Slave Narrative Sarah Garner

HIST 1301 April 13, 2013 Summary of Interview with Sarah Garner Mrs. Sarah was a slave in Westmoreland County, and conducted an interview with Archibald Hill. She describes that she did not have an overseer for her labor, in which he expected them to do good work. If they didn’t complete the work, he was at liberty to whip them. She also describes her first time getting whipped as very unpleasant when she didn’t know how to do the labor. Garner was born in Tennessee and her mother, Jula, was born in Virginia. Garner’s husband, Theodore, was born in Blackground, and married him when she was eighteen.Her master bought him and his mother when he was 8 years old. Garner also had two brothers. Next, she describes planting the farm as a child. She’d have to pick it off wit her feet. They had plows so all the work wasn’t done by hand. She explains that she could do as much work as any man could handle. You had to stake the land crossways and plow the open rows. The master had one plow but was having more made at the shops. They made the plows by hand. She was never a house person, which her mother was. She thought of herself as a farmer. She could do any gung; milked cows and hauled flowers.She never had to cook, iron, clean, or wash for the white people. She worked from the day she was born until the day she left. Her mother raised her to be strong. Garner worked outside while her mother stayed inside doing housework. Garner never talked about being able to read and write. Her mother cooked them all meals after the white family ate. At night her mother taught life lessons to all of her siblings. Her father usually worked from early mornings to late at night. On of the main reasons masters didn’t want their slaves to become Christians involved the Bible.This was one reason why most plantation owners did what they could to stop their slaves from learning to read. In the South, black people were not usually allowed to attend chu rch services. Black people in the North were more likely to attend church services. Drums, which were used in traditional religious ceremonies, where banned because overseers worried that they would be used to send messages. Garner raised 12 children. When her son got old enough to care for himself, she moved away. She had three sons. When her son died, she came back here.Her 12 children including her daughters all grew up to go elsewhere. Most of them went North. Some went to Philadelphia, New York or Virginia. Her youngest son died shortly after he was married. She believed that they were in God’s hands, and did what God wanted. They all went their own separate ways when the got old enough. They come back to see family sometimes. Garner becomes excited when asked about life up North, until she sees the labor involved, and she thinks about the work she used to do at home. She lived a healthy life and she enjoys being free.

Computer programs Essay

Computer programs that reside in a host computer’s memory and control its functionality, in order to obtain information residing on the host computer, are known as hostile code. Viruses like the Melissa, The Love Bug, Hybris, and CIH are the best examples of hostile code. The development of the internet has helped the release, transmission and effectiveness of hostile code and its rapid development (Robert J. Bagnall, March 14, 2001). Hostile code has been classified into three categories, namely, Viruses which are computer programs usually hidden within other seemingly harmless programs. These malicious programs reproduce and get embedded in other programs with the intention of performing some harmful action (Merriam-Webster OnLine, n. d). They spread from file to file on the same computer and not to other computers from that computer (Symantec, n. d). Worms, which are self contained programs that spread copies of it to other computer systems, via networks connections like the IRC or as email attachments. They replicate like viruses, but spread from computer to computer. They are much more dangerous than viruses because they spread faster and affect entire computer networks. Trojan Horses, which contain hidden commands within code resembling a useful program. They make the computer do what was not intended to be done by the user. They erase specific files; format hard disk drives, steal passwords and install server programs onto the infected computer in order to permit remote access. In order to tackle hostile code attacks, forensics use intrusion detection and incident response. Intrusions are suspicious computer activity these are dealt with by the following step wise procedure, preparation, detection, investigation, eradication, recovery and follow up. That such an attack is taking place can be assumed whenever, there are service slowdowns or malfunctions, web defacements, anonymous tips, etc. The aim will be to isolate and contain the attacker by setting up a so called victim machine or target subnet on the network. Once the IP Address is determined, then the source of the attacks can be determined. A few of the methods used in this process are the ping and traceroute facilities, suppose the IP Address is known but it is not in quad format then one can use the ping or traceroute detect the IP Address in the normal quad format. In case the domain name is known but not the IP Address or vice versa, then one can use the nslookup tool. This tool works with UNIX, Windows NT and Windows 2000. While, registering the domain name it is essential to furnish details of name and contact address. The whois utility is used to obtain contact information on a specific domain to obtain the contact details of all persons registered with them. One of the more well known of such utilities are provided by the Sam Spade Web site (http://samspade. org) and the one provided by Network Solutions. After the contact information is obtained a traceroute is run to determine the route that the data packets are following. In this manner the source of the hostile code can be determined (Heiser and Kruse, 2001). Sources Bagnall, Robert J.Computer Viruses & Security WARNING: Visual Basic, Active X, Java and other Mobile Code, Retrieved March 29, 2006 from http://membrane. com /security /java_and_cookies/notes/mobile_code_malware. html Merriam-Webster OnLine. Retrieved March 29, 2006, from the World Wide Web: http://www. m-w. com/cgi-bin/dictionary? virus Symantec. Retrieved March 29, 2006, from the World Wide Web: http://www. symantec. com/avcenter/virus. backgrounder. html Heiser, Jay G. and Kruse II, Warren G. Computer Forensics: Tracking an Offender. Addison – Wesley Professional. Boston MA.

Audit Assurance and Compliance Services

Auditing is the important aspect in any financial managing company to keep all their data safe, secured and perfect without any missing information for any firm. This report talks about the work given to the auditors for making assessments of the statements related to the financial data by the management. The authorization of auditing the files are given only to those examiners who are found responsible and could present the data to the stakeholders by taking the leadership authentication and ruling out any glitches found in the information while maintaining professionalism and giving them overall finance required to the company by appropriate estimations (Audit.ucsf, 2016).   Any information related to the organization is provided to the auditor as a part of morality and competence obligations. Any suggestions specified by the auditor to the company are given prior importance to execute by the management. The information related to the company should be perfect and complete withou t any unclear data, so the auditors will have a keen view on all these aspects and wants it to be highly standard and accurate. If found any missing or unrelated information then they would enquire about it and clear the doubts (Cso, 2016). The task of assessing the financial statements is completed only after noting the ambiguities like revenue of the company, important assets and expenditure for that particular duration. Any accountant who has accepted for auditing the financial statements should be complaint to the laws by considering the fact that he should not get threatened by the organizations group or overlook the conducts of ethical rules as it is the suggested criteria from the ethical guidelines. It should be noted that accepting the task that leads to the cause of threats should be avoided by the auditor which is an essential point to be kept in mind (Isaca, 2016). So the rules in ethical guidelines specifies that before considering to execute any task for auditing you need to be aware of the factors that are mentioned in the guidelines. All the necessary information related to the clients and records of the business are needed to be gathered by the auditor for the present work and need to give the brief outlook of the work and issues if found so that it would not mess up at the end of the audit as it is dealt with the client outside (PwC, 2016). There is always a chance of rejecting the given task if found any proposed threat or insecurity. It clearly implies that every accepted task should be dealt carefully nevertheless of taking long time in assessing the audit files while it gives an opportunity of knowing the customer in depth. As the client gets approval from the auditor for auditing the files they take into consideration those formalities while never getting compromised on their objectives (Rbk, 2016). Threats can be expected from the new firms as a part of their job if any of the auditing team is related to the organization members in terms of share. Expectations of any threat to the auditing team from the client never says that the proposal has to be taken off or stop in between it can even been carried out under proper protection by safeguarding themselves from opponents. Measures should be taken to get away from the issue repeatedly and demolish it completely to avoid any further threats in future (Isaca, 2016). T he later level of audits are accepted by identifying if there are any further issues involved with them. Solutions should be designed for safeguarding the audit team from being threatened by the clients. Auditor efficiency varies based on the organization they are chosen for. It drastically varies if greater organizations are involved in auditing work. Clients such as BSF which is a high level industry the auditor is expected with special skills of efficacy and should be highly capable in order to understand the terms and policies of that firm in regards to their context (Rbk, 2016). In these aspects evaluation should be to the greater extent if auditor is accepting the task and it is a sign of inviting the threat on their own if they are not eligible for this task to complete and accepting it if unable to sketch out the business details at a prospective level. The satisfaction of expectations of clients , reaching the deadlines specified by them are need to be carefully understood by the auditor and should fulfill this requirements before approving the assigned task (Audit.ucsf, 2016). Not presenting the accurate solution that is according to the situation then it creates the way to the threats related to audit firm while giving the suitable conditions for the beneficial of the financial statements. Three kinds of risks are involved in auditing they are: Any possibilities of missing the data and taking commissions or interpreting the data in a wrong way in the financial statements then these are considered to be the inherent risks. These consequences vary from the controls and should be noted that are important to be verified. If the risk is at high level, certainly the industry has to face the risk of inherent which is similarly found with BSF limited (Rbk, 2016). The standards of BSF limited are independent from other firms and have their own judgments which are personal and voicing the nature with no restrictions are the rules required to step ahead. This implicates that risk of inherent is pretty high. There is no significant risk of control identified with BSF limited in such case as it is less than 5 percent involved. If mechanism required to control the process is not properly handled then that leads to control risk which can be aptly defined by this and it apparently makes a way to the threats if failing to recognize the statements that are materialistic (Isaca, 2016). Appropriate control measures internally are to be proposed to solve the misinterpretation regarding the BSF. Auditor should give an opinion on the control measures that are being input in the BSF. By implementing such measures it seems to work out well at BSF and efficient. BSF is comparatively having higher threats as it is the top level industry and the details related to their organization are not clearly given to the auditing team. This figure out the control measures and identifies that situation is controllable (PwC, 2016). If failing to recognize the missing statements from the financial bills of the company then the risk of detection comes into the picture. And it describes the inability of the auditor or giving an opportunity for the company by the auditor (Audit.ucsf, 2016). A customized systematic manner is to be followed while auditing the financial statements and has to rule out the missing of data or any other manipulations in the statements and appropriate corrections are to be proposed as it is not expected to record it in the books without necessary corrections as it affects the user’s interests at later stages. Multiple audit visits can be carried out to verify the mistakes and to reduce the chance of risks (Rbk, 2016). Mixture of three risks of audits is finally presented by the audit team after the completion of entire auditing process (Isaca, 2016). Increase in the three different risks such as risk of inherent, Risk of control and risk of detection are to be determined to know the risk involved in audit. Risk in Audit = Risk of control x Risk of detection x Risk of Inherent To identify the threats involved in auditing the task the audit team has found the process and has to report the possible ways to reduce the threats by acknowledging them is the work given to the team to make a final decision on the entire threats reduction. If the risk level is unmanageable, then the proposed suggestion is at rejection (Rbk, 2016). The risk level is proposed with number of safeguards process in case of risk of detection since the risk is at insignificant level. High labor and lengthy duration is required for this and approval is taken from the management before accepting any task (Isaca, 2016). Risk of inherent and risk of control levels are inversely proportional to the risk level of detection. Risk of detection is chosen to be at lower level by the audit team if threat of inherent is pictured in the situation while giving way to the risk of inherent at high peaks (Audit.ucsf, 2016). The final threat for BSF appears to be at higher level in auditing process for threat levels of detection and inherent. The calculations involved in audit risk are as follows: Risk in Audit = Risk of control x Risk of detection x Risk of Inherent The threat level less than 10% is expected by the audit team to be moderate in general. Hence it is considered that threat of audit on BSF is on the safer side. This reveals that there are no restrictions in taking the task for auditing the financial statements. The adequate amount of proofs related to the audit is to be collected by the audit team as a part of the auditing program in order to follow the appropriate systematic procedure of auditing the financial statements. The auditing process is carried out only if the account system of the client industry is evaluated by the team for example here it is the BSF limited. The accounting system is studied in detailed by the auditing team is the strategy followed on the clients tasks (Rbk, 2016). This at later stages are tested   by conducting control and other tests which are related to this process to make sure that all proofs are gathered in the given duration of time. At the end the audit team has to be sure of providing the evidence correctly about the client’s financial statements. The audit programs that are certainly recommended are as follows: Reports related to finance- on monthly basis Suggestions to be followed from the previous audits Proposing the financial balance at year end Reports to be sent to the required clients and list of funds needs to be received Predictive check on the account balance thoroughly Ledgers are maintained by the clients which are to be checked keenly and other related files The data from all the sectors should be matched after totaling the accounts The office accounts are to be linked to banks statements Number of transactions occurred should be verified and amount taken for the purpose is utilized accordingly or not should be checked The auditors from external team need to follow the entities regarding the irregularities on financial statements from the journal. The audit process is regulated using the journal from the department of accounting for accurate verification. The managing is enquired regarding the entries by the audit team and accordingly the funding is given (Cso, 2016). BSF has designed a success factor that the success in business is based on the development and research carried out. The uncertainty of research depends on the external factors. After attaining the success from such a research program then it can be taken for benefiting the needs of customers. The activities of research and development are to be carried out properly to get a success and the necessary targets should be identified. The targets which are in between should be executed depending on the budget allocated and the duration of time. BSF follows the journal guidelines to show the report effectiveness before marketing them (Audit.ucsf, 2016). The performance from the research that is undertaken newly by BSF is found to be quite complex but cost on research are given on daily basis of expenses and revenue. Collection of material and major equipment’s is given huge capitals (Rbk, 2016). The decision of fixing the funds is decided by the audit team as it has to be carefully tasked based on the requirements of work in the industry. The three entities that are involved in triple bottom line addendum are the environmental, social and economic production in the organization. For the audit to be in a signature process Spreckly has designed this system in 80’s and made a first approach. BSF limited is corresponding to this triple bottom line terms and standards hereafter. The credit’s for the work executed on the financial statements is appreciated (Gay & Simnett, 2000). Though the auditing process looks extended because of the procedure but the company management is pleased with the friendly approach environment and the respectful communication (PwC, 2016). The media reports that these rules are criticized by industries of other firms because of their diversion to the fish production company rather than the suppliers of food materials. This has made an attempt of getting food for next generations. It created a bias between the extremely poor and high people so the approach was not taken into account ( Gay & Simnett, 2000). On the progress of working on this account though the initial take off was not appreciated it was considered as better solution in the later stages. In the scientific research, the triple bottom line is considered to be the success measure but it is not really accepted by the auditor to sign off as they were reluctant to accept (Whittington & Pany, 2001). From the conclusions it is evident that auditor has to get convinced and sign off the document because of the huge information that is available and processed through the auditing process is correct. After performing the extensive research the information is given based on the conditions in the market place and the predictions derived from the situations are submitted. The management is provided with the patent value that is capable of in producing the efficient output in future (Whittington & Pany, 2001). The less availability of advanced technology is providing very less competition to the management and as the time progress it will change the opinion. There might be drastic change in regards to competition which is not exactly related to the market research (Gay & Simnett, 2000). After a proper understanding is created in the market then we can notice a great interest on the patent value in another one or two years or so (Gay & Simnett, 2000). The price is however fixed based on t he popularity of product in the market and its sales conditions. The management is extremely not worried as it can get back the value of it in the later stages after fine evaluation in the market. Audit.ucsf.edu. 2016.  Audits (Assurance and Compliance) | Audit & Advisory Services. [online] Available at: https://audit.ucsf.edu/audits-assurance-and-compliance [Accessed 11 Sep. 2016]. Cso.ie. 2016.  Chapter 5 - Audit, Assurance and Compliance Arrangements - CSO - Central Statistics Office. [online] Available at: https://www.cso.ie/en/aboutus/governance/corporategovernancestandard/chapter5-auditassuranceandcompliancearrangements/ [Accessed 11 Sep. 2016]. Isaca.org. 2016. [online] Available at: https://www.isaca.org/knowledge-center/research/pages/audit-assurance-programs.aspx?cid=1003563&appeal=pr [Accessed 11 Sep. 2016]. Gay, G.E. and Simnett, R., 2000.  Auditing and assurance services in Australia. Mcgraw-hill. PwC. 2016.  Points of view. [online] Available at: https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/services/audit-assurance/publications/regulatory-debate.html [Accessed 11 Sep. 2016]. Rbk.ie. 2016.  Audit, Assurance & Compliance. [online] Available at: https://www.rbk.ie/services/audit-assurance [Accessed 11 Sep. 2016]. Whittington, R. and Pany, K., 2001.  Principles of auditing and other assurance services. Irwin/McGraw-Hill.

Mangement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Mangement - Essay Example He maintains that it is more important for a leader to be competent than intelligent. Due to the popularity of his competency movement, multinational companies started formulating complex competency models which laid down the framework regarding desirable behaviour and skills in the organization. People who adhered to these competency models would be rewarded and vice – versa. However, this model left very little room for the development of the leader. A leader was unable to show his motivational skills, leadership styles and even prove his point of view. Traditional competency models focussed on developing individual behaviour and skills and in overcoming individual weaknesses. They believed that this will lead to overall team development. However, they failed to understand that in a team environment individuals benefit from each other’s strengths and it is very important for overall team development and not to focus on individual development. The third and final assum ption of competency model is that jobs are static and individuals benefit by following a set of competency rules laid down by the organization. This thought in itself is flawed. People are hungry for recognition and they are happy to display their skills and qualities. In the modern world, leaders must have the below mentioned competency skills in order to be efficient and successful. 1. Visionary and strategic thinking – Leaders must be able to set long term goals and act as a guide and mentor to the followers by leading and directing them to achieve these goals. he must be able to understand the environmental changes both nationally and globally and guide his followers accordingly. 2. Adaptability and change movement – Leaders must be able to adapt to changes in the organization. An effective leader easily adapts to changes required to attain the goal.He also must be able to blend different leadership styles depending on the situation in order to guide his followers through the change process. 3. Drive for results – Leaders must take the ownership and be personally responsible for success and failures. He must be passionate to achieve goals and must encourage his followers to do the same. 4. Team leadership competency – An efficient leader should act as a guide and mentor and direct the team in order to attain desired objectives. He should be keen to take responsibilities to meet targets and also take active part in the organization’s success. 5. People development – Efficient leaders must promote follower’s growth and provide a platform for them to succeed. This will help to develop future leaders and will eventually lead to the success of the organization as a whole. 6. Risk management – Competent leaders must be innovative and be prepared to take risks and experiment with new methods in order to foster development. They must use new and innovative techniques to solve problems and also adapt to change s. 7. Values and ethics – Good leaders must follow social norms and ethics and set examples for the followers. They must not resort to dishonest means or engage themselves in illegal or unlawful activities. Nowadays, most organizations are giving a lot of importance to ethical behaviours of leaders as recently there has an increase in scams and scandals which translates to the fact that there has been a lot of ethically failed leaders. 8. Service orientation – An effective and competent leader understand the needs of his clients and tries to meet client expectations. He

Night Mother Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Night Mother - Research Paper Example By articulating the psychological motivations for their thoughts and actions, Marsha Norman is able to showcase the characters’ depth. Norman’s plays, including ‘Night Mother, feature recurring motifs. Some prominent motifs are: â€Å"the relationship between parent and child, usually mother and daughter; the inescapable encroachment of the past the present; and, perhaps most tellingly, the struggle between rationalism and faith. The plays encourage the possibility of religious faith, but with choice as an essential ingredient: Faith -- like feminism -- demands autonomy.† (Coen, 1992, p.22) In ‘Night Mother, we see all of these motifs at work. There are also references to Christianity and Jesus Christ, but the author keeps them at the periphery of the main narrative. Likewise, monologues are employed to capture the character and personality of the speaker. In ‘night Mother monologues serve as key devices for improving the theatrical and dramatic effect of the play. Through this device, we learn how, Jessie, despite her drastic resolution to end her life, is actually trying to gain control over her life. This is a reflection of how things outside her circle of influence have straddled on her will, autonomy and dignity. (The Christian Science Monitor, 2004, p.15) Through the exposition of the particular life circumstances of Jessie and her mother, Marsha Norman is treating universal human concerns. For example, one of the main reasons why Jessie decides to end her life is the deep sense of loneliness and helplessness she experiences frequently. She makes it clear to her mother that her company doesn’t alleviate her loneliness even a little. Jessie’s physical ailment in the form of epilepsy has led to a restricted lifestyle and limited job opportunities. These in turn have created numerous frustrations for her, which have led to frequent bouts of depression and suicidal ideation. But Jessie’s is not an un usual case in modern society. In America today, tens of millions of psychiatric prescriptions get written each year. People go through a high degree of stress in their workplaces. The work-life balance is often skewered in favour of the former. The institutions of family and marriage are falling apart gradually. In such a society, people increasing feel alienated, confused and desperate. When health complications like that faced by Jessie are added to the mix, life does appear hopeless and bleak. What Martha Norman seems to be suggesting is that Jessie’s life is a symbol of a broader social fact. In this vein, ‘Night Mother is a poignant dissection into modern human condition. Through the past and present lives of Jessie and her mother, a ‘bi-regional’ perspective is evidenced in the play. The bi-regional perspective in ‘Night, Mother is found in the â€Å"philosophical intersection of Midwest and South, though the regional poles are never identified as such or specifically grounded in either history or tradition. 'night, Mother enacts a more existential impasse that never gets resolved. In order to understand the fascinating bi-regionality of this award-winning play, we must position its characters, themes, and world-views in the context of two distinct American sub-cultures. 'night, Mother showcases a stark conflict between world views, both "epistemological and

Biomedicine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Biomedicine - Essay Example Source en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biomedicine The basic underlying principle of the health care system is to treat disease on the basis of diagnoses arrived at by using symptoms and investigations. However, the effectiveness of treatment based on this rationale has been questioned. This process, which often overlooks patients' specific environments, everyday experiences, social conditions and the external environment, has been reviewed with a different angle. During the last few decades, there has been much criticism associated with this rationale. A number of 'new' concepts have been introduced in the medical discussions, such as illness, health, life quality and function. This has heralded a need for change in the everyday practices of parts of the health care system. This healthcare system that consists of general practitioners, public health personnel, nurses and paramedics has been changing so subtly, that it has not kept pace with the momentum of change in the medical arena made more complex by the population explosion and healthcare issues. This is especially true of the initial diagnostic visits between the patient and the doctor where the primary encounters occur. This is also ripe for change in the preventive health care segment where a lot of earlier sidelined concepts have now started to emerge. Recently, concepts of health and illness have been changing from before. The comprehension of health and illness has been changing due to input fuelled by perspectives from many disciplines. Health has now become a more holistic concept and has benefited by the increasing acknowledgement of other sources like biology, environment, social position, and the role of the mind, culture, spirituality, race, and sex, that influence health and well bein g. These have served to widen the realm of focus on the issues of health and illness. The health care systems are now more of a social model of health and this could explain the reasons for the increasing use of alternative therapies such as homeopathy, natural healing methods, acupuncture etc. Last, but not the least, stress has been accepted to be a major causative factor, and prevention and stress management methods seem to be a great approach to managing health proactively. This creates more focus on prevention than cure and more reasons to treat the causative factors rather than the symptoms of the disease. The main influences that have initiated a need for the reformulation of biomedicine may be attributed to a number of causes, some of which have been discussed as follows. Rising costs of health care are not matched by corresponding gains in population health; in particular health inequalities seem to take an upward trend. (Hallam, 2003) Managed health care has become so commercialised that it has become a luxury rather than basic need to be able to access medical care when essential. Modern investigative medical tests and treatments are expensive, rendering it unaffordable to a lot of people in the society. Individuals are bereft when they are unable to afford the huge insurance premiums, especially, the lower socio economic groups. This results in postponement of a visit to the doctor until really chronic, thereby not only missing opportunities to diagnose serious illnesses earlier than later but adding to the burden of the healthcare system by the extensive treatment that would now be required. Since

Competition Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Competition - Term Paper Example The market price in a perfect competition is determined by the market forces namely, the demand and supply of the products. The features of perfect competition are as follows, There are a large number of buyers and sellers in a perfect competitive market that neither a single buyer nor a single seller can influence the price. The price is determined by the market forces namely the demand for the supply of the products. Thus the sellers in the perfectly competitive market are price takers and quantity adjusters. The products produced by all the firms in a perfectly competitive market must be homogenous and identical in all respects i.e. the products in the market are same in quantity, size, taste etc. The products of different firms are perfect substitutes and the cross elasticity is infinite. Both the buyers and the sellers are fully aware of he current price in the market. Therefore the buyer will not offer higher price and the sellers will not accept a price less than the one which is prevailing in the market. There must be complete freedom for the entry of new firms or the exit of the existing firms from the industry. In times of profits, new firms will enter into the markets and in time of loss the existing firms will leave the industry. In a perfect competition it is assumed that there are no transportation costs. Because in perfect competition, a commodity is sold at same price throughout the market. So if transportation costs are incurred firms closer to the market will charge a lesser price than the firms far away. So, it is assumed that there are no transportation costs. Under perfect competition price is determined by the market forces namely the demand for and supply of the commodities. Hence there is uniform price in the market. As a result the average revenue is perfectly elastic. The AR curve is horizontally parallel to x-axis. Since the average revenue is

Government Job vs Private Job Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Government Job vs Private Job - Research Paper Example The â€Å"game† presents no investment in the future of the company or corporation, its merle an exchange of wealth. This scenario contributes many problems to the current operating business atmosphere. Mergers bring about immediate economic problems that include, loss of markets to foreign competitors, continuing trade deficits, inadequate operating capital, declining productivity, debt-heavy corporations, and loss of many jobs. The debt is due mainly to financing in order to carry out the merger. These problems plus lagging research and development add to the complications of business operations after the merger is finalized. Another factor that has played a significant role in the situation of state and federal government budgets now are government financial bailouts. The first of these was the Savings and Loan Bailout of 1989 due to more than half of America’s Savings and Loans failing between 1986 and 1989. This was primarily due to lax government lending policies. These business bailouts have directly affected the budget, deficits, and economic stability of our federal and state governments. The US passed the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act in October 2008 for a $700 billion financial sector bailout. This resulted in the bank rescue of 2008, which called for a $250 billion cash infusion into the banking system. The bailout of Bear Stearns in April 2008 ended in lending the firm $29 billion to JP Morgan to buy the troubled firm. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac collapsed in the late summer of 2008. The federal government committed up to $200 billion to save both these giant mortgage lenders. Also, $100 billion in cash credits was guaranteed to each of them to prevent bankruptcy. American International Group (AIG), who was one of the largest insurance companies in the world. The government took control of the company and guaranteed them $85 billion in loans.

MGMT Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

MGMT - Essay Example Also, maintaining business strategies and goals with daily employee task and duties helps the work environment to function in a healthy and effective manner. Clear goals and expectations being communicated effectively to all levels of employees is also an integral PM practice to regulate performance management, and professionalism. Constant feedback is the best mechanism to enhance employee skills and develop their standards according to company goals. Also, with regular communication regarding individuals and teams, an excellent practice is to frequently reward good performances. This helps to instill company values, motivate employees to do even better, and enforce the importance of standards and teamwork. Career success is based on a few valuable key elements. Having goals and objectives helps employees and managers alike to focus on standards and collectively meet the company’s aims and aspirations. Embracing improvement and learning is also important in helping a team to grow and effectively work together. Being supportive, effectively communicating ideas, and having key decision making skills helps to improve performance and develop set career goals. Having leadership qualities and responsibly completing expected duties and tasks helps to maintain positive feedback, receive recognition, and achieve career success.

Microeconomics Coursework Essay Essay Example for Free

Microeconomics Coursework Essay Essay Critically evaluate and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Customer Boycotts. Compare and contrast either Coca Cola or Bacardi with another consumer boycott of your choice and discuss appropriate microeconomic theoretical models. Firstly to understand this question we need to understand what a customer or consumer boycott actually is. Well it is normally called by an organisation or a group of individuals, asking consumers not to buy a specific product, or the products of a specific company, in order to exert commercial pressure. This is usually done to get the company to change behaviour, to cease an activity or to adopt a more ethical practice. For this essay I am going to discuss many advantages and disadvantages of consumer boycotts and also I have decided to compare and contrast coca cola with the Nestle boycott. There are various ways to make a boycott efficient. To be efficient a reduction of 1-2% of turnaround of a company (or product) is seen as the critical mass needed. (27 Mar 2003, Demanding consumer [online]. Available at:). Boycotts can be successful, for example, in 1986 Rainforest Action Network launched a boycott of Burger King. This was because of Burger King importing beef from tropical rainforest countries because it was cheap. But the rainforests were getting destroyed in order to provide pasture for cattle. As a result of the boycott, Burger Kings sales dropped by 12%. In response, Burger King cancelled thirty-five million dollars worth of beef contracts in Central America and announced that the company would stop importing rainforest beef. Boycott calls are at times controversial because they may be called by groups from the political side or for activities that people dont specifically disagree. Boycott efforts can include protests against everything from  investing in a politically undesirable country to discouragement of the eating or drinking of products from certain companies or countries. Boycotts are not always effective and only a limited percentage of countries consumers will participate in one. While many people are sympathetic to the reason behind a boycott, not enough people join in. One of the main reasons is that people do not see their actions as having any results. This may be partly due to only concentrating on what happens to the primary target of a boycott. But there are also secondary effects which I will talk about later. There are many advantages to consumer boycotts that I will discuss now. Obviously the main advantage is when the boycotts work, as said above with the boycott of burger king, and the company consequently changes its ways. But more often than not boycotts rarely change the companies ways or at least so that the consumer knows about it. One advantage is that boycotts are a way that consumers can use their power for positive social change. Boycotts can be effective because when successful they will result in increased public scrutiny of the company. This in turn will cause concerns inside the company about lost profits from the loss in consumer interest and companies are always concerned about their financial position. Another advantage is that a boycott can hold a company accountable for any policies that negatively affect the environment or people. This is an advantage because a company could be ignoring the problem but with a consumer boycott more and more people will find out about the problem and may also decide to join in. The negative coverage that will arise from media coverage of the boycott may become a big problem for the company in the long run, since competitors may gain a relative advantage. An example of this is that after the boycott of French wines in Denmark had calmed down, the French wines had lost 20 percent market share. Also there was a bigger problem, because the general impression was that consumers could be persuaded to switch back to French  wines. But many supermarket shelves had been reorganised in order to give more space to Italian and Spanish wines, and this was considered a more serious problem. (Can Consumer boycotts work, 2002 [online]. Available at: I mentioned briefly earlier something called a primary effect, well this would be where the target organisation changes its practice. Many targets are however reluctant to change as the result of hostile pressure, and even if changes are made they may try to hide the fact that the consumer action had any effect. There is also the fact that most boycotts are small by comparison to the overall sales, so a target can ride out a boycott. Thus the primary effects may be small and many boycotts may be judged not to have succeeded. So this could be seen as a disadvantage. But the secondary effects are an advantage and are the effects that are not connected to the target. They are effects on other organisations that are not in conflict and can therefore change without the public knowing. Secondary effects can be changes to regulations, lasting change in industry practices, allowing substantial growth entrance of ethical players into the market or effects on decisions of similar organisations to the target. (Why Secondary Effects, [online]. Available at: An example of secondary effects is if someone refuses to buy Nescafe (the coffee brand from Nestle) then he may choose to buy a brand from a much smaller company. The positive effect to this smaller company is much larger than the negative effect to Nestle. The new company may find out that many people are switching to it on ethical grounds and position itself in the market to take advantage of this by, for example, publishing a code of conduct. Having switched brand once this person will have less brand loyalty and a newly formed company will know this by market research and will know they have a better chance of success in the coffee sector. (Why Secondary Effects, [online]. Available at: The boycott campaigns can also be important in developing political consciousness and can be one of the few non violent means to create political pressure. Another advantage is the exposure of the company and with less people buying their products the consumers will be looking at  buying substitute goods and therefore the demand for these will increase and therefore the supply will also increase. Consumer boycotts will increase competition in the market and firms will reduce their prices as a result to compete and also to gain the extra consumers that have less brand loyalty. The firms profits will also reduce and the smaller firms will gain more of the market share. There are also disadvantages to boycotts though. One of these could be a large reduction in jobs, Boycotting Nestle products wont help the poor farmers who sell to the company, the head of Oxfam said. (Charlotte Denny, 2002. Retreat by Nestle on Ethiopias $6 debt [online]. The Guardian. Available at: ) They can have an adverse impact on individuals and communities which become innocent victims of the economic damage that boycotts can cause. Obviously there are disadvantages for the company as the reputation of the company will be harmed as a result of the impact of consumer boycotts, this isnt good for it as it would need to lower its prices because the demand will become less. This is shown below As the demand falls so does the equilibrium price (Pe1 to Pe2). Another disadvantage to the company is that the company budgets will get ruined and will need to be analysed and changed. Also the gross domestic product of the host country could fall which is a disadvantage. In extreme cases there could be a loss of multinational specialisation and technology in a third world country as the company may not do their business their. There could be a loss of consumer choice if the product ceases after a boycott. Boycotts like that of advertising of cigarettes can cost businesses their survival, as in motor racing as half the advertising used to come from cigarette companies. Now a lot struggle to get the advertising money needed. There can also occasionally be some violence resulting from the boycotts and also resentment. Another disadvantage for consumers would be that some people would argue that all publicity is good publicity. Now I will compare and contrast the consumer boycott of coca cola with the consumer boycott of Nestle. Coca cola is the worlds fastest selling non-alcoholic beverage and the consumer boycott of it started on the 22nd July 2003. The reason behind the boycott is because they are accused of complicity in the assassination of 8 Sinaltrainal trade union leaders in Colombia since 1990. Sinaltrainal is a trade union and it organisers workers in the food and drink sector. Many other of the leaders have been imprisoned, tortured, forcibly displaced and exiled. Coca Cola deny any responsibility for these murders. They say that 100s of union leaders are killed every year in Columbia. However many of the murders were made inside Coca Cola plants while negotiating agreements. Coca cola management were reported in the national press as meeting and contracting members of the AUC death squads to sort out their labour problems. (Boycott Coca Cola, [online]. Available at: Since 1977, Nestle has been the subject of an international boycott for its deceptive promotion of artificial baby milk as a superior alternative to mothers milk. Artificial baby milk can harm babies because it does not contain the natural anti bodies which a mothers milk provides, and because it is extremely expensive, causing many mothers to mix it with too much water resulting in mal-nutrition. Also, in many places the water used to dilute it is not portable. Once a mother starts giving her baby the formula, her own supply of milk dries up. Nestle provides free packages of formula in hospitals with the result that many babies never ever even get a chance to start nursing. In 1988 the boycott was re-launched when it was discovered that the company did not abide by its promise to follow the World Health Organisations International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes. (A Consistent Corporate Criminal, [online]. Available at: ). There have been massive impacts on Nestle because of the boycott. In 1984 the boycott forced Nestle to agree to abide by the World Health Organisations International Code of Marketing of breast Milk Substitutes. But now it was discovered that the company has not abided by its promise so the boycott was re-launched. Also in one afternoon 8,500 people emailed Oxfam to complain about Nestle, this was the fastest response Oxfam says it has had to a campaign. (Charlotte Denny, 2002. Retreat by Nestle on Ethiopias $6 debt [online]. The Guardian. Available at: ). Coca cola is in the non-alcoholic beverage market whereas Nestle is one of the worlds largest food manufacturers; it is also though same as coca cola in the beverage market. With a consumer boycott against both of these two companies, this means that the demand for both of their products will decrease as a result, causing an increase in the demand for substitute goods, like Pepsi instead of Coca Cola. Also because there is a shift in the demand curve this leads to a movement along the supply curve so the price of the goods, coca cola or a nestle brand will go up from P1 to P2 and the quantity in equilibrium falls from Q1 to Q2. This is a supply and demand graph for what has happened with coca cola and Nestle because of the consumer boycott against them. This is a supply and demand graph for what happens to the demand for a substitute good like Pepsi for coca cola because of the boycott. If a company has a strong consumer loyalty then a boycott would be unlikely to have much of an effect on the number of people who choose to join in and not purchase their products, however if a company has failed to build up a strong consumer loyalty then consumers will find it easy to decide to no longer purchase their product and will purchase the competitors products. Why have both Coca Cola and Nestle continued to upset consumer groups when  they could easily change there policies and consequently have the boycotts against them lifted. The answer to this is that the company must be getting more financial gain from what ever is upsetting the consumer groups than the loss of revenue that the boycotts have brought about. Both Nestle and Coca Cola are oligopoly markets because there are just a few firms that share a large proportion of the industry. Both of the markets of Nestle and Coca Cola are differentiated, because they both produce many types of the product. Coca Cola and Nestle are the same as much of the competition between such oligopolists is in terms of the marketing of their particular brand. There are barriers to entry into both markets, these could be product differentiation and brand loyalty, where there are differentiated products where the consumer associates the product with the brand, and it will be very difficult for a new firm to break into that market. The problem would be being able to produce a product sufficiently attractive to consumers who are loyal to the familiar brand. (John Sloman, 2003. Economics. Fifth edition. (s.l.): Pearson Education). Another barrier could be lower costs for an established firm. The companies are likely to have specialised production and marketing skills. They are more likely to be aware of the most efficient techniques and the most reliable and/or cheapest suppliers. They are also likely to have access to cheaper finance, therefore operating on a lower cost curve. New firms would find it hard to compete and be likely to lose any price wars. Aggressive tactics or intimidation could also be used. (John Sloman, 2003. Economics. Fifth edition. (s.l.): Pearson Education). Because Nestle and coca cola are in the oligopoly markets they both are affected by their rivals actions and vice versa. Because of this the firms could wish to collude and act as though they are a monopoly so they could jointly maximise their profits, or the firms could try and compete with their rivals to gain a bigger share of industry profits. Because Coca Cola and Nestle are both the leading firms in their industries, tacit collusion could form where they set the prices for their markets. Oligopolists will not engage in price cutting, excessive advertising or  other forms of competition. By doing this profits will be maintained in the long run. If oligopoly firms compete, profits are low and consumers benefit. If there were a rise in price of Coca Cola or a Nestle product e.g. Nescafe, then this would lead to a large fall in the quantity demanded. This is because consumers would buy alternative substitute goods like Pepsi or another coffee brand. The reason is because both coca cola and Nestle products are elastic products. After looking at both the advantages and disadvantages of consumer boycotts, I have found out that even though the firms lose consumer loyalty, lose revenue and get public scrutiny the firms must be coming out on top and are gaining financially, otherwise they would change their ways. This is probably why Nestle maybe did start to abide by the World Health Organisations International Code of Marketing of Breast-Milk Substitutes, then realized how much revenue they were losing so changed back even knowing they were likely to have the boycott brought back aswell because they must be gaining financially, but this is only my opinion. Also the other businesses in the market that whilst their competitors are having their products boycotted can take advantage and increase their own financial position and customer base.

Analysis of Beer Brands in India

Analysis of Beer Brands in India Introduction Beer market has been rising quickly, especially in India beer market is rising over the previous 10 years, by virtue of the effective consequences of statistical styles and predictable transforms, like: Growing income stages: Grow in the income levels of person has direct effect the beer consumption. As the income of the people increases then the beer consumption is also increases and the Indian beer consumption is continue growing, but at a very minimum growth rate. Changing age profile: As a result of high birth rates, a huge percentage of Indian people are in the age group of 20-34 years. So, this age group is the almost suitable aim for beer marketers. That age group provides a improve enlargement of beer utilization in India. Changing lifestyles: Now the alcohol consumption has becomes the traditional feature of the Indian society but its not adapted by all. Still its adapted by those urban consumers who become more exposed to western life styles. In the present scenario women are also consuming more and more beer. Reduction in beer prices: Reduction in beer price is also responsible for rising beer consumption. The Indian customer usually values a hard drink on the base of its kick factor in opposition to its value. In India the upcoming of beer manufacturing is very much expectant because India has essentially a hot and sizzling weather and the beer drinkers in the nation are too younger than the usual beer drunkard in another place in the globe This builds them extra to be expected to bear the brand name with them for a life span (http://www.indianmba.com/Faculty_Column/FC519/fc519.html). Beer Brands in India These are brands in the Indian markets Kingfisher, Fosters Beer, Dansberg, Carlsberg, Golden Eagle, Carling Black Label, Haake Beck, Flying Horse Royal Lager, Guru, Haywards skol, Haywards 5000, Haywards 2000 Beer, Maharaja Premium Lager, Hi-Five, Heinekin, Taj Mahal, Ice, Legend, KnockOut, Kirin, Kingfisher Strong, Kingfisher Diet, London Diet, London Draft, London Pilsner, Sand Piper, San Miguel Lager, Royal Challenge, Sand Piper, Zingaro and Strohs. (http://www.indianmba.com/Faculty_Column/FC519/fc519.html). Beer industries in india In India there are many Beer Industries both Indian Industries and Foreign Industries (FDIs) are serving in India, some International Industries serves in India by having acquisitions, strategic alliance with Indian Brewing Industries. Some multinational Indian brewing industries are also serving in foreign countries their Head Office is in India but they serves in India and foreign both countries. Some foreign companies established their Head Office both in India and in their country. Some Breweries Industries in India are as under:- United Breweries Limited Mohan Meakins Radico Khaitan United Breweries Limited United Breweries Limited (UBL), United Breweries is a type of conglomerate company with a main focal point on the brewery (beer) and alcoholic beverages industry and was founded in 1857 by Scotsman, Thomas Leishman who is the real founder if the UB Group (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Breweries).On 15th March, 1915   Mr. Thomas Leishman acquired 5 breweries to form United Breweries Ltd. with its registered office at 17 Armenian Street, Chennai -1 (INDIA), then headquarter of this group is moved to Bangalore in 1950s,( http://www.kingfisherworld.com) means its a South Indian based British breweries. At the age of 22, Vittal Mallya was elected as the companys first Indian director in 1947, after a year he replace as the chairman of the company and now, Dr. Vijay Mallya (who is also a member of the Indian Parliament) is the Chairman and Owner of this UB Group (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Breweries) the UB Group are deep-rooted in the forerunner company, United Breweries Limited, also assigned to as the Beer Division of the UB Group (http://www.kingfisherworld.com) UB Group is the market manager in the Indian beer market with a 40% market stake. Its forerunner Kingfisher brand commands 25% market stake alone (http://www.indianmba.com/Faculty_Column/FC519/fc519.html). UB is the Indians largest producer of beer with market share by volume about 48%. Brands of ub group The active beers of flagship Kingfisher Brand of UB Group are:- Kingfisher Lager Kingfisher Light Lager Kingfisher Strong Lager Kingfisher Super Strong Lager Flying Horse Royal Lager Kalyani Black Label Strong Lager Premium Ice Beer Raj Cobra Taj Mahal Premium Lager (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Breweries). Mission Every company, group has its own mission or operation for accomplishing their desired target so, UB Group also have a mission which is mention under the mission statement given by the Dr. Vijay Mallya says as follows : They focused on assuming leadership in all our target market. They seek to be the most preferred employer wherever they operate. They recognize that our organization is built around people who are our most valuable asset. They will continually increase the long-term value of their Group for the benefit of our shareholders. They will operate as a decentralized organization and allow each business to develop within our stated values. They will be a major contributor to our National Economy and take full advantage of our strong resource base. They commit themselves to the ongoing mission of achieving Scientific Excellence. They will always be the partner of choice for customers, suppliers and other creators of innovative concepts (http://www.theubgroup.com/profile_mission.aspx). Human Resource Strategy Every company needs human resources to run their business and to survive so, Dr. Vijay Mallya said Our Company is committed to build an organization that is aggressive, consumer essential and market determined and its endeavour has been to be a magnet for, develop and maintain the most excellent talent available. The human resources systems and procedure are lined up to meet this intention. Over the years the organization has been capable to make an open, visible and encouraging tradition that encourages staff to deliver advanced stage of performance. Reimbursement surveys and capability evaluation exercises have been commence in order to moderate people-related risks. As an effect of these schemes, the reimbursement levels have now been standards with equivalent organizations in the industry and the capability evaluation has permitted us to sponsor people from within to take on superior responsibilities. Training and Development carries on to be a significant area of focal point for raising the capability levels in the organization to strengthen its functional and leadership foundations. (http://www.theubgroup.com/PDF/UBL_Annual_Report/UBL_Annual_Report_2008.pdf). MARKETING Strategies Marketing is mainly focus on structuring brands that ensures a huge increase in amount in market stake and be capable adequate to accept competition both locally and internationally. Kingfisher was located as a young, stimulating and enjoyable beer symbolized by its influential statement â€Å"The King of Good Times†. All communicating on the product was constant with its placing. Kingfisher was linked up with sports and shows like cricket, football, hockey, fashion shows, motor racing and horse racing to add a proportion of speed and fashion to the brand image. The UBL expend around 20% of net sales on advertisement and sponsorship, which was centered on launching of new brands and rising capacity. The corporation was de-stressing the level of seasonality and supporting utilization of beer throughout the monsoons through promotional and wakefulness campaigns. Kingfisher brand name was attributed to a local bar in the northern area as part of brand promotion scheme. The bar was not a single kingfisher beer channel, but 80% of the beer served was of United Breweries. (Mittal Amita, Cases in Strategic Management) Under the marketing strategies, United Breweries Limited has diminished the cost of its tipple beer by 28.5% from Rs2100 each drum to Rs1500 each drum earliest. A mugful of tipple beer will then price Rs25 in opposition to Rs30-35 earliest. This check marketing scheme was set up on October 16, 1998 and is only being made for Karnataka. The company says that its a new marketing strategy and not connected to its deprived functioning in the second quarter of 1998, when its net income cut down by 53% and turnover cut down by 29%. United Breweries Limited recommends expanding its Kingfisher product to vacation wear, like T-shirts and Bermudas. It suggests utilizing its set-up in many cities to advertise these products. United Breweries is using the Kingfisher brand to promote sports. UB also used same brand name for its mineral water. UB looks to have earned from its judgment to sponsor the East Bengal soccer team as the trades of the brand has raised 5 times. (http://www.faqs.org/abstracts/Business-international/THE-MUG-STRATEGY-UB-SLASHES-PRICE-OF-DRAUGHT-BEER-UB-LAUNCHES-SPECIALITY-ICE-BEER.html) Quality If we search about quality of Beer of United Breweries then we find that the (http://www.theubgroup.com/profile_mission.aspx) quality and cleanliness are the key essentials of the United Breweries manufacturing convictions. For this the Central Scientific Laboratory (CSL), whose headquarter is at Bangalore sets principles for its every breweries. Quality Management Systems put down line of ISO 9000 are rigorously stick on to regulating quality at each phase of production, from raw materials to the finish product(http://www.kingfisherworld.com). UBL also, organizing the manufacture procedure, the CSL analyses the Companys beer released market puts on ice all over the Country, the oppositions beers and beers across the world. These beers are checked as per the principles laid down by the European Brewery Convention on 40 different extents. By these principles, United Breweries beers dont just the same, but even improve on, numerous Dutch and American beers (http://www.kingfisherworld.com). Production break-up of UB UB Owned Breweries Contract Breweries Total UB Owned % 2000-01 14,84,163 5,09,146 19,93,309 74.6 2001-02 9,85,059 6,72,344 16,57,403 59.4 2002-03 12,62,025 10,50,493 23,12,518 53.3 2003-04 13,06,636 13,39,650 26,46,286 49.4 (Cases in Strategic Management) Markets of UB Government Market: In a government market, the respective state government was the wholesale distributor of beer and acquired beer directly from manufacturers based on an annual tender system, via its own agencies. The government controlled the price at which beer was procured from the manufacturer. This beer was then retailed through private vends (e.g., Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh) or a combination of government and private vends (e.g., Kerala, Delhi). Open Market: In this market, there was little or no government intervention in the pricing and distribution of beer. The manufacturers sold beer to the wholesaler/distributor who in turn sold it to the retail outlets. Pricing was free and determined by market forces. The government issued wholesale/retail licenses for a fee. However, in certain markets, new licenses were not freely available. Exports: The companys products were exported indirectly through UB Global Corporation Limited a subsidiary of UBHL. The Company had a tie-up with SN, which had a long established track record of distribution of third party brands, for the international distribution of ‘KINGFISHER. The company also entered into an exclusive Licensing and Distribution Agreement on May 24, 2004 with Independent Liquor Limited (ILL) to manufacture, package, market, distribute, and sell the products of the company in Australia and New Zealand for five-years. They worked closely with Scottish Newcastle to extend the reach of products, particularly, Kingfisher to more global markets. Kingfisher was a well-established brand in many countries and leveraging Scottish Newcastles distribution strengths would increase the franchise of the brand (Cases in Strategic Management). Beer manufacturing process The manufacturing process of beer has nine steps such as milling, mashing, filtration, wort boiling, wort cooling, fermentation, lagering, filtration then beer is ready to be packed in barrels. This process can be cleared by the image given below- http://mpstateagro.nic.in/Project%20Reports%20pdf/BREWERY.pdf Milling: For capable evocation with water, malt must be crushed. Early on milling processes used stones compelled by hand or by water or animal power, but current brewing uses automatically compelled roller mills. The chart of the mill and the space among the rolls are important in acquiring the accurate reduction in mass of the malt. The aim is to hold on to the husk comparably perfect while breaking up the frangible, customized starch into particles (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/58378/beer/236419/Milling). Mashing: Mashing is the process of mixing crushed grain (usually malted or cracked grain) with water, and heat-up this mixture with remains at certain temperature (www.sterkensbrew.be/sbm/beer_making.html) and this temperature should be between 150-158 degrees F for just about one hour (www.homebrewmart.com/recipes.html) to allow bacterias in the malt to smash down the starch in the grain into sugars, usually maltose (www.sterkensbrew.be/sbm/beer_making.html). Filtration or Mash Filter: A mash filter is a plate-and-frame filter. The vacant frames have the smash, counting the exhausted grains, and have a capability of approximately one hectoliter. The plates contain a affirm body structure for the filter cloths the plates, frames, and filter cloths are ordered in a carrier frame like so: frame, cloth, plate, cloth, with plates at every end of the arrangement. Newer mash filters contain vesicae that can push the fluid out of the grains between spargings. The grain does not perform similar to a filtration medium in a mash filter (www.sterkensbrew.be/sbm/beer_making.html). Wort Boiling: Boiling the gained distills, called wort, assures its infertility, and thus keeps a lot of infections. For the duration of the boil suds are added, which give bitterness, taste, and fragrance complexes to the beer, and, beside with the heat of the boil, induces proteins in the wort to condense and the pH of the wort to drop. At last, the vapors developed through the boil volatilize off tastes, together with dimethyl sulfide usher. The boil must be carried on so that is it even and acute. The boil lasts between 50 and 120 minutes, calculating on its strength, the hop addition agenda, and volume of wort the brewer anticipates evaporating (www.sterkensbrew.be/sbm/beer_making.html). Wort Cooling: After malt filtration process, the wort must be cut down to temperatures of fermentation prior to yeast is added. In present breweries this is accomplished through a plate temperature exchanger. A plate temperature exchanger has lots of ribbed plates, which form two abstracted paths. The wort is distend into the temperature exchanger, and goes throughout each other space among the plates. The cooling measures, generally water, goes through the other spaces. The ribbed in the plates make sure disordered flow. The last few plates frequently use cooling measures which can be refrigerated to below the sub-zero point, which allows a better-quality control over the wort-out temperature, and also facilitates cooling around 10  °C. After cooling, oxygen is frequently dissolved into the wort to refresh the yeast and support its procreation (www.sterkensbrew.be/sbm/beer_making.html). Fermentation: Fermentation, as a stair in the brewing procedure, initiates the moment yeast is added to the chilled wort. This is also the position at which the creation is first called beer. It is through this phase that sugars won from the malt are metabolized into alcohol and carbon dioxide. Most breweries nowadays use cylindroconical tanks, or CCTs, have a conical (pointed) base and a cylindrical top. The cones space is usually 60 °, an angle that will allocate the yeast to flow in the direction of the cones top, but is not so sharp as to take up too much vertical gap. CCTs can switch both fermenting and refining in the same tank. At the end of fermentation, the yeast and other frozen which have dropped to the cones top can be simply swill out a dock at the peak. Then, the tanks to allow the CO2 generate by the yeast to typically carbonate the beer. This spile device can be place to a set pressure to match the kind of beer being generated. The more pressure the spile holds back, the more carbonated the beer developed (www.sterkensbrew.be/sbm/beer_making.html). Lagering or Conditioning:After the fermentation process, next procedure is conditioning or developing the carbon dioxide to provide the beer its white foamy head (http://www.kingfisherworld.com).When the sugars in the fermenting beer have been more or less totally digested, the fermentation slows down and the yeast begins to settle to the bottom of the container. At this stage, the beer is refrigerated to around freezing, which promotes settling of the yeast, and causes proteins to curdled and settle out with the yeast. Unlikable flavors such as phenolic composites become unsolvable in the cold beer, and the beers aroma happens to smoother. For the period of this time force is maintained on the containers to forestall the beer from going flat. If the fermentation containers have chilling jackets on them, as opposite to the entire fermentation basement being chilled, conditioning can happen in the same tank as fermentation. Other than different tanks (in a separate basement) must be employed (www.sterkensbrew.be/sbm/beer_making.html). Filtration: Filtering the beer become stable the flavor, and provide beer its polished shine and blaze. Not all beer is filtered. Filters arrive in many types. Many use pre-made filtration media like sheets or candles, while others use a fine powder made of, for instance, diatomite, also called diatomaceous earth or kieselguhr, which is initiated into the beer and recirculated past screens to form a filtration bed. Filters series from rough filters that eliminate much of the yeast and any solids (e.g. hops, grain particles) left in the beer, to filters tight as much as necessary to sprain color and body from the beer. Generally used filtration ratings are divided into rough, fine and sterile. Rough filtration leaves some muddiness (cloudiness) in the beer, but it is observably clearer than unfiltered beer. Well filtration grants a glass of beer that you could read a newspaper through, with no detectable muddiness. Finally, as its name involves, hygienic filtration is fine as much as necessary that almost all microorganisms in the beer are detached during the filtration process (www.sterkensbrew.be/sbm/beer_making.html). Packaging: Packaging is placing the beer into the tanks in which it will depart the brewery. Normally this means in bottles and barrels, but it might contain cans or bulk tanks for high-number customers (www.sterkensbrew.be/sbm/beer_making.html). So, this is the full process of manufacturing of beer in industries but, some industries follow some additional steps at the time of manufacturing of beer. Strategic alliance Upon entering the new millennium, the UB Group became more focused on becoming the second largest marketer of Spirits products in the world. With the acquisition of Shaw Wallace Company Limited, this Division owned twelve millionaire brands. The market share of the Spirits Division in India was 50%, and exports to the Middle East, Africa, and Asian countries were growing rapidly (Cases in Strategic Management). In addition, United Breweries Limited has also enrolled into mutli-faceted strategic alliance with Scottish NewCastle Plc (SN), an international brewery major, with $6 billion in proceeds and a market capitalization of $5.4 billion. This alliance, distant from having a joint venture in India, will permit SN to market it International brand names like Kronenbourg in India, while UBL will develop SNs global network to further globalize its Kingfisher (http://www.kingfisherworld.com). Conclusion United Breweries Limited is the India based breweries and spreading all over the world with successful brand name â€Å"Kingfisher†. This brand Kingfisher has been ranked amongst the top 10 flashing raising brands in the UK (http://www.kingfisherworld.com). Another subsidiaries of UB Group United Sprits Limited is also spreading all over the world with brand name â€Å"McDowells†, McDowells No.1 is the largest selling brandy all over the world. The policies of United Breweries are suitable for Indian market and that is why this company has got a grand success with in 10 years. If this company is interested to operate in some other countries, it has to revise its policies to get success in another country which will include marketing policies and pricing policies.

MERCOSUR :: Essays Papers

MERCOSUR Introduction The Sectoral Commission for MERCOSUR (COMISEC) was created on April 1, 1991 by Executive Decree No. 176/991. It is made up of:  · Government Representatives and Delegates from the Office of Planning and Budget  · Chamber of Industry of Uruguay  · National Chamber of Commerce  · Mercantile Chamber of Uruguay  · Unions (PIT/CNT)  · Rural Association of Uruguay  · Rural Federation of Uruguay  · Agrarian Cooperatives Association  · State-owned Enterprises This decree entrusts COMISEC with the following functions: a) Advise the Executive Branch as regards the adoption of internal measures aimed at the application, pursuit and evaluation of the process of regional integration. b) Coordinate and supervise the performance of the subcommittees. c) Obtain and disseminate information on integration. For its part, Decree 175/991 dated April 1, 1991, created the Inter-Ministry Committee on MERCOSUR and gave the Director of the MERCOSUR Sectoral Commission authority to do the following: a) Plan and propose, to the Inter-Ministry Committee, measures necessary for the orchestration of the internal aspects of the Common Market, paying special attention to the reconversion of economic activities and the adaptation of the country to the common market. b) Carry out the necessary surveys, and to request the corresponding technical assistance. Uruguay was the first country within MERCOSUR that developed this institutional structure - which is foreseen in the constitution - so that the different sectors involved could participate in the integration process. Some Argentine Provinces and some Brazilian States have implemented institutional mechanisms in which the presence of their own social and economic agents is participatory. Paraguay has just recently created, under the Ministry of Integration, the National Committee on Integration and has invited government representatives (ministries), business groups and unions to participate. One of the goals of COMISEC is to improve the knowledge of the productive sectors and to create mechanisms for the dissemination of information throughout the country. In sum, COMISEC is an working environment where the Uruguayan civil society can be represented in order to best pursue, understand, and disseminate, in a timely manner, the key topics that are relevant to Uruguay's future with regard to its insertion in MERCOSUR. As Uruguayans, we all have our concerns especially when we think of the size of our partners, Argentina and Brazil. However, we have already been associated with these countries for many years through preferential commercial agreements. MERCOSUR and Its Origins

Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck and The Ostler written by Wilkie Collins :: English Literature

The two stories iam going to compare are Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck in 1937 and The Ostler written by Wilkie Collins in 1985. For this assignment I am going to compare and contrast the themes and languages of two poems. The two poems I am going to describe are 'Old Father' written by Hugh Boatswain and 'Island Man' by Grace Nicholas. Old Father is about a certain immigrant who lives in England in the winter of 1959. The poem is written in a West-Indian dialect. The poem is about a black man who denies his roots and wants to become like a 'White Man'. He does this by acting like them for example he wears white clothes also he likes it in England and to stay there. Island Man is about a certain immigrant who lives in Neasdon, in London. He has a dream about waking up in his own land in the Caribbean Sea, hearing the sound of the sea. This immigrant does not like London and prefers living back home in the Caribbean. The poem is written in one long dialect. There is only one similarity in the theme of both poems. They both are poems about a certain person who is different to society. Old Father is about a black man living in England denying his roots: "That don't like serving black people." This emphasises that, he has changed into someone different, someone who he is not. It also suggests that he is trying to impersonate a 'white man'. Another way he does this, is by insulting black people: "And he crack joke with them white people on we." This suggests that he is showing them that he is not a black man. He may look like one, but in his own mind he is not. In my opinion, I would say he loves living in London. However, we have no evidence why he does not go back to the Caribbean. There are also a series of differences between the two poems in the themes between the two poems. In Old Father we realise that he loves England: "His roots have no meaning now. " So he likes it in England and doesn't want to leave England. He has also forgotten who he is. He is trying to be like the 'White Man', not the black man that he really is. We also see that he has changed into someone different: "Coloured girls no good for he." This shows that he has totally changed into someone different, as he is coloured and not going out with coloured girls.

The Abandoned Mental Hospital - Original Writing :: Papers

The Abandoned Mental Hospital - Original Writing I collected several items that I would be in need of because today was when my friends and I were going to explore Cane Hill, the mental hospital that has been abandoned for years. I gathered a torch, my slingshot and a few French bangers. I left my house feeling thrilled as well as sick, for I was about to enter a hospital that has been haunted even since people worked there. I met Michael and Shaun outside their houses; both of them had torches because we knew it would be pitch black, as dusk came upon us. We set off, for the first five minutes there was complete silence amid us, my friends and I were as jittery as a novice driver as none of us had clue what to expect. Warily, we slowly approached the front gate to find a very convenient hole in it. As we clambered through the tiny hole we put our torches on, since dark was already upon us. On the way through the jagged, cratered path, which looked like it had been bombed over and over again, we stumbled upon an average sized house which had every window boarded up - except for one. I felt a strange shiver down my back as we realised that we had to scale a ten foot wall, just to get inside. When all three of us were over the wall, we stared silently through the open window which still had shards of glass around it, only to see faint outlines in the house dark as a coal mine. Seeing as I was the biggest, my friends urged me through first. I felt terrified as well as curious. I stepped into a corridor which looked around ten meters long, but as we slowly crept through the corridor it felt like much more, like it never ended. Around the first corner it became pitch black. All we could see was what our torches managed to cover with its light.

Merger and Acquisition †Proposal Essay

Chapter -I Introduction Merger, corporate combination of two or more independent business corporations into a single enterprise, usually the absorption of one or more firms by a dominant one. A merger may be accomplished by one firm purchasing the other’s assets with cash or its securities or by purchasing the other’s shares or stock or by issuing its stock to the other firm’s stockholders in exchange for their shares in the acquired firm (thus acquiring the other company’s assets and liabilities). In a merger, institutions combine to form another different institution, which becomes a legal entity in its own right and therefore mergers are not instant events, they are processes .A merger cannot be considered as truly successful unless it also achieves employee satisfaction. This is vital to an organization as a whole. Employee satisfaction is very important and necessary in order to gauge the success of the company. Employee satisfaction reflects the degree to which individual‘s needs and desire are met and the extent to which this is perceived by other employees. Employee satisfaction is generally perceived as the scope of the work and all the positive attitudes regarding the work environment. In this, there are several words which have been describe the impact of merger in staff- †¢ Traumatic  Ã¢â‚¬ ¢ Disruptive †¢ Distressing †¢ Painful †¢ Uncertainty †¢ Loss in commitment †¢ Dampening on work motivation †¢ Shock †¢ Anger †¢ Disbelief †¢ Depression †¢ Anxiety †¢ Disappointment †¢ Disillusionment †¢ Withdrawal Thus Mergers have become a key part of many corporate growth strategies, with diversification being the primary reason for merging. Banks seek to diversify in order to reduce risks and increase returns, and geographic diversification, that is expanding operations into multiple locations, is used to obtain greater market power. Banks merge with other banks that have branch locations in multiple states in order to reach a larger customer base. The anticipated benefits are less competition and increased profits for the resultant bank. The corporate diversification strategy has led to an increase in bank Merger. The mainly purpose to conduct this study on merger and acquisition of banks and its effect on employee job satisfaction because there has been seen a big change in shape of merger activities after the big financial crises that effects the whole world business strategies in different mode so many employees getting jobless. Every segment of work or business and individuals of the nation is affected by the financial crisis due to the cycle of collecting deposits and lending money chain broken. Peoples do not have the power to save the money in the banks because of less profitability and more expenses that reduced the profitability of the banks too and let them to merge and acquisition themselves with another well-established bank that bear their costs and their existence too. During merger and acquisition activities lots of employees victimize in different terms. They suffer from the stiffed phase of their job. Most of the employee’s job satisfaction level goes ultimate down as they think they will be getting fired or jobless as new management would be come up with new teams of professionals and new procedure of working conditions in this way their morale level affected. Statement of the Problem Whether the banks are public or private the main thing is the success of their business and that depends upon its employees. If the employees are not satisfied from their job, working conditions, work culture, management they can never make the customers satisfied with better quality services. The purpose of this research is to know the effects of Merger on employee satisfaction. Recently, Machhapuchhre Bank Limited merged with Standard Finance and Himchuli Bikas Bank merged with Birgunj Finance, I believe that these institutions are perfect to understand the effects of merger on employee’s satisfaction. Identified Problems * To what extent does change impact on employee movement? * How satisfied are employees of these two banks with their current working environment? * What are the factors that affect employee satisfaction level during a merger phase? Research Objective Based on the above identified problems, the goals of this study are * To identify factors that affect employee satisfaction during a merger phase. * To measure the satisfaction level of employee after merger of bank. * To establish the extent to which employees are satisfied with their current working conditions. Chapter II Literature Review A number of researchers and theorists have been paying attention to know the satisfaction level of employee after merger of bank and institution. Many higher and further education institutions in South Africa are struggling to survive in a context of financial stringency, declining student enrolments and increasing competition, therefore for some of these institutions merging with other institutions in the near future is becoming a strong likelihood (Hay, Fourie & Hay, 2001:100). In an attempt to survive, institutions are reducing costs by cutting down on the number of faculties, redeploying staff and placing a moratorium on overtime pay, conference attendance, new appointments and new capital projects (Bott, quoted by Hay, Fourie & Hay, 2001:100). Hay, Fourie and Hay (2001:100) state that perceptions of employees who will be directly affected by the merging process seem to be very important, as knowledge and understanding of those perceptions will empower decision– makers and ensure that effective management of the merging process can be accomplished; therefore careful consideration needs to be given to particularly personal factors, and employee fears will have to be addressed in the process to ensure effective merging. According to Smit & Cronje (1995:307) when an organisation employs people, it is the manager’s task to diagnose the needs of its employees and formulate strategies to promote personal goal attainment. If workers are able to achieve their personal goals in the work situation, they will be prepared to render outputs that lead to the attainment of the organisation’s goal; therefore it follows that if the individual’s outputs are satisfactory, the organisation will reward him and this, in turn, will satisfy him. Strydom (2005) (as quoted in the Centre for Quality Management journal, S.a.), states that the level of satisfaction that a staff member feels will directly affect his work performance and attitudes, impacting on the company’s success. Strydom (2005) believes that an organisation’s primary objective is to determine the needs of its employees and the ways in which these can be satisfied, therefore research emphasizes the importance of the role that employee satisfaction plays in the success of an organisation. Strydom (2005) further states that organisations need to provide good recruitment strategies and induction processes, strong leadership, personal development opportunities, a positive work environment, recognition of a job well done and good communication to ensure that employees’ needs are met. Phillips Consulting (2005) points out that tackling issues such as employee challenges, motivation, career advancement, performance management and cultural issues are key to the success of any transformation exercise. The employee drives the process and strategy, not the other way round. Researchers have attributed the less than stellar record of M&A outcomes, in part, to how the integration of the participating firms affected the employees of the acquired company (Range, 2006; Schreyogg, 2006; Van Dick, Wagner, & Lemmer, 2004). Furthermore, research has shown that M&As can be a traumatic event in the lives of the individuals and organizations involved in the change. Many employees experience feelings of loss, resentment, and a decline in job satisfaction, and their reactions can lead to the failure of the M&A (Appelbaum et al., 2007; Cartwright & Schoenberg, 2006; Sperduto, 2007). Appelbaum et al. concluded that such human resources (HR) difficulties may add costs to the integration process and undermine the ability of a firm to achieve synergy, and thereby offset the hoped-for benefits of merging. Hunt and Downing (2006) concluded that, in the majority of successful mergers, the purchasers predicted that personnel problems would arise and acted quickly when such problems surfaced. Thus, understanding the job facets that lead to positive job satisfaction may help other business leaders deploy strategies that could increase their chances for achieving successful mergers.

Cause and Effect Blind Dates

Many people have trouble finding the right person for themselves; however, going on a couple of blind dates could open the door to meeting new people. The whole point of a blind date is to meet someone else that one doesn't know and to get to know him better. The first cause of going on a blind date is that some people are shy and their friends decide to help them out and try to find someone that would be suitable for them.It is an excellent way for the shy people to get out more often. Another cause is to just have a good time. A blind date doesn't have to be about finding the right person, it could be just to have a fun time with someone else. Results from a blind date could differ from certain people. First, the person could have an enjoyable night and might even call his date again for another night together. However, he could also find his date rather uninteresting, thus ruining his night.A second result is that the person could find his date very appealing, but not that special someone he was looking for. Adding on, he could become very good friends with her and meet new people. Since he found her very fun to be with, he could go out more often with her and meet her friends. On the other hand, he could find her appealing, but not interested in spending more time. Either way a blind date has two outcomes. The people on the date could have a really enjoyable time with their date, or it could be a complete waste of time.

Strategic Global Management

Multiple-choice Chapter 6 Which of the following is not true for a capability? A) it cannot be traded B) it changes over time C) it can be easily described in detail D) it can improve value Which of the following is not a necessary condition for the effective implementation of a pay for performance system? A) employees must be able to control the pace of production B) there should be a lower bound on product qualityC) managers should receive a high bonus for the piece rate work of their employees D) team members should have roughly the same preferences for effort Which of the following is not an activity in the value chain? A) outbound procurement B) marketing C) technology development D) operations Chapter 7 A key assumption underlying theories of vertical integration is: A) Opportunistic behavior B) Suppliers and buyers have the same size C) Suppliers and buyers are located in the same country D) Firms are boundarylessIn the strategic sourcing framework, firms vertically integrate when A) the firm’s need to control and its ability to perform an activity are both high B) there is high uncertainty surrounding the transaction with the supplier C) the need to control and the ability to perform the activity are uncorrelated D) the supplier has invested in high technology 14. The two most studied types of uncertainty that influence vertical integration decisions are: A) exchange rate and volume B) labor cost and technological C) material cost and labor costD) volume and technological The standard theory of vertical integration over the industry life cycle states A) vertical integration occurs primarily in the early and late stages B) vertical integration increases in the shakeout C) vertical integration increases throughout the life cycle D) vertical integration decreases over the life cycle Chapter 8 Which of the following is generally a motivation for the formation of technology partnerships among large firms? A) coalition formation in the context of stand ards competition B) sharing complementary technologiesC) interfirm learning of process innovations D) all of the above In which industry are partnerships based on patent sharing prevalent? A) data communications B) semiconductors C) biotechnology D) pharmaceuticals When does the ability of a potential partner to cooperate effectively become apparent? A) when it promises to follow the rules of the alliance B) when it is certified by an appropriate agency C) when the network of partnerships in the industry develops D) all of the above Chapter 9A nationally segmented industry is one in which: A) country specific advantage and firm specific advantage are both high B) country specific advantage is high and firm-specific advantage is low C) country specific advantage is low and firm specific advantage is low D) none of the above Which of the following promote technological spillovers within a region? A) managerial transfers B) labor pooling C) regional associations D) all of the above Por ter’s diamond model contains which of the following factors? A) technological spilloversB) cultural constraints C) export policies D) demand conditions Chapter 10 Which types of new business will a corporation’s financial capital contribute the most to? A) larger businesses in mature industries B) smaller units in growing industries C) larger businesses in growing industries D) smaller units in mature industries Diversification paths of firms in the same industry vary across countries because: A) the resources and capabilities of the firms in the same industry differ systematically across countriesB) countries differ in the institutions that present diversification opportunities C) countries are located in different geographical locations D) the firms’ top management teams differ systematically across countries When an acquisition announcement occurs, acquisition targets often tend to: A) Enjoy a positive stock reaction B) Suffer a negative stock reaction C) Mai ntain their stock price D) Outsource more Chapter 11 Traditionally, firms that have grown through unrelated diversification have faced which of the following problems?A) the businesses were managed to support short-term corporate financial goals B) the complexity of the business portfolio exceeded corporate management’s capability C) there was no enduring economic rationale at the level of operations for the business units to be in the same corporation D) all of the above A transfer using a mandated market price is most effective when the downstream unit A) is attempting to establish its market position based on a cost advantage B) is attempting to establish its market position based on a value advantage C) has already achieved a dominant market position D) has failed to achieve a dominant market positionVertical integration, as represented among profit centers in a multi-business firm, is A) always superior to transactions in the market B) never superior to transactions in t he market C) not necessarily superior to transactions in the market D) none of the above Open questions Describe the two key strategic motivations for international expansion? Why do multinationals emerge? How have Zara’s practices and policies regarding its boundaries contributed to its growth and performance? What was the source of tension between Stephen Davies and Christopher Carson in the BRL Hardy case? What are its strategic implications?

Organic Foods Pdf Essay

Abstract: During the last decade, consumers’ trust in food quality has decreased drastically, mainly because of growing ecological awareness and several food scandals (e. g. BSE, dioxins, bacterial contamination). It has been found that intensive conventional agriculture can introduce contaminants into the food chain. Consumers have started to look for safer and better controlled foods produced in more environmentally friendly, authentic and local systems. Organically produced foods are widely believed to satisfy the above demands, leading to lower environmental impacts and higher nutritive values. So far, studies have partly con? rmed this opinion. Organic crops contain fewer nitrates, nitrites and pesticide residues but, as a rule, more dry matter, vitamin C, phenolic compounds, essential amino acids and total sugars than conventional crops. Organic crops also contain statistically more mineral compounds and usually have better sensory and long-term storage qualities. However, there are also some negatives: plants cultivated in organic systems generally have 20% lower yields than conventionally produced crops. Several important problems need to be addressed in the coming years: environmental, bacterial and fungal contamination of organic crops and, the most essential issue, the impact of organic food consumption on animal and human health.  © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry Keywords: organic plant crops; quality; yield; composition; nutrition; vitamins; phenolics; sugars; nitrates; nitrites; pesticides; dry matter; health; sensory qualities. FACTORS INFLUENCING THE QUALITY OF ORGANIC PLANT FOOD PRODUCTS There are several important factors in?uencing the quality of food products that also are relevant to organically produced plant products. As illustrated in Fig. 1, the basic factors are the quality of the environment (abiotic factors) and the levels of pest and pathogen damage (biotic factors) to which plants are subjected. The main components of the environment (air, water, soil) have to be unpolluted if the crops obtained are expected to be of high nutritive quality. Many environmental contaminants enter the food production chain (soil–plant–animal–human organism), causing signi? cant problems in human health. 1 These contaminants include heavy metals, pesticide residues, nitrogen compounds, mycotoxins, chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), aromatic hydrocarbons (e. g. benzo[a]pyrene), plant growth stimulators (e. g. choline chloride), antibiotics, hormones, radioactive isotopes and plastic substances (monomers). Climate and weather are also important factors, as well as soil type and pH, soil cultivation, fertilisation and conditions of crop storage after harvest. ? Biotic factors can have also a signi? cant impact on crop quality. The main biotic factors are cultivar choice, bacterial and fungal contamination (disease) and pest damage. Cultivars of the same crop species can differ signi? cantly in nutritive quality. For example, the content of ? carotene in carrots (Daucus carota L. ) can vary between 7. 19 and 13. 84 mg g? 1 depending on the cultivar. 2 The main potential source of bacterial contamination in plant crops is animal manure used in organic farming. Contamination can take place via the roots or by water splashing onto the leaf surfaces. The most important organisms are several species of facultative anaerobic bacteria (Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Campylobacter spp., Listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium botulinum, Mycobacterium paratuberculosis), protozoa (Toxoplasma gondii), tapeworms, viruses and prions. The results obtained so far are contradictory. Some studies indicate higher bacterial contamination in organic crops, while others show the opposite. 3 Mycotoxins (produced by fungi) originate mostly in the ? eld but can also develop during storage. Owing to the fact that fungicides are not used Correspondence to: Ewa Rembialkowska, Organic Foodstuffs Division, Faculty of Human Nutrition and Consumer Sciences, Warsaw Agricultural University, Nowoursynowska 159 C, PL-02-776 Warszawa, Poland E-mail: ewa rembialkowska@sggw. pl (Received 24 October 2006; revised version received 29 January 2007; accepted 8 February 2007). Figure 1. Factors in? uencing the quality of organic food products. in organic agriculture, some authors believe that organically produced foods will contain higher concentrations of mycotoxins. However, literature reviews show that mycotoxin concentrations are usually similar or reduced in organic compared with conventional products. 4 The most notorious mycotoxins are those produced by Fusarium species on cereal crops and maize. One of the reasons for lower Fusarium infections in organic grains could be the lower nitrogen concentrations in the tissues. 5 Insect pests also exert an in? uence on crop quality. Because of the ban on synthetic pesticides in organic agriculture, insects often damage fruits and vegetables, thereby diminishing their yield and harming their appearance. However, it is not clear whether they also reduce their nutritive quality. In contrast, there is evidence that organically grown plants contain more phytochemicals (which are natural insecticides) and are therefore more resistant to insect damage. 6 They can also play a positive role in human health, because several phytochemicals, being plant defence compounds, are connected with possible health bene? ts (Brandt K, oral presentation at QLIF Congress, Newcastle, 2005). Regulations on organic plant production allow actions that avoid many negative features of crop quality if they are consistently performed by producers. In order to ful? l these demands and to offer highquality products to consumers, an ef? cient and airtight certi? cation and control system must be implemented. In most countries such systems are quite ef?cient, though a rapid increase in the number of organic farms could lead to problems with a subsequent loosening of regulatory control. Therefore the main rule should be ‘trust is good, but control is better’. Moreover, the ? nal quality of organic food products is in? uenced by the effective implementation of 2758 the regulations on animal production and organic food processing. Only precise ful? lment of all these regulations can guarantee the best organic food quality (Fig. 1). IMPACT OF REGULATION ON ORGANIC PLANT PRODUCTION The regulations for organic plant production are clear and detailed. 7 The European Union (EU) regulation published in 19918 contains parts that relate directly to the composition of organic plant products. The most important aspects of this regulation include:7 †¢ a ban on genetic engineering and genetically modi? ed organisms (GMOs); †¢ lower nitrogen levels – a maximum limit for manure application of 170 kg N ha? 1 year? 1 ; †¢ a ban on synthetic pesticides; †¢ a ban on synthetic mineral fertilisers; †¢ a ban on growth promoters. Organic farmers must follow the above regulations if they want to pass the inspection procedure every year and receive a certi? cation document. If all requirements are complied with, several qualitative results can be expected. The most important conclusions from scienti? c comparisons are given below. CONTAMINANTS Nitrates and nitrites A large amount of data shows that the content of nitrates and nitrites is distinctly higher in conventionally cultivated than in organic crops. This is important, because nitrates can easily be converted into nitrites, which can cause a dangerous illness called methaemoglobinaemia in babies, infants and elderly people. 9 J Sci Food Agric 87:2757–2762 (2007) DOI: 10. 1002/jsfa Quality of organic plant products. Moreover, nitrites can react with amines to create nitrosamines, which are carcinogenic and mutagenic substances causing cancer of the digestive tract and leukaemia. 10 This process is dangerous not only for young children but also for adults of any age. Based on a large amount of data, the nitrate content of organic and conventional crops has been compared. On average, the nitrate content of organic crops was 49% that of conventional crops. 11 These and other data provide a basis for stating that organic methods lead to an approximately 50% reduction in the intake of nitrates and nitrites by humans. Pesticides Governments place legal limits, known as the Maximum Residue Level (MRL), on the level of pesticides that can be present in food. The MRL is usually estimated by testing individual pesticides on rats. Governments maintain that consumption of pesticides below the MRL is not a health risk. However, at lower levels, pesticides are known or suspected to cause many diseases and health problems, including cancer. 12 The main problem is that the MRL for pesticides is usually estimated by testing individual pesticides on rats for a relatively short period. Virtually nothing is known about the effects of consuming combinations of potentially hundreds of different pesticides over the course of a lifetime. We do not and cannot know explicitly what is causing what, so precaution is the main tool available to us (Howard V, oral presentation at QLIF Congress, Newcastle, 2005). The levels of pesticide residues found in organic crops are de? nitely lower than those present in conventional crops (Howard V, oral presentation at QLIF Congress, Newcastle, 2005). It can be expected that eating organic foods will result in lower pesticide levels in human milk and body tissues. There is some evidence con? rming this hypothesis. Researchers in France found that the level of pesticide residues in the milk of breast-feeding women decreased signi? cantly with an increase in the proportion of organic food in the daily diet (from 25 to 80%). 13 All available results show that the content of pesticide residues is signi? cantly lower in organic crops, which creates safer health conditions for consumers eating organically. Heavy metals Heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, arsenic, mercury and zinc are introduced into the food chain from various sources, including industry, transportation, communal wastes and agriculture. For example, mineral phosphoric fertilisers used in conventional agriculture can introduce cadmium into crops, but the metal industry and transportation also cause cadmium contamination of soils and crops. Therefore there are no clear results in studies comparing the levels of J Sci Food Agric 87:2757–2762 (2007) DOI: 10. 1002/jsfa heavy metals in organic and conventional crops. Some data point to higher levels in conventional crops, while others show the opposite. 11 A problem to be solved is whether organic farming (composting, increasing the organic matter in soil, pH, etc. ) can diminish the intake of heavy metals by cultivated plants. DESIRABLE COMPOUNDS IN PLANTS Vitamins, phenolic compounds and mineral compounds The nutritive value of foods depends mainly on them having the appropriate content of compounds indispensable for proper functioning of the human organism. The content of phyto-compounds in plant foods is a topic of great interest in food science nowadays. A growing body of evidence indicates that secondary plant metabolites (phytochemicals) play a critical role in human health and may be nutritionally important. 14 There are two main theories explaining the factors in? uencing the levels of compounds in plants. 15 The carbon/nitrogen (C/N) balance theory states that, when nitrogen is easily available, the plant will ? rst make compounds with high nitrogen content, e. g. proteins for growth and nitrogen-containing secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, glucosinolates and non-protein amino acids such as the Allium ? avour precursors. When nitrogen availability is limiting for growth, the metabolism changes more towards carboncontaining compounds, e. g. starch, cellulose and non-nitrogen-containing secondary metabolites such as phenolics and terpenoids. The second, newer theory is the growth/ differentiation balance hypothesis (GDBH). 15 It states that the plant will always assess the resources available to it and optimise its investment in processes directed towards growth or differentiation. The term ‘differentiation’ encompasseses increased formation of defence compounds as well as accelerated maturation and seed development. The C/N balance theory is a special and typical case of the GBDH theory, since low nitrogen availability is the most common growth-limiting condition in natural ecosystems. 15 To verify the above theories, several authors investigated the content of some vitamins and phyto-compounds in organically and conventionally produced crops. In order to summarise different data, for each organic–conventional comparison a % difference was calculated: [(organic ? conventional)/conventional] ? 100 The collected data for several desirable components are presented in Table 1. The role of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in the human organism is basic for several metabolic functions, mainly because it is one of the major cellular direct antioxidants (along with glutathione) and is a 2759 E Rembialkowska Table 1. Contents of desirable components in organic crops relative to those in conventional crops Component Vitamin C Phenolic compounds Iron Magnesium Phosphorus Mean % difference +28. 7 +119. 3 +21. 1 +29. 3 +13. 6 Range (%) ? 38 to +135. 5 ? 56. 6 to +734. 2 ? 73 to +240 ? 35 to +1206 ? 44 to +240 Number of studies 21 15 16 17 18 production and reduces carbohydrate production. Moreover, the increased protein produced in response to high nitrogen levels contains lower amounts of certain essential amino acids such as lysine and therefore has a lower quality with respect to human nutrition. Source: Ref. 17 and author’s own calculations. cofactor for certain enzymes. Vitamin C also supports detoxication and resistance of the human organism. The higher content of vitamin C in organic crops is bene? cial to health, because vitamin C inhibits the in situ formation of carcinogenic nitrosamines, thus diminishing the negative impact of nitrates on the human organism. 10 Therefore organic vegetables can play an important anticarcinogenic role. Plant-based phenolic metabolites are particularly interesting because of their potential antioxidant activity and medical properties, including anticarcinogenic activity. 15 According to Benbrook,16 organic farming has elevated antioxidant levels in about 85% of the cases studied to date and, on average, levels are about 30% higher compared with foods grown conventionally. Mineral compounds containing iron, magnesium and phosphorus are fundamental for human health. According to Worthington,17 the higher mineral content in organic crops may be connected with the higher abundance of micro-organisms in organically managed soil. These micro-organisms produce many compounds that help plants to combine with soil minerals and make them more available to plant roots. Unfortunately, there have been only a few studies on other vitamins such as ? -carotene, B1 and B2 and the results are contradictory. Therefore no general conclusions can be drawn about these compounds. Total sugars A higher total sugar content in plant crops not only improves their taste but is also an important component of their technological quality, e. g. in the case of sugar beet. Studies clearly indicate a higher content of total sugars, mainly sucrose, in organically produced vegetables and fruits such as carrots, sugar beet, red beetroot, potatoes, spinach, Savoy cabbage, cherries, redcurrants and apples. 11,18 Proteins Several studies analysed in review papers11 show that the quantity of crude protein is lower in organic than in conventional crops but that the quality is better as measured by essential amino acid content. According to Worthington,17 nitrogen from any kind of fertiliser affects the quantity and quality of protein produced by plants. Provision of a large amount of nitrogen to a plant increases protein 2760 SENSORY QUALITY OF ORGANIC FOODS Many studies have proved quite unequivocally that vegetables and fruits from organic farms have a better taste and smell. This was found for carrots and potatoes, celery and red beetroot, head cabbage and tomatoes as well as for apples, cherries and redcurrants. 11 Organic fruits contained more total sugars, which probably in?uenced the better taste perception by consumers. Better taste and smell have also been found for bread made from organic grain, which also had better crumb elasticity. 6 Interesting studies have been conducted on animal food preference in which animals were given organic or conventional fodder. Most studies have proved a clear animal preference for foods produced organically; such studies have been conducted on rats, mice, hens and rabbits. 19 Preference for organic fodder was also observed in cases where, according to chemical analyses, both organic and conventional fodder ful? lled all physiological needs of the animals tested. 20 The reason for this was probably the difference in taste between organic and conventional fodder. STORAGE QUALITY OF ORGANIC PLANT CROPS Transpiration losses and decay processes, as well as changes in nutritive value, normally take place during the storage period of potatoes and other vegetables. However, these changes can proceed at different rates and to differing degrees. Most of the available data indicate that the decay process is slower in organic crops, which therefore show better storage quality after the winter period. A review study based on many sources21 concluded that the storage quality of vegetables and fruits was better in the case of plants grown on organic farms (Table 2). The better storage quality of organic crops Table 2. Storage losses of carrots, potatoes and various fruits and vegetables from organic (ORG) and conventional (CONV) farmsa Carrots Potatoes Fruits and vegetables ORG CONV ORG CONV ORG CONV Number of quoted studies Storage loss (% of initial mass) a 15 33 15 40 22 22 22 30 53 28 53 38 Average data based on literature review. 21 J Sci Food Agric 87:2757–2762 (2007) DOI: 10. 1002/jsfa Quality of organic plant products Table 3. Positive nutritive attributes of organic plant products No. 1 2 3 4 5 Attribute Organic crops contain fewer nitrates, nitrites and pesticide residues than conventional crops. There is no clear difference in the content of heavy metals between organic and conventional crops Organic plant products contain, as a rule, more dry matter, vitamin C, phenolic compounds, essential amino acids and total sugars. However, the level of ? -carotene is often higher in conventional plant products Organic plant products contain statistically more iron, magnesium and phosphorus. They also tend to contain more chromium, iodine, molybdenum, selenium, calcium, boron, manganese, copper, potassium, sodium, vanadium and zinc Organic plant products usually have better sensory quality. They have a clearer smell and taste and are sweeter and more compact because of their higher dry matter content Preference for organic products is typical not only for humans but also for animals such as rats, rabbits and hens. This preference was also observed in cases where, according to chemical analyses, both organic and conventional fodder ful? lled all physiological needs of the animals tested Vegetables and fruits from organic production maintain better quality during winter storage, showing lower mass losses due to transpiration, decay and decomposition processes. A possible reason for this is their higher content of dry matter, minerals, sugars and other bioactive compounds 6 Table 4. Negative and unclear aspects of organic plant products No. 1 Negative aspect Plants cultivated in organic systems have, as a rule, signi?cantly (on average 20%) lower yields than conventionally produced crops. This increases their price and creates for many consumers a barrier to buying organic foods Unclear aspect Environmental contamination (heavy metals, PCBs, dioxins, aromatic hydrocarbons) can be similar in organic and conventional crops, because the impact of industrial, transport and communal sources is similar on organic and conventional farms located in the same area Bacterial (mainly Salmonella and Campylobacter) Contamination can sometimes be higher in organic produce, but scienti?c evidence of this is still not clear Mycotoxins can contaminate both organic and conventional foods, but scienti? c data are contradictory The impact of organic food consumption on human health and wellbeing remains essentially unknown in spite of some positive indications, so the subject needs further study 2 3 4 was probably associated with a higher content of dry matter in their ? esh, resulting in less extensive decay and decomposition. Lower losses in organic production have not only nutritive but also economic bene? ts. In conventional systems, high yields are produced but signi?cant losses during storage reduce the economic bene? ts. CONCLUSIONS Recent food crises (BSE, foot and mouth disease, food contamination by dioxins, toxic fungi, Salmonella and Campylobacter bacteria) have caused consumers to look for more authentic and safer foods. Organic food production is widely recognised as being more friendly to the environment, more controlled and better for animal welfare. On the other hand, many data indicate that a lot of food contaminants have their source in conventional methods of agriculture, animal production and food processing. The negative effect of the continuing enthusiastic use of chemical fertilisers and pesticides in agriculture is potentially huge. Therefore safer methods of agricultural production, mostly organic methods, are very important. Studies conducted in various countries have indicated several positive attributes of organic plant J Sci Food Agric 87:2757–2762 (2007) DOI: 10. 1002/jsfa products (Table 3) but also a few negative and unclear aspects (Table 4). To summarise the positives, organic food should be recommended for all, but especially for young babies, pregnant and breast-feeding women, elderly and chronically ill people and vegetarians. The last group obviously consumes a lot of vegetables, which can contain too high levels of carcinogenic substances when produced conventionally. The lower content of nitrates and higher content of phenolic compounds and vitamin C in organic crops are especially important for health. Nitrates are easily converted in the digestive tract into poisonous nitrites, which are the precursors of carcinogenic nitrosamines. 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