Thursday, October 31, 2019

The Investment Decision Of Airbus And Boeing Essay

The Investment Decision Of Airbus And Boeing - Essay Example Both Boeing and Airbus are being supported by the government of their respective countries and the financial aid given by the government has a major role to play in making sure that these firms are able to meet the demands of the stakeholders. The case reveals how the Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner stage was set up and how things were before the Boeing introduced Dreamliner in the market. The reactions from the airline industry for previously launched planes by Airbus and Boeing have also been discussed and then the opportunities that 787 has, have been the main point of the study. This report basically has been divided into four sections. In the first part of the report, important variables that could influence the decision of Airbus and Boeing have been discussed in detail. In the second part of the report, the risks faced by both these firms have been discussed and how the risks faced by Airbus and Boeing are identified and analysed and then model has been used to know how firms should manage risk (McLaney, 2009). In the third part of the report, stakeholders of both Airbus and Boeing have been discussed and how these stakeholders could influence the firm have been described in detail. However, in the fourth section of the report, critical financial analysis about Boeing has been discussed as it introduces the Dreamliner in the market. In the end, conclusion of the report along with recommendations have been discussed. ... In the second part of the report, the risks faced by both these firms have been discussed and how the risks faced by Airbus and Boeing are identified and analysed and then model has been used to know how firms should manage risk (McLaney, 2009). In the third part of the report, stakeholders of both Airbus and Boeing have been discussed and how these stakeholders could influence the firm have been described in detail. However, in the fourth section of the report, critical financial analysis about Boeing has been discussed as it introduces the Dreamliner in the market. In the end, conclusion of the report along with recommendations have been discussed. Introduction The report is about Airbus and Boeing and it is primarily based on a case when Boeing introduced its Dreamliner. The case discusses the background and how things shaped up that lead towards a fuel efficient aircraft, 787 Dreamliner. The report discusses how the management feels and what variables they considered when they we re preparing the feasibility of introducing a new fuel efficient plane as well as variables that influenced their decision to not go for a jumbo sized aircraft, 747. The second section of the report discusses about the risks that the company faces and how Airbus and Boeing need to manage their risk properly in order to have consistent profits in the long run. The importance of managing and identifying risks has been described in this section. The third section of the report discusses important stakeholders of both the aircraft manufacturing firms; Boeing and Airbus and analyses how they could impact the firm’s operations. Also stakeholders have been prioritised using a theoretical framework to identify the level of their impact and their power to influence

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Strategic human resource management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Strategic human resource management - Essay Example Strategic human resource management (SHRM) is a field of HR that highlights how the human resource of the organization contributes to the attainment of the desired goals by means of various HR strategies, policies and practices. This approach considers human resource as the primary factor contributing to the success of the organization It is as Leif Edvinsson (2002) puts it: â€Å"The only vital value an enterprise has is the experience, skills, innovativeness and insights of its people† (12 Manage). In addition to that, it is of the view that the success of any organization is actually dependent on the factor of best fit between the business strategies and its human resource strategies (Armstrong, p. 33). SHRM constitutes a mindset based on certain concepts rather than a set of techniques. It revolves around three primary propositions, which are as follows: The human capital of all the organizations is a primary asset, which when put to effective use, plays a strategic role i n its success and can be a major source of competitive advantage for the organization. The human resource strategies should be in perfect alignment to the business level strategies of the organization and its mission and vision. The human resource strategies at individual level should be coherent and should be designed in a manner that they provide a mutual support (Armstrong, p. 34). This paper aims to shed light on the factor of Strategic human resource management in view of the airlines industry, which have been subject to a deluge of turmoil over the past few years. In the light of the various economical crises, the situation has not only changed on the customer side of the picture, but it has had a huge impact on the industrial level as well. The organizations all over the world are in a state of struggle to keep with the needs and wants of the customer. This in turn, pushes the organizations to make their internal functions all the more effective and efficient and requires the m to not only be vigilant in their resource deployments and other such major strategies, but also in effectively managing their workforce. This whole study would be done with reference to the Canadian Airline established in 1987, which later ceased its operation in 2000 and was merged with Air Canada. Issues in the Airline Industry: An airline is an industry that is highly sensitive to economical changes. Such changes not only impact the productivity side of the industry, but also influence the side of the consumer, in turn affecting the profitability of organizations working in this industry. The industry can be observed on a continuous cycle of gigantic profits and mammoth losses. A few of the factors having a direct influence on the airlines industry are given as follows: Recession: The airline industry gets highly affected by the downturns in the economical circle owing to the fact that in such a scenario, the business travel that can also be constituted as the bread and butter of the airline industry gets cut down when the economy is facing a slump. The lengthy global recession of the past few years has now turned into the single biggest challenge being faced by the airlines industry. This has resulted in weak revenues and air travel (Reals, 2008). Soaring Fuel Prices: The industry that is getting most affected by the hike in the oil prices is the airline industry. It has now turned into a tedious task for the airlines to cope up with such colossal fuel prices that are so intense that they are even pushing several airlines to bankruptcy. Those that do continue to operate in such unsteady conditions are having to face immense financial burden along with thinning profit margins in these pricey fuel times (Fleming, 2011). Terrorist Attacks: The 9/11 attack on the world trade centre and the global conditions that followed served as a serious blow to the airline industry, which was having to through a tough time due to the factor of recession even before the a ttack. This

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Balanced Budget Amendment 1997 Analysis

Balanced Budget Amendment 1997 Analysis Balanced Budget Amendment Vu Luu Introduction In March 4, 1997, the balanced budget amendment was defeated in the United States Senate by just one vote. Fast forward to the present, the United States is facing a $17 trillion deficit versus the $5 trillion in 1997. The question that remains to be asked is had the balanced budget amendment passed the United States Senate and approved by Congress in 1997, would we be facing the debt crisis that we are facing today? Based on my conclusion, the answer that I believe is no, the debt crisis would not have been as severe as it is today. In this paper I will argue why the United States need a national balanced budget amendment in the constitution. In particular, I will discuss the following points to back up my claim; future implications if no changes in policies and solving government spending. As the United States’ federal deficit continues to grow, many are asking for a balanced budget amendment to be added to the constitution. A balanced budget amendment would require the federal government not to spend more than it receives in revenue. This means it would be unconstitutional and against the law for the federal government to accumulate budget deficits. THE NATIONAL DEBT ISN’T GOING TO GO AWAY According to the 2012 Congressional Budget Office report, our current policies will eventually lead to a federal debt that would eventually reach a 90% gross domestic product by 2022, 109% by 2026, and 200% by 2037 (CBO 11). These estimates are based on the assumption that our current laws remain generally unchanged and that our spending policies which is the cause of the accumulation of budget deficits remain the same. The CBO budget estimates are also based on forecasts of economic state, demographic trends, and past experience. The other interesting estimate that the CBO reported was that even if there were general changes in our current laws, they estimate that the budget deficit would reach about 60% of GDP by 2020 which is only 10% lower than our current situation (CBO 7). As indicated by the chart above, our annual deficit through 2021 would never drop below $1 trillion dollars under current policies. Although the main cause of the spike in deficit spending from 2008-2011 was mainly due to the recession, the Congressional Budget Office doesn’t believe the United States would recover under current laws. The balance budget amendment does allow exception, which in this case is the recession. If the national balance budget amendment was in place then after 2011, the annual deficit would only go down because of the radical budget changes in programs. It’s pretty apparent that the money we are borrowing is increasing more and more, but what will happen when it reaches that point when we have to start repaying these loans? The government textbook gives us a great example of what happened to Greece when they couldn’t pay off all their loans. The interest rates on Greek government went way up and by 2011, they had to pay 25% to obtain a two-year loan from private sector (Sidlow 6). Compared to the United States, we are paying a mere 0.44% compared to the 25% Greece had to pay. The ending results in the Greek government shut out of private borrowing and had to depend on other European countries. The Greece example and the CBO’s estimates are huge future implications and urge for huge changes in our policies which I believe is the federal balanced budget amendment. CALIFORNIA BALANCED BUDGET AND FEDERAL BALANCED BUDGET Although most states in the United States have a balanced budget amendment, the federal government does not and usually work with a deficit. California has struggled with the state deficit ever since the 2002 recession. They were in a deficit of more than $20 billion in 2003 and had to force drastic cuts to meet their budget (Gerston 104). In 2011, the state was in a $26 billion deficit and Jerry Brown had to take drastic measures and force more cuts in programs. All this summarizes to one thing and that is they took care of their problems with minimal support. The current federal government under the Obama administration doesn’t seem to be taking drastic measures to cut federal deficit. Instead, it seems the federal government is spending more than ever. One example of wasteful spending that I found is the building of an unused $75.5 million airport and a $29 million harbor with no roads in Alaska in 2012 (Yahoo). It’s really questionable for them to use stimulus money for these projects. The building of the unused airport and harbor is an indicator that not all politicians share the same view. The ones that run the country and the ones that run a state may have opposing views and that could bring up different priorities. According to the Government Accountability Office, the United States is on an unsustainable path because of the emphasis on Medicare and Social Security spending (Wikipedia). President Obama is known for his emphasis on Medicare and that could be contagious to other politicians. What I am trying to draw from this is that if President Clinton, who had a surplus during his administration, was still the president then I don’t think we would have an overspending problem. President Clinton attacked the deficit by balancing the budget through ordinary fiscal policy and raising taxes (Wikipedia), whereas President Obama doesn’t seem to be drastically cutting spending or raising taxes. WHY THE NATIONAL DEBT IS ONLY GROWING The United States would never recover from this deficit unless they fix one problem and that is overspending. The revenue the public generates is fine, so that isn’t the problem. The problem lies with the government and the excessive spending. Congress has three options concerning spending which are 1) they can cut it, 2)raise tax rates, or 3) pass it to the localized government. From my perspective, it seems like they did none of these and chose to spend money that isn’t budgeted which essentially only adds more to the deficit. The graph above shows the average spending from 1960-2009 which is 20.3%. Notice how when spending increase, revenue also increase. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for the situation we are in. We are currently sitting at an all-time high spending of 24.7% whereas our revenue is at an all-time low of 14.8% (The Heritage Foundation). The sensible action to be taken in this situation is to decrease spending, which we obviously haven’t. If Congress is mandated to balance the budget, it would determine which programs are inefficient and would spend money more rationally. If the balanced budget amendment passes, I believe it would decrease overspending because it would require the president to submit to Congress a balanced federal budget each year. According to Steven Calabresi, a professor at Northwestern University and co-founder of the Federalist Society, Congress should be constitutionally required to hold a vote with the president’s projected budget in 3 months and with the president and Congress having a time period of up to six months to accept a final budget (The American Spectator). If they fail to adopt a final budget during the allocated amount of time, all federal spending except payments on the debt should be frozen. In conclusion, if we are to solve are national deficit then we should start focusing on the national balanced budget amendment. The balance budget amendment will force the president to submit and a balanced federal budget each year with the president and Congress both agreeing on the final budget. Overall, this will decrease overspending which is the main cause of our increasingly deficit. Works Cited 1.The 2012 Long-Term Budget Outlook. Publication no. 43288. N.p.: n.p., n.d.Congressional Budget Office. Web. 15 May 2014. http://www.cbo.gov/publication/43288 . 2.Sidlow, Edward, and Beth Henschen.GOVT, 4th, Student Edition. N.p.: Cengage Learning, 2012. Print. 3.Gerston, Larry N., and Terry Christensen.California Politics and Government: A Practical Approach. Boston, MA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2014. Print. 4. National Debt of the United States.Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 Dec. 2014. Web. 15 May 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_States . 5. Balanced Budget Amendment.Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 15 May 2014. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balanced_budget_amendment#George_H._W._Bush_and_Ross_Perot . 6. Pfeiffer, Eric. Alaskan Town Home to Airport with No Planes and Harbor with No Road.Yahoo! News. Yahoo!, 20 Nov. 2012. Web. 15 May 2014. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/alaskan-town-home-airport-no-planes-harbor-no-230803871.html . 7. Riedl, Brian. New CBO Budget Baseline Reveals Permanent Trillion-Dollar Deficits.The Heritage Foundation. The Heritage Foundation, 26 Jan. 2011. Web. 15 May 2014. http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/01/new-cbo-budget-baseline-reveals-permanent-trillion-dollar-deficits . 8. Calabresi, Steven. The Answer Is a Balanced Budget Amendment.The American Spectator. The American Spectator, Oct. 2011. Web. 15 May 2014. http://spectator.org/articles/36823/answer-balanced-budget-amendment .

Friday, October 25, 2019

Essay --

The true Zodiac is conceptual division of space into 12 equal segments, which radiate out from the ecliptic, that is, the apparent path of the Sun. However, the Zodiac also refers to the 12 constellation of stars that nowadays symbolize different human personality types. The term â€Å"Zodiac† has Greco-Roman origins and means â€Å"Circle of animals,† although these â€Å"signs† are not restricted too zoological beasts but encompass human forms, too. The Chinese Zodiac bears no relationship to any constellations. The Zodiac is both a symbol in its own right as well as a collection of symbols. These symbols are totems for each of the 12 astrological signs. It is a circle of completion, a continually turning wheel, divided into a spiritually perfect number, 12. Each of the different segments expresses a phase of development in the cycle of the Universe as well as in humankind collectively and for each individual, singularly. By 2000 BC, the Mesopotamians and the Egyptians were using four particular constellations as markers for the changing seasons. These four star clusters are the ones that we stil...

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Maximization of Shareholder Wealth Essay

Question: Firms often involve themselves in projects that do not result directly in profits, for example by sponsorship of sporting events of the opera or other entertainment. Do these projects contradict the goal of maximization of shareholder wealth? Why or why not? Answer: Participating in programs that are socially responsible does not contradict the goal of maximization of shareholder wealth. Having a good reputation from your local community is very important for sustaining a business. Although it remains true that spending on social programs could cost a major business millions of dollars, it is the goodwill that is formed through that community that can offer an essential guarantee for the continuation of that firm. For an example, if the Australian Company ‘Energex’ stopped spending some of their money on alternative energy initiatives or programs, that can be seen as being environmentally concerned, some of Energex’s customers could decide to do business with other energy companies who are engaging with programs that are seen as being more socially responsible. Failing to engage in socially responsible programs, thus potentially losing many customers, goes against maximizing shareholder wealth. When all is said and done, there is far more meaning to business and shareholder wealth than just dollars and cents. An investment in the greater good of the human race pays dividends to the company many more times than penny pinching. By participating in socially responsible programs, this can ensure that a company keep a positive reputation and goodwill, which in turn creates loyalty from their customers which leads to a maximization of shareholder wealth. It is then imperative for businesses to invest in a few respectable social initiatives that may not always generate profits in order to sustain maximizing shareholder wealth.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Progress report on internet abuse and employee productivity case study Essay

The internet has able to improve business by increasing productivity because of improved information dissemination and decision-making, however employers are concerned by employees who use it for their personal and social needs during working hours which occurs because the workplace give them a sense of privacy. The monitoring of employee internet use has created tensions between employers, who monitor employee use to protect data leakage and check employee productivity, and employees, who feel a breach of trust whenever monitored, who suggest that casual internet use is not detrimental, and who have felt emotional and physical problems because of monitoring. The internet has had significant impact in the 1995 economic boom despite studies which show that this is only felt in the microeconomic level. A UN report has shown that American employees are less productive than their European and Asian counterparts because they cannot improve side-by-side with the effects of Moore’s Law. Organizations which have put in investments in technology improvements have not felt the supposed exponential increase in revenue and increase in market share because they have not reduced input resources such as the number of employees and that their employees have not increased in knowledge or productivity. It was suggested that to reduce productivity losses non-internet tasks should increase, productivity benchmark methods revised and incentives given to productive employees. IT was also suggested that to avoid employee-employer conflicts, the employer must give ample time for internet use, enforce a written internet and e-mail use policy, forge a company website that will help employees to finish tasks, and keep a friendly working atmosphere. The employees in turn must not use the internet often for personal use and enhance their productivity in line with the company’s premier interests. I have completed the entire research project and found out that employee and employer relations can be resolved following my proposed guidelines which I have made after preceding research from articles in magazines and books. I have found that employees regard monitoring as a beach of trust and had felt emotional tolls during monitoring by their bosses. Employers on the other hand only move to monitor to ensure the security of company data. I have found out that employee productivity has decreased with the increase in IT investments among companies. I have proposed guidelines and suggestions basing on my readings to decrease worker productivity losses. Work Completed I found this survey conducted by Mercer Management Consulting and have gathered that companies though they have invested much on improving technology to increase their business’ efficiency, have not yet felt the projected increase in sales. I have gathered from an article on The Economist that according to the joint research venture between MIT and U Penn the paradox that is the decrease of worker productivity despite increase in IT investments can be attributed to the factors they have laid out. This information I have placed under Technology vs. Productivity. After connecting ideas, and finding the real root of this paradox, I have now searched for references to build a suitable to-do list for employers and employees to resolve the worker productivity losses. I read a New York Times copy dated February 9, 2000, with an article saying that employers who give incentives to productive employees contributed to the increase in US productivity in the 2nd quarter of 1999. I have gathered form a copy of PC week that filtering and monitoring policies increased productivity of employees, from this idea I suggested in my research paper that employers must impose strict e-mail and internet use policy. Conclusion After so much consideration of facts, I have come up with a research paper that will explain the problems of employee productivity and internet abuse and guide employees and employers while joining forces to reduce productivity losses. Reference Gupta, Jatinder, and Sushil Sharma. â€Å"Improving Worker’s Productivity and Reducing Internet Abuse. † The Journal of Computer Information Systems 44. 2 (2004): 75-78.