Cross-functional teams Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Cross-functional teams - Term Paper Example The sectors most affected by M&A activity have been service and knowledge based industries such as banking, insurance, pharmaceuticals, and leisure. Although M &A is a popular means of increasing or protecting market share, the strategy does not always deliver what is expected in terms of increased profitability or economies of scale. While the motives for mergers can variously be described as practical, psychological, or opportunist, the objective of all related M&A is to achieve synergy, or what is commonly referred to as the 2 +2 = 5 effect. However, as many organizations learn to their cost, the mere recognition of potential synergy is no guarantee that the combination will actually realize that potential (Cartwright, 1996). Understanding the Problems - Dysfunctional Organizations Most people have difficulty stating their organization’s strategy: what the organization wants to become, how it would like its people to behave, and what it will provide to which customers. In t he future, the reality is that the organization’s business and operating units march to priorities different from, if not contradictory to, those implied by its strategy. The majority of the people in an organization focus on day-to-day operational matters and their individual aspirations. Consequently, the strategy is never realized. Frustrated by the lack of forward progress, executives launch new communication, reorganization, process redesign, or technology initiatives. Everyone is doing more, and yet performance stagnates or even declines (Hammer, et al. 2001). Losing the Value of Mergers and Acquisitions AKPMG report found that, though 82% of respondents believed the deal they had transacted was a success, 83% of the same mergers failed to increase shareholder value. Of these transactions, 30% produced no discernible difference in shareholder value and 53% actually reduced value. Acquiring, merging, and demerging companies need long-term ways of enhancing shareholder va lue once the initial and obvious savings have been taken. But they usually focus on tactical integration, such as, organizational structure, support service or policies rather than on strategic integration in regards to customers, products, people or systems. However, to succeed both are needed (Kaplan, at el., (2001). The burning question remains – why do so many mergers fail to live up to a shareholder expectations? In the short term, many seemingly successful acquisitions look good, but disappointing productivity levels are often masked by onetime cost savings, asset disposals, or astute tax maneuvers that inflate balance-sheet figures during the first few years. Merger gains are notoriously difficult to assess. There are problems in selecting appropriate indices to make any assessment, as well as difficulties in deciding on a suitable measurement period. Typically the criteria selected by analysts are Profit-to-earnings ratios Stock-price fluctuations Managerial assessmen ts Irrespective of the evaluation method selected, the evidence on M&A performance is consistent in suggesting that a high proportion of M&A’

Law for Non-Lawyers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 2

Law for Non-Lawyers - Essay Example one hundred individuals are present on land for exclusively social purposes during the occurrence of which alcohol consumption is likely to be expected. In accordance with Section 1 (2) of the Act, the organizer of such a gathering must obtain permission from a local magistrate to host the event unless he/she is an exempt person for in this case the authorization of a local magistrate would not be required. Section 1 (3) states that an exempt person can be categorized as an individual who is the occupier of the land, a member of the occupier’s family and his/her agent or employee. The scenario which led to Tom’s arrest under the Prohibition of Unsolicited Parties (Fictitious) Act 2010 is described as follows: the defendant, Tom who is employed as a sales assistant at an electrical superstore was requested by Sally who is a manageress at the same store to keep an eye on her property, a 5-acre smallholding during the time frame that she was in Spain on a holiday. Accordingly, Tom arranged to invite some of his friends to celebrate his 21st birthday celebrations on Sally’s property that housed a small barn. However, an error led to the email being sent to all contacts on Tom’s address book as a consequence of which more than 600 people attended the party. The presence of hundreds of guests on the land prompted the owner of the neighboring farm led to inform the police about excessive noise that subsequently led to Tom’s arrest under the Prohibition of Unsolicited Parties (Fictitious) Act 2010. Referring to the question of statutory interpretation that is conducted by judges to declare whether the defendant has committed an offence or not, Tom’s case poses certain questions that need to be addressed and analyzed in the light the principles and rules of statutory interpretation. These aspects of concern and their significance to the case is as follows: 1) How many people did Tom intend to invite to this particular social gathering? Section 1 (1) of the

Cause of action assignment Essay Example for Free

Cause of action assignment Essay Task A (1) ‘Duty of care’ means to exercise a degree of attention and caution to avoid negligence which would lead to harm. Duty of care in a childcare setting is keeping children and young people safe, protecting them not only from physical harm but also emotional and sexual harm. Working with children and young people need a significant amount of duty of care, the younger and more vulnerable the child the greater the duty of care because of a child’s limited ability to care for themselves. Good vigilance is needed to keep a child safe, for example to foresee and cope with potential dangers. This extends to respecting the rights, cultural beliefs and values of the parents and family. (2) Duty of care contributes to the safeguarding and protection aspects of a setting. An example would be carrying out risk assessments to prevent potential hazards which would then reduce the risk of harm to the children. A further example would be setting clear boundaries/ expectations by communicating with the children what is unacceptable behaviour. Consistent reinforcement of this may be necessary to discourage the children from repeating hazardous behaviour that could cause harm to themselves or others. Understanding of the signs of neglect/abuse if any signs/indicators of abuse or neglect were noticed they should be reported to the relevant third parties to protect the child. Making observations and assessing children help to check to see if individual children are progressing and developing at suitable rates, if not so then I would need to take relevant action with other parties such as parents or professionals Task B Example of potential conflict orDilemma | How to manage the risk| Where to get additional support| Risk taking – such as a child accidently slipping of a step of a climbing frame and the child’s parents asking for that equipment to be put away, this would conflict with all children’s opportunity to develop and learn | The risk would be managed by explaining that in order for children to learn to cope with risky situationsand acquire life and physical skills these small risks must be taken, in asafe environment. Also by filling ina risk assessment to minimize any risk | People such as my room supervisor, Manager or Ofsted, the EYFS may also be helpful | Confidentiality- such as if there was concerns we had about abuse of achild, in order to safeguard it mayoverride the families right to privacy .| It would be managed by only sharing the information with appropriateprofessionals to protect the right to privacy | I would share the information with Only my room supervisor/managerFor advice on what steps to take and Refer to the polices and procedures On safeguarding | Weather disturbance- such as it’s wet and cold outside but the children wantto have their outside play| Make sure a full risk assessment is completed (including all wet/slippy equipment is wiped down and large puddles are brushed away), all children have suitable clothing and shorten the length of time they’re outside for| Refer to the EYFS that states childrenShould have outside play and also Discuss wi th colleges | Task C The main points of a complaints procedure include ensuring complaints are handled in a way that protects the rights of individuals involved. Issues or concerns are encouraged to be resolved verbally as they arise. If a concern cannot be resolved immediately the person raising the concern should ask to speak with a manager, and a meeting can be arranged at a certain place and time. If satisfactory resolution still can’t be found, a written formal complaint can be raised. If the manager feels that the situation is a child protection allegation, they should inform the designated child protection officer. If any individual involved in the complaint has reason to believe a criminal offense has been committed then they will contact the police.

Ethics Essay Example for Free

Ethics Essay In comparing the similarities and differences in ethical theories, the goals of each theory and the morals and values that can be observed in the process. While the following ethical theories appear similar on the surface virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethical will be discussed and their differences will be defined. Virtue Theory relates to the pursuit of excellence in everything you do. As one commercial put it, â€Å"Be all that you can be† (U. S. Army 1981). One must have the idea that if they want to maximize their greatest potential, they must work hard to produce it. To the Utilitarian this may appear selfish, but self-discipline and self-determination is key to achieving the goal. Oxford dictionary describes utilitarianism as one who practices the doctrine that produces the greatest happiness of the greatest number. For example, a busy mother gives great sacrifice of putting her needs aside to take care of her three children who are home sick with the flu. At this moment, the mother, who is also sick with a temperature of 102 F, is not practicing virtue theory because; the mother has currently put her needs aside. The mother is practicing patience and compassion to assure that her children get the care that they need. Boylan (page 171) describes Deontological ethics as a moral theory that emphasizes one’s duty to do a particular action just because it is right and not through any other sort of calculations. An example of this would include presenting an inventory sheet to authorities proving that fraudulent activity has occurred buy a company that has been charging customers extra for supplies. The distinct difference of these theories suggests that virtual theory focuses attention toward creating greatness within one’s self. Utilitarianism focuses attention by creating greatness toward the masses. Deontological ethics relates to doing what is right whether it be for one’s self or for the masses with the understanding that happiness is not the goal but a moral responsibility is. A personal experience explaining the relationship between virtue, values, and moral concepts includes a deontological experience that I had several years ago. One Friday afternoon I walked into a bank to cash a check in the amount of $527. 28. The teller cashed my check, but I did not bother to double check the money until I got home. After checking and double-checking the money that evening, I came to the realization that I had 627. 28 cash in my envelope. The teller accidently gave me an additional $100 dollar bill. I could not go back to the bank to address the problem because the bank had closed for the day. I could not with good conscious keep the money because my family has instilled strong morals and values of honesty, integrity, and dignity within me. The money must be returned for it is the morally right thing to do. Saturday morning I drove back to the bank and asked for the manager and explained what had happened. I handed over the entire envelope as it was presented to me and I explained that two very crisp one hundred dollar bills were so tightly stuck together that it appeared as one bill. The manager surprised at what had transpired the day before, thanked me for my honesty and determination to see that the money was returned. I told the manager that I appreciate her kind words but it was truly the right thing to do. Though comparing the similarities and differences with these moral standards, ethical theories along with morals and values can be observed in the process. While it is clear that these theories may appear similar in nature the following ethical theories, virtue theory, utilitarianism, and deontological ethical will be discussed and their differences will be defined.

BT Inc, Tanzania Business Analysis

BT Inc, Tanzania Business Analysis EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The aim of the below report is to outline the development and progression of the Business Plan for BT Inc, Tanzanias first Business and Technology magazine. It will summarize my contribution to this project as well as the key areas of idea initiation, teamwork, presentation experience, alternative scenarios and learning gained as well as other areas covered in the development of the business plan. Overview of B T Inc BT Inc aspires to provide a business and technology magazine which is produced in Tanzania for Tanzanian professionals, students and investors alike. This is a necessity in the growing economy of this country where 600,000-700,000 new professionals enter the fields of business and technology every year. As there is no locally produced magazine covering areas of business BT magazine will be the first of its kind and likely to establish a stronghold in the market before the threat of future competitors is faced. A team of experienced directors together with a world class designer is expected to lead the company in this direction. Initially 100 shares will be offered at a value of Tsh 1 million per share. Payback is projected to occur in the 9th month of the 3rd year as the net profit for the 2nd year is expected to increase by 76% due to reduced costs. With the expected profit of 14 million to be earned in the 1st year, the profit of the 2nd year is expected to increase by 76% due to reduced cost. The net profit growth in the 3rd year decrease to 46% because of the new assets expected to be bought. Investors may choose to exit the business by selling their equity either to existing partners or to a new employee who is eligible for partnership. Teamwork All 3 team members contributed to make this project successful Idea Initiation After several discussions the group decided on a Business and technology magazine under the guidance of Mrs Priti Punatar Presentation Experience A learning experience about time management, public presentation and the importance of thoroughly understanding the business venture an individual wants to undertake. Alternative Scenario Consideration of both best and worst case scenarios allows BT to prudently predict steady growth rate. Team Work Team work is the most important part in any working or academic culture. Most successful businesses always have a core of faithful hardworking team members that pull together to create an amazing empire. The most important attribute in any team member should be dedication and the aim for perfection and the most important of all, the ability to take orders and accept delegation where necessary. A famous man once said, Rome was not built in a day. This is true, it took a large number of men to make it possible and the results were, phenomenal. Each individual brings to the table a very unique set of skills, as was the same within our team. It is important to understand and learn to work in a team environment which will help sharpen teamwork skills when entering a workforce. We have found that involvement of social interactions while completing different tasks is one of the best ways of learning. Conflicts and clashes of ideas in a team are a common problem and it helps if everyone is aware of this being a possibility and prepared to deal with the situation in a mature and academic manner. Our team had faced a similar situation during the initiation period of our plan, the merging of three very highly opinionated individuals was like a combustion but we overcame this by using said before methods of social interaction. Initially, our team consisted of four team members; Joyce Issowe, Krupa Patadia, Priyanka Divecha and myself. At our first group meeting, each of us were assigned tasks to complete and present at the next meeting. The delegation was as follows; Joyce was to create a financial plan, Krupa the industrial analysis report, Priya the marketing plan, and my task was to come up with an operational plan. Joyce Issowe had not being keeping well and was unable to complete the financial plan, seeing this, Priyanka having already completed the marketing plan decided to create the financial plan as we were running short of time. After completing my own tasks, we realized we still needed to consider risk factors and such, so Krupa took over the role of risk analysis and I took over Krupas tasks. Everyone else including myself completed all their assigned tasks with no further problems. The name BT Inc. had been chosen from the phrase Business and Technology which we believed was a professional name to be allocated to a business magazine that targets all the business players in Tanzania. The executive summary, the business and appendices were completed with hard work from all the three team members equally. All In all, every remaining team member picked up the slack, all meetings were attended in time and all our planned goals were reached. Process of Idea Initiation Initially our group had a number of business concepts to go with. Joyce had suggested a dairy farm, Krupa suggested a school for performance arts, Priyanka suggested an engineering consultancy and my own suggestion was a real estate firm. To get a better idea of what we were doing, we met with different people to discuss ideas for a potential business. Somewhere along our quest, we stumbled upon the idea of a telecom system to advertise for real estate, a directory of sorts. After further discussion within our group, and under the supervision of Mrs. Punatar, we decided to work on a business and technology magazine that would aim to build an interactive vessel within the business arts and simultaneously provide a channel of information needed by the new entrants. During this process of Idea Initiation, we learnt a valuable life lesson that all the team members had a different manner of approaching this business plan for which many conflicts of interest were displayed. BT intends to create a communicative vessel among the vast range of business tycoons and provide brilliant business news feeds that have been ignored by other leading magazines. Presentation Experience The process of crafting the slides to be presented, and ensuring the presentation would cover all essential areas whilst summarizing the entire business concept, was a challenging one that taught me about time management, extraction of essential information from available data and the involvement of visuals to convey essential points. Through the course of heated discussion and debate our team prepared a set of slides that all members were satisfied with at the end. Although each member of the team had their own ideas as we started, the merging of all these together allowed us to come up with a synergized and impressive slideshow. All three members of the group presented the plan in parts with me introducing the business, the problem we aimed to solve and our business model. Krupa then took over and covered management team, industry analysis and competition leaving Priyanka to finish the financial overview including; share offering, payback, profitability, break even analysis and current status and projected use of funds ending with exit strategy for investors. Crucial lessons were learnt during this presentation about capturing and retaining the interest and attention of our potential investors, maintaining the set time limit as well as the importance of confidence and a deep understanding of the business venture. Alternative Scenario The success of any business is dependent on external as well as internal conditions. Internal factors are easier to control and predict relative to the external factors. With regards to external conditions, there is always some degree of uncertainty. In order to be prudent all figures taken within the business plan have reflected the worst case scenario. In order to achieve this and to reflect altnernative scenarios that may arise due to unpredictable factors the revenue included in the business plan is less than that actually expected by investors. Due to the unpredictability of Macro-environmental factors the number of subscriptions have been kept at minimum and the advertising revenue included is less than what the firm will target to achieve. Another relevant point concerns the break even analysis. To keep alternative scenarios in mind, both best and worst case of total revenue have been considered whilst the figure taken for cost has been kept at maximum in line with the accounting principle of prudence. This allows investors to be comfortable to know that the minimum success will be as presented in the business plan with an additional potential for greater growth. Business partnerships have also been taken into account in order reflect alternate means to achieve a target. This can be seen as in the outsourcing of printing to keep costs low as well as the establishment of a network of free lance contributors. Figures for costs and budget in the analysis of the financial statemements have also been calculated after the consideration of the alternative growth scenarios and B%T therefore is expected to have steady growth as a worst case scenario where the best case reflects a quicker point of break even and higher profitability. Other Areas Four areas of risk were covered in the business plan including management, marketing, operational and financial risk factors. Research has indicated that due to poor media and marketing services the magazine may be in circulation only within a small group of people and awareness at the beginning may be lessened to to the above noted fact. BT marketing department will be responsible to ensure that awareness is increased even if it requires door to door marketing. Management and operating risks are internal factors that BT directors will monitor in order to ensure success of the venture. With regards to financial risk it is interesting to point out that cash outflow may be more than cash inflow during certain periods and care will have to taken by the financial director to ensure that company affairs carry on smoothly. Turning now to the question of break even analysis, the calculated point may not be entirely accurate as the worst case scenario figures have been used in this calculation and in actual fact B T might break even earlier than this point. Learning and Usefulness of the Business Plan The experience of coming up with a business plan opened up my eyes on the many aspects that are necessary to be considered whilst starting up a business. Extensive research is required together with knowledge of the industry. I have realized that an entrepreneur must have a clear vision on how exactly his company will work and perform. The business man/woman also must be aware exactly where the need for his product/service lies and how to fulfill this need. He/she must be aware of the environment in which the business will compete, what challenges may be faced and how to resolve these. Knowledge of the financial aspect is a key area which the entrepreneur must be well versed with as well. All the points noted above are those covered in the business plan and illustrate the importance of this document to a business. The business plan provides a guideline for any business and all areas covered within it are linked with some aspect of the business that is of importance to stake holders. Having considered the learning gained about the business itself, it is worth pointing out that there has also been great personal learning in the areas of: 1. Listening more 2. Giving importance to others ideas 3. Respecting time and maintaining discipline and punctuality 4. Working within time constraints and meeting deadlines Receiving feedback from my group members has allowed me to overcome many of my previous weaknesses and I have come out as a stronger, better and more understanding individual.

The two poems I am going to compare are Mid-Term Break by Seamus Heaney

The two poems I am going to compare are Mid-Term Break by Seamus Heaney and Death Be Not Proud by John Donne. The first poem I am going to study is a poem by Seamus Heaney called Mid-Term Break. Seamus Heaney was born in County Derry into a farming background. He attended St. Columb’s College in Derry where he was a border. Heaney went on to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. The poet’s title Mid-Term Break is somewhat ambiguous as it would suggest a holiday of some sort, whereas, the poem is actually about the death of Heaney’s young brother who was killed in a tragic accident. The thoughts of death are brought to the fore almost immediately as the poem begins with a funeral note in line two: ‘†¦counting bells knelling classes to a close.’ The word ‘knelling’ reminds the poet of the church bells tolling for a funeral. In the second stanza we are aware that the tragedy which has occurred is different as funerals usually did not disturb his father in the way that this one had. Heaney recalls the embarrassment he felt when the adults sympathised with him and paid his deference saying ‘they were sorry for my trouble.’ This seemed to perplex him as it was a reversal of roles. There is a sense of alienation in the forth stanza when he heard the whispers of the neighbours, apart from his mother’s hand in his. His mother seems to be trying to control her emotions but is clearly outraged by what has happened. When Heaney’s brother is returned home, the poet refers to his brother as a ‘corpse’. This seems to suggest that Heaney is emotionally detached but it could just be a case of denial. Heaney injects a note of tranquillity to the poem when he describes the ‘snowdrops’ and ‘candles’. ... ... hand, deals with the mystery and fear that sounds death. Although we will all have to die eventually it is still something that scares us but Donne tries to alleviate those fears by telling us that death is just another part of life that will lead us to eternity. Heaney seemed to be emotionally detached throughout his poem until the final line whereas Donne was very passionate about his feeling from the start. When I first read both poems I was drawn instantly towards Mid-Term Break only because of the simplicity of the language. However, after carefully studying both poems my preference now lies with Death Be Not Proud. It is an interesting poem that expresses the act of dying as something natural and pleasant; abandoning the reputation it has for being frightening or powerful. It expresses that death is not the end of life, but only the beginning.

Rhetorical Analysis of The Talking Heads’ “Once in a Lifetime” Essay

Rhetorical Analysis of The Talking Heads’ â€Å"Once in a Lifetime† Kenneth Burke’s Five Master Terms exist to bring to light the motivation behind, theoretically, any bit of text to which we care to apply them. The beauty of this Pentad is its fundamentality in regards to the motivations humans have in creating words and meaning using the tools of language available. This doesn’t just apply to long-winded theses regarding the nature of dramatistic meaning, though perhaps something like that would be more up Burke’s alley. No, in this case I plan to utilize his methods for a more seemingly mundane example, the motivations behind something as simple as song lyrics. I say song lyrics are simple, but in this case I am going to attempt a feat of rhetorical analysis few have considered possible by analyzing the song â€Å"Once in a Lifetime† by The Talking Heads. I emphasize the difficulty of this analysis because I fear that I am about to embark on a journey to make sense out of madness; a 1984 documentary of the band’s music is entitled Stop Making Sense, for one example. For another more drastic example, songwriter David Byrne was one of the most intentionally abstract lyricists of his time; in an early episode of apparent madness, he took to the stage of his college and shaved his hair and beard in front of the faculty to the accompaniment of piano accordion and a showgirl displaying phrases in Russian. He was promptly ejected from that school. Regardless, his song â€Å"Once in a Lifetime† is symbolic of the introspective, neurotic, and post-modern approach he often uses to create his lyrical identity. Though I at first fo und it to be a rough fit, I believe the Pentad can be successfully applied to describe the motivation ... ...it becomes clear that everything is unclear. I will summarize my application, however, for the sake of my own understanding. The dominant Term here is Act, the balance between essence and existence carefully held by Byrne’s dialectic of water and time as a unified sameness. Working symbiotically with Act is the idea of Agent, a theoretical character defined as finding, investigating, and determining a situation without Acting within it. Byrne’s purpose is to know right or wrong in the Scene of his lifetime. The Agency through which he defines truth within the Scene is time, which shares more than a fingers’ breadth of space with my first term, Act. I’ve come to the end of the analysis with a sense that I’ve just begun: a lot of fancy words to describe the futility of change. I did preface this application by noting The Talking Heads’ propensity to stop making sense.