Liver Cancer Essays - Medicine, Clinical Medicine, Health, RTT

Liver Cancer Cancer is a group of many related diseases. All forms of cancer cause cells in the body to change and grow in an abnormal way. Normal body cells divide and grow in an orderly fashion. But cells changed by cancer can divide and grow out of control. This out-of-control-growth damages normal body tissues and disrupts the ability of organs to function, as they should. During the early years of a person's life, normal cells divide rapidly until adult size is reached. After that, normal cells of most tissues divide only to replace worn-out tissue and to repair injuries. Cancer cells, however, continue to grow. Often the cells form tumors (lumps) that compress, invade, and destroy normal tissue. Unless the cancer is treated, the tumors can grow and spread. If cells break away from such a tumor, they can travel through the bloodstream or the lymph system to other areas of the body. There, they may settle and form "colony" tumors. In their new location, the cancerous cells begin growing again. The spread of a tumor to a new site is called metastasis. Leukemia, a form of cancer, does not usually form a tumor. Instead, cancer cells invade the blood and blood-forming organs (spleen, lymphatic system, and bone marrow). It is important to realize that not all tumors are cancerous. Benign tumors, which stay in one place and have limited growth, is usually not life threatening. Cancer is classified by the part of the body in which it develops, by its appearance under the microscope, and by the results of a laboratory test. Since cancer is not a single disease, each type of cancer behaves differently. What's more, different cancers also respond in various ways to different types of treatment. That's why people with cancer need treatment that is aimed at their specific forms of the disease. In America, half of all men and on third of all women will develop cancer during their lifetime. Cancer is not necessarily fatal, however. Today, millions of people are living with cancer or have been cured. And the risk of developing many types of cancer can be reduced by changes in a person's lifestyle. The sooner a cancer is found, and the sooner treatment begins, the better a patient's chances are of a cure. What is Liver Cancer? The liver is the largest internal organ of the body. It weighs about 3 pounds and accounts for about 2% of a person's body weight. It is sheltered by the lower right ribs and it is found underneath the right lung, separated from it by a muscle known as the diaphragm. It is shaped like a pyramid and divided into right and left lobes. Each of these lobes is further divided into segments. The liver, unlike most other organs, receives blood form two sources. The hepatic artery supplies the liver with blood that is rich in oxygen. The portal vein carries nutrient-rich blood from the intestines to the liver. Because the liver is involved in many important metabolic functions, a person cannot survive without a liver. Some nutrients and vitamins absorbed by the intestines are stored in the liver until other organs need them. Other nutrients must be metabolized (chemically changed) in the liver before they can be used by the body for energy or to build and repair tissues. Carbohydrate, protein, and lipid metabolism all depend on proper liver function. Blood levels of glucose and controlled by the liver. Glucose is a type of sugar that serves as the main source of energy for most tissues and organs in the body. The lover produces albumin. Albumin is a blood protein with several essential functions that include keeping a proper balance of fluid between tissues and the bloodstream, and transporting many hormones and drugs through the bloodstream. Several clotting factors are made in the liver. Without these factors to plug up damaged blood vessels, even small cuts or scrapes would cause life-threatening bleeding. Without amino acid metabolism by the liver, other tissues of the body could not produce the structural proteins of our bones and connective tissues or enzymes (proteins that regulate nearly all chemical processes of the body). The lover also plays a part on the metabolism of lipids (fats) and makes cholesterol, which is an essential part of the membranes that surround all cells and divide the cells into organelles (specific parts of cells). The liver also inactivates many drugs and toxic chemicals. If the liver is not working well, these substances can build up and interfere with many of the

Speedway Museum essays

Speedway Museum essays The Speed Art Museum was built in 1927 and is located in Louisville, Kentucky. The museum has a distinguished collection of 17th Century Dutch and Fleming paintings, 18th Century French art, Renaissance, Baroque tapestries, a lot of contemporary American paintings and sculptures, as well as African and Native American works. I was very impressed with the layout of the Museum and how the parking lot area and the Museum grounds are very well kept. I should add that the personnel were very courteous. My favorite painting was Adoration of the Shepperds by Paolo de Matties; the painting shows Christ soon after birth, the shepperds, and some stable animals. It shows how the shepperds were led by the angels to the manger to praise and pay homage to the Baby Jesus who radiates a miraculous glowing light. The whole painting is so alive; Virgen Mary beside Baby Jesus in the manger is the pure reflection of happiness and hope for the whole world. I believe this represents the salvation of the human being by having Jesus Christ born. There were some other paintings that caught my eyes; one in particular was one called The Newspaper Boy. The painting seems to come alive and at things you thought the boy was going to walk out of the painting. The colors are vivid and flow into each other effortlessly with no apparent seams or edges. The details of the back ground are dramatic in every detail, the painter didnt miss anything from the snow flakes to the street lamps to the curding with gutters. Along with all of the paintings there is a large variety of other art such as vases, urns, bowls, sculptures, masks, tapestries, and headdresses. These items ranged from early human to American Indian with items from almost every era in history. There was also some modern works placed throughout the museum at various points so not to interfere with the timeline of each area. The painting that I dislike the most ...

Performance Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Performance Management - Essay Example Furthermore, it is often considered as the process where various resources of the organisation or any particular department are utilised efficiently in order to successfully attain the broad objectives of the organisation (Patterson & et. al., 2003). It has been noted from the provided case that Gearflex Co, a retail chain that deals with car accessories has grown to become the market leader in this particular sector in the recent times. However, it is believed that this leap of the company is relatively due to its effective decision making ability regarding the domain of performance management. One such decision can be attributed with the approach of the company to implement ‘Beyond Budgeting’ model in its operational activities. It is further observed that the operational director of the company is largely responsible for this change initiation related to the organisational strategy. This aspect has further influenced the management of the company to select the operati onal director to deliver a presentation in a particular conference that has the participation of managers from various retail sector of the world. Aim of the Report Contextually, the aim of this report presentation will be to demonstrate the scenarios which has influenced the operational department of Gearflex Co to select Beyond Budgeting’ model for their operation. These factors will include the potential problems associated with traditional budgeting techniques including several behavioural aspects as well as the benefits the organisation has gained by shifting to Beyond Budgeting’ model. Problems and Weaknesses in Traditional Budgeting Approach Over the years various forms of budgeting technique has been implemented by organisations in their operational purposes. Among those, the line-item budgeting or traditional budgeting is quite commonly applied budgeting model. This type of budgeting was devised with the intention to deal with the rising issues of organisation al setting including the area of purchasing, bidding, accounting as well as auditing among others. Over the years, this approach was seen to be extensively employed in organisational operation as a full time budgeting tool delivering potentially noteworthy results for the overall business. However, with the emergence of contemporary business environment, companies has started to realize the need of replacing traditional budgeting approach with a more flexible and efficient model. This is due to certain problems and weaknesses associated with traditional budgeting approach which are being highlighted subsequently (Cheong, 2013). There are several potential problems association with the aspect of traditional budgeting. First is the factor of time. Notably, traditional budgeting consumes a lot of time in its execution. Reportedly, companies in most of the scenarios take more than six months to execute traditional budgeting. This aspect hampers the efficiency of organisational operation . Furthermore, it has also been analysed that since traditional budgeting takes longer duration in its completion, organisations are also required to provide resources for a longer basis which further increase the cost of the company concerning

Negative Impact Of Outsourcing On Economy Research Paper

Negative Impact Of Outsourcing On Economy - Research Paper Example Companies contemplate on various ways in which they would reduce on the output of their money and intern saves on cost. Therefore, the main idea that comes across is outsourcing of some of their work. There is a notion that outsourcing has the ability of saving on cost of employment. The fact is that most of outsourcing companies work on a low budget their workers are not provided with benefits and most of their employees do not require overhead expenses (Olga, 2003). Moreover, cost can also be reduced if the company offering outsourcing services is from a different country. This is because of differences in economic stature, which will lead to high differences in currency value. The other reason why some companies outsource their work to experts is that they want to involve themselves on other business issues. This is due to the urge of concentration by individuals in a company (Lazarus, 2004). The experts will ensure that work is done, and the contracting company will leave everything to them as they concentrate on other things. The management will also give out work, which will not require their attention and resources, as they will have an easy time managing a company from within. On the other hand, companies involved with outsourcing can maintain their professionalism by operating on a streamlined direction of acquiring excellent technology, which could not be available in locally (Olga, 2003). Outsourcing helps in globalization of a company, as it is a cost-effective way of building branches and franchises in other countries. The manner in which outsourcing affects cost is indicated in the graph below.  is indicated  in the graph below. It is clear that outsourcing is an  event, which has gone beyond the whole  ideology  of employment and working from one position as a team (Ryan, 2004). Therefore, it would best if the paper examines some  negative  effects related to outsourcing in the education sector, society, companies, neighborhoods, and communities (Michelle, 2004). Moreover, the  paper  will also  determine  some hidden costs incurred by companies in terms of reducing cost of  productivity  and decreasing support  from customers. Effects of outsourcing According, to some business scholars such as Olga Kharif (2004) argue that companies prefer outsourcing because of low cost associated with it and they will save wages they would give to employees working from within the company. However, with  cost  of IT increasing every day, companies will realize that they sometimes use more than what they expected to use (Olga, 2003). The industry is always  competitive, and most companies prefer offshor e outsourcing. However, frustration  is drawn  back to local  employee who would be rendered jobless due to another  person  elsewhere  being given  same job. Outsourcing has also created  insecurity  in the job market as workers can lose their positions as other people can  offer  their expertise from  elsewhere  at a cheaper price (Ryan, 2004). The other  predicament  caused by outsourcing is and associated with joblessness  is increased  crime rate. People need to survive, and they would do anything to survive. Therefore, people who lose their jobs will  turn  to crime (Michelle, 2004). Crimes include cyber crimes where people hack into the

Military lessons learned Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Military lessons learned - Essay Example They focus on operating plans and details to go one step further at a time (Harris and White, 1987, p. 110). They are also more focused on little things than the generalized point-of-view. Logisticians are different from tactical planners since they are the ones responsible for inventories and knowing the use of resources and their whereabouts. They do that to achieve the objectives. Their works include combining and application of information, material transfer, storage and protection. They may use equipment or computers to easily store and retrieve the data regarding the analysis and predictions on resource use (Kane, 2001). Strategic thinkers are the ones responsible for the general direction of the organization like armed forces. They try to answer the questions why and how instead of what. They are concerned with wider arrays of methods to reach the desired future. Their works are then supported by both the logisticians and tactical planners. Strategic thinkers are not conventio nal type of people as they make use of odd and different ways to create opportunities that sometimes can be provocative regarding the direction of a group. They perform the operation called strategic thinking wherein it serves as the precursor of strategic planning (Heuser, 2010, p. 456). Since the armed forces always engage in defense and sometimes go to war, they really needed the thinkers and planners on how to use their armed members to the fullest to achieve the objective. Leadership may be proven to be handy in the case of armed forces since planning is part of the function of leaders. They should be able to delegate the works toward the achievement of their goals. In addition, leadership skills serve as the binding agent of an organization and traverse the same direction toward growth. In the process, big and small plans are needed and can be categorized as short-term and long-term plans. They contain deadlines, procedures and delegated

Analysis of Approaches to Bargaining Models

Analysis of Approaches to Bargaining Models Abstract This paper discusses the various types of approaches to bargaining models, namely indifference curves and iso-profit curves, monopoly union behaviour and efficient contracts. Then we go on to study the concept of efficiency wages in a unionised as well as a non-unionised environment and with the help of existing economic theories we develop a model and incorporate the alternative wage rate. On completion of this paper, we will be able to understand the influence of wage level, alternative wage rate and other factors on the employment level, which would be highly important to both the firms as well as the labourer’s side while framing policies. Introduction Before starting with the paper, we need to know what efficiency wages are. It is the wage that is set by the firms or the employers which is higher than the market clearing wage. There are certain implications behind this action. Doing this, it would encourage workers’ loyalty towards the employer; the firms would be able to attract higher number of talents and thereby improving the applicants’ pool, raise the morale of the workers and as a result the overall efficiency of the firms increases. In various efficiency wage models, labour productivity has a positive relationship with the wage rate. Also worth mentioning, is that the efficiency wage model is an extension from the Shapiro-Stiglitz model of efficiency wage. In this paper, we combine both the microeconomics concept of labour union and the model of Shapiro-Stiglitz to derive the various propositions. Moving ahead, we discuss the basic two models of wage rate determination for the unionised and non-unionised sector of the economy. The first would be the monopoly model, as prescribed by Oswald in 1985, assumes that the labour union sets the wage and the employer chooses the profit maximizing employment level. The second case also stated by Oswald in 1985, notes that both the employer’s side as well as the worker’s side can benefit from the monopoly outcome by jointly bargaining over the wages and employment level. Literature Review Oswald, A. (1985): â€Å"The Economic Theory of Trade Unions: An Introductory Survey† Scandinavian Journal of Economics, volume 87. Oswald assumed that the union sets the wage and the employer chooses the profit maximising employment level. He also stated that the efficient bargaining model notes that both sides can improve on the monopoly outcome by jointly bargaining over wages and employment. Brown, J. and Ashenfelter, O (1986, June): â€Å"Testing the Efficiency of Employment Contracts† Journal of Political Economy, volume 94. They used the significance of a measure of alternative wages in an employment regression as evidence for the efficient bargaining model. Stiglitz, J. (1987, March): â€Å"The Causes and Consequences of the dependence of quality on price† Journal of Economic Literature, volume 25. In relation to the efficiency wages hypothesis, Stiglitz stated that, â€Å"one motivation for this literature is to explain involuntary unemployment: If the efficiency wage is framework is valid, then firms may not lower wages even in the face of excess supplies of labour. Krueger, A. and Summers, L. (1988, March): â€Å"Efficiency wages and the inter-industry wage structure† Econometrica, volume 56 Another additional motivation of this literature is the that the empirical observation that inter-firm or inter-industry wage differentials remain even after most possible economic determinants of these differentials have been controlled. Katz, L. and Summers, L. (1989): â€Å"Industry rents: Evidence and Implications† Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Microeconomics. The wage differentials tend to lower quits and increases the length of queues of job seekers attempting to gain entry. They explained the relationship between the existences of rents associated with efficiency wages. Research Question What is the effect of general wage level and alternative wage rate on the employment level, when efficiency wages are paid both in a non-union as well as union setting? Methodology The theory of income distribution is the study of the determination of the shares of the factors of production in the total output produced in the economy over a given period of time. For simplicity, we assume two factors of production, labour and capital, their shares are defined as follows: Share of Labour = (w*L)/ X and share of capital = (r*K)/X Where w= wage rate, r= rental of capital, L=quantity of labour employed, K=quantity of capital employed and X=value of output produced in economy. With this backdrop, we proceed on to the model where we consider firms and labours perspective, in both unionised and non-unionised labour setting. Initially, labour force is unionised. As a union, three of the most commonly pursued goals are: maximization of employment, maximization of total wage bill and maximization of total gains to the union as a whole. The general conclusions derived from this microeconomic thought are firstly, if the firm buyers have no monopsonistic power, labour unions can possibly attain an increase in the wage rate at the cost of a lower level of unemployment. Secondly, if the firm buyers have monopsonistic power, the unions actions can eliminate one part of the monopsonistic exploitation and thirdly, if the firm buyers have monopsonistic power, trade unions can increase the total wage bill in most of the cases, by either increasing employment or the wage rate or both. Considering, the concept of efficiency wage hypothesis and incorporating the alternative wage rate as used by Shapiro and Stiglitz we combine this macroeconomic phenomenon with the microeconomic concept of labour union. Looking at the employment level, alternative wage rate, normal wage rate we can run a regression analysis on the employment level with various other variables and determine the significance of these and come up with propositions under different cases. Bargaining Models In the context of labour unions, there are different types of bargaining that can take place between a firm and a labour union. These methods are also applicable in many other aspects other than labour unions. Indifference Curves and Iso-profit Curves Here, we look at the union’s preferences as the preference for a single worker. We can formulate the utility of the worker as a function of consumption, C and leisure, L, i.e. U (C, L). Representing, the utility function in terms of wage rate, w and labour supplied, h, we can write it as follows: U (h, w) = U (w*h, 1-h)where C = w*h and considering time constraint L= 1 – h. An indifference curve in (h, w) space is defined by setting u as (constant) and we define w implicitly as a function of h, w (h). Therefore, we can write it as follows: U (h, w (h)) = U (w (h)*h, 1-h) = Differentiating, the above equality with respect to h and hence obtaining the slope of the indifference curve. This implies that along the labour supply curve, where MRS = w the indifference curve will have zero slope. To the left of the labour supply curve, workers work more and so MRS w and the indifference curve is upward sloping. We can reinterpret the first order condition for finding labour supply as the worker finding the highest indifference curve in (w, h) subject to the constraint that w equals the offered wage, leading to the tangency shown below. Looking at the firm’s side, its preferences are derived using the iso-cost curve. The firm’s profit function can be written as follows: ÃŽ   (E, w) = f (E) – w*E We set the price to unity and along an iso-profit curve, we set the profit equal to some constant , which implies an implicit relationship between w and E. Therefore, we can write it as f (E) – w (E)*E = . Differentiating, the above equation implicitly, we find the slope of the iso-profit curvealong the demand curve MPE = w, implying that iso-profit curves are flat when they cross the labour demand curve. Left of the demand curve, means MPE > w hence iso-profit curve is upward sloping, and right of the labour demand curve, means MPE Monopoly union Bargaining In this model, the labour union sets the wage rate, w and the firm chooses the employment level, E. Since, the firm’s objective is to maximize profits, it will set the employment level at the point where VMPE = w. Assuming the union acts like a single individual so that h = E, its problem is then Max U (w*E, 1- E)subject to MPE = w Maximizing with respect to E, and using the first order conditions we get, f’ (E) = w. The above expression implies that the indifference curve will have a negative slope while the iso-profit curve has a zero slope and to interpret the cross of the two curves it would mean inefficiency. Workers would be willing to work more at a slightly lower wage and firms would make profits hiring them. However even if unions do function this way, that does not mean they are necessarily bad workers are made better off, but these gains are smaller than the losses to firms and consumers. If the value of the redistribution to workers is considered more important than the loss to the other parties then the union may still be a good thing. However it would be better for everyone if the union and firm could find a more efficient way of bargaining. Efficient Contracts This is another model of unions which assumes that the labour union and firm will bargain in such a way that it leads to an efficient outcome. Now, any Pareto efficient outcome will be reached between two parties by guaranteeing some level of profits to the firm, and maximizing the union’s utility. Max U (w*E, 1- E)subject to f (E) – w*E = On solving, we get w = (f (E) ) / E. The first order condition can be written as follows Solving algebraically we get that the iso-profit curve and the indifference curves are tangent. It cannot be solved as to which combination of (E, w) will be chosen as there are several points- the locus of all these points represent the contract curve. Some information on profit and utility functions is necessary to determine whether the contract curve of the efficient contracts is downward or upward sloping, or vertical (the strongly efficient case). The Model General Assumptions: All the workers are identical. The worker’s choose their own level of work effort and this work effort is monitored by the firm with the help of technology. The monitoring process by the firm is not the most efficient or it is not perfect. The monitoring process can be expressed in terms of work effort as follows, q (e), >0, which implies that a worker will not be dismissed for an exogenously given level of work effort. All the workers have an identical utility function given as follows: U (w, e) = w – e2(eqn. 1) The workers are provided with unemployment insurance or they can obtain another or alternative job with wage rate. Efficiency Wages in a non-union setting Analysis: Now, if the workers are able to choose their level of work effort, which is not monitored perfectly by the firm, then the firm may pay wages above the market wage rate to ensure a higher level of efficiency or effort by the worker. The question is how would alternative wages enter an employment regression in this case? We have already assumed that the firm’s monitoring process can be expressed as a function of, q (e), suggesting that the workers are not dismissed for an exogenously given level of work effort. The workers can reduce their likelihood of getting dismissed, by the firm, by increasing their level of work effort. Implication behind this statement suggests that, q’ >0. Let n be the elasticity of q with respect to level of effort. We can therefore show that the optimal effort for the worker is e =(eqn. 2) In order to model the firm, we make another assumption of a concave revenue function, f’’ ÃŽ   = f (e*L) – w*L(eqn. 3) Using the optimization technique, the firm chooses the level of w and L, subject to the worker’s choice of e. From the equations 2 and 3, we find out that the optimal wage rate, w is twice that of the alternative wage rate,. Expressing f’ as a logarithmic form as a linear combination of various exogenous variables that affect the revenue and effective units of labour, the optimal amount of labour for the non-union firm is ln L = + ln ln w + X + ln (w ) And ln f’ = ÃŽ ±0 + ÃŽ ±1X – ÃŽ ±2 ln(e*L)(eqn. 4) X is the vector of non-labour factors affecting the marginal revenue product of labour. Interpretation of equation 4, is that the alternative wage rate, , conditional on w and X, will be negatively correlated with the actual or observed employment. Proposition: On running a regression of employment on wage level and alternative wage rate, it should yield a negative coefficient for the alternative wage if efficiency wages are paid even in the absence of efficient bargaining. Efficiency Wages in a Union setting Here, we discuss the case for efficiency wages in a unionised scenario and find the resulting demand for labour under both (a) monopoly unions and (b) efficient bargaining methods. Monopoly Unions Considering that the union comprises total of N number of workers, who are employed at the wage rate, 2. Using, the previous method discussed we calculate the optimal worker effort, e*, where e* = Each worker faces the probability of getting dismissed with a probability of q (e*). We also assume that the workers getting dismissed by the firms are replaced immediately. Now, the union’s objective is to choose w, so as to maximize the expected utility, V, of unionised worker. Let L be the employment level at the new union wage, w. Then for each wage, w, we have, V = [ q (w – e2 ) ] + if L And V = q (w – e2 ) + if L ≠¥N (eqn. 5) Now, in the case for monopoly unions, as the union raises the wage levels, it generally lowers the total employment level, hence we have L , a rising w would lead to rising employment because of increased work effort. The union balances the negative effect of wages on employment and positive effects of wages on employed members’ utility. Multiplying, equation 5 by N, the union chooses w to maximize V = Lq ((w – e2 ) (eqn. 6) Subject to f’e = w Using the optimization techniques, we solve for the monopoly union wage, w w = (eqn. 7) 2 is the measure of the slope or the steepness of the marginal revenue product curve. Higher the elasticity, n, with respect to effort, higher will be the union wage. In this model, the marginal revenue productivity condition for the monopoly model with efficiency wages is similar to the condition for non-union firms, although in this case, the unions will raise the wages and lower the total employment. This leads to the following proposition. Proposition: Under monopoly model and efficiency wages, if we run a regression of employment on X, w and and a union shift term, the coefficient on the union shift should be zero. However, in a regression that includes only the exogenous variables X and and a union shift term, the coefficient should be negative. Efficient Bargaining Here, we focus on the case where labour and the management jointly set wage rate, w and employment level, L. According to Mc. Donald and Solow, 1981, to derive the set of efficient contracts, they have suggested the necessary conditions for the contract curve. Vw / VL = Ï€w / Ï€L The subscripts represent the partial derivatives. Using equations 3 and 6, and substituting in the above contract curve relation, we get, (w – f’e) / (1 – f’ew) = (w ) > 0 (eqn. 8) As long as the union raises the wages above the non-union wage 1- f’ew > 0 and so is w – f’e. Wages exceed the marginal revenue product of labour (as already suggested by McDonald and Solow, 1981). Algebraically, solving the slope of contract curve is not possible and hence is indeterminate which leads to the next proposition. Proposition: Under efficient bargaining method and efficiency wages, if we run a regression of employment on X, w and and a union shift term, it will yield a positive coefficient for the union shift term as compared to a zero coefficient under monopoly model. However, in a regression that includes only the exogenous variables X and, the sign of the union shift coefficient is ambiguous, as compared to a negative coefficient in the monopoly model. Conclusion The results from the above classification of models suggests that traditional way of determining wage bill, i.e. labour times the wage rate, by the labour union and the employment level determination by the firm side are not the only factors that affect the decision making process of both the sides. Rather, the alternative wage rate, which is one of the factors taken up by Shapiro and Stiglitz in their â€Å"efficiency wage model†, is also instrumental in affecting the employment level. Another union shift term incorporated while running the regression, we find that it is also one of the determinants of employment determination. So, the ultimate conclusion that we can derive is that there are certain other factors as well in both wage and employment determination and these factors are statistically significant in different cases which again lead to various policy implications. Hence, modification of the theoretical microeconomic foundation and including certain other variables will show us a greater and deeper understanding of the employment determination and thereby various other policy prescriptions that both the sides can take into account while framing one. References Stiglitz, J. (1976, July): â€Å"The Efficiency Wage Hypothesis, Surplus Labour and the Distribution of Income in L.D.C.s† Oxford Economics Papers, pp.185-207. Oswald, A. (1985): â€Å"The Economic Theory of Trade Unions: An Introductory Survey† Scandinavian Journal of Economics, volume 87. Brown, J. and Ashenfelter, O (1986, June): â€Å"Testing the Efficiency of Employment Contracts† Journal of Political Economy, volume 94. Katz, L. and Summers, L. (1989): â€Å"Industry rents: Evidence and Implications† Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Microeconomics. Krueger, A. and Summers, L. (1988, March): â€Å"Efficiency wages and the inter-industry wage structure† Econometrica, volume 56 Stiglitz, J. (1987, March): â€Å"The Causes and Consequences of the dependence of quality on price† Journal of Economic Literature, volume 25. Cowell, F.A. (2004, December): â€Å"Microeconomics: Principles and Analysis† STICERD and Department of Economics, London School of Economics. Autor, D.H. (2003, November): â€Å"Lecture Note: Efficiency Wages, Shapiro-Stiglitz Model† MIT and NBER. Koutsoyiannis, A. (1979): â€Å"Modern Microeconomics† Macmillan. 1

Essay --

Introduction A small and medium enterprise refers to registered business with less than 250 employees (International Finance Corporation, 2011). They have become a major force behind nations economy’s for this reason. Because of their size, they constitute a large percentage of the organization of the informal sector, although, most players in the informal sector are not registered. Also linked to their size and proportion, they contribute heavily to employment and gross domestic product (GDP). These two features of SME’s have been the focus of developing countries and a major influencer behind developing countries government lobbying, apart from foreign direct investments and aid projects. Entrepreneurship in general has major roles and responsibilities within Kenya’s economy, and the economy of any nation for that matter (Irungu, 2014). Some of these include; †¢ Production of goods and services †¢ Employment creation †¢ Income generation †¢ Reduced poverty †¢ Increased government revenue †¢ Infrastructure development Some parallels and extensions between these roles, and the roles for SME’s can be drawn therefore to include the following. Employment Role The first benefit of enterprises is considered to be the revenue generated to the owner of the enterprise. When some individuals are hard pressed by the stresses of urban living, they may turn to starting a business as an alternative source of personal income. This way an SME’s can become to them their main source of finance once it is running and has developed a sense of automation. This is important since: †¢ larger firms are constantly downsizing †¢ average wages in decline †¢ limited chances of promotion in competitive job market †¢ low skills mean low income in the job market †¢ li... ...according to the vision 2030 will result I a general decline in poverty as well as increase the gross domestic product of the country. This is a major pillar of the Vision 2030, and so it underlines the role of SME’s. â€Æ' References International Finance Corporation. (2011). Small and Medium Enterprise. Telling Our story, 5(1). Irungu. (2014). Lecture Notes - Role of businesses. Nairobi: Daystar University. McIntyre, R. (2001). The Role of Small and Medium Enterprises in Transition: Growth and Entrapreneurship. Helsinki: UNU World Institute for Development Economics Research. OECD. (2004). PROMOTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATIVE smes IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY: TOWARDS A MORE RESPONSIBLE AND INCLUSIVE GLOBALISATION. 2nd OECD CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED ENTERPRISES (smes). Istanbul: ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT.

Gemini Electronics Essay

1. What was the business model of Gemini? The business model was to produce TV’s on a just-in-time basis to pass on most of the distribution savings to the consumers. He planned to cater to the big box retailers such as Best Buy and Walmart to name a few, who wanted to cut down their supply chains by sourcing TV’s in North America. By shortening the supply chain you increase reliability making it easier to address uncertainties as well as building lean production to eliminate waste to reduce production time and cost. a. What were the key success factors that determined its past profitability? The key factors that determined its profitability was the reputation for having excellent quality at affordable prices below the competition. b. What are the risks Gemini is facing now? The risk Gemini is facing now is the recessions, the Korean and Japanese competitors lowering their prices, technological trends emerging such as the 3D TVs and video phone capabilities, and difficu lty trying to convince major retailers to carry their product. In order for those products to be carried, retailers pressed for more generous credit terms and no interest on overdue accounts. 2. What is your assessment of the company’s recent performance and current position in the marketplace? Gemini has been grown and holds the U.S. market share at 35% proven itself to be a strong contender in this industry. Through the years 2005-2008 net income increase substantially which could mean that there was sales growth and improved or reduced cost in operating efficiency. With a continuing increase in net income, there are potential opportunities for stock price and market cap increases. This will in turn make Gemini a favorable company for potential investors. In 2009 the net income decrease but that could have been due to the recession occurring in that time frame. Consumers probably didn’t have the money to splurge on TV’s and electronics. There was also the threat of the Sony 3D television and video phone capabilities. Maybe the consumers were more attracted to what was new and trending at that time. 3. Does Gemini need to establish operations outside the U.S. or can it  survive as a domestic company? It doesn’t need to because at this moment the company is very profitable domestically. That would definitely be something to consider in the future after first branding its products as â€Å"made in the USA†. I also agree with Wang in strategically planning to develop Gemini’s product line to be able to complete internally with competitors such as Sony and LG. a. What operational issues is Gemini likely to face if it expends internationally? Issues Gemini could face would be the existing competition, regulations, financial risk such as the exchange rate between currencies could lead to disappointing return on investments. There may be issues with accessibility to supplies needed when dealing with tariffs and fees to ship products in. 4. What is your assessment of Gemini and what strategies do you recommend Gemini to follow. My assessment of Gemini is that the company is operating in a capacity to where, it can generate revenue, cut operational and distributional cost, and still offer savings to consumers without decreasing the price of the units sold or quantity for certain products indicating that the company is continually growing despite the 2009 occurrences. I recommend that they rebrand themselves as a â€Å"made in USA† product and continue to become innovative and technology savvy to develop their product line in order to compete with other big name competitors.

Lean-Burn Engines

Lean-Burn Engines Lean-burn means pretty much what it says. It is a lean amount of fuel supplied to and burned in an engine’s combustion chamber. Gasoline burns best in standard internal combustion engines when it is mixed with air in the proportions of 14.7:1 - nearly 15 parts of air to every one part of fuel. A true lean-burn can go as high as 32:1. If internal combustion engines were 100 percent efficient, the fuel would burn and produce just carbon dioxide (CO2) and water. But the reality is, engines are far less efficient and the combustion process also produces carbon monoxide (CO),  oxides of nitrogen (NOx)  and unburned  hydrocarbons in addition to CO2 and water vapor. In order to reduce these harmful exhaust emissions, two basic approaches have been used: Catalytic converters that clean up the exhaust gases coming from the engine, and lean-burn engines which produce lower levels of emissions by better combustion control and more complete fuel burning inside the engine cylinders. Engineers have known for years that a leaner air to fuel mixture is a frugal engine. The problems are, if the mixture is too lean, the engine will fail to combust, and a lower fuel concentration leads to less output. Lean-burn engines overcome these issues by employing a highly efficient mixing process. Specially shaped pistons are used along with intake manifolds that are located and angled to match the pistons. Additionally, the engine’s inlet ports can be shaped to cause â€Å"swirl† - a technique borrowed from direct injection diesel engines. Swirl leads to a more complete mixing of fuel and air that enables more complete burning, and in the process reduces pollutants without altering the output. The downside of lean-burn technology is increased exhaust  NOx  emissions (due to higher heat and cylinder pressure) and a somewhat narrower RPM power-band (due to slower burn rates of lean mixtures). To address these problems lean-burn engines have precise lean-metered direct  fuel injection, sophisticated computer controlled engine management systems and more complex  catalytic converters to further reduce NOx emissions. Today’s advanced lean-burn engines, both gasoline and diesel, achieve noteworthy fuel efficiency performance during both city and highway driving conditions. In addition to the fuel economy advantage, the design of lean-burn engines results in a high torque power output relative to horsepower rating. For drivers, this means not only savings at the fuel pump, but also a driving experience that includes a vehicle that accelerates quickly with fewer harmful emissions from the tailpipe.

Pretrial Release essays

Pretrial Release essays Nearly every day the newspapers and the television media print stories about serious offences. During the last years, the publication about facts and backgrounds of sexual offenders and child molesters has grown, and the public interest goes along with this. For violent offences, the rate of violent offending in itself has been found to be a good predictor of future offending, though not necessarily of violence. So, I do not believe that some dangerous offenders should never be granted pretrial release. It would obviously depend on the circumstances of the accused and the accuser. Sadly some accusers have been known to lie or are mistaken in the facts. People demand security and prevention systems. Besides police presence or an education giving children advice to protect themselves as practical means to achieve this, the law provides for the theoretical basis to set up punishments in order to prevent offenders from committing crimes. The government reac ts to this public demand by developing new laws concerning the consequences for serious offenses and prevention of sexual crimes. Predicting whether an individual offender is likely to re-offend has been shown to be purely speculative. Some offenders are able to use their time in prison productively; many return to society without committing additional crimes. The state should focus its resources on identifying offenders in need of treatment and providing it, whether in prison or in the community. The Legislature already has drastically increased sentences for sex offenders. The Constitution protects all Americans, even those who have committed crimes in the past. To turn a blind eye to constitutional requirements in the interest of incarcerating people who we think might be dangerous in the future weakens the protection for all of us and undermines the integrity of the ...

Team Working (Dynamics, Efficiency) Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Team Working (Dynamics, Efficiency) - Coursework Example Team working is one of the prime aspects based on which organisational operations are conducted in a coordinated manner (European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, 2007). These factors, as stated above, can be identified as quite relevant in the scenario, where a survey was conducted in the year 2013 by CIPD, unveiling that most of the employees in the UK are not offered with required development plans relating to team working skills by the management. This has been affecting staff performance within the organisation to a large extent. In addition, Cedar, which is a training consultancy operating in the UK, have disclosed that lack of support as well as training has been an important concern for affecting business productivity proving the arguments in CIPD report. Human resources are recognised as facing issues relating to support from management, complex inter-personal relationship, inadequate training and stressful working environment. In this respect, Cedar needs to adopt an effective leadership style based on which organisational performance and effectiveness can be enhanced. Thus, this report intends to approach the HR Director of Cedar, which w ill be critically analysing the issues to improve relationships and community spirits among teams. According to the study conducted by Tarricone & Luca (2002), teams are identified as an important consideration for any organisation to the delivery of required business unit with better efficiency. Teams are developed comprising members with desired competencies with the aim of ensuring that operations are conducted in a participative as well as coordinated manner (Tarricone & Luca, 2002). In a similar perspective, the article published by Pearson Education (2011) signified that teams refer to groups working with the intention of accomplishing certain common goals. Team members thus need to perform their operations in accordance with which, operations or activities are needed to

Women history Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Women history - Essay Example On the other hand, Ruth Milkman focuses on the issue of gender at work. In this case, the author focuses on the aspect of sexual division during labor. In doing this, Ruth Milkman focuses on the World War II. Milkman indicates that refashioning gender roles remained enormous during World War II. There were expectations in terms of gender roles during this period. Additionally, men and women both played different roles. The fact that both authors focus on women, it means that women remain important in the society. By focusing on women, both authors reflect on the post war period. In fact, the sentiments shared are happenings from the World War II. In writing the quotes, both authors take a critical approach on how certain aspects were conducted during the postwar period. Ruth Milkman and Rickie Solinger conduct an extensive research regarding issues facing women in the past. Additionally, both authors support their thoughts using several quotes. Despite the differences in ideas, both quotes reveal the position of women in the past societies. This means that both authors share similar sentiments regarding women. From Ruth Milkman and Rickie Solinger readings, it is evident that both quotes meet on similar ground. That is, women and aspects surrounding them. In the first quote, Rickie Solinger indicates that women are simply uterus in as much as various organisms support them. Here, the author remains clear regarding women and their personality. In the second quote, Ruth Milkman indicates that women can fill positions meant for men satisfactorily but subject to physical requirements and strengths. Almost similar to Solinger sentiments, Milkman is clear on issues surrounding women. Both authors are clear about roles of women in previous societies. In as much as both authors focus on issues that happened during postwar period, most issues indicated in the readings still happen in modern societies. In fact, the politics surrounding abortion remain