Earthquake located on the San Andreas Fault line Essay

An Earthquake that registered 7.8 on the Richter Scale which lasted approximately 1 minute caused catastrophic damage to the City of Berkeley and LPHG. As a result of the Earthquake 31 employees perished including 1 as a result of the H1Z1 virus which had an outbreak in the wake of the catastrophe. The damage and loss of life has caused significant delays to the release of LPHG’s release of EFHG. DRP Documents: (e.g., disaster  recovery plan, backup plans etc.) Include specific details about the documents, including completeness. The Disaster Preparedness plan was not written as thoroughly as possible and left little direction to the disaster recovery team. it was missing major information, such as a list of critical services, Employee contact information and vendor contact information. see more:summary of san andreas movie The Business Impact analysis for this type of scenario or any disaster was never completed so there was little information to help the disaster preparedness team as far as how this disaster will impact the organizations operations. The Backup Policy was written thoroughly and included information on the backup schedule and storage locations. It also listed the backup methods used and the length of time full backups were kept for. The document also included instructions to restore data from both differential and full backups, but did not address what to do in a disaster scenario such as this. Lastly, the document does not address data storage at an offsite location, which would be beneficial if the whole campus is lost during an emergency. Post-Disaster Response Summary: Because the DRP was not completed properly there was not enough information available to employees, and they were not able to respond properly. They had to find employees names and addresses on their own since this information was missing from the DRP. Since no Business Impact analysis was done for this type of situation there was no relevant information available to help the DR team members through this specific situation. One bright spot is that they organizations data has been protected. Strengths of Disaster Response EVALUATION Strength #1: Strength Details: Summary of Strength: The Backup plan was set up and in place and data was protected and stored in multiple locations to ensure its safety. Additionally, the data retention policy made sure that full backups were kept for a period of at least 2 weeks and that differential backups were used in addition to full backups.  Contributing Factors: Plans There was a data backup plan in place Policies Policies were clearly outlined in the Backup and Recovery Policy document, and were being followed Documents The Backup and Recovery Policy was able to provide enough documentation to explain procedures for backing up data. Positive Consequences: Because the Policy was in place and was being followed, the Organization was able to retain all of its data through this disaster. once normal operations resume that data can be restored. Ways to Improve: The locations of data storage should be revised to allow for an offsite storage location. currently both data storage locations are located on campus. At least one of these locations needs to be changed to an offsite location to allow for greater chance of data retention in case a disaster strikes that wipes out the whole campus. Strength #2: Strength Details: Summary of Strength: Data recovery plan was written and procedures were in place to restore data in case of emergency. Since this was prepared the organization can restore operations successfully and resume work when normal operations begin again Contributing Factors: Plans Data restoration plan was written and in place Policies Policies were clearly defined in Backup and recovery policy document. Documents Backup and Recovery document provides clear instructions to follow in case of emergency and outlines step by step process to restore data Positive Consequences: Since the Backup and recovery document was in place and provided clear instructions this allows for a quicker recovery time to restore data once normal operations resume. Ways to Improve: The Data recovery document should be refined to include the priority of data restoration when all business functions have been compromised Strength #3: Strength Details: Summary of Strength: Disaster Recovery team had previously prepared Disaster preparedness plan, a Backup and Recovery Policy, and a Business Impact Assessment. Contributing Factors: Plans Having these plans in place give the Disaster Recovery team the instructions they need when disaster strikes Policies There were policies in place for the Disaster Recovery team to follow these documents Documents Documents were readily available and helped provide basic guidance to Disaster recovery Team Positive Consequences: Having the documentation available helped the Disaster Recovery team kick off the process to restore the organization to operational status. Ways to Improve: These documents need to be thoroughly reviewed after the organization is restored to operational status. When they are reviewed they need to be more thoroughly filled out and include any lessons learned from the current disaster. Areas for Improvement of Disaster Response EVALUATION Area for Improvement #1: Area for Improvement Details: Summary of Area for Improvement: Documentation needs to be improved and completed. The Documentation that existed, though helpful did not provide any comprehensive guidance to the disaster recovery team. Contributing Factors: Plans The Disaster Preparedness plan and the Business Impact analysis were not completed properly. Policies Policies for developing proper disaster recovery documentation were not in place and as a result the documentation to support it was not correctly done Documents Disaster recovery documentation was not complete and did not give employees enough information to used during the disaster recovery process Consequences: There are multiple scenarios that can be created from the lack of preparedness. At the very least the lack of documentation and foresight into planning can cause a delay in the recovery process for the organization. On the more extreme side this can put the organization out of business because the organization can take an extraordinary amount of time to return to normal operating conditions Ways to Improve: Review existing documentation and ensure that is it done completely. This is an incredibly important and clearly necessary approach. Additional documentation will have to be created in order to assist the Emergency Response team in the future. Area for Improvement #2: Area for Improvement Details: Summary of Area for Improvement: Data storage and Business Continuity plan did not identify the need for an off campus site to store data backups and allow for restoration of IT services in case of emergency Contributing Factors: Plans A plan needs to be developed that involves identifying an off campus site in case of emergency Policies Policies will need to be created to identify when an alternate site is needed to be used and how to go about restoring services from that site. Documents Documentation will have to be written to support proper procedure for bringing alternate site up during emergency situations. Consequences: Without an off campus secondary site, the organization runs the risk of total destruction should an emergency happen that destroys or compromises the main campus. Ways to Improve: A secondary site with proper equipment that is far enough away from main campus could enable the organization to continue operations even if the main campus is compromised. Area for Improvement #3: Area for Improvement Details: Summary of Area for Improvement: There is no process in place to validate and review the various documents for the Disaster Recovery Plan. Additionally no Disaster response teams have been identified to review and execute these plans when needed. Contributing Factors: Plans All Disaster Recovery documentation should be completed and review periodically. A process to validate and test the plan should be put into place. Policies Policies and procedures should be created to ensure that documentation is completed and reviewed Documents All documents involving Disaster Recovery need to updated and reviewed on a regular basis. Consequences: Since the documentation was done so haphazardly, the ability to return to normal operation status in a timely manner is put in jeopardy. Even worse, this can cause the organization to cease to exist. Ways to Improve: Create a Disaster Recovery team and put them in charge of documenting and planning all facets of disaster recovery. Have them update and add the required documentation and have disaster recovery drills to verify the plans. Additionally, the team should take their findings from testing and continually update and try to improve the policy.

Achievements of William Wilberforce Essay

William Wilberforce’s greatest and most important political achievement was his long but successful fight to end Britain’s involvement in the slave trade. He used his position as a spokesperson for the abolition movement and was the first member or parliament to raise the issue in the House of Commons. His abolition bill was finally passed by parliament in 1807, but his battle to change the law was not an easy one. Wilberforce tried and failed several times before the bill was finally passed. William achieved the abolishment of the slave trade, with the passing of the bill, in 1807. He remained concerned about the many people still held in slavery and carried on his campaign until the bill outlawing slavery in Britain and all its colonies was passed in 1833 – just days before he died. Wilberforce also devoted himself to other causes and campaigns such as the limiting of the hours children should work. Like Elizabeth Fry, he also fought for improvements in England’s prisons. He appealed for amendments to the poor law (to improve the conditions for the poor) and in 1796 became a founding member of the ‘society for the bettering condition and increasing comforts of the poor’. This organisation worked to reform parish relief and workhouses for the poor and improves their general living conditionsIn October 1784, Wilberforce went on a tour of Europe which changed his life and his future career. He travelled with his mother and sister in the company of Isaac Milner. They visited the French Riviera and enjoyed the usual pastimes of dinners, cards, and gambling. In February 1785, Wilberforce returned to England temporarily, to support William Pitt’s proposals for parliamentary reforms. He rejoined the party in Genoa, Italy, from where they continued their tour to Switzerland. Milner accompanied Wilberforce to England, and on the journey they read The Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul by Philip Doddridge. The abolitionist Thomas Clarkson had an enormous influence on Wilberforce. He and others were campaigning for an end to the trade in which British ships were carrying black slaves from Africa, in terrible conditions, to the West Indies as goods to be bought and sold. Wilberforce was persuaded to lobby for the abolition of the slave trade and for 18 years he regularly  introduced anti-slavery motions in parliament. The campaign was supported by many members of the Clapham Sect and other abolitionists who raised public awareness of their cause with pamphlets, books, rallies and petitions. William’s best and most important political achievement was to abolish the slave trade in the British Empire. His abolition bill was finally passed by parliament in 1807, but his battle to change the law was not an easy one. Wilberforce tried and failed several times before the bill was finally passed. http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/214.htmlhttp://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/643460/William-Wilberforcehttp://satucket.com/lectionary/William_Wilberforce.htmhttp://www.mylearning.org/jpage.asp?jpageid=690&journeyid=189

Improving macro-organizational communication in organization Essay

Improving macro-organizational communication in organization - Essay Example But, in an organization, these workers will normally be apportioned or â€Å"structurized† into departments for better arrangement and streamlining of work. These different departments can only boost an organization by working in unison, and thereby actualizing the opportunities on offer, so they could reach their targets and the estimated profits. So, ‘working in unison’ is the key, and the ‘key’ which opens up the minds of the workers working in the department, and aid ‘unison’, is communication. That is, communication between organization’s different departments or etc will only help the workers to work as a team and help them in coordinating and concluding the given work successfully. So, this paper will analyze how to improve the macro communication in an organization using Electronics, with Harley Davidson as a guide. Providing a perfect and barrier environment to the workers will develop communication in an effective manner. For that the management should initiate new methods and if those methods are based on technology, it will surely provide optimum results. With many organizations diversifying physically with units and sister concerns being established at different places, there has to be seamless communication for the effective functioning of the organization. Same way, if an organization also concentrates on the sale or supply side of its products and services, communication need to be established between the manufacturing unit and the sale or supply side. In these situations, where physical distances could be the barrier, technology and the technological products will only break that barrier and will help to maintain the communications, thereby benefiting the organization in many ways. Among the many technological products, the electronic ones could be bring in immense benefits and we can see this by analyzing how Harley Davison used the electronic equipment of RFID to maintain

Life and Career Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Life and Career Planning - Essay Example It is a quite tough job which cannot be performed by everyone. The funeral home director requires massive satisfaction in their own aptitude and capabilities so as to offer well-organized and apt services in order to relieve the mournful family members, associates and friends (Bureau of Labor Statistics, â€Å"Funeral Directors†). In the research paper, varied functions and responsibilities of a funeral director or an embalmer will be discussed. Moreover, it also includes the assorted decisions and practices which are to be performed, being a funeral home director. Apart from this, it also highlights the stoutness which is mandatory for an individual hoping to become a funeral home director/embalmer. Funeral custom is one of the painful acts in an individual’s life. It is a ritual marking a person’s demise. Funeral custom varies widely. The job of funeral practice involves a lot of responsibilities and capabilities. The job of a funeral director involves enormous satisfaction in their ability to provide well-organized, appropriate services and to console grieving family members and friends. A funeral director is also known as the mortician or undertaker. The funeral home director is an expert concerned in the business of funeral rites. After being a mortician, funeral home directors perform these services for the family of the departed. These tasks include the cremation of the dead as well as the preparation and display of the actual funeral ritual. The funeral directors can handle the practices of the funeral only after specialized training and instructions. One of the important responsibilities of a funeral director is to reassure and counsel the family members u ndergoing this pain. Moreover, the embalmers also handle the operation of cleaning and protecting the remains and often restructure the damaged remains for the purpose of screening. Thus, it can be

Busiess law Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Busiess law - Research Paper Example lang=04 RERA seeks to aim transparency and effectiveness as a regulatory body in the conduct of its day to day activities in various real estate transactions. RERA is actively and constructively enforced new laws and regulations, as well as imposing the appropriate penalties, which include fines and removal from the authorized developer and broker registers.5Taylor, C. (2008)6. Getting the Balance Right, The Report: Dubai 2008.7 Oxford Business Group.8 In April 2009, Dubai has made significant changes in the cancellation of real estate projects pursuant to Law No. 9 of 2009. Specifically, Section 5 of Law No.9 has empowered the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) to cancel a real estate project. Hence, the developer must return to the purchaser all the amounts paid in occurrence of such event. â€Å"This provision has energized the investor community, insofar as it mandates that developers should give investors a 100 percent refund if a project is cancelled†. Yamalova, L.9 (2 009)10. ‘Ambiguity Prevails Over RERA Regulations’11. ... end of the notice period stipulated in the preceding paragraph the Purchaser has not fulfilled his contractual obligations, the following provisions shall apply: a.) â€Å"In case the Developer has completed at least 80% of the project, the Developer may keep the full amounts paid and request the Purchaser to settle the remaining amount of the contract price. If this was not possible, the Developer may request that the property be auctioned in order to collect the remaining amounts due to it; b.) In case the Developer has completed at least 60% of the project, the Developer may revoke the contract and deduct up to 40% of the purchase price of the Real Estate Unit stipulated in the contract; c.) In case of projects where construction commended but did not reach 60%, the Developer may revoke the contract and deduct up to 25% of the purchase price of the Real Estate Unit stipulated in the contract; d.) In case of projects whereat construction has not yet commenced for reasons beyond th e Developer’s control without any negligence or omission on its part, the Developer may revoke the contract and deduct up to 30% of the total amounts paid by the Purchaser.†14Article 11, Sec. 2 Law No. 9 of 2009. ‘Real Estate Related Laws-Law No. 9 of 2009’15, Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultancy16. Retrieved on May 20, 201117, from the World Wide Web: http://www.awf.ae/law-9-2009.html.18 The enactment of Law No. 9 also provides that in case â€Å"RERA may, decide to cancel a real estate project, following a grounded report, in which case the Developer must return to the Purchasers all the amounts paid by them in accordance with the provisions of Law No (8) of 2007 concerning Escrow Accounts of Real Estate Developments in the Emirate of Dubai†. 19 Article 11, Sec. 5 Law No. 9 of

Forever 21 & Bebe stores Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Forever 21 & Bebe stores - Essay Example (Hoovers.com) ". . .the best companies create value for their customers in five interlocking ways . . . solutions to their needs, respect, and connect . . . on an emotional level . . . set prices fairly [not necessarily cheaply] . . . easy for people to find what they need, pay for it quickly, and then move on . . . sounds exceedingly simple . . . surprisingly difficult." (Harvard Business Press, 1). Bebe's definitely creates value for their customers in all 5 areas. When I visited the store, a black and white, polka-dot handbag ($130.00) caught my eye. The price was more than I wanted to pay, but definitely worth it (genuine leather). I interviewed a loyal customer who said she started shopping at Bebe's in West Palm Beach. She said that the prices "were reasonable." Her 7 items ranged from $59.00 to $100.00 each. (Rosebud) The store image is sleek, sophisticated, clean, and urbane. The manager definitely has achieved the goal of making the internal and external image draw traffic. There was signage throughout the store. No stockouts. The environment was clean and organized. The employees, who were attentive and knowledgeable, wore attire that reflected the store's image. Although I thought the target market was for twenty-one year olds, one of the employees correct my preconceived ideas by telling me that "my mom shops here and she is over 50." (Braswell).

Real Estate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Real Estate - Essay Example will explore these variables and in the process outline the basics and the background necessary to develop sound decision-making in real-estate transactions. Several million real estate transactions take place in the United States every year, representing billions of dollars in economic activity. Statistics concerning real estate are among the data economists use to evaluate the health of the economy. (p. 2) The sector includes not only real estate brokers and agents, but also property managers, relocation specialists, real estate investment counselors, real estate appraisers, home inspectors, title company employees, escrow agents, and real estate developers. This industry is closely linked to the construction and financing industries. Although real estate activity has a national economic impact, the real estate business is essentially a local business, dealing with property in a particular area or neighborhood. According to Wade Gaddy and Robert Hart (2003), â€Å"each geographic area has different types of real estate and different conditions that drive prices. This relates back to the old adage of ‘location’ being important; a parcel of real estate cannot be moved, is never exactly like another parcel, and its value is impacted by surrounding land uses.† (p. 5) Two main branches make up the real estate industry – residential and commercial real estates. In most places, residential sales account for a large share of real estate activity that is why there are real estate agents who work exclusively in these types of transactions. Someone who owns a home and wants to sell it (a seller) transfers ownership of the property to someone who wants to buy it (a buyer) at an agreed price. Ownership is transferred by means of a deed, a legal document that the seller gives to the buyer. The real estate market almost always requires some form of financing in the real estate transaction. This is because few people have the cash in hand in order to buy a house or

Why might one argue that the use of labour is the main component of a Coursework

Why might one argue that the use of labour is the main component of a firm's profit strategy - Coursework Example Human capital advantage is the ability to get exceptional human talent into the firm. The human advantage is achieved through combination of processes such as innovation, learning and cooperation. It is important to develop employees and teams in order to create a firm that is able to learn within and out of industry cycles. The supporters of Resource based view argue that human labour are resources that offer above normal returns and not assets bought and traded. This is because physical assets are usually purchased and are available in the market, therefore, competing firms having the free discretion to acquire the assets and be at par (Bowman 2003). The resources that offer competitive advantage are the ones that are not easy to duplicate. Human resources have specialized skills or talents that are embedded in the routines of a particular firm. These resources are difficult to duplicate or export from one firm to another. Thus, most firms have used human labour as the strategy for improvement in their profits and competitive advantage. Barney and Porter illustrate how it is hard to duplicate human labour strategy by saying that even if one firm was to steal researchers from one company to theirs, they will not reap the maximum benefits from these scientists because the environment and business strategies differ. Labour as the Main Component of a Firm’s Profit Strategy In business organizations, both the undertakings and behaviours those of value to the firms’ routines, social structure, and cultures of the firm, and directing and using these resources in combination with other inputs, are all the activities done by employees in the firm. This means that firms profits comes from the activities of employees’ labour that transforms other inputs into goods and services. This leads the proponents of resource based view to conclude that resources that produce more profits are human resources than inert or physical resources. RBV also state tha t in order to get maximum output from the human resource, a strategy must be put forward to achieve this. They refer this as the creation of the resource. An example of this is a producer who uses a new invention before it is adopted by other firms, will sell more than his competitors and gets surplus profits. RBV argues that it is the manipulation or use of physical assets by the workers that are a source of profits. The assets as stated earlier, are available and each firm is free to acquire them. However, the main constraint is their price. They are not taken as a resource in resource based view because they are not unique. However, labour that is employed is unique and taken as the most crucial resource. If the prices of these assets necessary for production of commodities were to go down, then individuals or groups would take over scale production without requiring to be employed by the capitalists. An example is that if the prices of car parts were within the reach of the mass es, then capitalists would abandon this industry (Bowman, 2003). The reasoning behind this is that the financial power is what enables capitalists to purchase physical assets and employ talented and skilled workers to produce commodities for them at a profit. The assets are not unique but the unique factor that enables them to get profits is the use of human resource or labour. In addition to labour, RBV also categorises inert inputs such as special equipments as resources. However, these resources are just used in some stage of production and moreover they are also produced by human labour. RBV supporters argue that if the workers are used to create resources for the firm, then the current deployment of the resource is greater than the price originally

Purposes of Criminal Laws Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Purposes of Criminal Laws - Research Paper Example While some might argue the ethics of the latter described measures, these three features effectively, albeit not perfectly, eliminate a large amount of crime and provide society with order. Criminal law protects public order by criminalizing behaviors that are contrary to social norms, values, and/or customs. Public order crimes, therefore, are considered as harmful to the public and society as a whole. Such crimes include prostitution, paraphilia or strange sexual behavior, pornography, and other drug and alcohol related behaviors (Rooney & Gibbons 1996). Some argue such crimes should be legalized and controlled rather than criminalized because they are essentially victimless (Rooney & Gibbons 1996). However, it is important to release that the victims of the latter crimes are mostly indirect. For example, a family member plagued by drug use, in turn, not only destroys his/her own life, but also may create domestic violence or poverty. In addition, paraphilias, or strange sexual beh aviors, such as pedophilia may lead to the abuse, molestation, or murder of children. Therefore, it remains wise to punish public order crimes in order to maintain an orderly society and protect inadvertent victims. Utilitarian philosophers Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham founded the Classical school of thought during the Enlightenment period of the 18th Century (Shavell 1985). According to the two philosophers, the criminal and the noncriminal are the same- there is no psychological illness involved in crime committing. Instead, crime is a component of free will and is a rational calculation of pleasure over pain. In other words, if committing a crime brings the criminal pleasure than the individual will commit the crime. The individual chooses crime as a means of bringing pleasure (Shavell 1985). Following these definitions of crime and criminals, the best way to prevent crime is through deterrence. Society should make the consequences of committing a crime more painful than th e pleasure obtained by committing the crime. To make the criminal afraid of punishments, the law needed to clearly identify and define all consequences of crime. In addition, the punishment must be proportional to the crime such that it is not so harsh that it is unjust but that it is harsh enough that it will deter. Finally, Beccaria and Bentham argued that punishments must be quick. In other words, the consequences of a crime should be applied as quickly as possible after the crime was committed (Shavell 1985). Several components of Beccaria and Bentham’s philosophy, such as the right to a speedy trial and the eradication of cruel and unusual punishment are now apart of the United States Constitution’s Bill of Rights (Shavell 1985). The concept of deterrence continues into modern times and remains the backbone of criminal law. Punishment is one of the main forms of deterrence, but also serves as a way to shield society from the criminal and to rehabilitate the crimin al. The modern prison began in the 1970s and was referred to as a correctional institution (Haney and Zimbardo 1998). On one hand, the undesirable environment of prison deters a person from committing a criminal act, but the prison also serves as a place for criminals to be rehabilitated in order to live successfully in society. It is no secret that prison deprives criminals of many desires and needs. There are several forms of deprivations that an inmate experiences. One of the most importance forms of deprivat

Optimizing Ermergeny Room Staff Statistics Project

Optimizing Ermergeny Room Staff - Statistics Project Example Collected data included age and sex of patient, date and time patient arrived, date and time patient treatment began and triage number, Triage number is a scale used in the ER that identifies the urgency of care, standard waiting time, average length of treatment time and the number of nurses required. See Appendix A. The number of patients was summarized according to a 1-hr time interval of its arrival to the ER. Frequency distribution, time series and regression analysis were created to determine the trend. See Appendix B. The wait time in minutes was summarized according to a 4-hr interval of the patients arrival. See Appendix C. The 4-hr interval is also identified as the 4-hr work shift of nurses. The distribution of average wait time per month was made to identify the volume of patients having a long wait time in the 4-hr work shift. Analysis of variance was conducted to determine if there are any significant differences between them with respect to mean waiting time. The treatment time in minutes was also summarized according to a 4-hr time interval of nurse's work shift. The treatment time is the average time needed by the nurses to care for patients with respect to its urgency according to the triage number. The distribution of total treatment time per month was made to identify the volume of nurses time in the 4-hr work shift. Figure 1 shows the frequency distribution of the number of patients arriving per month on a 1-hr... Figure 2 shows the time series of the patients arriving per day on a 1-hr time interval. There is a seasonal trend identified per day which further confirms the observation from the frequency diagram. A single factor analysis of variance was conducted using Microsoft Excel Add-In. The results in Table 1 show that the F-value is smaller than the F critical and the P-value is relatively large. The null hypothesis stating that all means of patient arrival per month is equal and there is no statistical differences between the monthly data. This concurs that the data of patients per month can be summarized into a 24 hr patient arrival behavior. Table 1. Anova: Single Factor SUMMARY Groups Count Sum Average Variance JUN 24 326 13.5833 60.3406 JUL 24 305 12.7083 56.1286 AUG 24 364 15.1667 69.0145 SEP 24 362 15.0833 92.5145 OCT 24 293 12.2083 55.6504 NOV 24 334 13.9167 53.9058 Source of Variation SS df MS F P-value F crit Between Groups 175.14 5 35.028 0.542 0.744 2.280 Within Groups 8913.75 138 64.592 Total 9088.889 143 Figure 3 shows the best fit line graph of patients arrival from 3:00 am to 22:00 pm. The R-squared value of 0.8839 shows high linearity on the trend. The number of patients increases with time during this period. The coefficient of increase is 0.1148. 2. Wait Time of Patients The frequency distribution of wait time is shown in Figure 4. The mean time to wait is 131.11 minutes with a standard deviation of 87.62 minutes. The confidence level at 95% is 3.85 minutes. The shape of the distribution is skewed to the left. This means that the data may contain outliers with very large waiting time. Figure 5 shows the patient's average time

Burmas Stateless Minority under the Tip of Globalizations Spear Essay Example for Free

Burmas Stateless Minority under the Tip of Globalizations Spear Essay Bangladesh and Burma, two of Asias poorest nations, displaced and stateless people of rohingya suffer in silence at the hands of the military government in Burmas Orwellian new capital of Naypyidaw, Bangladesh caretakers are being less sympathetic to them. People of rohingya are being crashed to death . there are children starving in the darkness of dawn in these Asian century. India and China are interested in resuscitating decrepit colonial era ports and WWII era transport routes in their weak states in the name of securing resources for their respective domestic economic progress. Discussion Complex patterns of todays transnational human exodus across political and cultural boundaries examples of massive underground movement Rohingya are people they are never heard of they live in a place no one could never want to live they inhabit a violent landscape of crisis completely devoid of human rights. Women and children struggle to get clean water and food but after a long struggle and suffering they end up getting a pool of muddy stagnant water. They have no choice but to drink the dirty staff. There have been a lot of plight of human migration portrayed in the media now days known as South to North. Some of the odds that come to our minds are for example Cameroonians traversing thousands of miles up the African continent to look for work in a Parisian suburb and Guatemalans passing themselves off as Mexicans trying to enter Californias vast produce engine. Many parts of the world now days suffer a problem of lack of basic needs such as food, water, clothing and shelter. These has been as a result natural calamities such as floods, earth quark, land slides etc Political interest has also contributed to some extend. Complex patterns of todays transnational human exodus are examples of underground movements referred to as â€Å"South to South migration in think tank parlance. There has been a lot of genocide in the current would and oppressions of human rights. In ten years of travel and reportage of civilizations fraying and violent crossroads, there have been witnesses of an array of struggles of people burning in the smoldering embers of post-World War II decolonization and the last great upheavals of the post-Berlin Wall paradigm shift. The far south of Bangladesh the situation there is dire and people live in a desperate situation. Desperate Iraqis refugees live in dark coastal hotels in Syria. Rohingya a minority group from western Burma are Muslims but are not welcomed, since Burmas independence from the British Crown in 1948, they have been persecuted over the last six decade by the central government in several violent fits, and this all dispute came as a result of junta not recognizing Rohingya being the real citizens of Burma. and being Muslims therefore justify ethnic cleansing and forcing them out of their farms and off their villages in Rakhine. Rohingya therefore sought refuge in Bangladesh as refugees but they were not welcomed they were referred as illegal economic migrants. The darfurist have at least their leader but the minority Rohingya has none. Conclusion The world leaders have to come to understanding that because of their political differences the innocent children and women are suffering under their own hands.Genocide is not the solution to political differences. References 1. Derek Flood: From South to South: Burmas Stateless Minority Under .. www. huffingtonpost. com/derek-flood/from-south-to-south-burma_b_98865. html 81k Cached Similar pages 2. Derek Flood: From South to South: Burmas Stateless Minority Under Derek_Flood_From_South_to_South_Burma_s_Stateless_Minority_Under_the_Tip_of 25k Cached Similar pages

The value of the Sime Darby Brand

The value of the Sime Darby Brand Founded in 1910, now Sime Darby (Holding Company-Divers) is ranked at 9 in 50 most valuable brands in Malaysia. Sime Darby Berhad Malaysia is leading Oil and Gas Services is fully innovative and productive company leading in Malaysia. Sime Darby Berhad consists of several components of business units such as plantation, property, industrial, motors, energy and utilities and healthcare as well. The main vision of the company is we are building our tomorrows, today (www.simedarby.com). The Sime Darby in 1910 got the name from two European business partners by name; William Sime and Henry Darby. William Sime, a traveler and adventurer from Scotland, ventured to Malaysia when he was in his late 30s. Sime Darby Berhad is the largest conglomerate in Malaysia and one of the largest in Southeast Asia . Within its territory are more than 270 operating companies in 23 countries, while foreign operations in Hong Kong of which account for 25% of revenues, Singapore (14 %), and Australia (11%). The company generates 38 percent of its revenues domestically. Its broadly diversified activities include a wide range of industries, with the core businesses being plantations including oil palm and the companys original business, rubber, tire manufacturing, heavy equipment and motor vehicle distribution, property development, power generation, and engineering services. Natural rubber synthetic rubber was still being developed and had just been introduced to the country from Brazil. Sime and other entrepreneurs at the time recognized that the climate of Malaysias jungle region was similar to that of Brazils. Therefore, rubber could just as easily be grown in that country and sold not only in Malaysia but throughout Southeast Asia and the world. However, Sime Darby encountered opposition to its venture from locals, who were wary of outsiders coming in to operate a plantation in Malacca, in order to overcome this, Sime and Darby forged friendships with several members of the Chinese business community. The company expanded, becoming a manager for owners of other plantations and then moving into the trading end of the industry. Sime set up a branch office in Singapore in 1915 and shortly thereafter established a marketing office in London. Demand for rubber eventually outstripped Sime Darbys production capacity, and by the late 1920s the company found it necessary to clear more jungle. To do so, Sime Darby purchased Sarawak Trading Company in 1929. Sarawak (later renamed Tractors Malaysia) held the franchise for Caterpillar heavy earthmoving equipment. That important purchase signaled Sime Darbys expansion into the heavy equipment business, which would eventually become a major component of its expansive network. In 1936 the companys head office was relocated from Malacca to Singapore. Sime Darby made a fortune in the global rubber industry during the 1920s and 1930s. Growth in the industry began to fade, however, as natural rubber was gradually supplanted by synthetic rubber. Sales of natural rubber boomed during World War II as warring nations purchased all available supplies. The war, however, also led to significant advancements in synthetic rubber technology. A good deal of it was used to acquire other companies, thereby expanding Sime Darbys reach into several other industries. Much of Sime Darbys success during that period was attributable to its acquisition of the giant Seafield Estate in 1971 and the establishment of Consolidated Plantations Berhad that same year. Through Consolidated Plantations, which became the companys main plantation subsidiary, Sime Darby became a leading force in the regions thriving agricultural sector. In addition to growing the oil palms and cocoa, the company began processing the crops into finished products for sale throughout the world. As its sales and profits spiraled upward during the early and mid-1970s, Sime Darby became a shiny feather in Britains cap. To the surprise and chagrin of the British stockholders, however, the company was wrested from their control by the Malaysian government late in 1976. The intriguing events leading up to the takeover began in the early 1970s. During that time, Sime Darbys chief executive, Denis Pinder, began investing the companys cash in new subsidiaries throughout the world. The companys stock price soared as Sime Darbys sales spiraled upward. At the same time, some observers charged that Sime Darby was engaged in corrupt business practices (with critics coining the phrase Slime Darby). Allegations of corruption were confirmed in the eyes of some detractors when, in 1973, Darbys outside auditor was found stabbed to death in his bathtub. The Singapore police ruled the death a suicide, but Pinder still ended up in prison on misdemeanor charges. Pinders successor took up where he left off, investing in numerous ventures, most of which were located in Europe. Unfortunately, many of those investments quickly soured. Some Malaysians felt that Sime Darby was taking profits from its successful domestic operations and investing them unwisely overseas. So, in 1976 the Malaysian government trading office bought up Sime Darby shares on the London stock exchange. It effectively gained control of the company and installed a board made up mostly of Asians. Also in 1976, Asian and British board members were able to agree that Tun Tan Chen Locks son, Tun Tan Siew Sin, would be an acceptable replacement as chairman of Sime Darbys board. In 1978 Sime Darby was reincorporated in Malaysia as Sime Darby Berhad. Its headquarters was moved to Kuala Lumpur the following year. Staggering in the Early 1980s; Rebounding in the Late 1980s and Early 1990s Sime Darby jettisoned some of its poorly performing assets during the late 1970s and early 1980s under Locks leadership. But it also continued investing in new ventures. It purchased the tire-making operations of B.F. Goodrich Philippines in 1981, for example, and secured the franchise rights to sell Apple Computers in southeast Asia in 1982. The addition of B.F. Goodrich Philippines marked the companys entrance into the tire manufacturing sector; also in 1981 came the establishment of Sime Darby International Tire Company, which in 1988 was renamed Sime Darby Pilipinas, Inc. In 1984 the company purchased a large stake in a Malaysian real estate development company, United Estates Berhad, and used it to begin developing plantation lands. This company later was renamed Sime UEP Properties Berhad. In Malaysia, Sime Darby acquired the franchises for BMW, Ford, and Land Rover vehicles. By the early 1980s Sime Darbys push to diversify had given it a place in almost every industry, from agricultural and manufacturing to finance and real estate. Although it did diversify into heavy equipment, real estate, and insurance businesses, new management also plowed significant amounts of cash into the companys traditional commodity and plantation operations. Sime Darby became a favorite of investors looking for a safe bet. Indeed, the mammoth enterprise tended to minimize risks after the investment mistakes of the early 1970s and seemed content to operate as a slow-growth multinational behemoth that could withstand any market downturns. Even if something did go wrong, the company had a war chest of nearly a half billion U.S. dollars from which it could draw. Unfortunately, Sime Darbys staid strategy negatively impacted its bottom line. Sales dipped to M $2.78 billion in 1992 before plunging to M$2.17 billion in 1983. Sime Darby lumbered through the mid-1980s with annual sales of less than M$2.5 billion, and net income skidded from about M$100 million in the early 1980s to a low M$59 million in 1987. To turn things around, Sime Darbys board promoted Tunku Ahmad Yahaya to chief executive. Ahmad was a veteran of the companys executive ranks and was a favorite nephew of Malaysias first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman. Under Ahmads direction, the giant corporation began a slow turnaround. Significantly, Ahmad was instrumental in luring Tun Ismail to Sime Darbys board. Ismail was a highly influential central bank governor and the chairman of Sime Darbys biggest shareholder. Ismail became nonexecutive chairman of the company following the death of Tun Tan Siew Sin in 1988. During the late 1980s and early 1990s Ahmad invested much of Sime Darbys cash hoard into a bevy of new companies and ventures. Sime became a relatively big player in the global reinsurance business, for example, and tried to boost its activities related to heavy equipment and vehicle manufacturing. Most notably, Sime began pouring millions of dollars into property and tourism in key growth areas of Malaysia in an effort to get in on the development and tourism boom that began in that nation in the late 1980s. The success of that division prompted the company to invest as well in tourism overseas. Through its UEP subsidiary, for instance, Sime Darby bought a full-service resort with condominiums in Florida (Sandestin Resorts) and a hotel in Australia, among other enterprises. As the company dumped its cash into expansion and diversification, sales and profits bolted. Revenues climbed from M$2.53 billion in 1987 to M$4.98 billion in 1990 to M$6.20 billion in 1992. During the same perio d, net income soared from M$85 million to M$353 million. Sime Darby realized a stunning 65 percent average annual growth in earnings during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Despite its gains, though, critics charged that the company had concentrated too heavily on traditional commodity industries and had failed to move into the 1990s with the rest of Malaysia. In fact, Sime Darby continued to garner about 43 percent of its sales from commodity trading activities in 1993 and only 18 percent from manufacturing. The rest came from heavy equipment distribution, insurance, and its property/tourism holdings. Although building strength in those businesses had added to the companys sales and profits during the late 1980s and early 1990s, the strategy had caused Sime Darby to fall behind more progressive holding companies in the region that were participating in booming high-tech, gaming, brokering, and manufacturing sectors. Many company insiders believed that Sime Darby would have to eliminate its heavy reliance on commodity industries if it wante d to sustain long-term growth. The Crisis The companys stock price began to fall in 1993 and its rapid revenue and profit growth began to subside in comparison with late 1980s levels. In 1993 Ahmad stepped back from control of the company when he named Nik Mohamed Nik Yaacob to serve under him as chief executive. Among Mohameds first moves was to initiate the merger of the companys plantation assets, organized as Consolidated Plantations, and the parent company, The company also bolstered its regional insurance business in 1993 by joining forces with AXA of France for its insurance operations in Malaysia and Singapore. These efforts signaled an end to the companys historical emphasis on commodities and reflected Mohameds desires to increase activity in manufacturing, high-tech, financial services, and other fast-growth businesses and reduce Sime Darbys bureaucracy. The turn around after the crisis The company began increasing investments in businesses such as power generation, oil and gas, and heavy equipment exporting. In heavy equipment, Sime Darby bought the Australian distributor of Caterpillar equipment, Hastings Deering (Australia) Ltd., in 1993. In power generation, a key move came in 1994 when Sime Darby took a 40 percent interest in Port Dickson Power Sdn. Bhd., an independent power producer in Malaysia. That same year, the company acquired U.K.-based Lec Refrigeration plc, which was involved in the manufacturing, marketing, and servicing of refrigeration equipment and related products. At the same time, Mohamed worked to absorb the flurry of acquisitions conducted during the previous several years and streamline the company into some sort of cohesive whole. Despite restructuring activities, Sime Darby managed to boost sales to US$3.15 billion in 1994, about US$186 million of which was netted as income. In 1995 Sime Darby stepped up its acquisition drive through the purchase of a controlling 60.4 percent interest in United Malayan Banking Corporation from Datuk Keramat Holdings Berhad. The US$520 million purchase deepened the companys involvement in the countrys fast-growing financial services sector. United Malayan, which was the fourth largest bank in Malaysia in terms of assets, soon was reorganized as Sime Bank Berhad, with the companys brokerage arm becoming a subsidiary of Sime Bank under the name Sime Securities Sdn. Bhd. For the fiscal year ending in June 1997 Sime Darby posted record net income of M$835.8 million (US$322.9 million) on record revenues of M$13.24 billion (US$4.35 billion). Sime Bank and SimeSecurities played a key role in these stellar results (accounting for 30 percent of pretax earnings), but the eruption of the Asian financial crisis in July 1997 quickly proved that the acquisition of United Malayan had been ill-timed, if not also ill-advised. The severity of the crisis in Malaysia, which included a steep decline in the Malaysian stock market and a sharp depreciation of the ringgit (the nations currency), led Sime Bank to post the largest loss in Malaysian banking historyM$1.6 billion (US$431 million) for the six months to December 1997. In turn, Sime Darby posted its first loss in decades for the same six-month period, a loss of M$676.2 million ($172.7 million). With other Sime Darby units being hit hard by the crisis as well, the company posted the first full-year loss in its clo se to 90-year history in the 1998 fiscal year, a net loss of M$540.9 million (US$131 million). Subsequently ,it beat a hasty retreat from its aggressive expansion, determining that the prudent course would be a return to the companys core areas: plantations, property development, tire manufacturing, heavy equipment and motor vehicle distribution, and power generation. In June 1999 Sime Darby sold Sime Bank and its SimeSecurities subsidiary to Rashid Hussain, who merged it with RHB Bank to form the second largest commercial bank in Malaysia. During the 1999 fiscal year, the company also sold Sandestin Resorts for US$131 million. In 1999,it returned to the black with net earnings of M$821.8 million (US$216.3 million) on revenues of M$9.91 billion (US$2.61 billion). A further pull-back from the financial services sector came in March 2000 when Sime Darby sold its interest in Sime AXA, its insurance joint venture with AXA of France. Meantime, an area of growing interest was emerging at the turn of the millennium as Sime Darby increased its interest in Port Dickson Power to 60 percent, giving it majority control and turning Port Dickson into a company subsidiary. Flush with cash from the sale of its financial services units, Sime Darby appeared poised to make additional forays into the power generation sector. Given the near disaster of its aggressive moves into financial services, however, the company was likely to proceed with much caution in all of its future expansionary endeavors in a return to its traditional style of conservative management. Business activities: Plantation: Plantation is Sime Darby largest revenue generator with about 70% of the conglomerate profits come from this segment. The company operates palm oil and rubber plantations in Malaysia and Indonesian islands of Sumatera, Kalimantan and Sulawesi. With a land bank of over 633,000 hectares, including 300,000 hectares in Indonesia, it is one of the largest plantation company in the world. Property: The company is involved in the property development business in eight countries, namely Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Peoples Republic of China, Australia and United Kingdom. Industrial and Monitoring :The company is involved in the purchasing, leasing and selling of industrial equipment such as Caterpillar Inc. heavy duty trucks and tractors.. it has partnership with Ford, it sells Fords cars and trucks together with the Land Rover brand. It is also a major BMW dealer in Singapore, Australia and Thailand. In Southern China, the company sells BMW and Rolls-Royce. In addition, Sime Darby co-owns Inokom Corp Bhd, a joint-venture with Hyundai Motor Company which assembles and sells Hyundai vehicles in Malaysia. Energy Utilities: The company is an Oil and Gas services company which provides equipment for exploring oil and gas assets in the South East Asia region. The company is also an independent power provider in Malaysia and Thailand. The company also provides engineering services in the system integration and sales sectors, security and oil gas sectors. Healthcare: The company owns hospital named Sime Darby Medical Centre Subang Jaya Sdn. Bhd ,SDMC Formerly known as Subang Jaya Medical Centre, and college formerly known as SJMC Academy of Nursing and Health Sciences which was established in 1995 and now is known as Sime Darby Nursing and Health Sciences College. Other businesses: The company has a port utility company named Weifang Sime Darby Port Co Ltd. Other businesses that the company is involved in include healthcare, aerospace (divested from Asian Composites Manufacturing (ACM) in 2009), bedding, consumer and industrial products, logistics and packing.The company also owns the 30% of the Malaysian arm of Tesco stores. Sustainable Practices: Sime Darby plantations implemented Zero Burning Planting Techniques Techniques (ZBPT), a practical and environmentally sound technique of replanting, in 1989. The Board of director and audit committee profile: Company Profile Bhg Dato Mohd Bakke, was chosen on13th May 2010 as the new president and group chief executive (PGCE) and formerly group president/CEO of Felda Global ventures Holdings SDN Bhd, he has necessary experience in corporate restructuring exercises as well as in management expertise in the plantation. Dato Azhar Abdul Hamid, Chairman,board of Directors and Managing Director of Sime Darby Plantation Sdn Bhd. He is head of the Sime Darby Groups Plantation and Agri-business Division Aditheb Bisalbutr Chairman of Executive Committee (EXCOM) Member of Board of Directors Chairman of PTT Chemical International Pte. Ltd. (since October,2008)   Dr. Kongkrapan PhD. He is the group Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board and the Executive Committee of Emery Oleochemicals Group. chemical Haris Fadzilah Hassan Executive Committee Board of Directors ,Senior Vice President of Downstream Operations, Sime Darby Plantations Sdn Bhd    Puntip Oungpasuk is the member of board of directors oversees PTT Chemicals business strategy, business development, corporate planning, corporate strategy portfolio management, innovation technology, and international businesses.   Veerasak Kositpaisal :The President and CEO of PTT Chemical Public Company Limited. Also the Chairman the Plastic Industry Club of the Federation of Thai Industries Tn Hj. Khairudin Hashim :The Head, RD Centre for Sime Darby Plantation. He is also a Board Member of several of Sime Darby Plantations subsidiaries. Now, Panel Member of the Advisory Panel for RISDA College. Mustamir Mohamad (Alternative Director) Head, Strategy and Business Development Sime Darby expanded their operations in more than 20 countries throughout the Asia, Europe, Africa, the Middle and Unites States. Sime Darby Berhad is one of the largest listed oil plantation groups. It has been estimated approximately near 6% of the total palm oil production in the world. The financial accounting standards of Sime Darby In Malaysia, a Sime Darby Berhad financial accounting standard is accordance to Malaysian Accounting Standard Board (The Sime Darby Group, 2005). The financial statements have been arranged in accordance with the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board approved accounting standards in Malaysia; comply with the Financial Reporting Standards (FRS) and the provisions of Companies the Act, 1965. The functions and powers of the Malaysian Accounting Standard Board (MASB) as provided under the Act are to (MASB, 2010): issue new accounting standards as approved accounting standards and to review, revise or adopt existing accounting standards as approved accounting standards; issue statements of principles for financial reporting; sponsor or undertake development of possible accounting standards; conduct public consultation as necessary; develop a conceptual framework for the purpose of evaluating proposed accounting standards; make such changes to proposed accounting standards as considered necessary; seek the view of the FRF in relation to new and existing standards, statement of principles, and changes to proposed standards; determine scope and application of accounting standards; and to perform such other function as the Minister of Finance may prescribe Harmonization must begin with a standardization of the reporting requirements. In Sime Darby, (Sime Darby Berhad Annual Report, 2009), the accounting standards have been issued with regards to segment reporting. The accounting standards are based on; The Directors are required by the Companies Act, 1965 (Act) to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Group and the Company at the end of the year and the results of the Group and the Company for the year. The Directors plays role in responsible in safeguard the assets of the Group and to prevent and detect fraud and other misdeed Malaysian necessities the Companies Act 1965 and on the standards of the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board. The Malaysian Accounting Standards Board (MASB) uses IAS 16-Property, Plant and Equipment, as the foundation for rising accounting standards. Convergence of accounting standards will be not achieved without significant cooperation between government and business community. The financial statements are presented in Ringgit Malaysia (RM) which is the companys functional and presentation currency. How can this company combine of  financial accounting standards between in its branches (Singapore and other countries) according to the existence accounting system In Singapore, Sime Darby Singapore Limited Is under US GAAP, Statement of Financial Accounting Standards. In United States, Sime Darby Plantation USA financial accounting standard was registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States of America. The Securities and Exchange Commission The Securities and Exchange Commission is a U.S. regulatory agency that has the authority to establish accounting standards for publicly traded companies. The Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 require certain reports to be filed with the SEC. For example, Forms 10-Q and 10-K must be filed quarterly and annually, respectively. The head of the SEC is appointed by the President of the United States. When the SEC was formed there was no standards-issuing body. However, rather than set standards, the SEC encouraged the private sector to set them. The SEC has stated that FASB standards are considered to have authoritative support. The adoption of International Accounting Standards as Philippine generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). In Philippines, Sime Darby Pilipinas Inc, the standards financial accounting was based on Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) in the Philippines as set forward in Philippine Financial Reporting Standards (PFRS). PFRS includes statements named PFRS and Philippine Accounting Standards (PAS), including interpretations by the Philippine Accounting Standards Council. These are the Companys first consolidated financial statements prepared in conformity with PFRS. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) are generally accepted because an authoritative body has set them or the accounting profession widely accepts them as appropriate. Prior to this, Philippine generally accepted accounting principles were based mainly on US-based accounting standards. According to Parker, (2010) Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) has four basic principles. The historical cost principle requires companies to account and report based on acquisition costs rather than fair market value for most assets and liabilities. The revenue recognition principle requires to record when revenue is realized or realizable and earned, not when cash is received. The way of accounting is called accrual basis accounting. The matching principle-Expenses have to be matched with revenues as long as it is reasonable doing so. The full disclosure principle-Amount and kinds of information disclosed should be decided based on trade-off analysis as larger amount of information costs more to prepare and use it. Information disclosed should be enough to make judgment while keeping costs reasonable. In Malaysia, refer to Nathan et al, (2000) Malaysia Standard Auditing is issued by Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) and the Malaysian Association of Certified Public Accountants (MACPA) to harmonize the auditing practice. The authors mentioned that in order to harmonize the accounting standard practices, Malaysia has been implementing good standards by strengthening actual accounting and auditing practices. Nathan et al, (2000) also emphasized that to maintain the relationship between national standards and international standards and as well as maintain and improved the standards; the professional accounting bodies review the published accounting statements annually and Malaysian Accounting Standard Board (MASB) were set up to ensure that; the issuance of new standards as approved accounting standards the assessment, revision or implementation as accepted accounting standards existing accounting standards go aboard on a programme to review all extant accounting standards for consistency the latest developments in International Accounting Standards (IAS), legal and regulatory reporting requirements evaluate the practical practice of International Accounting Standards (IAS) relate to application of the accounting standards According to Carlin et al, (2009) MASB to adopt global harmonization of standards (IFRSs) is a reflection of Malaysias obligation to support with global accounting standards in order to achieve harmonization with international practice. Based on the financial accounting standards between its branches, from my point of view, the process for harmonizing accounting standards seems based on a harmonious relationship among national and international standards setters. Sime Darby Berhad neither replaces nor eliminates the need for standard setters. The monitoring of reporting and agreement with approved standard and as well as regulatory body has been done by financial institutions i.e. Bank Negara. Does it succeed  to achieve that or not  if not what are the obstacles that face this company to achieve that According to Pasceri, (2005), a Chief Internal Auditor and Finance Director of Sime Darby Malaysia, Francis Anthony stated that; Nothing has changed except for disclosure requirements, which have become quite onerous today, with no doubt. As far as the statutory reporting and financial community, especially the auditors, there are more requirements to be met. Unfortunately, with the rush of regulatory changes in the US and their impact on international accounting standards, we have erred in moving too much towards a rule-based environment. As far as the basic accounting system goes management reporting and management accounting thats not changed. The basic principles are the same except for today you must ensure stricter compliance with cross-border and transfer pricing rules and be more familiar with management decision-making techniques for risk management. Francis Anthony also pointed out that; There is overload now even for wellrun companies and I think it is maximised, and the challenge now is balancing. The challenges of Sime Darby faces today is just that the audit management need to maintain and balance the role and keep side by side of all regulatory changes on finance. Having worked in multiple jurisdictions in the region Anthony finds that for companies in Hong Kong and the other local exchanges like Malaysia and Singapore, there are varying degrees of reporting requirements that will be getting more and more stringent with SarOx (Pasceri, 2005). Internal and External Audit Duties and comments To say that the group had processes in place its just that they had not been implemented properly certainly laughable because it is all too  familiar. If one was to seriously respond to this excuse, it would be that is why you have internal and external auditors. And when the internal auditors raised the red flag in August 2008, it was conveniently swept under the carpet! If the excuse was that, the non-executive independent directors were obliged to give the benefit of the doubt to management, the external auditors, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) certainly had no such obligation or professional reason to do so! This was their red flag to delve into the issue of cost over-runs including its recovery of such costs. This is no more an ordinary run of the mill statutory audit. PWC had been put on enquiry and were obliged to look into the concern meticulously. The question to be answered is that, what did PWC do? They signed off the accounts of Sime Darby for 2008 and 2009 with a clean audit report! Not even an emphasis of matter especially on the possible cost over-runs and its recoverability! The fact that official media had highlighted these matters, besides the media report prior to the finalization of the 2008 and 2009 accounts speak volumes about the role (or lack of it) of PWC The official media currently has been quite polite about this latest incident .yes, they have been polite relatively speaking, but if you read in between the lines, the insinuation is the total collapse in the check and balance roles of the other parties involved with Sime Darby notably the auditors and members of the Audit Committee headed by the ex-chairman of PWC. Andrew Sheng, a proponent of strong corporate governance is unfortunately embroiled in this mess as director and he cannot easily extricate himself out of this especially when he was appointed in 2007.He has to regain credibility by insisting massive and fundamental changes to the way things are done in the Malaysian corporate world in general and Sime Darby in particular. The audit committee In April 2008, for example, there were news reports that Sime Darby Engineering Sdn Bhd had incurred cost overruns of between RM120mil and RM150mil in its offshore engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning project for Maersk Oil Qatar (MOQ). In February 2009, a report also alleged that there had been costs overruns in the same project, but this time, the figure mentioned was far bigger. At a media briefing on Feb 4, Zubir dismissed this: Theres no such thing as the RM800mil losses. The Minority Watchdog Group (MSWG) wrote to Sime Darby chairman Tun Musa Hitam in March 2009 on issues in the energy and utilities division. At the companys AGM last November, the MSWG also raised questions about the divisions shrinking bottom-lin

Strategic Issues Facing Lockheed Martin

Strategic Issues Facing Lockheed Martin Lockheed Martin is a global security Company that employs about 136,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. It was formed in 1995 by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta. It has its Headquarters in Bethesda, MD (Maryland). The Corporation reported 2009 sales of $45.2 billion, a backlog of $78 billion, and cash flow from operations of $3.2 billion. Lockheed Martin is one of the biggest Defense Contractors in the world. One of the biggest news in 2010 was that the United States had decided to buy up to 2443 F-35 Lightning II fighter jets. The F-35, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter, is the U.S. defense departments costliest weapons purchase at up to $382 billion over the next two decades. This makes it the biggest military deal ever. All this helps to pose an interest in this company. Cost Surge: The Lockheed Martin F-35 program is facing manufacturing inefficiencies, part problems and at least six engineering technical challenges as stated by the U.S Government Accountability Office (GAO). As such costs have grown and scheduled extensions are likely. Companys contribution to the National Economy A large part of Q2 GDP performance, +0.39% of total GDP growth 1.6% for the U.S owes thanks to wars and general defense. The defense sector of which Lockheed Martin is a part has contributed heavily to the countrys overall GDP. Lockheed Martin is also involved in other public activities. Companys contribution to the Regional Economy Lockheed Martin is a global security organization with its reach in countries and regions like Canada, United Kingdom, Africa, Europe, and Middle East, the Americas, Asia Pacific and Australia. Lockheed Martin has customers around the world and has partners in more than 50 countries outside the United States. Furthermore it has helped countries like Turkey by enhancing their defense capabilities. Recent Strategic Choice Lockheed Martin completed the divestiture of its Enterprise Integration Group business to Veritas Capital on November 23rd, 2010 for $815 million and also plans to sell off PAE in 2011. Source of Information on the Company:Â  www.lockheedmartin.com (355 Words) Executive Summary This assignment basically tells about the Defense Industry, discussing one of the major Defense contractors in detail in the world and other variables linked to the industry and the company alike. This project covers a lot of areas, using various tools for the purpose of analysis based on facts and our judgment. There are a few models used in this project to assess the state of the company and the industry alike; the first being the Industry Life Cycle which specifies where the defense industry currently stands whether it is introduction, growth, maturity or decline. Another model used such as the Key Factors for Success is used to determine basically what factors any given company needs to survive in the defense industry. Another one would be Porters Five Forces which determines the forces affecting the company. These are models based on factors relating to the industry. The other three models used are based on the company itself including SWOT which analyzes a companys strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats; SFAS which take the most critical two factors of the lot; and TOWS Matrix which helps to devise new strategies in regard to SWOT factors. After an in depth analysis, the current company performance is assessed based on efficiency, effectiveness and return to investors in regard with their recent strategic choice. Review of options is the next step in the project which takes into account the strategies formulated in the TOWS Matrix and determining which ones are the most important or critical to implement. The next area which is implementation of strategies provides an overview of if the future strategies can be deployed effectively and efficiently based on factors like structure, systems and policies. And the last part of the project determines the usefulness of all the six models used in the project. (300 Words) The Defense Industry as you see is in the Growth phase of the Industry Life cycle. A few leading firms in the industry and the ones that are surviving are huge firms like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. These leading giants continue to innovate and create new products and services and refine old ones in order to stay in the game. The defense industry is basically a never dying industry due to the global conditions and national security challenges faced by the different nations of the world. Companies like Lockheed Martin have been there for 16 years now. There are several reasons on why the Defense Industry is in the growth stage. To begin with, despite the time the defense companies have been around, they continuously monitor customer needs and introduce new products and technologies into the market. This leads to increase in sales and growth. For example, the recent development of the F-35 fighter jet which was made possible with the collaboration between Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and BAE Systems has given the defense industry a new source of life. It is a new innovative product, which will intrigue customers to buy it and hence resulting in increased sales and ultimately growth. Technology development, innovation and engineering are the core areas of the defense industry. Companies like Lockheed Martin and Boeing analyze these areas and respond accordingly. They keep up with changing times by introducing new products and technologies keeping the Defense Industry well in the Growth phase. Moreover it can be said that the Defense Industry is in the High Growth part of the Growth phase. Why it can be said so is because although the sales are increasing, the increase in sales is not exceptionally high. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the Aerospace and Defense sector in the period 2005-2009 was 8.7%. The sector grew by 0.4% in 2009 compared to 10.4% in the previous year. As said before, the Defense Industry is a never dying Industry and it continues to grow year by year by providing new technologies, weapons and advanced warfare systems. These Key Factors listed above are very important to survive in the Defense Industry. Taking Innovation and Technological advancement first, these are two of the most important factors for success in the Defense Industry. The giants in the industry like Boeing and Lockheed Martin have to keep up with changing times by providing or innovating new technologies and products. The National demands for defense technology are very high. And hence, the defense companies need to have advanced technology and innovative and creative personnel in order to deliver to the nation and hence succeed in the defense sector. The quality of the products is also very important. Customers can switch between defense contractors if they are not satisfied with the quality. The reliability of the products is also an important factor in the Defense Industry. As the products are designed for Warfare, product reliability is very crucial. Cost effectiveness is also among the most important factors in the Defense Industry. Every country has a defense budget. The Defense companies have to comply with the budget. Companies also need to have a skilled workforce in order to deal with complicated tasks including the likes of manufacturing military aircrafts. Diversification is also a very important factor to survive in the defense industry. Companies like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Boeing are heavily diversified into related markets including manufacturing naval shipbuilding, aircrafts, helicopters etc. Also, Defense companies need to have government contacts in order to carry out Lobbying. Overall Lockheed Martin is fairing pretty well in the Defense Industry. Although, compared to Boeing and Northrop Grumman, it has a few shortcomings in areas like being Cost Effective; it is handling the other key factors very well. It is well above the average level of operations in the defense sector. Porters Five Forces Threat of New Entrants (Low): The threat of new entrants is quite low in the Aerospace and Defense Industry. Few factors like very high capital requirements to sustain operations, having highly differentiated products act as entry barriers into the industry. The defense industry has a few big firms including Lockheed Martin, Boeing etc. who are very well established. Their products are highly differentiated, acting as a barrier; also the customers are reluctant to switch to a new companys product because personnel have to be trained again in order to use the new products raising switching costs. Companies in the defense industry need to have a huge amount of capital in order to sustain activities like building military aircrafts, naval ships etc. A new company will not have a large customer base and hence wont achieve economies of scale in order to reduce per head costs. Rivalry among Existing Firms (High): The rivalry among existing firms in the Defense industry is quite high. The leading Defense contractors like Lockheed Martin, Boeing and Northrop Grumman have intense competition over winning defense contracts. As the firms in this Industry are few, they analyze each others move very carefully and issue counter moves accordingly. Firms in the defense sector use innovation and new technology to in order to differentiate their service and deliver better than the competitor which ultimately increases competitive rivalry. Threat of substitutes (Low): There are actually no real substitutes for the defense industry. The military aircrafts, equipments, and other systems cannot be replaced with anything else. For example, considering the commercial aircraft segment in the Aerospace and Defense Industry, there are alternatives like Rail Transport which may act as a possible threat due to factors like global warming and carbon footprints. But, the Defense Sector doesnt have any substitute. For example, a countrys Air Force cannot be replaced by zero emission gliders; it has to be military aircrafts. It is because they cannot serve the same purpose. A nations Defense Sector cannot be substituted as they are the only ones who can serve the National Security purpose. Bargaining power of Buyers (Low): The bargaining power of buyers is low in the Defense sector. Although, the buyers have some financial muscle as they are mostly Government organizations, this power is somewhat diluted as the government needs the defense systems and programs. It is very important to the government. Now, companies in the Defense Industry like Lockheed Martin dont just provide military aircraft and hardware like missiles and other weapon systems but also cater to the repair and logistic needs of their buyers. This means that it increases switching cost for the buyers and hence reduces buying power. The differentiated products provided by the Defense companies also decreases buyer power. For example, a product specially designed by Lockheed Martin like the Exoskeletal Load Carrier HULC cannot be designed by Boeing and vice versa. Bargaining power of Suppliers (Low): The bargaining power of suppliers is low in the Defense Industry. Firstly, there are many suppliers to choose from. Also, there is no switching cost considering the suppliers which makes the power of the suppliers weak. The supplier costs also dont form a large part of the organization. In the defense industry, the defense companys major costs are in regard with RD, advanced technology and skilled workforce rather than supplier price. The major suppliers of the defense industry like Steel and aluminium manufacturers cannot forward integrate and compete directly with the defense companies. For Example, a steel manufacturer cannot build complex aircrafts and weapons. This further reduces supplier power. Relative power of Stakeholders (High): The relative power of stakeholders is pretty high in the Defense Industry. Stakeholders like the Government, customers and suppliers can affect the company majorly. Taking into consideration the government, the government has strict laws and regulations for each company to follow. In case of a breach or due to any other viable reason, the government has the power and to match it the authority to terminate contracts and transactions. This may lead to losses in the company. The suppliers and customers can also affect the company. Internal Factors Strengths: Lockheed Martin has quite a number of strengths. Having a well diversified portfolio has enabled Lockheed Martin to not be over dependent on a single market segment and also serving a large customer base. Lockheed Martin is strong financially as per the stats given over the years. It had shown an increase of 5.8% in revenues in 2009 compared to the fiscal year 2008 and is also the largest defense contractor by revenue as of FY2009. In addition, it is one of the leading companies in providing tactical and transport aircraft and other defense systems. Lockheed Martin serves a very large customer base, which provides for economies of scale. And also the company is very advanced technologically, its recent achievement being the JSF F-35 program. Weaknesses: Lockheed Martin also lags in a few areas. In 2009, about 85% of the net sales were made to the US government. This shows over dependency on one customer which would affect its growth. Another area it has to consider is cost. It is not really a cost effective firm. A recent example would be the high developmental costs for the JSF F-35 project. Plus, the employee attitude is poor in Lockheed Martin. And the turnover rate is also pretty much near high. Lockheed Martin also ranks no. 1 in federal misconducts. This affects the reputation of the company and the scenario of future contracts. External Factors Opportunities: One of the opportunities that Lockheed Martin can capitalize on is the rise in defense spending by the US. The DoD has seen consistent growth within the last ten years as it grew from $300 billion to almost $550 billion. Further, the congress agreed to fund military operations in various countries. Also, the US space and military market has witnessed strong growth and the trend is likely to continue. Another point could be the space business initiatives. Lockheed Martin is a prime contractor for a number of space business initiatives initiated by NASA. More initiatives will create new business opportunities for Lockheed Martin. One other point is the easing of export controls by the US with India in order to trade with the country. Another one would be the cyber security needs which are increasing globally to deal with cyber warfare. Threats: There are quite a number of threats that Lockheed Martin is facing. Lockheed Martin deals with numerous government agencies and entities, and as a result has to face regulations relating to disclosure of cost and acquisitions. Also, Lockheed Martin has to deal intensely with competitors like General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman and BAE systems in regard to competitive factors such as technical superiority, reputation, price, etc. Also, The Company is involved in environmental and potential proceedings relating to soil and groundwater contamination, disposal of hazardous waste etc. which impact the companys profitability. Substitutes like the Russian MIG fighter jets and others can act as a possible threat to the company. Also, Lockheed Martin has to keep up with changing times by innovating new products and services and acquiring new tech to keep up with rapid technological changes. Strategic Factor Analysis Short: The fact that the US military market is going to grow may be viable for a short period or an intermediate period. So the company has to look for other viable opportunities which would be there for a long term. For the short term, it is definitely an opportunity which the company should capitalize and ultimately as a result it will benefit the company in different ways like for example increase in sales. Intermediate: A factor like not being dynamic is in the intermediate segment. Not being dynamic or not being very agile to change is a weakness which will affect the company in medium term. This is because issues like these need to be addressed in the medium term at least if not in the short. If not done so, the company may not be able to deliver accordingly and lose out to the competition. Same is with the factor of substitutes. They can be there for an intermediate term. Lockheed Martins main competitors like Boeing and Northrop Grumman are always there with new innovations and products. So, in order to stand up to the competition, Lockheed Martin has to bring in new technologies and unique products every time. As discussed earlier, the rivalry is intense and companies come out with new and unique products to stay ahead in the game. Long: Factors in the long run considers all the four; strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Considering financial performance, a company like Lockheed Martin earns about 80% of its revenues from military sales. It receives many of the defense contracts and if delivered as supposed to, it will stay in a good position financially. It is also in a position to acquire some other firms. An example would be Gyrocam Systems LLC on 31st august, 2009. Also, all the companies have to be advanced technologically in order to meet the demands of the customer. They have to provide distinctive products which are not possible without advanced technology. Factors like export control easing by the US towards India are also in the long run. Once eased, it will trade with the nation for quite some time. Government regulations also stay for a long time. TOWS Matrix Strengths (S) Financial stats New Technology Well balanced Portfolio Economies of scale Strong market position Weaknesses (W) Dependence on the U.S government Cost management Not agile to changing conditions Employee attitude Contract misconducts Opportunities (O) Rising defense spending Growing military and space market Space business initiatives Export-control easing Cyber Security needs SO Strategies Expand business into India by acquiring firms Use advanced technology to deliver new and unique products to the growing market WO Strategies Reduce the dependence on US government by expansion into other countries Change employee attitude to deliver better products Threats (T) Government contracts and regulation Intense competition Environmental compliance costs Substitutes Technological changes ST Strategies Regular and timely Upgrades of systems and technology to stay competitive Acquisition of firms to gain new technology in order to deal with substitutes WT Strategies Be dynamic to keep up with rapid technological changes Reduce costs in order to comply with the regulations SO Strategies (Maxi-Maxi): SO strategies are formed considering the use of a companys strengths to capitalize on the opportunities. According to the figure above, I have devised two strategies which will do so. As the US has eased its export controls towards India, Lockheed Martin can expand its business there by acquiring firms and so on. This can be done as the company is financially strong and is in a position to do so. Another strategy that can be used is that Lockheed Martin can use its advanced technologies and systems to capitalize on the opportunity of the growing military and space market by offering new and differentiated products. ST Strategies (Maxi-Mini): Now, ST strategies are formed by considering the use of a companys strengths to minimize the threats. Two strategies have been devised. The first one is to regularly upgrade the systems and technology of Lockheed Martin in order to deal with threats like rapid technological changes. In the defense sector, big players like Boeing and Northrop Grumman may have better tech compared to Lockheed Martin and so in order to compete it has to have timely upgrades of its own technology. Also another strategy to be considered would be an acquisition strategy. In the defense sector there are quite a number of substitutes. Lockheed Martin can acquire more firms in order to gain access to new technologies and minimize the threat of substitutes. These strategies are possible because of the strong financial position of Lockheed Martin. WO Strategies (Mini-Maxi): WO strategies are formed by considering the capitalization of opportunities by overcoming weaknesses. One of the strategies that can be considered is reducing the dependence on the US government by expanding overseas. Recently, US eased its export controls towards India, which means Lockheed Martin has the opportunity to make sales in the latter. This can reduce the over dependence on the US government for sales. Another would be changing employee attitude by providing a better work environment, which in turn will help to develop better products for the growing military and space market and hence increasing sales. WT Strategies (Mini-Mini): WT strategies are formed by considering the minimization of weaknesses and avoiding threats and are basically defensive. One of the strategies would be to be more dynamic to changing conditions. By being more dynamic, Lockheed Martin can stay up with changing times and avoid the threat of rapid technological changes. By analyzing the conditions and acting, for example, Lockheed Martin upgrading its systems and technology, the company will be able to stay competitive. Another would be to effectively reduce costs by using methods that are efficient, so as the excess costs are not transferred to the final products. In case of Lockheed Martin, it has to comply with government regulations regarding costs and any default may result in termination of contracts and transactions. Assessment of current Company performance Efficiency: Lockheed Martin was very efficient in its recent strategy of divesting its business in EIG (enterprise integration group). It also plans to sell most of its PAE business unit. Lockheed Martin was very efficient in using the Divestiture strategy. Lockheed Martin had an after tax gain of $184 million ($0.51 per share). Not many resources were required to do so as EIG was a very high quality segment of their business associated with the support of organizations like the National Reconnaissance Office, other elements of the intelligence community. Lockheed Martin did not require much effort and resources in order to carry out their divestiture strategy. Effectiveness: Lockheed Martin was very effective in carrying out the divestiture strategy. There were many prospective buyers for the business unit. Lockheed Martin effectively made the sale to Veritas capital without much hassle from either side. The cash generated from this transaction was effectively deployed in various ways like in the specific 4th quarter of 2010; 13.2 million shares were repurchased for $916 million, discretionary contributions of $840 million to the pension trust, cash dividends totalling $269 million which is an increase from the previous year in the same quarter and expending capital of $426 million. Return to Investors: Lockheed Martin paid a total dividend of $269 million in the fourth quarter which shows a $29 million increase from the payout in the 4th quarter of 2009. Also the total dividend payout in 2010 being $969 million showed an increase of $61 million over the previous years total payout. It clearly shows that Lockheed Martins profits had gone up in 2010 by quite a good margin. The corporation was paying out more dividends makes it clear, that quite some money was being made by it. The share value also went up after the divestiture was completed by $0.51 per share. Review of Options Lockheed Martin can consider the use of various strategies devised above in order to deal with major threats and weaknesses by using opportunities and strengths. One of the most critical strategies that should be considered as an important option by Lockheed Martin is the expansion strategy. Adopting this strategy will help Lockheed Martin to capitalize on a valuable opportunity and at the same time, help it to reduce its excess dependence on the US government. Lockheed Martin can expand in to other countries by using either acquisitions or maybe they can enter into a Joint Venture with some other companies. Another strategy could be the acquisition strategy. Lockheed Martin can consider acquiring firms in order to get new technology. This will help them to stay very competitive in the market, deal with the competition and at the same time help them to deal with a major threat of substitutes. Another strategy that would be recommended is being more dynamic to change. By being more dynamic, Lockheed Martin will analyze the market constantly and keep up with changing trends and factors like rapid technological changes. Being a defense contractor, it has to keep up with such changes in order to keep up with the competition. Another one would be the changing of employee attitude towards the organization and work. This can be done by providing a cooperative and healthy work environment and proper training of personnel. This in turn will benefit the organization in the long run by providing dedicated and motivated personnel which will help to produce higher quality products and services. Implementation of Strategies Structure: Now, in order to carry out the most critical strategies that are stated above, the company should analyze their structure and make changes if they have to. The current horizontal structure of Lockheed Martin can well serve the purpose. Lockheed Martin gives all the employees initiative to work and deliver better results. There is an immense sense of team work and team spirit. Lockheed Martin enables its employees to make decisions at their respective levels and hence shows decentralization of power to a certain extent. It is useful in motivating employees and efficiently catering customer needs. Systems: Lockheed Martin basically has all the system facilities to deliver the strategies. In order to deliver the expansion strategies Lockheed Martin needs to develop software(s) and systems for the place where they are expanding. Lockheed Martin has all the necessary systems in place in order to deliver the most critical strategies. It can enhance its capabilities by upgrading systems factors like software(s) and machines in order to cater better to the strategies. Policies: In order to comply with the strategies above, Lockheed Martin should adopt a recruitment policy. Specially in using the expansion strategy, Lockheed Martin needs to employ new workers in order to sustain such strategies. Employing dedicated and motivated personnel would surely benefit Lockheed Martin. Another policy that can be adopted by Lockheed Martin is a reward policy. Lockheed Martin can reward individuals by using factors like pay increments and bonuses. Cooperative teamwork and appropriate rewards will help to change employee attitude and motivate them to deliver better products. Usefulness of Models Industry life cycle: The industry life cycle was very helpful in assessing the specific stage of the life cycle in which the defense industry currently is. More importantly it has helped in analyzing the fact that why the defense industry is in that specific stage. Industry life cycle is an important tool in the analysis of an industrys life. It has given us an in depth view of where the industry is and also what the companies in the industry are doing to stay alive. Key factors for success: The second model is very useful in assessing the most critical factors that a company needs to survive in the specific industry, in this case the defense industry. It was useful because it gave us an overview of the industry in regard with the factors required to succeed in it. It told us what a company needs to survive, how their competitors are fairing in the core areas and which areas can the company make changes. Porters five forces: Porters five forces helped us to analyze the six crucial and constant forces that affect the industry. It has helped us to analyze how the industry is affected by these six forces and what stand do the companies have in consideration to these forces. SWOT: SWOT analysis was very useful as it helps is assessing the companys internal factors; strengths and weaknesses and external factors; opportunities and threats. It helped us to look into the company in depth to find out where it lags and where it excels. Also it helped us to look into valuable opportunities which the company can capitalize on to grow or expand and also threats which the company faces. SFAS matrix: The SFAS matrix is basically derived from the SWOT. But what makes it very useful is that it helped us to choose the most critical factors of the four points; strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It has helped us to analyze what are the critical strengths and opportunities for our company and how long are they going to stay there. Also, It helped us to analyze our weaknesses and threats and how much time we should take to address them. Overall, it was a very important tool in assessing the critical factors to which the company should respond accordingly to grow and stay competitive. TOWS matrix: Another model derived from SWOT. This was very useful in basically formulating the best strategies possible for our company that they can deliver in accordance with the four factors.

Causes of the Fenian Movement :: Essays Papers

Causes of the Fenian Movement Irish history is one that is filled with many successes, but heavily out weighted by tragedies and failures of all types. Beginning in the 1840’s, Ireland was faced with many occurrences that lead up to a movement that changed the history of Ireland’s nationalism. â€Å"Beginning with 1847, the potato blight left famine and death on every hand; emigration was excessive and disaffection wide spread yet the British government did little to relieve the deplorable conditions.† (Walker 2) One of the largest events of the time was the Fenian Movement. This movement was led by the people in order to take back what was theirs, their land and rights. While many occurrences might have contributed to the Fenian Movement, which was named after the legendary Gaelic hero, Finn Mac Cumhail (de Nie 215), the four large contributors were The Great Potato Famine; The Young Ireland Uprising; the Civil War; and Britain’s tightening oppression. In 1845, the main crop of the Irish was coming under attack. A blight that slowly killed the potatoes from the inside out, hit the country hard. With the devastation of the dying potatoes, much of the population was found to be in starving situations. Disease that already existed in the country, attacked those left weak by the starvation they were facing, and many died. The disaster of the Famine radicalized a generation of mainly catholic young men of modest social origin, some of whom eventually succeed in assembling an almost open and extremely widespread conspiracy to subvert British rule in Ireland (Gavin 471) This lead to the emigration of many to other countries in order to leave the diseased country. The Famine also caused many Irish to question the control that Britain had over their country. Britain granted no form of help to the devastated Irish population. Since potatoes were Ireland’s top export, the British decided to tax and bill for the potatoes that they never received. They also used religion as a tool to discourage the Irish. English Catholic’s prevalent concern: that Irish nationalism would supersede Catholicism in the hearts and minds of England’s Catholic population, which was predominantly composed of working-class Irish migrants†¦ Most Irish classified their Catholicism with nationalism while English Catholics considered themselves a refined Catholic minority in a vulgar Protestant land (Dye 358).