Beyond Worlds Introduction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Beyond Worlds Introduction - Essay Example in 2002. He has also translated books and poems as well as having written other story collections. Agueros has been the recipient of many awards for his writing including the most recent Asan World Prize for Poetry (Poets.org). Though Agueros was an American, his parents had migrated from Puerto Rico. His father, who had worked as a police officer in Puerto Rico, came to New York in 1920, only to be able to work in factories and restaurants. Eleven years later, Agueros’ mother came to be a seamstress in the garment district. As immigrants living in a poor part of New York, his family received an early form of what is now welfare. As a graduate of high school in 1953, Agueros spent four years in the Air Force. It was after his discharge that he received a Bachelor of Arts from Brooklyn College in English in 1964 where he won the first of many literary awards in playwriting and poetry. He went on to obtain a Master of Arts in Urban Studies in 1970 from Occidental College (Espada). In â€Å"Sonnet Substantially Like the Words of F Rodriguez One Position Ahead of Me on the Unemployment Line,† Agueros writes a poem about business. In this poem, there are several uses of symbolism, using music and yo-yos to talk about business and how the average person can be taken advantage of in it. He appears to evoke his own frustrations about how it is difficult to ever be heard by corporations and to get jobs (Agueros, 2003). In â€Å"Halfway to Dick and Jane: A Puerto Rican Pilgrimage,† Agueros discusses the triumphs and trials that an immigrant encounters when coming to America. He describes it in such a way that readers can feel that Puerto Ricans may feel as though they have lost a part of who they are when they come to America. However, in his comparison to storybook characters Dick and Jane, he seems to suggest that even those characters were created in a fictional society and established an identity so migrants

Elements of the Marketing Mix Essay Example for Free

Elements of the Marketing Mix Essay This case will study describe the elements of the marketing mix. These four elements include product, place, price and promotion. This paper will include a description of how an organization’s marketing strategy is affected by the four elements of the marketing mix. Another aspect that this paper will include is a description of how each element is implemented in the company. One more topic that this paper will describe is the organizations name and industry in which it exists. The marketing mix is defined as a mixture of several ideas and plans followed by a marketing representative to promote a particular product or brand. Several concepts and ideas are combined together to formulate final strategies helpful in making a brand popular amongst the masses to form the marketing mix (Marketing Mix Meaning and Its Elements, n.d.). The elements of the marketing mix are often called the four P’s of marketing (Perreault, Cannon, McCarthy, 2011). First, Product is defined as goods that are manufactured by organizations for the consumer. Products can be two types, tangible and intangible. A product in a market place is something which a seller sells to the buyers in exchange for money. Price is defined as the money which a buyer pays for a product. The price of a product is indirectly proportional to its availability in the market. If a product is not readily available then the price goes up (Marketing Mix Meaning and Its Elements, n.d.). Place refers to the location where the products are available and can be sold or purchased. Here one is exposed to a physical building, or store, or one can purchase items on the internet. Finally, the fourth element is promotion. Promotion refers to the various strategies and ideas implemented by the marketers to make the consumer aware of their product (Marketing Mix Meaning and Its Elements, n.d.). Today’s market is huge and there is an abundant variety of products available. Frito Lay is a multi-national  corporation that is predominantly in the salty snack business. Frito Lay aims its market strategy at both the mass market and target markets alike. This food driven company does have some strengths such as its renowned reliability, high quality control and markets its product as convenient fun foods. The products that Frito Lay generates have consumers in mind that particularly buy snack foods as a leisure item. Their packing and branding is targeting a consumer that wants to snack on the go or during lunch with a sandwich. With this in mind, the organizations marketing strategy uses all four of the marketing mix very well. Frito Lay sells a wide variety of chips form Ruffles to Lays, Cheetos to Doritos and Tostitos to Funyions. These products satisfy many customers’ needs for fun snacking. In the Product element, packaging is also very important when keeping the consumer satisfied. Bright colors are used to catch the eye when they design the bags that carry all of their brands. In the Place element, the product is highly visible in that one can purchase said items and every convenience store in the marketplace. Not only is the product in just about every UDS store but in vending machines and supermarkets. The channel of distribution is very important to deliver these products to the consumer and Frito Lay has an excellent distribution system in place. The third element, Promotion, targets new customers and retaining current customers. Many people have heard the phrase â€Å"no one can eat just one.† This catch phrase was designed for Lays potato chips and hasn’t been used in years, but just about everybody has heard that. That is advertising at its finest. The use of mass selling techniques has been advantageous to Frito Lay. The fourth â€Å"P† is Price and that obviously plays an important part in Frito’s model. Frito Lays strategy is to stay competitive with other salty snack manufacturers and their price points. Their target price is also directed at young adults and children. Each element in the marketing mix is used very well by Frito Lay. The products that this corporation sells to the consumer vary from salty snacks to cookies and even beef jerky. Frito Lay guarantees freshness for its product and delivers a price point that is competitive to just about any consumer. In the channels of distribution process it is important to get a food item to the retailer in a timely manner as the food item can spoil. The freshness guarantee that Frito Lay offers dictates that the salty snack has a shelf life of about a month for most products and the  products need to be removed from the shelves if they do not sell. Because of this model, the delivery system promotes efficiency when sold and distributed to each retailer. Promotions are huge with Frito Lay as they spend millions for point of sale coupons and retail discounts. Not only is there retail push for sales but Frito Lay spends millions on advertising. Advertising can be seen in standard commercials to big budget commercials during super bowl ads. These methods of communication are geared at mass selling and are very effective. Finally, the Price element is important to Frito Lay as the market price for materials goes up so does the price of their products. To circumvent these price hikes, Frito Lay will lower the content volume in the bag and not raise the price. In other instances, they will raise the price by ten cents and remove the price on the bag for a short period of time. The idea is to trick the consumer into believing the price is the same. In all the instances, Frito Lay has a business model that is very effective and has endured for many years. By understanding the similarities and differences between these elements one can understand how a corporation uses the marketing mix to their advantage. The four elements are critical to understand the very nature of the consumer and the retailer. This case study shows that it is important to understand the marketing mix business model as it pertains everyone and final user. References Marketing Mix Meaning and its Elements. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://managementstudyguide.com/marketing-mix.htm Perreault, W. D., Cannon, J. P., McCarthy, J. (2011). Basic Marketing. A Marketing Strategy Planning Approach. Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collectioon database.

The Core Business of Allianz Insurance

The Core Business of Allianz Insurance Allianz is ranked among the top 100 most valuable brands worldwide and is a leading insurance and financial services company. Allianzs core business is Life and Health insurance and property casualty. Allianz is also one of the four active asset managers in the world. The total asset management operations as of 2009 were à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 1,202 billion. The company s business activities in this segment consist of asset management products and services both for third-party investors and for the Allianz Groups insurance operations (Allianz Annual Report, 2009, p.48). Allianz banking operations now comprise of operations in Germany, Italy, France and New Europe. The bank offers a wide range of products for corporate and retail clients. Due to their limited size, banking operations are reported as part of the corporate and other segment. According to a press release on 24 February, 2011; Allianz announced preliminary results for the fiscal year 2010 of total revenues reaching a new high of 106.5 billion euros. Based on this release, Life and Health insurance generates the most revenue reaching a record level of 57.1 billion euros. Growth amounted to 12.5 percent compared to 50.8 billion euros in 2009, and was driven by strong demand for both investment-oriented and traditional life insurance products. Life and Health insurance also generates the most profit with operating profits growing 7.4 percent to 2.9 billion euros, compared to 2.7 billion euros in 2009. This was largely driven by a better expense result, as well as an increase in operating investment income which benefited from significantly lower impairments compared to 2009 (Press release preliminary results 2010, p.1). Life and Health insurance and property casualty will drive growth in the next decade as they have always counted for the main revenue of the Group. Allianz has been performing well and sustainable. Since 2007 it reached à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 97,689 million revenue and in 2008 the global economy was in crisis but the revenue was just went down slightly with à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 92,568 million. In 2009, the economic crisis reached its peak in the first half of 2009 however its revenue still increased up to 5.2% with à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 97,385 million. A newly announced figure for its 2010 revenue has been impressive, with total revenue reaching à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 106.5 billion. These figures have proven that the company has been doing well for the last four years and there is no doubt that the company will be successful in coming years (2009 Allianz Annual Report, p.48). Corporate Responsibility: Allianz responded to the increasing demands of society for greater Corporate Responsibility by adopting a new CSR strategy in 2009. This strategy assures that environmental and social issues are managed, deliver value for the company and that there is a continued benefit for society. The strategy focuses on three themes; managing the companys environmental impact, addressing the risks and opportunities associated with climate change and supporting the communities in which Allianz is operating (Corporate Social Responsibility 2009, p.3). As an international financial services provider, Allianz sees sustainable development as fundamental to its business. Allianz is focusing on finding innovative solutions that address local and global challenges. Allianz also established a strong structure for handling CSR activities. Delivery of the CSR strategy is the responsibility of the Human Resources Director, who is a member of the Allianz Insurance Management Board. CSR issues are included at the monthly Management Board meetings, as well as featuring at the companys annual Director and Management Conferences. The CSR Manager is responsible for setting the overall strategy, implementing initiatives and reporting performance to the HR Director and the Management Board. In addition, a CSR Steering Committee comprising of 11 senior managers from each of the major divisions has been established to ensure the CSR strategy is embedded in the business. The committee meets 2-3 times a year to review progress against the strategy and to identify future risks and opportunities. The Committee is chaired by the HR Director (Corporate Social Responsibility 2009, p.4). Climate Change Allianz sees itself and the insurance industry at the forefront of the fight against climate change. The industry must play a central role in both climate change mitigation and adaptation. Based on this initiative, Allianz has done a wide range of activities in response to Climate Change. Allianz Insurance is a founding member of ClimateWise which was founded by leading insurers in 2006 to respond to the myriad risks and opportunities of climate change, aiming to reduce the overall risks faced by economies and societies (Climatewise.org.uk). As a member of ClimateWise, Allianz must report annually on its performance against the principles and sub-principles. Allianz also supports national and global CO2 emission reduction targets and government action, including regulation that will enhance the resilience and reduce the environmental impact of infrastructure and communities. In 2002 Allianz joined the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), an independent organization now representing 534 institutional investors worldwide with more than US $64 trillion in funds. CDP collects, evaluates, and publishes data on the CO2 emissions from more than 3,000 companies around the world. RCM, a globally active investment company belonging to the Allianz Group, uses the CDP database to compile risk profile lesson companies climate performance (Corporate Social Responsibility 2009, p.9) Furthermore, Allianz remained committed to its carbon reduction plans even when the Copenhagen Summit ended having set no binding global emissions targets and no indication of when emissions should peak. Carbon management has a strong business case it is primarily about reducing energy consumption and costs. Stakeholders In order to understand stakeholders expectations, Allianz is working closely with a range of national and international organizations and doing surveys to discover which topics are most relevant to their stakeholder groups. Every two years Allianz asks its main societal stakeholders which key issues Allianz should deal with and how they should address them. For example, in the 2009 Stakeholder Survey, 131 completed questionnaires were received from stakeholders from the following sectors or groups: Politics, Media, Non-governmental organizations, Science, Companies and Allianz management (Allianz  Sustainable Development Report 2010, p.12). Regarding customers, Allianz is committed to making it easier for its customers to deal confidently with financial topics by maintaining a section on its Group web portal that explains how the financial and economic crisis develop and what its possible consequences for consumers are. Regarding Suppliers, Allianz carries out supplier surveys to learn more about their suppliers businesses and their efforts in the area of sustainable development. Regarding Community, Allianz takes todays challenges as opportunities for action through its local activities, global projects, and the work of Corporate Foundations. A good example is the Foundation for Sustainability and the Allianz Cultural Foundation. Regarding Government Relations, Allianz maintains various partnerships with renowned and trustworthy organizations such as World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF) or the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEPFI) (Allianz  Sustainable Development Report 2010, p.12). Crisis Management Allianz and other financial institutions had to face the global financial and economic crisis which started in mid 2007 with the collapse of the housing market in the United States. The crisis that was initially observed within the banking sector accelerated in 2008 and spilled-over to various other sectors of the financial industry. Serious disruptions in the global financial system led to deteriorating economic conditions and investors became much more risk averse. In September 2008, the global financial system almost collapsed: large financial institutions faltered, leading to changes in business models, failures, mergers and nationalizations. Some economies were even on the verge of national bankruptcy. In consequence, the weak situation in the financial markets that was observable from falling stock markets and volatile credit spreads became even more intense in the fourth quarter of year 2008. The global economic downturn caused a series of collapses or near collapses of giant financial institutions such as Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Washington Mutual, Wachovia, AIG  and Citigroup. However, Allianz has managed successfully in its business operations, particularly its risk management as demonstrated by its impressed revenue: 97,989 billion euros in 2007, 92,567 billion euros in 2008, 97,385 billion euros in 2009 and 106.5 billion euros in 2010. Allianz  emerged from the market turbulence as one of the strongest insurance groups in the industry by solvency and ratings, as evidenced by external rating agencies. The financial strength of Allianz SE was rated by Standard Poors as AA (stable outlook), by A. M. Best as A+ (stable outlook), and by Moodys as Aa3 (stable outlook). As of December 31, 2009, Allianz SE had the best Standard Poors rating among the internationally active primary insurance groups in Europe. Even during the 2008 and 2009 financial crisis, these ratings were confirmed and remained stable (Annual report 2008, p. 41; Annual report 2009, p. 187). Allianz has executed and managed its risk management consistently and focused on three main objectives to secure itself from market turbulence: Protect the  Allianz  Groups capital and solvency position as well as position its investment portfolio for continued market turbulence Protect the value of their Property-Casualty business Focus on sustainable profitability in the Life/Health business Allianz considers risk management to be one of its core competencies. It is an integrated part of its business processes. Based on the risk management framework, these key elements have been focused on: Promotion of a strong risk management culture supported by a robust risk governance structure. Consistent application of an integrated risk capital framework across the Group to protect its capital base and to support effective capital management. Integrate the risk considerations and capital needs into management and decision-making processes through the attribution of risk and allocation of capital to the various segments. This comprehensive framework ensures that risks are properly identified, analyzed and evaluated. Allianz Groups risk appetite is defined by a clear risk strategy and limit structure. Close risk monitoring and reporting allows Allianz to detect deviations from risk tolerance at an early stage (Annual report 2009, p. 179). Strategy Allianz has been doing successfully for many years, even through years of financial market turmoil and global economic contraction by executing its strategy consistently. According to Allianzs announcement in the 2009Annual Report, the Group focuses its strategy in five management priorities: Become the partner of choice for all stakeholders: Allianz believes that the Group can only continue to thrive if Allianz manages to balance the interests of all of their key stakeholders: customers, employees, investors and the public. Drive profitable growth: In property-casualty Allianz will only grow where target margins can be achieved. In life/health insurance Allianz can build on a strong capital position, growing asset base and attractive new business margins. The strategy has served the Group well in asset management where Allianz is diversifying revenues and risks into different asset classes with an overweight in fixed income investments and regions. Strengthen competitiveness: Allianz has been continuing to adapt its business models, products and customer interactions accordingly. Hence Allianz has been focusing on efforts to drive efficiencies, reduce complexity and leverage new web-based technology along the entire value chain in order to achieve productivity benchmarks. Increase market and customer focus: The Group has created the foundations for Allianz to become a customer-centric organization through its customer focus and innovation programs. Going forward they are further strengthening their customer segmentation and the delivery of segment-specific offerings. Maintain capital management discipline: Allianz has strengthened risk management function and de-risked its investment portfolio to appropriately adjust to the rising uncertainty in the real economy (Annual Report 2009, p.63). Allianzs core strength is risk management which has helped the Group protect its net asset value and carefully balance cash generation and investment opportunities. In the 2009Annual Report they state that we are managing the transition to the new Solvency II framework. And we are leveraging this process to place state-of-the-art risk management technology into the hands of our business leaders for even better day-to-day decision making. Based on this, Allianz has performed successfully as the Group usually gets AA rating and the Group has successfully steered through one of the most severe financial crises ever. Allianzs solvency is strong and its capital base grew almost 20 % to more than à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 40 billion (Annual Report 2009, p. 179). Allianz is definitely an innovative company as it has a wide range of changes, improvements and strengthening in management, products and customers services. Regarding customer services, the Group always put innovation as its priority. The 2009 Annual Report remarks At all important points of contact, we are measuring the propensity of our customers and distribution partners to recommend our products and services to others. And we have been tying our frontline managers incentives to systematically improving the service experiences of our clients. Furthermore, we are creating a channel architecture which allows customers and distribution partners to experience more targeted value propositions, service offerings and price positions which are easy to understand and consistently delivered. (p.66). Werner Zedelius, Member of the Board of Management of Allianz SE, also confirmed that at Allianz, innovation is a part of an even bigger goal Allianz wants to become a trusted innovator engagem ent (Allianz Group Portal, press, n.d). Mission and Goals: Mission: At Allianz, we strive for exceptional financial performance and growth based on our commitment to the pursuit of a sustainable world through combining long-term economic value, environmental stewardship and social responsibility. Goals: Performance: Maintain sustainable development leadership in the financial services sector Sustainable Development Reporting: Active stakeholder engagement in our materiality assessment Climate Change: Global awareness on CO2  emission reduction concept for 80% of employees Environmental   Management  System: Accomplish an 80% employee coverage Sustainable Investment: Invest an additional à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬150 million in renewable energy projects Micro insurance: Creation of a global Allianz micro insurance strategy to be implemented by a task force Engagement with Society: Launch global employee engagement program Employees: Develop KPIs for employee engagement, trust, feedback, motivation, development and diversity from the strategic HR scorecard. Customer Responsibility: Further strive for our 2010 goal of Loyalty Leadership. Net Promoter Score above market average. How does Allianz motivate employees: Allianz believes that employees are motivated if their work is well recognized and well paid. Therefore the Group created a pay structure that includes a mix of basic pay, performance-related pay and additional benefits to motivate it employees, Incentivizing staff is an important way of encouraging entrepreneurship. We have now adopted evaluation procedures that help assess more clearly how an individual or team has performed, and reward that performance accordingly (Allianz Group Portal, Employee, n.d). Allianz also motivates its employees with the Employee Stock Purchase Plan as approximately 939,000 shares were bought through the scheme. This has not only proved a sound financial strategy but it has also allowed the Group to strengthen employee engagement (Allianz Group Portal, Employee, n.d). In addition, The Group creates a good working environment where employees can maximize their ideas through innovative programs, healthcare program, tale nt development etc. Desirability as an employer Allianz is a good company to work for. Firstly, good performance will receive high payment and the incentives and bonuses of the company are attractive. Secondly, Allianz has a good working environment as a result of their policy to put employees first. Many Allianz companies offer wellness and sickness prevention training and health testing on a voluntary basis; as well as health programs for members of staff and customers. Allianz has a diversified working environment and promotes a diversity theme called Power of All Worlds. This aims to promote diversity and inclusion to reach their business goals, and continues to support Gender, Disability, Generation Mix and international cultures. Thirdly, Allianz is an innovative working place which allows employees to develop and maximise all new ideas. This culture of innovation was turned into reality by the Ideas to Success (i2s) framework launched in April 2006, and has been rolled out to 58 Allianz companies worldwide. It has actively encouraged over 172,000 employees to develop ideas which could improve the way in which Allianz operates on a day to day basis. And so far more than 60,000 ideas have been generated (Allianz Group Portal, Employee, n.d).

Essay --

Yossarian is faking his illnesses to avoid the war. While he’s in the hospital he is required to censor letters and he will joke and censor just about anything he reads and signs off as â€Å"Washington Irving†. A Texan comes and eventually annoys everyone back into active duty. Yossarian notices that he is the only one who is concerned with the war and claims that everyone is trying to kill him. Everyone else denies that there is a war going on. He later finds out that his Colonel has raised the number of required missions from 45 to 50 when Yossarian was at 44. Orr talks to Yossarian about how he used to walk around with crab apples in his mouth. A general named Peckem hopes to take over command of Yossarian’s unit because the current general is failing at bringing enthusiasm to his subordinates. Yossarian feels sick but Daneeka instead sends him back and recommends acting like Havermeyer, who is a soldier that makes the most of every situation Yossarian talks with Daneeka whose problems are that the war is interrupting his medical practice. Yossarian interrupted educational meetings resulting in a rule that only people who don’t ask questions could ask questions. Private first class Wintergreen caused frustration among his superiors by giving a message out that only said â€Å"T.S. Eliot†. Yossarian listens to Doc Daneeka’s story about newlyweds who visited his office. Yossarian again attempts to get grounded by claiming he was crazy, which of course proved that he wasn’t. Hungry Joe has flown all of his missions and he is still not allowed to go home because the number of missions keeps rising. Orr attacks Appleby in a game of Ping-pong. Yossarians pilot, McWatt is described in this chapter as the â€Å"craziest combat man† because o... ... go through with the plan. Orr and Yossarian realize Milos amount of control as he is the mayor and even god in some countries. Nately Yossarian and Hungry Joe arrive in rome where they meet up with Nately’s prostitute. Nately argues with an old man about how America and Italy were doing in the war. Milo’s company has grown world wide but has a problem selling massive amounts of Egyptian cotton. He was surprised when Yossarian brings the idea of selling it to the government. The chaplain is miserable because no one will treat him as a regular person. He tries to help by seeing major major about the missions but he wont allow anyone in. After Colonel Cathcart periodically throws him out, he begins questioning everything even god. Nately falls in love with his whore while she is annoyed with him. Yossarian and Dunbar change identities but are caught by the Nurses

Remember the Titans Film Essay

In the film remember The Titans directed by Boaz Yakin, an important character in the film is Coach  Herman Boone. He uses his determination and skill to make the titans successful. This is shown  through the use of visual and verbal features such as camera angles, costume, use of dialogue and  music. Boone’s acceptance and tolerance teaches the team to learn to work together to achieve their goals and success. Herman Boone is an important character as he had to accept coach Yoast. They learned to tolerate each other. At the beginning of the film they didn’t get along but in order to make the team a success Boone learned to. This is because when Boone arrives in Alexandria to take over from the old Coach, Bill Yoast neither of them were welcoming or friendly towards each other once. Once they got over each other’s differences, they began to develop a good football team to win the state championships. Herman Boone is a respected character in the film. He had to accept the new team and the old coach, Yoast which was now the assistant coach. Both coaches had to learn to work together. They finally accepted each other and the titans went on to win the state championships. Yoast started to accept Boone when he heard Boone talk about the fight at Gettysburg where black and whites had been fighting against each other. Through dialogue, Boone revealed to the players â€Å"If we don’t come together at this point â€Å" about how the futility of battle, how it had torn families apart, dividing friends, creating rifts. Yoast then realized why Boone was so harsh on the team. He realized that Boone wanted to overcome the continual racism. This was shown by the use of camera angles extreme close up and close up to show the emotion from Boones speech. It showed how he was tormented by the continual fighting, sad that the players were continuing the same fight years ago. Yoast realized that Boone was only trying to bring the individual players  together as one team, even if they had to tolerate each other. It was through the use of camera angles that Yakin showed the sadness Boone was feeling, realizing that prejudice was stopping the players from coming together as one team. Herman Boone had to learn to tolerate Bill Yoast and his football coaching ways just Yoast also had to tolerate Boone so they could make a successful team. At the training camp they both saw how each others coaching was benefitting the team. They all were starting to work together as a great successful team because of learning to work together .This was shown at their first game where they won, continuing throughout the season as they did not lose one game the whole season. This was through Boone’s determination to make the team successful. This was reinforced by use of upbeat music to show Boone’s and his team successes. Wide angle shots were used to show the whole team getting along and succeeding. I learnt from Boone’s tolerance that individuals and groups can succeed together no matter what race they are if they all make minor sacrifices. In the film Remember The Titans one of the main characters Herman Boone is determined for the titans to succeed. He is tough on them by, he does this by accepting his fellow coaches and the members of his team. And how he realizes he has to makes sacrifices in order for the team to come out on top. These messages and values are shown by camera angles such as close up extreme close up and music.

Role of Women in Forest Management

————————————————- Cudia, Jane Victoria A. February 23, 2011 2007-15891Soc Sci 180 Role of Women in Forest Management Increasingly, the role of indigenous peoples in forest management and conservation had been recognized on the international level. Even if forest management and conservation had been an indigenous practice since time immemorial, recognition of indigenous peoples roles started only three or four decades ago. However, indigenous peoples as protectors of the environment are taken as a whole disregarding the contribution of roles and differences as contributing factors to the continuous practice of forest management and conservation. In terms of IP roles in forest management and conservation, gender is a very important thing to consider. Given an indigenous social and political context, the management of forests is communal. In general, forest management is primarily the domain of men. Women’s participation on the other hand primarily lies in forest protection because there is an intimate relationship between IP women and the forest (Caguioa, 2011). However, problem lies in the lack of recognition in national policies as to the roles of IP women in forest management and conservation. The pine forest of Brgy. Agawa, Besao, Mt. Province is a communal forest shared by different communities managed mostly by indigenous peoples. For the people of Brgy. Agawa, the forest or langdas is the source of livelihood and a place where their unique culture thrive, one of the major features of indigenous peoples. In terms of livelihood, the langdas is the source of wild fruits and animals, lumber, and firewood. In the indigenous law they practice, selling of pine lumber is prohibited. Also, outsiders are prohibited from getting anything from the langdas making the practice sustainable. In terms of tradition and culture, they believe that there are spirits guarding the rivers and forests. This is one of the reasons why indigenous peoples do not exploit the forest resources. Also, they manage the forest in a sustainable way because of the belief that their ancestors, who were buried in sacred places, mingle with their affairs. The role of women in environment protection, forest management, and conservation is very significant. Two of the key informants of the study conducted by Caguioa (2011) and her colleagues are old women who spent most of their life living in the area. The people of Brgy. Agawa, has a history of resistance in protecting the langdas and the environment. One sign of protest they had done before was the exposure of older women’s breast to oppose people who wanted to operate saw mills in the area back in the 1940s. In response to the secret resin tapping activities done to pine trees that operated during the 1970s, women of Besao secretly removed the plastic catchers and burned all of it. In general, women of Agawa, Besao, Mt. Province show their protest in the regional and national level in opposition of road construction, mining, and logging projects that will ruin the langdas. Amidst globalization, vulgar consumerism, high demands from the market, and laws that treat us all equals [sometimes even without regard to culture], the people of Brgy. Agawa, Besao, Mt. Province especially women managed the forest in a sustainable way. Following their traditions and belief systems, they had managed to conserve the forest by following natural mechanisms to restore the forest. Given the resources and knowledge systems we have as members of the dominant and so called â€Å"developed† society, we should devise forest management and conservation mechanisms that are easy and applicable. However, due to a market-driven economy we engage in, we have no control over our resources anymore. The working mechanism that works today is â€Å"what the market demands, the market gets† even at the expense of the environment and the people who manages to protect and conserve the forest. Forest management, although primarily dominated by men, it should be the domain of all even if there are differences in gender. As seen in the case of Brgy. Agawa, Mt. Province, women had great contributions in forest management and conservation. It all goes down to this: in effective forest management and conservation, gender roles and differences have a lot to offer. Reference: Caguioa, M. C. (2011). Panagsalaknib ti Langdas: Role of Indigenous Women in Forest Management in Brgy. Agawa, Besao, Mt. Province from the Global Lecture Series on Indigenous Peoples’ Studies (University of the Philippines Baguio).

Economics and Lead Time

CASE ANALYSIS FOLDRITE FURNITURE CO. : PLANNING TO MEET A SURGE IN DEMAND Submitted to: Submitted by: Dr. P. K. Dash Abhinav  Anand Operations Management PGDM-BHU010 Case facts about FoldeRite Furniture:- * Established in 1987 * Throughout 1990s company grew organically. * 1999-2006 annual growth rate 3. 5%. (More than market growth rate) but one competitor grew by 6% annually. * In 2006 company’s performance was very bad due to following concluded reasons- * Loss of productivity and yields caused by high labor turnover. Cost of raw materials was increasing * Increasing proportion of unskilled labor. * Continuous acquisition of small firms which distracted management from their main issues. * This thing also generated liquidity shortage * These things resulted in reduced margins as well as increased lead time from 4 to 6-8 weeks. Major policies that company adopted after change in management:- * New CEO marshal Epstein from a major consumer goods company was appointed. * Man ufacturing VP Jose Ramose was hired. Together they decided 4 major goals:- * Continued innovation in both products and processes, * Customer responsiveness: producing high quality products that fulfilled market needs, and providing quick service, * Lean manufacturing, and * Retention of a well-trained, stable, and productive workforce, with reduced turnover. * Reduced no of products to provide high quality products. Consequences:- * All these helped in reduction of lead time. * They had a $60M revenues and profitable despite recession Ques-(01) what are the Manufacturing Options available with Mr. Martin Kelsey? Ans. The objective of the aggregate plan was to demonstrate cost-effective ways to meet the demand while maintaining productivity, quality, reliability and providing on-time delivery at effective yields. The following are the manufacturing options with Mr. Martin Kelsey: 1. The first option available was to ask the staff to work an extra shift. 2. Increase the staff temporarily to take advantage of idle production capacity. 3. Changing the designs of the cloud chair slightly to require one minute less in assembly 4. To increase the amount of inventory using a constant level of production. 5. The last option available with Kelsey was subcontracting part of work, such as the manufacture of seats for stackable chairs. Q2. What are the financial implications of the three options? How does it impacts the lead time? Wages of the Skilled workers is = 19 + 33% of 19 = 25. 27 Wages of the Unskilled workers is = 9 + 10% of 9=9. 9 Change Strategy In alstrong, the hiring cost would be zero for skilled and $2593. 5 for unskilled labors. The layoff cost would be $327288 for skilled $349752 for unskilled labours In case of cloud chairs, the hiring cost would be zero for skilled and $633. 6 for unskilled labours. The layoff cost would be $264342 for skilled $533520 for unskilled labours In case of green comfort, the hiring cost would be zero for skilled and $1662. 5 for unskilled labours. The layoff cost would be $214058 for skilled $231270 for unskilled labors Subcontracting Strategy In case of cloud chairs, units subcontracted cost would be $720355. 32. In case of alstrong, units subcontracted cost would be $46959. 28. In case of green comfort, units subcontracted cost would be zero. The lead time will reduce in all the 3 cases. Ques (03) what are the risks? How does each of the options accommodate changes in economy and environment? Ans. The risk associate with it are: Financial Risk:- * According to their CFO Yung credit situation is tight. * They have to generate cash from costly resources as expensive as 12% p. . Human resources Risk:- * Hiring a skilled worker would cost $1500 * Supervisor cost for these workers $25 per hour + 33% for benefits * Training of unskilled worker takes 4 weeks during which full wages are paid. Changes in economy and environment are as follows: 1. If staff would be doing overtime than it would increase the productivity in short run but at the same time this would have lead to fatigue and boredom among the staff leading to decrease in efficiency. 2. Hiring staff temporarily would automatically increase the cost of training and would also require management and supervision resources. 3. If the demand did not materialize than laying of the workers would demoralize the remaining workforce and cost the company in adding unemployment. 4. Another major concern was the cost of carrying inventory beyond two weeks. Ques-(4) Weighing options in term of non-financial implications Ans. The non-financial implications are: 1. Overtime work done by Employees: This will affect the profitability in short term in a positive manner but in long term as the workers do have chance of getting fatigue it might lead to decrease in quality of product which in turn decrease the profitability. The overtime formula will not affect the relationship among employees but the competitiveness will affect if the efficiency decreases in long run. 2. Increasing the staff This will lead to increase in profitability in short term as well as in long term if company does not lay off workers. The sales will increase if the efficiency of work increases as a result of increase in workers. . Changing the Design In short term there will be a decrease in profitability as the company would have to pay a onetime charge of $15000 but in long term as because of innovation the profitability will increase. Dut to innovation the company will have a competitive and also the sales will increase as it’s a new designed product. 4. Sub contracting The company will focus in th e core area which will lead to profitability in short term and long term both. This will further lead to increase in sales as a result of efficient production. The employee morale will also be boosted because of increase in sales.