African continent Essay

My friend came from the African continent, we had shared a lot since we had met in high school and she had always told me stories of her country, most of the stories sounded interestingly and I knew deep down in my heart that it would be a place I would want to visit probably for adventure purposes. It was one of the school holidays when she had been preparing to go back home for an event that was important to her and her clansmen. She had told me that it would be great event and that I was welcome to attend, then event was supposed to go for a week. I was hesitant at first because I knew that I would a lot of money for my transport and accommodation but still really needed to go for an adventure. I thought about it for about six months and I approaching my parents to see if they could finance me. It took a few days when at last they both asked me how safe I would being that far from home. My dad had wondered how safe Africa could be and especially for someone like me who had never been there before. When I convinced them that my friend would take care of me and always give me company they granted my wish! I remember having sat next to my friend in the plane leaving for Nairobi with a lot of anxiety, many imaginations but soon feel asleep since the journey was a long one. We flew for many hours and eventually got to land in the large airport that was filled with peoples movements. We walked out through the arrivals exit and I followed my friends who led me to a huge group of people who I came to learn later that they were her relatives. We put our bags onto a car, entered and were driven off. We then reached to her parents’ home and for sure I could see that it was full of people, my friend told me that the main event was going to take place the following day and that is the reason there were so many people to do the preparation. We were walked through the people as we shook their hands a way of greeting in many parts of Africa. I was shown the room that I would spend my nights which was well lit and next to where my friend was to occupy. The next morning we were woken up very early, I had lost truck of time and I kept trying to figure out and adjust to the time zones. I had told that this day marked a very important transition period to the age group; it was their initiation day! That the process takes a week, which all the initiates had been sent away from home to the wild for months! When the right time reached I saw a parade of many young looking people all in traditional attires, they looked so wonderful! They had colors on their heads and funny slipper- like shoes. There was a lot of singing and dancing, ooh it was wonderful! The main ceremony/initiation process was to start at 4. 30 in the morning and it was a circumcision ceremony. Very old people were to perform the act, the initiates were many and that the process as painful as it is they do not administer anesthesia this way they rate the initiate who undergoes the whole process without any sign of fear or pain as the bravest one. Now I realized at some point that some girls I had seen at the parade were also waiting to undergo the same procedure! I couldn’t believe it, how could a society be so cruel? How could anyone want to mutilate the genitals of a female? I kept asking my friend and I was in total dismay! She kept telling me that it is the society way of intiating the girl child from childhood to adulthood. But I wondered why through such a cruel act? Can’t there be anyone who can stand against it and educate this society the health damages associated? I then observed that the same razor blades were used on all the initiates and at this point I made up my mind that I was not going to leave this place having not conveyed my dismay to the few people who would care to listen. There was so much tension as the process took place, much tension from the parents of the initiates because if anyone cried or screamed during the process they could be left alone and the whole society would treat such a person as a coward. Every time the operation went well there would be ululations in high voices. The few times the operation didn’t go smoothly there would kicks and blows it was so cruel. That whole event challenged me to try and convince the people there how wrong it was to use the same blades, the dangers of HIV and AIDS associated to sharing such items, the health problems associated to Female Genital Mutilation and for sure I was met with hostility but with time since it sank down in some people and they began to see the truth of the matter. Well, I got the contacts of those I found to be reasonable and I have continued to having communication with them, trying to educate them on these matters but the response is slow and I don’t think I will give up even if it takes my life time to have spread this word.

Bahram Ahmadi

A programme of work for the implementation of a strategy is a large set of coherent guidelines that include several activities in the program so as to achieve certain objectives. It involves several processes including organising, coordination, developing, designing, training, building, developing, growing, closing, etc. In any program strategy for a project, the objectives of the organisation play a very important role.The project program strategy gives importance to the manager that would be responsible for carrying out the operations of the project, the timing and the nature of the activities, and the dealing with specific tastes of the customers. Project program strategy is highly specific to a project. However, there may be more than one strategy to be employed to meet the objectives of the project. During the planning stages, the managers would sit down to develop a strategy.These strategies are developed so as to be appropriate with the characteristics of the organisation, hum an resources, geographical location, social features, politics, etc (Walter, 1999). For each project in an organisation, the program of work (workflow as such) is managed independently. The project manager would be looking at several limitations in the resources, including time, money and the scope.A project may fail due to several reasons (including deficiency of resources, lack of goals, conflict issues, problems with the customers, etc), and the manager would have to anticipate these problems right during the initiation of the project and ensure that a problem-solving process is enabled. Each project manager would be determining the ongoing processes in the project through monitoring and evaluation of the performances.The project manager would have to adopt different strategies so that the organisation could achieve certain objectives and hence reach a desired goal (Brentani, 2003, Walter, 1999, University of Texas, 2007 & Rad, 2006). The process of developing a strategy for the project is very simple. The managers would have to sit down and decide the various objectives that need to be achieved by the project. The means of achieving such objectives need to be discussed. The manager should involve other parties including the administration, the portfolio manager and the stakeholders.It may be very difficult to come to a consensus if too many people are involved in the process. This is because several people may have different values, outlines and approaches. The process of setting up the objectives, determining the goals and the ways of achieving them is very tedious and could take a long time. The manager should associate the strategy needed to achieve the objectives. During the final stages, the manager would have to also ensure that the strategy/ies adopted help to meet the objectives (Walter, 1999)On the other hand, portfolio of the project management is an approach in which various projects in an organisation are treated as smaller portions of a much l arger venture (with respect to investment and resource allocations). The project portfolio management would be functional right from the initiation of the project to the very completion. Certain instruments are utilised in the portfolio project management to help the managers (including planning, allocation of resources, evaluation, monitoring, analysing, standardization, etc).This can be considered as a centralised instrument required to effectively handle several projects in an organisation and to study the performance of several projects that may run in an organisation. It can be utilised to compare and contrast various projects. One very important feature of project portfolio management is to determine the costs, expenditure, benefits, investments and other features of the project. In recent years portfolio management has turned out to be a very important aspect of planning, especially in IT firms.IT companies would be managing several projects and programs running in various pa rts of the world through an effective portfolio management system. Studies conducted in the past have demonstrated a little less than half of the IT companies are unable to meet their targets due to inefficient portfolio management (Oracle, 2007, Stanford University, 2007 & UMT Consulting Services, 2007). The portfolio manager mix of projects should be such that the resources of the organisation are utilised effectively.They should be selected in such a way that the risks are significantly reduced. The portfolio manager is in a good position to priortize the projects and accordingly allocates the resources. He should be able to select the project based on their ability to fulfil certain criteria (Crow, 2004 & Oracle, 2007). A portfolio management system would be much broader and would include several other processes such as defining the opportunities, bringing those projects into the focus that would be able to achieve some objectives, monitoring of the projects, etc.Portfolio manag ement should be considered to be an art rather than a science. Frequently, portfolio managers would have to work with the fund managers of the organisation, so that there is effective use of the money. Portfolio management is frequently utilised in several developed, and slowly developing nations are moving towards effective portfolio management (Crow, 2004, Brentani, 2003 & Rad, 2006). A portfolio management system is often utilised by an organisation to bring about success in the project (as many projects could be effectively be handled simultaneously).A portfolio may be funds or resources and can be utilised by the organisation to increase returns over a very short period of time. An organisation would observe that the resources available at any point of time would be less than the amount of resources required by a particular project. Hence, one of the main objectives of the portfolio managers would be to effectively manage the resources of several ongoing projects. The managemen t of the organisation needs to sit and figure out what the commitment of the organisation would actually be.As management of an organisation is a dynamic process, this exercise has to be done from time to time. Besides, actually managing several resources including human resources, logistics, IT, support systems, etc, time also needs to be handled. The management should be very much interested in ensuring that the portfolio management processes are enabled properly. The organisation should ensure that the interests of each and every protject are enabled. If a project is not performing properly, the ideal plan would be to discontinue it, if the organisation does not have the resources to handle it.A proper flow of information of the project should exist so that the process of monitoring is effective. It is very important that the projects be managed in a formal and official manner. The data that would be flowing would be much more accurate and effective in ensuring the objectives of the organisation are met. There should be a clear flow of data between the programs, projects and the portfolios (Brentani, 2003, Walter, 1999, & Rad, 2006). In the portfolio management, all the projects that are ongoing in the organisation are chosen and a standardised fashion of evaluating them is utilised.Portfolio management is very much required for the production, development and the utilisation of ideas and intellectual property in various projects in an organisation. The portfolio manager would be performing various tasks such as reallocating and promoting the staff members (as per their characteristics) in various projects. Thus it can be seen that if an organisation has a very good portfolio manager, he would be using the human resources very efficiently (UMT Consulting Group, 2007). The entire framework of portfolio management involves three steps, namely creating, selecting and managing.The goals and the strategies to be adopted in the portfolio management are made keepi ng in mind the characteristics of the organisation. Accordingly, new opportunities that are present should be identified and resources allocated. The objectives have to be prioritised and the tasks and activities that are to be done are selected. Finally, it is also important that the project be managed in the most efficient and organised manner (UMT Consulting Group, 2007). Many organisations do not have any portfolio management process running.Only the companies that feel that research frequently perform it and development is vital for the well being of the company. Only about 10 % of all organisations in the industry do have a strong portfolio management system in place. If a portfolio management system were not in place, then all the projects in the organisation would be given equal amount of importance or authorisation. This would result in all the projects that are going on in the organisation are given equal amount of resources (Rad, 2006).In an organisation, the project or t he program manager would ensure that the project could achieve its objectives. On the other hand, the portfolio manager would ensure that the operational activities and the maintenance programs in the organisation are smooth and functional. The team leader and the middle scale managers usually do the project management. On the other hand, the higher staff members including the administration do the portfolio management.The higher management of the organisation would be concentrating on the portfolio, rather than the functioning of each individual project (Brentani, 2003 & Rad, 2006). In a project or a program management, the team leaders and the manager would ensure that the staff members meet the specific goals of the project. The organisations main aim would be to deliver quality products or services. The portfolio manager would instead be ensuring that the goals of each and every project are in tune with that of the organisation.In the project management, a lot of importance is g iven to completing the tasks on time and ensuring that costs are limited. On the other hand, the portfolio management would be concentrating to a very less extent on fulfilling completion tasks on time and using the minimal amount of resources. The members of the portfolio management team would include the leader, the stakeholder, advocates, project managers and the office managers (Brentani, 2003, Stanford University, 2007 & Rad, 2006). The project or the program management should work in coordination with the portfolio management.Several processes in the project such as selection of the resources, prioritisation of the targets of the project, and the resource allocation should be performed in the most appropriate manner. The decision-making of the project needs to be very active and dynamic in nature. Informed decision-making and resource allocation is very important for the project to function properly. The project or program manager has to ensure that certain structures or a fra mework in the organisation is in place before the functional activities can be carried out.The project environment should be such that the objectives kept in mind can be achieved. The program manager and the portfolio manager should ensure that an environment is created that would be conducive to achieving the objectives of the organisation. The project members should function as a team so that the objectives are met. The team working on the project should have the skill, experience, knowledge and the competence to carry out the tasks of the project.One of the main reasons why projects do not succeed is because they may take long time to produce the results or may consume a lot of the resources. To ensure the project is effective (to ensure completion of the tasks) and efficient (completion of the tasks with appropriate use of the resources) in its objectives, it is very much needed that both the project management and the portfolio management work in close coordination with each ot her (Brentani, 2003 & Rad, 2006). The management activities of the portfolio management would be repetitive in nature.On the other hand, the management activities of the project management would be cyclic in nature. If the portfolio manager can take care of the functioning of all the projects, then the organisation can be considered to be very competitive. If a project does well, it would have an impact on the functioning of the organisation, but also on other projects (Brentani, 2003 & Rad, 2006). Portfolio management would definitely help the organisation to grow, expand and develop. The wealth of the organisation would increase with an effective portfolio management strategy.The portfolio manager would be bringing in various assets (including infrastructure, support systems, financial resources, human resources, logistics, etc) and securities into the organisation. He would be considering investing in various ways including growth stock investing and value stock investing. From t ime to time, the objectives of the organisation would vary and hence, it is the duty of the portfolio managers to vary the investment pattern in the organisation. A greater amount of flexibility would be required.The management style of the portfolio managers should also vary depending on the needs (Brentani, 2003). A portfolio manager and the program/project manager would be concentrating on different characteristics of the project. The portfolio manager would be using the PPM (project portfolio management) tools, whereas the project manager would be using the single-project management tools. The PPM tools would ensure that the functioning becomes more and more efficient, the costs are effectively distributed and the profits of the organisation are increased.It also ensures that the organisation is following a particular framework whilst managing the projects (Brentani, 2003 & UMT, 2007). Each project has to be carefully planned and implemented in the organisation. The entire proje ct management should be done in phases. The project management tools would ensure that the staff members make effective use of the resources in the organisation and ensure completion of the targets that are required within the project. The project manager would have to motivate the staff so that the work is improved in quality and the project is able to achieve its targets.Only if the management practises of the project are appropriate, could it be able to achieve its objectives (Free Management Library, 2007, Brentani, 2003 & Rad, 2006). The program strategy would be concerning a greater amount of internal issues with relation to the project, whereas the project portfolio management would be concerning the external issues. It is necessary that the portfolio mangers align their objectives as per the strategic objectives of each program.The portfolio processes should be customised to suit other management processes that would be functional in the organisation, simultaneously. Both pr ogram strategy management and portfolio management involve interacting with the clients, and hence demonstrate the importance of clients with respect to management and its processes (Stanford University, 2007). References: Brentani, C. (2003), Portfolio Management, Elsevier, Philadelphia http://books. google. com/books? id=8LJrilH_eEEC&pg=PT14&dq=portfolio+management&sig=x-IYrHl67RaZTocKedqv_fTBX3w#PPT16,M1Crow, K. (2004), A Practical Approach To Portfolio Management, [Online], Available: http://www. npd-solutions. com/portfolio. html, [Accessed: 2007, August 18]. Free Management Library (2007), Project Management, [Online], Available: http://www. managementhelp. org/plan_dec/project/project. htm, [Accessed: 2007, August 18]. Oracle (2007), Peoplesoft Enterprise Project Portfolio Management, [Online], Available: http://www. oracle. com/media/peoplesoft/en/pdf/datasheets/e_epm_ds_projportmgmt_41005. pdf, [Accessed: 2007, August 18]. Rad, P.F. & Levin, G. (2006), Project Portfolio Man agement, IIL, New York. http://books. google. com/books? id=PUavbSMdP7QC&pg=PA7&dq=project+portfolio+management&sig=Nwscmbzr4s8B_X2cHG26-1hiW9Y#PPA10,M1 Stanford Advanced Project Management (2007), Mastering the Project Portfolio, [Online], Available: http://apm. stanford. edu/courses/MPP. html, [Accessed: 2007, August 18]. Stanford University (2007), Portfolio Management Team, [Online], Available: http://www. stanford. edu/dept/its/projects/PMO/files/pmt. html, [Accessed: 2007, August 18].Walter, S. L. (1999), Defining and developing program strategies, [Online], Available: http://www. sil. org/lingualinks/literacy/PlanALiteracyProgram/DefiningAndDevelopingProgramSt. htm, [Accessed: 2007, August 18]. Walter, S. L. (1999), Defining program objectives, [Online], Available: http://www. sil. org/lingualinks/literacy/PlanALiteracyProgram/DefiningProgramObjectives. htm, [Accessed: 2007, August 18]. UMT Consulting Services (2007), PPM – Project Portfolio Management Consulting, [Onl ine], Available: http://www.umt. com/site/PPM-Consulting_60. html? PHPSESSID=9917b5631be27d19dbb1d077885e2866, [Accessed: 2007, August 18]. UMT Consulting Group (2007), What's Really Driving the Importance of Portfolio Management? (DM Review, February 27, 2004), [Online], Available: http://www. umt. com/site/Why-Portfolio-Management_4. html, [Accessed: 2007, August 18]. University of Texas –DIIA (2007), Project management tutorial, [Online], Available: http://www. utexas. edu/academic/cit/howto/tutorials/project/index. html, [Accessed: 2007, August.

Can Failure Lead to Success

Failure is to success as practice is to perfection. One who perseveres to achieve a paragon of whatever it may be will one day accomplish that task. In the same sense, an average human being who makes mistakes, like the rest of us, must fail in order to reach the level of success that he or she is determined to. A transient feeling of doubt may come across after or during the breakdown, but learning to be optimistic in such situations will abet one to learn from the wrong-doing and make better of themself.Any obstacle to stand in someone’s way of acquiring success is simply just a nudge in a different direction. Failure gives you the opportunity to come back stronger and braver. You are given a chance to work even harder than you did in the past. Assiduity and confidence is the key to picking up from any debacle that may influence you to give up. Imagine interviewing for a job that seemed like the best out there for you, but you didn’t get it.However, another job comes up that pays more and fits more comfortably for your schedule. A frustration of decline suddenly becomes something gained. Everything will soon be put into its’ right place, which is something pivotal to remember when you are in a struggle. Now that you have undergone such a negative time period of failure, you have been given a learning experience. Your stream of thought has been influenced and enriched. It is easier to develop new and different ideas, being that you must erase previous concepts.Make a new approach, take a risk, or test out something new to see a change in what you have done. All you have room left for is improvement, so doubting yourself will lead you nowhere. Learn from the mistakes that you have made in order to never run into them again on your road to success. Think of your downfalls as different plans that didn’t work out, rather than complete failures with no advantage. There are always things to learn, ways to grow, and new opportunities waiti ng for you.Failure can very well lead to success, but it all depends on you. Don’t be pessimistic when you must make new attempts in different situations. Be the best you can be so that your efforts can shine through in your work. Desire to succeed is much greater at this point, meaning you can truly stay focused on your goals. Viewing failure as the end of your road is the biggest mistake of all. Simply consider it the beginning of something potentially better.

Communications. The origin of capitalism Summary. By Ellen Meiksins Research Paper

Communications. The origin of capitalism Summary. By Ellen Meiksins Wood 17 page reading - Research Paper Example 4. English tenants were stimulated to enhance productivity while capitalism was developing in contrast to the aristocratic culture in which the rulers oppressed the peasants rather than building up on productivity. 5. Capitalist development promoted the growth of independent commodity production in the 16th century England by transforming the feudalism-based relation between landlords and peasants into market-mediated relation. 6. The peasants, as producers, could establish capitalism back in medieval England only if given chance by their landlords who mostly tried to squeeze more surplus labor out of them without rewarding them. 7. In France, the peasants had easier access to the property and firmer hold on it, so they had no trouble in establishing capitalist mode of development by resisting the increasing pressures from landlords. 8. Locke’s view of property, which lays stress on productivity and labor value, laid foundation for the industrial capitalism. 9. The class strug gle or conflict over property rights between the ruling class and the poor subordinates seen in the 17th century English Revolution also contributed in developing capitalism.

Law Essay - Criminal Law Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Law - Criminal Law - Essay Example Therefore in respect of the facts at hand unless a case beyond reasonable is made in respect of John he would be deemed to be innocent. (Woolmington v. DPP)1 (Oremond et al, 2011) On the basis of the above discussion it is important to bear in mind that criminal liability would accrue if the offence is proved beyond reasonable doubt and the burden of proof vests with the prosecution. An important principle that is also laid down is that the actus reus and mens rea of the offence must coincide, however the courts have adopted a broad approach in respect of the same. (Clarkson et al, 2010) In respect of proving an offence the requirement is that of actus reus, mens rea and the absence of any defence (Lord Diplock in R v Miller). There has been an important requirement that actus reus and mens rea need to coincide, however it is pertinent to mention that the said requirement has been interpreted broadly. (Fagan v. Commissioner of Police)2. A situation where it was found that the actus r eus and mens rea had coincided was that the conduct of the defendant created a situation of danger (R v. Miller)3. (Oremond et al, 2011) The actus reus of an offence is usually satisfied when a positive act is committed. There has often been the requirement that the act that has been committed must be voluntary, as was defined by Lord Denning that ‘No act is punishable if it is done involuntarily, and an involuntary act in this context...means an act which is done by the muscles without any control by the mind such as spasm, a reflex action or a convulsion; or an act done by a person who is not conscious of what he is doing such as an act done whilst suffering from concussion or whilst sleepwalking...’ (Bratty v Attorney General for Northern Ireland)4 . Thus the act of the defendant must therefore be voluntary and a wilful movement of body. (Simester et al 2009), The second element is that of mens rea which deals with the state of mind of the accused. The criteria for m ens rea has been developed and is ongoing for a number of years and the cases that were decided upon took into consideration the intention, subjective recklessness, objective recklessness, lacuna etc. (Simester et al 2009), As far as mens is concerned the current situation is that of Woollin5 and R v. G which has been attained after refining of the original test for intention. Thus the test is that there must either be direct intent that is the defendant had intended a result by committing the particular act; or oblique intent that is the result may have been that which was a virtually certain consequence of the act. (Oremond et al, 2011) The issue in respect of the liability that requires an evaluation is that whether in respect of the facts at hand there is an element of causation which would break the chain of causation. The test of causation first deals with factual issues that is would the harm have occurred but for the action of the defendant, this is what is known as the â₠¬Ëœbut for’ test (R v. White)6. It is evident by the facts that the act of John had led to the harm and so the ‘but for’ test proves the fact that the harm was in fact caused by John. The second issue requires determination of legal causation that is whether the acts of John were the substantial and the operating cause

Business strategy of IKEA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Business strategy of IKEA - Essay Example Strong Connection with Culture: The IKEA furniture has become an essential part of the culture. Its perennial existence has made it the de facto furniture company and many of its products have a long history. Employee Focus on Thrift: In an environment of increasing competition every last penny has value. The practice and culture of employees being thrifty to ensure that they utilize every last penny properly indicates that the firm’s culture dictated that resources be used properly. Staffing levels are appropriate, and not excessive, and even top employees fly economy to indicate that squandering of resources will not be tolerated. Entrepreneurial spirit of the Kamprands: Kamprand was known for his entrepreneurial abilities and skill of identifying profit opportunities. He had a knack of choosing the ventures with most potential. Even with IKEA he was able to establish a low cost supply line very early into the firm’s existence. High Turnover to Visits ration: IKEA pos es a high visits to turnover ratio. For every million visits to the store revenue of 34 million is generated. This is a really good figure as it reflects the firms’ brilliant selling skills and customer loyalty. Strong presence in 25-50 year old population: The strong connection of Sec B and C to IKEA is a strongpoint for the firm. Even some portion of the A class consider IKEA as an option. The customers are smart, hence IKEA doesn’t need to do the pitch for everyone. Weaknesses: The weakness of IKEA will help us evaluate what is wrong with the firm and how it can improve it for the betterment of its owners and stakeholders. Informal ownership structure/No Shares: The absence of shareholders and a proper board of directors means that there is little accountability of managerial... This essay discusses that home furnishing was a market with immense potential globally. The global sales for the industry reached a staggering $600 Billion in items such as furniture, textile, and floor coverings. A significant percentage (less than 50%) of these sales were constituted by furniture stores. IKEA was standing strong with a 2.5% share in the global market and reaching sales of greater than $20 Billion. The market was highly fragmented, with most of the competition occurring locally rather than globally. Strengths are the core competencies and strong points of firms. A look at the strengths of IKEA would give us an idea of how the firm has been so successful throughout the years. The IKEA furniture has become an essential part of the culture. Its perennial existence has made it the de facto furniture company and many of its products have a long history. The weakness of IKEA will help us evaluate what is wrong with the firm and how it can improve it for the betterment of its owners and stakeholders. The absence of shareholders and a proper board of directors means that there is little accountability of managerial practices. The domination of the Kamprand family means that the corporate structure format of firms is missing and the firm continues to be more of a family businesses influenced by incumbents rather than managerial experts. IKEA has taken the rough route in times of tough economic conditions. It has got rid of workers and insisted on cost cutting rather than innovation. This, however, was the need of the hour as the economic conditions demanded such action.

Choose any topic and story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Choose any topic and story - Essay Example As Matt orders Richard around with a gun pointed at him, Richard reveals to him that he wanted to get back with his wife, but Frank was â€Å"always with her† (Dubus). In order to get back with Mary, Richard thinks that he must completely remove the hindrance to their marriage, who is Frank. At the same time, Matt tells Willis that his wife, Ruth, is always crying because she keeps on seeing him around. Matt also thinks that though Richard might be jailed for twenty years, he will be young enough to continue his life after prison life, unlike his son, Frank, who is already dead. Matt justifies that killing Richard will give peace to him and his wife. Emily, on the opposite, does not kill for revenge, but to avoid the misery of loneliness. She does not want to be alone again, so she poisoned Homer when she believes that he is about to leave her, instead of marrying her. Emily has lived a long, lonely life because of her domineering father who drove all her suitors away and Homer might be her only companion in life. Emily also lacks friends because people think that the Griersons are full of pride because of their social class. Without Homer, she will be lonelier since she already experienced what it means to be loved and to love, so she kills him so he can be with her forever. Despite this difference, Matt and Emily are also selfish in their motivations. Matt wants to kill Richard even when he feels guilty over it. He knows that it is wrong to take another man’s life, but he wants to do it to erase his guilt for not taking care of his kids well as he used to when they were younger. Emily is also selfish because she wants to control Homer for eternity. Hence, there is a difference in the exact motive for their killings, but Emily and Matt both did it for selfish reasons too. I feel more empathy for Matt than Emily because I cannot imagine losing my own child at such a young age. Frank is at the prime of his life. He has

Interpret the result in your report. Also, your report and model Essay

Interpret the result in your report. Also, your report and model (where possible) should analyse the following- - Essay Example In both cases, the major components of the statements are explained e.g. remunerations disclosures, segment reports and interests disclosures have been made. The reliability of the financial statements has also been made better by the better governance structure and the independence of the auditors. According to the auditor’s reports, the financial statements give a true and fair view of the positions of the company. Moreover, both M & S and Morrison have reported the financial performance in a comparable manner. The performance in 2011 has been compared to those of 2010 to help investors monitor the firms’ progress. Notwithstanding, the notes to the financial statements have been compiled to make the information better understandable. Comparatively, Mark Spencer notes are detailed. On the element of legislations, the companies’ strategies have incorporated their products and services to satisfy the expectation of the customers and the society. For instance, Morrison is committed towards reducing the quantity of carbon released to the environment. In both cases, the users to the financial statements are the shareholders, investors, customers, the government and competitors (Palepu & Healy, 2008). The government requires the information for determining the tax amounts, customers for purposes of knowing progress of the companies and shareholders for monitoring the companies return (Palepu & Healy, 2008). The complex nature of the financial statements and the accounting jargon is the limitation in the financial reports. In conclusion, the preparation of the financial statements in accordance to the accounting standards and the companies act is necessary for comparison purposes and uniformity in reporting. This explains why both the companies have largely there is no major differences in reporting. Wahlen, JM, Bradshaw, M, Baginski, SP, & Stickney, CP, 2011, Financial reporting, financial statement analysis, and valuation: a

New Venture Development Business Plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4500 words

New Venture Development Business Plan - Essay Example It is a private company incorporated in Hong Kong. There is a shift towards consumption of organic foods in China, especially in Hong Kong city because of extensive campaigns urging people to embrace organic products. Increasing population, high number of food poisoning scares as well as need for healthy eating is driving demand of organic vegetables and fruits to the roof in Hong Kong. Therefore, organic products markets is growing rapidly and is promising higher returns to investors. The business is a limited private company owned by a single person. The owner of the company contributed HK$106,000 and borrowed HK$60,000 to finance start-up and part of the working capital. Table of Contents 4.4 Regulatory requirements 8 4.5 Industry challengers 9 5.0 Customer 9 5.1 Understanding the customer 9 5.2 Target customer profile 10 6.0 Competition 10 6.1 Competitor Analysis 10 6.1.1 Direct Competitors 11 6.1.2 Indirect Competitors 11 6.2 Competitive analysis 11 6.2.1 Competitive Advantages 11 6.3 Entry and Growth Strategy 12 7.1 Objectives 13 7.5 The Product 14 8.1 Overview 15 8.2 Pricing strategy 15 8.3 Sales Tactics 16 8.4 Advertising and Promotion 16 8.5 Marketing Communications Strategy 16 9.0 Operations Plan 17 10.2 Personnel Plan 19 11.1 Start-up Summary 20 11.3 Breakeven analysis 21 11.4 Balance Sheet 21 11.5 Income Statement 21 11.6 Cash Flows 21 13.0 References 23 14.0 Appendixes 24 1.0 Introduction The organic vegetable and fruit market has been growing steadily in Hong Kong. This is because disposable income of people in China, especially Hong Kong is steadily increasing. In addition, in recent years, there have been incidences of food poisoning caused by chemical components in food and more people are shying away from chemically processed food. They are becoming more health conscious and are spending thousands of dollars to purchase organic products, especially food. Therefore, the market segment for organic vegetables and fruits is promising. 2.0 The orga nic vegetable concept After working in a grocery shop for over one year, Tim Chan discovered that most consumers in Hong Kong were turning to organic foods especially vegetables and fruits because they were consumed on daily basis. This is because of rising concerns of food poisoning and danger posed by processed and non-organic food to people’s health as informed by the media and health care practitioners. Four in every eighty consumers who visited the food store where Tim Chan worked asked for organic fruits and vegetables. Therefore, Tim Chan identified a growing opportunity to run an organic food store that specialized in vegetables and fruits sourced locally and from western countries. 3.0 Opportunity Rational China is one of the fast growing and lucrative markets in the world with a huge business promise to thirsty entrepreneurs and business persons. As disposable income increases in urban China, people are more preoccupied with higher standard of living and are turning to organic products, especially food to achieve better health status. China’s Urban and rural population spent between 37.9% and 43.7% of their disposable income on food (Lu ,2010). The market for organic food is big and unquenchable. According to (NTZE 2010), the supply of organic foods in China, especially Hong Kong is very low and there is need to increase supply. In addition, food and grocery market segment is expected to grow by 6.6% and 6.1% in 2011 and 2012 respectively. High demand for organic frui

What is the Purpose of Criminal Laws Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

What is the Purpose of Criminal Laws - Essay Example he adverse mention of public order, it literally means the wellbeing of the society and interference in its normal functioning by causing chaos or violating rights and privileges of others. In this light, criminal law serves to provide for the protection of the rights of the public by banning certain events and creating guidelines for the punishment. Such events include banning of processions in a bid to protect public interests. This is particularly so for protests that are likely to end up in disorder and public unrest. The above condition puts the authorities in a position to exercise their power to preserve public peace by implementing criminal law, banning the said events (Home Office, n.d.). In protecting public order, criminal law covers sex-related crimes and substance related crimes. This division marks the different crimes that affect members of the public and the society. Of these include prostitution, deviant sex, alcoholism, liquor law violation, pornography and driving under the influence among others (Bundy, 2011). The crimes are labelled so in spite of lack of physical aggression, but due to the dehumanizing nature in them and lowered quality of life associated with them. The other role of criminal law is to deter the occurrence of crime and preventing individuals from engaging in any activities deemed to irresponsible by the society (Bundy, 2011). Criminal law deters criminal behaviour through the sanctions put in place by the laws in regard to their enforcement and other means. This is evident by the use of police statistics showing by how much the crime rates go down after the implementation of effective capture methods (Robinson $ Darley, 2004). In addition, for criminal law to work as a deterrent, there are three factors to be considered. These are the knowledge of the consequences of committing a crime, the influence of the knowledge on the choices the individual makes and the likelihood to weigh the consequences logically (Robinson $

Development of Economic Thought Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Development of Economic Thought - Assignment Example They came up with the theory of imperfect competition revolution. They were having the socialist opinion and support the equal right mandate to be chosen. In other words, Robinson and Chamberlin tried to modify the price theory. They were having the opinion that the ideal competitive process leads to the reduction in the welfare of the state whereas imperfect competition results in the welfare of the state. By introducing imperfect competition, the variety of products increases. This results in providing people with a range of accessories. This new price approach, therefore, brings about change not only in the terms of the welfare of society but also in the approach of people(Bellante). People start paying for the wider range of products, thus resulting in the greater amount of revenues generated. Although this approach is being effectively implemented in the socialist economies of today, in the past when this approach was first introduced, it faced the number of challenges. According to Robinson and Chamberlin, this approach is not only the means of generating more revenue but also provides added benefits of more employment opportunit ies. But Lange was having the opinion that although this approach is good from the perspective of person individually, but not from the perspective of nation-building. This theory produces rapid changes in the socio-economic world and hence rapid changes thus take place in the demand of products. Therefore, job security is really reduced. Dobb was basically a 20th-century economist following Marxian political theories. Dobbin his famous book â€Å"the Development of Socialist Economic Thought† have discussed that according to the Marxist’s school of thought socialism is divided into two stages; categorized as a lower socialism stage and a higher socialism stage. The people or class belonging to lower socialism stage is those who solely depend on their income and this income comes as a part of their salary. They do not have any other  source of income. But the other stage of higher socialism results in the unequal distribution of resources(Cockshott).  

Zimbabwe’s Present (Post Z$) Economic Recovery Programmes Essay Example for Free

Zimbabwe’s Present (Post Z$) Economic Recovery Programmes Essay Introduction The beginning of 2009 marked the end of over a decade of economic decline in Zimbabwe. The economic indicators decline cut across all key sectors, despite Zimbabwe’s rich resource endowment. Inflation, initially at 100 percent annually between 2001 and 2006, increased to over 1500 percent (McIndoe, 2009). According to IMF estimates, real GDP growth recorded a cumulative contraction of 48% (nearly 5% per year) between 2000 and 2009. Agriculture value added contracted by 86% during the period 2002-2008. Gross national income per capita in 2008 was estimated to be US$360 (compared to sub-Saharan Africa average of US$1,428), making it one of the poorest countries in the world (African Development Bank, 2010). The poverty rate which was already on an increase since 1995 (42 percent) was recorded at 63 percent in 2003 and was estimated to be over 70 percent in 2010 (African Development Bank Group, 2011). According to the economic policy reform proposals announced by the coalition government formed in February 2009, other symptoms of the economic crises as negative GDP growth rates, low productivity capacity, loss of jobs in the formal sector, food shortages, massive deindustrialization and general despondency (STERP, 2009). This paper uses ‘developmental state theory’ as a basis of assessing economic reform policies proposed and currently being implemented by the Zimbabwe’s coalition government after the demise of the Zimbabwe dollar (Z$) in 2009. The paper considers STERP in March 2009, Medium Term Plan (MTP) in July 2010, and the Three Year Macro-economic Policy and Budget Framework 2010-2012 (STERP II) in the context of this economic theory with a view to assessing the extent to which they bring Zimbabwe closer to the key elements of a develop-mental state. This is taken from the premise on which these policies are anchored. For example, the sixth point in STERP says: â€Å"STERP is an emergency short term stabilization program, whose key goals are to stabilize the macro and micro-economy, recover the levels of savings, investment and growth, and lay the basis of a more transformative mid-term to long-term economic program that will turn Zimbabwe into a progressive developmental State,† STERP, 2009: point no. 6) The paper begins with a summary of the key elements of the economic reform proposals. It then looks at the key elements of a developmental state after which it assesses the extent to which Zimbabwe’s key reform proposals would enable it to meet the minimal requirements of a develop-mental state. The paper concludes by offering an assessment of the chances of success for the economic reform measures. Key elements of Zimbabwe’s economic reform measures All reform programs are anchored on economic stabilization, increasing productivity and turning Zimbabwe into a developmental state. In the key policy pronouncements announced in STERP (February 2009) and the Medium Term Plan, Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ) had two principal objectives. First, it set out to use domestic savings and foreign finance to carry out public investment projects and to mobilize and channel scarce resources into areas that can be expected to make the greatest contribution towards the realization of long term economic objectives. These include measures â€Å"to stabilize the macro and micro-economy, recover the levels of savings, investment and growth, and lay the basis for transformation from mid-term to long-term economic programs that will result in economic growth and reduction of poverty levels. In so doing, the reform programs, as espoused in article 3 of the September 2008 Global Political Agreement (GPA) seek to address the key issues of economic stabilization and national healing, whilst at the same time laying the foundation of a more comprehensive and developmental economic framework. The second is to ensure that economic policy (e.g. taxation, industrial licensing, the setting of tariffs and the manipulation of wages, interest rates and prices) stimulates direct and in some cases control private economic activity to ensure harmonious relationship between the desires of private business operators and the social objectives of government policy. Some of the key features of the policies include the adoption of a cash budgeting system; use of multiple currencies as legal tender and adoption of the rand as a reference currency; and the dismantling of foreign currency controls among other measures. Theoretical framework A starting point in exploring the theory of a developmental state is the ‘developmental state’ literature that gained currency following the phenomenal economic performance of the East Asian countries in the 1970s. Meredith Woo-Cumings (1999: 1) describes the theory of develop-mental state as the explanation for the East Asian industrialization. This theorizing represents one of the first attempts to integrate government and private sector decision making. Earlier theorists such as Downs (1957) had noted a trend in economic theorizing which treated government action as an exogenous variable determined by political considerations that lie outside the purview of economics. The earlier view represented a carryover from the classical premise that saw the business as a self regulating mechanism. Any government action beyond maintenance of law and order was seen as undesirable interference. Edigheji (2005) has analyzed a number of variations of the literature on the developmental state and notes two strands of theorizing. The first set of theories focus exclusively on the developmental goals of the state (e.g. Castells, 1992). These theories argue that state is developmental when it establishes as its principle of legitimacy its ability to promote and sustain development (understood as the combination of steady and high rates of economic growth and structural change in the productive system) both domestically and in its relationship with the international economy. Thus a developmental state is seen as one which is able and willing to create and sustain a policy climate that promotes development by fostering productive investment, exports, growth and human welfare (Ponk, in Edigheji, 2005). The second strand of theorizing looks beyond the objectives to focus on the institutional characteristics of the state and draws attention to the ideological character of the development state. Mkandawire (2001) has referred to this as the ‘state-structure nexus’ that enable the state to be able to achieve growth and development while others cannot. A premium thus has to be placed on the institutional/organizational configurations of the developmental state. This is primarily because what sets a developmental state apart from others is that not only is it able to clearly set its development objectives; it also establishes institutional structures in order to achieve the objectives. Locating the role of the state In this paper, a developmental state is defined by its objectives and its institutional characteristics. It is â€Å"one whose ideological underpinnings are developmental and one that seriously attempts to construct and deploy both administrative and political resources to the task of economic development† (Mkandawire, 2001:296). The role of the state needs to be clarified given the contradictory nature of the literature on the East Asian cases. Earlier theorizing initially conceived a developmental state in terms of the state imposing its will over society and suppressing civil society. Thus they argued that the developmental state paid no heed to the democratic aspect of the developmental state. This is partly because some scholars regarded the repressive nature of the state as one of the factors that enhanced its developmental capacity. For some scholars, the â€Å"soft authoritarian character† of the state was the source of its autonomy which spurred growth (e.g. Johnson, 1982, Wade, 1990). This is because a developmental state has existed in authoritarian Korea and Taiwan as well as in democratic Japan. In fact, Japan was the first East Asian state to be considered a developmental state (Bolesta, 2007:107). Despite the nature of government, in a ‘true developmental state, the bureaucratic rulers possess a particular kind of legitimacy that allows them to be much more experimental and undoctrinaire (accommodative of new ideas) than in the typical authoritarian regime’ (Johnson 1999: 52). However, Leftwich (1995: 405) has identified six major components that define the developmental state model. These are a determined developmental elite; relative autonomy; a powerful, competent and insulated bureaucracy; a weak and subordinated civil society; the effective management of non-state economic interests; and legitimacy and performance. The characterization of the democratic elements in Leftwich’s model closely mirrors the situation in Zimbabwe prior to 2009 and may not be helpful looking forward. Zimbabwe had an increasingly authoritarian governance style since the late 90s (Sachikonye, 2002) yet its economic policies saw a continuing decline in key economic indicators. In analyzing the economic reforms policies in Zimbabwe this paper therefore draws more from theories that have stressed the cooperative dynamism of the developmental state. For example, following a detailed analysis of the state’s relationship with business, Linda Weiss (1998: 258) came up with the concept of â€Å"governed interdependence† where she conceptualized that there are collaborative relationships between government and business in pursuit of transformative projects. She noted: â€Å"In this relationship, each party retains its independence, while government remains the ultimate arbiter of the rules and goals of interaction in which information is exchanged, resources are pooled and tasks shared,† (Weiss, 1998: 258). Zimbabwe’s neighbour, Botswana, is an illustration of a state that has pursued certain policies in the construction of what might be regarded as a â€Å"developmental state† i.e. a state that pursues policies that co-ordinates investment plans; has a national development vision- implying that the state is an entrepreneurial agent that engages in institution-building to promote growth and development; and†¦plays a role in domestic conflict management (Chang, 1999: 192-199). Assessment of Zim’s post Z$ economic reform policies The economic reform policy measures are assessed in relation to how the enhance Zimbabwe’s progress towards the attainment of ‘developmental state’ status. It is necessary to point at the onset that the key policy reform measures announced by the GoZ have been formulated and are being carried out within the framework of a mixed economy i.e. some of the productive resources are privately owned and operated while some are controlled by the public sector. As Todaro and Smith (2010) have noted, the mere existence of such an institutional setup means that neither the private nor the public sector can be considered in isolation from each other. This acknowledgement of the interdependent role of the state and business is one of the few positive outcomes (discussed later) of the reform measures. However, a number of factors in the policy measures do not meet the minimal elements required for the country to attain development state status. These include the lack of a clearly and coordinated role of State institutions and weak premises for global re-engagement, both of which are critical for the success of the economic reform measures. Unclear role of the State According to the MTP (2010), the policy measures seek to â€Å"establish a platform for Zimbabwe to emerge as a vibrant Private Sector driven economy that is growing and transforming from a producer of primary products to a producer of diversified manufactured quality products laying the foundation of a competitive global player.† The State will thus â€Å"provide a conductive policy environment that will ignite Private Sector initiatives, entrepreneurship as well as promote a saving and investment culture.† This statement sounds noble but there is nothing that has been said about coordinating the role of the many state players in the economic reform measures. The Ministry of Economic Planning is coordinating 13 sectors in a framework that in reality has shown to be independent of the other key ministries such as the Youth, Indigenization and Empowerment ministry, the Mines Ministry and the Local government ministries, to cite but a few. The country’s indigenization policy, supervised by the youth ministry, has been viewed as a threat to foreign investment in the nation. Whilst government has made assertions about the enforcement of the Act, several transactions have been concluded which show inconsistency in policy implementation. A case in point is government ‘sale of above 50% of its shareholding in Ziscosteel to Essar Energy in Mauritius in 2010 despite the conditions of the Act, which state that 51% of all businesses must be indigenously owned. (IH Securities, 2011) Exacerbating this lack of coordination is the past record of State regulation which has in the past failed to facilitating a conducive environment for business by sections of the previous government. This has the effect of promoting rent-seeking behaviours and corruption in both government and the private sector. International financial institutions have noted this as a hindrance to the success of the economic reform measures. For example, in statement at the Conclusion of the 2011 Article IV Consultation Mission to Zimbabwe (IMF, 2011) the IMF noted that while â€Å"stronger policies, a favorable external environment, and sizeable off-budget donor grants supported a nascent economic recovery and a notable improvement in the humanitarian situation during 2009-10,† the â€Å"macroeconomic outlook for 2011 remains highly uncertain,† (IMF, 2011). The IMF cites among other things, an inefficient composition of public expenditure, persistent financial sector vulnerabilities, and weaknesses in the business climate, including the recently announced fast track indigenization of the mining sector. The State, which prior to the coalition government had become an arena for private capital accumulation, cannot extricate itself from excessive private sector regulation which has, in some cases, resulted in the violation of private property rights. A recent example of these excesses is the recent case that will be heard in the International Court in Paris. The case involves the GoZ and South Africa based Amari Platinum following the former’s cancellation of joint mining ventures in 2010. The South African company had invested over $35 million into the project where it partnered the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation. According to media reports, the company is demanding compensation of $200 million, (Sunday Times, October 9th 2011). Autonomy, which is a crucial element that supports growth in a developmental state, means the ability of the state to behave as a coherent collective actor capable of identifying and implementing developmental goals (Edigheji, 2005).There is therefore need for structural reforms. These would include alignment of indigenization and empowerment objectives with respect for private property rights and the need to attract domestic and foreign investment. While these recommendations appear individually, they point to the failure by the reform policies to clearly spell out the role of the State in the economic reform process. Crucially, and related to the role of the State, is the fact that there has not been any systematic attempt to elaborate the concept of the developmental state in Zimbabwe. Besides passing reference in the objectives of all plans, government has not specified the sources of its capacity, other than regular lamentation about the need to build the skills capacities of the public sector. Thus crucial institutional elements that would enable the developmental state to act in a coherent fashion and, on that basis, successfully engage with its social partners have been either taken for granted at best or ignored at worst. Weak to zero premises for global re-integration The policy measures recognize the level of debt currently besetting the country and its impact on badly needed financial inflows, yet it is not clear how this debt will be cleared. According to the MTP: â€Å"the success story that Zimbabwe is becoming will in itself unlock other sources of funds. The few investments funds already in the country will soon become a multitude. Investors like a place where a dollar can be made and Zimbabwe provides such an opportunity.† This in itself sounds like a work of faith. Whilst trust plays a crucial role in policy implementation, the assumption that only success can unlock lines of credit and provides a stimulus for the productive sector is not based on evidence. The huge debt which will result in high future taxes if the country’s major sectors of the economy do not increase their operating capacity against a background of inadequate foreign aid. It could be that it is a carrot in the stick for those elements of government that are likely to derail reforms, yet experience in the past has shown that it is not success that drives politicians, but the ability to create and generate enough wealth prior to the next elections. Reducing poverty under such policies becomes a farfetched dream that will not be recognized. There is need to strengthen internal revenue generation and collection in areas such as tourism, agriculture and mining to finance internal and external debt while also providing resources f or the productive sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing. Alternatively, the country could attain Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) status to enable international debt relief. The experience of Zambia shows that total external debt reduced significantly by 8.9 percent from US$7.12 billion in 2001 to US$6.49 billion in 2002 as a result of the HIPC Initiative (Zulu, 2003). HIPC status could be tied in with the strengthening of open trade policies. Despite being a signatory to numerous trade pacts, Zimbabwe has maintained numerous import controls as reflected by the high tariffs relative to other countries in the region (Hurungo, 2010). The country’s reluctance to reduce tariffs is due to its over reliance on the revenue generated (Biti, 2010) Economic literature on the relationship between restrictive or open trade policies and economic progress has been inconclusive. Multilateral institutions such as the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regularly promulgate advice predicated on the belief that openness gener ates predictable and positive consequences for growth. According to the IMF, for instance, â€Å"policies toward foreign trade are among the more important factors promoting economic growth and convergence in developing countries,† (IMF, 1997:84). This view is supported by a vast array of literature on trade. For example, Stiglitz (1998:36) noted that â€Å"most specifications of empirical growth regressions find that some indicators of external openness- whether trade ratios or indices or price distortions or average tariff level- is strongly association with per-capita income growth.† Others have made similar observations noting that â€Å"integration into the world economy is the best way for countries to grow,† (Fischer, 2000). Thus Zimbabwe’s strategic reintegration with traditional trade partners could spur growth if value addition is considered for some export products. History has shown that there is no positive relationship between exports and growth in Zimbabwe. For much of the period when Zimbabwe experienced negative growth rates (between 1997 and 2009), it experienced a trade surplus with South Africa, the European Union and the United States (ZimTrade, 2009). Such trade surpluses need to be tapped into in a new economic and political environment fostered by the coalition government so as to spur economic growth and equity. However, there is no acknowledgement of these facts. Stabilization as a success story It should be noted that a significant proportion of the policy measures have had a positive effect- which has resulted in economic stabilization. The adoption of multiple (excluding the Zimbabwe dollar) had the immediate impact of eliminating hyperinflation. Annual inflation declined from an official figure of 231 million in July 2008 to 0.5 percent in December 2009 and 3.5 percent in July 2011, according to the Central Statistical Office (CSO). According to the IMF (April 2011), the Governing Board of the RBZ (which was appointed in May 2010) has achieved a significant improvement in central bank governance, reporting, and organizational restructuring although further steps are needed to accelerate financial restructuring of the financially-distressed RBZ. There was also a significant improvement in product availability in retail and wholesale outlets, with capacity utilization having markedly improved which also witnessed an improvement in the performance of the overall economy. For instance, in 2009 the economy was estimated to have grown by 5.7 percent and the average for SADC was 2.4 percent and 2 percent for Sub-Saharan Africa. While this stabilization, within the theoretical framework of the developmental state, can be seen as progress, it is easy to see that the economic decline had hit rock bottom and the desire is to bring levels of productivity to 2000 levels. The World Bank has estimated that it will take another decade with a growth rate of 10 percent per annum to bring rates to 2000 levels. In June, the IMF said Zimbabwean growth is set to slow sharply in 2011and the countrys recovery from a decade-long deep economic contraction remained fragile (IMF, 2011). An IMF review of Zimbabwes economy projected that economic growth would drop to 5.5 percent in 2011 from 9.0 percent in 2010. It said the country was in debt distress with a large unsustainable external debt stock of 118 percent of gross domestic product as of the end of 2010, the bulk of which was in arrears. Conclusion This paper has provided a framework for understanding Zimbabwe’s economic reform policies within the framework of a developmental state. Though not exhaustive, the developmental state has been defined based on its institutional attributes of being autonomous and coherent. In addition, the developmental state is one that forges broad-based alliances with society and ensures popular participation in the governance and transformation processes. Elements of the Washington Consensus and other classical economic theory have been brought to bear on previous economic reform programs and there is evidence that these continue in current reform policies. The classical theories do not take into account the unique circumstances of a country, especially the different types of government. In spite of the type of government, a developmental state is guided by the goals of coherence and authoritative governance, accountability, inclusiveness, stability, ability to generate consensus and popular participation- none of which are visible in Zimbabwe’s political and economic outlook. Much of the work towards the attainment of a developmental state hinge on Zimbabwe providing and implementing a clear definition of the role of the key players- the state, private sector and civil society- in the proposed economic reform measures. Other measures include forging a clear partnerships with local and international players- with parameters of engagement with the latter based on realistic economic policy measures as well as an engagement path that takes into consideration Zimbabwe’s trade surplus with the major international economic blocks such as the European Union, SADC and the United States. Without this, as seen in current reform policies the chances of success of the reform measures are limited. References African Development Bank Group, 2011, Infrastructure and Growth in Zimbabwe- An Action Plan for Sustained Strong Economic Growth, Tunis, Tunisia African Development Bank Group, 2010, Zimbabwe Country Brief, Regional Department, South Region A, January 2010. Biti, T 2010 â€Å"2010 Budget Speech. Ministry of Finance (28 January) Castells, M., 1992 ‘Four Asian Tigers with a Dragon Head: A Comparative Analysis of State, Economy and Society in the Asian Pacific Rim.’ in Applebaum R, Henderson J (eds). State and Development in the Asian Pacific. Newbury Park: Sage Publications. Chang, H-J (1999) ‘The Economic Theory of the Developmental State’ in M. Woo-Cumings (ed.) The Developmental State New York: Cornell University. Downs, A., 1957, An economic theory of political action in a democracy. Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 65, No. 2, April 1957 Edigheji, O., 2005, A Democratic Developmental State in Africa? Centre for Policy Studies, Research Report No. 105, May 2005 Hurungo, J.T. 2010 Trade Policy Review: Zimbabwe. Stellenbosch: Tralac Medium Term Plan, 2010, Medium Term Plan January 2010- December 2015, July 6, Harare: Government Printers IH Securities, 2011, Zimbabwe Equity Strategy: Bullish macro story amidst potential turbulent waters, Equity Research, March 2, 2011. Johnson, C., 1982, MITI and the Japanese Miracle: The Growth of Industrial Policy, 1925-1975. Stanford: Stanford University Press Leftwich, A., 1995, ‘Bringing Politics Back In: Towards a Model of the Developmental State’, Journal of Development Studies, vol. 31, no. 3. McIndoe, T., 2009, Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe: money demand, seignorage and Aid shocks. IIIS Discussion Paper No. 293, July 2009. Mkandawire, T., 2001, ‘Thinking About the Developmental States in Africa.’ Cambridge Journal of Economics, Pp 289- 314 Sachikonye, L. M. 2002 Whither Zimbabwe? Crisis and Democratization. Review of African Political Economy, No. 91, 13. P 13- 20. Roape Publications Limited. Todaro, P.T. Smith, C. S., 2010 Economic Development (10th edition), Boston: Pearson/ Addison Wesley Wade, R. 1990. Governing the Market. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1990. Weiss, L. 2003 Guiding Globalization in East Asia: new roles for old developmental states. In Linda Weiss (Ed), States in the global economy: bringing domestic institutions back in. UK: Cambridge University Press Zulu, J.J., 2003, Leaning Against Economic Winds: Zambia’s Problems with HIPC, Lusaka: Jubilee- Zambia Debt Project

Strategic HRM Case Study

Strategic HRM Case Study Introduction An organization is constructed of people. These people who assemble together as an organization’s workforce are recognized as human resources. Human resources department clutches all the scopes of employee concerns like recruiting, training and motivating. Basically, the function that focuses on how to manage the people within an organization is known as Human Resource Management (HRM). HRM deals with issues related to people such as compensation, recruiting,  performance management, organization development and employee concerns like- safety, wellness, benefits, motivation, communication, administration, and training. HRM thrives to manage the workplace  culture  and environment. Effective HRM enables employees to contribute efficiently and productively to the overall company direction and the accomplishment of the organizations goals and objectives. HRM is not managed using the traditional approaches anymore. Rather, the increased use of outsourcing has created the urge for building up new and innovative ways to manage the workforce in today’s workforce. It calls for comprehensive and thorough strategies to respond to the contemporary issues of globalization and diversity. Company overview: Complete IT (CIT) is an UK based IT support Service Company that has been providing with local IT support to SMEs for over 20 years now. They tend to maintain the highest levels of technical expertise and accreditations to resolve IT issues. They hold the motto of not just fixing problem, but finding ways to improve systems and positively impact on their clients’ tea, and business. Their services range from reactive support to proactive management of the clients’ IT, but each built specifically for each client. They promise to deliver IT support with passion and commitment with a friendly, honest and simple approach. 1. Role and Importance of Strategic HRM 1.1 Strategic HRM Strategic HRM is known as the preventive management system of the employees in an organization. More elaborately speaking, it is a technique of managing human resources that brings a strategic outline to upkeep long-term business objectives and outcomes. There are three major theories of strategic HRM used in today’s HRM. Like many other companies, CIT also uses these theories into application. Universalist Approach: Also known as Best Practice Approach, this theory assumes that high performance output in an organization can be achieved via a set of HRM practices. These practices are described in a set of four policy goals- Commitment: Confirming the faithfulness of employees to the organization so that they provide with their best of performance. Strategic Integration: The integration of the HRM to the company’s strategic planning so that HRM can be a part of company’s overall strategy should be ensured. Moreover it should also be ensured that the line managers use HRM strategies in their everyday work. Quality: The fact that employees should always be kept satisfied and motivated in order to bring out their optimum performance so that they can deliver products and of the highest of quality should be ensured. Flexibility: Today’s workforce seek out flexibility in their workplace. Administration should ensure this aspect in order to keep the staff driven enough to deliver the maximum productivity. However, it is to be noted that Guest believed all of these theories shall work only together, and not individually, to attain the company objectives. Fit or Contingency Approach: HR plans and practices must be coordinated with the organization’s plans and practices for the maximum performance to be produced. This synchronization of HR and Company strategies can be labeled as the â€Å"vertical fit†. This approach is also known as the â€Å"best fit approach†. The best fit approach:The best fit approach supports that HR strategies and organizational policies have to be aligned. There are three available simulations of this best fit approach- Lifecycle model: Organizational development is done in four stages Start-up, Growth, Maturity and Decline. The HR department should be well aware of the company’s ongoing stage so they can select the correct strategies to match up the company’s current stage. Strategic configuration: In this model it is said that companies can be on the operative front if they can implement tactical configuration policy (market-type structure or internal type structure), coordinated with company types (namely Defenders, Prospectors and Reactors, Analyzers), and (classified as; Machine Bureaucracy, Divisionalised form, Simple Structure, Adhocracy Professional and Bureaucracy). Best fit and competitive strategy: three competitive strategies are; Quality, Cost-Leadership and Focus (Niche). Companies should adopt competitive strategies in order to maximize performances. This is more important because of the increasing competition in today’s business world. It is always better to have a competitive edge and to use that edge in the best way possible. The Configurationally Perspective: This model deals with the importance of the outline of several HR policies and in what way these outline of HR policies (independent variables) affect the Organizational performance (dependent variable). The term configuration is explained differently by various scholars and writers for two reasons. The first one being â€Å"the scope to which HR policies are associated into an overall HR structure† and the second one- â€Å"the notch of fit amid an overall HR structure and an administrative type†. 1.2 Importance of HRM In CIT, HRM is perceived as one of the most consequential drives of the corporation. HR management’s significance can be classified into the following subsequent activities: Enrollment and Training: Recruiting new people and training them as per the organizations’ needs are the key responsibilities of HRM. To fill up the vacant position in the organizations, HR managers plan test and trials for potential candidates. HR also fixes the terms and conditions of the contract that takes place between the employee and the organization. Performance Evaluations: HRM prompts the workforce to bring out their finest performance. It provides with feedbacks to the employees that creates a proper communication between the employees and the employers. Nourishing Work Atmosphere: Work ambiance is a crucial aspect for employee satisfaction and high level of performance. HRM manages to maintain a decent, safe and clean working environment for its employees. The performance of the workforce largely depend on the work atmosphere and company culture. So, HRM strives to keep up the best possible work environment for its staff. Handling Disputes: Inner disputes and conflicts among colleagues is a very common element in organizations. It is always the HRM’s duty to mediate in such situation so as to resolve such clashes and therefore establish an order in the workforce. While it’s important to take care of the disputes in a fair manner, the HRM must also be very cautious in handling such cases as sometimes, the methods can easily create employee displeasure. Increasing Public Relations: Developing public relation with numerous interested parties and stakeholders of the organization is a vital role played by the HRM. HRM stands responsible for organizing meetings, seminars, workshops etc. to interconnect with these parties. In some cases HR department even helps into business and marketing planning. 1.3 Analysis of different Frameworks of HRM The Harvard Analytical Framework for HRM: Produced by Beer et al. (1984), is a good equilibrium between the Universalist Approach and the Fit Approach. CIT relates this model in its HR management. This framework works on the conjecture that the problems of managing employees can be explained when the general managers of the company have their own perspective about how they want the employees to be involved in the company and what sort of policies are best for this method. Ulrich’s Multiple Role Model: Ulrich et al. (2009) proposes a multiple competency framework involving of four potentials for HR mangers other than recruiting, training, and motivating. It is specified below: Figure 2: Ulrich’s Multiple Role Model HR roles are demonstrated in this framework into two axes. The horizontal axis designates the leading focus of HR—either Future Strategic or Day to Day Operational, and the vertical axis indicates leading actions of HR, either process and systems or people connected. These two axes form the four qualities of HR- Strategic Partner, Change Agent, Employee Champion and Administrative Expert. CIT’s HR managers ponder in these features with attention. 2. Formulation Implementation of HR Strategies 2.1 Analyzing the Strategic Human Resource Process Strategic HR Process can’t be constructed of any single approach, it can always vary between organizations. CIT uses a specific model for Strategic HR process that encompasses of the following key facts: Structuring the strategic course: When the HR policies are backed up by the company’s mission, vision and objective, this process is constructed. In CIT, the entire HRM process is established by concurring the company leaders’ long term objectives. So the entire process of recruitment, training, motivating and additional processes are planned to achieve long term company goal. Developing the HRM System: Since CIT is an IT based firm, it allows its employees to work from home by using internet. Also, CIT believes in creating variety in their workforce in lieu to which they are engaging female employees in definite positions. Planning the total workforce: Defining the essential future workforce depending on the company’s progress and necessity is a very challenging activity of the HRM, especially now-a-days. Producing the required human resources: The key focus of this process is to recruit, contract, organize, formulate and convey staffs grounded on the tactical provisions of the management’s workforce strategy. Dedicating to HR progress and performance: HR development process marks on the growth and use of business proficiency and the cooperating elements, all of which lead to a thriving organizational performance. A good encouragement program for the employees should comprise a mix of base pay, bonus, profit share, priority in company share etc. in overall. (Robert C. B., 2003). Evaluating and supporting managerial aptitude and performance: Basically, there is no exact approach to precisely measure the changes in HR policies or how performances affect the company’s output. This can be overcome by the usage ‘balance scorecards.’ 2.2 Roles in Strategic Human Resource Management The strategic roles of top management, front-line management, HR executive, HR specialists are the ones that sums up the roles of strategic HRM. Their roles in CIT are described below- Strategic Part of Top Management: The long term business goals of the company are set by the idealistic leaders of the company- the ones who forms the top management. This set consists of the CEO, CFO and President. They ensure the concurrence of the company growth and objectives with those of the individual departments. Strategic Part of Front-line Administration: According to Eduardo Salas et al (2001), front line managers ‘bring HR policies to life’. This means that if the managers are against a new HR strategy, it would be problematic to device the strategy which will gradually lead to dissatisfaction among employees. Tactical Role of the HR Director: Because they are the part of the top management, the HR Directors hold a great position in the strategic planning. They ensure the integration of HR policies and tactics with overall business goals and supervise the implementation of those plans. Strategic Part of HR Authorities: HR executives have various tasks like new preparation programs, performance management, granting employees, improving the work atmosphere etc. therefore, at any given point, they should work on a priority basis. 2.3 Development of HR Strategies There is no single way to advance HR strategies. For example, CIT uses the six step method proposed by Gratton (1999): Figure the superintendent association: Comprising people from all parts of the professional. Envisaging the upcoming: Building a shared idea for the regions of strategic prominence. Identifying present abilities and pinpoint the gap: Assessing the company’s present point and analyzing the break between company’s upcoming goals and current condition. Shape a map of the system: This is done to safeguard the small stages taken can be expressed into a whole plan. Model the refinements of the structure: All possible future results should be taken into account to evade any unexpected change or uncertainty in the strategic plan. Bridge into action: Involving line managers, creating guiding principles, forming cross-functional collections to recognize objectives and performance devices. 2.4 Implementation of HR Strategies HR strategies implementation can always vary from organization to organization, it has no perfect model. CIT practices the following tasks to implement HR policies. Supporting employees to understand the strategy: Employees must have the proper understanding of the ‘what and why’ of the policy to actually execute it in the workplace. A failure to comprehend the company policy properly will prohibit the employees from using their full level of talent to achieve company objective. Improving employee responsibility to the strategy: It is always known that change causes disharmony. Any kind of modification in strategy can easily cause displeasure among employees. Employees must be given the understanding that accepting the current change will lead to a better outcome. Reforming local work with the strategy: The proper understanding of the strategies by the employees is not always enough, it must also be executed by dismissing off-strategy works and starting on-strategy works with new vigor. Generating inter-departmental assistance: Creating bridging relation among the employees of different subdivisions is always a little challenging because of their different work nature. Activity 2 3. Contemporary Issues in Strategic HR Management 3.1 Identification of Contemporary Issues Affecting Strategic HRM Strategic HRM is mostly affected by the following issues- Job Stress: The adverse reaction that people tend to show when they’re incapable of coping up with the pressure and atmosphere of work can be defines as Job Stress. It can lead to illness, absenteeism, low efficiency rate, frustration, personal problems etc. Work-Life Stability: Everyone is always busy in today’s competitive corporate world. The use of advanced technology allows employers to engage employees in work even after office hours, via internet. Diversity: In any organization today, people from diverse backgrounds come together to work. Globalization has become a major issue in today’s HR management. Downsizing: Many companies are economizing their workforce due to recent economic recession, as a measure of cost cutting. 3.2 Analysis of Contemporary Issues Affecting Strategic HRM The increasing challenges in HRM management are forcing today’s organizations to consider strategic HRM in a different way. Recruitment procedure is now a two-way approach. Employers can use a resume record or ‘corporate poaching’. Because job switching has become a very common issue today, keeping employees, specially the most adept ones, motivated and satisfied is becoming much tougher. Even CIT has not been able to keep a hold of many of its most capable employees. So, they’re now forming new strategies to keep their staff driven. Activity 3 4. Assessing the range of HR Strategies its Application This section discusses different types of strategies in HR and their application in business organizations. 4.1 Range of HR Strategies The ranges of HR strategies include different tools. The ones used by CIT are discussed below: Strategies for improving organizational effectiveness: Concrete leadership from the upper management. A strong management team. Continual pressure to renovate and expand. Ability to react fast to opportunities and threats. Strategies for Learning and Expansion: This ensures the correct training of the employees in order to achieve organizational goals. This is related with housing a learning culture, encouraging organizational knowledge, providing for individual learning and launching a learning organization. Strategies for Performance Measurement: Performance Management â€Å"carries a mean of joining business strategy and technical assembly to direct the whole organization to achieving mutual organizational objectives† (Purcell et al, 2005), it delivers the best means to attain organizational goals. Strategies for Employee Relations: Here, the intents of the organization about what is required to be done and what is needed to be altered in the customs in which the organization maintains its relationships with employees and their trade unions is explained. It is to be noted that employee policies are different than strategies. Strategies are dynamic. 3.2 Application of HR Strategies CIT attempts to achieve its organizational goals by applying all the strategies defined above, including resourcing strategy and reward strategy. It can be quite impossible to measure the exact amount of return these applications of HR strategies bring; nonetheless, there are some indicative measures that can help us towards greater understanding of the impact of change in HR policies. For example, if the workforce management program has been integrated properly with the company’s goals and company is performing well, it can be said that we are getting good return on HR strategies. Another example of good HR outcomes is found on Michael Armstrong et al (2006) research reports on hospitals which decreased mortality rate by creating efficient HRM. Conclusion It can be concluded that human resource management is one of the crucial activities in today’s organizations. No workplace can be run proficiently without correctly trained and motivated employees. And with the increasing globalization today, proper Human Resource Management is becoming more and more challenging.

Exxonmobil Markets Its Products

Exxonmobil Markets Its Products Every firm follows specific marketing strategy to promote the company products in domestic and international market. ExxonMobil markets its products under the brands of Exxon, Mobil and Esso. Esso is the largest patrol retailer in the UK with around 1630 stations. Esso produces 10% of UK oil and gas. It also takes ownership in other subsidiaries every year to increase its presence in other countries and market. These are few general strategies out of various marketing strategy that each firm follows in order to promote their products successfully in the international market. Seven Ps of marketing is most important strategy to create better opportunity for a product. Segmentation: The seven Ps of marketing strategy is used to estimate and revaluate carry on the business activities of a firm. The seven Ps are- Product, price, promotion, people, place, process and physical evidence. Customers demand changes rapidly, the firm must revise their seven Ps to make sure the firm is on track and accomplishing the competitive advantage in the current competitive market. http://business-fundas.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/marketing-mix-7P.jpg Price: ExxonMobil has a various portfolio of businesses, it has different pricing strategy for different product. Though, the single most important factor of ExxonMobils pricing judgments is dynamics of oil prices on the international market. Fuel prices are determined by changes in the price of crude oil, supply and demand, fuel specifications, government rules, taxes and transportation cost (ExxonMobil, 2008, Factors in the fuel pricing). Products: Exxon Mobil Corporation is parent of Esso, Mobil and ExxonMobil companies, offers a variety of products and services. This firm boasts a full product cycle, from geological exploration and ending with oil related products to commercial and individual consumers. Places: The third P in the marketing mix is place, where the firm offers its products and services. ExxonMobil is a largest oil and gas company based in the US. ExxonMobil is largest company by revenue as per Time Fortune Global 500 list. ExxonMobil has around 37 oil refineries in 21 countries constituting a large combined daily refining capacity. It has 100,000 employees worldwide. Promotions: Promotion is most important strategy in this competitive market. Creating brands awareness among firm customers is the key to the companys success. Another focus for promotion is public relations. ExxonMobil runs programs targeted to worldwide health issues like malaria etc. ExxonMobil focuses in education is on math and science for success in todays high-tech world. ExxonMobil runs programs to create healthy and educated communities in which women have equal opportunity to play a valuable and productive role. They promote respect for human rights and to helping as a positive inspiration in the communities where they serve. They educate and train, purchase and invest in each community. They give contributions to non-profit organisations and social projects through wide range of joint venture and other agreements. They promote economic, environment and social growth worldwide. They promote wide range of charity and social activities. People: ExxonMobil always encourage and give attention towards the talented people who are strives hard for the success of the firm. They focus to retain talented employees by creating good working environments there by getting better outcome from the employees. The safety if their employees and contractors is the core commitment to operations integrity. They continue dedicated in their goal that nobody gets hurts. The safety drill of legacy ExxonMobil assets through year end 2011, did not meet their expectations. Due to this failure, they have increased emphasis on the avoidance of serious incidents. They arranged cross industry training efforts to study and implement new techniques. Process safety is framework for managing the integrity of operating systems by implementing good design principles, engineering and operating practices. Process: ExxonMobil is well positioned to take advantages of market changes and have unique experience in competitive markets. They focus on safe and effective process. They have particular team to manage safe process. Safety management stops the uncontrolled discharge of hydrocarbons and other harmful chemical substances to avoid major incidents with potential for serious injuries and fatalities and other impacts. They had 71 tier 1 process safety events during 2011. Their focus on process safety management across the firm remains constant, as they investigate, analyse and learn from these and implement. http://www.learnmarketing.net/extendedmarketingmix.jpg Physical evidences: Physical evidence is the component of the service mix which permits the consumer again to make judgement on the firm. Physical evidence is an essential ingredient of service mix. Consumers will make opinion based on their sight of the service provision which will have an influence on the firms perceptual plan of service. ExxonMobil delivers products and services using business to business model across three key segments- industrial and wholesale (1 million consumers), aviation (630 airports) and marine (180 ports). ExxonMobil is spending more than $100 million in a testing to develop a technology to make carbon capture and storage less costly. This firm follows a range of projects to increase energy efficiency. Targeting: ExxonMobil is always search for the new markets to improve its business volume. As a part of this ExxonMobil acquired Celtic Ltd in Oct 2012. ExxonMobil acquired 545,000 net acres in the Duvemay shale and additional acreage in the other areas of Alberta. This acquisition will add significant liquid- rich resources to their existing North American unconventional portfolio- said Andrew Barry, president of ExxonMobil Canada. ExxonMobil opened new services at the Hawkins Field in northeast Texas that will improve an additional 40 million barrels of oil equivalent, an amount equal to the annual energy requirements of more than 1 million Texas households. In Russia, ExxonMobil announced a $3.2 billion joint venture with Russian oil company Rosneft to develop two offshore oil fields- the east field in the Kara Sea and the Tuapse field in the black sea. ExxonMobil with Rosneft announced the range of Vostochniy Offshore structures construction yard to conduct a concept estimation and possibility study for a platform capable of safety exploring Kara Seas shallow waters. ExxonMobil has 70% ownership in Imperial oil. Positioning: SWOT analysis: ExxonMobil carry on to increase the portfolio and business mix through expanded revenue and strong research and development capability. Though, firms operation could seriously affected by instability in some oil producing regions. Strength: Capturing the premier quality exploration opportunities using its resources: ExxonMobil identify, evaluate and prioritize the highest quality assets opportunities using its geoscience ability and understanding of the global hydrocarbon potential. Strong research and development competency: ExxonMobil has great research and development capability. Diversified financial stream Weaknesses: Decreasing net liquids manufacturing and oil reserves Litigation and contingencies High obligation Opportunities: Demand of shale gas: Growing global energy demand: Strategic collaboration with Rosneft Threats: Threats about unpredictability in some oil producing regions Environmental regulations Economic conditions Recommendations:

How Does Light Affect The Rate Of Photosynthesis? :: essays research papers

Biology Investigation Problem: How does light affect the rate of Photosynthesis? The Plan In my experiment I am going to see how light affects the rate of photosynthesis. To do this experiment I am going to set up the apparatus as shown in figure 1. The apparatus I am going to use are the following: - 1 Tripod 1 300ml Beaker 1 Boiling Tube 1 Clamp Stand 1Clamp 1 Boss 1 Ring Binder 1 Lamp 1 1 Metre Ruler 1 Thermometer 1 Stop Clock To do the experiment I will set up the apparatus first. I will firstly place the tripod on top of the base of the clamp stand and fill the 300ml beaker with 250ml of water to create the water bath. I will place the boss in the middle of the bar on the clamp stand and place the clamp in the boss. I would then fill the boiling tube 43ml of water, put the pondweed in it and place it in the clamp. I would place the ring binder around the clamp stand surrounding the water base. Finally, I would plug in the lamp and place it 10cm away from the pondweed. I done a preliminary experiment to get an idea how to do the main and proper experiment and what would happen in the experiment. In the preliminary experiment we didn’t use the safeguards so it wasn’t fair experiment. We did this because it gave us the idea what problems we might face when we did the main experiment and gave us the idea how to do it. The pondweed should create photosynthesis by the following equation: - 6CO2 + 6H2O  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  6C6H12O6+ 6O2 Photosynthesis occurs when plants take in Carbon Dioxide from the surrounding air in its leaves and water from the nearby soil in its roots. The leaves then take light energy from the Sun, which is absorbed in the chlorophyll in the cells and passes it along for it to be used in photosynthesis. Glucose is produced and is converted into Starch to be stored. Oxygen is produced from the water and it is a waste product so it is released into the air. The plant uses Carbon Dioxide and water to create Carbohydrates. Glucose is a small, soluble molecule which is useless for a plant to use as energy but it converts it into Starch, which is a large and insoluble molecule, so it can be stored for to be converted back into Glucose. I made this experiment as fair as possible.