) (Laura Vazquez-Araujio, 2010) (Kevin P. Anthony, 2012) Bibliography Hiroshi M. Ueno, M. S. (2012). Iron-Lactoferrin Complex Reduces Iron- Catalyzed Off-flavor Formation in Powdered Milk with Added Fish Oil. Journal of Food Science, C853-C858. I.W. Liaw, R. E. (2011). Comparison of the Flavor Chemistry and Flabvor Stabiliy of Mozzarella and Cheddar Wheys. Journal of Food Scince, C1188-C1194. Kevin P. Anthony, S. D.-S. (2012). Comprehensive Assessment of Antioxidant Activity of Essential Oils. Journal of Food Science, C839-C843. Laura Vazquez-Araujio, E. C.-B. (2010). Sensory and Physicochemical Chracterization of Juices Made with Pomegranate and Blueberries, Blackberries, or Raspberries. Journal of Food Science, S398-S404. Taiko Miyasaki, M. H. (2011). Change of Volatile Compounds in Fresh Fish Meat during Ice Storage . Journal of Food Science, C1319-C1325.

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Disability is a parent in disguise that nurtures and fosters a child through sometimes crippling, but always meaningful pain. One's impairment guides him or her to independently to fend for life's basic necessities. Much like a parent, it is responsible for a person's physical, emotional, and mental development. The novels The Bite of the Mango and A Long Way Gone narrate two different children's traumatic experiences during the Sierra Leone's Civil War and its aftermath. In the two books, disabilities are generally perceived as negative. Nevertheless, both autobiographies illustrate how a girl's and a boy's contrasting disabilities raised them to mature at a younger age without their parent's guidance. Both The Bite of the Mango and A Long Way Gone present each character's disabilities; however, Kamara's diverse disabilities made her stronger than Beah. Kamara's emotional disability from witnessing gruesome murders has strengthened her to plant a positive change in the world. Both characters made a difference in society, but Kamara channeled her strength after seeing, feeling, and hearing pain. Beah physically sees deaths in his own hands from killing others but he is desensitized to murder. Beah is brought up to accept that murdering is a norm and that there is no sympathy in killing people. During the war, he does not have the emotional disability that impaired Kamara. He is unable to rationalize taking innocent lives and therefore, cannot gain moral strengths. In contrast, Kamara is not numbed to this atrocity. Her strength comes from seeing the harsh reality that ignites her desire to change society. Kamara optimistically stated, "We had an important purpose: to help raise awareness of my country's problems" (Kamara and McC... ...ng Way Gone highlight disabilities in each characters, Kamara's disabilities transformed her into a stronger individual. Beah's emotional, physical, and financial disabilities, are not as greatly underlined as the various disabilities in Kamara's novel. Beah ignores much of his disabilities through drugs. As a result, many of his internal problems are temporarily painless. Unlike Beah, Kamara felt the sickening pain of the three main disabilities over the course of the war. Kamara's strength is rooted from accepting her flaws in order to move on in life. This is the main reason that makes her strong. As a replacement of parenthood, disabilities in each character had given them strengths to survive on their own. Disability is a like parent in a way that children may temporarily hate it; and through the journey realize and accept it; and at the end they forgive it.

The World’s Most Understood Crop: Industrial Hemp and Its Economic Benefits

Ms. Bonner English 290 16 December 2011 The World’s Most Understood Crop: Industrial Hemp and its Economic Benefits When most people hear the word hemp the first thing that comes to mind is marijuana. While hemp and marijuana are of the same plant species, Cannabis Sativa, they are different plants with their own chemical makeup. Hemp has been known as one of the world’s greatest agricultural crops of all time with a wide variety of uses. Unfortunately the United States still sees hemp as drug and the manufacturing of hemp is still illegal today.The United States is outlawing one of the most economically beneficial and functional crops of all times because of its cousin marijuana. Hemp was the world’s greatest agricultural crop for more than 1000 years before Christ until 1883 AD (Herer). The manufacturing and cultivation of hemp has been used for thousands of products and many different industries including producing a majority of the world’s fabric, fibe r, oil, paper, and even food. The earliest known fabric was made of hemp around 8000 BC (Herer).Ninety percent of all ships' sails from at least the fifth century BC until long after the invention of the steam engines in the mid- to late-19th century were made from hemp (Herer). Many of the ships’ logs, maps, and charts were made on hemp paper from the time of Columbus to the early 1900s (Herer). In the first century AD, the Chinese found that hemp paper lasted 50 to 100 times longer than most preparations of papyrus and that it was 100 times easier and cheaper to make (Herer).Eighty percent of all humankind's textiles and fabrics for clothes, tents, linens, rugs, drapes, quilts, bed sheets, towels and diapers were made principally from cannabis fibers in much of the world until the 20th century (Herer). Presidents Washington and Jefferson both grew hemp and Americans were even legally bound to grow during the Colonial Era and Early Republic (Hemp Facts). With all these uses for hemp, from almost the beginning of the known world, why would hemp be illegal today? Marijuana and industrial hemp come from the same species of plant, Cannabis Sativa.The species can yield two different plants, marijuana and industrial hemp. Comparing marijuana and industrial hemp is like comparing field corn and sweet corn. While they are both from the same species, the chemical makeup and final product is very different. Cannabis produces two major cannabinoids-THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol) (West, Hemp and Marijuana). THC is the one responsible for the psychoactive effect that you get from smoking marijuana. CBD, on the other hand, has been found to block the effect of THC in the nervous system (West, Hemp and Marijuana).Marijuana usually contains 3 to 15 percent THC, while industrial hemp being grown normally contains less than 1 percent THC (Industrial Hemp in the United States). Many people believe that if industrial hemp was allowed to be grown that many people would still try and smoke it, but if one was to smoke industrial hemp, which is high in CBD and low in THC, it would actually counter act the THC and block the effect of a marijuana high. This shows that not only is hemp not marijuana but could possibly even be called â€Å"anti-marijuana. Even with this scientific information and the United States continues to outlaw the manufacturing of hemp. Other countries have recognized the difference between marijuana and industrial hemp. Current hemp varieties being grown in Canada and Europe are certified to have THC levels below 0. 3 percent (West, Hemp and Marijuana). The certification system was originally developed in Europe to allow for the commercialization of industrial hemp and takes into consideration the ratio of CBD to THC as well as the absolute percent THC (West, Hemp and Marijuana).The original THC threshold was 0. 8 percent. When varieties with lower levels of THC were developed by French breeders, the breed ers were able to persuade the European Union to reduce the tolerance further (West, Hemp and Marijuana). In the United States, Cannabis with any measurable trace of THC is illegal, CBD concentration is not considered at all. The United States is outlawing this potentially economic beneficial crop with no just cause and they are completely overlooking all of its uses and benefits. The United States’ laws have not always treated marijuana and hemp the same.The 1937 Marijuana Tax Act outlawed marijuana. The 1937 Marihuana Tax Act defined marijuana as: â€Å"(A)ll parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L. , whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any such plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds, or resin; but shall not include the mature stalks of such plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of such plant, any other compound, manufacture salt, derivative, mi xture, or preparation of such mature stalks (except the resin xtracted there from), fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of such plant which is incapable of germination. † The Act outlawed marijuana and punished people who grew it, without infringing on the rights of hemp growers. The act did not make hemp illegal but simply just put a tax on hemp. Dr. Andrew Wright, an agronomist with the University of Wisconsin's Agriculture Experiment Station and steward of the Wisconsin hemp industry during the first half of the twentieth century, wrote in 1918, â€Å"There are three fairly distinct types of hemp: that grown for fiber, that for birdseed and oil, and that for drugs. (West, Hemp and Marijuana). This shows that even in the early 1900s, we knew and understood there being a difference between hemp and marijuana. However, in 1970, the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act repealed the Marihuana Tax Act and instead changed its definition: â€Å"The term â⠂¬Ëœmarihuana' means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa (L. ), whether growing or not, the seeds thereof, the resin extracted from any part of such plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds or resin; . . † The key difference in this provision was that the 1937 Act used a system of taxation that allowed the government to punish the marijuana growers without punishing hemp growers. The 1970 Act abolished the taxation approach and effectively made all Cannabis cultivation illegal (West, Hemp and Marijuana). This act lumped marijuana and hemp into the same category. Why did the United States change their definition of the word and make hemp illegal? Why the United States changed its mind and decided to make hemp illegal is not really clear.There are not any definite answers. It could be that they realized that they couldn’t tax it anymore, the war on drugs, or that people that were growing hemp were abusin g their rights and also growing marijuana. It is up for anyone to speculate on. The only thing that is clear by hemp being illegal is that the United States is ignoring the economic benefits and uses of one of the most functional crops of all times. Hemp has been used for a wide variety of products for almost 3000 years.Overall, hemp is the strongest, most durable, and longest lasting natural soft fiber on the planet, which makes its fabric longer lasting, tougher, cheaper, cooler, and more absorbent than cotton (Herer). Hemp seed can be pressed into a healthy oil, which contains the highest amount of essential fatty acids of all plants. The byproduct of the pressed hemp seeds can be baked into cakes, breads, and casseroles and contains high quality protein (Hemp Facts). Another use for hemp is that it can be made into fuel.Hemp is the Earth’s number one biomass resource, capable of producing 10 tons of biomass per acre in only four months (Hemp Facts). This biomass can be co nverted into methane, methanol, or gasoline at a cost very similar to the cost petroleum (Hemp Facts). It can also produce 10 times more methanol than corn (Hemp Facts). Since hemp is a natural plant, the use of hemp as a fuel makes it better for the environment. It does not add to global warming. Not only is hemp as a fuel better for the environment, but using hemp fiber for paper is also better for the environment.One acre of hemp produces as much fiber as 4. 1 acres of trees (Herer). While trees cut down to make paper usually take about 50 years to grow, hemp is ready to be harvested in about 120 days (Hemp Facts). Since hemp takes less time to be ready to be harvested and it can produce more fiber per acre, hemp could possibly be the answer to the deforestation problem. Only eight out of about one hundred known pests cause problem to the plant so hemp is normally grown without herbicides, fungicides, or pesticides (Hemp Facts).Hemp is also a natural weed suppressor due to the fa st growth of the canopy causing a blockage of the sun that does not allow for the weeds to grow (Hemp Facts). All of these things make hemp a cheaper, more environmentally friendly crop. Hemp has been one of the most widely used crops, all around the world, for more than 3000 years. With hemps thousands of uses, it could possibly save our country in this time of deficit. However, the United States still refuses to recognize it has being a potential economically beneficial crop because of a plant of the same species.Works Citied â€Å"Hemp Facts. † HempUSA. org. HempUSA. org, 1 June 2009. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. Web Herer, Jack. â€Å"The Forgotten History of Hemp. † Earth Island Journal 5. 4 (1990): 35. EBSCOhost. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. Web Industrial Hemp in the United States: Status and Market Potential. Rep. no. AGES-ERSAGES001. Ers. usda. gov, Jan. 2000. Web. 25 Nov. 2011. Web West, David P. Hemp and Marijuana: Myths and Realities. Prescott, Wisconsin: North American Indust rial Hemp Council, 27 Feb. 1998. PDF. The World’s Most Understood Crop: Industrial Hemp and Its Economic Benefits Ms. Bonner English 290 16 December 2011 The World’s Most Understood Crop: Industrial Hemp and its Economic Benefits When most people hear the word hemp the first thing that comes to mind is marijuana. While hemp and marijuana are of the same plant species, Cannabis Sativa, they are different plants with their own chemical makeup. Hemp has been known as one of the world’s greatest agricultural crops of all time with a wide variety of uses. Unfortunately the United States still sees hemp as drug and the manufacturing of hemp is still illegal today.The United States is outlawing one of the most economically beneficial and functional crops of all times because of its cousin marijuana. Hemp was the world’s greatest agricultural crop for more than 1000 years before Christ until 1883 AD (Herer). The manufacturing and cultivation of hemp has been used for thousands of products and many different industries including producing a majority of the world’s fabric, fibe r, oil, paper, and even food. The earliest known fabric was made of hemp around 8000 BC (Herer).Ninety percent of all ships' sails from at least the fifth century BC until long after the invention of the steam engines in the mid- to late-19th century were made from hemp (Herer). Many of the ships’ logs, maps, and charts were made on hemp paper from the time of Columbus to the early 1900s (Herer). In the first century AD, the Chinese found that hemp paper lasted 50 to 100 times longer than most preparations of papyrus and that it was 100 times easier and cheaper to make (Herer).Eighty percent of all humankind's textiles and fabrics for clothes, tents, linens, rugs, drapes, quilts, bed sheets, towels and diapers were made principally from cannabis fibers in much of the world until the 20th century (Herer). Presidents Washington and Jefferson both grew hemp and Americans were even legally bound to grow during the Colonial Era and Early Republic (Hemp Facts). With all these uses for hemp, from almost the beginning of the known world, why would hemp be illegal today? Marijuana and industrial hemp come from the same species of plant, Cannabis Sativa.The species can yield two different plants, marijuana and industrial hemp. Comparing marijuana and industrial hemp is like comparing field corn and sweet corn. While they are both from the same species, the chemical makeup and final product is very different. Cannabis produces two major cannabinoids-THC (delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol) (West, Hemp and Marijuana). THC is the one responsible for the psychoactive effect that you get from smoking marijuana. CBD, on the other hand, has been found to block the effect of THC in the nervous system (West, Hemp and Marijuana).Marijuana usually contains 3 to 15 percent THC, while industrial hemp being grown normally contains less than 1 percent THC (Industrial Hemp in the United States). Many people believe that if industrial hemp was allowed to be grown that many people would still try and smoke it, but if one was to smoke industrial hemp, which is high in CBD and low in THC, it would actually counter act the THC and block the effect of a marijuana high. This shows that not only is hemp not marijuana but could possibly even be called â€Å"anti-marijuana. Even with this scientific information and the United States continues to outlaw the manufacturing of hemp. Other countries have recognized the difference between marijuana and industrial hemp. Current hemp varieties being grown in Canada and Europe are certified to have THC levels below 0. 3 percent (West, Hemp and Marijuana). The certification system was originally developed in Europe to allow for the commercialization of industrial hemp and takes into consideration the ratio of CBD to THC as well as the absolute percent THC (West, Hemp and Marijuana).The original THC threshold was 0. 8 percent. When varieties with lower levels of THC were developed by French breeders, the breed ers were able to persuade the European Union to reduce the tolerance further (West, Hemp and Marijuana). In the United States, Cannabis with any measurable trace of THC is illegal, CBD concentration is not considered at all. The United States is outlawing this potentially economic beneficial crop with no just cause and they are completely overlooking all of its uses and benefits. The United States’ laws have not always treated marijuana and hemp the same.The 1937 Marijuana Tax Act outlawed marijuana. The 1937 Marihuana Tax Act defined marijuana as: â€Å"(A)ll parts of the plant Cannabis sativa L. , whether growing or not; the seeds thereof; the resin extracted from any such plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds, or resin; but shall not include the mature stalks of such plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil or cake made from the seeds of such plant, any other compound, manufacture salt, derivative, mi xture, or preparation of such mature stalks (except the resin xtracted there from), fiber, oil, or cake, or the sterilized seed of such plant which is incapable of germination. † The Act outlawed marijuana and punished people who grew it, without infringing on the rights of hemp growers. The act did not make hemp illegal but simply just put a tax on hemp. Dr. Andrew Wright, an agronomist with the University of Wisconsin's Agriculture Experiment Station and steward of the Wisconsin hemp industry during the first half of the twentieth century, wrote in 1918, â€Å"There are three fairly distinct types of hemp: that grown for fiber, that for birdseed and oil, and that for drugs. (West, Hemp and Marijuana). This shows that even in the early 1900s, we knew and understood there being a difference between hemp and marijuana. However, in 1970, the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act repealed the Marihuana Tax Act and instead changed its definition: â€Å"The term â⠂¬Ëœmarihuana' means all parts of the plant Cannabis sativa (L. ), whether growing or not, the seeds thereof, the resin extracted from any part of such plant; and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative, mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds or resin; . . † The key difference in this provision was that the 1937 Act used a system of taxation that allowed the government to punish the marijuana growers without punishing hemp growers. The 1970 Act abolished the taxation approach and effectively made all Cannabis cultivation illegal (West, Hemp and Marijuana). This act lumped marijuana and hemp into the same category. Why did the United States change their definition of the word and make hemp illegal? Why the United States changed its mind and decided to make hemp illegal is not really clear.There are not any definite answers. It could be that they realized that they couldn’t tax it anymore, the war on drugs, or that people that were growing hemp were abusin g their rights and also growing marijuana. It is up for anyone to speculate on. The only thing that is clear by hemp being illegal is that the United States is ignoring the economic benefits and uses of one of the most functional crops of all times. Hemp has been used for a wide variety of products for almost 3000 years.Overall, hemp is the strongest, most durable, and longest lasting natural soft fiber on the planet, which makes its fabric longer lasting, tougher, cheaper, cooler, and more absorbent than cotton (Herer). Hemp seed can be pressed into a healthy oil, which contains the highest amount of essential fatty acids of all plants. The byproduct of the pressed hemp seeds can be baked into cakes, breads, and casseroles and contains high quality protein (Hemp Facts). Another use for hemp is that it can be made into fuel.Hemp is the Earth’s number one biomass resource, capable of producing 10 tons of biomass per acre in only four months (Hemp Facts). This biomass can be co nverted into methane, methanol, or gasoline at a cost very similar to the cost petroleum (Hemp Facts). It can also produce 10 times more methanol than corn (Hemp Facts). Since hemp is a natural plant, the use of hemp as a fuel makes it better for the environment. It does not add to global warming. Not only is hemp as a fuel better for the environment, but using hemp fiber for paper is also better for the environment.One acre of hemp produces as much fiber as 4. 1 acres of trees (Herer). While trees cut down to make paper usually take about 50 years to grow, hemp is ready to be harvested in about 120 days (Hemp Facts). Since hemp takes less time to be ready to be harvested and it can produce more fiber per acre, hemp could possibly be the answer to the deforestation problem. Only eight out of about one hundred known pests cause problem to the plant so hemp is normally grown without herbicides, fungicides, or pesticides (Hemp Facts).Hemp is also a natural weed suppressor due to the fa st growth of the canopy causing a blockage of the sun that does not allow for the weeds to grow (Hemp Facts). All of these things make hemp a cheaper, more environmentally friendly crop. Hemp has been one of the most widely used crops, all around the world, for more than 3000 years. With hemps thousands of uses, it could possibly save our country in this time of deficit. However, the United States still refuses to recognize it has being a potential economically beneficial crop because of a plant of the same species.Works Citied â€Å"Hemp Facts. † HempUSA. org. HempUSA. org, 1 June 2009. Web. 27 Nov. 2011. Web Herer, Jack. â€Å"The Forgotten History of Hemp. † Earth Island Journal 5. 4 (1990): 35. EBSCOhost. Web. 12 Nov. 2011. Web Industrial Hemp in the United States: Status and Market Potential. Rep. no. AGES-ERSAGES001. Ers. usda. gov, Jan. 2000. Web. 25 Nov. 2011. Web West, David P. Hemp and Marijuana: Myths and Realities. Prescott, Wisconsin: North American Indust rial Hemp Council, 27 Feb. 1998. PDF.

Levendary Cafe Case study Essay

Introduction Levendary Cafà © has grown from a small restaurant that offers soup, salad, and sandwiches in Denver to a multibillion quick casual chain that operates 3500 stores around the U.S. The founder of the Levendary Cafà ©, Howard Leventhal managed to establish a strong market position for the Levendary Cafà © in the U.S and succeeded in creating a $10 billion business model. The Cafà © has two important elements that differentiate it from its competitors, which were offering nutritious soup, salads, and sandwiches, as well as, providing exceptional service for their guests in a genuine, and friendly manner. The company’s philosophy is satisfying customers’ needs by trying to make an impact on their life and look for the long run profit as encouraged by founder, Howard Leventhal to his staff. After 32 years of experience operating in the U.S domestic market and after a slowdown in the company’s domestic growth, the company considered expending its operation internat ionally, more precisely in China, a promising market that had shown  a strong annual GDP growth of 14.5% in previous years, as well as, the arisen number of middle class income. The responsibility of overseeing the China operation was given to Louis Chen, a Stanford MBA graduate, after a two-year contract agreement between Leventhal and Chen in September 2009. A year and six months into the two-year term contract, Mia Foster was named the new CEO of the Levendary Cafà © in February 2011. The public press viewed the new CEO as being inexperienced in the international market in addition to some doubt about Foster’s ability to build a multi-national brand. Louis Chen opened the first store in Shanghai in, January 2010; the first location was in a high traffic business area. Within a year Louis Chen was able to allocate 22 additional locations for the Levendary Cafà ©, due to his strong knowledge of the country’s geography and his ability to speak both English and Mandarin Chinese. However, after a review of China’s operation by the new CEO, Foster was not happy with the way the operation was managed in China, she noticed that the accounting report was not formatted in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). This was the turning point in the relationship between Foster and Chen, who had not met face to face. The new CEO decided to look more closely into the China operation and planned a trip to China to meet with Chen for the first time. Identification of Main Issue The case presented a number of main issues that Levendary Cafà © faced during the expansion into the Chinese market. From the case the main issue was identified as: the Levendary brand image is not consistent in the United States and China because there is a lack of communication between the parent company and subsidiary. The contributing factors to this were the management styles, the lack of standardization, the cultural differences and the limited experience in the foreign market. These issues have been detailed below. Management style The Chinese operation lacks close mentoring and evaluation by former CEO Leventhal, who gave too much freedom to Chen with a very hand off management style. â€Å"Do right by the concept† was the expression that Chen had as a guideline for how to strategize for the China operations. As a result, Chen  was providing little information to Denver headquarter about how the operation is managed in China, which differs from Foster’s management style who appears to be more demanding than the former CEO. There was no clear strategic plan for the operation in China, when Chen was asked about a plan he mentioned that he had no plan. Standardization Foster is more process driven and valued standardization, she believed that the China operation should align with Levendary Cafà © standards in the U.S in terms of reports, and look and feel of the Cafà ©. However, Chen had a different approach where he was trying to open as many stores as he could in a short period of time, paying little attention to the U.S standardized business model. The issue of standardization clearly was another challenge between Denver headquarters and Chen, as he insists in pushing what he thinks is right and resist what headquarter is asking him to do. Cultural Difference Whenever a company is entering a new market it has to take into consideration the cultural differences between countries. Based on the case study analysis, the difference between the two countries in terms of eating out habits and eating preferences seem not to be understood by the Denver headquarter. Denver headquarter believes that it can enforce the same business model applied in the U.S to its stores in China, regardless of local preference. In addition, Foster seems to lack knowledge about the Chinese culture because she was not familiar with the market in China, as she had no experience working internationally. There was a lack of cross-cultural communication between Chen and Foster; even though, Chen had experienced both cultures while studying abroad in the U.S. Limited experience in the foreign market There was a lack of international market experience since the China market was the second market, Levendary Cafà © entered aside from a partnership in Dubai. Due to this lack of experience Leventhal trusted Chen with implementing the needed actions to grow a successful franchise in China. Leventhal entrusted Chen with this given his strong knowledge of the market in China. Leventhal did not understand that entering a foreign market would  take more than knowledge on the country; it would also take strong communication and management skills. Analysis and Evaluation Operational Analysis The operational analysis will cover the company’s internal strengths and weaknesses as well as their external opportunities and threats. The SWOT analysis will be on Levendary Cafà © U.S. operations. This report will also look at problems with standardization in the China operations. Levendary Cafà © has gained much strength over its 32 years of business (Bartlett & Han, 2013). The company has created brand recognition around the United States with its 3,500 cafà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s (Bartlett & Han, 2013). There is good brand consistency across all 3,500 cafà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s due to standardization of the Levendary product. Each cafà © has a similar design and atmosphere and offer the same core products. Levendary Cafà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s standardization has allowed the company to franchise their product and resulted in expansion across the United States. Currently, two-thirds of the company’s cafà ©s are franchised (Bartlett & Han, 2013). Each region also offers different menu items fr om one and other, on top of the core menu items. For example, fewer soups are offered in the southern regions of the United States (Bartlett & Han, 2013). This adds to the company’s strong business culture of â€Å"delighting the customer† and creating a personalized experience for each customer (Bartlett & Han, 2013). Levendary Cafà © detailed and strict operating standards, policies and practices has allowed for tight control of store level expenses and close monitoring of operations (Bartlett & Han, 2013). The founder, Howard Leventhal, is an entrepreneur who wasn’t afraid to take risks (Bartlett & Han, 2013). His willingness to take calculated risk led to the company using organic grains in its bread and hormone-free naturally raised meats (Bartlett & Han, 2013). Levendary Cafà © became part of the growing trend of consumers wanting healthier and more natural menu options. 81% of Americans over the age of 50 have become more conscious of what they eat (Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada, 2010). Levendary Cafà © target market is white-collar professionals and upper-middle-class women (Bartlett & Han, 2013). Their choice to shift towards healthier menu options is meeting their target markets change in tastes. A fully scaled test kitchen and food science  laboratory also allows the company to meet the changing tastes of their consumers (Bartlett & Han, 2013). The food team, which includes highly trained chefs from the Culinary Institute of America, is responsible for the test kitchen and laboratory, as well as conducting quality checks across all 3,500 cafà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s (Bartlett & Han, 2013). Levendary Cafà © has a good organizational structure. Each knowledgeable and highly experienced member of the management team knows their responsibilities and who responds to them. There is a clear power structure. Finally, Levendary Cafà © has a strong training program for their retail employees called Operating Tools and Learning (OTL) (Bartlett & Han, 2013). OTL sets operating standards and provides employees with materials to enhance their learning (Bartlett & Han, 2013). All these strengths have resulted in Levendary Cafà © being a successful business in the United States. Levendary Cafà © also has internal weaknesses. The U.S. operations are beginning to slow and investors are losing confidence in Levendary Cafà © (Bartlett & Han, 2013). This is one of the reasons the company chose to expand into China. However, there is no separate international division from the Denver Headquarters and the new CEO, Mia Foster, lacks international management experience. Although Levendary Cafà © personalized touch has led to repeat business, it is also considered a weakness because it slows down the speed of service. Currently, there is a lack of brand recognition in China for Levendary Cafà ©. Finally, financial reports from China are being submitted in their own format and the U.S. operations are then â€Å"massaging† them to apply the U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) (Bartlett & Han, 2013). These are all weaknesses for Levendary Cafà ©. Every company faces external opportunities and threats. As domestic business for Levendary Cafà © is beginning to slow, the company must look at opportunities to continue to be successful. Firstly, Levendary Cafà © is part of an emerging category in the restaurant industry called the â€Å"quick casual†. Another opportunity is to expand internationally. Other than the expansion into China, Levendary Cafà © is experimenting with a licensing deal in Dubai (Bartlett & Han, 2013). Some potential threats for Levendary Cafà © are the rising food costs and shifts in food trends. Food costs are beginning to rise due to a variety of factors such as climate change and a rise in oil prices (Oxfam Canada). A cha nge in food trends is a potential threat for any restaurant. If a restaurants’  product does not meet consumer’s tastes, then revenues will decrease. Levendary Cafà © will need to look at their external opportunities and threats. Levendary Cafà © China operations has three areas that need to be standardized: look and feel of the restaurant, menu options and accounting practices. Firstly, all 23 restaurants have a different design and atmosphere. The first location to open was similar to Levendary design standards, but the second location in Shanghai was a takeaway counter with no seating (Bartlett & Han, 2013). Denver Headquarters should understand that they cannot put the same restaurant that is in the U.S., in China. There should be extensive market research conducted on design and atmosphere that would be successful in China. Another option is to follow what Cafà © Coffee Days did in India. Cafà © Coffee Days offers three different formats of stores, ranging from a smaller grab and go coffee shop to a larger cafà © with areas to sit down. Levendary Cafà © could have different formats for restaurants; however each format would have a similar atmosphere to help standardize the brand in China. Secondly, menu options are vastly different across all 23 locations. For example, the Shanghai Koreatown offers dumplings with an average check of $2 (Bartlett & Han, 2013). The Beijing Embassy location offers sandwiches and soups with an average check of $10 (Bartlett & Han, 2013). Some menu items were offered at all locations, such as the chicken sandwich. A solution to standardize the menu is to do something similar to the U.S. operations. All locations would offer the same core menu items, but each region would have some different menu items that vary from one another. Chefs that have been trained in China and educated on different regional tastes should help create the core menu items and the different regional items. The final area that must be standardized is accounting practices. The current financial reports are being sent to the U.S. and massaged to meet U.S. GAAP (Bartlett & Han, 2013). All enterprises in China are required to use the Chinese Accounting Standards (CAS) such as the Accounting System for Business Enterprises (ASBE) (China Briefing, 2014). ASBE has similar standings to the U.S. GAAP and the International Financial Reporting Standards (China Briefing, 2014). An international financial analyst should be hired in order to deal with both China and the U.S. financial reports and audits. Financial Analysis A financial analysis of the U.S. and China operations provided information on Levendary Cafà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s current financial status. The income statement for China can be seen below. In China, their food and paper cost is at 51%, which can be attributed to their high number of food options on the menu and the lack of distribution system set up. Once a core menu is created and more locations begin to open, Levendary Cafà © will be able to take advantage of economy of scale and lower food and paper cost. China also has a high occupancy cost at 24%. This could be a result of having to pay extra to get the better locations. In addition the Chinese real estate market is very high meaning that any location is very expensive. During the time of the case study the Chinese real estate was going through a â€Å"golden decade† (Ranasinghe, 2014) which can demonstrate the higher occupancy cost that the Chinese division occurred compared to the United States. The pre-opening expenses (12%) also contributed to the loss of income in the first year for China. After the first year of business, China had a loss of $143,620. China operations also have a lower marketing expense. Marketing is generally not a large expense in China because the local population listens more to radio advertisement, which are cheaper, and rely on word of mouth. Income Statement- China The financial statement of the U.S. operations, which can be seen below, shows that Levendary Cafà © generally follows industry standards. Their food and supply cost are slightly lower than industry standards. Generally, food and supply costs are about 29% of total sales, but Levendary Cafà © food and supply cost are at 24% of total sales. Occupancy costs for Levendary Cafà © are about 4% lower than industry standards. Levendary Cafà © spends more on marketing then industry standards, about 2% higher. Income Statement- United States Cultural Analysis **The above information was sourced from The Hofstede Centre Website (Hofstede Centre, 2010).** By completing a cultural analysis on the two countries, United States and  China, it was easy to determine how the key issue, being communication, came about. Geert Hofstede identified five different dimensions that demonstrate how â€Å"values in the workplace are influenced by culture† (International Business Centre, 2014). The different dimensions that Geert Hofstede identified are: Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism vs. Collectivism, Masculinity vs. Femininity, and Long Term Orientation vs. Short Term Orientation. Through using these five dimensions one can evaluate how each culture approaches these dimensions and how it influences them in the workplace. The score beside each dimension determines how much value they place towards each dimension. It is interesting to note that on only one dimension, Masculinity vs. Femininity, the two countries have a comparative score. It is with these differences that communication issues between the two countries can be seen. Power Distance The Power Distance Dimension looks at the relationship that people hold with others in that country. China scores very highly on this dimension as people value their superiors and do not act outside of their ranking in society. In regards to the case study it is confounding that Chen is unobservant of his superiors power being Mia Foster. In the case Chen is continually rude to Mia and questions her authority. This can be attributed to two different factors. The first of which is that Chen was originally hired by Howard Leventhal therefore Chen believes that Mia is not his superior. Leventhal gave Chen freedom to expand the Levendary business into China with little guidance or instruction. To have a new CEO enter the business Chen will not feel the need to respect Mia, as he still believes his true superior is Leventhal. In addition Chen, while he is from the Chinese culture, had many experiences and training in the United States. Therefore it can be seen that Chen was of American culture and acted as such. The United States had a low score on the Power Distance so while Chen is with the Chinese branch of Levendary he still has the American cultural values. Uncertainty Avoidance Uncertainty Avoidance looks at the way that culture embraces uncertainty. With a low ranking in the Chinese culture it is evident that this country looks at laws as flexible. This is seen in Levendary China as the standards between all the restaurants vary and are different from the brand standards that are seen in the United States Levendary stores. In addition the difference in accounting practices can be seen. The China division was very lenient about their reporting of finance to the US Division. Individualism vs. Collectivism This dimension looks at how individuals think and act, if it is for the greater good or if it is for their own well-being. The Chinese culture looks out for the group when making decisions. This is demonstrated in the case when Chen disrespects Mia Foster. He previously considered Leventhal to be his group and when Mia takes Leventhal’s position then he does not recognize her as an insider. This results in his mistrust of Mia and her authority within the Levendary Cafà © company. Masculinity vs. Femininity The Chinese culture has high ranking in this and is seen through Chen’s demeanor. He is very competitive and is eager to be successful. This is seen through his urge to keep his position with Levendary China and the fast pace in which he opened the stores in China. In addition his actions of being very abrasive with Mia Foster is because he feels threatened that she is trying to take over his position with Levendary. He had never had his business interfered before by anyone from the Denver Headquarters so he put his back up when Mia started to interfere with how he was running his operation. Long Term Orientation vs. Short Term Orientation Long Term and Short Term Orientation looks at how a culture is prepared for the future. The Chinese culture is very focused on planning for a long-term future. This dimension demonstrated the American culture that Chen must have picked up on his time in America. With his time managing the Chinese division of Levendary, Chen was very short sighted and opened up a large amount of stores in a short period time. Instead of formulating a business plan, which would encourage growth for the future of the business, Chen did not have one and was simply opening businesses when he found an available location. Parent Company vs. Subsidiary In this case, the parent company would be Levendary Cafà © U.S. operations and  the subsidiary would be Levendary Cafà © China operations. In terms of restaurant size, U.S. restaurants range from 2,500-4,000 square feet. China restaurants are smaller in size; they range from 500-1,500 square feet. These results in less staff needed for China restaurants, approximately 13-20 staff members. The U.S. restaurants need about 24-26 staff members. The larger U.S. restaurants are able to accommodate more customers; they usually have 84-120 seats and can serve anywhere from 560-3,210 guests per day. Due to smaller size, China restaurants have a maximum of 80 seats currently and can serve 260-430 guests per day. In terms of menu options, the only item that is offered in both the U.S. and China is the chicken sandwich. The Suburban U.S./Denver restaurants make more revenue and have a larger square footage then the China restaurants. However, the China restaurants have higher average revenue per square foot. Restaurants in Beijing make $537.33 revenue per square foot and restaurants in Shanghai make $576.00 revenue per square foot. The Suburban U.S./Denver restaurants make $531.50 revenue per square foot. A chart can be seen below which clearly details the difference between the parent and subsidiary company. Alternatives and Recommendations Alternatives Mia Foster is left with a very difficult decision at the end of the Levendary Cafà © case study. As the new CEO of the company she has to make a decision that will result in profitability for the company and chose an action plan that ensures long-term success for the business. As such that are a variety of alternatives that Mia Foster will have to chose from in order to move forward with the company. The following list presents the many alternatives that should be considered: 1. Shut down all operations and solely focus business in the United States. The China division stores look and feel vary from what the Levendary Brand is trying promote in their US Division. In order to continue with the stores in China then restoration will need to be completed to all the stores. Mia Foster will need to determine if the China division profits are worth the renovations and continuation of Levendary China. 2. Fire Louis Chen and hire a new manager for the China Division. Louis Chen has proven hi mself as a capable entrepreneur and someone who is  knowledgeable of the Chinese retail market. However he lacks communication skills, which was noticeable through the expansion of 23 Levendary shops in China that do not fit with the brand image. Chen is also extremely confrontational and may not be the best fit with the new CEO, Mia Foster, as he already had built a rapport with Howard Leventhal, the previous CEO. If Louis Chen cannot properly function and communicate with the US Levendary division then he may need to be replaced by someone with a fresh perspective on the business. 3. Hire a management firm to manage the China Division of Levendary. It is apparent through the case study that the US Division of Levendary has not been able to communicate in an effective manner with an international branch of their company. The Hofstede Dimensions that were listed above demonstrates the cultural differences that separate the two branches of Levendary. With no cultural training Mia Foster and the US Division are not communicating properly with Louis Chen. An alternative to the situation would be to hire a management firm to look after the China division. A management firm with International experience would be a solution to the communication problem because they would understand how to conduct business while ensuring good communication. 4. Create a separate division of Levendary for the China stores. The Levendary stores in China are off brand from the original concept that is seen through out the United States. This is largely due to the fact there is limited communication because the key players in the United States and Louis Chen in China. In order to fix this problem it would be wise to bring the structure that works so well in the United States and duplicate this order in China. With 23 stores in China, Levendary will need a separate branch in China, as it will provide structure to that side of the business. With more supporting players in China, asides from Louis Chen, then Levendary will be able to maintain the brand and in addition, more supporting managers will ensure that communication is maintained between the US Division and the China Division. 5. Make a joint venture with TATA Group to expand into China. The TATA Group is a â€Å"global enterprise headquartered in India, and comprises over 100 operatin g companies, with operations in more than 100 countries† (TATA, 2015). TATA has operating companies in China and as such they will be able to reduce the large operating costs that Levendary China is currently experiencing. As noted in the Analysis and Evaluation section, the operating  costs are very high. Entering into a joint venture with a company who has established infrastructure will help eliminate these costs and allow Levendary to increase their profits for the first couple of years. In addition the joint venture will allow Levendary to be partnered with people who are culturally aware and possess cultural intelligence. 6. Replace the US Division Chief Operating Officer, Nick White. It was easy to identify that communication was a large issue between the US and China Division Levendary. It is easy to target Louis Chen as the main culprit of this issue as he was combative and disrespectful to Mia Foster. However the blame can also be placed onto the COO of the US Division, Nick White because he was responsible for keeping communication with China and overseeing the brand image in China. Nick White clearly let this responsibility go and as a result the China Division does not reflect the US vision for Levendary. If someone has to answer for the mistakes that were made in China than perhaps it should not be Louis Chen but instead it could be Nick White. Recommendation After evaluating all of the above alternatives for Mia Foster and Levendary Cafà © to pursue it was decided that the best alternative would be number 4, create a separate division of Levendary for the China stores. This alternative includes renewing the contract for Louis Chen and brings more managers to China to help grow Levendary in the China market with the vision and brand image of the US Division. Levendary in the United States can contribute a large portion of their success to their hierarchal structure as it allowed for proper communication and good reporting methods. If Levendary China were to create a China Division then it would allow for better communication between the United States and China and Chen would have the support he needs to ensure the brand image is seen between all stores. Action Plan In order to properly implement the alternative that was stated above, an action plan is needed. The action plan is detailed below through three different stages. The Short Term Plan looks at what the business should do in one years time, the Medium Term plan looks at what the business should do in two to three years time and the Long Term plan encompasses a five year  outlook. This is detailed below: Short Term: 1) The first critical step that needs to be taken is to ensure that proper communication starts immediately between Mia Foster and Louis Chen. If the two parties were to sit together and put all of their issues out then they can sort their current problems. Starting with good communication between Foster and Chen will ensure that it continues into their future business dealings. 2) Renew the contract with that Louis Chen has with Levendary China. Louis Chen has proven to be a valuable asset with Levendary Cafà © as he knows the retail market and is passionate about the work that he is doing. While it is arguable that Chen did not complete his work in a successful manner, he was with out support and was given little direction and free reign from the former CEO, Leventhal. With support and proper structure Chen should be able to work within these constraints. Therefore it can be seen that his contract should be renewed for another term with the stipulation that Chen will be working underneath other Levendary managers in China. 3) Denver Headquarters will need to create a business plan for their operations in China. With 23 locations currently in China they will have to decide which locations needs renovations and if all 23 should be maintained. By restructuring the current operations in China, Levendary Cafà © will have a more focused plan that will allow for the China operations to strive. If the Denver Headquarters were to work with Chen and use his knowledge of the China market than they can collaborate and develop a structured business plan. 4) Once a proper business plan has been developed Chen will need immediate support in China. By creating a separate China Division Chen will have the support he needs to standardize operations and reinvigorate the Levendary brand. Managers with cultural training should be placed into the new China Headquarters. Chen will be a regional Vice President however a new top manager will be placed in this division who will be above Chen on the hierarchy and will be the direct contact between itself and Denver. Medium Term: 1) Standardize operations all throughout the China Division. This includes a standardized brand image through all stores and a consistent menu. As with all locations in the United States there are set menu items in all locations  with special items according to the region. Levendary China will need conduct market research that will allow them to understand menu staples that should be available in all locations. In addition regional specialties should be included on the menu. 2) In addition to the standardization of restaurant practices the accounting practices will also need to be redeveloped. As per Chinese law all foreign business enterprises must follow the Chinese Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (China Briefing , 2013). Levendary China must follow â€Å"Accounting Standards for Business Enterprises† (China Briefing , 2013) and the Denver Headquarters should hire an international auditor who can then transfer all numbers to follow the US GAAP. 3) Monitor the new business plan for Levendary China and ensure that it is being properly followed and that brand standards are being maintained. Long Term: 1) Mia Foster should monitor and evaluate China operations on a constant basis. This will ensure that communication is kept to a high standard and that the brand image remains constant. 2) Once operations in China find their place in the market, Levendary China should appoint a Chief Franchise Officer who will develop franchise opportunities in China. This will allow more stores to be built and the brand to have more exposure with less of a expense put on the company. 3) A re-evaluation of their foreign expansion should be completed. The company should decide if they would like to find other potential foreign markets where they could continue the growth of Levendary or if they should focus directly on their domestic growth. Additional Questions 1. As it relates to the case, explain what this passage implies: An old mentor had once told Foster that there were three types of managers in a new business’s evolution to greater scale: the go-getter, the local baron, and the professional manager. All three types could be entrepreneurial in spirit, but not all were equally well suited for the various stages of a business’s growth. Chen was clearly a go-getter who had evolved to become a local baron. The question in Foster’s mind was whether he could transition to become a professional manager. Before answering the question of whether or not Louis Chen can become a professional manager, it is important to  identify the characteristics of one. The discussion in class brought to light that a professional manager is someone that has an understanding of the long term goals of a company, understands the value of standardization among all locations and understands the value and importance of brand image. A professio nal manager should also be educated and trained; furthermore, this individual needs to assume the role of middleman and understand top management’s goals and relay this information to his employees while collecting their feedback. Lastly, the class discussion brought to the surface that a professional manager should have extensive core knowledge on how the company should operate. Further research has shown that a professional manager should know how to plan, organize, lead and control all the efforts of his/her employees to complement the company’s values and standards (Sandeep, 2013). Howard Leventhal chose Louis Chen for his role because of Chen’s energy and enthusiasm. On a personal level it reminded Leventhal of himself at a younger age. Howard had told Chen to establish a strong market position as a base to eventually franchise outlets throughout China with the instructions to â€Å"do the right thing by the concept† but was given the freedom to operate the restaurants as he saw fit (Han & Bartlett, 2013). To enter the market in China Chen said himself â€Å"We just have to be flexible†¦Chinese eat few dairy products, so we should downplay our cheese soup†¦most people arenà ¢â‚¬â„¢t familiar with turkey, but they love chicken, so we’ll adapt the menu just as we do in the States† (Han & Bartlett, 2013). Chen believed that Levendary could succeed if it adapted its food and concept. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary a go-getter is a person who works very hard and who wants very much to succeed (Encyclopoedia Britannica Company). Chen demonstrated the characteristics of a go getter as he opened up the first Levendary Cafà © only three months after returning from Denver. This location was a corner ground floor location in a new high-rise office building and the concept of the restaurant was prominent and luxurious. This restaurant was positioned as casual dining with table service and higher prices than local fast food concepts (Han & Bartlett, 2013). This location proved to be a hit among the white-collar employees working in the building. Because of competition Chen was forced to move quickly to purchase locations for the remaining restaurants and in the first year managed to secure prime locations for good prices and grow the chain to  23 restaurants. Then Chen demonstrated he was a local baron with his in depth knowledge of the Chinese market and was familiar with the neighborhoods in Shanghai and Beijing; his real estate knowledge was a major asset for the Levendary brand. He said it himself that he wa s in the trenches running 23 restaurants that he had built by reading market needs and sending opportunities (Han & Bartlett, 2013). Based on the information collected from the case it does not appear that Chen could develop into a professional manager. Because Chen wasn’t given any direction, he took it upon himself to change the concept, the look and feel and the menu items of Levendary Cafà ©. However, the way he handled Mia Foster and her colleagues from Denver and based on the definition of a professional manager Chen can’t develop into a professional manager and Levendary should look for someone to lead the China team while he continues to focus on the 23 restaurants that he has already built. Chen also became very defensive when Mia tried to communicate with him and based on the definition of a professional, he should be open to listen to their suggestions and input and adapt them to Levendary in China. If Chen had the instincts of a professional manager he would have taken it upon himself to contact his colleagues in Denver to update them on the progress he was making in China and should have taken the standards and values of Levendary Cafà © and applied them in China because that was his responsibility. To become a professional manager Chen would have to see the value of standardizing all the restaurants; however he did provide a great platform for the future growth of Levendary in China and should be kept on the team with certain responsibilities and be made aware of the expectations from Mia Foster. Works Cited Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada. (2010). Health and Wellness Trends : U.S. Market. Ottawa: Government of Canada. Bartlett, C., & Han, A. (2013). Levendary Cafe: The China Challenge. Boston: Harvard Business School. China Briefing . (2013, February 5). China GAAP vs. U.S. GAAP and IFRS. Retrieved February 10, 2015, from China Briefing: http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2013/02/05/china-gaap-vs-u-s-gaap-and-ifrs.html China Briefing. (2014). Retrieved February 10, 2015, from China GAAP vs. U.S. GAAp and IFRS: